By Steve Plunkett

Round 2 in the battle for two seats on the Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District Commission is just beginning.
A Nov. 8 runoff will pit incumbent Dennis Frisch against challenger Craig Ehrnst for Seat 1, and challenger Erin Wright against incumbent Earl Starkoff for Seat 3. The rainy Aug. 30 primary eliminated challengers Shayla Enright and John Costello.
Frisch, a podiatrist, got 4,939 votes, tops in his race and more than any in the other race.
“I think that’s great. I just hope it will all translate well into the next step,” he said.
“I’m excited about going to November,” said Ehrnst, a corporate treasurer at NCCI Holdings. “Any way you look at it, it’s a good time for change.”
The final Seat 1 vote was 42 percent for Frisch, 35 percent for Ehrnst, and 23 percent for Enright. The Seat 3 tally was 38 percent for Wright, 37 percent for Starkoff, and 25 percent for Costello.
Wright, who has two young sons, could not be reached on election night. Starkoff, an IT services executive, also was unavailable; he had said he planned to kick a soccer ball with his granddaughter early in the evening and then retire.
Ehrnst took a commanding lead in raising cash for the race. Campaign finance reports filed for the period ending Aug. 26 showed him with $10,030 in contributions, compared with Frisch at $5,055 and Enright with $1,320.
For Seat 3, Starkoff’s $4,860 edged Wright’s $4,420. Costello did not file a finance report.
Business Leaders United for Boca Raton, the Chamber of Commerce’s political action committee, gave $500 each to Ehrnst and Starkoff.
Citizens for Smart Growth, Efficient Government and Lower Taxes donated $1,000 to Ehrnst’s campaign. The organization’s president is Todd Richardson, who headed another organization that chased a candidate out of Boca Raton’s 2015 City Council race with an attack ad and website.
Other Ehrnst donors include developer Jamie Danburg ($1,000), Danburg Management Corp. ($1,000) and Danburg-affiliated Boca Industrial Park Ltd. ($1,000); law firm Weiss Handler & Cornwell ($1,000); and Boca Raton Public Safety PAC ($1,000).
Frisch took exception to an Aug. 24 email from Ehrnst announcing an endorsement from the Voters Coalition of Palm Beach County PAC, calling it a “sham.” A nonpartisan Palm Beach County Voters Coalition was dissolved in 2013, according to state records, Frisch said. The new coalition is weeks old and led by West Palm Beach attorney Leonard Feuer and former state Rep. Mary Brandenburg, a West Palm Beach Democrat.
Ehrnst dismissed the complaint. “I don’t know why my opponent and his shills are targeting me with attacks when they should be targeted on making Boca Raton better!” he said on Facebook.
Among Frisch’s donations is $300 from construction firm NuJak, which is renovating the Science Playground at district-owned Sugar Sand Park. He also received money from fellow Beach and Park District Commissioners Robert Rollins ($250) and Steve Engel ($50).

Residents of The Tradition of the Palm Beaches, the senior residence on MorseLife’s Katz Seniors Campus, participate twice a year in the Homebound Mitzvah Program, as part of  their commitment to giving to people less fortunate. From left: Rosalie Shapero, Hal Bogdanoff, Sylvia Mandell, Carolyn Patterson, Yetta Pearlman and Minnie Grosman. Photo provided

By Mary Thurwachter
    
Not everyone who wants to experience the joys and traditions of the High Holidays is able to do so. With them in mind, MorseLife Health System Homebound Mitzvah Program will come to the rescue of Jewish homebound seniors on Sept. 29.
    The High Holidays begin with Erev Rosh Hashanah on Oct. 2 and continue with Yom Kippur beginning on Oct. 11 and ending at sundown on Oct. 12.
    The mitzvah program, financed through community philanthropists and a grant from the Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County, relies on 400 volunteers to prepare Homebound Mitzvah Program packages for delivery throughout the county, including the coastal communities between South Palm Beach and Boca Raton.
    “I know of no other organization that does this here,” said Greg Goodman, a spokesman for MorseLife. “We are the only ones that deliver free packages that include not only kosher meals and wine, but also prayer books and DVDs of services led by Rabbi Alan Sherman, chaplain at MorseLife, along with caring volunteers who spend quality time with recipients. In fact, organizations that serve seniors, including independent and assisted living residences, synagogues, the county jail and others, rely on us.”
    The program has been around since 1987. It was founded by Marilyn and Stanley Katz, who had nurtured a similar program in New York.
    “The challenge for many of our community’s seniors is the passing of loved ones and friends, or the distance they are from their children, and this is particularly evident over the holiday,” said Linda Sevich, MorseLife’s director of community services. Sevich has been in charge of the program since it began.
    “It has been such an honor for us to be able to bring the joys and traditions of the Jewish New Year to them on what could be the loneliest time of the year for them. It is truly a beautiful mitzvah.”
    MorseLife also delivers kosher meals-on-wheels year-round, a program that has been around for almost 20 years.
    Mitzvah volunteers will meet on Sept. 29 to make deliveries at Temple Torah at 8600 Jog Road in Boynton Beach and on the MorseLife Campus at 4847 Fred Gladstone Drive, off Haverhill Road in West Palm Beach.
    Anyone interested in volunteering — or receiving packages — should call Sevich by Sept. 18 at 282-5388.

    Janis Fontaine, who writes about people of faith, their congregations, causes and community events, is taking a month off. Contact her at janisfontaine@outlook.com.

ABOVE: A group of home schoolers and their parents weed the Gray Mockingbird Community Garden in Lake Worth. The group grows fruits and vegetables on the plot of land run by Brian Kirsch, the garden founder.
BELOW: Kristen Litteken gives her daughter Ryker Litteken, 3, a cherry to taste.

Photos by Tim Stepien/
The Coastal Star

By Lona O'Connor

Adults would call it weeding, but for the group of children at Gray Mockingbird Community Garden in Lake Worth, it was more like playing in the dirt: pulling up stuff, eating other stuff and finding lizards and frogs. Adults would call it learning about how food is grown. The kids called it fun.
    “This just fits so nicely,” said Hannah Mayo, who organized a group of homeschool children and their parents to plant their own plot at the garden. “They can learn botany and they love doing it.”
    Some families in this group have gardens at home too, so most of the kids are used to tasting just-picked broccoli and other fresh veggies.
    Johana Castillo shows them purslane, which has a small round spongy leaf that can be eaten raw in salads and cooked in a number of ways. Everything else except the cucumbers they are growing goes into buckets, headed for the Gray Mockingbird compost pile. Brian Kirsch, Gray Mockingbird founder, delivers a wheelbarrow full of mulch to discourage the next crop of weeds.
    Many children can reach high school without realizing that food does not grow in shrink-wrapped Styrofoam trays. Laura Durso, who teaches cooking and nutrition to children, asks them to describe various fruits and vegetables to others in the class.
    “One girl got a sweet potato and didn’t know what to say about it,” reported Durso, of Greenacres.
    Seth Mayo, 7, knows how to cook scrambled eggs. His family eats together every day, joining their grandparents at least once a week.
    Eating together as a family is a very important tool for teaching children nutrition, says Carol Sherman, a Boca Raton dietitian and diabetes counselor.
    “Family meals tend to be more balanced and healthy, and it helps to model what healthy eating looks like at the family table,” she says.
    Durso, who was taught to cook by her mother and has run a restaurant, designed her kids’ cooking classes around first lady Michelle Obama’s “My Plate” nutrition program to improve nutrition among children. “My Plate” devotes half of each meal to fruits and vegetables, with the other half divided between protein and whole grains.
    With the teen girls, Durso concentrated on portion control, and at the end of the program the girls prepared a meal together.
    “They were really into it, talking to each other. They recognized that it was also social time for them,” Durso says.
    She showed the younger children how to create a “gourmet bouquet,” arranging cut vegetables in a flower pot.
    “There was one little girl who had never eaten a vegetable,” said Durso. “Her mom was thrilled that she tried different things, like quinoa-stuffed pepper.”
    She also challenged expect-ations, for example, toasting chickpeas with sugar and cinnamon instead of savory spices. On another occasion, the class made freezer ice cream out of pureed carrots and cream. Close to Christmas, the class made “Grinch skewers,” with green grapes for the body, banana slices for the face and a red strawberry for the hat.
    Durso had her own two children (now grown) participate in meal preparation and at least take a bite of any new food at a meal.
    Durso’s cooking lessons with at-risk teenage girls had at least one positive result that had no direct connection to nutrition.
    “After the first week, one girl said, do I have to come back and I said, it’s voluntary. She stayed away then came back the fourth week. When they cooked together, she was the first one in the kitchen.”
    Durso is now working with an art teacher on an “art you can eat” project and hopes to add table etiquette to her other courses.
    “I want them to sit still while they’re eating,” said Durso. “It opens up an opportunity to talk, it makes people open up.”
    Durso, who runs a bookkeeping service, always made sure to wrap her workday around her children, right through high school. That practice leads to the other benefit of eating together.
    “When you sit down to dinner, you find out what’s going on, you get the gist of their day,” said Durso.
    “Good habits start early,” said Sherman, who has a master’s degree in public health. “If you feed kids baloney and hot dogs and goldfish crackers, you can’t expect that all of a sudden they are going to change what they are eating. You can start by substituting Cheerios or oatmeal with fruit instead of sweetened cereal.”
    When Sherman started practicing 30 years ago, she rarely encountered children with Type 2 diabetes. Now it is considered nearly an epidemic — along with childhood obesity — and strikes hardest among African American, Mexican American, Native American and Asian American children.
    “It’s important to have healthy foods in the house,” said Sherman. “When children are hungry enough, they will eat what’s served.”
    The other problem, says Sherman, is parents modeling bad food choices to their children. “With so many parents on fad-type diets, that’s not healthy eating, but that’s what the children are seeing.”
    Sherman suggests that certain foods, like sugary soda pop, should be “out-of-the-house foods,” not available routinely at home. But an outright ban on sugar only “makes it more attractive and leads to overeating.”
    Another advantage of eating at the table rather than in front of a gaming screen or television is that it makes both children and adults more aware of how much they are eating and when they are full, says Sherman.
    Mindful eating is eating without distraction, paying attention to physical hunger, sitting at the table rather than while watching TV. People typically eat more than they think under distracted conditions, says Sherman.
    Sherman also favors the “plate” method of meal planning, and she suggests gradually “leaning in” to nutrition, rather than making big changes abruptly.
    “Start with one part of the plate. If your child can’t give up chicken fingers, leave them on the plate, but add carrot sticks, a stir fry or roasted vegetables, something that’s kid-friendly, like melting cheese on the broccoli.”
    And don’t give up, or give in, too soon.
    “Psychologists say it takes about four months before something becomes a habit,” says Sherman. “It’s also good to change the language used about food. Rather than talking about deprivation, put it in a more positive light.”
    Diet habits of a lifetime — even a child’s lifetime — are changed gradually, says Sherman.
    “Set small goals. If you think you’re eating too much sugar, start on that. You can serve fish or eat a vegetarian meal once a week, rather than just saying we’re not eating any animal protein.”
    To determine if you are really hungry, and not just bored or restless, Sherman says, “Ask yourself, am I hungry enough to eat an apple now? If the answer is no, you’re probably not that hungry.”
    With the weeding finished in short order, Kirsch encourages the children to taste muscadine grapes, Barbados cherries and an impressive bunch of bananas, all growing in the garden. As the year rolls on, there will be more fruits and vegetables to taste, including the cucumbers they grew.
    Seth Mayo tries a banana, straight off the tree. Nodding and chewing, he declares his judgment: “Pretty good!”

    For more information about My Plate, visit www.choosemyplate.gov.
    For more information about Gray Mockingbird, its activities and the weekly farmer’s market, visit www.graymockingbird.com.
To schedule a cooking class for children, contact Laura Durso at ldurso5@gmail.com.
    
Lona O’Connor has a lifelong interest in health and healthy living. Send column ideas to Lona13@bellsouth.net.

Members of the fishing team Nailed It won the 22nd annual Mark Gerretson Memorial Fishing Tournament by catching the heaviest fish of the tournament for the second year in a row — a 43.4-pound wahoo. That’s far smaller than the 71.6-pound wahoo they caught in the 2015 event, but still top fish in this year’s 38-boat tournament. From left are Nailed It team members Shannon Huner, Eric Schroeder, Steve Bunch and captain Ed Rose. Team Nailed It won $4,217 — $3,800 for the biggest fish and $417 for top wahoo. The team donated 10 percent of the winnings back to the tournament, which benefits youth-related causes in Delray Beach. Willie Howard/The Coastal Star

By Willie Howard

The Riviera Beach Maritime Academy, the Susan G. Komen Foundation and Palm Beach County sank a mermaid sculpture off Singer Island Aug. 11 to create a new dive destination in honor of a woman who has survived breast cancer three times.
Andrea’s Reef is named for Andrea Torrente of Loxahatchee, whose face was used as the model for the mermaid sculpture created by artist Thomas McDonald.
Students at the Riviera Beach Maritime Academy built the 20-foot by 15-foot structure featuring the life-sized mermaid sculpture as its centerpiece.
Andrea’s Reef is in 75 feet of water off Ocean Reef Park, which is north of Lake Worth Inlet on Singer Island.

Coming events
Sept. 10: 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. Register at the door. Bring lunch. Call 391-3600 or email fso-pe@cgauxboca.org.
Sept. 17: Volunteers needed for the International Coastal Cleanup. Most cleanups begin at 8 a.m. Locations include the Sandoway Discovery Center in Delray Beach, Boynton Beach Oceanfront Park and Phipps Ocean Park in Palm Beach. Preregistration suggested. Details: 686-6646 or www.Keeppbcbeautiful.org.
Sept. 17: X-Generation 440 Challenge fishing tournament for kingfish, dolphin, wahoo, cobia, bonito/blackfin tuna and snapper. Captain’s meeting 5-8 p.m. Sept. 16 at Palm Beach Yacht Center, Hypoluxo. Weigh-in at Palm Beach Yacht Center. Entry fee $225 per boat through Sept. 9 and $250 thereafter. Call 577-0706 or www.xgeneration440.com.
Sept. 24: Bird-watching walk with Audubon Society of the Everglades, 8-10 a.m., Spanish River Park, 3939 N. Ocean Blvd., Boca Raton. Reservations suggested. Call (508) 296-0238 or email: asetripinfo@gmail.com.
Sept. 24: Coast Guard Auxiliary offers basic boating safety class, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the classroom next to the boat ramps at Harvey E. Oyer Jr. Park, 2010 N. Federal Highway, Boynton Beach. Fee $40. Register at the door. Call 331-2429.
Sept. 27: Capt. Danny Barrow of Silver Lining Fish Charters speaks to the Boynton Beach Fishing Club, 7:30 p.m. at the clubhouse building next to the boat ramps, Harvey E. Oyer Jr. Park, 2210 N. Federal Highway, Boynton Beach. Free. Details: 707-5660 or www.bifc.org.  

Tip of the month
Running to the Bahamas or taking another extended boating trip this summer?  
File a detailed float plan telling where you’re headed, who is on board and, most important, when you are due back.
Try downloading and completing a Coast Guard float plan form that can be found at www.uscgboating.org. (Click on “safety” and “float planning” and look for the float plan PDF form.)
This float plan is far more complete than a typical daily boating float plan sent by email or text message. The Coast Guard float plan form covers details about the boat, its equipment and emergency gear, and the people on board. It includes spaces for a detailed itinerary.
Leave the completed float plan with a reliable person. Update this person when your plans change, and be sure to notify him or her when you and your crew return.


Willie Howard is a freelance writer and licensed boat captain. Reach him at tiowillie@bellsouth.net.

Kathy Pelton, Florida director for GREY2K USA, with her pair of lovable greyhound rescues named Jack and Jill.
Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Arden Moore

The first time I met a greyhound, it was a blur. Chipper, my husky-golden retriever mix, and I were at a spacious, local dog park. Chipper, at the time, was in her prime and prided herself on being able to outsprint any other dog in any park.
    Then entered a tall, sleek greyhound named Stella. Their eyes playfully met and the race was on.
    Chipper matched Stella’s strides at first, but then displayed a perplexed look as if to convey, “I don’t seem to be moving,” as Stella turned on what seemed like turbo power, charging far ahead and becoming a speedy blur.
    That’s OK, Chipper. You never really had a chance.
After all, this sighthound breed grabs honors as the fastest canine, capable of speeds up to 45 miles per hour, and earning the nickname, “Ferraris of the dog world.”  
    The controversy surrounding the sport of greyhound racing will take center stage in Delray Beach at the Seagate Hotel on Oct. 15.
That’s the site for the first International Conference on Greyhound Advocacy, being hosted by GREY2K USA Worldwide.
The world’s largest nonprofit greyhound protection organization is committed to getting laws passed to end the sport of dog racing as well as to promote the rescue and adoption of greyhounds.
    Registration to attend this conference ends Sept. 13 (details at www.grey2kusa.org). It will include an international lineup of speakers led by keynote speaker Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States.
    This group of 100,000-plus volunteers has played key roles in the enactment of stronger state laws designed to protect racing greyhounds and even establish greyhound adoption trust funds in some states.
    It is not a coincidence that the conference takes place in the same county that is home to one of the country’s oldest and biggest greyhound racing tracks, the Palm Beach Kennel Club in West Palm Beach.
The PBKC has been hosting greyhound races since 1932, with its races now airing on its simulcast network televised at more than 2,000 locations in this country and abroad.
    When it comes to the greyhound sport, there are no views that fall in the “gray” area. You are either totally against or a fan of this sport, which features a pack of greyhounds racing around a track in pursuit of a fast-moving lure just out of their reach.
    “We are confident that greyhound racing will end at the PB Kennel Club,” declares Kathy Pelton, Florida director of GREY2K USA Worldwide. “Change takes time and right now, greyhound racing is being propped up by a state mandate that forces these gambling facilities to hold dog races even though there is little to no interest.”
    Carey Theil, executive director of GREY2K USA Worldwide, is more blunt.
“Greyhound racing is cruel and inhumane. In every place where dog racing exists, grass-roots advocates and animal protection groups are fighting for change. This has become a worldwide effort to reform and phase out greyhound racing.”
    His group’s website posts incidents of racing greyhounds that have been injured or died at tracks. Since its inception in 2001, the group has helped shut down more than two dozen dog tracks and is now expanding its mission worldwide to include preventing the legalization of dog racing in India and South Africa.
    Countering these comments is Theresa Hume, publicity director for the Palm Beach Kennel Club. She confirmed that no PBKC officials plan to attend this international greyhound conference in Delray Beach.
    “Palm Beach Kennel Club takes very seriously its responsibilities to ensure the proper care of greyhounds at our track,” says Hume. “PBKC has made significant progress in attempting to reduce greyhound injuries at the track through various measures, including improvements to the track surface, new safer lure technologies, safer fencing, widening of turns and other techniques. In addition, our track veterinarian closely monitors the condition of all greyhounds so that any illnesses or injuries are quickly detected and treated.”
    Hume adds that PBKC works closely with five adoption groups to find homes for retired greyhound racers. These groups are Awesome Greyhounds/Hounds & Heroes, Elite Greyhound Adoptions, Forever Greyhounds, Greyhound Pet Adoptions and Greyed A Adoptions.
    For Pelton, the fate of greyhounds is made more personal by a pair of retired racers she adopted and named Jack and Jill.
Based in Cooper City, she often tries to reach the next generation by giving presentations at middle schools and humane shelter summer camps for kids.
    “I begin my classes with a PowerPoint presentation with the cruelty of dog racing and always end the class with the need for adoption,” she says. “The children are shocked to learn that it takes approximately 8,000 dogs for the 12 tracks in Florida. That is a lot of dogs needing homes. Jack and Jill are with me and they make great ambassadors for the greyhounds.”
    And she has become a major ambassador herself for greyhounds: “They are gentle, clean, rarely bark, don’t need much exercise. In fact, they just lay around all the time. I always say that everyone should have at least one grey.”

Greyhound Fun Facts
• Meet the ultimate canine couch lounger. Other than a need for a 20-minute daily walk, the typical greyhound is quite content stretching out on your couch and may even train you to fetch the television remote.
• They are ideal dogs for tiny houses or one-bedroom apartments because they don’t take up or require much living space.
• They put the ‘G’ in gentle and ‘L’ in love. They thrive on unleashing affection and attention to their favorite people.
• They have been around for centuries, tracing their roots to ancient Egypt circa 2900 B.C.
• Their musculature makes it feel unnatural for this breed to plop and hold a sit. But greyhounds will happily lie down on cue.

    Arden Moore, founder of www.FourLeggedLife.com, is an animal behavior consultant, editor, author, professional speaker and master certified pet first aid instructor. Each week, she hosts the popular Oh Behave! show on www.PetLifeRadio.com. Learn more by visiting www.fourleggedlife.com.

Don Seiler meant for his sculpture to go at the Orange Bowl. No. 14 is a nod to former NFL quarterback Y.A. Tittle, known as the Bald Eagle. Brian Biggane/The Coastal Star

By Brian Biggane

    The statue that has been a symbol of the Atlantic High School football program for nearly 50 years has finally found what school officials hope will be its permanent home.
    Constructed in 1968 by Delray Beach-based sculptor Don Seiler — whose original intent was for it to be displayed in Miami’s Orange Bowl — the 20-foot-high steel-reinforced concrete statue was originally placed at Hilltopper Stadium adjacent to the former Atlantic campus on Seacrest Boulevard, thanks to the generosity of the Atlantic High Class of 1969.
    Seiler had the figure in the statue wearing No. 14 and poised to throw a pass as a tribute to former New York Giants quarterback Y.A. Tittle. While Tittle had no connection to Atlantic High, he was known as the Bald Eagle, thus forging a tie-in with the school, whose nickname is the Eagles.
    The first attempt to move the 10-ton statue in 1968 failed when a cable snapped. But it was repaired and officially dedicated in December 1968.
    When the Atlantic campus moved to its current location on Atlantic Avenue in 2005, efforts to bring along the statue went nowhere until Tara Dellegrotti-Campo, who took over as principal last year, convinced Delray contractor Chuck Halberg that it needed to be moved. That took place this summer.
    “I was a little surprised it made the trip,” Atlantic athletic director Kevin Logan said.
    The wooden box in which it made the move was stripped off and the statue now sits where Logan expects it to be indefinitely, at the north end of the football stadium.
    “They need to spruce it up because it looks pretty ratty,” Logan said. “All the paint is off it; it looks like it’s been sandblasted.”
    Logan said he expects either Atlantic art students will undertake the project or the School Board will take it on. “We’re still kind of waiting,” he added.
    Logan said he hopes the 48-year-old statue will help foster a connection between the school and its alumni.
    “The old guard knows about it, and we’re going to use it to promote some unity from the past,” he said. “People have always asked about it, who it was and why it was there. When we moved over from the old school a lot of that stopped, but our alumni feel strongly about it.”
    Logan said he expects the statue to be dedicated at a football game this fall, possibly at the homecoming game in October.

More than 100 committee members, dignitaries and sponsors joined to celebrate the sold-out success of the 2016 Mayors Ball, which is set for Oct. 8. Proceeds from the ball benefit the Rotary Club of Downtown Boca Raton. ABOVE: (front, l-r) former Boca Raton City Councilwoman Constance Scott, former Mayor Bill Smith, Mayor Susan Haynie, Deputy Mayor Michael Mullaugh; (back) Palm Beach County Commissioner Steven Abrams, Jon Kaye, City Councilman Scott Singer and City Councilman Robert Weinroth. Photo provided by Carlos Aristizabal

The Greater Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce had its annual celebration to welcome new teachers to the city’s schools and hear success stories from principals. Originating in the ’70s, the event is one of the chamber’s most meaningful and rewarding, as each principal receives a $500 Office Depot gift card for back-to-school shopping. ABOVE: (l-r) Delray Beach Mayor Cary Glickstein, Tom Lynch and Ian Saltzman. Photo provided

More than 100 supporters attended the fifth-annual Uncorked event, which raised $3,000 for the Gold Coast Down Syndrome Organization’s resource center. It kicked off this year’s Buddy Walk, which will take place Oct. 16 at John Prince Park in Lake Worth. ABOVE: (l-r) Co-Chairwomen Erin Allen, Anne Dichele and Bethany Pauley. Photo provided

Boca Raton race car driver Tristan Nunez, shown here with his high-tech race course simulator, visits schools to stress to students the dangers of distracted driving.  Photo by Thom Smith

By Thom Smith

When most 20-year-olds are choosing their college majors, Boca Raton native Tristan Nunez is on the road much of the year, going as fast as possible, seizing every opportunity to pass any car in front of him. But no speeding or reckless driving tickets, thank you: Nunez has goals as a race car driver and role model.
He races cars for a living, specifically Mazda prototypes in the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge of the IMSA Weathertech SportsCar Championship, the nation’s top sports car racing series.  
At 16, Nunez became the youngest driver ever to win a sports cars championship. This year, with a hot new Mazda engine, his team has started in the front row of four races. He briefly held the lead at Daytona Beach. The team led by 25 seconds halfway through the Canadian Tire race before a mechanical failure knocked the car out. The drivers were in front and cruising at Elkhart Lake, Wis., when they were done in by a faulty pit strategy.  
Sadly, Mazda has celebrated only one podium finish this season because of other mechanical problems, but Nunez learned long before his first race that all winners also lose. His Chilean-born father, Juan, played tennis professionally and now runs a training academy in Delray Beach. His pupils included Chris Evert, Arantxa Sánchez Vicario and Gabriela Sabatini.
Nunez tried tennis but discovered karting before hitting his teens and decided he preferred racket to racquets. His twin, Dylan, once a ranked junior tennis player, now pursues an acting career in Atlanta.
Tristan’s mother, Diane, is his manager.
“If I didn’t have the support from my family, I wouldn’t be where I am today,” he said. “My mom does the hard stuff behind the scenes. My dad’s been a racing fan since I don’t know when.”                                                                  

Nunez also cites inspiration from legendary British driver Derek Bell, who has a home in Boca Raton; but all the support in the world wouldn’t help if he didn’t have the tools both mental and physical.                                                    

“That’s the good thing about the racing world,” he said. “If you have a good head on your shoulders and you’re knowledgeable about racing, age doesn’t matter. We all have that mutual respect for each other.     
“The night before a race, I can’t sleep. It’s like any athlete before a game. And when you get out after a three-hour stint, it’s like ‘Wow, I can’t believe I just did that!’ I sleep like a baby, but the next morning is hard; I can’t get up.”
But he does … and not just to take a few laps. With the opportunity afforded by “celebrity” comes responsibility. Last spring first lady Michelle Obama invited him to the White House Easter egg roll because of his work as founder of Dnt txt n drV Foundation, which is waging a campaign against distracted driving. With his 200-mph Mazda in tow, he visits schools to stress to students that a second of distraction can be fatal.
The foundation provides grants and scholarships, mostly to teenagers, to help them spread the word. “It’s the teens who are most at risk from distracted driving,” he said, “but they can also have the biggest voice. The only way it’s going to spread is through a team of young, dedicated advocates.”
Back on the track, Nunez will glean what he can from this year’s experience and prepare for the changes to be made by IMSA for 2017, in hopes of seeing more checkered flags and saving lives.
    ***                                
Kevin, we hardly got to know you. In 2012, TV comedian Kevin James paid $18.5 million for a 12,828-square-foot estate — big enough for its own “Mall Cop” — at the north end of Delray Beach’s public beach. Last winter, he put it on the market. As real estate deals go, he didn’t make a Trumpian killing, but then what’s a few million.
    Asking price: $28.85 million. Sales price: $26.4. James had also bought the adjacent lot for $4.25 million, a total outlay of $22.75 million or a profit of 16 percent.
    James was often seen dining downtown; the family were regulars at St. Vincent Ferrer Church on George Bush Boulevard. He even shot a trailer for Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 nearby at Boca’s Town Center. So why did he leave?
TV maybe?
James will return to the 4K screen this fall in Kevin Can Wait, a sitcom about a newly retired cop who finds life is tougher at home than on the streets. It premieres Sept. 19 on CBS. More significant, James is co-producer and the series will be shot in Bethpage on Long Island, just a few miles from his hometown of Mineola. He should be able to find a fixer-upper along the shore.
Actually, James has been gone from Delray Beach for months. Developer, author and philanthropist Frank McKinney, who also lives at the north end, jogs in the area every day. James’ house was noteworthy, he said, because six to eight garbage cans would always be put out in the alley on collection days.
“Then about six months ago, no more trashcans,” McKinney said. “He loved it while he was here, but I’m sure it was because of the show.”  
          ***                          
    After a month in the rumor mill, the truth is finally out. On Aug. 23, Nick Morfogen, executive chef at 32 East, announced his departure, 17 years to the day after taking over the kitchen at the acclaimed Delray Beach restaurant.
    “I am astonished almost daily witnessing the transformation from sleepy little town that was just waking up, to a world-class destination. It has been a privilege for me to have been at the forefront of the culinary evolution that continues to reshape the heart of Delray,” Morfogen wrote on the restaurant’s Facebook site.
      But, as the saying goes, Nick got an offer he couldn’t refuse.
      He’ll run the dining operation at Pine Tree, a private golf club west of Boynton Beach. The change is dramatic, and some friends have called it a “waste of talent,” but for Nick, family considerations prevailed.
      Nevertheless, the separation will not be total: He’ll remain a partner at 32 East. In that role he no doubt will have some say in its future, which includes new executive chef John Thomas, his protege for a decade at Tryst.
    “Thank you to the staff, past and present that have helped me live my dream, the guests who have trusted me in this culinary journey, and to the farmers, fishermen and purveyors who I have been fortunate to work with; they educate and inspire me on a regular basis,” Morfogen wrote, concluding with a reminder to 32 East fans, “it’s still all about the food. … ”
                                     ***
The inaugural Dine-Out Delray apparently was a big hit. Final figures aren’t in for the weeklong promotion that featured specially priced, three-course prix fixe meals, but response from the 30 participating restaurants, juice bars, cafes and pizza joints was overwhelmingly positive.
More than 3,000 meals were served, and several restaurants continued the promotion beyond the initial week of Aug. 1-8.
“It was a great way to introduce our menu to new diners,” Max’s Harvest General Manager Pete Stampone said. “It was a nice perk for our regular guests.”
Sponsored by the city’s Downtown Development Authority, the event boosted business in the dog days and provided $3,000 to Healthy Bellies, a program through the Achievement Center for Children & Families. Founded by Dada executive chef Bruce Feingold and his wife, Amanda, it promotes education and nutrition for disadvantaged children and families.    
                                     ***

At 50 Ocean in Delray Beach, chef Joe Bonavita says diners will find three tower gardens that not only look good but provide fixings for salads, cocktails and daily specials. Photo provided

Who needs flower arrangements! At the entrance to 50 Ocean in Delray Beach, guests are greeted with heads of lettuce, herbs and varieties of spinach. Only a few weeks on the job, new exec chef Joe Bonavita is boosting the seaside eatery’s garden-to-table menu with three grow towers that not only catch the diner’s eye but also provide fixings for salads, craft cocktails and daily specials.
Hydroponics and aeroponics are as old as the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, but only recently have they been reintroduced into modern American kitchens. General Manager Mark DeAtley even envisions the towers serving as an educational tool while providing a little fun for diners in the process: “They can interact with the plants and even pick fresh strawberries off the vine.”
                                     ***
    One of the first lessons a surfer learns is that a wipeout is not the end of a ride, just an interruption. Waves don’t stop, nor do surfers.
Same can be said of the Palm Beach County Surfing Museum in Delray. In surfing terms, the break — its building on North Federal — has blown out. The landlord, who had provided temporary space, has found a paying tenant. So after a year and a half, the Palm Beach County Surfing History Project has, to steal a phrase, packed up the woody with boards in the back — plus displays and memorabilia —  and headed out.
Some will go to a storefront on nascent Park Avenue in Lake Park, the rest just a skateboard ride away to the Sandoway House on A1A in Delray. “They’ve been very generous to let us stay there for a year,” project founder Fred Salmon said. “The county is so big that it’s good to split up the exhibits so people all over have a better chance to see it.”
History Project board members even used the closing event on Aug. 18, a reception for the Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce, to spread the word. The chamber group, few of whom were surfers, were captivated by the board members and historical displays — old Holmsey and Nomad boards, images of the beached Amaryllis on Singer Island and gremmies at Lake Worth Pier — as longtime local surfers such as Tom Warnke and Scott McCranels made their case.
The gang hopes to open the Sandoway exhibit this month. Lake Park may take longer, but the project should be safe for another year while devotees work to find a permanent site. And the waves will come and go. (www.surfhistoryproject.org)
                                     ***
Cancer doesn’t discriminate. It can hit anyone. Since 1992, Connor Moran Children’s Cancer Foundation has been serving affected South Florida families, and now it’s out to prove the disease is a “drag,” in the most upbeat sense.
Tom Hantzarides, host and producer of GET OUT! South Florida, America’s only terrestrial-radio LGBTQ talk show, and Tracy St. John, afternoon drive jock at 97.9-WRMF, will co-host Cancer’s a DRAG — A Magical Musical Tour!
Set for at 6 p.m. Sept. 25 at the Crest Theatre at Old School Square in Delray, this sequins-and-glitter show will offer decades of hits performed by famous South Florida drag queens Big Mama, RaeJean Cox, Kataleya Davenport, Destiny Devine, Roxi DiVine, Dupree Edwards, Lupita Hollywood, Rianna Petrone, Nicole Saphire, Melissa St. John and more.
International cabaret star Chris Barrett will perform hits from Broadway and the great American songbook. Tickets, $25-$75 at www.getoutsouthflorida.com.
                                     ***
One of the most interesting TV commercials to come along in years may be for the New York Grilled Cheese Co., a new franchise that opened in April across Federal Highway from Boca’s Mizner Park. Needless to say, the star — bewigged blonde in heavy makeup — is tres campy as she interviews diners, including Boca’s Broadway queen, Jan McArt.
Folks farther south may recognize Miss Daisy Deadpetals, one of the best-known drag queens in South Florida for two decades.  
Owner Leor Barak, who opened his first cheesy joint in Wilton Manors in 2013 and envisions nationwide franchises, confesses he likes to think out of the box. He also believes in giving back to the community. Daisy could be very busy.

Reach Thom Smith at thomsmith@ymail.com.

The Plate: Baked Florida Lump Crab
The Place: Prime Catch, 700 E. Woolbright Road, Boynton Beach; 737-8822 or www.primecatchboynton.com.
The Price: $15.95
The Skinny: The view alone makes Prime Catch a destination.
Fortunately for diners, the restaurant matches its view with well-prepared seafood.
During a recent lunch, I feasted on a dish of lump crab — think of it as a crabcake without the filler.
Big, tender, sweet lumps of crab surrounded a dollop of caramelized roasted corn. It was drizzled with mustard dressing and was accompanied by crisp, finely diced cole slaw that wanted a little more zing.
Also tasty: fish tacos, filled with tender mahi, and the quiche of the day, with large chunks of scallops and crab, and bits of asparagus.
We finished with the Key lime pie, that perfect blend of sweet and tart.
 — Scott Simmons

By Steve Plunkett

Candidate Craig Ehrnst has taken a commanding lead in raising cash for his campaign to become a Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District commissioner.

Campaign finance reports filed for the period ending Aug. 26, the last deadline before the Aug. 30 vote, showed Ehrnst with $10,300 in contributions, compared with incumbent Dennis Frisch at $5,055 and challenger Shayla Enright with $450 in the Seat 1 race.

For Seat 3, candidate Erin Wright maintained her top ranking in campaign contributions but incumbent Earl Starkoff narrowed the gap. Wright had a cumulative $4,420; Starkoff $3,585. Challenger John Costello has not filed a finance report yet.

Business Leaders United for Boca Raton, the Chamber of Commerce’s political action committee, gave $500 each to Ehrnst and Starkoff.

Citizens for Smart Growth, Efficient Government and Lower Taxes donated $1,000 to Ehrnst’s campaign. The organization’s president is Todd Richardson, whose election communications organization chased a candidate out of Boca Raton’s 2015 City Council race with an attack ad and website.

Ehrnst’s other contributors include developer Jamie Danburg ($1,000), his Danburg Management Corp. ($1,000) and Danburg-affiliated Boca Industrial Park Ltd. ($1,000); law firm Weiss Handler & Cornwell ($1,000); Boca Raton Public Safety PAC ($1,000); architect Derek Vander Ploeg ($250); and real estate developer Mark Guzzetta ($100).

Ehrnst’s expenses include $1,081 on a campaign website, $2,205 on direct mail printing, $342 on unspecified postage, and $1,036 on postage for absentee ballots.

Frisch took exception to an Aug. 24 email from Ehrnst announcing an endorsement from the Voters Coalition of Palm Beach County PAC, calling it a “sham.” A nonpartisan Palm Beach County Voters Coalition was dissolved in 2013, according to state records, Frisch said. The new coalition is weeks old and led by West Palm Beach attorney Leonard Feuer and former state Rep. Mary Brandenburg, a West Palm Beach Democrat.

Ehrnst dismissed the complaint. “I don't know why my opponent and his shills are targeting me with attacks when they should be targeted on making Boca Raton better!” he said on Facebook.

Among Frisch’s donations is $300 from construction firm NuJak, which is renovating the Science Playground at district-owned Sugar Sand Park. He also received money from city activists James Hendrey ($100) and Joe Pedalino ($100); from lawyers Spencer Siegel, who is president of the Boca Rotary ($200) and Mitchell Kirschner ($150); and fellow Beach and Park District Commissioners Robert Rollins ($250) and Steve Engel ($50).

Frisch said BocaWatch.org, which endorsed him and Starkoff, donated $1,000 worth of advertising. He also reported spending $1,106 on campaign signs and $188 on postage.

Enright’s contributions included a $100 check from West Palm Beach City Commissioner Cory Neering. She has spent $403 on campaign cards, T-shirts and Facebook ads.

In the Seat 3 race, Wright’s flow of contributions from firefighters slowed but still made up the bulk of her campaign war chest. She reported that she has spent $2,067 on mailers and $339 on advertising.

Starkoff’s campaign cash includes $500 from art gallery haitianart.com. He had expenses of $351, including $104 on printing.

By Dan Moffett

            Neighborly relations between Ocean Ridge and Boynton Beach have frayed in recent months, mostly because of the city’s support for high-density residential projects on Federal Highway.

            Now the two municipalities have found something else to dispute: Who will protect and serve the good citizens of Briny Breezes?

            Ocean Ridge thought it had a three-year contract to provide police services to Briny ready for the town’s approval on Thursday, Aug. 18, believing it was basically a rubber-stamp blessing of the existing arrangement.

            But then a funny thing happened on the way to the council meeting. Boynton Beach showed up in Briny Breezes with a counterproposal with a price tag that was 10 percent lower than Ocean Ridge’s. And the offer came with a familiar deliveryman — Chris Yannuzzi.

            Now a captain with the Boynton Beach Police Department, Yannuzzi started 2015 as Ocean Ridge’s police chief and Briny’s town marshal and then was forced to resign after a dustup with Ocean Ridge Commissioner Richard Lucibella.

            If Briny signs a contract with Boynton Beach, Yannuzzi would return as the “point of contact” for the town and its marshal, Boynton Assistant Police Chief Vanessa Snow told Briny’s council members.

            “I’m in a very unique position,” Yannuzzi said.

            Snow and Yannuzzi presented Boynton as the bigger and better-equipped alternative for Briny, with a full-time force of 155 sworn officers, compared with Ocean Ridge’s 16. Boynton is a fully accredited agency, they told the council. Ocean Ridge is still working on accreditation. Boynton’s three-year proposal would cost Briny $200,000 annually, compared with Ocean Ridge’s offer of just over $221,000.

            Briny Town Attorney John Skrandel said he believed Boynton’s lower cost was derived from “economies of scale” that a larger agency could leverage.

            “Every single person had a smile on their face,” Snow said, when Boynton officers learned about the possibility of policing Briny.

            Ocean Ridge has covered the town for most of the last three decades, except for a three-year window from 2007 to 2010 when Boynton Beach had the contract. Briny officials were unsatisfied with Boynton’s performance then, however, and went back to Ocean Ridge.

            But Yannuzzi and Snow say their department has undergone a “cultural transformation” in recent years under the leadership of Police Chief Jeffrey Katz. Yannuzzi told the council Boynton has embraced “community policing that is much more citizen-focused” and upgraded its personnel.

            “I’m unbelievably impressed with the quality of the officers that came on board,” Yannuzzi said.

            Ocean Ridge Police Chief Hal Hutchins countered that his department is based entirely on the barrier island and doesn’t have to contend with response time issues such as trains and drawbridges. Hutchins said there is a close link between Ocean Ridge and Briny Breezes, and that his officers think of it as policing a single town.

            “We provide more than six patrols a day,” Hutchins said. “We’re part of this community. … We consider Briny Breezes a continuation of Ocean Ridge.”

            Hutchins said he didn’t have the authority to renegotiate the contract price — that was up to elected officials. He said Ocean Ridge Mayor Geoff Pugh and Town Manager Jamie Titcomb had wanted to attend Briny’s August meeting but couldn’t make it because they were out of town.

            Several Briny aldermen have privately complained about the rising costs of doing business with Ocean Ridge. Councilman Bobby Jurovaty said he encouraged Boynton Beach to come up with its counterproposal and give the town a competitive choice.

            Briny Council President Sue Thaler said the town will make that choice during a Sept. 8 special budget meeting that begins at 5:01 p.m. The new contract will take effect on Oct. 1.

Houston's in Pompano Beach will no longer provide dockage for dining boaters. Photo provided.

By Steve Plunkett

South Florida boaters have lost a restaurant destination on the Intracoastal Waterway.

Houston’s in Pompano Beach will no longer allow diners to tie up their vessels at the restaurant’s dock just north of the Atlantic Boulevard bridge.

“While we recognize boating is part of the culture and appeal of the Intracoastal Waterway, we do not feel dockage is an amenity that contributes to our goal of providing a first-rate dining experience for our guests,” the restaurant announced Aug. 15 on Facebook.

Houston’s is part of the Hillstone Restaurant Group, which has been negotiating with Boca Raton since 2011 to build a waterfront restaurant on the city-owned Wildflower site just north of the Palmetto Park Road bridge.

In November, W. Glenn Viers, Hillstone’s vice president, said the company would not build a dock but would permit the city to do so at the southern end of the site as long as it did “not affect the views of the Intracoastal.”

Viers could not be immediately reached for comment on the new policy in Pompano Beach. That restaurant’s Facebook posting said boaters cause delays for diners who come by land.

“We sincerely apologize for any disappointment this might cause our boating enthusiasts, but are hopeful this change will reduce the wait times that result from large amounts of boating traffic,” the Facebook notice said.

Boca Raton voters will decide on Nov. 8 whether the Wildflower site should be preserved for public uses rather than commercial ones.

WPTV-TV news anchor Michael Williams was the featured speaker at the Gold Coast Tiger Bay Club’s May program, which addressed the state of politics in America. The club meets monthly, disseminating information ‘straight from the tiger’s mouth.’ ABOVE: (l-r) Lawrence Greenberg, David Schwartz, Eric Kaplan and Timothy Louzy. Photo provided

The Boca Raton Garden Club installed Patty Moum (left) and Emilie Palmieri as co-presidents for a two-year term. Donna Berger, the District 10 director of the Florida Federation of Garden Clubs, conducted the ceremony, which included the installation of seven new officers. Outgoing President Grace Johnson thanked club members for their hard work and commitment.  The mission of the club, established in 1953, is to improve and beautify Boca Raton’s parks and landscape as well as share members’ knowledge of and passion for gardening. Photo provided

‘Educating and equipping citizens with opportunities to help themselves’ is one of the organization’s guiding principles, and its board did just that when it approved $1.2 million in community-impact awards to 23 area nonprofits. ABOVE: (l-r) Recipients Patricia Salamon, Sharon Blake, Gina Burks, Deidra Kinneman, Matthew Constantine, Maria Bond, Glenn Mueller, Val Santiago Stanley, Ray Morse, Terri May, Megan Keenan Clemmons, Donna Biase, Keri DeBowes, Debbie Ellman, Anne Henderson, Lauren Butcher and Pamela Minelli. Photo provided by Tracey Benson Photography

Soroptimist International of Boca Raton / Deerfield Beach welcomed members to its annual gathering to laud 18 winners of the Soroptimist Service Awards, given to charities that share the mission of working to improve the lives of women and girls locally and throughout the world. In June, the women installed their new officers. LEFT: (l-r) Award winners Jane Tyree of Boca Ballet Theatre; Diane Wilde of Dress for Success; and Lisa Wanamaker of CityHouse. Photo provided

The Woman’s Club of Delray Beach once again distributed more than $10,000 to city-based organizations that serve women and children, high-school and college students and organizations supporting the arts. During a ceremony, club members distributed each monetary donation to the recipient. The 100-year-old nonprofit’s mission is to improve the community by enhancing the lives of others through volunteer service. ABOVE: (l-r) Rob Steele, Old School Square; Shellie Labell, Delray Beach Historical Society; Juanita Bryant Goode, CROS Ministries; Emma-Jane Ramsey, Achievement Centers for Children & Families; Trish Jacobson and Joann Haros, Woman’s Club; Ana Neira and Nicole Rodriquez, Habitat for Humanity of South Palm Beach County; Glenn Mueller, Milagro Center; and Alan Kornblau, Delray Beach Public Library. Photo provided