Local merchants talk about Walmart

By Dianna Smith

Small business owners are wondering if their livelihood will improve or disappear once Walmart opens its doors next year.

While Boynton Beach is confident the Walmart is what’s best for Boynton Beach, city officials say they’re not trying to support Walmart at the expense of the
town’s small businesses.

“We fund our small businesses. We subsidize them,” said Lisa Bright, executive director of the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency. “I would hate for
anybody to lose their business in this economy.”

But some business owners worry that could happen.

LaRonda Denkler is co-owner of Vince Canning Shoes on Atlantic Avenue in Delray Beach, about two miles from where the Walmart will be built at Federal Highway and
Gulfstream Boulevard. Though Denkler said she doesn’t consider the store as
competition, she does believe it will steal potential customers from her store
and others on Atlantic Avenue.

“I’ll miss out on the opportunity of foot traffic, of a customer happening to see something she likes (at my store),” said Denkler, whose store has been in
business 58 years. “Walmart sucks money out of our local economy.”

While some believe the Walmart will hurt their business, others believe it could help them.

“I kind of think that because the traffic will increase on Federal Highway, I’ll get more visibility,” said Debbie Brookes, owner of Beachcomber Arts on South
Federal Highway in Boynton Beach. But she also said she’s disappointed in the
city because she doesn’t believe a Walmart belongs in a comfy small town like
Boynton Beach.

This Walmart will be 94,000 square feet, less than half the size of the Walmart along Old Boynton Road. The majority of this store will focus on groceries and
the rest on general merchandise.

Walmart officials have guaranteed 150 full-time jobs and Bright said there’s a possibility for another 100 part-time jobs.

Bright promises that the building won’t look like a typical Walmart. It will look more like the Publix in West Palm Beach’s City Place — attractive architecture that
will catch the eyes of passersby. It will replace an empty shopping plaza once
home to a strip club and some are applauding the plan because it will eliminate
the blight.

But not everyone wants to see it replaced with a big box store.

Randy Rau of Rau’s Decorating Center on Ocean Avenue in Boynton Beach, said he would like to see a high-end store there that would attract customers who shop at his
store, such as designers.

Still, Rau admits, the Walmart will bring life to the area.

“Anything’s better then that old ripped up sleazy mall that nobody’s in,” Rau said.

Cathy Patterson of Natural Forest Patio said though her business is nearby, she doesn’t feel threatened by Walmart because she believes her customers will
remain loyal. The business, on South Federal Highway in Boynton Beach, has been
there for 33 years.

“I’m not a big fan of Walmart because of what it typically does to the mom and pop businesses,” Patterson said. “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.”

Residents living nearby are already complaining about potential crime they believe the 24-hour Walmart will bring. But Kevin Scully, owner of Scully’s Restaurant, also
on South Federal Highway in Boynton Beach, doesn’t believe there will be any
crime. He said the Walmart will
bring mostly positive changes, such as jobs and potential customers to the
area.

“I couldn’t be more thrilled that Walmart is sticking their neck out trying something down there,” Scully said. “Walmart is going to spend a lot of money
making it a beautiful, safe shopping environment.”

By Margie Plunkett

A majority of residents favor rehiring the Boynton Beach Police Department to patrol and protect Briny Breezes, according to a survey conducted by the town as aldermen prepare to choose between Boynton Beach and the Ocean Ridge Police Department in May.

Of the 190 people who responded to the poll to help determine which city will patrol when the current contract expires Sept. 30, 118 voted for Boynton Beach and 72 for Ocean Ridge. The survey was sent to 488 residents.

The survey included a letter that laid out the terms of the two competing police contracts. At least one resident protested the process at Briny Breeze’s town meeting April 22. “The information supplied leading to the poll was so totally slanted toward Boynton Beach. I’m not sure you got a fair poll,” Don Faron said.

The Boynton Beach police contract would cost $220,000 a year, compared to $185,000 for Ocean Ridge, but the two departments offered differing levels of service, according to the survey.

The difference in prices would equal $2.22 per each share in the Briny Breezes corporation. Briny Breezes shareholders would pay on average $71 more for Boynton Beach police than Ocean Ridge, the document said.

Boynton Beach police’s proposal includes an eight-hour shift each day dedicated to Briny Breezes. It would cover Briny as part of a routinely patrolled zone on the barrier island when not on the dedicated shift, plus provide a marine patrol.

Ocean Ridge would provide a minimum of six patrols each day.

Both departments provide coverage 365 days a year, it said.

The cost per hour would be about $71 for Ocean Ridge and $37 for Boynton Beach, the letter said. It added that the Boynton Beach Police Department has 170 members, compared with Ocean Ridge’s 18-person force, pointing out, however, that Boynton also covers a much larger area than Ocean Ridge.

Faron told the council that it would have gotten a fairer comparison had it put the contract out for a formal bid.

Some audience members, including Faron, said paying $35,000 more was difficult for residents and particularly affected residents who don’t live in Briny Breezes year round. Yet others countered that the added protection the Boynton Beach contract offered was worth the price.

Resident Rita Taylor offered a third option that had been mentioned previously: Combine private security patrols with municipal or county police responders for emergency calls.

“We’ve had Cadillac service all these years,” Taylor said. “What I’ve suggested is far from Cadillac — but it’s an option.”

By Thom Smith

Once known as sleepy Delray, it now seems like the town that never sleeps. A couple of months ago we had Savor The Avenue, with diners at “long tables” down the middle of Atlantic Avenue. Then the Delray Beach Film Festival — the little festival that could, and perhaps the only film festival to feature a beach cleanup.

As usual, the Delray Affair drew more than a quarter-million the weekend after Easter. Then a week later, Circle on the Square offered Martinis & Motown at Old School Square.

And on May 21, Atlantic Avenue will be transformed into an outdoor lounge, South Beach style, for Chillounge Night, sponsored by Cointreau, with food vendors, samba parade, fashion show and live music to raise money for children’s music education in South Florida through Nat King Cole Generation Hope, Inc .Tickets are $15 ($75 for VIP) at www.chilloungenight.com.

So it makes sense that the Palm Beach International Film Festival might seek a little resuscitation by moving its opening night to Delray. When Cinemark Palace in Boca Raton decided not to host the festival premiere, Princess Ka’iulani, siblings Glenn and Brad Gray and Rochelle Walters stepped in and offered to screen it at their Movies at Delray at no charge.

After the screening, guests headed back to town to join a few hundred more fans for an opening night party on the top deck of the parking garage at Worthing Place, a spanking new seven-story, 217-unit luxury rental complex. The party featured sliders and tapas from David Manero’s nearby Vic & Angelo’s and The Office, beer and booze, as well as antique and luxury car displays.

Of course, no festival is complete without bright lights and cameras, still and video, to focus on celebs old and new, such as Rob Van Winkle, aka Vanilla Ice, who arrived in one of the featured Rolls Royces; the still stunning Jo Ann Pflug who starred as Lt. Dish in M*A*S*H way back in 1970; and the “biggest” (literally) new star, The Blind Side’s Quinton Aaron.

Also on hand, a horde of festival brass — Executive Director Randi Emerman, Board Chair Yvonne Boice and hubby Al Zucaro, Chairman Emeritus and County Commissioner Burt Aaronson and County Film Commissioner Chuck Elderd.

This year’s festival had a reduced film lineup, no gala and no contribution to support local student filmmakers. In its previous 14 years, the festival contributed $1 million that helped 30,000 students train in filmmaking, but before the projector rolled, Aaronson said it will make no contribution this year.

“We’ve scaled back, just like every other business,” he said, acknowledging a dim present and darker future. “But we’ll keep going as best we can. The show must go on.”

By contrast, Florida Stage is saying farewell to Manalapan, but the future couldn’t be brighter. After almost 20 years in Plaza del Mar, it’s leaving with a bang, not a whimper. Before heading to its new home in the Kravis Center’s Rinker Playhouse, it’ll offer one more delicious opening night — May 14 — for When the Sun Shone Brighter, by Christopher Demos-Brown.

It’s the story — fictional, of course — of a charismatic Cuban-American mayor of Miami who decides to run for the Senate. Sex, lies and ambition complicate things. Tony nominee John Herrera (The Mystery of Edwin Drood) stars.

Outside the auditorium, patrons will be able to take in a new exhibition by internationally renowned photographer Barry Seidman. Titled Art-chi-textures, it features shots taken during a visit to the northern latitudes. The photos and the play run through June 20.

Seidman will mount a new exhibit titled Multiple Sins at Lighthouse Center for the Arts in Tequesta, opening June 10. Florida Stage will debut at the Kravis Center with a raucous, bawdy, good-time summer show, Low Down Dirty Blues, opening in previews July 17.

Giving back. When the real estate market soured, Jay Bernhardt took an unusual approach with a building that he couldn’t rent in downtown Lake Worth. He gave it away, sort of. He lent the space to a group of area artists and artisans, who otherwise might have been shut out, to showcase their work. On May 7, Class Glass Metal Stone Gallery at 605 Lake Ave., will celebrate its first anniversary. Bernhardt will be there, and gallery manager Joyce Brown, and of course dozens of artists who’ll celebrate with a cake and mimosas.

And one more thing: butterflies. Dozens of living butterflies will be released into the community, and butterfly art will be displayed by Karen McGovern from Loxahatchee. When she’s not working with arty lepidopterae, Karen and hubby Paul are zoologists who rescue and breed rare species for release back into the wild.

The artists at CGMS believe in giving back. When Haiti was hit by the recent earthquake, Brown quickly organized a relief project, the Haitian Empty Vessel, and asked her artists to fire ceramic bowls that customers could buy for $25 each (four for $80) and that were used to sample foods provided by 17 Lake Worth restaurants.

More than 60 artists participated, plus art students at Jupiter High School, contributing more than 500 bowls. “We sold about 200 bowls,” Brown said, “150 of them to people who’d never been to Lake Worth before and raised $4,800. It was a great start, and we’ll probably do it again next year.”

Here and there:

Il Bacio in Delray welcomed several hundred guests to its first anniversary party on April 21 with host Jaime Edmondson, Playboy’s Miss January 2010, and illusionist Drew Thomas, late of America’s Got Talent. Proceeds benefited Make-A-Wish.

Suite 225 sushi house in Lantana has followed its Kyoto (Delray, West Boca) siblings to the restaurant graveyard. But onetime manager Dak Kerprich, has other ideas. Last fall, Kerprich, who had moved on to other ventures years ago, opened Pizza Oceana half a block west of Suite 225. Now he’s looking to bring his classy pies to Lake Worth, “just across from Bamboo Room,” he says.

Speaking of Bamboo Room, Lake Worth’s lamented live music club closed two years ago this month. But it isn’t permanent, promises owner Russ Hibbard: “We’ll reopen when the economy’s a little better. I haven’t abandoned it. In fact, we’ve used the opportunity to fix some things and make it better. It’s just a matter of time.”

Maybe in late fall?

“Readers digest” has a new meaning at the Boynton Beach Public Library. Visitors can now roam the stacks and then enjoy a snack at the Sailfish Cafe, nestled into a corner of the new 28,000-square-foot north wing. Caterer Jim Gilbeault, owner of Culinary Solutions, offers an assortment of sandwiches, salads, soups, soft drinks, pastries, coffee, tea and treats. It’s open 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., Monday through Thursday, and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays. The library is closed Fridays and Sundays.

Thom Smith is a freelance writer. He can be reached at thomsmith@ymail.com

By Tim O’Meilia

His business is called “Kenny Brown’s Trapping and Wildlife Rescue.” His truck says, “Pelican and Wildlife Rescue and Release.”

The kids call him “Noah.” Or “Dr. Doolittle.” Some call him “the pelican man.” Fishermen often call him something
unprintable.

“I’m usually everyone’s last resort,” said Kenny Brown, 47, carpenter by trade, wildlife rescuer by passion.

Take the day last month when Joe and Debby MacInnis were strolling along the beach near their Gulf Stream condominium when they spotted a large sea bird in trouble, unable to fly.

MacInnis hustled back to the Gulf Stream Bath and Tennis Club. Someone found Kenny’s business card tacked to a bulletin board.

“I’m standing near the bird so no one will bother it and here comes this guy up the beach. He’s not walking, he’s running,” MacInnis explained.

Carrying a towel and a net, Brown soothed the bird, wrapped it with the towel so it wouldn’t injure itself flapping its wings and examined its injuries. Brown reckoned the bird swallowed some fish hooks and could no longer eat.

Brown identified it as a northern gannet, a migratory white bird with black wingtips and a nearly 6-foot wingspan. Later he drove it to the SPCA Wildlife Center in Fort Lauderdale for care.

“He knew exactly what he was doing. I was so impressed with his enthusiasm,” said MacInnis, a man not easily impressed. MacInnis is a Toronto physician and undersea explorer who hangs out with the likes of Titanic and Avatar
director James Cameron.

Truth be told, Brown learned about wildlife by doing: a self-made animal expert who has devoted most of the last five years to saving distressed wildlife throughout Palm Beach County.

In late mid-April, Matthew Kelley’s dog, Sadie, alerted on a brown pelican along the Flagler Drive shore, north of Good Samaritan Hospital in West Palm Beach.

“It was wrapped in fishing line and had a hook in its beak,” he said. Kelley called the mayor’s office, which referred him to Palm Beach County Animal Care and
Control, which referred him to — Kenny Brown.

“Like I said, I’m the last resort for something no one else wants to do,” he said.

It all began in 2005 at the Boynton Inlet, where he saw a pelican entwined in fishing net, ignored by nearby fishermen. He drove to Kmart, bought a cheap net, returned to the inlet and scooped up the bird. He rescued three others the same night.

“I guess the man upstairs wants me to do this,” he concluded.

Since then, he’s rescued turkey vultures in Palm Beach, a great horned owl in Riviera Beach, 150 turtles from an area scheduled to be paved over in western Palm Beach County. Brown has saved gators, ospreys, raccoons, ducks, chickens and, of course, hundreds of pelicans.

Wildlife hospitals have logged in hundreds of animals per year brought in by Brown.

“If I get a call, I drop everything and go. I go,” he said.

Two years ago, he tended an injured bald eagle near Lion Country Safari. Until two years ago, Brown drove the injured to the Folke Peterson Wildlife Center in Wellington, but it has since closed. Now he drives wounded animals to the SPCA Wildlife Care Center in Fort Lauderdale.

It’s a tough way to make a living. His no-kill trapping business, in which he removes raccoons from your garbage cans or alligators from your retention pond,
is not as healthy as he would like.

And few pay to rescue damaged sea birds (except the MacInnises). After all, who owns them? A nonprofit website a friend set up, irescuewildlife.org, has attracted few donations.

“I’m just thankful people call about injured animals,” Brown said. “I’m over worrying about trying to get money for it.”

Brown’s wildlife rescue service and his for-profit no-kill animal trapping business can be reached at (561) 628-5363.

“He’s got a big heart,” MacInnis said. “He’s one of those guys on the side of the angels.”

“Let us endeavor so to live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry.”

— Mark Twain

Freelance writer and frequent Coastal Star contributor Ron Hayes posted the above quote on his Facebook page to recognize the 100th anniversary of Twain’s death on April 21. It was funny, timely and prescient.

This past month as we were confronted with tax time, we were also reminded of life’s other inevitability: death.

We saw a large number of our local residents concluding their life journeys in March and April. You can read about these special members of our community on Pages 22 and 23. Interesting people, lives well-lived.

We also learned of Ron Hayes’ national award from the Society of Professional Obituary Writers honoring his long-form obituary about Bill Dunn published in the December issue of The Coastal Star.
Writers from major newspapers across the country enter this competition, so it is indeed an honor.

Writing obituaries is a tricky business. The writer talks with family and friends when they are often at their most vulnerable. Still, we often find it is the smile or wink that made the deceased special. As a result, you are likely to find that your neighbor is being remembered for his or her spirit as much as for accomplishments.

Our hope is these written tributes will be saved by friends and family for future generations to appreciate the exceptional lives of their predecessors. We do our best to get it right and regret when we publish something a family finds uncomfortable.

Ron got Bill Dunn’s life and spirit right, and a national organization of obituary specialists agreed.

It verified what we’ve thought all along: To chronicle exceptional lives requires exceptional writers — like Ron.

— Mary Kate Leming, editor

By Mary Kate Leming

Former part-time Manalapan resident Tom Petters was sentenced to 50 years in prison by a federal court in Minneapolis in early April. The sentence mandates that the least time he could spend behind bars, with credit for good behavior, would be 41 years.

Petters was convicted in December of masterminding a $3.5 billion Ponzi scheme. He was found guilty on 20 criminal counts, including wire fraud, mail fraud and money laundering.

According to the government, Petters attracted massive investments from hedge funds and other institutions, ostensibly to buy consumer electronic goods and resell them to national big-box stores like Walmart and Costco. But there was actually little or no merchandise and the operation consisted mostly of faking documents and keeping the cash.

Petters spoke in court during the sentencing and apologized to family, friends and co-workers, “I truly grieve for the victims. Every day I am filled with pain and anguish for what has happened.”

After the sentencing, U.S. Attorney B. Todd Jones told the media, “Tom Petters is a fraud, and now he will pay a huge price for his self-enrichment and his deceit.”

On April 13, Petters’ attorney filed a formal notice of appeal for both the conviction and sentence. He also asked that Petters be declared destitute since his personal and corporate assets have been under the control of a court-appointed receiver for the past 18 months.

Last July, a court-appointed receiver sold Petters’ Manalapan home for $9.5 million as part of efforts to recoup funds for investors.

Information from the Minneapolis Star Tribune contributed to this report.

By Angie Francalancia

Federal authorities have seized the Ocean Ridge home and another home owned by Joseph Romano, who has been accused of resurrecting a $40 million boiler room scam he originated on Long Island with his Delray Beach-based Collectible Coins Inc. while free on bail.

Romano and a co-conspirator, Russell Barnes, were taken by U.S. Marshals to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn in March to await trial, scheduled for Sept. 27, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.

By the time authorities tracked Romano and Barnes to South Florida, they already had scammed at least 10 victims out of about $600,000 from the Delray Beach operation, according to court documents filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lara Treinis Gatz. The pair used cold calls and high-pressure sales to sell rolls of coins to buyers, including many elderly victims, according to the court documents.

An answering service for Collectible Coins Inc. at 1300 NW 17th Ave. in Delray Beach said the office was closed “because the guys are at a training conference until April 23 at the latest.”

Despite Romano and Barnes’ incarceration, Collectible Coins was still in operation in March, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The defendants would dip used or worn coins in a chemical bath, and then pass them off as high-grade collectibles, the documents said. In fact, the coins were worth much less than the callers claimed.

Romano bought his two-story oceanfront home at 6011 N. Ocean Blvd. in 2004 for $2.9 million. The 7,029 square-foot home had a $50,632 tax bill in 2009. Romano had run into trouble with Ocean Ridge’s code enforcement board in August 2009, when he was cited for failing to have a fence around his pool. A month later he was assessed $260 in fines and a special magistrate agreed to allow the town to start assessing $100-a-day fines, noting that other code violations existed as well.

He also had bought a five-bedroom two-bath home in 2004 at 7084 Via Leonardo in Isola Bella, off Hypoluxo Road, west of Florida’s Turnpike. Federal officials seized that $431,000 property as well.

Charged with conspiracy to commit mail/wire fraud and money laundering, the defendants had three New York companies using the same coin sale methods since 2001. Romano was released on $1 million bail while Barnes was released on his own recognizance. Four months after they first were charged, Romano and Barnes used another man to start Collectible Coins Inc. in Delray Beach, according to the postal inspector. Salesmen cajoled, pressured or confused elderly people into buying rolls of Benjamin Franklin half-dollar coins under the guise that investors would be willing to buy them, the inspector said.

South Florida victims identified only as John Does were seniors as old as 91. In addition to the 10 identified from the Delray Beach operation, federal prosecutors have identified 100 victims. Romano and Barnes could face additional charges connected with the Delray Beach operation.

By Mike Readling

When Palm Beach County installed 62, 1- to 2-ton pods just offshore from Ocean Ridge last year, the idea was to provide a breakwater for the beach renourishment project it had in the works.
One of the byproducts of that venture was the variety of sea life the artificial reef was going to attract in an area that was swimmable from shore. What wasn’t planned was the daily group of spearfishermen who use the public beach for access to fill their stringers with fish of every kind, leaving the discard on the sea floor, according to some beachside residents.
These spearfishermen – there are three or four distinct groups, said local resident Kim Jones – bully the swimmers, shoot with disregard for anyone around them and seem to do so without any ramifications.

Eric Espanet, 43, a county pocket resident and local spear fisherman for fifteen years, is familiar with the area and amateurs armed with spear guns. He recounts a time last year when he was diving south of the inlet and a teenage girl had a spear gun pointed within three feet of his face. As soon as he surfaced, her boyfriend grabbed it away from her. “Any real spear fishermen would go beyond the swimming area anyway,“ Espanet said, “where the fish are better, especially now with the new rock.”

Jones, however, said the spearfishers she’s talking about are not your run-of-the-mill weekend amateurs. “These are not your normal every day snorkler with a spear gun,” said Jones, who lives in a condo that overlooks the reef and regularly exercises by swimming the reef line. “These guys are extremely sophisticated. They’ve got these camouflaged blue wet suits. They’ve got lag lines. They shoot everything and anything and what they decide they don’t want, they leave in the sea floor, which attracts sharks. They are so aggressive with their guns in and around swimmers.”

Jones said she has called the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission at least 17 times and the nearby Ocean Club has called at least 12 times to report the activity. She said police showed up one time and made an arrest, but only because they were already in the area.

A spokesman for the Ocean Ridge Police Department said his department has not received any calls about the spearfishermen. If they did, he said Ocean Ridge PD would call the FWC or the Marine Patrol. Numerous messages left at the Palm Beach Sheriff Marine Patrol unit located less than 100 yards from the beach where the spearfishing is taking place were unreturned.

Al MacQueen, who has been with Ocean Rescue for 20 years, works as a lifeguard on the beach the spearfishers use to access the reef pods. He has seen spearfishers taking illegal fish like snook, sharks and mangrove snapper but said Ocean Rescue enforces the fishing statutes and he wasn’t aware of any complaints.
State law requires spearfishers to fish no closer than 100 yards from a public bathing beach, said FWC spokesman Lee Schlesinger. As long as the spear fishers are not within that 100 yards, they can use the shore for access and are allowed to take as many fish as the regulations allow, assuming they have the proper fishing license.

Paul Davis works for Palm Beach County Environmental Resource Management, the department responsible for placing the pods which comprise the reef. He said he didn’t have exact numbers on the distance of the pods from shore, but used a scale model aerial picture and estimated the range is 300 feet from shore at the south end, up to 600 feet at the north end.

“I can tell you the pods on the south end are definitely closer than 100 yards,” Jones said. “I swim them every week from the beach and they are within 100 yards. We just need some enforcement. They know what they’re doing is wrong, there’s just nobody there to do anything about it.”

Erika Kraft contributed to this report.

By Margie Plunkett

Ocean Ridge’s first art exhibit was so successful that even the painting Commissioners voted to buy at half price was sold. An enamored resident purchased the seascape by Max Matteson instead, but the town won, too — the sale brought in a $600 commission.

“When the resident wanted to buy it, it was a win-win situation,” said organizer Dr. John Wooten. Before that sale, the exhibit generated more than $1,800 in commissions and donations to support Ocean Ridge’s new Art in Public Places. More than 100 people attended the opening of the exhibit.

The works of painters Matteson and Olga Moore and sculptor Steven Greenhut were displayed at the show that opened Feb. 25. The artists donated 30 percent of pieces that sold, the organizer said.

“We sold six paintings so far. We collected $500 in donations on opening night. We made another $500 for silent auctions,” Wooten said. “It was very successful. I couldn’t have been happier.”

The opening of the next exhibit is already set, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. May 25. “We’re going to celebrate the creativity and talent” of students at Gulf Stream School, Wooten said. Different forms of art will be displayed, with two from each grade at the school.

Money collected at the initial exhibit will help defray costs at the second event. For instance, Steinway is donating a piano for musical performances, but the Art in Public Place’s group is responsible for paying transportation and tuning of the instrument. The Coastal Star is an event sponsor and Wooten hopes other local businesses will help with contributions for expenses such as refreshments.

Wooten said he was grateful for the many residents who have helped with the art project to date as well as providing seed money.

Council approved, with one dissenting vote, a motion to buy the Matteson seascape for $900 to commemorate the first art exhibit, as Commissioner Betty Bingham explained at the April 5 meeting. The motion set off a debate about whether funds collected during the exhibits were considered tax dollars. Commissioner Terry Brown also challenged whether the Town should be spending money for art work.

But, Wooten cautioned then, “If what you raise is considered tax dollars, it’s going to be difficult to continue this program.”

By Antigone Barton

“A stack of letters,” as Mayor William Koch put it — 17 then, with three more on the way —addressed to Town Hall in April may be the most correspondence in recent times to demand Gulf Stream commissioners’ attention, and was all the more unusual because not one of the letters came from a town resident.

And although some of the letters — typed on condominium association letterheads and hand-scripted on personal note cards — bore a return address ending in “Gulf Stream, FL,” they all came from people who currently belong to no town.

The letter writers are neighbors who live in the little corner of oceanside land that belongs to the county (part of the “county pocket”) but is nestled so close upon the town’s northeastern borders as to appear to be part of it already. These neighbors would like to call Gulf Stream home.

The corner comprises about 900 feet of oceanfront land with about 120 residences, of which all except four single-family residences are multifamily or condo buildings.

It would add to Gulf Stream’s current number of residences by about 20 percent, and to its current oceanfront stretch of 9,000 feet by about 10 percent.

The reasons its residents gave were somewhat diverse, ranging from a view of “a good fit economically, socially and culturally,” and already shared memberships in clubs and churches, to a common dread of development and concerns over the “the very dangerous lag in emergency services from the county to respond.”

But the desire to be Gulf Stream residents was the unanimous theme.

And many of the letter writers claimed, or at least hinted, they spoke for more than themselves. That includes at least one dog:

“In addition to the great Town Hall, police force, police station,” a Ballantrae condominium owner wrote, “our West Highland terrier enjoys his morning and afternoon walks through the neighborhood.”

“I can assure you, we feel as one, in our desire to be part of the Gulf Stream community,” Stephen Gross, president of the 3900 N. Ocean Boulevard Association put it.

As it is now, another writer noted, the Ballantrae condominium complex would be an addition not just in revenue, “but in the feeling of charm and gentility which Gulf Stream exudes.”

But adding impetus to that sentiment, other letter writers noted, are fears sparked by recent talk of possible annexations of other “pockets” by neighboring Boynton Beach.

“Without annexation to Gulf Stream, this pocket would be subject to development, as seen in Boynton Beach, of high-rise buildings, commercial shops, restaurants, bars, gas stations, you name it, etc.” Robert Schumann of Ballantrae wrote.

The point was not lost on Gulf Stream commissioners, although the town has a standing agreement with Boynton Beach and Palm Beach County not to annex adjoining land if Boynton Beach maintains limits on new structures of 35 feet in height and no more than six units an acre in density.

“The next thing to do,” Koch suggested, “is get into discussions with Boynton Beach to see if they would object to us annexing the pocket. Because we would object to them annexing the pocket.”

And as Commissioner Chris Wheeler put it: “The pros are our tax base increases and we have control over the land. What is the negative?”

In the end, the commission agreed to give Town Manager William Thrasher permission to “start the process and have discussions,” exploring options regarding the agreement with Boynton Beach, and the possibility of annexation with city officials.

So although not residents — yet, at least — letter writers got a response.

“Right now, they’ve requested and we’re looking into it,” Koch said.

In other action during the April 1 meeting, town commissioners agreed to take a straw poll among residents about burying Gulf Stream’s overhead power lines. The project would cost owners of single-family residences whose lines are not already buried from $18,000 to $22,000, to be paid through assessments.

By Tim O’Meilia

The South Palm Beach Town Council may soon be negotiating with its small police force over pay and benefits.

The Palm Beach County Police Benevolent Association has filed with the state’s Public Employee Relations Commission to represent the town’s six rank-and-file officers.

In response, the Town Council voted 4-0 on April 27 to hire labor attorney Jeffrey Pheterson should the police vote to join the union. Police in neighboring Manalapan recently voted unanimously to join the PBA.

Under state law, the officers will vote whether to unionize in the next three months. The police chief, captain and lieutenant would not be included in the bargaining unit.

Mayor Martin Millar, who said he was a former member of the PBA before he retired, endorsed the officers’ action. “I don’t see a problem with them signing up with the PBA. It’s a benefit for them,” he said.

He said a union could provide lawyers to defend the police in civil suits, offer educational benefits and insurance policies for family members of police.

“I wish them the best,” said Police Chief Roger Crane, making no comment on the move.

Both Millar and council member Stella Jordan said that a union was no guarantee the police would receive raises. The police received no merit raises or cost of living increases in this year’s budget.

“That does not mean the town is held captive,” Jordan said.

“We have the right to say to them, ‘Officers, we don’t have the money,’ ” the mayor said.

In other business, the council said it would consider Jordan’s suggestion to develop a “cost recovery policy,” such as charging for fire inspections, legal notices and other government services.

The town faces a budget shortfall for the second consecutive year. Preliminary figures show the town’s property values have dropped 20 percent. Town Manager Rex Taylor estimated the town could lose $230,000 in property tax revenue. The town, which has a single commercial entity, depends largely on property taxes to meets its expenses.

An informational meeting for residents on a proposed erosion-preventing breakwater was set for 4:30 p.m. May 27 at the Town Hall. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will explain how the project would work if money is found for the job.

The state has no money in its budget to pay its 50 percent share. The town would pay 20 percent and Palm Beach County 30 percent.

Planning Board Chairman Michael Nevard was reappointed to a three-year term on the Planning Commission by a 3-2 vote, with Millar and Councilman Brian Merbler opposed. Hotel owner Pjeter Paloka filed an ethics complaint against Nevard in February.

By Tim O’Meilia

The Imperial House might not wash into the sea this hurricane season after all.

Construction of most of a new $500,000 seawall to protect the 58-unit cooperative from unrelenting erosion was completed just as turtle-nesting season began March 1. Actually, the building needed a five-day extension to get the work done.

“We got it in by the skin of our teeth,” said Bonnie Fischer, the new president of the Imperial House. “We accomplished a lot in a very short time.”

The new seawall won’t be tied in to the neighboring town of Lantana seawall until November, South Palm Beach Town Manager Rex Taylor said.

The six-story Imperial House wasn’t bailed out by the government but by the Mayfair House, its neighbor five buildings to the north.

The Mayfair House, which just completed its own $1.6 million seawall, allowed Imperial House access to the beach for heavy equipment and materials through the Mayfair parking lot for $35,000.

The town of Lantana wanted to charge more than $200,000 for beach access, mostly to make up for the cost of redesigning its own seawall when Imperial House did not install one in 2008.

Fischer erected a yellow-and-green thank-you sign in front of Imperial House. “Thank you, Mayfair House, for being such good neighbors. Now we are safe because you cared,” the sign reads.

The Imperial House was evacuated briefly in November when waves lapped against a sidewalk surrounding the building. Emergency boulders and rubble was carted in to prevent any collapse.

“We’re very grateful to Mayfair that they allowed us to use their property,” Fischer said. “I know it was disruptive to them.”

The construction slightly delayed work at the Mayfair House. Painting, landscaping and the pouring of concrete steps has yet to be completed.

“They were very gracious about it,” Mike Nevard, chairman of the Mayfair’s seawall committee, said of the Imperial House. “We were glad to help.”

A 33-foot section on the south side of the Imperial House is not finished, although wood forms, rebar and Fiberglas are in place. Taylor said permitting issues remain to be resolved with that section. The Lantana seawall will tie in along the area.

“I have a level of comfort on the east side,” Fischer said, “but not along the south. The dune is still eroding.”

By Kelly Wolfe

Barry University’s board of trustees unanimously agreed to sell its public broadcasting radio station WXEL to Classical South Florida for $3.85 million in April.

And although the announcement was made in a celebratory fashion, it’s still unclear whether the agreement will make it past the more significant hurdles that are yet to come.

“We were never going to sell WXEL to the highest bidder,” Michael Laderman, spokesman for Barry University. “We wanted to find a strong organization with knowledge of TV and radio, and, quite frankly, we believe we’ve done that.”

Classical South Florida airs classical music on 89.7 FM in Miami and 101.9 FM in West Palm Beach. It’s a nonprofit, listener-supported station that began broadcasting in 2007. Despite the economic climate, the station has 9,000 members.

CSF said it’s not clear what changes, if any, will happen after the purchase of WXEL.

“It like we’ve bought a car but haven’t looked under the hood yet,” said Jason Hughes, a spokesman for CSF.

But before any side can move forward, the transfer of WXEL’s radio license is subject to approval by the Board of Education of the state of Florida. After that, the Federal Communications Commission must approve the transaction, following a period of public comment.

This approval process snagged a deal Barry made with WNET in 2004. It wasn’t that the FCC denied the transaction; it was that the process took so long, WNET walked away.

Both sides aren’t sure if that could happen again. Laderman said he’s just going to think positive.

“We hope the state will give its blessing and we’ll be able to move forward with the FCC,” he said.

Hughes said CSF is undeterred. “The process is going to take as long as it needs to,” he said.

Barry bought WXEL in 1997, but the university’s hopes and dreams for the acquisition never materialized. Last year, a community advisory board told the university to sell the station after years of mismanagement.

But Hughes said CSF sees great potential in WXEL.

“We’re very excited,” he said.

By Antigone Barton

The hour was late and the Boynton Beach commissioners bleary-eyed enough to decide postponing a discussion on budget matters was a good idea.

Still, the decision to give a symbolic nod to historical preservation by OK’ing $18,000 to patch the roof of the city’s 1927 high school was swift and certain.

The move — meant to spare the old Boynton Beach High School’s gymnasium floor from further water damage, even as commissioners were assured the floor would have to be replaced anyway — spelled a change in the city’s approach to the building’s potential.

“I don’t think we’ve had a 5-0 vote on that high school, at least since I’ve been here,” said Mayor Jose Rodriguez, who before assuming leadership last month served on the commission for three years.

The decision was in keeping with Rodriguez’s campaign pledge and earlier commission votes to maintain and protect the building. The Boynton Beach High School, which dates back to the city’s earliest days, was damaged in 2005 by Hurricane Wilma.

Still, Rodriguez says, repairs to the interior of the building are at least a year away.

In the meantime, city engineering and public works director Jeff Livergood called the installation of the temporary rubber roof commissioners approved “a finger in the dike.”

With the close to midnight vote at its April 20 meeting the city was, as Commissioner William Orlove put it, “sending a signal to the public that we are going to renovate this building.”

It was a change in signals from the struggles that made meetings under previous Mayor Jerry Taylor contentious, after efforts to maintain the building stalled.

“By neglecting to fix the roof, the former regime was sort of hoping for demolition by neglect,” said Barbara Ready, president of Save the BOSS (Boynton Old School Space) and member of the city’s historic preservation ad hoc committee.

Ready also is not so sure the floor of the gymnasium is beyond redemption. “It is Dade County pine,” she pointed out. “Dade County pine is a very valuable resource. You only find it in old buildings.”

By Margie Plunkett

Seawall construction won’t threaten the sea turtles this year: The state turned down Lantana’s request to build after the start of turtle season, pushing back the start date to Nov. 1.

The town instructed its manager, Michael Bornstein, to bid the work and otherwise be prepared to start construction the first day possible, letting go its hopes
to connect to the Imperial House’s newly built seawall before turtle – as well
as hurricane – season.

The timing worried Council members including Elizabeth Tennyson, who voiced fears that any fierce storms this season could wreak havoc on the unprotected
property.

Council member Tom Deringer also moved earlier in the month to seek state approval to build the seawall straight to the Imperial House’s wall. But Bornstein reported
that his Department of Environmental Protection contact told him it’s unlikely
such a permit would be granted.

The neighbors of McKinley park on Hypoluxo Island had better news: Deteriorating playground equipment that was removed as a safety hazard will be replaced –
although the new equipment won’t be as extensive as the original.

The town will piggy-back a contract with Wellington for the equipment, which will cost $26,450.68, a total that also reflects a 30 percent discount that was set
to expire at the end of April.

Replacement was initially estimated at about twice the amount – and Lantana had not budgeted money for the project. The town found money and moved it from a
previous capital account.

The new equipment will include swings and a module with a slide, climbing wall and other activities for children. But the town won’t replace the equipment
specifically for younger toddlers.

Neighbors had protested the abrupt removal of the equipment and the lack of communication before the playset was scrapped. The sentiment expressed at Lantana’s April 26
meeting was appreciation.

“I’d just like to thank the commission, mayor, town manager, that we are getting this equipment,” said Judy Black, head of the Hypoluxo Island homeowners
association. “It’s been a topic
that’s been discussed on the island. We very much appreciate the assets were
found to fund this.

The equipment, which will be purchased from Playmore Recreational Products & Services, is expected to be installed in about a month and a half. The product
is one often used by governments, Bornstein said. “It’s a basic modular system.
They’re very stout and sturdy.”

Lantana’s April 26 meeting honored Town Clerk Crystal Gibson with a proclamation for Municipal Clerks Week. Gibson drew accolades for the work she performs above
and beyond her expected duties. Mayor David Stewart got a little extra special
attention as well: The roomful of council members, staff and residents sang
Happy Birthday to him.

For recipes, see Mother's Day Brunch

By Jan Norris

Nanci Moore’s Mix It Up class at Gulf Stream School simply can’t wait for Mother’s Day. Nine students in the after-school cooking class have a special breakfast surprise in store for their moms.

“My dad will say, “It’s Mother’s Day. Let’s let Mom sleep and we’ll cook for her!” said 9-year-old Fallyn Brody. She has it all planned out.

Almost all of the youngsters report that they’ve already cooked a little — some, a lot. Garrett O’Connor, 8, has sisters who bake cakes for parties, so he’s a baker’s assistant. “I make brownies and help with the cookies,” he said.

Freya Miller, 8, helps make dinner salads at her house, and sets a table. Mark Mahady, 9, helps his dad cook breakfast; he gets to crack the eggs. Eight-year-old Ashley Kent says she cooks often. “I make salads, make chicken. I put the stuff on the chicken before it goes into the oven. I make cookies and brownies, too.”

Moore says they’re all eager cooks. “This is a very popular class,” she said. “Every week, we have 12 or up to 18 students, if there’s no (lacrosse) game.”

Grades 1 through 4 participate as students; the older fifth- and sixth-graders become “happy helpers.” Moore also has teacher Wendy Zieglar to do the oven and sink work and give guidance. All get to eat their work.

“We do fairly easy recipes. We only have an hour,” Moore explains. A lot depends on ready-made food as a base. In this class they learned to make an egg casserole, chocolate croissants and a fruit cup. Using packaged croutons, refrigerated dough and shredded cheese help make the process quick and easy enough for even the youngest.

After demonstrating each dish, Moore turns the students loose for the hands-on preparation.

“Usually we only do one dish. That’s all we have time for. But this is a special meal,” she said. They accomplish the whole menu, plus a proper table-setting lesson, all in just over an hour.

Sharing the chores for the egg casserole, they all get to crack an egg or two. Mason Delafield, 5, is here because her sister Finley, 7, is attending. Mason gets to crack one, with gentle guidance from her sister. A little shell gets in the mix, but no worries — Moore is there to dip it out.

The two casseroles go together fairly smoothly, then it’s on to the croissants, made from refrigerated dough. “This is really gooey,” Julie Moquin, 7, says, making a face as she rolls it out.

Moore sets down a container of mini chocolate chips for each table; they’re to be carefully spread on the wide end of the croissant dough and will melt when baked. “Not too many, or they’ll ooze out and make a mess on the cookie sheet.”

A few sneak some to eat. “No fingers in the chocolate chips,” she admonishes them.

She turns her back, and four small hands dive right back into the plastic cup. “I love chocolate chips,” Garrett says.

It’s tricky to keep their attention with those chips on the table, and some weren’t watching closely to see how the croissants are to be rolled up to create their crescent shape. A few are misshapen, but won’t suffer for lack of chocolate flavor, thanks to over-stuffing with the chips.

Last comes the fruit cup. “We’re going to cut up the strawberries a little bigger than we did for the strawberry shortcakes we made, OK?” Moore demonstrates with the plastic knives. “Then, how about a banana?” She slices one in rounds. “Now comes the pretty part — this is fresh mint.” It’s passed around for everyone to sniff. “Mmm. It smells like toothpaste.”

She breaks off a few leaves and decorates the fruit cup. “It looks like a palm tree,” Mark says. From then on, the mint is called “the palm tree.”

The kids get to work. Stormy Kosinski, 7, announces she doesn’t like bananas. “I used to like them, but now I don’t.” This starts a whole round of likes and dislikes. “When I was a little kid, I used to like chocolate cake, but now I don’t,” someone says. Another: “I used to drink milk. Now I only drink juice and water.”

“Look! Garrett is going to layer the strawberries in his cup,” Freya says. Garrett’s cup shows a flair for design. At the other table, Mason has meticulously cut each strawberry into quarter-inch dice, and they, too, make an attractive cup mixed with the bananas she’s cubed.

“It’s however you want to do it.” Moore encourages the creative techniques.

“Now we’re going to set the table so it’s pretty for Mom.” She demonstrates the proper placing of plate, knife, fork and spoon, and the water glass. The paper napkin is folded in a rectangle, but Ashley shows how to fold it into a triangle. They all approve.

When they set up their own plates, Finley has folded her napkin into a triangle twice, so it stands up on the side of the plate like a pyramid. “Ooo. That’s like the restaurant does it.” Several others refold theirs to match.

“This is where your water glass will go,” Moore shows them how to line it up with the top of the spoon.

“How do you make coffee?” someone wonders. “We have a coffeemaker,” Julie says.

Finally, it’s time to eat. The browned casseroles are hot, the croissants nicely browned and not so many oozing chocolate as feared. The fruit cups stand pretty alongside the plates, all perfectly garnished with the “palm trees.”

Suddenly, the room goes quiet.

“This is really good,” Stormy says. “I’m definitely making this for my Mom.” Others chime in. “When IS Mother’s Day?”

May 9, they’re told. Some are crestfallen as they expected it to be Sunday.

Finley and Mason consider the strategy of how to make this a surprise. “I’ll say, ‘We need to go to the store’ to Dad,” Mason says. “How long will the mint last?”

“A few days,” Moore says. Disappointment clouded her face, but Moore explained it’s readily available at the store, fresh — and she brightened.

“My mom is going to be so surprised!” Julie said. “She’ll say, ‘You cooked this all by yourself?’”

Jan Norris is a freelance writer/editor. Check out more recipe tips and ideas at www.jannorris.com.

By Thomas R. Collins

My mom was on a gurney, tubes everywhere, strangers leaning over her, machines making beeps and whirs, fluorescent lights shining cold and bright.

When I got to the emergency room that day six months ago, after my mom turned blue and fell in her assisted living home, she was looking about and crying hysterically.

She needed a breathing machine —What? Breathing machine? — to live. It would be temporary. They could clear up the pneumonia. But, oh, by the way, if we find that she can’t swallow right she’ll need a feeding tube. Feeding tube? Like, forever? Right, forever.

I wasn’t going the feeding tube route. It was time for me to get prepared for my mother to die.

“Everything’s going to be great,” I’d tell my mom in the hospital. “Everything’s going to be what, mom?”

“Great.”

I wasn’t referring to her health, but the afterlife she’s always believed in so strongly.

My mom was finally discharged from the hospital. When she was wheeled into a nursing home, I thought she might never pass through those doors again, like she was entering a tomb.

This is probably it.

•

It’s been six months since my mom was put under hospice care — when experts predicted she might have six months to a year left. Today — after heart problems and a blood clot in her leg have cleared up — my wife, daughter and I load her into the car every weekend and hit the road to a nearby park. On the way back, we go through the Wendy’s drive-through and get her a chocolate Frosty.

On a lark, we tossed her a tennis ball the other day. She snatched it out of the air, dumbfounding us. The dementia apparently hasn’t yet attacked the neurons controlling hand-eye coordination. We immediately videotaped her catches with a phone and proudly e-mailed the footage to family, like we’d captured evidence of Bigfoot.

There are still considerable health concerns. Swallowing, infections, lurking heart issues.

But my mom is faring much better.

I asked Hospice of Palm Beach County whether she should still be in their care. Yes, absolutely, they said. Unspoken was, “She could do a 180 any second.”

I know that. But it’s much easier to be prepared for death when the signs of death are staring you in the face.

That’s no longer the case, but there are reminders. When my mom coughs while eating dinner, for instance, or struggles to name someone in a picture.

•

And there are more potent reminders.

My mom’s first roommate, who had recently lost her husband and did not have dementia, was terrific. A movie buff, like me. One day, I arrived and she was watching Gone With The Wind on her giant TV she shared with my mom. As we talked about it, we both swooned at the beauty and heartache of the film. I got her a tin of popcorn, her favorite junk food, for Christmas.

One night in January, I was visiting my mom when the roommate got back from seeing the movie Dear John with her daughter. She’d enjoyed it. But it was well after dinner hour and her meal was cold. She asked for a made-to-order grilled cheese, but was told the kitchen was closed.

I thought about going to get her one somewhere. But I had things to do, and I didn’t.

When I visited my mom two days later, the roommate’s belongings were gone. I was told she’d died, at 1 in the morning, two nights before, six hours after asking for the grilled cheese.

Dead? Like that? But, she was just at the movies! She didn’t get a grilled cheese! Dead?

As I clutched a flyer about her memorial service and wheeled my mom outside for some fresh air, I was bewildered, sad and stunned. I found my eyes filling with tears.

It felt bizarre that the first person I was grieving over at this nursing home was someone other than my mother.

If I was this shaken, if I found this so unlikely and so unfair, what must it have been like for her family, for the daughter who’d seen Dear John with her?

Then, a more sobering thought. Did my mom know? Could she tell, when they came to get her where she lay, six feet away, that her roommate had died? Did she, somehow, think that made it OK to die?

If my mom knew what had happened, she didn’t let on. I tried not to let on that I knew, either.

Thomas R. Collins is a freelance writer living in West Palm Beach. This is Part 2 of his quarterly chronicle of his mother’s journey through dementia.

By Greg Stepanich

The arts season for 2009-10 is in the books, but that doesn’t mean we’re all going to be reduced to flipping on the A/C and watching videos of cats playing piano apps on an iPad (cute as that is).

Longtime observers of the cultural scene hereabouts know that things are far less seasonal than they used to be, and that there actually is a summer arts season to look forward to. Among the warm-months big events this year are the Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival, Macbeth at the Palm Beach Shakespeare Festival, Florida Stage debuting at its new home in the Rinker Playhouse, and a visit from Sting at the Cruzan in early July.

Meanwhile, May is a good month to catch up on some shows that are still running as well as chasing down something new. Here are some events worth checking out in the merry month:

Burn the Floor: Competitive dance shows have become addictive reality fare on television, with celebrities and wannabes alike trying their luck at sambas, waltzes and ballroom pizzazz for fun, profit and even pain. Burn the Floor, a high-energy evening of dance featuring 11 couples — including husband-and-wife team Ryan and Ashleigh Di Lello of Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance — comes to the Kravis for nine shows starting May 4. This show, which packed them in for seven months at Broadway’s Longacre Theatre and includes West Palm Beach as one of the first three stops on its initial world tour, is half Latin dance, half ballroom tradition, and was choreographed in nonstop, intensely theatrical style by Australian Jason Gilkison. May 4 through May 9; call 832-7469 for tickets.

Avedon and Elvis: Master photographer and portraitist Richard Avedon (1923-2004), whose work helped create the supermodel and define what American style was, and is, all about is the subject of a retrospective at the Norton Museum of Art that features 175 fashion photos taken from 1944-2000 for the major magazines for whom he worked. Avedon was particularly celebrated for establishing a fresher commercial view of what the modern woman was all about, and in these pictures we can see that sense of beauty and confidence that is so much a part of our culture today. Through May 9 (call 832-5196 for tickets).

Elsewhere, the Boca Raton Museum of Art features a series of photos by Alfred Wertheimer of Elvis Presley at age 21, just at the time when he was becoming a household word. Through June 13 (call 392-2500 for tickets).

Three Tall Women: The American playwright Edward Albee restored his career with this 1994 Pulitzer Prize-winning drama that examines the life stages of an elderly woman, now in her 90s, who has become estranged from her gay son. Palm Beach Dramaworks has tapped Beth Dixon, Angie Radosh, Geneva Rae and Chris Marks as its cast for the show, which will be directed by J. Barry Lewis. Through June 13 (call 514-4042 for tickets).

Chamber music: This year’s chamber music series at the Duncan Theatre’s Stage West featured young solo artists, and one of them, violinist Mikhail Simonyan, had to bow out because of illness. As a substitute, pianist Hyojin Ahn, who accompanied violinist Yuki Numata earlier this year, will appear in a solo recital May 5, in a program of music by Liszt and Ravel (call 868-3309 for tickets). Meanwhile, the Music at St. Paul’s series in Delray Beach continues May 16 with clarinetist Paul Green, violist Michael Klotz and pianist Jennifer Snyder in music by Bruch and Schumann (call 278-6003 for tickets). That same afternoon, Ukrainian pianist Sofiya Uryvayeva comes to the Piano Lovers series at Boca’s Steinway Gallery for a concert of music by Tchaikovsky and Chopin (call 929-6633 for tickets).

Greg Stepanich is founder/editor of the Palm Beach ArtsPaper available online at www.palmbeachartspaper.com. Watch for his column all summer leading up to our Season Preview distributed in October. He can be reached at: gstepanich@pbartspaper.com.

By Ron Hayes
County Pocket —When they saw the American flag at half-staff over Surf Road, the painting of Ponce De Leon against the pole, his neighbors knew Elvin Priest was gone.
A resident of the county pocket since the late 1960s, Mr. Priest died March 7 in Wareham, Mass., two months to the day after Nora, his wife of 68 years. He was 96 and had suffered from pneumonia.
Dubbed “Poncy-Poncy-DeLeoncy,” that portrait of the famous Spanish explorer was a local mascot, as loyal a presence at neighborhood parties as the wheelbarrow from which Mr. Priest dispensed cold beer, or the drums he played in local bands. It had been placed below the lowered flag when Mrs. Priest died, and it would be present at a casual neighborhood wake on April 3, too.

Elvin Priest was born Jan. 11, 1914, in Boston, to parents with a sense of humor. They gave him the middle name “High.”
“It was funny because my dad, right up until the end, was an agnostic,” said his daughter, Faith.
Drafted into the U.S. Army after Pearl Harbor, Mr. Priest served as a sharpshooter in both the European and Pacific theaters, then went to work for the U.S. Postal Service as a mail sorter in Boston’s South Station annex.
But his true calling was the drums, which he played in small combos and big bands, burlesque shows, hotel ballrooms and, finally, the Briny Breezes Choral Club.
“Al loved what he did,” remembers Carolyne Kelley, the club’s director. “His face was just glowing when he played.”
Already in his 90s, Mr. Priest decided to learn to play piano.
“He bought a keyboard at Marathon Music and brought it home, at least a mile, on his bicycle seat,” Kelley recalls. “He never acted old, and what a sense of humor he had.”
The boy who had been jokingly dubbed a “High Priest” by his parents retained his wit as an old man.
As he entered his nineties, his daughter recalled, the family urged him to spend a bit more of his savings, enjoy himself, live a little.
“After all, Dad,” she told him, “you can’t take it with you.”
The lifetime agnostic responded with a puzzled frown.
“Well, where am I going?” he quipped.
In addition to his daughter, Mr. Priest is survived by a son, Barry, of Bedford, Mass.; and two grandsons, Peter Nickerson and Jason Potteiger.
Donations in his name may be made to he Prasad Project, 465 Brickman Road, Hurleyville, NY 12747, which provides eye and dental care in the U.S., India and Mexico, or to a local food pantry.

By Emily J. Minor

DELRAY BEACH — Lisl Bischof Ekvall, a native of Vienna, Austria, who fell in love with a U.S. Navy man after the war and moved to the states — died April 17 after a sudden hospitalization. She was 85.
Mrs. Ekvall married her husband, David Ekvall, in Delray Beach in 1959, and she had lived here since, raising the couple’s two sons, Erik and Christopher, in the area.
A widow since 1980, Mrs. Ekvall earned a doctorate degree in philosophy from the University of Vienna and after World War II worked as an interpreter for the American occupational forces. She often translated war documents and even served as the language liaison when the U.S. government had to hand over individuals to the Austrians, said her son, Erik.
Erik Ekvall said his parents met in Austria when the country was still divided into sectors and Austrians couldn’t move freely from one area to the next. His father, David, was in a restaurant when a young woman approached and asked if he would take a letter to her friend in another sector. Since American soldiers could travel freely, the young Navy man agreed.
The woman’s friend was his mother, said Erik Ekvall. The two fell in love, came to the states, lived briefly in David Ekvall’s native Illinois, and then moved to Florida. While in Illinois, Mrs. Ekvall studied as a Fulbright scholarship recipient.
Through the years, Mrs. Ekvall loved walking her beloved beach. She did this daily, he said. “Huge, long walks,” said her son.
“She was very comfortable in her own skin,” said Erik Ekvall, who said his mother never had an interested in remarrying. “She had a group of good friends. She went for her long walks.”
Mrs. Ekvall lived for many years in her in-laws’ family home on Andrews Avenue in Delray Beach. Her husband’s parents had bought in Delray Beach in the 1940s and after they died, the couple moved their young family to that home. She lived there, said her son, until she moved to Seagate Towers condominiums in 1984.
Besides her two sons, Mrs. Ekvall is survived by four grandchildren and a sister and nephew in Austria.