Meet Your Neighbor — Bruce Gimmy

What have dads (and other guys) found fashionable over the years? The preppy look is always in, one way or another, said Bruce Gimmy, owner of the Trouser Shop on Atlantic Avenue in Delray Beach. He, for one, has never been afraid to wear red, white or plaids and admits to being a long-time preppy himself.
“Fancy was in when I took over the store from Nick Vitale 25 years ago,” he recalls, explaining that fancy, as opposed to plain, is a trade term for slacks with patterns. “Nick sold tons and I sold a ton.”
“Then, we went into a sliders stage — yellow, lime green, orange, royal blue — ice cream colors.” By sliders, he’s referring to slacks with a waistband that has stainless steel buckles that slide.
“Now, we’re back to fancy — Loudmouth slacks and shorts.”
Some customers just love Loudmouths, big boasters in bright prints, patch and plaids.
“I’ve been selling them for about three years. I’m wearing a pair right now. They were designed as golf pants. They are retro — the “fancy” from years ago, but bolder. People like them or they don’t like them. The ones that do buy six to eight pairs.”
Trends do change over the years, he notes. Right now, khaki and jeans are in big demand and he’s considering adding more jean lines. “Men aren’t as interested in sport coats and dressy clothes, but I do have a man-on-the-road, Chuck Dussmann, who does custom shirts and clothing for those who like to dress up.
“He also takes care of the guys who are 6-foot-10, with a 38-inch waist and a 48-inch chest.”
When Gimmy bought his store 25 years ago, fashion was not something he had to learn. But tailoring? That’s another story.
About a year into his new business, he met Leo Taub, and learned tailoring from him. “He was retired, financially secure, and had been a custom tailor who had also done sample making for women’s wear in Manhattan.
“He was so happy to find someone who wanted to learn tailoring. He lived in Kings Point, where there were a dozen retired tailors. If he didn’t know how to do something, he’d get together with them and come back with an answer.”
Although Gimmy, who enjoys word play, knows how to sew — he “presses on” and is “no slacker” when it comes to tailoring — he fits and marks, but leaves the rest to his employee, Tarsilla Norine. “She’s better at it,” he said.
Gimmy’s wife, Joanne, is the Trouser Shop’s CFO, and two years ago, their son, Scot, joined them. “I have this strategy to pass my store on to my son,” Gimmy said.
“Now, Scot does the front of the store — sunglasses and hats — keeps things straight. He’s excited that he’s learning the sales part, and I will ease him into the tailoring aspect.
Scot and his wife, Heather, have a 2-year-old son, Shane, who eventually may take up tailoring, too, Gimmy said. “Who knows what 20 years will bring?”

10 Questions

Q. Where did you grow up and go to school? How do you think that has influenced you?
A. Suburban Reading, Pa., and Stone Harbor, N.J. I did 11th and 12th grade at Mercersburg Academy and attended Michigan State University. I became a preppy who loved the beach.

Q. What other careers have you had; what were the highlights?

A. Dishwasher, busboy, waiter and bartender. These experiences led me to have my own business out of the hospitality field.

Q. What advice do you have for a young person selecting a career today?
A. If you are not the college type, there are many trade and technical schools or apprentice programs for rewarding careers.

Q. What’s your favorite part of the work you do?
A. Having my “fit specialist” tailoring talents work successfully on challenging body shapes.

Q. How did you choose to make your home in Ocean Ridge?
A. Twenty-seven years ago I found a reasonably priced home in a great community by the sea.

Q. What book are you reading now?
A. The Digital Photography Book

Q. What music do you listen to when you need inspiration? When you want to relax?
A. I’m inspired by the musical ministry at the First Presbyterian Church, Delray Beach.
Pandora.com, George Gershwin, Andre Previn, Letterman and Duke Ellington.

Q. Have you had mentors in your life? Individuals who have inspired your life decisions?
A. Many, but foremost my mother and father, Kathryn and Norman. Leo Taub, who taught me tailoring and patience. Most recently my Stephen Ministry group.

Q. If your life story were made into a movie, who would you want to play you?
A. Adam West or Gene Hackman

Q. Do you have a favorite quote that inspires your decisions?
A. The slogan “press on” has solved, and always will solve, the problems of the human race.

“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.

— Calvin Coolidge

By Margie Plunkett

A plan that would allow Lantana Police Chief Rick Lincoln to retire early received preliminary approval from the Town Council, a move that could shuffle
Police Department leadership to the tune of a $125,000 savings.

The ordinance adopted on first reading May 25 would allow police personnel who are at least 50 years old with 9.5 years on the Lantana police force to retire
early, and would allow Lincoln to retire in September rather than in April 2011
as planned. Chief Lincoln, 59,
expects to take the early retirement if the ordinance passes on second reading,
he said in a later interview.

The savings will depend on who is tapped to replace Lincoln, with the $125,000 scenario based on promoting one of the department’s two captains to chief
without filling the remaining vacancy.

While all council members favored the early retirement and resulting budget consequences, the ordinance generated discussion on how a new chief would be selected,
with many appearing to support considering inside and outside candidates.

“You have an impressive employment record,” council member Cindy Austino told Lincoln at the May 25 meeting. “You go back a long way and have a lot of
experience under your belt,” she said. She was concerned there wouldn’t be
enough time to replace the chief “to get the best possible choice for the
town.”

Mayor David Stewart said, “I’m in favor of this early retirement, but I would like you to look and see which candidate is best to replace our chief. I would like
to see it be an open process, so they can get on board whoever it might be.”

“Chief Lincoln, we appreciate all you’ve done for the town to bring the police force up to its present situation,” council member Elizabeth Tennyson said. “Ten
years ago, when we were looking for a chief, we were fortunate to find Rick
Lincoln, an unusually qualified chief for a town of our size.” Tennyson,
however, wanted to open the competition to the outside, even if it did result
in hiring from within.

But not everyone championed going outside the department. Dr. Lynn Moorhouse favored backing Lincoln in his confidence in the ability of either captain to succeed him.

The chief urged council members to consider the captains for the post.

Lantana’s Police Department doesn’t have the same needs it did 10 years ago, when “it badly needed an outside set of eyes,” Lincoln said. The two internal candidates
have both been preparing as part of succession planning for the possibility of
someday filling the chief’s role, he said. Both went back to college and have
wide experience in the town, he said, adding, “You’d be wise to consider this.”

Lincoln said in the later interview that after his retirement, “I probably would do nothing at all” initially, taking time with his wife, Lynda, at their North
Carolina home.

When asked what he felt his greatest accomplishments were as chief of the 30-officer department, the chief said, “The organization itself and the law enforcement
community see this as a more professional organization than before I got here.”
The department received its original accreditation and two re-accreditations
during his tenure, Lincoln said.

Lincoln has been in Palm Beach County law enforcement for more than 30 years. Prior to his experience with the Lantana police force, he was director of law
enforcement for the Palm Beach County’s Sheriff Office, before which he had
retired from the Delray Beach Police Department as assistant chief of police.

Lincoln has a bachelor’s degree in English from Assumption College in Massachusetts and is a graduate of the FBI National Academy, the Senior Management Institute for
Police and the Florida Criminal Justice Executive Institute “chief executive
seminar.” He is the current president of the Palm Beach County Association of
Chiefs of Police.

By Jan Norris

No matter how much you know, you can always learn from a pro. A group of “students” — guests and the media — were enlightened on several aspects of throwing
a backyard barbecue, thanks to the chefs and kitchen staff at The Ritz-Carlton
Palm Beach.

Chef Ryan Artim welcomed the group, part of a cooking school series at the resort. The lessons were all about putting together a stylish but easy barbecue.

“It doesn’t have to be complicated,” Artim said. “You can do some of the dishes ahead of time so all you have to do at the last minute is throw a few things on
the grill.”

One of the keys to successful entertaining is having all the components ready for the dinner, so all you’ll need to worry about is the last-minute food.

A tip from the pros: Everything for the meal is listed and checked off — the menu, right down to the condiments; the dishware and serving pieces, linens and
decorations. Don’t forget drinks, ice and napery — and music for the patio,
too.

Have some light foods and drinks ready for guests when they arrive, as the Ritz staff did with chilled champagne and a selection of chilled shellfish, both raw
and cooked. Chips and house-made salsas were simple and easy for diners and
chefs.

For an outdoor summer ’cue, the heat is on, so have plenty of cold drinks available, too: craft beers, wine coolers, soda fizzes and water.

For his menu of ribs, steaks and grilled fish, the chef brined racks of spareribs overnight — a method cooks are familiar with for turkey. “It works great on
just about any meats,” he says. A dry rub goes on the ribs before they hit the
wood-fired grill, then barbecue sauce is added last, just before serving. “I
don’t like to use a sauce on them over the fire. It tends to burn and they’ve
already got a rub on them for flavor. Heat the barbecue sauce so everything is
hot when it’s served,” he advises.

The grill is hot when the ribs hit it, then the fire is lowered (or the grate raised — depending on how your grill works).

Chicken is marinated in a citrusy marinade, and can be treated the same way, or prepared in the oven. A dry rub, rather than a sauce, also gives it flavor.
Like most chefs, Artim prefers the meatier and more flavorful thighs for
cooking.

Fish are firm fillets; mahi-mahi, swordfish (it’s off a watch list for now) or salmon make good choices. Use a fish basket to make turning them over the fire
easy, and give them a smoky finish.

Simple small red potatoes, baked and hollowed slightly, contain a bacon, horseradish and sour cream mixture for a quick side dish that goes great with the ribs and
fillets. A slaw has a blender-made dressing that could be made a day ahead and
tossed with the cabbage-apple mixture at the last minute.

Key lime pie and fruit cobblers provided the sweet endings to this cooking class meal — both easy make-ahead choices for a do-it-yourself affair.

Of course, if you don’t want to bother, you can just call The Ritz — its catering department could recreate this meal at your home.

The Ritz-Carlton will have two more cooking classes for “Date Nite with the Chef”
this year:

Lucy and Terry Brown of Ocean Ridge announce the arrival of Josephine Teresa Schneider, their first grandchild, born April 20 at 6 pounds, 4 ounces, and 20 inches in length.

The mother is Jessica Brown Schneider, who grew up in Ocean Ridge. Jessica’s childhood was spent on the town’s beaches with many hours devoted to working as a volunteer in the Marine Turtle Conservation Program, monitoring sea turtle nests. A graduate of Atlantic High School’s international baccalaureate program, Jessica earned her college degree from the University of South Florida. She teaches third grade at Everglades Elementary School in Westin.

The father, Mark Bernard Schneider, is an account executive for Rank Trade Services of Miami, an international seafood distributor. The Schneiders reside in Cooper City.

Announcement submitted by family

Jacqueline Barbara Kaleel

On May 15, Jacqueline Barbara Kaleel of Ocean Ridge graduated from Pope John Paul II High School in Boca Raton. Commencement exercises took place at the Carole & Barry Kaye Performing Arts Auditorium at Florida Atlantic University.

At a recent academic and service awards program, Kaleel was recognized for ranking in the top 10 percent of the Class of 2010 and awarded excellence in advanced placement calculus. She was president of the National Honor Society and a member of Mu Alpha Theta, a mathematics honor society.

An avid tennis player, Kaleel was captain of Pope’s varsity girls tennis team. During her four years as a tennis team member, she was awarded most valuable player, coach’s award and most improved player.

She volunteered at the DeVos-Blum Family YMCA and participated in community service projects such as Food for Families and the Keep Palm Beach County Beautiful Beach Clean-Up.

Kaleel will attend Ohio State University in September.

Announcement submitted by family

By Dianna Smith

Inside this beautiful school by a crystal blue sea are children who love to read.

Mysteries, thrillers, fantasies — anything and everything that will draw them into another world, far from the cares of everyday life. The teachers at Gulf Stream School know this, which is why the theme this school year has focused on reading and teaching kids to love it even more than they do now.

Teachers took pictures of all 250 students and asked them about their favorite books. And what were there answers? Some included Diary of a Wimpy Kid, the Harry Potter series and, of course, the ever-popular Twilight books.

“It’s so important to read,” Principal Joseph Zaluski said, “and for parents to read to their children. I truly believe that’s an experience children never forget.”

Some days the school has sustained silent reading mornings, when students are asked to drop whatever they are doing and read. The holiday program this school year focused on reading and the teachers themselves even got into the theme, by starting a book club last summer.

And every month, teachers print signs on their classroom door to announce the books they are reading.

Teachers and students even exchanged books.

And the older students read to the younger students.

“The older kids like to set a good example when you give them the opportunity,” said Latin teacher Giulia Fiorile.

Ask these students what kind of books they like and the answers will vary. From the pre-kindergarteners to the eighth-graders, every growing boy and girl has a favorite they like to dive into when given the chance.

Five-year-old Mason Delafield said she enjoys all kinds of books and she reads to her mom almost every night. It’s good to read at night, she said, because reading calms her down.

If students want to search for more books, they can always go to the school library, where more than 12,000 books are on hand. School librarian Betsy Tyson hopes the children learn to love reading as much as she does.

“The smell of a new book with crisp pages …” Tyson said fondly, “and you can’t cuddle up with a Kindle.”

Fifth-grader Michael Certo said he has trouble putting a book down once he’s started reading it. So when he says goodnight to his parents and the lights are out, he can’t help but sneak a peek at what happens next!

“I know something is going to happen,” Certo said. “It’s amazing.”

By Greg Stepanich

It was controversial when it first hit the stage back in 1967, but today it stands as a landmark of the American theater, and the first truly successful rock musical.

I speak, of course, of Hair, which even now is playing in London’s West End in an extremely successful encore production that won the Tony for best revival in 2009. Thanks in large part to Galt MacDermot’s durable score (Aquarius, Good Morning Starshine, Easy to Be Hard, Let the Sunshine In) as well as its politically engaged book and irresistible energy, it’s proven to have just as powerful an impact as it did more than four decades ago.

All this is by way of saying there’s a new theater company in Palm Beach County, and this month it’s presenting 11 performances of the tribal love-rock musical, featuring young college-age performers. Entr’Acte Theatrix, founded last month by Vicki Halmos of the Palm Beach Principal Players, is designed to give rising thespians some professional experience to boost their CVs.

Hair runs for six performances at the Caldwell Theatre in Boca Raton from June 10-13, and for five performances from June 17-20 at Palm Beach Gardens Community High School. The Caldwell shows are set for 8 p.m. June 10-12, and 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Sunday, June 13. The Palm Beach Gardens High shows are planned for 8 p.m. June 17 and 18, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. June 19, and 2 p.m. Sunday, June 20.

Tickets for the Caldwell show range from $10 for students to $30 for adults; call 241-7432 for more information. Prices for the Gardens show are $25, or $20 for a group of 15, with one free ticket for every 15 sold. Call 877-710-7779 for more information.

Speaking of theater, there’s plenty of it here in June. Florida Stage’s last production at its Manalapan home, a world premiere of Christopher Demos-Brown’s tale of South Florida political ambition, When the Sun Shone Brighter, runs through June 20. And Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women continues through June 13 at Palm Beach Dramaworks.

Meanwhile, the Summer Play Festival at Palm Beach State in Lake Worth opens June 15 with a weekend of performances of Frank McGuinness’ Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me. And at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, a musical revue, Celebrating 60 Years of Broadway’s Best Musicals, runs from June 19-22, followed by a monthlong run of Shakespeare’s comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which opens June 25.

And if that’s not enough, there’s always Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats, which arrives for eight performances at the Kravis Center from June 22-27. Tickets start at $20; call 832-7469 for information.

Music: Country music’s most successful modern duo, Brooks and Dunn, are calling it quits this August after almost 20 years of hit songs, but you can see them on their Last Rodeo farewell tour Saturday, June 12, at the Cruzan Amphitheatre. Tickets: $25-$65, available through Live Nation.

Two days earlier, legendary Southern rockers Lynyrd Skynyrd visit the Cruzan on their God and Guns tour, joined by .38 Special and by Bret Michaels, lead singer of Poison and current star of Celebrity Apprentice. At last report, though, Michaels was still recovering from a stroke and heart problems he suffered in May, so you might want to call ahead to see whether he’ll be able to be there. Tickets: $19-$53.50.

If your taste runs more to something 1970s English, Mizner Park in Boca Raton hosts a concert Friday, June 4, by Jethro Tull, joined by songwriter Ian Hunter. This concert had been scheduled originally for the Bayfront Amphitheatre in Miami. Tickets: $35-$62.50, available through Live Nation.

Four days later, veteran English prog-rockers Yes and guitar idol Peter Frampton (who fell in love with vocoders before Cher or T-Pain) come to the Kravis on Tuesday, June 8, for a mammoth three-hour show that will be a retrospective of their catalogs. Tickets: $35-$115. Call 832-7469.

Classical music fans can head to the valuable St. Paul’s Episcopal Church series in Delray Beach on the afternoon of Sunday, June 6, for two piano quintets featuring FAU pianist Fedora Horowitz. She’ll play two of the greatest Romantic quintets, by Schumann (in E-flat, Op. 44), and Dvořák (in A, Op. 81). Tickets: $12-$15. Call 276-4541.

Art: The Boca Raton Museum of Art finishes up a retrospective June 13 of the work of the American abstract painter Stanley Boxer (1926-2000), whose non-representational works pulse with beautiful color.

On June 22, the museum presents the 59th annual juried exhibition, the oldest such show in the state. This year, about 1,400 works were submitted, and judge Linda Norden has chosen 91 of them, by 80 different artists. The show runs through Aug. 8 and is always a highlight of the cultural summer. Tickets are $8 for adults; call 392-2500.

Up at the Norton Museum, two new exhibits open June 5: Beyond the Figure, a show of abstract sculpture from the Norton’s collections, and Dinotopia: The Fantastical Art of James Gurney, featuring illustrations and models Gurney painted for his Dinotopia series of fantasy novels, which have been continued by other authors and made into a TV series and video games.

Both exhibits run through Sept. 5. Tickets are $12 for adults; call 832-5196.

Greg Stepanich is founder/editor of the Palm Beach ArtsPaper, available online at www.palmbeachartspaper.com. He can be reached at: gstepanich@pbartspaper.com.

By Emily J. Minor
OCEAN RIDGE — It’s never easy losing a beloved parent, but Diana Lyne is finding solace in the memories after the death of her father, Eugene Lyne, 86, who spent his winters in Ocean Ridge for about the last 20 years.
She was going through photographs recently for a gathering after the funeral. And something struck her. Something wonderful.
“In every single picture he was either laughing or smiling,” she said. “He was an incredible supporter of his children, no matter what we were doing.”
Mr. Lyne died May 13 at his home at the Ocean Club. His daughter said he had suffered a stroke about two years ago but still managed to winter in Florida and spend about five months up north.
Lyne was devoted his 11 grandchildren. “He’d sit down and have a tea party with little tea cups,” she said. “He was game for anything.”

A passion for football made Lyne a rabid New England Patriots fan, his daughter said, though he also liked the Red Sox.
Born in Boston in 1924, he attended prestigious schools all his life, including Harvard University and Boston College Law School. He served the U.S. Marine Corps in China before returning to the states to practice law for 16 years. In 1967, he joined the Teradyne Co. as general counsel and began moving up the corporate ranks. When he retired, he was president of Lyne-Nicholson Inc.
Despite the generous donation of his time to major charities and boards, it was his love for competition, his love for the outdoors and his love for his children that his daughter remembers so fondly.
“He was an early feminist,” she said. “He had four daughter and he was a man who believed his daughters could achieve anything.”
When they were little, she said her dad would pay them to play chess with him and then “beat us in four moves.”
When Mr. Lyne was in Florida, he would walk the beach every morning and collect seashells. He also played tennis, mostly doubles, and golfed. Diana Lyne said that he walked the course and carried his own bag until his stroke.
Each Easter, Mr. Lyne would organize an extravagant “shell hunt” for children at the Ocean Club. “He would collect shells all year long and every Easter he would get up early and completely pack the beach with the shells he had collected,” said Diana Lyne.
He always saved a big conch shell for the grand prize, she said.
His wife of 55 years, Ruth Lally Lyne, preceded him in death.
Mr. Lyne is survived by a son, Daniel, of Newton, Mass., and his four daughters, Diana, Susan, Barbara and Abigail, all of New York City. He is also survived by his wife, Mary Lloyd Lyne; his grandchildren, and a brother and a sister. He was buried in late May in Brookline, Mass.

By Ron Hayes

DELRAY BEACH — Not long ago, as his health failed and his birthday neared, Dick Keresey told his son, Jim, “You know, I think I’d like to have my 94th birthday. I think it’ll be my going-away party.”
Richard Keresey turned 94 on May 8 and went away four days later.
A resident of the St. Andrew’s Club since 1994, Mr. Keresey died May 12. Barbara Keresey, his wife of 65 years, had passed away last July.
“He was an amazing guy who had a wonderfully exciting life,” said his son. “He lived about five lives compared to most people — just on the PT boat alone.”
During World War II, Mr. Keresey was the skipper of PT-105, patrolling the Solomon Islands with another young Navy man named Kennedy, who skippered the PT-109.
After the war, Jack Kennedy went into politics, Dick Keresey into law. And more than 50 years later, when he was 80, Mr. Keresey wrote PT-105, a memoir of his World War II service.
“His account is funny, scary, melancholy, exciting and angry,” wrote American Heritage magazine after its publication by the Naval Institute Press in 1996. The book remains in print.
In 2002, Mr. Keresey returned to the Solomon Islands with undersea explorer Robert Ballard and Maxwell Kennedy, the son of Robert F. Kennedy, on a successful quest for the remains of PT-109. Mr. Keresey appears in The Search for Kennedy’s PT-109, a documentary film broadcast on the National Geographic Explorer series in 2002.
Born in Hoboken, N.J., Richard Keresey was a graduate of Dartmouth College and Columbia University, where he earned a law degree in 1941. He retired in 1980 as an associate general counsel of Exxon Corp.
An avid golfer and fly fisherman, he was a member of the Beaverkill Trout Club. In later years, he turned to bridge, often playing five days a week after his wife’s death.
Mr. Keresey wrote a book late in life, his son said, because he had loved books all his life.
“One day when I was about 15, Dad came home and found me reading Gone With The Wind,” Jim Keresey recalled.
“What are you reading that trash for?” his father snapped. “You should be reading War and Peace.”
Jim Keresey is 63 now, and he still hasn’t read War and Peace.
“But my son Andrew has,” he adds, “and he enjoyed it. So we skipped a generation.”
In addition to Jim, Mr. Keresey is survived by a second son, Dick; two daughters, Mary and Barbara, nine grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
A funeral Mass was celebrated May 17 at St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church in Delray Beach.
Contributions in Mr. Keresey’s memory may be made to Hospice of Palm Beach County, 5300 East AVenue, West Palm Beach, FL 33407.

By Antigone Barton

Life had become easy for Lydia Crozier, who was happily married and a successful decorator, when a little-understood epidemic began stealing people from her midst.

It was in the mid-1980s when she started cooking for homebound patients, bringing them meals, spending nights on their couches, and calling their families when they died of complications from AIDS.

It was the first volunteer work she had done, she said many years later. Caring for patients, along with supporting the cause of public health, remained among the work she continued for the rest of her life.

Mrs. Crozier, a founder of FoundCare, which built a community health center for uninsured and underinsured in Palm Beach County, a longtime active leader at the Comprehensive AIDS Program and Hope House, and a resident of South Palm Beach, died May 17, at 74.

Born in Cuba, she came to the United States with her mother and one of her two brothers when she was 10 years old. When her mother, a seamstress, established a business, she took charge of her brother, who was seven years younger.

“She basically raised me from six to ten,” her brother, Frank Seiser said.

She grew up to become a businesswoman, builder, hotel owner, and interior designer. She had married twice and was widowed in her 40s when she moved to South Florida where she met Jim Crozier. After the two were married, they lived in Palm Beach.

She was working on Worth Avenue when the AIDS epidemic started taking a toll around her.

“We went to so many funerals,” she said last year. “No one knew what to do about it.”

At an AIDS benefit, she began to see a role.

She remembered a night she spent “on a very itchy couch,” at an apartment in Northwood, where she didn’t know if her car, parked outside, would still be there in the morning. She called her husband and told him she had to stay, because the man she was visiting was dying.

“When you’re born, someone catches you,” she said later. “When you die, someone has to let you go. Tell you that you were a good person, a good son, a good father.”

But too, often, she said, no one was there. She remembered parents who wore rubber gloves to care for their own children, in the early, mysterious days of the epidemic. And she remembered opening invitations “that sparkle and feathers fell out of,” to charity balls in the name of the AIDS epidemic and not seeing the connection between the glittering parties and problem they were said to address.

“I thought, go change someone’s diaper, that’s important,” she said years later.

The beginning of the Comprehensive AIDS Program she said, “was just friends helping friends.”

Her compassion was contagious, CAP director Yolette Bonnet says now.

“Many of our board members are on the board because of her,” Bonnet said. “She gave her money, her heart, her whole self. She touched you.”

She continued to give to other health-related causes, including Hope House, and supported the endeavors of the many friends she made in her volunteer work.

“Wherever I went, she helped,” said Jim Sugarman, a nonprofit organization consultant who met her through her work at Hope House in the early 1990s.

Diagnosed with cervical cancer more than four years ago, she realized a long-held dream in her last year, visiting Cuba for the first time since leaving. Through much of her illness she continued to volunteer, serving at CAP.

“It’s just like living in a little village,” she said. “If you know someone who is sick, you bring them soup. It’s doing what you want done for you.”

She is survived by her son, Frank Oliva Jr., and two brothers, Seiser and Joseph Burruzzo. Her husband died in 2000.

Memorial donations may be made to Comprehensive AIDS Program and sent to CAP, 2330 S. Congress Ave., West Palm Beach, FL 33406 and Hospice, 5300 East End Ave., West Palm Beach, FL 33407.
A memorial service will be held on June 14 at 5:30 p.m. at Unity of the Palm Beaches, 1957 S. Flagler Drive, West Palm Beach.

By Emily J. Minor

DELRAY BEACH — Francis P. Kelley, who all his adult life worked tirelessly for the rights of the mentally handicapped and helped Eunice Shriver establish the first games in the Special Olympics, died in his sleep at home in late April. He had just turned 85.

“He was a great, great, great guy,” said Bette Kelley, his wife of nearly 31 years.

Bette and Fran Kelley retired to Delray Beach in 1998 and it was about this time that John Butler, the executive director of the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships, remembers meeting Fran Kelley. Mr. Kelley became an inspirational part of Butler’s busy job.

Butler said they had just moved into their new headquarters near downtown Delray Beach when Mr. Kelley came into the office and “kind of plopped himself down in a chair.”

Mr. Kelley, who loved playing tennis and being around tennis events, told Butler he was there to make sure the courts were ready before and during every competition.

“He just came in here and proceeded to tell me what he was going to do for me, and I’m a better man for it,” Butler said.

Mr. Kelley and his tennis compatriots became well known by fans and players at the tennis center that features international matches with top names. “They almost developed a rock star image,” Butler said.

The men who worked with Mr. Kelley preparing the courts — everything from providing water for the umpires to cleaning up trash on the court after a match — became known as Frank Kelley and his Court Crusaders. About a year ago, when Mr. Kelley was in failing health and unable to volunteer, they changed the name to Frank Kelley’s Court Crusaders.

Butler said it was “a heartbreaking time for all of us” when Mr. Kelley stopped coming to the tennis center. Until reading an obituary detailing Mr. Kelley’s life’s work, Butler said he had no idea about Mr. Kelley’s accomplishments.

“It’s a little overwhelming just knowing the type of guy we had working here,” Butler said.

Bette Kelley said her husband’s sister was a social worker and that her work with the mentally handicapped inspired Mr. Kelley. After serving in World War II — he signed up when he was just 17, his wife said — Mr. Kelley earned two master’s degrees from Columbia University and spent his professional life working for the rights of the challenged. He lobbied for new laws, fought for clean, affordable housing, filed lawsuits against institutions that neglected patients, and worked with several White House administrations establishing equal rights for the mentally ill.

He is survived by his wife, Bette, six children, eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. He is also survived by that iconic group of aging men known as Kelley’s Court Crusaders.

By Antigone Barton

MANALAPAN — A child when she learned to ride, and a young woman when she competed as an equestrian in Madison Square Garden, Susan Findlay Cathey never lost her love for horses. She picked up more loves along the way: her family, her adored cocker spaniels, and her life in Florida, once a home away from home, and where she spent the last 24 years of her life.

“She just loved people,” her daughter, Dina Cathey Millard said. “She would talk to strangers.”

Mrs. Cathey, of Manalapan and Locust Valley, N.Y., died April 23 at JFK Medical Center. She was 72.

She was born May 23, 1937, and grew up in Manhattan and Huntington, Long Island. She learned to ride before she was a teenager, showing jumpers and hunters and riding competitively in Ireland. She graduated from Finch College.

She married Sterling Eugene Cathey, a Korean War veteran and intelligence officer, in 1963. He later became general counsel of Blue Cross & Blue Shield in New York.

As she raised her family, Delray Beach was a frequent destination until she and Mr. Cathey came to Florida to live in the late 1980s.

Mr. Cathey died in 2004.

Living at La Coquille Villas in Manalapan, Mrs. Cathey stayed busy with her grandchildren, a buff-colored cocker spaniel named Caramel, her reading and her hobbies. She was an expert needle-pointer and flowers and dogs were the frequent subject of work that decorated her home. And although she no longer rode competitively, she continued to enjoy attending horse shows.

A memorial service was held April 28, at the Episcopal Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea in Palm Beach.

In addition to her daughter, Mrs. Cathey is survived by her son, John M. Cathey, and seven grandchildren.

By C.B. Hanif

Jitu Patel was explaining that the rain sprinkles punctuating a sunny May afternoon in Boynton Beach were a part of a divine script:

“Every time we have an opening, rain always comes, to clean up the site, the soul, the mind and everything, to make it pure, nice and cool. It’s amazing. Every temple we’ve opened, there’s always rain, without fail. It’s a very auspicious occasion.”

The occasion was the grand opening of the Youth Activity Center annex of the BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir, 541 SE 18th Ave., next to the Publix near Woolbright and Federal. The India-based Hindu organization (www.baps.org) has about 800 temples worldwide, 64 in the United States, Patel said.

The nearest mandir, or temple, for this stream of Hinduism is in Orlando. Boynton’s mandir, whose ninth anniversary is in June, serves the entire South Florida region, each Sunday drawing worshippers from as far as Stuart and Homestead.

Outside the adjacent youth classroom facility, congregants poured water over a golden statue. Patel, who lives in Plantation and works for the city of Hollywood, explained that the figure depicted their founder, Bhagwan Swaminarayan.

“He came to this Earth 235 years back. When he was 11 years old, he left this world, his household and everything, and went barefoot, with just one loincloth, around the whole Himalayas. He traveled 7,000 miles barefoot. He visited the whole of India, all the auspicious places and everything. And then he settled and started this organization called the Swami Swaminarayan organization.”

Pouring the water, and pondering what one wants in life, ensures that one’s “good thoughts will be fulfilled,” Patel said. A photo behind the statue, he added, depicted “His Divine Holiness Shree Pramukh Swami Maharaj. He’s our guru.”

Earlier, congregants had crowded the temple’s main hall for a special prayer service. “In Hinduism, when we start any work, we definitely start with remembering the God
first,” said Alpesh Patel, the mandir’s former media representative.

He returned from Alabama with wife and children for the youth facility inauguration. Others traveled from as far as Chicago and New York. From Atlanta, monks came to bless the youth center.

In the mandir, the main hall held a masterfully carved wooden shrine, replete with domes and garlands of flowers. It featured figures and photos of Hindu saints.
For the occasion, the orange-clad monks were arranged front and center. Men sat in rows across the floor, before them white paper on which were white plastic plates holding rice, water, flowers and others items used in the prayer ritual, followed by similar rows of women in colorful traditional garments. In the rear, other worshippers sat at tables, or stood as part of the overflow crowd. All chanted or clapped along as the monks led the service.

The crowd next moved to a ceremony before its new facility. There, 16-year-old Parikshit Shingala told his fellow youths that the classrooms in the extension of the mandir would be a place to work on “that masterpiece that is your life.”

Soon, other youths were offering lemonade as the curious got their first look at the eight glistening classrooms for the mandir’s educational, cultural, social and spiritual activities. Looking like proud parents were architect Bob Snow, general contractors Shiv Shahi and Scott Lamberton and civil engineer Yash Barop, all based in Palm Beach Gardens; and former Boynton building official Wayne Bergman.

By late afternoon, youngsters were lined up for sherdi, a lime, ginger and sugar-cane drink traditionally pressed by hand in India.

Even as the several hundred people gathered visited with each other, more arrived. Some could be seen offering a traditional greeting: reaching to touch the other’s feet, then touching one’s own heart.

“It’s a kind of a connection, a humbling show of respect,” said Ashish Gurjar of West Palm Beach. “When you enter in here, just be a messenger of God, and leave all your ego outside.”

C.B. Hanif will be visiting our local places of worship on an occasional basis and sharing his experience with our readers. His InterFaith 21 column returns in July. Find him online at
www.interfaith21.com.

By Arden Moore

Living in South Florida gives true meaning to the dog days of summer. Just ask Susan Baker, of Lake Worth, who must set her alarm clock pre-sunrise just to ensure her two poodles can get in a morning walk before
turning into hot dogs.

“I grab their leashes and we’re out the door by 6 because by 7, the pavement is too hot for their paws,” says Baker, a magazine editor who shares her home with a pair of rescued 15-pound white poodles named Cubby and
Lido. “We wait until after 7 at night for our evening walk.”

Just like us, our pets can be at risk for sunburns and dehydration. The hot, humid temperatures and steady rains also combine to pump up the pest population, namely fleas and ticks. And let’s not forget
hard-to-heal hot spots and or the sheer panic unleashed in some dogs due to
thunderstorms and fireworks.

Let me offer some tips and suggested items that can temper what the high temperatures bring. For starters, make sure that your dog – and cat – receive a summer checkup at your veterinary clinic and receive the
appropriate monthly medicines and vaccines to combat diseases and skin conditions
associated with fleas, ticks and mosquitoes. It may surprise you to learn that
even indoor cats can become infected with heartworm disease caused by being bitten
by an infected mosquito buzzing inside your home.

Patrol your premises and keep rid of any buckets with stagnant water and clear your foliage to foil a colony of ticks from taking residence. If you have an outdoor spigot in your enclosed backyard, opt for
going high-tech when it comes to providing your dog with cool water. Forego the
bowl of water that can get too hot or filled with bugs. Instead, consider using
the WaterDog Fountain – it features a sensor that releases a stream of water
from your faucet when your dog comes into view. It shuts off when your dog
departs.

Before taking your dog out on a walk, take the palm test. Place your palm on the sidewalk or pavement. If it feels too hot or uncomfortable to your hand, it is too hot for your dog. Like Baker, time your
walks in the early morning or later evening hours. Also, select a route that
includes shade or grassy areas. If your dog will tolerate them, consider
fitting them with special canine booties that provide a layer of protection
from the hot turf.

Keep your dog cool by not over exercising him during hot weather. Dogs perspire through their paws. If your dog shows signs of overheating (excessive panting, stumbling or drooling), cool their body core
down by carefully putting their paws in cool water.

In your quest to find a safe place for your dog to make a splash, avoid water that is stagnant or that has algae on it. Never let your dogs swim in small ponds constructed to drain water from housing developments.
They contain a lot of chemicals, such as those used to treat lawns. And,
another doggy water no-no: ponds at golf courses. If you take a microscopic
look at what lives in these ponds, you will see a plethora of disease-carrying
parasites.

Florida ranks as the lightning capitol of the country and thunderstorms can unleash pure panic in some dogs. Desperate to find a safe haven, they can injure themselves chewing through drywall, crashing through
windows or dashing out of the house and getting hit by vehicles. Work with your
veterinarian on the appropriate anti-anxiety medication, but also take behavior
modification steps to work on helping your dog overcome these phobias.

There’s a new product called the Thundershirt that you can fit on your dog and it helps ally some of these storm fears. It has been endorsed by Linda Tellington Jones, PhD, the founder of the TTouch therapy
method that works on horses, dogs and other animals.

Finally, be prepared and be safe. Contact your local American Red Cross to enroll in a pet first-aid class. Invest in a pet first-aid kit and be sure to include a Trimline Veterinary Recovery Collar.
This flexible, blue collar is far better than those rigid, hard-to-maneuver
plastic Elizabethan collars when your pet recovers from surgery or injury and
needs not to bite or paw healing wounds or sutures. The Trimline allows pets to
eat, sleep, drink and play without a fuss. The company has sold more than 2
million and is based in Boca Raton.

Summer time in South Florida truly can go to the dogs – and cats – if you just time your walks, get your pet up-to-date on his medical needs and have the right tools to combat pests. Enjoy!

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

By Margie Plunkett

Alderman Karen Wiggins stepped down from Briny Breezes Town Council to accept a seat on the corporate board last month, leaving vacant a two-year term that will be filled by appointment.

“We’ll be looking for a full-time resident and registered voter,” Council President Sharon Kendrigan said after the April meeting, encouraging anyone who’s interested in filling the term to come to the Town Hall between 10 a.m. and noon Tuesday or Thursday.

Kendigan said the panel hopes to make a nomination at its May 27 meeting, as well as vote and appoint a new alderman. One candidate has already come forward, Kendrigan said, adding that she welcomed others as well.

Wiggins, who had just started her second term, was allowed her final request in office: She moved to adjourn the meeting.

Sarah Onnen knew what she wanted to be since she was little, except she never thought it was possible.
Get paid to swim with animals?
The job was too fun. Too perfect. Too much of a fairy tale ending.
But here she is, all grown up, one of 35 marine mammal trainers at the Miami Seaquarium on Key Biscayne. She dives off dolphins, gets up close and personal with the park’s killer whale — and she smells like fish. A lot.
“I’m 32 and I get to wear a bathing suit to work,” says Onnen, who was on the diving team at Atlantic High School and whose parents still run the family business in Delray Beach — Meisner Electric Inc.
“I really thought it would be just an impossible job that I could never get,” said
Onnen, who still has a photo of herself, in pigtails, standing inside the Seaquarium when she was about 10.
A water baby since the time she could walk — “My parents could never get me out of the pool.” Onnen graduated from Atlantic and went to the University of Miami, where she was on the university dive team. She studied psychology and criminology and graduated with a double major and a minor in biology.

“I was planning on doing some sort of abnormal psychology or forensics. I wanted to work for the FBI.”
Then, something happened.
A fellow diver started working at the Miami Seaquarium, and Onnen was intrigued.
She didn’t need a degree in mammal science. There was no special certification.
She simply needed the things she’d had in her back pocket for a long time: strong swimming skills, scuba certification and a love for animals.
And so it began, this imperfect life of hers behind the scenes.
It’s dirty ands smelly and there is a lot of heavy lifting. Literally.
“It’s actually not for everybody once they realize how difficult it is,” she said.

But the thing that she loves, and the thing that keeps her going, is her relationship with the animals. She doesn’t go to work to just jump off the nose of a bottlenose dolphin, although she does that. Her job is caring for animals, getting to know them. And getting them to trust her.

They check them over every morning, cajole them into flipping on their backs so they can check their teeth. (Try that with a 700-pound sea lion.) Sometimes, if an animal’s under the weather, they might have to draw blood. Occasionally, they even move an animal to another facility — which Onnen describes as “a very smelly ride in the back of a Ryder truck.”

Onnen has no doubts that her animals are cared for, happy and loved. But she’s used to the critics. For years, there’s been a sometimes-noisy effort to “Free Lolita,” the orca whale Onnen often works with. And the occasional activist certainly slips into the park.
“I have such a love for the animals that I choose to do it because the rewards are so amazing,” she said.
But she is cautious. Every. Single. Day.

It’s one thing to have a house cat get spooked and turn on you. But a 7,000 pound whale?
“They’re animals,” she said. “You have to look at all the variables.”
Because things happen.
On Feb. 23, a killer whale at Sea World’s Shamu Stadium killed trainer Dawn Brancheau, who was tank-side when she was pulled in. Onnen didn’t know Brancheau, but she could certainly relate to her job.
In the weeks since the accident, the team at the Seaquarium has gone over the protocol at the park. There were some tears. And Onnen has patiently answered all kinds of inane questions from friends and family.
“I have a couple of relatives who don’t like what I do now,” said Onnen, who said she’s no more afraid now because they are “two completely different animals.”
She realizes what’s possible, and she likens the danger to driving on a South Florida highway. Anything could happen. You have to be careful. You have to use your head.
And in the end, this grown-up job of hers is still a fairy tale — the very one she dreamed up years ago, when she was a little girl in pigtails.

Cathy Patterson

Co-owner of Natural Forest Patio

In business 33 years and family-owned

“I’m not a big fan of Walmart because of what it typically does to the mom and pop businesses. But I think the area it’s going into is so run down and dark at night, it might brighten things up a little
down there.”

Co-owner of Rau’s Decorating Center

In business 23 years and family-owned

“I don’t think it’ll hurt us. We’re a high-end paint store and Walmart doesn’t have high-end paint … But I wish it was something other than a Walmart. Something a little more high-end. But anything’s better then that old ripped-up, sleazy
mall that nobody’s in. My reaction as a retailer is that it’s good. It’s
viable. It brings life.”

Owner of Beachcomber Arts

In business three and a half years and family-owned

“I’m disappointed because I was hoping Boynton Beach would have a little more understanding of the impact that type of business will have on a small community. It’s a big-box store. It doesn’t go together.”

Kevin Scully

2005 S. Federal Highway Boynton Beach

“I think the Walmart is a great thing. Our business depends on local people having jobs and a lot of our customers don’t have jobs. The Walmart will bring jobs to the neighborhood. I’m also thinking that if
Walmart does well, then, who knows, maybe there will be a Target next to it and
the next thing you know, a Carrabba’s. And maybe people won’t always go west to
go Christmas shopping. I couldn’t be more thrilled that Walmart is sticking
their neck out trying something down there.”

Co-owner of Perfectly Planted garden center

In business a little over one year and family-owned

“I don’t really support Walmart because they do drive local businesses out of business, but it’s like a double-edged sword. I’m happy they’re coming because it’ll bring more traffic. I’m not too worried
about my boutique garden center. I don’t carry what Walmart carries.”

— Compiled by Dianna Smith