Manalapan Commissioner Peter Blum joins Ocean Ridge Mayor Ken Kaleel at the DeVos-Blum YMCA annual breakfast. This year’s Partner With Youth Campaign received donations totaling $433,000 — exceeding by almost 25 percent the 2007 campaign results. Both Blum and Kaleel are on the board of trustees and volunteers in the campaign.
More than 75 donations of $1,200 and greater were received, including support from the YMCA’s longtime benefactor, Peter Blum. Blum’s gifts over the years have helped to build the YMCA of South Palm Beach County into an organization that serves more than 50,000 community residents each year. The annual Partners with Youth Campaign helps more than 4,000 families receive scholarships to enjoy the facilities and programs offered by the YMCA regardless of their ability to pay.
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Dr. Lynn Allison and Harvey Sovelove were married Nov. 23 at the bride’s home in Ocean Ridge, surrounded by family and friends from all stages of their lives.
The groom’s grandson’s Tyler and Jack Sovelove of Lopez, Washington served as ring bearers. The bride’s goddaughter Karlee served as flower girl.
The bride has resided in Ocean Ridge for 11 years after living previously in Barbados. The groom is from Brooklyn, N.Y., and Boca Raton.
The bride is an Ocean Ridge commissioner and is president of International Enterprise Developments, Inc., a micro-enterprise development company with a contract for the city of Pompano Beach.
The groom is a retired air traffic supervisor and controller from the New York area.
The couple will reside in Ocean Ridge and Little Harbour, Abaco, Bahamas.
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Proposed Briny stock sale status report : In a letter dated Dec. 8, 2008, attorneys for Duane Morris prepared a statement for Briny Breezes stockholders regarding their efforts to finalize a stock sale proposal. According to the letter, after the original stock purchaser, Ocean Land Investments, pulled out, the second highest bidder wrote a letter expressing interest in acquiring Briny Breezes. That party submitted a detailed term sheet outlining the basic business terms under which they would be interested in moving forward. Although those terms were considered to be a serious proposal, the Briny Breezes Corporate Board felt that a number of changes need to be made before continuing discussions and submitted a counterproposal. According to Duane Morris partner Joseph Aronica,
“Due to the recent turmoil in the financial markets, the developer has indicated they need some time to consider the counterproposal. We expect to hear back from them once the markets have stabilized.”
Off the grid in Briny Breezes: With no one to help residents use it, a computer in the town library would be more of a hindrance than a help, Briny Breezes Town Council members agreed at their December meeting. Council member Nancy Boczon raised the question of why the town’s library has no computer after residents asked her. It wasn’t because they couldn’t get a good deal on one, it turned out. Council Member Karen Wiggins had offered one that she was getting rid of, she said, adding,
“the answer was ‘no thank you.’ “ With computers available in the nearby Delray Beach and Boynton Beach libraries — as well as staff members to help visitors use them, council members said the town library should remain off the grid.
Silver Alert: The town saw its first “Silver Alert” come to a successful conclusion in December, when an 83-year-old missing Briny Breezes woman was located in a Pembroke Pines gas station, according to Boynton Beach Police. The alert, modeled on the “Amber Alert” used to publicize searches for missing children with broadcast announcements and highway signs, is used to find missing adults older than 60 who are disoriented. Council member Nancy Boczon praised quick response of Boynton Beach police, on behalf of the woman’s husband.
In their regular December meeting, council members also:
• Approved, with corrections, Planning and Zoning Evaluation and Appraisal Reports on the town’s infrastructure, coastal management, conservation, recreation, intergovernmental coordination and capital improvements.
• Approved payment of $13,837 to Town Attorney Jerry Skrandel for services and expenses during August and September 2008.
• Discussed the need for contractors performing repairs or installations in town to get a license from the town office.
• Agreed to ask county officials about Dumpster-like containers placed on the adjoining county beach property in mid-December.
Special meeting addresses budget differences: A special workshop meeting of the Briny Breezes Town Council was held Dec.12 to address a request from the Briny Breezes Corp. to explore unresolved excess charges from the town. In response, Town Council members presented a letter written by former Council President Larry Bray outlining the town’s increase in budgeted revenues derived from the Briny Breezes Corp. for the current fiscal year of 2008-2009. After reading all correspondence on the topic, the Town Council informed the representative of the Briny Breezes Corp. that any requests for municipal reserve funds would need to be made in advance of the annual budget process.
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By Ron Hayes
BOYNTON BEACH — On a winter's day in 1909, the Norwegian sailing ship Coquimbo ran aground on the coral reef off Boynton Beach, and refused to budge.
But come May, the spring storms at last accomplished what a steam-powered tug from Key West had failed to do. The ship's hull cracked, and a cargo of longleaf pine lumber washed ashore — and became the first Boynton Woman's Club.
The lumber, once bound for Europe, was used to build the fledgling civic organization's first clubhouse, a two-story building at the corner of Ocean Avenue and Southeast Fourth Street. That building is gone now, but a hundred years later the club still thrives.
On Jan. 25, the Boynton Woman's Club will celebrate its first century with an open house from 2 to 6 p.m. at its current clubhouse, a sturdier but no less historic building at 1010 S. Federal Highway.
"We're going to have tours of the building and light refreshments," says Lillian Ostiguy, a past president, "and an actor portraying Addison Mizner."
A gesture of gratitude, no doubt. In 1924, the famed South Florida architect agreed to design a new clubhouse and oversee its construction — for free. His only stipulation was that the building be worth $50,000.
Construction began a year later and was completed in 1926, just in time for the clubhouse to serve as a shelter during that season's hurricane. It wasn't the first, or last, contribution the club would make to the community. "Before we had buses, the women used to load the kids up in a car and take them to free dental care, or have a dentist check their teeth at school," remembers Marie Shepard, 87. "Of course, that was before everyone got so concerned with liability insurance." Shepard's family has been involved with the club as long as there's been a club. Her Aunt Alice was its president in 1912-1913; her mother, Annie, served as treasurer in the 1920s; and Marie herself was president in 1986-88.
For a civic organization with such a long and fabled pedigree, the club is remarkably egalitarian. Annual dues are only $55, and you have don't have to be a resident of Boynton Beach to join. Patricia Kropp of Ocean Ridge serves on the club's property management committee, and former Ocean Ridge Commissioner Nancy Hogan is also a member.
You don't even have to be a woman.
Boynton Beach native Harvey Oyer II became an affiliate member several years ago, but his family's involvement reaches back decades.
"When my mother and father were married in 1924," he recalls, "the bridal party was held upstairs in the old building. And the first public speech I ever made was at a Rotary Club meeting at the new club in the spring of— oh, about 1944."
The Boynton Woman's Club was born when 30 women gathered in the town's two-room schoolhouse to raise money for a community meeting hall. The Coquimbo provided the meeting hall, and those 30 women became the club. Today, the club boasts about 100 members — most over 40, they concede, and mostly retirees like Dot Neenan, who came to town 14 years ago after a teaching career in Connecticut.
"My neighbor was a member, so I came along," she says. "The club's a good way to learn about the community and the people in it. Otherwise, you're just in your own little housing development and you don't broaden out and meet other people."
Now Neenan directs the club's scholarship committee, which passes out five $1,000 scholarships each April to deserving Boynton Beach high school students.
Is she the chairman of the committee? Or the chairwoman? Like those pioneer women who started the club a century ago, Neenan is stubbornly practical. "It doesn't make any difference to me," she says with a laugh, "as long as I get my money for scholarships."
WHAT: Boynton Woman's Club centennial open house
WHEN: Sunday, Jan. 25, 2009, 2-6 p.m.
WHERE: 1010 S. Federal Highway
FOR MORE INFORMATION: (561) 369-2300
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By Hector Florin
BOYNTON BEACH — Executives of a company responsible for one of the city’s largest developments have recently held discussions with city leaders to offer ideas for the future location of government buildings and downtown redevelopment.
Mayor Jerry Taylor and City Manager Kurt Bressner met with the developers before the Dec. 16 City Commission meeting. At the meeting, Taylor brought up the subject of a company’s having an interest in finding a new location for City Hall as part of a land swap, he said in an interview. The mayor said he brought up during the meeting tying in the 1927 high school as part of any plans. “That was just me throwing out a wild thought,” Taylor said.
Taylor did not identify the company, though Vice Mayor Jose Rodriguez later confirmed it was executives with Compson Associates, which developed Renaissance Commons, the mixed-use project at Gateway Boulevard and Congress Avenue. Rodriguez said he met with Jim Comparato and Robert D’Angelo of Compson days after the commission meeting. In an interview, Rodriguez spoke of the company’s ideas for a series of property swaps, including moving a new public safety building, now proposed at Gateway and High Ridge Road, to Renaissance Commons.
The company said it could accommodate the facility at half the current $31 million price tag, according to Rodriguez.
The talks also tied into moving City Hall departments to Renaissance Commons at a later date, and allow Compson to consider building a mixed-use development at City Hall ’s current location on East Boynton Beach Boulevard.
The city would have to open up proposals to any and all persons or companies if any of these ideas are considered, Rodriguez said. “It’s very preliminary,” he added. “We have historically had tons of developers approach us with things like this. At the end of the day, some of them never step up to the plate.” Phone messages left with Comparato and D’Angelo were not returned. Taylor — who opposes spending taxpayer money to save the historic, yet rundown, high school — brought up tying its future into these discussions and the City Hall property. But Rodriguez said he proposed a commission vote that would link development talks with saving the high school, which the board supported.
The Mediterranean Revival-style building’s future has been a constant topic in recent years, with commissioners in October voting to find ways to save the structure.
Completely restoring it would cost millions of dollars, though Rodriguez said a company that submits a bid for downtown redevelopment projects could get additional consideration if renovating the school is part of the plan.
“I know it’s expensive, but we haven’t really given it the opportunity,” Rodriguez said. “I think it’s important to have a mixture of new and old in our city. It’s great architecture that we should be saving.” Rodriguez foresees civic and senior groups now spread throughout the city using the building, and perhaps even adding office space. “There won’t be a problem with usage,” he said.
Architect William Manly King designed the school, which was last occupied by students of Boynton Beach Elementary in the 1980s, according to the Boynton Beach Historical Society and city library archives.
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By Antigone Barton
MANALAPAN — When is a beach house a house on the beach?
Is a kitchen the difference between a cabana and a home?
Perhaps size really does matter, if, as one zoning commissioner asserted, “anything larger than 1,000 square feet is a house.”
Until those are decided, the difference between a dwelling and a well-equipped changing room may be as subtle as the inflection with which zoning commissioners at their December meeting said “beach house.” Preparing final recommendations for a January workshop at which the matter will be considered, commissioners focused on the underlying concerns about beach houses.
Those included what they look like from the road and other homes — invisible was said to be preferable — and whether they can serve as full-time separate residences — they’re not supposed to.
Zoning commissioners began discussion of beach-house size last spring at the request of the Town Commission. In meetings since, they have discussed a formula to determine the allowed size of a lot by multiplying the average width by the average depth, multiplying the result by 1.25 and dividing that by 30.
They also approved a plan that would allow kitchens and sleeping quarters, and would prohibit selling or renting beach houses separately from the rest of a property.
In the December zoning meeting, Commissioner G. Kent Shortz brought further suggestions to limit the height of cabanas to no more than 13 feet above the top of the road, and require them to be set back at least 35 feet from the public right of way, but both were voted down. His suggestion that the commission recommend cabanas be setback at least 20 feet from neighboring properties passed.
Commissioner George Valassis, who said that he had one of the largest lots, but a beach house so small “you can barely use it,” suggested that each property be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Commissioners will next discuss their recommendations and take public feedback at a 10 a.m., Jan. 7 workshop at Town Hall. The decision of what distinguishes a beach house from a beach home will then rest with the Town Commission.
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Delray Beach was recently honored when first lady Laura Bush, honorary chair of the Preserve America initiative, designated the city as one of the nation’s newest Preserve America Communities. Delray Beach is the first community in Palm Beach County to receive this designation.
Delray’s collaboration with the Delray Beach Historical Society on the Ethel Sterling Williams History Learning Center Project (also known as the Hunt House), qualified Delray Beach for this designation.
Preserve America is a White House initiative to encourage and support community efforts to preserve and enjoy America’s priceless cultural and natural heritage. The goals of the initiative include a greater shared knowledge about the nation’s past, strengthened regional identities and local pride, increased local participation in preserving the country’s cultural and natural heritage assets, and support for the economic vitality of our communities. Communities designated through the program receive national recognition for their efforts. Benefits include the right to use the Preserve American logo on signs and promotional materials and eligibility for Preserve America grants.
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Ocean Ridge resident Cindy Martel is the founder and organizer of the Race for Faith 5K Run & Walk. All of the profits from the race go to local charities. The first two years, the proceeds went to help the inner city kids of West Palm Beach and for the last three years, the proceeds have gone to First Priority, an organization that helps kids on public high school campuses gather to celebrate their faith.
Now in its sixth year, the race started with about 100 runners. On its fifth anniversary last year, more than 1,000 runners joined the event. In fact, the race has been so successful Cindy has been asked to start another race to benefit an AIDS hospital in the Bahamas.
Cindy was nominated to be A Coastal Star by her husband, Victor Martel. “Cindy has spent hundreds of hours organizing this race and has never taken one penny for her efforts.”Read more…
By Antigone Barton
The little white fly that arrived about six months ago is so small that a magnifying glass is recommended to properly search for it.
But since its arrival, it has stripped away barriers between public and private property, cost scores of homeowners tens of thousands of dollars apiece, and done what neither drought or native plant enthusiasts could do — made people question the value of their ficus hedges.
The whitefly, which hails from Asia, has done this by sucking dry the leaves of the ubiquitous, but also Asia-originating ficus benjamina, turning common privacy hedges into filigrees of brown branches.
“It’s hard to believe an insect could do this,” Mike Zimmerman, owner of Zimmerman Tree Service and president of Friends of Mounts Botanical Gardens. In its impact on the South Florida landscape, he added, “other than lethal yellowing I can’t think of anything that’s been as devastating as white fly. Possibly more so — it only came a few months ago.”
In that time, he and other whitefly watchers agree, it has been carried by winds — and sped on its way by Tropical Storm Fay — as well as by landscapers carrying trimmings from one town to the next, and by new plantings of bushes and trees.
As a result, Greg Rice of Hulett Pest Control said, “From waterfront homes to suburban landscapes, it’s everywhere.” Vigilance is critical, agree those who have spent recent months chasing the whitefly. They point out that the insect takes time to settle in, going through a couple of generations before defoliating a plant enough to kill it.
“People should be monitoring their hedges. Buy a little hand glass so they can look,” Zimmerman said. “Look for signs whether you treat or not treat, you’ve got to monitor, because this is a very fast-growing infestation.”
Whether a whitefly is spotted or not, he said, some property owners are opting for preventive treatment. The most proactive community, he believes, has been Palm Beach.
“They’ve nuked the place. I don’t think a white fly could survive there,” he said.
Gulf Stream began its efforts to alert residents over the summer, using its automated telephone messaging system to spread the word and the town’s September newsletter to reiterate the warning, reminding residents: “This hedge helps protect your privacy and adds to the charm of the town.”
Neighboring Briny Breezes has sacrificed several hedges to whiteflies, Rob Purcell, president of the community’s corporate board said. The town has treated surviving hedges and has used its newsletter, The Briny Bugle, as well as its closed circuit television station to ask residents to look for signs of infestation. Now, he says the hedges that were getting skimpy are coming back, in town and at the neighboring Ocean Ridge Crown Colony community.
Manalapan also used its town newsletter to publicize the parasite’s arrival, but the pest may present less of a nuisance in this town, which until recently was the only municipality to ban exotic plants. The town repealed the ordinance last spring, but some sizable properties maintain a tradition of being ficus-free.
The oceanfront estate owned by the environmentally minded Ziff family is one.
Only native plants are used on the land, property manager David Rathbun said. “It’s part of our design concept and it’s good for our environment,” he said.
The former Vanderbilt estate also seems to be ficus-free, according to its property manager, but owner Emmy Haney, who is staying at La Coquille Villas during renovations to her home, adds she has nothing against the hedge. “We have it a La Coquille and I love it.”
Still, the blight has likely taken some of the bloom from South Floridians’ affection for the ficus.
“I haven’t heard a lot of people say I’m getting rid of my ficus, it’s getting too expensive,” Zimmerman said. “I have heard a few comments — if it dies, it dies, but I’m not spending any more money.”
Still, confronted with the expense of replacing rather than treating the plants, he said, “the infestation seems likelier to turn people away from ficus in planning their landscape than to move people to tear out what they have.” Differing philosophies on treatment offer another dilemma.
While pest control companies routinely recommend treating the leaves as well as the roots of infested plants, Palm Beach County commercial extension agent Bill Schall cautions against spraying foliage.
“At least seven good insects are killing the white fly. If you spray foliage, you will kill them, too,” he said. He also points out that in some communities, hedges stand over a dozen feet tall. “You don’t want to be blasting that stuff up in the air.”
Zimmerman disagrees, saying that a root treatment can take four to six weeks to work.
“If you’ve got an infestation you’ve got to spray, because you’ve got to knock the infestation down,” he said. “You don’t have four to six weeks.”
In addition, spray can tackle the Sri Lanka weevil — an insect that “notches” the leaves of ficus, according to Paul Sugrue, technical director and staff entomologist for Nozzle Nolen.
“We’re trying to kill two birds with one stone.”
The company won’t spray higher than 8 feet, he added.
All say that while people and pets should avoid contact with the stuff used to treat roots or leaves while it’s wet, it is not considered to pose a hazard once it has dried.
The biggest harm may be economic, says Schall.
“Some communities have miles of ficus — in a community with five miles of ficus each round of treatment can cost from $10,000 to $20,000,” he said. For that reason the future of the ficus may be tied to the future of the whitefly, he said.
“A lot of these communities are attached to ficus benjamina. It was an easy-to-maintain shrub. Now, all of a sudden, it’s a hard-to-maintain shrub.”
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What’s not to love about fresh baked goods, vine-grown fruits and veggies, and fresh-cut flowers? And what could be better on a sunny, winter Saturday than strolling outdoors, searching booth-to-booth for the freshest foods for the busy week ahead? A weekend tour through our three nearby Green Markets showed each with its own personality and array of unique products. Here’s a quick guide. Enjoy!
Oceanside Farmer’s Market
Saturdays, 8 am - 1 pm
Lake Worth Beach (A1A and Lake Avenue)
547-3100
Things We Love: Organics rule at this market in the parking lot: everything from all-natural breads to Costa Rican shade-grown coffee. Most of the plants and vegetables come from Loxahatchee farms, and the organizers brag about a list of additional vendors coming in the near future. There are promises of Heirloom tomatoes and goat cheese pies. Yum.
Things We Don’t Love: There’s no shade at this location, so on a warm day go early, before the pavement begins to heat up. There was at least one pet treat vendor, but there’s nothing in the immediate vicinity to keep kids occupied. Still, parking is plentiful and the booths are stroller friendly.
Special Treats: The conch salad from the Sisters in the Pot booth is the best in the area. Get some to go.
Ocean Avenue Green Market
Saturdays, 8 am - 1 pm
The Schoolhouse Children’s Museum
129 E. Ocean Ave., Boynton Beach
753-8598
Things We Love: Most of the vendors at this market participate in the Community Caring Center’s GreenMarket Café Co-op. This unique business incubator helps individuals develop a business from their culinary skills. As a result, plan on being at this Green Market for lunch. There’s everything from spicy Caribbean chicken to crab cakes to pulled pork sandwiches — all of it mingling to provide a wonderful aroma while you stroll the craft tents. Other positives are the proximity to the Schoolhouse Children’s Museum playground, and the shaded venue.
Things We Don’t Love: Although there is at least one booth with organic vegetables grown west of Boynton, there’s really not much produce here. And, parking may be hard to find — until you learn to steer behind the Civic Center or park in the library lot.
Special Treats: The day we dropped by, the light acoustic duo of Jim Kolvalcik on flute and Vinnie Monaco on keyboard was excellent and provided a perfect backdrop for a Saturday morning stroll.
Delray Beach GreenMarket in the Park(ing lot)
Saturdays, 8 am - 1 pm
East of Old School Square in the Pineapple Grove Arts District
276-7511
Things We Love: Like Lake Worth to the north, there are plenty of vegetables at this market, and most of the produce is grown locally. Other favorites items include fresh pasta by the pound, homemade all-natural guacamole and Hungarian cinnamon rolls.
There’s good space for maneuvering baby strollers, and the adjacent lawn of Old School Square provides some running space for restless young ones. There seemed to be plenty of parking available on the street and in nearby public parking lots — even with this particular parking lot now taken for booths. With the downtown location, many customers just swing through on foot at the end of their morning walk or run.
Things We Don’t Love: The move way from the market’s previous home in Worthing Park along Atlantic Avenue (and into to the parking lot one block north), opened up space between vendors, but stole some of the charm. There are a couple of trees in the area, but the parking lot can get pretty toasty on a sunny day. The first weekend of the relocation, there seemed to be fewer vendors and customers, but the all favorites were still there doing a brisk business.
Special Treats: Cut flowers. Don’t head home from your morning of Green Market shopping without stopping into the Amazing Creations booth and picking up a $7 bouquet of fresh roses mixed with seasonal blooms. They will keep your Green Market stroll memories lingering until the next sunny Saturday rolls around.
-- Mary Kate Leming
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OCEAN RIDGE — When residents of the Ocean Ridge Yacht Club needed advice on insurance, Mickey Metras was the man to ask.
A retired insurance agent from South Hadley, Mass., Michael W. Metras died Nov. 1. He was 66, and had been a resident of the community for 11 years.
"He was just so generous with his time and helped us with all our insurance concerns," said Mya Breman, a friend and neighbor. "He saved us all a lot of money and was just a wonderful guy." In Massachusetts, where he was the owner of the Metras Insurance Agency for 17 years, Mr. Metras was a member of the local Elks Lodge and the Knights of Columbus.
He was also very active in local politics and brought his experience to his local homeowners association after retirement.
"He was a political genius," said Barbara Tuck, also a neighbor and friend. "When we were on the other side of things, which we were many times, Mickey would say, 'This will win, that won't.' I loved him with all my heart, and he's very missed."
Mr. Metras is survived by his wife of 29 years, Debra A.; five daughters, Katherine, Debra, Sheri, Kimberly and Laura; two grandchildren, Kaila and Ricky Ferrierra; and his mother, Nora Metras.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Hospice of Palm Beach County, 5300 East Ave., West Palm Beach, FL 33407.
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By Ron Hayes
DELRAY BEACH — Russell “R.C.” Croft, who led the city’s Police Department for more than 30 years, died Nov. 14 in High Springs after a brief illness. He was 93.
“He drove until three weeks before his death,” said his son, Kenneth. “He was out of good stock.” Mr. Croft was also out of pioneer stock. His uncle, Will Croft, was appointed the town’s first marshal in 1911 and became its first police chief when the separate towns of Delray Beach and Delray were incorporated in 1927. His father, Lucius Leroy Croft, was a mayor and councilman. A brother, Victor, was its fire chief.
Known to all as “R.C.,” Mr. Croft was born in McAlpin, Fla. He moved to Delray Beach in 1936 after his marriage, became the chief of police in 1941 and served until his retirement in 1972. He moved to High Springs in the early 1990s.
Donald C. Michael, who retired in 1976 as the city’s chief of detectives, was the ninth man on the force when Chief Croft hired him in 1954. They served together for 18 years, until Mr. Croft’s retirement. “He was a good man, and I enjoyed working for him,” said Michael. “He had a hunting camp out in the Corbett Wildlife preserve and we’d go hunting deer and hogs together. I never had any difficulty with him because I knew he was the boss and I respected him.”
Mr. Croft was the police chief in the spring of 1956, when the burgeoning civil rights movement came to Delray Beach.
On May 20, about 35 black residents arrived at the municipal beach to stage a Sunday “wade-in” protesting segregation. With nearly 100 white citizens standing by and more protesters arriving, Chief Croft ordered the beach closed to both blacks and whites to avoid violence.
A week later, blacks again descended on the beach, whites followed, and Croft’s officers confiscated guns, hatchets, machetes and other weapons. By the early 1960s, however, the beach had been integrated.
“He was a very caring man and the finest father anybody could ever have,” his son said. “He brought me up the old-school way. If I got out of line, he took care of it — and I didn’t get out of line too often.”
In addition to his son, Mr. Croft is survived by a daughter, Bettye Goskowski, of Fort White; a brother, George, of Winder, Ga.; five grandchildren and eight great grandchildren. His wife, Mayme, and a son, Dennis, preceded him in death.
A funeral service was held Nov. 19 in High Springs, followed by a Masonic graveside service at Fort White Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Masonic Home of Florida, 3201 First St. NE, St. Petersburg, FL 33704.
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MANALAPAN — Albert C. Ebert's family have long told the story of his very first business venture.
With the Great Depression still gripping America, the 3-year-old entrepreneur used to dig up clumps of grass from the neighbors' lawns in his native Chicago, transport them to the next block in his wagon, and sell them.
A resident of Manalapan for 23 years, Mr. Ebert died Nov. 20. He was 76, and a man whose early knack for business only grew with time.
"He was a sharp businessman," recalled his sister-in-law, Linda Rawls, of Boynton Beach. "He bought his first property when he was 13."
At 18, Mr. Ebert opened his first real estate office, which employed more than 40 representatives. Over the next 50 years, Albert C. Ebert & Associates became well-known in major commercial property development in downtown Chicago, buying, building, remodeling and selling more than a thousand properties in the city's Lakeview, Northwest and Loop areas.
"But he always found time to have a good time," Rawls said. "He had an incredible joy in life. He loved to have fun, and when you were around him, you had fun, too."
Mr. Ebert is also remembered for his many social and philanthropic interests. Locally, he served on the board of governors of Palm Beach Opera and was a member of the International Society of Palm Beach and of Club Colette, a Palm Beach social club.
He was also a Grand Benefactor of Leaders In Furthering Education (LIFE), a sister organization of the Lois Pope Life Foundation.
In Chicago, Mr. Ebert was an "Old Guard" member of the Chicago Yacht Club, as well as a sustaining member of the Los Angeles Opera and a benefactor of the Thalians Mental Health Clinic at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles. Mr. Ebert is survived by his wife of 40 years, Terry L.; another sister-in-law, Chris Armstrong, of Toronto; five nieces, and many great nieces and nephews.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial donations be made to a charity.
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By Ron Hayes
DELRAY BEACH — The land was worthless, after all.
No roads, no houses, impractical for farming.
Plagued by mosquitoes and cut off from the mainland.
Nothing but sand and bugs.
And so, in 1899, three women donated a mile of beachfront property to the public. Maybe they were civic minded. Maybe they just wanted to rid themselves of some desolate dunes. But on Oct. 29, about 75 people gathered on South Ocean Boulevard across from Bay Street to dedicate a marker honoring Sarah Gleason, Belle G. Dimick Reese and Ella M. Dimick Potter.
Their worthless land is the Delray Municipal Beach now, and priceless.
“It’s worth about $300 million at current value,” estimates Robert Ganger, president of the Delray Beach Historical Society, which also honored a much more recent gift to the city that day.
From his home, Robert Neff, a visitor since the 1920s and a resident for more than 35 years, can see the coquina-and-bronze marker he and his family donated to honor those other, long-gone philanthropists.
“Mr. Neff's gift allows us to tell the story of how, for over a hundred years, people have been able to enjoy this beach unfettered,” Ganger said.
And it’s quite a story.
In 1895, Sarah Gleason and her husband’s business partner, William H. Hunt, sold a parcel of land to William S. Linton for about $10 an acre. A U.S. congressman from Michigan, Linton was hoping to develop a town called Linton. When Linton defaulted, the property reverted to Mrs. Gleason, along with Reese and Potter, the heirs of her husband’s partner, Hunt. And three years later, the women deeded it to the town.
“I choose to believe that our pioneer families knew that someday the beach would be a magnet for future generations to enjoy,” Ganger told the gathering. When the town received the ladies’ gift, the only building in sight was the Orange Grove House of Refuge, north of Atlantic Avenue. In May 1876, Capt. Hannibal Dillingham Pierce became its first keeper, and at the recent ceremony, his great-great grandson, Harvey Oyer III, praised the benefactresses as pioneer royalty. “There really are not bigger names in the history of our area than Gleason, Hunt, Dimick and Potter,” said Oyer, chairman of the board of the Historical Society of Palm Beach County. “These were the folks who, with little support or means, built the infrastructure and the communities we take for granted today.”
Sarah Gleason was the wife of William Gleason, a carpetbagger as colorful as he was corrupt. Moving to Florida after the Civil War, Gleason was appointed lieutenant governor in 1868, then tried to overthrow Gov. Harrison Reed by instigating bogus impeachment proceedings. When the state Supreme Court ruled against him, Gleason was removed from office, settled below what is now Miami and started buying property from modern-day Brevard County south.
He was so unpopular, Oyer said, that much of the land was held in his wife’s name.
When Gleason’s partner, William Hunt, died in 1882, followed by his only surviving child in 1892, his interest in the beach was passed to his heirs. Belle Dimick Reese was the daughter of Cap Dimick, the first mayor of Palm Beach and the founder of its first bank, a state senator and the man who built the middle bridge across the Intracoastal Waterway in West Palm Beach.
Her first cousin was Ella Dimick Potter, who married George Potter, a mayor of West Palm Beach and the co-founder, with George Lainhart, of the Lainhart & Potter Lumber Co., still in business today.
“Delray Beach is a role model for progressive and inclusive growth and economic development, while simultaneously weaving its history into its future,” Oyer told the crowd. “You are demonstrating the same long-term vision that Mrs. Gleason, Mrs. Reese and Mrs. Potter demonstrated some 109 years ago.”
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By Antigone Barton
OCEAN RIDGE — The scruffy oceanfront patch of land near the town’s southern border stands as proof that one governing entity’s trash can be another’s treasure.
Left fallow by current owner Palm Beach County, the spot could serve as the model of a well-tended dune, according to town officials who in their October meeting voted to ask the county for the land.
The request came after the Ocean Ridge Garden Club indicated an interest in planting the land with dune-friendly foliage that would make it a model for residents seeking to beautify and preserve their strips of coastal property, Town Manager Ken Schenk said.
The county regularly gives land parcels that it owns but that lie within town borders to those towns, according to Ross Hering, who heads the county’s Property and Real Estate Management division.
“You have to look at each piece,” Hering said. “Does it make sense for the municipality to manage it, or does it serve a broader function for the county?”
The county got the land opposite 5004 Old Ocean Blvd. in 2002, when a property owner facing a code enforcement action over a too-tall Australian pine deeded the parcel to the county to use as part of its Shoreline Protection Plan.
Usually land falls into county hands from tax-debt foreclosures and usually from areas further west, Hering said.
“More depressed areas yield more properties,” he said.
While dunes facing the sunrise at the foot of town cannot be called “depressed, ” the parcel under consideration “is a mess,” Commissioner Betty Bingham said.
Bingham, who also is a Garden Club member, said that after the club plants the dune, it would require maintenance only to remove invasive plants dropped off by migrating birds.
“Basically, the dune should run itself,” she said.
The county’s response could take a month or more, Bingham projected.
“If they’re going to use it for purposes that are consistent with restoration of the dune, that’s a county-wide interest,” Hering said. “We support those interests.”
He could not yet comment on the specific request, he said.
At the same time the town requested two strips of land on either side of the entrance to the Ridge Harbour Estates neighborhood. That land fell into county hands as a result of a tax foreclosure against a developer.
Not currently maintained by the county, the spot would be “a perfect spot to do landscaping,” Commissioner Terry Brown said.
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By Hector Florin
Mayor Rita Ellis announced that she will not be seeking re-election in March, citing another round of reconstructive surgery to heal her right foot injured at a city event in April. Ellis was elected to the commission in 2005 and won the mayoral seat in 2007. "This has been a most humbling experience that I will cherish as long as I live," she said.
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Delray Beach commissioners agreed on Nov. 18 to install cameras at city traffic lights with the purpose of catching red-light runners. Penalties will cost drivers $125, but no points on a driver’s license. Neither the date nor the locations where the cameras will be installed has been set.
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By Hector Florin
Commissioners agreed on Nov. 18 to allow the Delray Beach Yacht Club building to reopen. Closed in February 2006, the club’s location on MacFarlane Drive east of the Intracoastal Waterway has been eyed for redevelopment, which has since stalled.
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By Hector Florin
The six-year saga over the tree house on the property of the historic Fontaine Fox home on North Ocean Boulevard might finally be over. Property owner and mansion builder Frank McKinney said he will move the tree house out of the Fox home’s sightline after city commissioners on Nov. 3 unanimously agreed the tree house didn’t conform to city guidelines. “We are going to concede the request to move the tree house,” McKinney said, and place it out of the way of the 1936 Cape Cod-style cottage built for cartoon artist Fox by legendary architect John Volk. The city deemed the Fox home a historic structure in 1989. McKinney built the 220-square-foot tree house in 2001, before it received necessary approvals. Eventually, a 2002 tie vote by the City Commission resulted in a lawsuit filed by McKinney against the city. The tree house violates city rules that prohibit a historic structure from being blocked. Charities and nonprofits have used the tree house for fundraising and other events. McKinney said he could present renderings of the tree house’s new location as soon as this month before the city’s Historic Preservation Board.
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By Hector Florin
The Delray Beach Marriott plans to expand its 271-room hotel with 36 additional suites in two new buildings, as well as add space for shops and a new kitchen for banquets, and expand its restaurant space and pool deck. City commissioners on Nov. 3 approved three development waivers associated with the revamp of the hotel on State Road A1A and East Atlantic Avenue. Two of the waivers allowed for visibility to be reduced for the exit and entrance ramp into the hotel’s parking garage. “I think this is a huge mistake,” resident Kevin Warner said at the meeting, citing concerns of cyclists, pedestrians and drivers trying to cross in front of the garage. “It’s just unsafe.” Nine cabana suites will be part of new two-story addition, a plan that required a third waiver because the building won’t meet minimum 25-foot-high standards. Another 27 suites will be built in a new four-story building that will front Atlantic Avenue. The four-story addition will also include shops. Commissioners unanimously approved the development waivers, with Commissioner Gary Eliopoulos abstaining because he is the project’s architect.
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