Dreyfoos School of the Arts students dressed in Venetian costumes welcomed more than 180 guests to benefit the Dreyfoos foundation. The Italian theme was carried throughout the event, from the decor to the menu to the performances. A total of $70,000 was raised.
ABOVE: Jennifer Myerberg and Lisa Marie Browne. Photo provided by CAPEHART
The 2018-19 Kravis season’s evening of elegance struck a chord with the 400-plus guests who attended to see legendary artist David Foster play the piano. A red-carpet pre-show reception and a spectacular post-show dinner dance netted more than $600,000 for the performing-arts hall. RIGHT: Aggie and Jeff Stoops. Photo provided by CAPEHART
The nonprofit observed Mental Health Awareness Month with a symbolic networking event in support of its mission. Like the transformation of a butterfly representing change, rebirth and renewal, patients who seek help from the center experience transformations. The organization provides free and low-cost counseling to people in need. ABOVE: (l-r, front) Stacey Udine, Virginia Crist, Vicki Katz, Gwen Collins, Holly Katz, Cindy Winter, Lois Weisman, Charles Levy, Monica Mayotte, (back) Bob Weinroth, Doreen Yaffa and Ari Harper. Photo provided by Tina Valant Photography
Parkinson’s Foundation South Palm Beach County Chapter’s signature event was celebrated in style, attracting more than 150 guests and raising more than $65,000. The chapter recognized longtime supporter Robin Muir. Live music, dancing, entertainment, cocktails and fine dining were among the highlights. RIGHT: Chairwoman Pat Toppel with Muir. Photo provided by Annette Meyer
A warm night provided a beautiful backdrop for the seventh annual event benefiting the Naoma Donnelley Haggin Boys & Girls Club of Delray Beach. The dinner crowned Derry Gaspard as the club’s Youth of the Year. Nearly 230 guests and an auction raised $165,000 to benefit local children.
Chairwoman Susan Mullin and Michael Mullin
Ken Ambrecht and Chairwoman Susan Ambrecht
Committee member Melissa deBaptiste and Marc deBaptiste
Louise and Henrik Vanderlip
Bruce Warwick and committee member Margie Warwick.
Photos provided by Tracey Benson Photography
Boca Raton Regional Hospital celebrated with hundreds of supporters to applaud lead donors of the capital campaign who have given $1 million or more to Keeping the Promise … The Campaign for Boca Raton Regional Hospital. ‘This is our opportunity to recognize and thank the hospital’s benefactors for their amazing support,’ said Stanley Barry, chairman of the foundation board of trustees. ‘Many of these people are family and friends who have been steadfast through the years in ensuring we have extraordinary health care right here in Boca Raton.’ INSET: (l-r) Richard Schmidt, Freyda Burns, Christine Lynn and Marilyn and Stanley Barry. Photo provided
Lake Worth artist Gary Orrock presents a painting he did of Tess and John Giragos to the couple’s niece, Susan Costello, at John G’s Restaurant in Manalapan. Orrock painted the piece in remembrance of the couple who founded John G’s. Their children have managed the restaurant for many years. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
A long-vacant restaurant space on East Ocean Avenue will soon become Ravish. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
By Jan Norris
Only a tiny stretch of real estate, Lantana’s Ocean Avenue represents a broad dining spectrum, satisfying a number of palates and cuisines.
With a relaxed regulation for parking spots on the books, the town hopes to attract even more shops and restaurants to the area.
This small-town community feel is why chef Lisa Mercado decided to locate her newest incarnation here. She’s opening Ravish as soon as the permits are approved.
“I thought we’d be open by Mother’s Day," she said. "Lantana is a small town and they’re looking to keep it that way. They want to make sure it’s a good fit. We just have to sit back and wait. But that gives me more time to shop and play around with decorations."
The former owner of the successful tapas bar the Living Room in Boynton Beach, and the Red Lion pubs in Boynton and Boca Raton, is excited to be back and is keen on the location, though she’s aware of the turnover for restaurants in the spot at 210 Ocean Ave.
“A lot of the restaurants have lasted only a year or a year and a half,” Mercado said. “People have asked, ‘What makes you think you can do it?’ I’ve been in Palm Beach County doing restaurants since 1983. I ran the Living Room for 11 years, and the Red Lion pubs for 20 and 30 years. The difference is being a chef who will work in the restaurant doing it all until it gets off the ground.”
Her fans have followed her, surprising her with their enthusiasm. She’s been in Hawaii for a year, even cooking for the Obamas while they vacationed. She said her fans “found me there. I don’t know how, but they contacted me, wanting to know what I’m doing.”
They have stopped in the new restaurant daily, asking when she’ll open, and promising to be first in line.
Mercado partnered with one of her biggest fans, Arlene Klein, and after scouting locations, found this one.
“There’s such a small-town feel on Ocean Avenue. Because I’m an early riser, I get here early and we have swinging egg chairs. I sit with my coffee and watch the amount of people that walk over the bridge to go to Publix and come back with groceries. It’s kind of cool.”
Ravish has touches of her former restaurant, with a large bar, but several “living rooms,” as well as an outdoor dining room with movable walls and air-conditioning to stave off the heat that’s coming.
Dishes will be both small plates and large, with the addition of Brussels sprouts and cauliflower, and her baked brie and peanut butter pie — both award winners for her. Gluten-free and vegetarian items are also on the menu, with lots of sharables — a trademark to go along with the living room atmosphere.
She’ll soon do a soft opening — one that might last a few days, and with a limited menu she’ll sample for guest feedback.
“We’re just waiting on the town,” she said.
Octopus from Oceano Kitchen in Lantana. Photo provided
Her neighbor Jeremy Bearman, owner of Oceano Kitchen across the street, also was attracted to Lantana’s small-town feel. With Cindy Bearman, his wife and Oceano co-owner, he took over the restaurant two years ago and they’ve made it their own.
“When you come down from the Northeast, if you’re not used to being in Florida, you’re attracted to quiet, walkable areas,” he said.
“When we turned onto the street for the second and third time, we said this is really a cool little place. It’s not as large as something like Atlantic Avenue, but it has a really good vibe. We liked it.”
The 500-square-foot spot with six seats at the counter —known for its pizza and quirky owner Dak Kerprich — didn’t resonate with them at first. Both are from much larger and higher-end restaurants.
“We weren’t smitten with what we had as far as the space right off the bat. We almost turned it down just because of the size of it,” Bearman said.
“But then it grew on us. We thought, ‘This is a way to connect with the community and make a name for ourselves.’ After we were here for a while, we started to realize the potential of this area.”
The restaurant still has the same amount of seating — six counter seats and two tables inside and 39 outside. The Bearmans just reconfigured it.
Oceano’s proximity to Delray Beach and West Palm Beach diners works well.
“They’ll make the 15-minute drive up from Delray and 15-minute drive down from West Palm,” Bearman said. “They even come from Wellington and farther areas.”
The style of using local products when possible, and preparing them simply, then having a welcoming atmosphere and fair pricing, has satisfied clients, he said.
“People appreciate it. We’re not trying to recreate the wheel,” Bearman said. “They come back. Any given night, we know 80 percent of the people on the deck. We also have a staff that’s been with us from the beginning. That’s a testament to what we do.”
The town’s easing of parking restrictions makes Bearman optimistic that some of the vacancies nearby will be filled.
“The town had one of the most stringent parking restrictions in the county as far as the number of spaces (required) per square foot. Everything depends on parking in Florida. Maybe it’s good that they are starting to think outside the box. I hope it helps spur additional growth here.”
More restaurants aren’t a threat, he said — it’s to the contrary.
“I spoke with Wayne (Cordero), who owns the Old Key Lime House, and he agrees the more business on this street that thrives and does well, the better it is for all of us.”
Growing slowly and not overburdening or saturating a market is wise, as Bearman doesn’t want to see the area’s charm lost — it’s what attracts people to the area.
“The street has character and a great feeling to it,” he said.
The chef is turning his attention to his new seafood restaurant in Rosemary Square, the former CityPlace, in West Palm Beach. High Dive is set to open this fall.
Meanwhile, summer hours are in place at Oceano, beginning at 5:30 p.m., where locals can maybe get in without a wait. Still, no reservations and no credit cards.
The Old Key Lime House, in a historic building, is the choice of lovers of water and Key lime pie; it’s the only Lantana restaurant accessible by boat, and boasts it has the largest tiki bar in South Florida.
Known as much for its rocking outdoor dockside bar with live music as for the quieter dining room that attracts tourists in droves, it’s a longtime fixture in the area. Seafood is a primary focus, but the menu is large, with choices for all diners.
Other options are international in scope. Sushi Bon is in the same building as the dockmaster. It has a wide offering of fresh sushi and sashimi. It’s popular for lunch with its specials board and friendly servers.
Mario’s serves traditional pastas, pizzas, sandwiches and salads and is offering a summer menu from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. — a popular early bird around town. It’s $19 per person for appetizer, soup and entree, cash only, with no substitutions from the menu.
Palm Beach Bakery & Cafe is where people hang out to chat over coffee and Eastern European baked goods every morning and over lunch. Dark rye bread is a favorite for take-home. Friendly hosts explain the different breads and treats.
Just over the tracks in the small plaza next to the U.S. Post Office is Victoria’s Peruvian Cuisine, which features fresh ceviches and anticuchos that win raves. She has a rotisserie chicken shop a few doors down; it’s also great for take-out.
A few blocks away on Lantana Road proper is the iconic Station House — situated in a reproduction of an old train depot and a spot where fans claw their way to the Maine lobsters, especially in summertime. It’s been serving for 26 years.
In brief
Tanzy, a hidden find in the iPic Theater in Boca Raton, has added a keto-friendly menu to its lineup. It includes drinks as well, available at the bar and in the theaters, where food and drink service is part of the premium ticket. A new happy hour menu is also in place. …
Locals and tourists are sad to lose Ciao in Delray Beach. The little sandwich shop, open for 41 years in the Courtyard Shops across from the Marriott, announced its closing in mid-May. Known for fresh, healthier versions of traditional sandwiches, it had only two owners over the years, but hundreds of fans. …
Death or Glory Bar in Delray Beach kicks off the Bar Brawls competition on June 12, with 24 South Florida bartenders competing each Wednesday night until Aug. 28 for the title of best cocktail maker. Go to www.deathorglorybar.com for details.
Jan Norris is a food writer who can be reached at nativefla@gmail.com.
The Plate: Murgh Vindaloo (chicken vindaloo)
The Place: Tanjore, Royal Palm Place, 500 Via De Palmas, Boca Raton; 288-5800 or www.tanjoreusa.com.
The Price: $18
The Skinny: It was a Monday night in Boca and I was starved. I could have dined on fried chicken, but that’s no way to start the week. Pizza was out, too. Other places felt a little too formal. Then I decided to go for Indian. It’s reasonably healthy and the setting almost always is casual.
I was a bit worried when I arrived at Tanjore. After all, it was about 7 p.m. and there were diners at only one table.
It sometimes is quiet on Mondays, my waiter told me.
I needn’t have worried.
The hearty vindaloo lived up to expectations, with the right amount of heat — turmeric, cardamom, cloves, cumin, cayenne and other spices combine to create a curry reminiscent of liquid fire. The chunks of chicken were tender and moist, and an order of onion naan was perfect for sopping up the excess sauce.
As I was leaving, my waiter asked me whether I’d be leaving a review on “the Yelp.” Of course, I’ll try. Better than that, dear readers, is a review for The Coastal Star.
— Scott Simmons
Cameron Newman talks with Shayne Wright of WPBF-TV about helping victims of the shooting at the Chabad of Poway. His Go Fund Me page has raised more than $127,000. Photo provided
By Janis Fontaine
Cameron Newman is only 15 years old, but his mother, Stephanie Newman, says he's an old soul.
When the Boca Raton teenager heard about the gunman who attacked the congregation at Chabad of Poway, about 20 miles north of San Diego, he had to do something. Because the shooting took place in a synagogue, it had special significance for Cameron, a deeply faithful teenager whose grandmother was a Holocaust survivor.
His Go Fund Me page raised more than $127,000 from more than 2,400 donors in just 18 days. Donations — to help pay for medical care for the victims, funeral services, repairs to the synagogue, and to assist victims on a case-by-case basis — are still being accepted, with a goal of $180,000.
About 100 people were worshiping when a 19-year-old gunman took aim at the rabbi leading Shabbat services on the final day of Passover. A woman, 60-year-old Lori Gilbert-Kaye, shielded the rabbi, witnesses said, and took that round. She died at the scene. The gunman’s weapon jammed, allowing about 10 rounds, but he wounded three others, including Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein and a child.
The gunman’s motive can only be surmised from a racist, anti-Semitic, anti-Muslim, hate-filled rant he posted before the shooting. He surrendered to police a few hours later.
Cameron is four years younger than the shooter, but he has a very different view of the world.
Cameron attends Saint Andrew’s School, a college preparatory school “founded in the Episcopalian tradition” in Boca Raton. The ninth-grader is a deep thinker and he’s trying to grasp the nuances of American and Israeli politics, but it’s not easy. Every event, every act, every photo is captured and replayed through the often distorted lens of social media.
“A lot of social media is just a highway where you can slam other people for their beliefs,” Cameron said.
But more damaging to our personal freedoms, he says, is the widespread attitude that if you don’t believe what I believe, you’re wrong or bad. People no longer look for common ground.
The “insensitive” mainstream media don’t help matters, he says. They decide what’s important and what to focus on, ratcheting up our differences and widening our divisions.
Cameron, in solidarity with his community, felt he had to act, and he had to act fast. He wanted to have something to show the rabbi when he got out of the hospital that would tell him the world cares.
Cameron said he wanted to do something positive to mitigate the negativity of the shooter’s act. So he created a Go Fund Me page to collect donations for the victims.
“It gave people something positive to do, an avenue where they could help,” he said.
As much as the money will help, Cameron says the fund also shows the world that good people still exist. It gives him hope.
Edmund Burke, the 18th-century author, politician and philosopher, wrote, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
Cameron knows he can’t stop evil by speaking up, but maybe he can slow it down.
His Go Fund Me money will go directly to the Poway Chabad. Find the fund here: www.gofundme.com/help-victims-of-poway-san-diego-synagogue-shooting.
Janis Fontaine writes about people of faith, their congregations, causes and community events. Contact her at janisfontaine@outlook.com.
Researchers from Florida Atlantic University’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute received $801,000 from the Florida Department of Health’s Bankhead-Coley Cancer Research Program to investigate the use of marine natural compounds as potential treatments of triple negative breast cancers. The five-year survival rate for this very aggressive form of breast cancer is about 77 percent compared to 93 percent for other breast cancer types. About 12 percent of breast cancers diagnosed in the United States are triple negative.
The objective of FAU’s project is to discover compounds from the extensive marine natural products library at FAU Harbor Branch. The researchers hope to identify clinically active compounds that will revolutionize treatment regimens and provide more effective treatment options, with fewer side effects and greater survival rates.
For more than 10 years, Amy Wright, Ph.D., a research professor of natural products chemistry and co-investigator in this project, has developed libraries of natural compounds isolated from marine organisms — many from deep-water habitats around the Atlantic and Caribbean.
Adjusting the frequency and dosage of medications is a complication in managing Parkinson’s disease. This is due to motor fluctuations that alter the patient’s “on” state, when he responds positively to medication, and “off” state, when symptoms resurface.
Currently, the only way to address these on and off states is by a clinical exam, history-taking or relying on the patient’s self-report. These methods are not always practical or reliable. Researchers from Florida Atlantic University and collaborators have developed a new way to automatically and reliably detect a patient’s medication on and off states.
They combined an algorithm and a system using two wearable motion sensors. Data from the two sensors provide objective measures of patients’ on and off states, training the algorithm to detect each patient’s response to medication with an average accuracy of 90.5 percent.
Safiya George, Ph.D., was named dean of Florida Atlantic University’s Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing. She will assume her role July 8.
George comes to FAU from the Capstone College of Nursing at the University of Alabama.
Doctors at Boca Raton Regional Hospital are exploring the use of the axillary fossa (the hollow of the armpit) as an alternative site to implant cardiac pacemakers and defibrillators, according to a recent article in The Journal of Innovations in Cardiac Rhythm Management.
According to Dr. E. Martin Kloosterman, Dr. Jonathan Rosman, and Dr. Murray Rosenbaum, inadequate thickness of subcutaneous tissue in certain patients can cause problems for those with — or requiring — cardiovascular implantable electronic devices.
Normally, those devices are implanted below the collarbone. In examining the axillary fossa as an option, the doctors found several advantages: The area usually has a preserved fat pad; the site is not disturbed by arm movement; and the site is easily accessed.
In April, Baptist Health South Florida and Aetna signed an agreement that allows members enrolled in Aetna commercial health plans in-network access to Baptist Health facilities in Palm Beach County.
The agreement encompasses Baptist Health’s Palm Beach hospitals and ancillary health facilities including Bethesda Hospital East, Bethesda Hospital West, Bethesda Health Outpatient Imaging facilities, Bethesda Health Urgent Care, Baptist Health Surgery Center at Northpoint, Baptist Health Surgery Center at South Palm, and Baptist Health Endoscopy Center at Flagler.
The 2019 Annual Heroes in Medicine Awards, selected by the Palm Beach County Medical Society, included the following Tenet hospital employees:
Lisa Rocheleau, administrator of the Palm Beach Children’s Hospital, won the Bruce Rendina honor as a professional hero; Rob Moreland, EMS liaison for St. Mary’s Medical Center & the Palm Beach Children’s Hospital, was named an outreach wellness prevention hero; and Diane Schofield, director of the Surgical Weight Loss Program at Delray Medical Center, was a health care provider hero.
Also, West Boca Medical Center was honored as a project access hero.
Delray Medical Center recently received two awards: an “A” from the Leapfrog Group’s spring 2019 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, in recognition of its efforts to protect patients from harm and provide safer health care; and a Healthgrades 2019 Patient Safety Excellence Award for the second year in a row.
Send health news to Christine Davis at cdavis9797@gmail.com.
Sargassum blankets the boat ramp at Sportsman’s Park in Lantana. The marine algae made it difficult for boat-towing vehicles to get traction. Willie Howard/The Coastal Star
By Willie Howard
Like it or not, the floating marine algae called sargassum is plentiful again this year and could continue to dot the waters of southern Palm Beach County during the warm summer months.
Fishing around scattered sargassum can be frustrating. Clumps gather on trolled baits and lures as well as drifted and live baits, requiring anglers to clear their lines frequently.
Boat captains have been finding clumps of sargassum wrapped around propeller shafts and clogging water intakes.
Boaters who launch their boats at ramps have found their wheels spinning when sargassum washes onto the ramps.
Capt. Bill Cox of the Southern Comfort IV, a charter boat moored at Palm Beach Yacht Center in Hypoluxo, said he sometimes is forced to hit reverse inside the marina to clear the sargassum from the boat’s propeller.
Cox said he removes sargassum from the water-intake strainer every two days or so to ensure the boat doesn’t overheat.
Tournament angler Steve Sprague said he’s been laboriously picking clumps of sargassum from the lead balls of his boat’s downriggers.
Sargassum used to come and go in the waters off South Florida, Sprague said, but nowadays it seems to be around all year.
Trolling the open water of the Atlantic has been difficult this spring because widely scattered clumps of sargassum collect on trolled baits and lures, requiring crews to clean them often, said Capt. Geno Pratt of the Geno V charter boat based in Lantana.
Even live baits dangled from fishing kites have not been immune to becoming covered with sargassum recently, said Capt. Chris Lemieux, whose charter boat is based in Boynton Beach.
“It’s been difficult to deal with,” Lemieux said. “It definitely has been worse in the past couple of years.”
On a positive note, sargassum is floating habitat that shelters small fish and attracts larger predators. When currents sweep the tan-colored algae into a line, trolling the edge of the weed line can lead to catches of dolphinfish, also known as mahi mahi.
Sargassum is natural and has been drifting around in ocean currents for eons, primarily in the Sargasso Sea, an area bounded by four ocean currents. The Gulf Stream current that flows along the coast of South Florida forms its western boundary.
But the “golden tide” of sargassum has been spreading to parts of the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico since wind and current circulation patterns changed in 2011, said Lew Gramer, a physical oceanographer at the University of Miami’s Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies.
“There’s now a suggestion that sargassum might have taken up permanent residence in the Gulf and Caribbean, and it’s likely to continue,” Gramer said.
The University of South Florida’s Sargassum Watch System bulletin said the sargassum coverage the central west Atlantic sees in June could be lower than it was last year. But, the bulletin said, this year’s coverage is likely to be higher than in most previous years.
For updates, visit https://optics.marine.usf.edu/projects/saws.html.
Paddlers set to cross from Bimini on June 15
Paddlers of kayaks, paddleboards and other human-powered vessels will shove off from Bimini on the morning of June 15 and paddle about 75 miles (with support boats) to Lake Worth Beach as part of Crossing for a Cure — a fundraiser to help families affected by cystic fibrosis.
Paddlers interested in participating can register at www.crossingforacure.com.
Expect paddlers to hit the beach just north of the fishing pier at Lake Worth Beach on the afternoon of June 15. Organizers expect paddlers to arrive between noon and 8 p.m.
An awards ceremony is set for 10 a.m. June 16 on the beach just north of the pier.
Shore-based shark fishing license required July 1
The Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission will require shore-based anglers fishing for sharks to take an online class and obtain a free license before fishing for sharks from land beginning July 1.
The training class should be available in early June, the FWC says. (Search for it at www.myfwc.com.)
Even Florida anglers under 16 or over 65, who are exempt from the fishing license requirement, will be required to hold a shore-based shark fishing license to target sharks from land. (Anglers under 16 fishing with a licensed adult are not required to hold a separate shore-based shark fishing license.)
In addition to mandatory education, rules approved by the FWC in February require sharks that cannot be harvested — such as Caribbean reef sharks and hammerhead sharks — to remain in the water when being released, whether caught from land or from a boat.
Anglers targeting sharks, from land or from a boat, will be required to use non-offset, non-stainless steel circle hooks when fishing with live or dead natural bait. Shark anglers will be required to carry a device such as bolt cutters capable of quickly cutting the leader or hook to release the shark.
Chumming from beaches is prohibited under the new rules.
ABOVE: Ricky Denti, left, caught this 42.5-pound kingfish using live bait off Juno Beach to win $2,500 for heaviest fish in the 25th annual Lantana Fishing Derby. With Denti are HMT Fishing Team members Jon Tonnis, center, and Joe Carriker.
42.5-pound kingfish wins Lantana Fishing Derby
Kingfish dominated the scales during the 25th annual Lantana Fishing Derby, held May 4 with the weigh-in at the Old Key Lime House docks.
Joe Carriker and his HMT Fishing Team won the $2,500 top prize with a 42.5-pound kingfish caught by Ricky Denti.
Carriker said he, Jon Tonnis and Denti were slow trolling a live blue runner behind the Bee Hive 24 HMT in 90 feet of water off Juno Beach when the big kingfish hit around 10 a.m.
Tom Walsh on Kraken was close behind HMT’s winning fish with a 41.8-pound king that won the kingfish division.
The second-heaviest fish in the kingfish division was just three-tenths of a pound lighter than Walsh’s at 41.5 pounds. It was caught by Robert Tonnis on Hoo’s Hoo.
The third-place kingfish, 36.4 pounds, was caught by Michael Mummert on In It To Win It.
Only a few dolphin (mahi mahi) and no wahoo were weighed in this year’s derby, which attracted 54 boats.
Michael Murtagh won top dolphin with a 12.47-pounder caught aboard Hooklesslure, followed closely by Geno Pratt’s 12.25-pound mahi, caught on the Geno V.
ABOVE: Capt. Tom Walsh, with Nico Knight, Jim Wrona, Vance Mickelson and Kyle Senkowicz, won the kingfish division with a 41.8-pound catch. Photos provided by Brent Anderson
Coming events
June 1: Boynton Beach Rock the Marina Lionfish Derby at Boynton Harbor Marina. Divers bring their lionfish to the marina to be measured and counted at 2 p.m. Prizes awarded for the most, largest and smallest lionfish. $60 per diver. Call 732-8590.
June 1: Basic boating safety class offered by Coast Guard Auxiliary, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the headquarters building at Spanish River Park, 3939 N. Ocean Blvd., Boca Raton. Fee $35 (or $5 for youths ages 12-19). Register at the door. Bring lunch. Call 391-3600 and leave a message.
June 1: Sail Inn KDW fishing tournament organized by Sail Inn Tavern in Delray Beach. Weigh-in scales open 1 to 3:30 p.m. at Palm Beach Yacht Center, 7848 S. Federal Highway, Hypoluxo. Call 703-1907.
June 1: Palm Beach County KDW Classic, organized by the West Palm Beach Fishing Club. Weigh-in scheduled for noon to 4 p.m. at Riviera Beach Municipal Marina, 200 E. 13th St. Call 832-6780 or visit www.kdwclassic.com.
June 8: IGFA Day family fishing clinic and refreshments in celebration of IGFA’s 80th anniversary, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the International Game Fish Association’s headquarters, 300 Gulf Stream Way, Dania Beach. Free. Call 954-924-4246 or visit www.igfa.org.
June 13: Kickoff party for West Palm Beach Fishing Club’s Full Moon Wahoo tournaments, 6 p.m., Twisted Trunk Brewing, 2000 PGA Blvd., Palm Beach Gardens. Tournament dates: June 15, July 20 and Aug. 17. Entry fee $60 per tournament or $150 for all three. At least one member of the team must be a West Palm Beach Fishing Club member. Call 832-6780 or visit www.westpalmbeachfishingclub.org.
June 22: Basic boating safety class offered by Coast Guard Auxiliary, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the classroom building next to the boat ramps, Harvey E. Oyer Jr. Park, 2010 N. Federal Highway, Boynton Beach. Fee $20. Register at the door. Call 331-2429.
June 22: Lake Worth Fishing Tournament for kingfish, dolphin, wahoo and snapper. Captain’s meeting 6 p.m. June 21 at Tuppen’s Marine & Tackle, 1002 N. Dixie Highway, Lake Worth Beach. Weigh-in at Palm Beach Yacht Center in Hypoluxo. Entry fee $175 per boat by June 17, $250 per boat thereafter. Download entry form at https://lakeworthfishingtournament.com.
Tip of the month
Ocean anglers looking for fun (and dinner) can fish around floating mats of sargassum for dolphinfish, also known as mahi mahi. When running offshore, look for changes in sea surface temperature, current edges that line up sargassum, floating debris and birds coming down to the surface. Troll artificial lures, rigged ballyhoo, bonito strips or rigged squid. Have pitch baits such as cut sardines, cut squid or live pilchards ready to cast in case dolphin approach the boat. Minimum size: 20 inches to the fork of the tail. Bag limit: 10 per angler.
Willie Howard is a freelance writer and licensed boat captain. Reach him at tiowillie@bellsouth.net.
Lady K drift boat Capt. Bruce Cyr, left, and mates Ashley Mann and Hernando Castano show the 92-pound wahoo they caught trolling in 90 feet of water off Boynton Beach. The wahoo hit a red-and-black Wahoo Whacker lure. The Lady K is based at Sportsman’s Park in Lantana. Photo provided by Bar Jack Fishing
As part of their U.S. government class, Gulf Stream School seventh-grade students (l-r) Jake Julien, Katherine Erbstein and Tessa Sorenson address the Gulf Stream Town Commission about changing the driving age for golf carts in town. As part of their class, they had learned that the town follows state regulations on driving rules. Teacher Barbara Tkac and Ocean Ridge Commissioner Kristine de Haseth accompanied the students following a classroom discussion on local government. All 24 seventh-graders attended the meeting. It was the first time the class had attended a town meeting. Photo by Rachel O’Hara/Gulf Stream School
Juliet Baum cuts the ribbon for a Type 1 diabetes research fundraising walk in April in Mizner Park. Photo provided
By Janis Fontaine
Watch out, Washington. Juliet Baum is headed your way.
The 11-year-old Gulf Stream resident was chosen from more than a thousand applicants to be one of 160 delegates at the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation’s 2019 Children’s Congress.
Children ages 4 to 17 from 50 states will visit lawmakers in July to talk about an important topic: Type 1 diabetes.
Juliet is a fifth-grader at the Gulf Stream School, where she loves history and is sometimes told she talks too much. She was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when she was 6 years old. Since then, her life has been a series of finger sticks and insulin injections to compensate for the work her pancreas doesn’t do.
Type 1 diabetes, formerly called juvenile diabetes, is a serious disease with real medical risks, but it hasn’t been able to slow Juliet down.
There are a few new rules and limitations, she admits.
“I can’t go to sleepovers,” she says. “That’s one thing. And I can’t eat what everyone else is eating.”
Her mother, Jill, worries she’ll need help and no one will know what to do. When Juliet’s blood sugar is too low, she can be unable to help herself. She needs an advocate on call. Because the Gulf Stream School didn’t have a school nurse, Jill parked outside all day every day while Juliet was in class, just in case.
Even though Juliet could die from eating a candy bar, diabetes is more of an annoying inconvenience. She still loves to swim, play soccer and hang out with friends. Juliet’s optimism doesn’t waver and her sense of humor has a way of showing up when things get tough.
The blood sugar of a person with diabetes can fluctuate widely — Juliet’s has been as high as 600 mg/dL and as low as 29 mg/dL, both of which are life-threatening.
At first Jill pricked Juliet’s fingers many, many times a day, even waking her in the middle of the night. Juliet jokes that one finger got the most attention. “We call it Old Faithful,” she laughs.
Jill estimates Juliet has endured more than 12,000 finger sticks over the last five years. Now, instead of finger sticks, Juliet has a continuous glucose monitor that sends her blood sugar levels to hers and her mother’s cellphones in a steady stream of real-time data, painlessly and efficiently.
Both mother and daughter say this is what research money can do, and the purpose of attending the conference, Juliet says, is to keep that money flowing toward a cure for T1.
So Juliet and 159 new friends will converge on Capitol Hill to try to persuade lawmakers to continue funding the Special Diabetes Program. The SDP provides $150 million each year specifically for Type 1 diabetes research, but the grant will expire this year.
Juliet said she was honored to be chosen as a delegate, but it wasn’t a cakewalk. Each applicant had to make a video, create three scrapbooks and send letters asking for meetings with the legislators from their states.
“We want them to put a face on Type 1 diabetes,” Jill Baum says.
Juliet also formed a team she called Sugar Mouse to walk in the JDRF One Walk, a fundraiser held at Mizner Park in Boca Raton in April. The Greater Palm Beach County chapter event raised more than $260,000.
Now Juliet is inviting everyone to send a message on her behalf and for 200,000 other kids living with Type I diabetes in support of funding the Special Diabetes Program.
It can be done online at www2.jdrf.org/site/advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=514
By Jane Smith
Ex-Delray Beach City Manager Mark Lauzier sued the city on April 29, claiming his firing was in retaliation for not allowing the mayor to fly her 15-year-old son to Tallahassee at taxpayers’ expense.
Lauzier was fired by the City Commission at a March 1 public meeting after the city’s internal auditor testified about “questionable hiring and promotion practices” and other red flags raised earlier this year.
Lauzier’s Palm Beach County Circuit Court lawsuit, though, gives another reason to explain his firing. Three days before he was fired, Lauzier denied Mayor Shelly Petrolia’s request to have the city pay $291 for her son’s plane ticket to Tallahassee, according to the lawsuit.
Petrolia had charged two Tallahassee plane tickets on a city purchasing credit card, which she is allowed to do provided she reimburses the city.
Both were going to the state capital for the first week of the legislative session, she had said. The mayor was going to lobby state representatives and senators during Palm Beach County Days. Her son, Anthony, was going to be a senate page for one week.
The mayor wanted them to be on the same flight in case her son got bumped, she had said. Petrolia reimbursed the city the following day, Feb. 26.
Petrolia declined to comment about the lawsuit on the advice of the city attorney.
Lauzier’s lawsuit claims his firing violates the state’s Whistleblower Act. The law protects workers from retaliation after they report unethical or illegal acts by their employers.
But, it was Commissioner Ryan Boylston who wanted to call the special meeting. He had met with the city’s internal auditor, Julie Davidyan, in late February to listen to her concerns about the city manager.
Boylston decided to think about her concerns over the weekend and met with Lauzier on Feb. 26.
But Boylston wasn’t satisfied with Lauzier’s answers and wanted to call the commission together to discuss the auditor’s concerns. City policy, though, allows only the city manager and mayor to call a meeting.
Boylston then reached the city attorney, who called the mayor to let her know that a colleague wanted to hold a special meeting. The city attorney explained why, and the mayor agreed to call the meeting.
Six weeks before Lauzier was fired, he received a 4 percent raise, the lawsuit says — bolstering his claim that he was wrongfully fired.
But, the lawsuit didn’t say the pay vote was 3 to 2. The mayor and Commissioner Shirley Johnson voted against giving Lauzier a raise.
At an annual salary of $244,000, Lauzier was the highest paid Delray Beach employee.
As the city manager, he had the power to hire and promote, the lawsuit says. He is seeking severance to cover five months of pay and benefits, seven months of paid leave and a year of health insurance benefits.
His lawsuit seeks a jury trial.
On April 5, Lauzier’s attorney, Isidro Garcia, had sent a demand letter to the city, seeking $500,000. Garcia’s letter said Lauzier was owed a minimum of $279,200 for 20 weeks of pay at his current salary, health insurance benefits for one year and earned leave, sick and vacation days. The remaining amount was for damages to his reputation and to his good name.
The city’s outside counsel responded in a mid-April letter that read, “Mr. Lauzier’s claims are wholly without merit.”
Davidyan presented her findings to city commissioners individually and to the City Commission on March 1, consistent with the City Charter, attorney Brett Schneider wrote to Garcia.
Schneider’s response also states that Lauzier’s rights were not violated under Amendment 14 of the United States constitution because he was given sufficient opportunity to clear his name at the March 1 meeting.
Schneider also wrote the city is willing to allow Lauzier to appear before the City Commission for “the specific purpose of clearing his name.”
As to the whistleblower charge, Schneider wrote: “Mayor Petrolia was specifically told that she could purchase tickets and other items for her son using the city’s credit card, provided she reimbursed the city for said charges (which she did).”
Even so, the city is willing to meet in pretrial mediation, according to Schneider’s letter. The city gave Lauzier and his attorney until April 19 to respond.
Their answer was the Whistleblower lawsuit.
Tom D’Auria paints a roseate spoonbill on the beach side of the Middle Tunnel at Spanish River Park. With other artists set to work on the South Tunnel this month, the public art project will be complete. Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
VIDEO
See the artists in action
By Ron Hayes
When Spanish River Park opened for business at 8 a.m. on April 8, beachgoers were met by several makeshift signs in the parking lot.
“Middle Tunnel Closed,” they said. “Use North Or South Tunnel.”
Then two young men named Gregory Dirr and Tom D’Auria showed up and totally ignored those signs.
They paid no attention to the sawhorses blocking the paths to the tunnel entrance.
Dirr and D’Auria were not here for a day at the beach. They were here to turn this most pedestrian of pedestrian tunnels into a work of art.
Their canvas wasn’t the actual tunnel leading beachgoers safely under State Road A1A, but the walls surrounding the entrances, six feet to either side, six feet in, and all the way up to the top.
And they had been given $2,000 each and 10 days to do it.
***
Artist Gregory Dirr moves his ladder while painting an abstract mural outside the tunnel’s other entrance.
Dirr, 32, a Boca Raton resident, and D’Auria, 28, of Lake Worth Beach, are both graduates of the Ringling College of Art in Sarasota.
Dirr has done public art projects in Fort Lauderdale and Pompano Beach, and D’Auria has taught at both Bak and Dreyfoos, Palm Beach County’s middle and high schools of the arts.
This Spanish River tunnel project is the newest effort from the city’s Art In Public Places program, championed last year by City Council member Andrea O’Rourke and financed with $40,000 from both the city and the Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District.
In October, both Dirr and D’Auria were among the artists who painted marine murals on a maintenance wall at Red Reef Park. Now they’re back to tackle the tunnel.
“This is super local,” Dirr said as he and his assistant, Ashleigh Bremser, arranged his ladder, paints and brushes before his white wall. “It’s exposure, and it’s real. In a private job, you may get more money, but the work gets less exposure.”
Dirr is going to adorn the tunnel’s parking lot entrance with a busy mix of abstract shapes and bright acrylic colors.
“I like unsaid things,” he explained. “I like the viewers to make up things for themselves so they’re a part of it. I tried to go super rainbow with this proposal because I’m trying to encourage people to take pictures in front of it.”
On the beachside entrance, D’Auria has envisioned the sort of representational painting you’d expect at a beachside park — a realistic rendering of a heron, egret and spoonbill among oversized orchid, hibiscus and bird-of-paradise blooms.
Dirr is using standard water-based acrylic paints and D’Auria latex exterior house paints. Both will then coat the finished murals with a Benjamin Moore Modern Masters protective varnish.
Both feel born to the mission.
“I used to sell little drawings for nickels and dimes in elementary school,” D’Auria recalled. “Drawings of cars and cartoons and stuff. When the teacher found out, I had to stand in front of the class and apologize for taking their money.”
Dirr was a grade school Picasso as well.
“At Whispering Pines I got in trouble for drawing on desks,” he confessed. “One teacher always knew it was me because it was good.”
Now they’ve progressed from nickels, dimes and desktops to tunnels.
And so for the next 10 days — or more — they worked.
“I did the mural at Red Reef Park, so it’s good to be back,” D’Auria said that first Monday. “And I’m working on the beach. You can’t beat that.”
As it turned out, working on the beach wasn’t a day at the beach.
The ground on which they worked was both sandy and sloping. And the wall was tall. D’Auria had barely begun before realizing his 6-foot ladder was too short, and the sand beneath it too soft. He had to borrow Dirr’s 10-footer. Sometimes he taped his brush to an aluminum pole and worked from the ground.
“I’m constantly falling in the sand,” he said, glumly. “And I’m not the tallest person.”
Tuesday it rained.
By Wednesday, Dirr’s abstractions were progressing swiftly, but D’Auria was starting to second-guess his plan.
“I’m still playing around with it in my mind,” he muttered. “I’m just afraid I won’t finish.”
And Dirr was sore.
“These are awkward positions,” he said. “These positions seem comfortable for about 30 seconds and then it aches.”
But they persisted, running on Dunkin’ Donuts coffee and breakfast sandwiches, homemade sushi and last night’s pizza.
By Friday, Dirr had completed the whole left side of his wall, with a lot of help from his friend Bremser, who mixes the next color he’ll need while he paints on. She also helps him apply for grants and commissions.
“She’s the boss,” Dirr said. “I’m just the talent.”
At the other end of the tunnel, D’Auria was struggling, and stressed. He’d completed the multicolored, striped background, and the large and impressive roseate spoonbill, but the tunnel’s physical setting was forcing modifications, and a later schedule.
Working on the beachside entrance, D’Auria gets the full heat of the rising sun, while Dirr has the parking lot’s shade, so D’Auria has started arriving closer to noon and working until the park closes — or later. And the seagrape trees encroach from either side.
“I’m thinking of taking out the egret,” he said, “and having the orchids there.”
Perspective is a problem, too. On either side of the entrance, a pillar juts out a foot from the wall, so D’Auria has to wrap the spoonbill’s huge pink wing around it while maintaining a convincing perspective. Dirr’s side has columns, too, but they accommodate abstract shapes much more easily.
By Wednesday of the second week, the egret was back, but the heron had been sacrificed.
“I find myself spending more time looking at the mural and pondering what I want to do compared to actually applying the paint,” D’Auria confessed. He appeared exhausted.
The hibiscus was gone, along with the heron, and he’s had to change the angle of the egret’s neck to accommodate the seagrape tree. But seen from 20 feet away, the great pink spoonbill’s wing traverses the column smoothly.
“I’m used to working on flat walls,” D’Auria said, “plus I’m working on a ladder. I’ve been staying until 6 or 7 o’clock.”
Lunch was granola and protein bars.
“It keeps me going for a while,” he said.
Meanwhile, Dirr had coated his abstract design with the sealant and emailed a photo of the finished wall to the city to be paid.
***
Gregory Dirr had little trouble on the parking lot side.
On Friday, their deadline day, Dirr returned to give his work a final look. “This was pretty complicationless,” he said, “and I got a commission. The guy who rents beach chairs wants me to paint his surfboard.”
Over at the beachside entrance, D’Auria was still exhausted.
“This is the biggest mural I’ve ever done,” he sighed. “I definitely need to come next week. I don’t know how many days, but hopefully not so many.
“I had a black espresso. ...”
***
Tom D’Auria taped his brush to a pole to deal with awkward angles and because his ladder was too short and unsteady. Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
When Spanish River Park opened for business at 8 a.m. on Monday, April 22, beachgoers were met by several makeshift signs in the parking lot. “North Tunnel Closed,” they said.
For the next two weeks, artists Craig McInnis and Ivan Roque would be turning that tunnel into art, too.
The signs and sawhorses closing the Middle Tunnel were gone now, but Tom D’Auria was still there.
He’d missed the deadline by two workdays, but no one in authority complained, and when he had finished applying that final coat of varnish about 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, he was exhausted but satisfied.
“I didn’t end up doing the water lily or hibiscus,” he said, “or the pelican. But I’m happy with how it came out. I think with all the other elements it probably would have been a little busy.”
On Monday, May 6, signs and sawhorses will appear again to let visitors know the South Tunnel is closed as artists Peter Agardy and Agata Ren begin the final third of the Spanish River tunnel project.
When their work is done and all three tunnels have been transformed, the Art In Public Places advisory board will prepare an online “video reveal,” so the public can view the finished works, board chairman Irvin Lippman said.
To be honest, though, the signs didn’t matter much. Beachgoers came and went through the Middle Tunnel while Dirr and D’Auria worked.
“It’s beautiful,” one said. “That’s nice work,” another said.
On their first Friday there, a teacher from Grandview Preparatory School led an entire class into the tunnel. “It’s turning out gorgeous,” she announced.
Learn more about the artists and see other work at tdauria.com and gregorydirr.wordpress.com.
Lucia Milani sold the property to the county years ago with the intent that it would become a park as a way to honor her late husband. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
By Rich Pollack
The weathered sign at the south end of Highland Beach proclaiming an almost 6-acre parcel as the future home of Cam D. Milani Park is likely to be there for five more years if county commissioners follow the recommendation of their parks and recreation director.
The site has been the centerpiece of legal tangling since the county purchased it in 1987, with Highland Beach residents objecting to a park in their community open to all county residents and county officials saying such a park is needed.
Under a settlement signed in 2010 to end a legal battle, county commissioners have until the end of this month to let Highland Beach know whether they want to begin developing the park — which includes 352 feet of beachfront on the east as well as open green space on the west side of State Road A1A — or postpone any decision.
County Parks and Recreation Director Eric Call said he has told the county administrator that there’s no need to rush to construction.
“Our recommendation to Verdenia Baker is to extend the agreement for another five years,” he said.
Before Highland Beach residents who oppose development of the property can jump for joy, the recommendation still has to receive the approval of the County Commission.
“This is very good news for Boca Highland if the County Commission agrees to follow the recommendation of its parks and recreation director,” said Doug Hillman, president of Boca Highland Beach Club and Marina, which borders what has been planned to be a 100-car parking lot. “There is no need to spend county money that’s needed for initiatives that clearly should take priority over this small venture.”
County Commissioner Robert Weinroth, whose district includes Highland Beach, said he is likely to vote for the five-year extension to keep the parcels the way they are.
At the same time, however, he wants to see the county begin developing plans so the project is ready to go forward in five years rather than approve another five-year extension, which would be the final extension allowed under the 2010 agreement.
“We’re certainly not going to put a shovel in the ground tomorrow,” he said. “I would like to see us working now before five years is up so we know what’s needed.”
Weinroth said he received a letter from Lucia Milani, who sold the property in hopes of its becoming a park honoring her late husband.
“We need to fulfill our promise to the Milani family,” he said. “We don’t want to lose this opportunity.”
Should the county decide not to develop the park and instead sell the property, the Milani family would have the right of first refusal under the 2010 agreement.
Call, the parks and recreation director, and Hillman of Boca Highland say there is no need to build a beachfront park at the site right now.
Both point to Boca Raton’s Spanish River Park, which is a short distance south of the Milani Park property, as an alternative for those who want to go to the beach.
“It’s a wonderful park, just south of the property,” Hillman said.
Call said the county’s comprehensive plan has a beach access level of service standard that outlines how much public beach access there needs to be based on the county’s population.
The county is currently below that standard, but that could change in the next five years as western areas continue to grow. “The population hasn’t grown in numbers to the point where an additional beach park is needed,” he said.
By Mary Hladky
Boca Raton City Council members are considering creating a Business Improvement District financed by downtown businesses to make improvements in the downtown.
The idea has been in the works since 2012 but moved forward on April 22 when council members agreed that a steering committee guiding the effort could meet with downtown business owners to find out if they will support creation of a BID and will agree to pay for the improvements.
The meetings likely will be held in October, when a consultant is available, and the steering committee will report back to City Council members, sitting as Community Redevelopment Agency commissioners, on whether businesses will get behind the idea.
If they do and the Business Improvement District is created, its first order of business would be to set up a trolley that would ferry people who park at locations such as City Hall and the Downtown Library across the Florida East Coast Railway tracks to the downtown. The BID would contract with a company to provide the shuttle service for free.
The steering committee has proposed shuttle stops from Camino Real to Northeast Second Street. Most would be on Federal Highway, Palmetto Park Road and Mizner Boulevard.
The committee’s proposal calls for initial funding of $2 million, of which $1.5 million would be for operations and $500,000 for administration.
Retailers, restaurants, offices, hotels and apartment buildings — but not condominiums — would be tapped to finance the BID. The amount each is assessed would vary depending on the taxable value of its property and how near it is to a shuttle stop.
The steering committee selected the shuttle system as the BID’s potential first project to help solve two longstanding problems — traffic congestion and insufficient parking in the downtown.
Future projects could include placing utilities underground to reduce power outages during storms, lighting improvements and marketing downtown businesses.
Council members supported the BID concept.
“For residents who live in town, it is a complete win,” said Deputy Mayor Jeremy Rodgers.
“I will certainly support this effort,” said council member and CRA Chair Andrea O’Rourke.
Mayor Scott Singer, noting the $500,000 budgeted for administrative costs, suggested reducing the amount to make the BID more appealing to business owners.
Robert Eisen of Investments Limited, the largest commercial landowner in the downtown, was the only business representative who spoke at the meeting, and he did not tip his hand.
“We’ll eagerly anticipate meeting with them,” Eisen said. “We will not be shy in letting them know our opinions.”
Florida law allows for creation of BIDs. More than 1,200 exist in the United States.
The steering committee, chaired by Peg Anderson, studied other BIDs and decided to model Boca Raton’s on one in Coral Gables.
Council members have struggled to provide a downtown shuttle system ever since the Downtowner pulled out of Boca Raton in 2016.
They urged private operators to offer services in the city but would not subsidize their operations as other cities have. Operators were not able to make enough money by relying on revenue generated by advertisements placed on their shuttles or trolleys.
Downtown parking is another conundrum. A city consultant has said the downtown will be short as many as 425 parking spaces by 2023 and up to 750 spaces by 2040.
Council members want to build a downtown parking garage, but no property owner has been willing to sell land to the city.
The Boca Raton Resort & Club, built in 1926, now has 1,047 rooms. Photo provided
By Mary Hladky
Dell computer company founder Michael S. Dell intends to buy the Boca Raton Resort & Club, becoming the eighth owner of the city’s signature property.
MSD Partners, Dell’s investment advisory firm, announced the acquisition agreement on April 22. While terms of the deal were not disclosed, the sale is expected to close by June 30. The seller is an affiliate of Blackstone, a New York-based private equity firm that acquired the 337-acre resort in 2004 and has invested more than $300 million in the property, according to MSD Partners.
The property will continue to be managed by Hilton under the Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts brand.
“They’re an incredible organization,” John Tolbert, the resort’s president and managing director, said of MSD Partners. “This is a very exciting time and the next chapter of this resort.”
Dell had competition from other interested buyers. “Multiple groups were negotiating simultaneously,” Tolbert said.
While the sale is not yet completed, “we are highly confident this transaction will go forward,” Tolbert said.
“The resort helped put Boca on the map and its draw continues to attract visitors and high-profile, international conventions,” Mayor Scott Singer said in an email. “I have heard that MSD has invested substantially in preserving and enhancing their other resort properties, and that formula sounds like a recipe for success.”
MSD’s real estate investments include the Four Seasons Maui, Four Seasons Hualalai and the Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows in Santa Monica.
“This investment represents a natural extension of our portfolio of luxury hotels and resorts,” Barry Sholem, a partner at MSD Partners and co-head of its real estate group, said in the announcement.
MSD, based in New York with additional offices in Santa Monica and West Palm Beach, did not announce its plans for the Boca resort, and Tolbert said it is premature to speculate.
The Boca Raton Resort & Club dates to 1926, when famed architect Addison Mizner opened the Cloister Inn on the shore of Lake Boca Raton.
The property has since grown to 1,047 hotel rooms, two 18-hole golf courses, a 50,000-square-foot spa, seven swimming pools, 30 tennis courts, a 32-slip marina, 13 restaurants and bars and 200,000 square feet of meeting space.
Other previous owners include Philadelphia utilities magnate Clarence Geist, Arvida founder Arthur Vining Davis, VMS Realty Corp. and H. Wayne Huizenga.
During its tenure, Blackstone renovated both golf courses, the Cloister building, the Beach Club, the Palm Court restaurant and the bungalows.
Dell, currently the chairman and CEO of Dell Technologies, is ranked by Forbes as the 25th- richest person in the world with a net worth of $40.3 billion. He launched Dell in 1984 and began selling personal computers online in 1996.
He founded MSD Capital in 1998 to manage his investments. MSD Partners was formed in 2009 to be an investment adviser using MSD Capital’s investment strategies.
