Mary Kate Leming's Posts

Elected officals react to ethics vote

Posted by Mary Kate Leming on December 1, 2010 at 15:13

By Angie Francalancia

There’s no question what voters in the coastal towns thought about the new ethics ordinance that includes oversight by Palm Beach County’s inspector general. They overwhelmingly voted “Yes.”
But opinions among the town leaders run a full range from support to skepticism to outright opposition.
Falling in with all the municipalities in Palm Beach County, more than 50 percent of voters in every coastal town voted in favor of extending Palm Beach County’s ethics ordinance and oversight by the Inspector General into the municipalities. The vote means every elected city, town and village official in Palm Beach County will be governed by the new ordinance. It also means it can’t be undone without another vote of the people.
Even in Highland Beach, which already has an ordinance that officials there believe is strong, and in Gulf Stream, where elected officials warned residents of the cost, voters approved. Those towns saw some of the lowest approval rates, though, with Highland Beach’s electors passing it by 60 percent and Gulf Stream’s approving by 61 percent.
On the high end, citizens in Delray Beach, Lantana and South Palm Beach all approved the measure by votes of 73 percent or more.
Lantana’s Town Council had adopted the county’s ordinance prior to the vote, and elected officials, staff and volunteers had gone through three workshops in October.
“We didn’t need the electorate to tell us to do the right thing,” Lantana Town Manager Michael Bornstein said. “The bottom line is our county and some of the cities have had an unfortunate set of events that occurred with some individuals. With our reputation, we needed to act.”
In South Palm Beach, where voters passed the ordinance by an almost identical margin, there seems to be great belief in the need for ethics. There are six ethics complaints now waiting to be heard before the state Commission on Ethics, most seemingly linked to the town’s rejection of a proposal to increase the land use for the Palm Beach Oceanfront Inn to allow for a 10-story hotel instead of the current two-story building.
The mayor wanted an investigation into three members of the planning advisory board who recommended denying the change. They had something to lose, he said — their oceanfront views. Complaints also have been filed against two council members. And in October, the state ethics commission found probable cause that Mayor Martin Millar broke state law by trying to use his position to avoid arrest after being tossed out of Rachel’s strip club in August 2009. Although Millar didn’t return calls for this story, he previously said he believed the complaint was retaliation for filing his complaint against the planning advisory board members.
Councilwoman Stella Jordan said she thinks the voters want a better system.
“Our consitutents want us to identify and address fraud quicker, and they want to be able to stop fraudulent processes prior to spending taxpayer dollars on bad decisions due to fraudulent actions taken by their elected officials,” Jordan said. “My only concern would be that we may replicate what is already in place on a state-wide level. Our dollars need to go toward enhancing the system, not duplicating what we already have.”
Would anything have been different had the countywide ordinance been in effect already? That will depend in part on what the rules look like once a panel gets together to draft it.
But perhaps not.
Some towns, like Highland Beach, have their own ethics ordinances. Highland Beach Town Manager Dale Sugerman said he believes the vote simply gives another route to someone wanting to make a complaint.
His town’s ethics ordinance provides what he believes would be a more expeditious route than using the county’s ordinance, he said. “We’ve got to figure how the county’s route even works. We don’t know that yet.”
According to Alan Johnson, the Ethics Commission executive director, “When it takes effect in January, it provides for a drafting committee that has 90 days to put appropriate language into the codes to extend them to the municipalities. At that point, the board of county commissioners has to vote to make them effective.”
Gulf Stream Commissioner Chris Wheeler has a different perspective on its effect.
“The difference it will make in Gulf Stream is it’s just going to raise our cost,” Wheeler said.
Municipalities will be required to pay a quarter percent of every contract to support the office of the inspector general. “We’re looking at putting our electrical system underground in Gulf Stream. That will be a multimillion-dollar job if the residents decide they want to do it,” Wheeler said. “And if so, we’re going to pay some panel in Palm Beach County a quarter percent to oversee
their corrupt commission.”

New golf course comes to the fore in South County

Posted by Mary Kate Leming on December 1, 2010 at 15:00

South county public access golf courses

By Steve Pike
Osprey Point Golf Course, Palm Beach County’s newest public golf course, has been an early hit with players looking for another tee time option. Osprey Point General Manager Steve Hill said the facility — on Glades Road 2.5 miles west of U.S. 441 in suburban Boca Raton — has been operating at near-full capacity since it opened in early November.
“I wish we had more times available,’’ Hill said.
That early success could be a harbinger of a good winter for the more than 110 public and private golf courses in Palm Beach County. Public courses near or in the coastal communities include the Delray Beach Golf Club, designed by the legendary Donald Ross, Red Reef executive course in coastal Boca Raton, Park Ridge Golf Course in Lantana, Lake Worth Municipal Golf Course and the Palm Beach Par 3 in Palm Beach, which reopened last year after an impressive renovation by former Masters and U.S. Open Champion Raymond Floyd.
Like Osprey Point, the Palm Beach Par 3 uses environmentally friendly Seashore Paspalum grass, which is resistant to saltwater, and keeps its deep green color even in the winter.
“It’s a beautiful course and it’s in beautiful shape,’’ said course manager Alan Brown. “I think our play is up about 45 percent since May and we’ve got a lot of specials and teaching programs planned for the winter.’’
Through this past September, rounds played in the county were down 7.6 percent year-to-date, according to Golf Datatech, the Kissimmee-based company that tracks rounds played nationally. Rounds played in Palm Beach County this past September were up 2.3 percent compared to September 2009, so that could bode well for winter play across the area.
Osprey Point is one of only a handful of golf courses that have opened across the nation this year.
“We’ve experienced some economic issues that have affected disposable income,’’ said Paul Connell, golf operations supervisor for the Palm Beach County Parks and Recreation Department, which operates four other golf facilities. “A lot of our facilities are built with the future growth of the county in mind.’’
That includes the growth of the game of golf, which has slowed the past decade. In that regard Osprey Point, like the department’s 27-hole Okeeheelee Park facility in West Palm Beach, has a large practice area, as well as a four-hole and six-hole “loop,’’ so time-pressed golfers have an alternative to playing nine or 18 holes.
“I live in East Boca but I think it’s nice to have a course on this side of the county,’’ said Raymond Miller, who had just finished a round with his 12-year-old son. “It’s a good course — might bring me out a couple more times. And it’s good to see the county do something with the land instead of let it just rot away.’’
Osprey Point has 18 of its 27 holes —the Hawk and Raven — open for play. The other nine-hole layout — the Falcon — is expected to come online within the next few weeks. Any 18-hole combination of the nine-hole layouts, each designed by Roy Case, plays approximately 6,800 yards and to a par of 72.
The centerpiece of South County Regional Park, Osprey Point Golf Course is another example of the Parks and Recreation Department’s ability to turn disturbed land into a natural and recreational space.
Before development the land was used for farming and shellrock mining. The area had been overgrown with Brazilian pepper and other invasive exotics.
The department worked with environmental groups and officials with the Loxahatchee Wildlife Refuge to reduce the need for irrigation. The department also applied to Audubon International to certify the course as an Audubon International Classic Signature Golf Course.
“I don’t think you’ll find many courses in the country that have done as much for the good of the environment than what’s here at Osprey Point,’’ Hill said.

Delray Beach: City grant helps Historical Society

Posted by Mary Kate Leming on December 1, 2010 at 14:56

The Delray Beach Historical Society was granted $30,000 by the City Commission to keep its archives open to the public part-time, as required by a Palm Beach County construction grant, as well as to maintain the historic village.
The society sought help after slashing its budget to under $50,000 from $250,000 and reducing operational hours, eliminating events, losing personnel and narrowing its mission.
— Margie Plunkett

Participating Storybook House Contest Designers

Posted by Mary Kate Leming on December 1, 2010 at 14:47

Designers presented options for how a potential buyer could spend $10,000 to make the Storybook House a more functional space.

The Beached Boat
Lisa Cornell ASID, owner of Images Everything Interiors. LLC.
206 NE Second St.
(Pineapple Grove)
Delray Beach
471-9363
www.beachedboat.com

Sea Laurel Construction
Ed Paez, General Contractor
Diane Paez, Design Coordinator
702-5546
www.SeaLaurel.com

Robb & Stucky Interiors
Taryn Blankenship,
Allied Member, ASID
3801 Design Center Drive
Palm Beach Gardens
561-904-7200
www.robbstucky.com

Michelesmith Design
Michele Smith,
Designer
954-805-8120 MLWSMITH@aol.com

Designer's three approaches: Refresh, redesign or redecorate

Posted by Mary Kate Leming on December 1, 2010 at 14:39

Here’s a look at the three plans that designer Michele Smith of Michelesmith Design created for the Storybook House competition. Each has a budget of $10,000.

Plan 1: Refresh
She begins refreshing the house by brightening the interior with white or off-white walls.
The house has five different types of flooring, she says. But the den boasts original hardwood floors. Smith would try to refurbish the original wood floors she hopes exist throughout the house. But if that can’t be done, she’d replace them with dark or medium laminated wood. “I like the contrast,” she says.
And she’d add nautical lighting fixtures such as old bronze ship lanterns throughout the home.
Finally, outdoors, she’d give the house Key West flair by whitewashing it and adding new pale aqua shutters with pineapple cutouts as well as an aqua-and-green-striped awning over the front door. “I love these colors and their soft hues,” she says. “They reflect the water.”

Plan 2: Redesign
The first thing Smith noticed was that the house had a small living room at the front with a tiny den behind it. “The living room was dark and had no real purpose. The house had obviously been chopped and added onto,” she says.
She suggests removing the wall between the front and back rooms to open them up.
In the kitchen, she’d go for “light, bright, clean and uncluttered” by installing new white cabinets and wooden countertops. The upper cabinets would have glass doors. “That makes the room look cottage-y,” she says.
Then she’d “snazzy up” the kitchen with stainless steel handles on the cabinets. “I love to mix and match a cottage design with contemporary pieces,” she says.
In this plan, she’d also update the guest bathroom by adding a white pedestal sink with chrome fixtures and 3-by-6-inch subway tiles installed in a running pattern.

Plan 3: Redecorate
This final plan features painting the interior white. “I like flat white for its velvety appearance,” she says. The trim and doors would be in semi-gloss or high-gloss white paint.
She’d redo the sunroom addition to resemble an enclosed porch by adding two wooden porch swings hung facing each other from the ceiling.
“I love the look of them especially with the wonderful view of the Intracoastal right outside the window,” she says. “It’s the perfect place to sip a cup of tea and watch the boats.”
For one of the other rooms, the living room perhaps, she suggests white comfortable sofas with bright throw pillows to “give a punch of color.”
But no matter which of her plans you prefer, she says, “It’s a beach-y look I try to achieve.”
— Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley

Designing woman: Beach-lover wins Storybook House rehab competition

Posted by Mary Kate Leming on December 1, 2010 at 14:30

Designer Michele Smith of Ocean Ridge won the Storybook House competition with three designs for rehabbing the Hypoluxo Island cottage. Photos by Jerry Lower

Designer's three approaches | Participating designers

By Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley

Like many people, Roseanne Vaughn is trying to sell her house. Known as the Storybook House for its cottage details, her home was built on Hypoluxo Island in 1946 when the only way to get there was by boat.
Vaughn moved into it 35 years ago. She added shingles, green shutters and a green awning over the front door. Then she built a sun room with a view of the Intracoastal Waterway and turned a number of closets into a blue-and-white tiled master bathroom.
The Storybook House — with its warren of rooms, picket fence, flamingo mailbox, brick walkway and towering royal poinciana in the front yard — has the feeling of a vintage home redecorated with love over the years.
Jennifer Spitznagel of Manatee Cove Realty in Manalapan got the listing for the house. “I like to see historic homes retained, not torn down. They have a lot of charm that’s not available in a new home,” she says.
Then she got an idea.
A self-proclaimed HGTV “junky,” she contacted The Coastal Star and set up a competition asking area designers to suggest improvements to the house. She gave them a budget of $10,000. Then homeowner Vaughn agreed to give whoever buys the house that money toward work on it.
Participating designers included Jimmy Deitch and Patty McWilliams of The Beached Boat Co. in Delray Beach, Michele Smith of Michelesmith Design in Ocean Ridge, Taryn Renee Blankenship of Robb and Stucky Interiors in Palm Beach Gardens and Ed Paez of Sea Laurel Construction in Delray Beach. Each entrant put together presentation boards detailing their plans.
People who visited the Storybook House during two open houses in November viewed the plans and voted for the one they liked best. After counting the 40 ballots, Spitznagel determined first prize goes to Michele Smith.
A native Floridian and self-taught decorator, Smith started her design career creating pamphlets for high-end cruise lines. But her passion was home renovation and design.
“I’d always look for properties that needed tough love,” she says. She began buying affordable homes that were near the beach that she loves. “I’d start from scratch and turn the homes into beautiful spaces,” she says.
She stopped working for the cruise industry in 1998 to take care of her son, Tanner, now 12. She’ll never forget renovating one house while she lived there with her son and her mother, who was not well. “That was certainly a challenge,” she says.
She also helped friends decorate their homes, and it was they who persuaded her to follow her passion.
“I’m lucky to have an innate sense of vision and imagination,” she says.
In 2010, she opened her own design firm.
When she heard about the Storybook House competition, she wanted to get involved.
“It’s always been my philosophy to save older homes by updating and refreshing them. I love their character.”
But she had trouble settling on just one set of ideas.
“People love to have choices,” she says. So she offered three different plans putting the $10,000 budget to good use in each. “That kind of money doesn’t go far, but you can refresh, update or expand a home with it,” she says.
Her various plans — to Refresh, Redesign or Redecorate the home — feature white-painted walls and trim, aqua shutters, redone hardwood floors, porch swings hung indoors, opened-up spaces and a kitchen redone with cottage flair.
Owner Vaughn is pleased. “She gave people perspective of what they could do with
the house,” she says.

Practice patience and be happy, author says

Posted by Mary Kate Leming on December 1, 2010 at 14:28

Pollay

By Mary Jane Fine

David Pollay has told this story a quintillion times by now: He was in New York, his hometown, cabbing it to Grand Central Station. A black car zipped out of its parking place, cutting off the taxi, whose driver jammed on the brakes, avoiding a rear-ender by an inch. The guy behind the wheel of the black car, the bum, had the gall to curse the cabbie. So what’d the cabbie do? He smiled. He waved. He didn’t let it get to him. And he left Pollay thinking, Wow.
So, 20 years later, what does Pollay do? He writes an inspirational book called The Law of the Garbage Truck and travels around imparting the cabbie’s message.

Here’s the premise: Somebody dumps garbage on you — they curse, they yell, they snub you, insult you, hurt your feelings — you give ’em a smile and go merrily on your way, the better for it.
It works, he says. Honest.
Because, and here’s the heart of the matter, this is what the cabbie told him: “Many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger and full of disappointment … And if you let them, they’ll dump it on you. So when someone wants to dump on you, don’t take it personally … move on.”
Easier to say than to do, though, right?
“Yeah, it is,” he agrees. But, he says, the more you practice not dumping those negatives on others, the more you apply the smile-all-the-while principle, the easier it becomes.
It’s important. The world has gotten to be an uncivil place, he says. (No kidding. Think traffic jams. Think election rhetoric. Think Congress.)
But, c’mon, even Pollay fails, at times, to heed his own good advice, doesn’t he?
“Lemmee think,” he says, gazing across the dining room of his Ocean Ridge home. He ponders. He stares straight ahead, as if trying to summon the image of that failure. The best he can do: He rushed his daughters — Eliana, 8, and Ariele, 7 — when he was running late, recently, to get them to art class. Practitioners themselves of The Law, they forgave him.
This give-yourself-very-good-advice-and-actually-follow-it attitude has been Pollay’s philosophy all his life, he says. He got his master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania in applied positive psychology, after all. And made his living as a speaker, advising corporations and organizations on how to create happier, more productive workplaces.
But does this self-described “pretty even-tempered” guy ever feel that he’s being, um, a Pollay-anna?
No, and he’ll tell you why. His work is based in science. It’s not an unsubstantiated theory. The documentation is there, in his book: Nice guys don’t finish last.

Interfaith21: Sharing and caring are best messages of season

Posted by Mary Kate Leming on December 1, 2010 at 14:12

Delray Beach Interfaith Clergy Association president the Rev. Kathleen Gannon of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church (right) , with Maya Malay. Photo by C.B. Hanif

Once again (and be thankful you can’t hear me sing it), “It’s that most wonderful time of the year.”
At Jewish temples around South Florida — indeed, around the world — congregations are preparing for Hanukkah. The holiday commemorates the rededication of the Jewish Temple and the miracle of the oil that burned for eight days. Thus this year’s Dec. 2-9 celebration, and the traditional designation, “Festival of Lights.”
Christian congregations here and worldwide are readying for Christmas Day, Dec. 25. Ministers and lay people alike are working to keep us focused past the commercialism of the holiday to its true spirit, seen in that wonderful teacher Christ Jesus, his miraculous birth to the virgin mother Mary, the miracles he himself performed, and his message and example that provide ageless instruction, regardless of one’s background.
Meanwhile, the Delray Beach Interfaith Clergy Association kicked off the winter holidays with the second annual Interfaith Harvest Festival, Nov. 14, at Abbey Delray South. Once again the clergy group, of which I am a vice president, gathered the most spiritually diverse folks I’ve seen around these parts for an evening of dinner and interfaith sharing, at no cost other than donations for the food pantry at CROS (Christians Reaching Out to Society) Ministries.
We need a lot more such gatherings, of course, which brings me to this year’s hajj, the largest annual gathering of people in the world. This year the Muslim pilgrimage to the holy city Mecca, in Saudi Arabia, drew an estimated 3.5 million worshipers at its high point, Nov. 15.
Muslims who are healthy and can afford to are called on to make the pilgrimage at least once in their lifetimes. The height of the Hajj is the Day of Arafat, a daylong communion with God in the desert outside Mecca, as the pilgrims — men wearing only two pieces of white linen, a reminder that all are equal before God — seek forgiveness and offer prayers for family, friends and humanity.
The next day is the major holiday Eid al-Adha, signifying a return to our human innocence, like a newborn baby free of sins. This year, members of the Islamic Center of Boca Raton again made a point of inviting the public to its Eid celebrations, as others increasingly are doing.
There isn’t space here to list or expound on all the winter holidays.
But beyond the gatherings of families and friends, perhaps the best achievement is that folks of different faiths — or claiming no particular faith — increasingly are participating in the celebration of other traditions.
The sharing and caring, and the remembrance that “the other” is one of our fellow human beings, may be the best message of any season.

C.B. Hanif is a writer and inter-religious affairs consultant. Find him at www.interfaith21.com

Cookies as gifts? Just wrap 'em up!

Posted by Mary Kate Leming on December 1, 2010 at 14:00

A basket full of cookies is great for a host; line it with decorative tissue or a pretty dishtowel as a bonus.

By Jan Norris

A whole lot of baking is going on right about now — cookies are a universal holiday gift. Hardly anyone turns down a cookie.

Make-ahead cookies are great for time-pressed cooks. We love the gingersnaps recipe given out by the pastry chef at The Ritz Carlton [RECIPE]; we’ve already made two batches and put them in the freezer for whenever someone drops in, or as an “emergency”
host gift.

The secret to them is the dough — it can be rolled into a log, effectively becoming a slice-and-bake affair. What’s easier than that? That they taste sensational is a big plus.

A number of cookie doughs will work as slice-and-bakes. In one afternoon, you could make several cookie doughs, roll them into logs and freeze them, to bake whenever you need them.

Alternately, you can flatten the same dough into two or three disks, to roll and cut out into shapes later on, as desired. These also can be frozen for up to two months.

Once the cookies are baked, get creative with the packaging. A tin is the basic, easy way out, and available in a multitude of shapes and sizes. Even if using something so simple, line it with pretty tissue and parchment paper. (To keep cookies from shaking and breaking, fill in between cookies with an ingredient in the cookie or another tasty treat: Chocolate chips, nuts, gum drops, peppermints or cinnamon candies work well.)

Any container can become packaging for cookies. Pull decorations from the sewing or craft room, or use the computer to print out paper, or motifs to glue to ordinary boxes. Add a big bow, and you have a lovely, heartfelt gift.

Maybe you’re not a baker. Ask around and find someone else who’s planning to bake, and offer to buy ingredients if they’ll bake some for you. This time of year, bakeries, green markets and specialty stores have holiday cookies on the shelves or take orders.

Bring them home and repackage them into a pretty, secondary gift for the host or hostess. Here are some ideas:

Chinese take-out food boxes work great. Line plain white ones with bright red waxed tissue. Ask your local Chinese restaurant for a couple, or find them at party supply stores.

Bakery boxes look professional and make your cookies look expensive — even store-bought ones. Trim the box with a pretty ribbon; decorate with a nice seal to fasten the box. Find these at cake-supply stores in a number of different sizes.

Pretty holiday plates make nice, reusable containers — especially for frosted cookies that need to lay flat. Find them in a variety of sizes, one of a kind, at area thrift stores. Wrap them in clear cellophane and tie the top with a twist tie, then wire-edged ribbon.

Stack them up! Cutout cookies look great in a stack – and pretty enough to show off through a cellophane bag.

Bar cookies, fudge and flat, slice-and-bake cookies look nice in stacks. Find clear or decorative cellophane bags at party stores or cake supply stores and slide a stack carefully into one. To prevent sticking, slip a small square of waxed paper between each cookie. If need, stabilize the bag with a square of chipboard placed in the bottom.

A teacup or mug (include a box of peppermint tea) is a perfect container for a cookie gift for one.

Use a mug to pack a half-dozen favorites for a coffee- or tea-lover. Pack the cookies in the cup and overwrap with cellophane. Tie a box of tea or coffee to the mug.

If you’re giving a large number of cookies, consider packing them in a cookie canister. It’s also reusable and keeps the cookies fresh. Put waxed paper between layers of any cookies you stack.

If giving cookies to another baker, pack them in a mixing bowl, with the recipe. Or, measure out only the dry ingredient, place in a sealed plastic bag inside the bowl, and send the cook instructions for finishing the cookies. Tie the whole thing up in a pretty kitchen towel.

Paws Up for Pets: Expert coaches dog owners to coach their dogs

Posted by Mary Kate Leming on December 1, 2010 at 14:00

By Arden Moore
One aspect about dogs that I enjoy is that they don’t care if you make minimum wage or your name is Oprah. They could not care less if you drive a 10-year-old sedan or a brand new BMW. They never would text their canine pals to diss about your lack of fashion sense — even if they did possess opposable thumbs.
When it comes right down to it, dogs love us purely and completely.
So, why are we turning far too many of them into frog farmers?
That term, coined by Alison Armstrong, an expert on understanding men, has been adapted in the pet world by Tamar Geller, best described as “dog coach to the stars.”
Her positive, encouraging, playful training style has worked on dogs sharing homes with the Who’s Who of Hollywood, ranging from Ben Affleck and Courteney Cox to Owen Wilson and Oprah Winfrey.
She also is the owner and operator of The Loved Dog, a cage-free doggy boarding and day care center in Southern California and founder of Operation Heroes & Hounds, a nonprofit program that champions homeless dogs and wounded military personnel.
Recently, this New York Times bestselling author appeared on my Oh Behave show on Pet Life Radio. Geller came to talk about her game plan to create a well-mannered dog in a month.
She is so confident people can convert doggy Dennis the Menaces into polite, playful pooches that she authored a new book aptly titled, 30 Days to a Well-Mannered Dog: The Loved Dog Method.

But first, let’s go back to that frog prince reference. I’ll let Geller explain.
“Many women want to ‘kiss the frog’ to get a handsome prince, but too many take a prince and fill his life with negativity that we turn them into frogs,” she begins. “The same principle holds true with good puppies and dogs rescued from shelters or adopted from responsible breeders. We scold them, tell them ‘no’ and command them to do this or not do that to the point that we risk turning them into dogs who distrust people or who want to run away. In short, we end up ‘frogging’ the dog.”
When one takes a negative, punitive approach to dog training, it’s easy to see why some dogs start thinking that their full names are: No Leave It Stop It Now. Fortunately, Geller is on a mission to change all that.
“Dogs don’t want to feel that they are wrong all the time,” says Geller. “We need to bring kindness back into dog training. With my clients, I show them how much they already know. I help them learn how to align their dogs’ desires with their own to create rich and enduring relationships that work wonderfully for everyone.”
In her book, she outlines specific ways to incorporate love, play and mutual respect to get your new dog off on the right paw — or help you make a fresh start with your current dog — in 30 days.
For starters, take on the role of coach and not doggy commander. “Be a compassionate coach and not a doggy dictator and your dog will want to do more to please you,” she says.
Sprinkle in some doggy humor and be flexible.
“If you want your dog to learn to sit and he backs up each time, then say, ‘back off’ and reward that behavior and then go back to teaching sit. If your dog is eating grass, have a little fun and mark that action by saying, ‘be a goat.’ ”
And, if you really want your dog to feel that you “get” him, than engage in a game of tug-of-war with defined rules.
Explains Geller, “This is a game that comes natural to dogs.
In the beginning, let him win more.
At the end, you win more. The key is to that when you tell your dog to drop the toy, he does so immediately and sits politely. Your dog knows that the only way he will get his toy back is to listen and drop. You are showing real leadership. At the end of the game, say, ‘no more’ and take the toy with you. Do that and you will have an unbelievable dog who is eager to please you.”
As the holidays approach, pet adoptions increase. My wish is that you consider adopting from a shelter an adult dog from a shelter who matches your personality and enroll in an obedience class that focuses on positive reinforcement techniques.
You can learn more about bringing out the best in your dog by visiting www.tamargeller.com and by tuning into the Oh Behave show that features Tamar Geller by clicking on: www.markiac.addr.com/PET_LIFE_RADIO/behaveep125.html.
Happy howl-days!

Arden Moore, Founder of Four Legged Life.com, is an animal behavior consultant, editor, author and professional speaker. She happily shares her home with two dogs, two cats and one overworked vacuum cleaner. Tune in to her Oh Behave show on Pet Life Radio.com and learn more by visiting www.fourleggedlife.com.

'Air Force Cowboy' story spurred by wartime memories

Posted by Mary Kate Leming on December 1, 2010 at 14:00

Ocean Ridge author Bill Finley and his novel, Air Force Cowboy. Photo provided

By Mary Jane Fine
Oh, does Bill Finley have stories to tell! About his growing-up years in a Chicago tenement. About his Uncle Jack, who taught him at 16 to fly a Piper Cub. About meeting Anita, his wife of 36 years now, in Miami. About his Army Air Corps service during World War II.
Ah, yes, those war years: the basis for Air Force Cowboy, his 496-page novel, self-published in October.
His Uncle Jack was the inspiration for the book’s daredevil stunt pilot, BlackJack Hosmer, whose son, Lori, is the book’s hero.
So, uh, is Lori a thinly disguised stand-in for Finley himself?
“Anita says I am,” he demurs, “but I’m not smart enough.”
Finley’s modesty may just match his energy level. He wrote Air Force Cowboy in one year — “Whenever I have an hour, that’s where I am” — and he’s already on page 265 of his next novel, which is about the moon. Uhn-uh, no more details, except to say it involves a shocking discovery by an astronomer.
A 3-foot-tall poster promoting Air Force Cowboy occupies pride of place, alongside windows overlooking the ocean in the second-floor living room of the Ocean Ridge house he had built 24 years ago. In the years since he and Anita have filled the home with contemporary sculptures and fiber-art wall hangings and eye-catching mobiles.
On a wall in his office hangs a framed picture of his wartime crew and, beneath the photo, five service medals honoring his years with Moller’s Maulers, the 390th Bomb Group, Third Wing of the Eighth Air Force, stationed in East Anglia, England.
The frame also contains his “lucky bastard” award, certifying the completion of his tour of duty on Christmas Eve, 1944. After 35 missions as a co-pilot he was “now eligible to return to God’s country (the lucky bastard).”
Finley enlisted in June 1942, on the day he graduated from Washington High School in Milwaukee. He didn’t attend his graduation because his family had, as he says, “dragged me to Indiana” by then, but he drove back to Milwaukee to sign up to go to war.
For the book, he relied extensively on his memory — prodigious — but also did considerable research, much of it via Google and at least 10 books. He consulted only two people: retired Col. Edward West of the U.S. Corps of Engineers, for issues regarding West Point and for military rank questions, and Anita, who read the book in process, chapter by chapter.
Anita, he says, is “both a friendly critic and my greatest supporter. She doesn’t hesitate to say, ‘That makes no sense’ or ‘Where’d you get that?’ ”
And you can bet he has a story about that, too.

South Palm Beach: Millar to face hearing on ethics complaint

Posted by Mary Kate Leming on November 5, 2010 at 9:00

Correction: In the following sentence the proposed height of the building is incorrect. The current proposed height is 10-stories. Our apologies for the error.

Millar said in January he filed complaints against Planning Board members Michael Nevard, Dee Robinson and Pat Festino, accusing them of bias against a proposal to build a
19-story condominium hotel by the owners of the inn.

By Tim O’Meilia

South Palm Beach Mayor Martin Millar’s late night trip to Rachel’s strip club and steakhouse in West Palm Beach last year has landed him in trouble with the state Commission on Ethics.

Ethics commissioners found probable cause Oct. 27 that Millar violated state law by trying to use his influence as mayor to obtain “a special privilege, benefit or exemption.” According to ethics investigators, Millar tried to use his position to return to the club after he was thrown out, avoid arrest, avoid a police report, contact an officer’s supervisor and obtain rides to and from a hospital.

A hearing will be set for Millar or he can seek a settlement with the commission, said commission spokeswoman Kerrie Stillman. Millar said he would wait for a hearing. If he is found guilty, the penalties can range from a reprimand to removal from office and fines of up to $10,000. The violation is not a criminal offense.

“I can’t deny I was at a place I shouldn’t have been,” Millar said, but denied that he tried to use his position to influence West Palm Beach police officers who responded to a call from Rachel’s management Aug. 17, 2009.

Managers told police that Millar was strong-armed out of the club after shining a flashlight on the dancers and refusing to stop. They called police because someone said Millar had a gun. A police search found no gun.

Police wrote in their reports that Millar repeatedly said he was the mayor of South Palm Beach, a former police officer and that he was friends with West Palm Beach Police Chief Delsa Bush and a member of the Palm Beach County’s advisory Criminal Justice Commission.

Millar returned home that night with the tow truck driver who towed his car.

Later, when South Palm Beach officer Swed Savage saw him standing outside his condominium, Millar asked for a ride to the hospital because his neck hurt, according to the reports. The mayor’s request was denied. He was driven to the hospital by paramedics after police called them.

He later phoned police for a ride home and was denied again, the reports said. He called Police Chief Roger Crane, who told Savage he could drive Millar home during his break and in his own vehicle.

“I never did call them and I have a statement that says that (the police officer) suggested he drive me and he called the captain and was told no,” Millar said.
“It’s all documented that I did not call for a ride.”

John Taft, the South Palm Beach resident who filed the complaint, died Oct. 18 before the probable cause finding was made public. Ethics complaints are secret until they are dismissed or probable cause is found, as in Millar’s case.

The ethics complaint is the first to be dealt with of at least six complaints made against South Palm Beach officials by residents battling over the future of the Palm Beach Oceanfront Inn.

Millar said in January he filed complaints against Planning Board members Michael Nevard, Dee Robinson and Pat Festino, accusing them of bias against a proposal to build a 19-story condominium hotel by the owners of the inn.

Inn co-owner Pjeter Paloka has filed complaints against Councilwoman Stella Jordan and Susan Lillybeck, Jordan confirmed. The five complaints remain unresolved.

“As far as I’m concerned, it’s retaliation for filing ethics complaints against Nevard, Robinson and Festino,” Millar said. “My incident happened more than a year ago.”

Jordan said in a statement that Millar continues to embarrass the town. “I called for the mayor to resign shortly after the Rachel’s incident during the Sept. 22, 2009, council meeting. I was not an elected official at the time and was surprised that a censure, at a minimum, was not proposed. My thoughts have not changed.”

Manalapan: New manager is shown the door in swift reorganization

Posted by Mary Kate Leming on November 4, 2010 at 17:00

By Steve Plunkett

In the end, the firing was much quicker than the hiring.

Manalapan commissioners spent less than 70 minutes collapsing the duties of finance director into Town Manager Tom Heck’s job, dismissing him and offering Finance
Director Linda Stumpf the reorganized position.

Commissioners also chose Donald Brennan, a former zoning commissioner, to fill Commissioner Marilyn Hedberg’s seat. Hedberg resigned the day before, citing health issues in her family.

Heck had given a short report on making town government more effective and efficient, recommending that Manalapan digitize its records, install electronic water meters, and put energy-saving light bulbs and window film in Town Hall. After that, he said, he would look for ways to improve town processes, perform a classification and workload study, and finally identify opportunities for reorganization.

Commissioner Howard Roder wanted more immediate change.

“I feel it’s time to reorganize the town,’’ he said, moving to fire Heck on the spot. Consolidating the town manager and finance director positions would save the town about $150,000 a year, Roder said.

Heck’s quick termination was a sharp contrast to the five-plus months Manalapan spent finding him. The town put ads in the Wall Street Journal, Craigslist and government job websites and sorted through 300 resumes after longtime Town Manager Greg Dunham resigned in December. Heck, an Air Force Academy graduate and retired lieutenant colonel, started May 17.

Before the vote, Mayor Kelly Gottlieb said the town would have to hire outside help to manage capital improvements in the water system if it lost Heck’s engineering expertise, negating Roder’s promised savings. She also that the town had not even started its promised reorganization study and that she didn’t know if Stumpf was interested in the new job.

“So I personally feel we’re jumping the gun a little bit,’’ Gottlieb said.

The commission took a 15-minute recess to let Stumpf consider the offer and to let Gottlieb and Mayor Pro Tem Robert Evans gauge her interest.

“Linda would be willing to work as interim town manager,’’ Gottlieb confirmed when the meeting resumed.

Resident Clarence Elder urged commissioners to give townsfolk time to evaluate Stumpf before promoting her.

“It should not be rammed down anybody’s throat to install her, especially the taxpayers’,’’ Elder said. ‘’Most of the taxpayers won’t even know until sometime later what has taken place right now.’’

Vice Mayor Basil Diamond said Stumpf has been working for Manalapan for eight years, was acting town manager after Dunham left and before Heck arrived, and was essentially an unofficial assistant town manager most of the time before that.

“It’s not that we’re unfamiliar with her abilities and her experience and her loyalty to the town,’’ Diamond said.

The reorganization was approved 4-1 with Commissioner William Bernstein dissenting.

Stumpf and commissioners will negotiate her contract before the November commission meeting. She asked that Heck be allowed to stay on two weeks to brief her on issues Manalapan faces. Heck, who was paid $123,000 a year, also will get sixmonths’ pay as severance.

Roder said his plan should not have caught anyone off guard. He proposed it during his unsuccessful run for commissioner in 2008, during a summer budget hearing
and again at the September commission meeting.

“This is not something I just came up with,’’ Roder said.

After the meeting, Stumpf called her swift job change both ‘’surprising’’ and ‘’very flattering.’’

“I’m still digesting everything,’’ she said. “I feel that I can do the job — I have no doubt.’’

Diamond said he spoke with Brennan before nominating him to replace Hedberg. Bernstein nominated Daphne Weaver-Fessler, an Architectural Commission member and onetime New York assistant district attorney. Brennan was chosen on a 4-1 vote with
Bernstein dissenting.

Her heart went ‘boom’ when he crossed that room

Posted by Mary Kate Leming on November 4, 2010 at 11:30

By Ron Hayes
On Feb. 7, 1964 — only ten weeks after the assassination of JFK — a shaggy pop group called The Beatles landed at the recently renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, and that new generation of Americans he had inspired found its song.
Kathy Fay shared a bit of that history, too.
Through her father’s position as undersecretary of the Navy, her mother had become friendly with the wife of David Ormsby-Gore, the British ambassador to the U.S.
“As soon as my friends heard the Beatles were going to give a concert at the Washington Coliseum, they all started asking me to ask my parents to get us tickets,” she remembers.
“I’m begging my mother. I hounded her and hounded her. Say you’ll pay for the tickets!”
Finally, Anita Fay relented.
Yes, Sylvia Ormsby-Gore, replied, she could provide tickets for Kathy and a few friends. And she would also be hosting a small reception for the band prior to a masked charity ball at the British Embassy.
At the 28-minute Beatles performance, their seats were bad, the acoustics worse, and the deafening screams almost frightening.
But then, on that night of Feb. 11, as she stood in the embassy scarcely believing her good luck, Paul McCartney came over and whispered in her ear: “Close your eyes and I’ll kiss you.”
“I was just doing that to embarrass you,” he said. Then he asked her to be his date at the masked ball later that evening.
Kathy sought out Mrs. Ormsby-Gore, who immediately squelched the idea.
“No, no, it wouldn’t be appropriate,” she said “It’s going to be late and for adults.”
A crushed Kathy reported back to Paul.
“Oh, sure, you can,” he told her.
Again she asked. Again the ambassador’s wife refused.
And so, instead of a date with Paul McCartney, she got pictures — with him, and another with all four Beatles.

‘Her friend, Jack Kennedy’: Letter’s publication stirs dream-like memories

Posted by Mary Kate Leming on November 4, 2010 at 11:30

By Ron Hayes

In the weeks and months after Nov. 22, 1963, Mrs. John F. Kennedy received more than a million letters.

Expressions of shock at her husband’s assassination and sympathy for his family arrived at the White House from world leaders and religious figures, movie stars, socialites — and a 16-year-old girl in McLean, Va., who wrote:

Dear Jackie,

I will never forget when I first met the president. I was sitting on his lap in San Francisco and he was telling me about when he would become president, he’d
invite me over to the White House.

Katherine Fay did visit the White House, more than once.

Now her letter has reappeared, in Dear Mrs. Kennedy: The World Shares Its Grief, a collection marking the 47th anniversary of JFK’s assassination.

“I’d forgotten I’d even written a letter,” Kathy Fay said recently, picking through a pile of old snapshots and newspaper clippings in her Delray Beach home. “Then I got a call requesting permission to print it.”

Fay’s father, Paul “Red” Fay, was one of the president’s closest friends. They met during World War II, when both were at PT-Boat school in Rhode Island, and recuperated together after both their boats were hit by the Japanese in the South Pacific. Fay campaigned for JFK in his first congressional race, ushered at his wedding and, in 1961, was named undersecretary of the Navy.

To his daughter, the president of the United States was a family friend.

“I remember once we were at Camp David and I’d just eaten dinner with Caroline and John-John,” she recalls.

While the president and her parents watched a Pink Panther movie, she went swimming in the pool and, diving too deep too fast, struck her finger on the concrete bottom.

“Dad, I think I broke my finger,”

“See me after the movie,” her distracted father said.

But JFK took her aside. “Oh, you really did hurt your finger.”

The president summoned the White House physician, who bandaged the finger while he watched.

Later, when a private tour of the White House was arranged for Fay and some friends, the president happened to see her, called them into the Oval Office and ordered photos taken.

She still has that picture, signed to Kathy “from her friend, Jack Kennedy.”

And then there’s the memory she hates to remember.

“We were in Seattle because my father was giving a speech,” Fay recalled.

While her father addressed a civic group, Kathy, her mother and 5-year-old sister, Sally, passed the time at a department store. Her mother went to look at antiques and Kathy took her sister see the toys — and passed the electronics department on the way.

“Everyone was gathered around the TVs,” she says. “I’m hearing the news and it’s just not going into my head. The idea was completely impossible.”

She remembers adults dropping to their knees in the store to pray.

“Does that mean I don’t have a godfather anymore?” her sister asked.

In a taxi, she heard the radio report that the president — “her friend Jack Kennedy” — had died.

“My father was a man of a lot of expressions,” she explained, choking up a bit even now. “I could always tell when he was mad or when he was teasing, and he looked dead. He had no expression, like his soul had run out of him. That’s when I realized the president really had died.”

A few days later, she stood in line at the White House, waiting to express her condolences to the president’s widow.

“Don’t cry,” her father ordered.

She cried, and Mrs. Kennedy embraced her.

“She hugged me and started to whimper and say, ‘It’s OK,’ ” Fay remembers.

And then she wrote a letter.

I hope that if a crisis ever hit our house, I could carry on as majestically and beautiful as you did.

I will pray for you.

Sincerely, Katherine F. Fay

The letter is one of about 200 included, along with her father’s and mother’s, in Dear Mrs. Kennedy.

“We chose that letter because it’s rare to have generations represented,” says Paul De Angelis, who edited the collection with Paul Mulvaney. “It shows something of the personal charisma of JFK, and how he had affected each family memory very closely. There are friends, and there are friends.”

John F. Kennedy was only 46 when he died on Nov. 22, 1963.

On Nov. 22, 2010, he will have been gone longer than he lived.

“Does it seem like 47 years?” Fay said, looking at a photo of her young self with a president younger than she is now.

“No. But then that time in my life was so extraordinary, it all seems like a dream anyway.”

Delray Beach: City approves Marriott renovation, addition

Posted by Mary Kate Leming on November 3, 2010 at 16:36

By Margie Plunkett

Two years after the city gave Delray Beach Marriott the go-ahead for a renovation that would include a four-story addition, the hotel company received a two-year extension to complete the construction.
The Marriott, owned by Ocean Properties Ltd., hasn’t started construction yet, but the first phases could get underway as early as the beginning of the new year.
The expansion of the ocean view hotel at Atlantic Avenue and Ocean Boulevard was first approved in October 2008, but was delayed because of the unhealthy economy, according to architect Gary Eliopoulos, also a town commissioner.
The plans called for a two-story addition with nine cabana suites, a four-story addition with 27 suites and a first-floor retail and commercial component. The hotel planned expansion of the pool deck and its existing restaurant as well.
The Marriott is currently five stories with 180 rooms, 88 suites and 12 meeting spaces.
The Marriott’s recent request to put a modular kitchen on its property also got the nod and will be in place while the hotel renovates its current kitchen space.
The Marriott has been owned by the Walsh family for more than 30 years, Eliopoulos said.
Tom Walsh is chairman of the company that is one of the largest privately held hotel and development companies in the United States, according to Hoover’s.
Walsh, who started in the industry in 1950 with one hotel, built Maine’s first franchised Holiday Inn in
1969.

Delray Beach: City tightens up sidewalk cafe permitting

Posted by Mary Kate Leming on November 3, 2010 at 16:34

By Margie Plunkett

Putting safety first, Delray Beach changed the rules for sidewalk cafés to keep seating at least two feet away from moving traffic.
“It’s our job to help the businesses to create this ambiance that we’ve got going on, but we still owe it to the public to protect them,” said Commissioner Gary Eliopoulos.
The comments came as commissioners addressed changes for sidewalk cafés that would also limit who operates them and increase fees 50 percent for permitting and violations, all measures approved on second reading Nov. 2.
Past auto crashes and current cafés with seating too close for comfort to moving traffic led to the proposed setback of two feet from the curb.
While that affects cafés next to moving traffic, the restriction wouldn’t apply to those buffered by parallel parking.
The clearance equals about the average overhang on the front of a car, Eliopoulos said, protecting café patrons from vehicles that approach slowly. “If the car’s coming fast, it’s coming up on the curb — and you’d better eat fast,” he said.
The rule changes also aimed to rein in the growing number of sidewalk cafés in Delray Beach operated by retailers that are not primarily in the food-preparation business, according to a staff memo.
Those retailers aren’t eligible to run sidewalk cafés, which are limited to operation by restaurants or businesses like candy, ice cream or sandwich shops that prepare food on the premises. Under the amended ordinance, the application fee for an outdoor café will increase to $150 from $100 and the one-year permit, which runs from July 1 to June 30, will cost $4.50 per square foot, up from $3. The cost of violating the rules will jump to $150 from $100 for a second offense; the first offense remains a warning.
The allowed location of outdoor dining areas would expand to include not only the front of an establishment, but also along the side street.
Cafés must keep out of a 5-foot-area left open for pedestrians as well.
Operators would be restricted from keeping trash cans, food preparation areas and registers in the outdoor space. The city has the role of aesthetic watchdog, guarding against furnishings that are not of quality design, workmanship or otherwise acceptable.
The changes would be effective for new permits and renewals.

Delray Beach: Amid financial struggles historical society seeks help

Posted by Mary Kate Leming on November 3, 2010 at 16:32

By Pilar Ulibarri de Rivera

City commissioners voted Nov. 2 to help the Delray Beach Historical Society supplement its operational costs, potentially keeping it from becoming history itself.
“We are having financial constraints,” said historical society President Tom Stanley. “And we’ve had to reduce our budget, like most charities in the county.”
Stanley told the commission he earned the title “The Slasher” during the process of trimming the annual budget from about $250,000 to less than $50,000. The society was still $17,000 short, which is where the city stepped in.
Longtime City Manager David Harden related that when he took his position, the city was helping the society get by. But its fundraising efforts helped it become self-sufficient and “they haven’t asked the city for support in 20 years.”
“People just aren’t giving the way the used to,” Stanley said.
Mayor Woodie McDuffie said it was sad that with all the talk in the community about “how much we treasure our history, we are here talking about how to keep it afloat.”
“It seems we’re not putting our money where our mouth is.” He said.
The society has reduced operational hours, eliminated events such as the Antiques Show and Sale and lost personnel, mainly its executive director. Also, its mission has been reduced “for the time being,” Stanley said.
The nonprofit organization, founded in 1964, was forced this year to seek help outside grants, private donations and fundraisers for a temporary source of funding.
A recent grant proposal to the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency was denied, because it “did not fall within the CRA’s mission,” said Elizabeth Butler, CRA marketing and grants coordinator.
“We couldn’t help them like they wanted but overall we are very supportive of the historical society and its mission,” she said. “It serves a need in the community.”
Co-founded by Ethel Sterling Williams, who arrived in Delray Beach (then the Linton Settlement) in 1896 with her family, the society has grown over the years to include a full-blown archive, museum and learning center.
Also, it has expanded on its mission “to preserve the city’s archives and historic sites, to educate the community about Delray’s heritage and to encourage public interest in the historic past of Delray Beach,” and acquired three buildings to do so.
Besides the 1988 acquisition of the Cason Cottage and 2002 addition of the 1926 Bungalow, the society added the 1908 Hunt House to the complex in 2007. It was later reopened as the Ethel Sterling Williams History Learning Center and Archives and houses the society’s archives in a steel and concrete facility.
“It’s a strain to maintain and insure three buildings,” Stanley said.
So, the organization’s priority has become the preservation of its prized archives, which includes biography files, photographs, real estate documents, maps, newspapers and memorabilia from local businesses and families, and to keep its archivist, Dorothy Patterson.

Paws Up for Pets: Pets in church? OMG!

Posted by Mary Kate Leming on November 3, 2010 at 16:00

View photo slideshow of local pet blessings | Pets' letters to God

By Arden Moore

Have you ever wondered if your dog or cat prays? Believes in a higher power? Will your beloved departed pets be waiting for you with tail wags and purrs in Heaven?

Life on Earth poses far more questions than answers. But what is certain is this: Never underestimate the power of prayer — or paw power for that matter.

The Rev. Aaron Janklow of the First Presbyterian Church of Delray Beach certainly doesn’t.

Nor does Dee Zlatic, children’s minister at the St. Joseph’s Episcopal Church in Boynton Beach.

Rivaling Christmas and Easter services in terms of attendance has to be the annual blessing of the animals that takes place in churches and synagogues throughout
Palm Beach County during October. For history buffs, the annual blessing of animals dates back to medieval times. Credit St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals, for making sure that God’s furry, feathered and finned flock is never overlooked.

Predictably, attendance — and attentiveness — soars when congregations open their doors to dogs, cats, birds and the occasional alligator, goat or hedgehog.

“This year’s blessing of the animals service was our biggest and best one yet,” declares Zlatic, whose husband, the Rev. Martin Zlatic, presided over the 15th annual special service. “We celebrate creation and part of God’s creation involves all the unique and diverse animals in the world.”

This year’s four-legged flock even included police horses too towering to trot through the church’s doors. They received their blessings outside.

Janklow, who still has vivid, fond memories of his childhood dog, looks forward eagerly to presiding over this annual service.

“Last year was my first year here and there was a lot of barking and noise, but the second I came to the lectern in the outside courtyard where we held the blessings, all noises stopped and everyone, including the animals, became calm,” he recalls. “Our pets can be such blessings to us, so I say, why not bless them? They sense when we are sick, unhappy or sad and try to lift our spirits. They bring us comfort and joy.”

Alexandra Harris, Ph.D., a deacon at the First Presbyterian Church and a licensed psychologist, helps oversee the annual blessing of the animals. And that includes Boo Bear, her “social butterfly” Shih Tzu, who gleefully dishes out tail wags to any and all who approach her.

“She is a very happy soul,” Harris says. “Pets represent such a spiritual meaning that is hard to express in words. They are truly blessed gifts in our lives.”

I happily agree. Our pets unleash unconditional love, prove to be superb listeners and confidants, and deliver that needed tail wag or purr when we need it the most. They could not care less if you are a plumber named Joe or a guy named Bill Gates. They don’t care if they live in a mansion or an RV trailer. All they care is that they get to spend time with you.

The late Roger Caras said it best: “Dogs are not our whole lives, but they make our lives whole.”

And that goes for cats, birds – and the occasional hedgehog.

Arden Moore, Founder of Four Legged Life.com, is an animal behavior consultant, editor, author and professional speaker. She happily shares her home with two dogs, two cats and one overworked

vacuum cleaner. Tune in to her Oh Behave! show on Pet Life Radio.com and learn more by visiting www.fourleggedlife.com.

Pets’ Letters to God

Posted by Mary Kate Leming on November 3, 2010 at 16:00

Pets’ Letters to God

One of my favorite books about pets and spirituality is spiced with insight and humor. The book, Pets’ Letters to God, was authored by Mark Bricklin, a former colleague at Rodale Press, masterfully captured the innocence and curiosity of our pets.

Here are four excerpts from this delightful book:

Nicky the Border collie asks, “Dear God: When I get to Heaven, can I play Frisbee with my halo?”

Felix the cat writes, “Dear God: Dog spelled backwards is ‘God.’ Cat spelled backwards is ‘Tac.’ Excuse me?”

Laddie Boy makes this request: “Dear God: When we get to Heaven, can we sit on your couch? Or is it the same old story?”

Cappy the cat asks, “Dear God: Is the Mormon Tomcat Choir out of the question?”

—Arden Moore