Lantana Town Council threatened to evict the county from Fire Station 37 if it didn’t agree to pay at least $55,000 plus utilities for its tenancy at the building.

Town Manager Mike Bornstein said early in August that he and the town attorney had met with County Administrator Robert Weisman and Fire Chief Steve Jerauld to negotiate the lease at the property, reporting that some fire-rescue staff argued they should only pay for utilities.

Bornstein said he explained, however, that before the Municipal Service Taxing Unit, the town received $55,000 for the building. Council moved to proceed with an eviction notice if the county made an offer for less. Later in August, the town said it would put the eviction on its Sept. 13 council agenda if there was no progress.

—Margie Plunkett

By Antigone Barton

A casual passerby might have trouble imagining the battered old building in downtown Boynton Beach as the vibrant gathering place city commissioners hoped for at their August meeting.

But coastal residents who went to high school there don’t have to imagine. They remember.

Dorothy McNeice of Briny Breezes remembers the years before World War II, when the building brought people together, to see a play or watch a game in the school’s combination gym and theater, its “gymnatorium.” She sees the friends she made there to this day, at Boynton Beach Historical Society meetings.

Bob Kraft, also of Briny Breezes, remembers the day after the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor, when the student body sat in the gymnatorium to hear a radio broadcast of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s address to Congress, calling the nation to war against Japan in response to “a date which will live in infamy.”

And Boynton Beach native and businessman Harvey Oyer remembers study hall, where a farm boy took the trouble to help him with his algebra, in spite of his own doubts he would ever master the subject.

It was a time when seasonal residents like McNeice and Kraft got an extra mini vacation in the beginning of the school year in a required two-week quarantine for children who came down from the North. It was a time when the city was smaller, when State Road A1A was more scrub than building, and a time before a succession of storms tore away at the once-grand 1920s-era structure.

But with city commissioners’ agreement at their Aug. 3 meeting to seek expert input on funding to restore the old Boynton Beach High School, the building’s history may be the foundation of its future as, once again, a center of community life.

After years of contention over the old building — with plans to knock it down countered by pleas to preserve it — while rain poured through the gymnatorium ceiling, the commission’s decision in May to temporarily patch the roof served as a signal of hope for the building.

The commission’s decision in August to put out a request for candidates to find ways to restore the building, signals hope for public-private partnerships that will restore the building to its former state, draw visitors and residents to downtown Boynton Beach, and draw jobs and money to the area, Mayor Jose Rodriguez said.

“Potentially, we could redevelop the high school with no cost to taxpayers,” Rodriguez said. “A game plan,” he adds, should be in place by the end of October.

His thoughts are not at odds with the hopes of others interested in the building’s future, a promising sign for a place that owes much of its current state of disrepair to delays caused by differing views.

Barbara Ready, chair of Save the Old School Space committee has long hoped that the building would be used for community activities.

“It’s true we have a box-full of studies,” Ready said, citing a point made at the August meeting. “The one we don’t have, but need, is a financial feasibility study.”

Such a study will show how the school can be sustained as a community venue, with some space available for businesses, she said.

And that is in line with a vision held by Oyer, who now operates his insurance business blocks from the building where he finally mastered algebra.

Like others, he saw the building’s memories disperse, as the nation joined World War II. The boy who taught him algebra joined the military and was killed in France. Seasonal residents like McNeice finished their school years back North where their parents returned to do war-related work. In 1949, Kraft says, the building held its last graduation.

Now, Oyer sees an audience gathering once again in the gymnatorium.

“The stage area is big enough to put on a lot of fine entertainment,” he said. Downstairs a café can supply refreshments, he added.

Civic clubs, which, he points out, “have kind of gone downhill, in part because there’s no central place to meet.” They could contribute financially, he adds, “to make the thing a success.”

1928 — Building used as a shelter during 1928 hurricane. The second-floor auditorium collapses during the storm. No one was injured.

1931 — Graduating class motto: “Launched but not landed.”

class takes trip to Havana, Cuba.
Grades 9 through 12 phased out after Seacrest High School (the old
Atlantic High School in Delray Beach) is opened.

1984 —Palm Beach County School Board announces plans to close the elementary school housed in the building. Councilman Jim Warnke suggests using the building as a
museum.

1993 — City of Boynton Beach acquires building from the Palm Beach County School Board.

Source: Boynton Beach Library Archives and newspaper reports

1921 — Town of Lantana is incorporated with a population of 100 residents.

Jan. 12, 1925 — Daniel McCarly becomes the town’s first police chief. In January 1927, McCarly and the town’s past treasurer are held on charges of disturbing the peace during a commission meeting and the Lake Worth marshal is called to collect his badge
and gun.

Jan. 25, 1927 — Homer Jonesis named police chief. One month later, McCarly
is returned as police chief. In 1933, Mayor Clyde Brown suspends McCarly for
“misconduct in office and neglect of duty” prior to an audit of town finances.
By 1935, McCarly is reinstated and elected to the position of chief of police
and continues to serve in that capacity for a total of 14 years.

June 14, 1937 — Police Chief Brooks Norton is sworn in.

1945 — The town no longer maintains a full-time police officer and depends on the services of officer Dewey Morris from the Manalapan police force in emergencies.

September 1946 — Norton returns as full-time police officer. He submits his letter of resignation on May 5, 1947.

May 16, 1947 — George Pagliaro is appointed police officer. The next month he is suspended for insubordination following allegations of an abusive arrest.

June 28, 1947 — George Sidney Goble is appointed police officer. In October 1948, Goble resigns after commission finds him guilty of “impoliteness towards drivers.”

Oct. 12, 1948 — Frank Meade Jr. becomes acting town police chief.

Nov. 10, 1948 — Retired New York policeman Max. A. Mergenthaler
is appointed police chief. In 1953, Mergenthaler is cleared of charges of
unbecoming conduct after it was found there was insufficient evidence he had
purchased a pistol from the defendant in a barroom brawl when it should have
been held as evidence in a case against the man. At this point the Police
Department is at full strength with a chief and two officers. In March 1954, Mergenthaler is relieved of his duties after it is said his term is expired.

March 28, 1954 — Retired New York Police Officer Edward Weiskopf is appointed police chief. In 1961, he is relieved of duty by a 3-2 vote after being accused by Mayor Charles W. Brown of insubordination, failing to carry out a directive, cursing and counter-charging Brown with harassment.

April 24, 1961 — Edward W. Kinsley is appointed police chief. He had been on the police
force since 1954. In 1964, Lantana Town Council fires Kinsley, who had previously resigned his position then asked for his resignation to be rescinded after a petition by residents bearing more than 600 signatures was presented. Council members declined to comment on their charges against the chief saying, “It is up to the chief’s discretion whether he makes the reasons public.” Kinsley later files a lawsuit against the administration opposing his firing.

April 8, 1964 — Howard Phillips is named acting police chief. He had been with the force for three years. In October, Phillips quits after being relieved from duty by Mayor Harry L. Seaman after he signed a controversial statement allegedly implicating members of the previous administration. He later returns to the force as a patrolman.

Oct. 27, 1964 — Alfred Bock is named town police chief. In November 1966, Bock resigns to become the sole police officer for the city of Atlantis.

Nov. 5, 1966 — Sgt. Gordon Philpott becomes acting chief, stating he’s not interested in applying for the position of chief.

Dec. 3, 1966 — Joseph Boucher is appointed police chief by unanimous vote. Two patrolmen quit the force questioning Boucher’s qualifications for the job. In February 1967, the Lantana Town Council relieves Boucher of his duties for “gross insubordination.” He later files suit in Palm Beach County Circuit Court seeking reinstatement alleging he was removed from his position illegally and without justification. In July 1968, Boucher resigns to become a deputy in the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Department.

Feb. 15, 1967 — Patrolman Paul Diagnault is appointed acting chief of police.

May 10, 1967 — Kenneth T. Jones is named new police administrative officer until litigation concerning former Police Chief Joseph Boucher is resolved. Jones joined the force after retiring from the New York City Police Department after 20 years of service as a deputy inspector. In January 1968, Jones is accorded a vote of confidence and
confirmation that his job with the town is secure although town ordinances require that chief should reside in the town. Jones resigns in March 1971. In August 1972, he becomes police chief in Highland Breach.

April 1971 — Daigneault, now a sergeant, is named police chief. He had been an officer on the Lantana force since 1964. By 1972, the size of the police station doubles and staff increases to 11, including six reserve officers and four dispatchers. The first woman dispatcher is hired. In March 1981, Daigneault resigns under fire for what is seen as a lack of leadership.

April 1, 1981 — Ocean Ridge residentCharles Leonard joins Lantana Police Department as chief after retiring from New York City Police Department. In 1986, Leonard moves to working on special projects after a disagreement over policing styles with Town Manager Don Harvey. On July 1, 1987, Leonard retires.

June 4, 1987 — William Carson is named police chief after holding the job on a temporary basis for six months.

July 11, 1987 — The new $500,000 police station is dedicated at 500 Greynolds Circle.

1995 — Officer Robert Chalman is named police chief when Carson retires. In February 2001, Chalman steps down as chief to take a position with the United Nations International Police Task Force is Kosovo. He had worked with the Police Department for 20 years.

March 2, 2001 — Rick Lincoln is named police chief. He had worked previously with the Delray Beach Police Department, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office and the State Attorney’s Office. After 10 years on the force, Lincoln takes early retirement offered as part of town budget cuts.

Sept. 27, 2010 — Capt. Jeff Tyson is promoted to police chief. He was a member of the Lantana Police Department for 11 years. He had worked previously with the Delray Beach Police Department and the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.

Compiled by Mary Kate Leming from Lantana town records and newspaper reports.

“I had a business background and a broad base of experience,” she acknowledges. “But I guess they asked me to be on the board of the Bethesda Memorial Hospital Auxiliary because I said I would.”

Running a second-hand store is quite a feat, she points out. “Even if you paid the volunteers 50 cents an hour, you’d never make money. It’s very labor intensive.”

But, thanks to Gannon’s and others’ hard work, the auxiliary’s projects do quite well.

Between the thrift store at 12 NE Fifth Ave. in Delray Beach and the gift shop on the hospital campus, as well as money brought in through an annual card party in
the fall and a theater night during high season, the auxiliary brings in
$125,000 to $130,000 a year to pay off its current $1 million pledge for the
second-floor waiting room of the Bethesda Heart Institute — and it already has
made good on its first $1 million, which went toward the hospital’s lobby.

Some serious money, considering that a big portion comes from the sale of little gift items and bargain-priced used stuff.

How did Gannon, newly retired and recently relocated to South Florida, get roped in to all this work? Coming from Cortland, N.Y., and buying her Briny Breezes home in 2005, she was out making new friends, when she met some ladies at a church social function. “They told me, ‘You’re fun. Why not volunteer at the Bethesda Bargain Box?’ ” And she agreed.

She first served as secretary, then as president. When the new president is sworn in this fall, she’ll continue to serve on the board.

Gannon is proud that during her tenure as president, she successfully spearheaded the move to update the Bargain Box buildings.

“Now, we match the looks of any store on Atlantic Avenue,” she said.

The front of the store is set up as a boutique. Artwork is displayed in the hallway. A media room overflows with books and records, and “the barn” in the back houses furniture, appliances and linens.

There’s something for everyone and Gannon sees shoppers from all walks of life that enjoy shopping for a good deal at a leisurely no-pressure pace.

Repeat customers come in Hummers and by bus, Gannon notes. “One cute girl bought her wedding dress for $49,” Gannon recalls. “She just needed it altered and dry-cleaned. And men love anything we’ve got that’s attached to an electric cord.”

Gannon walks the walk, too. “I say I rent my clothes. I buy them from the Bargain Box one year, and turn them in later.”

She also has parcels ready to go for her children and grandchildren: a designer coat-dress, a Roxy jean jacket, J. Crew cargo pants and Lucky Brand Jeans.

She invites all to visit, and don’t forget the upcoming card party and the theater night. Call the auxiliary office for details (561) 737-7733, Ext 4467.

— Christine Davis

10 Questions for Thelma Gannon

Q. Where did you grow up and go to school? How do you think that has influenced you?

Q. What have been your other careers or hobbies; what were the highlights?

manager. I finished my 30-year career at Jamesville DeWitt Central School
District, just east of Syracuse, N.Y. School administration is very rewarding
work and although I was not directly involved with student education, I was able
to help teachers and principals by judicious purchasing practices and careful
oversight of their budgets.

Q. What advice do you have for people first thinking about doing volunteer work?

and make friends. At the same time, I felt I had some valuable skills to offer.
I experimented with a couple of job opportunities at other community agencies
before settling in with the Auxiliary.

Q. Tell us about the Auxiliary, what all do they do?

smiling faces.

The Auxiliary is the moneymaking arm of this volunteer army. We number about 170, most of whom work in either our thrift store or our other retail store, the hospital gift shop.

We are a not-for-profit corporation and use these revenues to support our $100,000 annual pledge to the hospital building fund, as well as tuition assistance for
the employee nursery school on the hospital grounds. The Auxiliary also awards
scholarships to health career students.

Q. How did you choose to make your home in Briny Breezes?

Q. What is your favorite part about living in Briny Breezes?

Q. What book are you reading now?

this week.

Q. Have you had mentors in your life? Individuals who have inspired your life decisions?

mother. While unable to graduate from high school, she lived on her own at 17, was widowed at an early age, kept things together through the Depression and raised her family with pride and dignity.

Q. Do you have a favorite quote that inspires your decisions?

Q. If your life story were made into a movie, who would you want to play you?

By Thomas R. Collins

When I visited my mom at the nursing home the other day, I talked with the wife of another resident there.

In the dining room, with a crime drama on the TV in the background, she said something that I’ve heard a lot: “You look just like her.”

“People tell me that, and it’s interesting,” I said. “I’m adopted.”

Yes, I’m adopted. I was adopted when I was about a year old.

I’ve written two essays for this paper about my mom and her advanced dementia — which officials with Hospice of Palm Beach County said last fall likely meant she had a year or less to live — without mentioning the adoption.

A friend and writer who knows that I’m adopted — and who is adopted himself — told me he found it too interesting a nugget to have left it out of the first essay.

Not mentioning it before doesn’t have to do with any awkwardness about being adopted. In fact, I think being adopted — picked — is really cool.

It’s just that being an adopted kid seemed far less important than how my mom’s life-threatening dementia had reshaped our relationship.

More than that, though, I think, at least in the back of my mind, that I wanted to tell people about my mom in a way similar to how I came to know her. I wanted people to get to know her first, without knowing anything about the adoption.

My mother has always been my mother, with no prefixes attached. No “adoptive.”

She changed my diapers. She cooked dinner. She tucked me in. She came to my soccer games. She was always around. She loved me. It’s pretty simple — she’s my mother.

And still is, even as it becomes more and more difficult for her to remember my name when I ask her to identify me in photographs (it’s been weeks — months? — since I’ve heard her say, “Tom.”)

But now, at this point in my life, and in my mom’s, it is more fascinating than ever that I’m an adopted kid. My mom’s natural son, my brother, had problems his whole life, mostly drug-fueled. He self-destructed and died last year. My wife and I have adopted his daughter, who is great.

And I’m my mom’s legal guardian. Over the last three months, I’ve waged outright war with the nursing home administration to protect my mom and the other residents at The Crossings, in Lake Worth.

My mom’s overall care there has been good, but a few months ago the air-conditioning was not working right and residents and nursing staff were complaining about being hot. The administrator said the problem was being fixed, but brought in only fans, not portable air-conditioners, saying they were somehow incompatible with the windows (my translation: too expensive).

She said a new unit was “in process” (my translation: they were too lazy and too cheap to speed it up).

So I called the state, hoping to get an inspection with a temperature reading above 82 degrees, which would exceed the acceptable range and trigger enforcement action. The state inspector responded within 24 hours, as required, but took temperatures on a gray, rainy, cooler day. The temps checked out fine.

With my wife’s help and prodding, I berated the state inspectors for the stupidity of their timing and reached the supervisor. And, after promising lawsuits if any heat-related illnesses arose and to be in touch with the state secretary of health, I got a repeat inspection, which is not state-required.

They came on a hot day and found temperatures were above 82 degrees in parts of the nursing home. They opened a file, and a new air-conditioning unit has been installed.

A month or so later, the hot-water boiler went out, I learned from another resident. After a few days of complaints to the administrator, it was fixed.

I sometimes think about what it must have been like for my mom, looking at a line-up of kids and deciding which one to take home, like picking a doggy in the window. I’m sure I got picked for the curly-cue hair I had then, and my blue eyes. I like to think that I had some kind of indefinable spark in my toddler eyes that set my mom’s heart aflutter or something, but who knows.

But as it turns out, my mom was, at that moment, picking the person who would be standing up for her at the most vulnerable time of her life.

The fact is that there is a level of judgment that exists with an adoption that just doesn’t exist with a regular birth. There was a decision made, not just to have a child, but to have a son. And not just to have a son, but to have me as a son.

I hope that, if she could think about it clearly for a minute, my mom would agree with me: Adoption is pretty cool.

Thomas R. Collins is a freelance writer living in West Palm Beach. This is Part 3 of his chronicle of his mother's journey through dementia.

By Ron Hayes
In the fall of 1936, two country boys arrived in Columbus, Ohio, to begin their freshman year at the state university.
Robert Neff was from Canfield; William Saxbe from Mechanicsburg.
They became friends, fraternity brothers and, seven decades later, winter neighbors in coastal Palm Beach County.
Bob Neff is 94 now, and lives full-time in Delray Beach.
Bill Saxbe was also 94 on Aug. 26, when he died in Mechanicsburg at the end of a long, accomplished and sometimes-controversial life. He had spent his winters in Delray Beach and Gulf Stream and was a member of The St. Andrew’s Club, The Little Club and the Country Club of Florida.
After college and law school, Saxbe went on to become a four-term Republican state representative in Ohio, a speaker of the state House; state attorney general; a U.S. senator, U.S. attorney general during the infamous Watergate scandal that brought down the president who appointed him, and U.S. ambassador to India.
Through it all, he remained a plainspoken country boy who said what he thought.
“He was one of the funniest and most honest and down-to-earth politicians we ever had,” says Neff, his friend of 74 years. “You felt like he was one of us. Ever since the days at Ohio State, he was one of the people.”
Saxbe was a one-term U.S. senator in 1974 when President Richard M. Nixon chose him to become the faltering administration’s fourth attorney general. The first two had been accused of crimes, and the third, Elliot Richardson, had resigned to protest Nixon’s handling of the crisis.
Within months, however, Saxbe had concluded that his president was a liar.
“He had lied to me … and he tried to involve me in his lies,” Saxbe wrote in his 2000 autobiography, I’ve Seen The Elephant. “I never can forgive him for that.”
Saxbe, who declined to attend Nixon’s funeral, had already riled the Nixon White House before he became attorney general.
In 1971, he described Nixon’s top aides, H.R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman, as “a couple of Nazis.”
And in 1972, when the administration resumed the bombing of North Vietnam, Saxbe said: “I have followed President Nixon through all his convulsions and specious arguments, but he appears to have lost his senses on this.”
Occasionally, Saxbe’s candor got him in trouble.
As U.S. attorney general, he was clearly wrong when the so-called “Symbionese Liberation Army” and kidnapped heiress Patty Hearst were photographed robbing a bank.
The SLA, Saxbe commented, were “common criminals … and Miss Hearst is a part of it.”
In fact, Hearst had not been charged with any crime, and a U.S. attorney general had no business commenting on her guilt or innocence before a trial.
“He said what he wanted to say,” Neff recalled. “He was outspoken, but on the whole he was well-received.”
In keeping with his maverick status, Saxbe was a conservative who occasionally surprised observers by taking a liberal stance. In Ohio, he was a strong proponent of capital punishment, but as a U.S. senator, he was equally outspoken in opposing the development of antiballistic missiles.
“He could have been president if he’d wanted to be,” Neff reflected. “I’m sure he just didn’t want to go out and solicit money and peddle for donors. He was a very independent sort of guy that way.”
Mr. Saxbe is survived by Ardath “Dolly” Saxbe, his wife of 68 years; two sons, Rocky Saxbe of Columbus and William B. Saxbe Jr. of Williamstown, Mass; a daughter, Juli Spitzer of Jackson Hole, Wyo.; nine grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
A private service and burial were held in Mechanicsburg.

By Dianna Smith

OCEAN RIDGE — In his 83 years of life, Roy Titus started more than 15 businesses and he watched carefully as his four grown children continued what he had started so many years ago.

Titus, responsible for Minuteman Press International Inc. (a successful national printing franchise), died Aug. 11 after a struggle with liver and lung cancer. Memorial services took place in both New York and Palm Beach County and he was buried next to his wife, Barbara Titus, who died two years ago.

Roy Titus helped his son start Sign-A-Rama, based in Palm Beach County. There are now 100 locations in 50 countries.

Roy Titus loved to work, his daughter, Ellen Titus Lee said, and was still working when he turned 80.

The Tituses lived in Ocean Ridge for more than 15 years. And though Mr. Titus was born and raised in New York, his son, Raymond Titus, said his father felt he was a true Floridian because he was drawn to the state’s sunshine and its water. He spent many a day on his boat, fishing in the beautiful waters, hoping to catch that perfect sailfish or marlin. He kept a boat in Ocean Ridge and on Singer Island and looked forward to deep sea fishing when the weather was just right.

Lee, of Boynton Beach, said her father used to take his entire company fishing, even though he didn’t even cast a line during the trips. He was too busy enjoying everyone’s company.

“He had the biggest smile as he watched other people catch fish,” Lee said.

Roy Titus and his wife first lived in Boynton Beach many years ago and he was excited to finally move to Ocean Ridge so he could be closer to the water.

Lee had wanted to learn how to drive a boat so she could take her dad fishing while he was sick, but she never got the chance.

Raymond Titus called his dad a huge survivor. He battled open heart surgery, diabetes, cancer and emphysema as he smoked three packs a day for 50 years.

“Mentally he was probably the strongest human being that I’ve ever met,” Raymond Titus said. “He had such a positive mental attitude.”

He called his father a man with a huge personality.

“He was unique,” Raymond Titus said. “Very tough and driven, but also very soft and generous.”

By Emily J. Minor

Betty Ives, who for many years traveled seasonally between her beloved Michigan and her beloved Florida, died Aug. 5 after a fairly brief illness. She was 87.
Born March 3, 1923, outside Flint, Mich., Mrs. Ives — who often went by Betty MacDonald Ives — moved to Atlantis about 30 years ago upon the retirement of her first husband. When he died after 40-some years of marriage, she eventually married Gilbert Ives of Briny Breezes.
Mr. Ives said they had both lost their spouses around the same time and had known each other from church for many years.
“After a while, we got our heads together and got married,” said Mr. Ives, who said they were married seven years ago.
Although the couple spent much of their married time at Betty Ives’ Atlantis home, Mr. Ives kept his home at Briny Breezes. He said his wife loved coming there.
“She loved to swim in the ocean and she loved all the activities,” he said. “She always had a very friendly interest in everybody else.”
Mrs. Ives was active right up until the time of her illness, he said, and much of their life centered on their love for the Christian Science church, of which they were members.
“She loved music,” he said. “She played the organ for Sunday school.”
Mrs. Ives also had a home in Glen Arbor, Mich., and Mr. Ives said they spent summers at her home for many years, often the two of them driving themselves.
She was cremated and placed to rest in the family plot in Michigan, he said.
Survivors include one son, Gary MacDonald, a Washington, D.C., attorney, his wife and their two daughters.

By John William Johnson

Boynton Beach city commissioners have opposed the sale of local public radio station WXEL to Classical South Florida, citing the potential loss of jobs — and perhaps local programming.

According to some commissioners, the words “potential” and “perhaps” apply because CSF won’t provide post-sale operational or programming details.

In turn, several commissioners want the city to send the state Board of Education a second letter of opposition to the sale.

But City Attorney James Cherof expressed concern at the commission’s Aug. 17 meeting, saying there could be potential city liability through “intervening in a private transaction.” As a result, a draft letter for individual commissioner signing was suggested.

At the commission’s Aug. 3 meeting, CSF President Douglas Evans presented his organization’s plans, saying, “We constantly seek new and innovative ways to address the interests and needs of the communities we serve. We intend to take this same direction in operating WXEL, coordinated with advice from citizens of the Palm Beaches and Treasure Coast.”

Jobs remain the concern of Commissioner Steven Holzman. “I was actually appalled with some of (Evans’) remarks,” said Holzman. “I want to know what (CSF’s) real intentions are, and whether or not jobs are leaving Boynton Beach.”

Commissioner William Orlove also has concerns. “We haven’t seen what CSF is really doing, and as a commissioner and trying to advocate for the community, the answers from Mr. Evans did not put my mind at ease.”

Pointing to IRS filings that say CSF has a current million dollar-plus deficit, Orlove added that he also has concerns about CSF’s financial viability.

Evans said the deficit was part of CSF’s business plan, and that it would be cleared up in three years. Evans also noted that CSF is supported by American Public Media. “By leveraging its considerable endowment (more than $100 million), APM is able to provide financial strength to its supported organizations and to guarantee the financing of radio station purchases and other capital projects, as it will do with the financing of the purchase of WXEL,” he said.

Advisory Board opposes sale

WXEL’s Citizen’s Advisory Board also opposes the sale, and said that splitting management of the TV and radio station likely would result in a predominantly classical format and significantly reduce local radio programming. In a late August statement, the board argued the sale also could result in negative consequences for WXEL-TV, including possible financial failure of the station, absorption by a Miami-based station or another non-local entity, and a failure of the TV station to serve local needs and interests.

“We believe that listeners and viewers are better served by two separate, single-purpose, focused organizations — one for radio and one for television,” argues Evans. “This is borne out in practice, as public television stations and public radio stations exist (even thrive) independent of each other all over the country,” he said.

Neither the city nor citizens board opposition worries CSF, since neither is involved in the sale, said CSF marketing director Jason Hughes.

After hearing presentations from the Community Broadcast Foundation and Strategic Broadcast Media Group at a June 29 public forum, the citizens board has told
the Florida Board of Education that CBF was “the most appropriate successor.”

“If the BOE rejects Classical South Florida's offer, the WXEL community can ill afford to have the stations in limbo any longer with regard to a new owner,” said citizens board Chairman Pablo del Real.

Barry University declined comment on the citizens board endorsement.

WXEL’s license transfer to CSF must be heard and approved by the Board of Education, then be given final approval by the Federal Communications Commission.

In the meantime, a BOE spokesperson said there are no plans to discuss the proposed WXEL sale at its next regular meeting on Sept. 21. The spokesperson added that additions to the agenda could be made anytime up to and including the week of Sept. 13.

By Greg Stepanich

Before James Cameron made his dream of 8-foot blue people on a distant planet come stunningly to life, makers of film and television had much more modest resources on hand when they wanted to bring the creatures of nightmare to screens large and small.

But that doesn’t mean their visions were any less intense, and for a generation of creators in Japan, the threat of nuclear annihilation and environmental catastrophe was very real, even if the ultimate products often proved to be laughable fodder for late-night viewing years on.

Delray Beach’s Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens has been running an exhibit since June called Kaiju! Monster Invasion! in which more than 100 vintage toys depicting some of the more alarming and puzzling beasts in the Godzilla orbit are on display.

Music: It took a while this summer for things to get really cooking at the Cruzan Amphitheatre outside West Palm Beach, but fans of country, Boomer, teen, emo and alt-rock will have a chance to see some of the most popular acts in those niches.

Canadian prog-rock, as the distinctive voice of bassist Geddy Lee rises above the churning polyrhythms he and his Rush bandmates have been turning out since the early 1970s. All real Tom Sawyers will doubtless be there for this stop in this durable band’s Time Machine tour.

Tickets are available through Live Nation or Ticketmaster, which have merged.

Theater: Stephen Sondheim’s fans are legion, but the composer-lyricist has now had such a long career (he turned 80 in March) that there are devotees of his post-Sweeney Todd oeuvre who might be less acquainted with earlier
scores, such as Anyone Can Whistle.

One of his very finest earlier works is Follies, a big effort from 1971 that derives some of its great musical interest from songs that evoke bygone Broadway styles that were part of the fictional Weissman’s Follies around which the plot revolves. Some of its songs are now
classics of the stage, including Losing My Mind and the survivor ballad I’m Still Here.

Caldwell Theatre artistic director Clive Cholerton produced impressive concert versions of Sunday in the Park With George and Into the Woods last season, and starting Oct. 1, he’ll mount four concert performances of Follies. The book of this show has always been problematic for some critics, but the score has been cherished from its debut, and the Caldwell is not likely to lose a lot by doing it in semi-stage format.

Performances are at 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 1, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 2, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 3. Tickets range from $25 to $35. Call 241-7432 or visit
www.caldwelltheatre.com.

Greg Stepanich is the editor/founder of the Palm Beach ArtsPaper, available online at www.palmbeachartspaper.com

By C.B. Hanif

September is a very busy month in the Jewish faith, and one can learn a lot about the coming holidays from Rabbis Robert A. Silvers and Randall J. Konigsburg.

Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. “Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur begin the Jewish
year. Rosh Hashanah is the celebration of the Jewish New Year.”

Between Rosh Hashanah on Sept. 8 and Yom Kippur are the Ten Days of Repentance when individuals reflect on where they have fallen short and seek out forgiveness
from fellow human beings.

On Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, Silvers said, “Now we can turn to God and say ‘I did my part in regards to seeking forgiveness of my fellow human beings, and
now I need to settle with you, God.’ So it’s a time of celebrating the new
year, but also of celebrating that we have the capacity to change.”

And part of my job as the rabbi of the congregation is to help people find
those spots that are going to be meaningful for them.”

Silvers cited B’nai Israel’s upcoming Rosh Hashanah Torah Story skit — playing on the name of the Jewish Holy Scripture referred to
as Torah and the movie Toy Story — as
one creative way to relate the holiday. “You’ll see some of our clergy,
including myself, dressed up as Buzz Lightyear, and we’ll talk about the New
Year and I’ll be Buzz New Year.”

A great ritual element is the blowing of the shofar, whose loud, shrill sound announcing Rosh Hashanah is to awaken the soul to repentance and stir human
beings to greater good and better behavior in the coming year.

Yom Kippur, the end of the main part of these High Holy Days, is a full day of fasting and prayer, said Konigsburg:

“Making sure we leave no stone unturned. Asking God to ‘Forgive us, because there’s no other reason for you to do it except because we need forgiveness, and because
we really mean to do better next year. But we can’ t do it without your help.’
”

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

From the day we adopt our pets, we promise to always be there for them. We whisper in their ears that we will care for them for their entire lives. We look forward to growing old together.

Our vows are well intended, but we can’t predict or control life’s wicked curveballs. Especially these days. Job loss, house foreclosures, sickness, hurricanes and unexpected deaths can swiftly separate us from the pets we love so dearly.

It is life’s sad reality that Lela Jordan knows too well. But rather than lament, she instinctively leaps into action when pets and their people need help the most.

Pinning down Lela for a lengthy chat can be challenging. She has so many places to visit and so many people and pets to assist. After a few misses, I finally connected with her. I am glad I was persistent.

Lela wears many “collars” in the community. Her full-time job is operating the
Vickers House, with two locations in West Palm Beach. This community resource
center caters to the homeless, mentally ill, undocumented immigrants and the
indigent. But her newest and most cherished role is supervising an offshoot of
the Elders on the Edge Program that is overseen by the Legal Aid Society. The
extension is aptly called Elders on the Edge Pet Fund.

“Many of the elderly who we help and who are in crisis also have pets and some of these pets are in crisis, too,” says Lela. “Some of these people are indigent, suffer from Alzheimer’s disease, need to be relocated into a nursing home that does not allow pets, or simply passed away.”

She continues, “The pets left behind don’t know what’s happening or why they are being uprooted. They look into my eyes. I try to convey to them that I have a responsibility to make sure that they are safe. They don’t know me, but they seem to trust me.”

When Lela met Gabby, the Labrador retriever’s flea-riddled body oozed blood and fluids. Her owner, a senior man no longer able to keep his home because of a losing battle with cancer, knew that Gabby desperately needed medical attention he could not provide for.

“As I was talking with his gentleman in his home, Gabby came over and put her face in my hand,” recalls Lela. “Her skin was raw from scratching herself due to the fleas. This man, a Navy veteran, understood that he had to surrender Gabby. She spent three months in a veterinary hospital and then recovered at a Lab rescue center before being placed with a nice family in northern Florida. The man is happy because he knows that Gabby is happy and healthy.”

Lela’s determination enables even special needs pets to find new, loving homes. When Tiger’s owner died in West Palm Beach, the 8-year-old cat needed someone willing to take him in and pay for medication to treat his chronic constipation. Lela went to work and in short time, placed Tiger, now named Oliver, with a feline-loving West Palm Beach police officer.

Since starting the pet fund in 2007, Lela has raised money for veterinary care and found new homes for nearly 70 dogs, cats, birds and, yes, even turtles.

Pets are our ageless allies. Their unconditional love can do wonders for our mental and physical health. My neighbor, Flo Frum, considers herself “86 years young” thanks, in part, to sharing her home with a spirited miniature Schnauzer named Buddy. She tells me that she looks forward to waking up each day because she knows “Buddy Barky” will be by her side.

If you would like to donate to this special program, please call Lela at (561)
804-4970 or send checks payable to the Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County Inc., 423 Fern St., West Palm Beach, FL 33401. Please be sure to designate on your check to apply the money toward the Elders on the Edge Pet Fund. Your gesture can truly give a displaced pet a new leash on life.

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.