Anne Asbury, Dee Caleeca, Carolyn Bethmann and Millie Stina, l-r, were ready to satisfy every sweet tooth with their baked goods at the Gourmet Table at 2024’s bazaar. Photo provided

The 2025 Christmas Bazaar sponsored by the Ascension Council of Catholic Women takes place 4-7 p.m. Nov. 7 and 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Nov. 8 in the Ascension Catholic Church Family Center at 7250 N. Federal Highway, Boca Raton. The event includes more than 25 vendors, raffle baskets, jewelry and fashion, new clothing, Christmas items, a gourmet table and a cafe with food. The proceeds benefit the parish and local charities. 561-997-5486; ascensionboca.org

Wycliffe Gordon’s Jazz Christmas at St. Gregory’s

Celebrate the magic of a New Orleans Jazz Christmas with an evening of world-class jazz, gourmet dining and festive fellowship at 5 p.m. Dec. 6 at St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church, 100 NE Mizner Blvd., Boca Raton. 

The gala begins with a champagne reception followed by a three-course dinner, plus dancing and silent and live auctions. But the highlight is the legendary trombonist Wycliffe Gordon in his only South Florida concert this season. The virtuoso will be accompanied by the jazz trio La Lucha. 

Tickets are $75 for the concert, $75 for the dinner and silent auction, and $135 to attend both the concert and the dinner. Seats at Wycliffe’s dinner table are $500. Call 561-395-8285.

Boca Symphonia to feature music of Mozart, Poulenc 

The Boca Symphonia, South Florida’s premier chamber orchestra, returns to St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church under the baton of Alastair Willis for its opening concert of the season, featuring the music of Mozart and Poulenc, at 3 p.m. Nov. 23. The church’s Tim Brumfield will join the Symphonia to perform the Organ Concerto in G minor by French composer Francis Poulenc. St. Gregory’s is at 100 NE Mizner Blvd., Boca Raton. Tickets start at $58, or $10 for students at the box office only. Get tickets at thesymphonia.org/attend/calendar/mozart-and-tim.

St. Paul’s Episcopal hosting Delray String Quartet

The Delray String Quartet, St. Paul’s Artists in Residence, will perform at 3 p.m. Nov. 23 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 188 S. Swinton Ave., Delray Beach. Concerts are also planned for Jan. 4, Feb. 4, May 3 and May 24. Tickets are available at delraystringquartet.com/concerts.

Advent Choral Evensong to be led by the choir 

St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church will feature an Advent Choral Evensong led by the choir at 6 p.m. Nov. 30. This musical version of evening prayer in the Anglican tradition is free. St. Gregory’s is at 100 NE Mizner Blvd., Boca Raton. 561-395-8285; stgregorysepiscopal.org

St. Lucy Catholic Church to host Mass of Remembrance 

St. Lucy Catholic Church will hold a Mass of Remembrance at 6 p.m. Nov. 3 at the church, 3510 S. Ocean Blvd., Highland Beach. The Mass will feature a candle lighting for the deceased. All are welcome to submit a photo or two for a memory board that will be displayed at the entrance of the church for the Mass and for the month of November. Bring your photos to the parish office to be included. Call 561-278-1280 for more information.

Knights of Columbus event to honor all who served

The Knights of Columbus Assembly 3092 hosts a Veterans Appreciation Dinner and Dance at 6 p.m. Nov. 8 at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, O’Shea Hall, 22094 Lyons Road, Boca Raton. A Mass precedes the dinner at 4 p.m. Cocktails will be served 5:30 to 6 followed by dinner, music and dancing. Tickets are $35. Veterans are admitted free with reservations. Sponsor a Veterans Table for $350. Call 718-200-3836 or email Sir-Joseph@outlook.com or register online at bocaratonassembly3092.com/event/veterans-dinner-dance-2.

St. Lucy’s Horgan to lead flag retirement ceremony

Father Brian Horgan will lead an official “Flag Retirement Service and Ceremony” at 11 a.m. Nov. 9 at St. Lucy Catholic Church, 3510 S. Ocean Blvd., Highland Beach. Sometimes called a Ceremony for Disposal of Unserviceable Flags or  Ceremony of Final Tribute, this solemn event includes refreshments after the service. Anyone with an old/worn/used flag is asked to bring it to the event. If you can’t attend you can drop your flag off at the rectory office from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. Questions? Call the church at 561-278-1280.

B’nai Torah Congregation set to host Mitzvah Day 

B’nai Torah Congregation hosts Mitzvah Day from 9 a.m. to noon Nov. 16 at 6261 SW 18th St., Boca Raton. This powerful morning of service offers activities for all ages. 

Tasks such as blood drives, making sandwiches and assembling care packages are designed to support underserved youth, veterans, people who are hungry or homeless, and those with special needs. For more info or to sign up, contact Summer Faerman at summer.faerman@bnai-torah.org or call 561-392-8566.

Blessing Tree to be held at Spanish River Church

Spanish River Church, 2400 Yamato Road, Boca Raton, is hosting The Blessing Tree again this year from Nov. 16 to Nov. 30. The Blessing Tree is designed to give hope and joy this Christmas to people who might otherwise miss out.

The three ways to participate are: Choose an ornament from the tree in person in the Worship Center Lobby on Nov. 16 and 23; choose your ornament online then shop and drop off, or purchase gifts and have them shipped directly through Amazon by Nov. 25.

 Gift drop-off dates are Nov. 23 and 30 in the Worship Center Lobby, or Nov. 17 to Nov. 28 (except Nov. 27, Thanksgiving Day) from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the church office. For more information, call 561-994-5000 or visit spanishriver.com/blessing-tree.

Noted rabbi and author to speak at B’nai Torah

Angela Buchdahl, senior rabbi of the Central Synagogue in New York City and author of the new book, Heart of a Stranger, speaks at Shabbat services at 5:45 p.m. Nov. 22 at B’nai Torah Congregation, 6261 SW 18th St., Boca Raton. The Scholar-in-Residence shares her journey from outsider to senior rabbi of one of the world’s largest congregations. 

Born in Korea to a Jewish American father and a Korean Buddhist mother, she is the first Asian American to be ordained as a rabbi in North America. Her book is available to purchase for $20. 

The program is part of B’nai Torah’s 2025-2026 author series. Registration is required online at btcboca.org/event/author-series-rabbi-angela-buchdahl, or call 561-392-8566. 

Interfaith vigil held in solidarity with immigrants  

More than 175 clergy representing Jewish, Muslim, Christian and other faith communities, as well as lay leaders and community members, stood together in solidarity for the fair and humane treatment of immigrants at the Interfaith Vigil — Supporting the Immigrants Among Us, held Sept. 10 at St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church in Boca Raton. 

Hosted by the Boca Raton Interfaith Clergy Association, the event featured prayer, reflection and public witness capped by the group leaders’ message: “As leaders of faith, we stand together in witness of the challenging, sometimes heart-wrenching realities that immigrants and refugees in our communities are facing. Each of our spiritual traditions teach the moral obligation that we have towards those whose lives have prompted them to sojourn from the land of their birth to seek out opportunities for safety, security and prosperity. … We come together to express our collective concern.”

For the past 20 years, led by Father Andrew Sherman of St. Gregory’s and Rabbi Emeritus David Steinhardt of Congregation B’nai Torah, the BRICA has brought Boca Raton’s religious leaders together to deepen relationships and understanding among the traditions and to find ways to work together to serve the community. 

— Janis Fontaine

Robin Eisenberg and Judy Gordon show off their wish lists of gifts for people in need. Gordon is one of the original Giving Tree leaders, and Eisenberg is a longtime volunteer and previous education director at Temple Beth El. Photos provided

By Janis Fontaine

More than 35 years ago, Myra Singer, a rabbi’s wife, heard about a family in Boca Raton who had no money to celebrate Christmas and she decided to do something about it.

She rallied her friends, neighbors and local business owners, and using her garage as ground zero, bought and wrapped gifts, then packed them up with a holiday feast and delivered the bounty to the family on Christmas Eve. 

Today, volunteers from Temple Beth El still work tirelessly each year to support her charity, the Giving Tree — Inspired by the Legacy of Myra Singer. What started in one neighborhood now has a brigade of volunteers working together to deliver about 10,000 hand-wrapped presents to 1,500-2,000 residents, from infants to seniors, all over the city. 

Legacy of a Jewish mother

In 2005, Singer told writer Sandi Altner that the Giving Tree was born in response to a clear need: to make Christmas joyous for families who were having a tough time making ends meet. It’s still true. 

Singer was inspired, she said, by the Jewish value of Tikkun Olam, a tenet that implores us to “repair the world,” and Singer said that her small acts could do just that. She felt blessed that as she and her congregants were lighting their Hanukkah candles, hundreds of children were opening Christmas gifts. If a Jewish congregation fulfilling the holiday wishes of Christian children seems strange, she told Altner, it misses the bigger picture: “We’re fulfilling these wishes not because these people are part of our synagogue but because they are part of our community.”

Singer died in 2022, but in May, Rabbi Emeritus Merle Singer, Myra’s husband, wrote in a post in remembrance of his wife: “She lived to help uplift others, and through that she became the guiding hand that supported all of us. Her influence was not just in our family, but was spread wide throughout our Temple Beth El community and the further community of Boca Raton in the many ways she found to help alleviate suffering and to encourage others.”

He said she made him a better rabbi. 

The Giving Tree at the temple.

Not a toy drive

What makes the Giving Tree unusual is that it’s not an anonymous toy drive but an intimate interaction between a particular child and an individual benefactor. Each wish list leaf is a personal request: a real person’s wish. Through its tried and true system, the charity plans to fulfill 2,000 holiday wish lists, each with multiple specific gifts, in 2025. That means those children, teens and seniors will open exactly what they wished for. 

Clients are referred through a vast network of nonprofits that includes Best Foot Forward, Brothers Helping Brothers, Caridad Center, Dixie Manor, Moon of Hope and Vita Nova, as well as schools, police, religious organizations and others who serve local low-income and homeless populations.

“The social service agency caseworker asks what they would like, and we make that happen,” Giving Tree co-president Lauren Gross said. In addition to the gifts, kids get necessities such as clothes and shoes in the right sizes. 

Gross got involved with the Giving Tree almost four years ago. When Myra Singer died in 2022, a search for new leadership tapped Gross and Jennie Kreger to serve as co-presidents. Both had previous leadership experience at Temple Beth El. Now they coordinate 30 core volunteers and hundreds of others who help out at peak times, like showing up to wrap gifts every year. 

Over the years, the program has expanded to serve people of all ages and religions, Gross said. Seniors at the Menorah House and Jewish Family Services are gifted with blankets and fuzzy socks, the two most popular requests. 

“Last year we did a jogger set,” Gross said. “We ask the senior centers what is most needed, and blankets and socks are always on the list.”

The spirit of giving drives her as it did Singer, Gross said.

“The real meaning of Tikkun Olam is to repair the world, and we just keep chipping away at it, one little act at time. It all comes down to that core Jewish value. Everyone is a human. Everyone deserves to feel respected, honored and worthy,” she said. 

Gross believes the Giving Tree does that. 

“The feeling we get when we hear back from the caseworker makes it worth it,” Gross said. “For me, it’s about making one small difference in someone’s life, then doing that as many times as possible. My grandmother was very philanthropic and I got that gene from her.”  

There are two other branches on the Giving Tree. The Quiet Giving portion of the charity operates year-round assisting as many as 400 families in dire straits with emergency needs annually. The Back to School Program provides backpacks full of school essentials to about 500 local students each year. But the Holiday Program is the biggest.

How it works

The process is simple. The Giving Tree has a website, so you can pick a leaf online or from the tree in the lobby at either Temple Beth El campus. 

Then, you shop. Don’t wrap. Drop off your gifts at Temple Beth El or email thegivingtreeboca@gmail.com to learn an alternate drop-off location and hours. 

Gross says that as gifts come back, they’re checked for accuracy to be sure they match the wish list, then sent on to gift wrapping. Once a Giving Tree captain is certain her batch of gifts is complete, the nonprofits pick up the gifts for distribution. 

The only exception is Dixie Manor. 

“We deliver the gifts to them each year because that’s where it started,” Gross said. 

It takes tremendous coordination, but every wish is eventually filled. If someone takes a leaf and doesn’t fulfill the wish, Gross says there’s a plan for that. 

Just like Santa, Gross said, “We will never let someone go without.” 

Janis Fontaine writes about people of faith, their congregations, causes and community events. Contact her at fontaine423@outlook.com.

How to help

Choose a leaf in person at Temple Beth El’s Schaefer Campus at 333 SW Fourth Ave., Boca Raton, or the Beck Campus at 9800 Yamato Road, Boca Raton, or pick one online at thegivingtreeboca.org/2025-holiday-wish-lists/ beginning Nov. 1. 

Fill the requests on your leaves and drop your gifts off at either temple campus by Dec. 1. You can also leave them at an alternate Giving Tree site. Email thegivingtreeboca@gmail.com for that location and for drop-off hours. 

For more info: Call 561-391-8900 or email Susan Stallone, the director of social justice at Temple Beth El, at SStallone@tbeboca.org. 

Other ways to help: 

If you can’t fulfill a wish list but want to help, gift cards to Walmart, Target, Amazon or Visa/Amex are welcomed, as are donations for supplies such as wrapping paper and tape. Volunteers and corporate partners are always needed.

Neurologist Dr. James E. Galvin, founding director of the Comprehensive Center for Brain Health in Boca Raton, will be among the speakers Nov. 19 at the Alzheimer’s conference in Boca. Galvin made lifestyle changes in weight, diet and exercise to mitigate his own Alzheimer’s risks. Photo provided

By Jan Engoren

Amid rising rates of dementia, the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America is sponsoring a free educational conference open to the public on Nov. 19 in Boca Raton that will offer expert insights into brain health, caregiving strategies and the latest research on the subject.

The event is for caregivers, health care professionals and anyone else concerned about brain health. It is being held at the Boca Raton Marriott at Boca Center.

Among the featured speakers at the Alzheimer’s & Caregiving Conference is James E. Galvin, professor of neurology, psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, who emphasizes a proactive approach to keeping your brain in top condition.

“You can take control of your brain health,” Galvin says.

A growing concern

An estimated 7.2 million Americans age 65 and older live with Alzheimer’s dementia — the most common type of dementia today, according to Alzheimer’s Foundation figures. 

This number could grow to 13.8 million by 2060, barring the development of medical breakthroughs to prevent or cure Alzheimer’s dementia.

The impact is felt locally as well.

In Palm Beach County, according to 2024 statistics provided by the Florida Department of Health, approximately 12.5% of the population, or almost 50,000 individuals, has “probable” cases of the disease.

Conference organizers hope to spread information that can make a difference in the lives of people experiencing Alzheimer’s — and offer tips for anyone else to reduce their risk of getting the disease.

“Knowledge is a useful and powerful tool that can make any situation easier to navigate, especially something as challenging as caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s disease,” Charles J. Fuschillo Jr., president of the nonprofit Alzheimer’s Foundation, says in a news release.

While there’s no cure for Alzheimer’s, experts stress that it’s not an inevitable part of aging — and many risk factors are within our control.

Besides age, other risk factors for developing the disease include family history, genetics and head injuries. Women are more predisposed to the disease than are men.

Conference topics

A pair of conference speakers will discuss strategies to help interpret and address the behaviors of someone who has Alzheimer’s disease. Karen L. Gilbert is with Alzheimer’s Community Care in West Palm Beach and Blake Davis provides Alzheimer’s-related training for area sheriff’s offices.

Gilbert and Davis will talk about how behaviors can serve as communication and how caregivers can respond to challenging situations.

Jeremy Koppel, co-director of Northwell’s Litwin-Zucker Research Center in Manhasset, New York, will address the basics of clinical trials, how people can participate in them and factors to consider before deciding to enroll.

This year, for instance, several new drugs targeting beta-amyloid plaque in the brain have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. 

Clinical trials are ongoing to explore ways to reduce both beta-amyloid and tau tangles, which are proteins associated with Alzheimer’s. 

Other current trials look to decrease brain cell inflammation, investigate how insulin may affect brain function, and better understand the connection between cardiovascular health and brain health.

Galvin, 61, who works out of the Comprehensive Center for Brain Health based in Boca Raton, practices what he preaches regarding how to build a better and healthier brain.

Tips for changing

His message goes beyond the conference — it’s written into his daily routine to improve his own health. 

He lost 70 pounds, changed his approach to food, began exercising every morning — one hour of high intensity interval training — and lifting weights twice a week with a personal trainer. Every weekend, he does a 5-mile walk on the beach.

Never a smoker and once a social drinker, Galvin has eliminated alcohol completely. 

His transformation embodies the principles he advocates.

“You can’t tell people how to change if you haven’t changed yourself,” Galvin says. “Except for your age, sex or genes, almost all other risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease are modifiable or preventable.”

He notes that 45% of Alzheimer’s disease risk factors are modifiable.

Different factors can be modified at different stages of life:

• In our early years, a higher education is correlated with a lower risk factor.

• In midlife, modifiable factors include smoking, air pollution, high blood pressure or cholesterol, diabetes and social isolation. 

• Later in life, vision or hearing loss can be risk factors.

“There is a cumulative effect of things we can do to mitigate our risk for Alzheimer’s disease,” Galvin says. “Stop smoking, eat healthy and exercise. Cumulatively, setting these intentions can make a big difference in our lives.”

In order to “build a better brain,” Galvin talks about the twin peaks of “risk” and “resilience.”

To decrease risk factors, Galvin suggests watching your weight, staying active, treating diseases such as depression, and reducing vascular risk factors such as cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugars.

To improve resilience, Galvin recommends:

• Being engaged in lifelong learning, 

• Staying physically and cognitively active (he just learned to play mahjong), 

•  Doing artsy activities, such as reading, listening to music or joining a book club, 

•  Following the “mind diet,” a Mediterranean-style diet rich in leafy greens, berries and whole grains,

•  Staying socially engaged and practicing mindfulness.

“This is an exciting time in Alzheimer’s disease research,” says Galvin. “There’s abundant evidence these lifestyle choices have protective elements.”

He suggests making a resolution to change your lifestyle behaviors and then, like the ad says, “Just do it.”

“We have some control over these risk factors,” he says. “Lifestyle changes can make a significant impact on our health and quality of life.”

His message to his patients and conference-goers is: “It’s never too early and it’s never too late, but it’s better to be too early than to be too late.”

Jan Engoren writes about health and healthy living. Send column ideas to jengoren@hotmail.com.

Learn about Alzheimer’s

What: Educating America Tour: Alzheimer’s & Caregiving Conference

When: 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Nov. 19 (doors open at 9 a.m. for breakfast, registration and networking) 

Where: Boca Raton Marriott at Boca Center, 5150 Town Center Circle, Boca Raton

Cost: Free

Registration: Visit alzfdn.org and look for the link at the top of the home page.

Sponsor: Alzheimer’s Foundation of America (AFA)

About AFA: The AFA is a nonprofit organization that provides support, services and education to individuals, families and caregivers affected by Alzheimer’s and related dementias. It also funds research for treatment and a cure.

Help for Alzheimer’s: If you cannot participate in the conference but have questions about Alzheimer’s disease, connect with licensed social workers seven days a week through AFA’s helpline at 866-232-8484, text 646-586-5283, or chat online at alzfdn.org.

Dr. Michael M. Halista, an interventional and structural cardiologist, has joined the Palm Beach Health Network Physician Group. 

On staff at Delray Medical Center and West Boca Medical Center, Halista specializes in treating heart conditions using minimally invasive methods. He is certified in four areas:
internal medicine, cardiovascular disease, interventional cardiology and vascular interpretation. 

His work mainly focuses on using catheters for treatments, including transcatheter aortic valve replacement, repairing and replacing mitral and tricuspid valves, closing the left atrial appendage, percutaneous coronary intervention and complex coronary interventions. 

He has also published research in several cardiovascular journals and has shared his findings nationally at meetings, including those held by the American College of Cardiology and the Heart Failure Society of America. 

Halista earned his medical degree from Columbia University after obtaining his undergraduate degree at Emory University. 

He completed his residency in internal medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City and then specialized further at New York University, where he was a chief fellow. 

Later, he had a specialized fellowship in structural health care at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill before joining the South Florida Heart Institute team at Delray Medical Center. 

His office locations are 5352 Linton Blvd., Suite 100, Delray Beach; 5035 Via Delray, Delray Beach; and 9980 N. Central Park Blvd., Suite 304, Boca Raton. The phone number is 561-498-2249.

Boca Regional Hospital adds second MammoVan

Boca Raton Regional Hospital, part of Baptist Health, hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony to reveal its second Kathryn Krickstein Pressel MammoVan at Christine E. Lynn Women’s Health & Wellness Institute in Boca Raton in September. 

MammoVans travel throughout South Florida to help more people access early breast cancer detection and to provide education on breast health. Each van includes special exam suites that are equipped with 3D mammography technology. The new MammoVan is made possible by donations from the Morgan Pressel Foundation and members of St. Andrews Country Club.

Golf tournament aids Huntington’s patients

The Florida Chapter of the Huntington’s Disease Society of America hosted its 2025 Hope for Huntington’s golf tournament in September at Palm Beach National Golf Club. All proceeds supported the society’s mission to improve the lives of people affected by Huntington’s disease, which causes nerve cells in the brain to decay. To learn more about the disease, visit hdsa.org or call 800-345-4372.  

Send health news to Christine Davis at cdavis9797@gmail.com.

K-9 officer Pely models for the camera at Mizner Park for the cover of the 2026 K-9 calendar produced by the Boca Raton Police Foundation. Zorro (left) and Ivan are behind the sign. Photo provided by Tristen Garrison 

By Arden Moore

K-9 police officers are best identified for their skills in sniffing out explosives and narcotics, as well as following scent trails to track down fleeing suspects.

Some of these highly trained, badge-wearing canines also bring on smiles and applause by performing demos and doing meet-and-greets at schools, libraries and public events.  

At the Boca Raton Police Department, the K-9s answering to the names of Ivan, Pely and Zorro can now add a new role: calendar canine stars. That’s because they strike poses in a variety of iconic Boca places for each month in a custom 2026 calendar produced by the Boca Raton Police Foundation. 

“We were looking for a creative way to benefit the city’s police dogs and the idea of a calendar featuring our police dogs seemed a natural fit for this city,” says Bob Tucker, executive director of the Boca Raton Police Foundation. “The 2026 K-9 calendars are $35 each with proceeds benefiting the city’s K-9 unit.”

Let’s introduce these special calendar canines:

• K-9 officer Ivan, a German shepherd mix from Germany, is trained in tracking, narcotics detection and suspect apprehension. Ivan’s partner is Officer Sullivan Maguire.  

• K-9 officer Zorro, a German shepherd, is originally from the Czech Republic. Since 2020, Zorro focuses on tracking, suspect apprehension and explosion detection. His partner is Officer Jimmy Jalil. 

• K-9 officer Pely, a Belgian Malinois mix, comes from Hungary. He joined the department in 2024 and demonstrates skills in tracking, suspect apprehension and explosive detection. His partner is Officer Shawn Lyman.

Let’s dive into these calendar pages with images captured by professional photographer Tristen Garrison:

Ivan kicks off January by hanging next to a boogie board and sand bucket at the Dog Beach at Spanish River. He also dons a mortarboard in front of the Lynn University sign for May and majestically poses in front of the sign at Sanborn Square for November. 

Zorro perches on a wide wall with a large red heart at Lake Boca for February. He looks ready to fetch balls at the pickleball courts at Patch Reef Park for June and sports a ghoulish grin amid Halloween decorations at Mizner Park for October.

Pely stretches out next to a shamrock-green hat on a bench at the Boca Raton Innovation Campus for March. He then dons blue goggles in front of speedboats at the police marine unit at Spanish River Park for August and welcomes Hanukkah and Christmas among decorations at the Town Center mall at Boca Raton for December.

This special 2026 calendar also honors the retired K-9 officer Dino, who protected the city for years before dying in August from cancer. He and his partner, Officer Lyman, the veteran member of the K-9 unit, are pictured on the inside page of the calendar.

The late, great Dino appears in three months for this calendar. He donned rabbit ears for the month of April at the Sugar Sand Park carousel, sat amid patriotic pinwheels at the Red Bridge at Camino Gardens for July, and stretched out next to a football helmet at the Flagler Credit Union Stadium at Florida Atlantic University for the month of September. 

“Dino was a great dog to work with, and he excelled in detection work and patrol work in finding the bad guys,” says Lyman. “I get teary eyed when I see the tribute to Dino in this calendar.”

A calendar featuring the police dogs seemed a natural fit for this city.

“Boca Raton is a dog-loving community, and we knew this calendar would showcase four-legged heroes,” says Tucker. “Just in time for the holiday season, we are rolling out this inaugural 2026 calendar featuring our city’s four-legged friends who serve as partners in protection.”

Arden Moore writes about pets and can be reached at fourleggedlife@gmail.com.

Calendar ordering info  

To obtain this calendar, visit fundraise.givesmart.com/form/KnpcvQ?vid=1m63g0. 

To learn more about the Boca Raton Police Foundation, visit bocaratonpolicefoundation.org.

Delray Beach is going to the dogs

Mark your calendar and bring your canine pal. The sixth annual Pooches and Presents in the Park event will be from noon to 4 p.m. Nov. 23 at Old School Square in Delray Beach.

This free pet-friendly event features a doggie splash zone and lure course, booths, adoptable dogs from local rescue groups, opportunities to take photos with Santa Claus, fun activities for kids and dogs, tasty treats and more. 

Proceeds from this event will benefit the nonprofit led by Meredith Bruder called Pets Broward. Learn more at petsbroward.org/facebook-events-feed/.

Pitch baits are especially effective at catching sailfish. Capt. Skip Dana prepares to release one caught off Boca Raton by angler Glenn Sapir. Photos provided

By Steve Waters

The most successful offshore anglers never leave the dock without pitch baits. Dead or alive, those baits can turn a fair day of fishing into an unforgettable one.

Those anglers always have pitch baits rigged and ready to cast because the baits will catch fish that show up unexpectedly. They’ll also get the attention of fish that appear when you’re trolling lures or baits but show no interest in eating. 

A fisherman might be trolling for wahoo when a big dolphin shows up, but doesn’t go after any of the lures. That’s when a live pilchard or a rigged dead ballyhoo pitched to the dolphin can spark the fish’s appetite. It’s the same for a sailfish that typically isn’t interested in eating a big lure but will happily wolf down a live herring.

A live sardine is the No. 1 pitch bait for Capt. Casey Hunt, with a live threadfin herring his second choice. 

Anglers in the know have live baits such as sardines and herring hooked on spinning outfits and ready to cast. 

Hunt, who grew up in Pompano Beach pitching baits in inlets from Hillsboro to Jupiter, said the keys to successful pitching are having a bait ready and immediately getting it into the water when a fish shows up. 

Especially when a sailfish is hooked.

“If you’re fighting a fish, cast a pitch bait towards him and a lot of times you’ll hook another sailfish right away,” Hunt said.

He uses a 7-foot spinning rod with a reel that holds 400 to 500 yards of 20-pound monofilament fishing line along with a 15-foot leader of 30-pound fluorocarbon line tied to a size 5/0 or 6/0 circle hook. He hooks the baits through both lips so they don’t fly off when they are cast. 

The technique and that outfit work with other species, most notably dolphin but also wahoo, kingfish and tuna.

When Hunt high-speed trolls at 15 knots for wahoo, if he hooks one or two fish, he’ll slow the boat and then have an angler cast a live goggle-eye with a wire leader in case there’s another wahoo around.

With dolphin, Hunt doesn’t pitch live baits until the colorful fish make it clear they won’t eat anything else. If he gets into a school of dolphin, he’ll have his anglers start off by casting lures such as jigs to the fish. When the fish lose interest in lures, he’ll switch to chunks of ballyhoo or bonito.

When the dolphin stop biting the chunks, Hunt puts out the live baits. And before leaving a school of dolphin, Hunt has someone drop a live goggle-eye well below the school in case a larger fish is lurking 50 to 100 feet down.

When you’re reeling a kingfish to the boat it’s not unusual for one or two other kings to show up during the fight, and they’ll usually jump on a live pitch bait. The same goes for when an angler is fighting a blackfin tuna behind the boat.

Pitch baits are most often used off Palm Beach County when fishing for sailfish. The fish typically travel in pods, which is why Hunt always has someone pitch a sardine when a sailfish is hooked. 

Capt. Casey Hunt uses pitch baits when he spots free-jumping sailfish.

Other times when Hunt uses pitch baits are when sailfish pop up in a fishing kite spread, where he’ll have three live baits dangling from each of the kites he has flying behind his boat, and when he spots a free-jumping sailfish.  

“If you’re sitting there kite-fishing and have a fish come up and look at a kite bait, you can cast a bait to him,” said Hunt, who always has at least one pitch bait in a live well or 5-gallon bucket of sea water that’s hooked on a spinning outfit and ready to cast.

“If you’re running along and see a sailfish jumping, try to get ahead of him and cast three or four baits at him, even if he goes down. He might come back up and bring more fish with him.”

Outdoors writer Steve Waters can be reached at steve33324@aol.com.

The Glamour Gals include (l-r) Chloe Danesi, Makayla Dinon, Juana Peña, Mia Felizzi, Lyla Wolf and Reese Bellinger. Photos provided

By Faran Fagen

Lyla Wolf holds a wrinkled hand while gently brushing fingernails bright pink. Wolf’s school mates decorate nails the same way — with 50 assorted colors — while they talk to the senior citizens about family, movies, politics and whatever else is on their minds.

It doesn’t matter the topic — the residents at the Atrium at Boca Raton are just grateful to have a young person to chat with during a complimentary manicure. 

“Our goal is not just to provide fun cosmetic services for free, but to brighten seniors’ days and give them something to look forward to once or twice a month,” said Wolf, a 17-year-old senior at Boca Raton High School.

Wolf is the founder and president of Glamour Gals, a Boca High club dedicated to providing senior citizens with companionship and conversation through manicures and makeovers.

The Gals have been gracing the nursing home for the past year and a half. 

The residents “still love us and recognize us every single time,” Wolf said.

Wolf started this club chapter in February 2024 as a sophomore because she wanted to find ways to give back to her community.

The last time Wolf saw her own great-grandmother was in a nursing home in Canada. One night, her great-grandmother was so in need of company that she even asked Wolf to sleep over in her room. Wolf stayed the night, and when the opportunity arose to create Glamour Gals, she seized the moment. The only Boca Raton chapter of the national nonprofit was born at Boca High.

“I’ve seen the club grow tremendously in popularity within the school,” said biology teacher and Glamour Gals sponsor Alessandro Contessa. “That’s likely because of the genuine experiences students have spending one-on-one time with elderly people from their community. The seniors love the attention from the high schoolers so much, even men will line up for clear nail polish sometimes.”

Twins Aline and Celine Barakat with a resident at the Atrium at Boca Raton assisted living.

Contessa said the students — ranging from 20-30 per visit — get just as much from the experience as the seniors. “It’s hard for a lot of high school students to find fun, meaningful community service that makes a tangible impact, and we provide that for them,” Contessa said. “Club members always tell me how much they love volunteering, and how happy and fulfilled they feel afterwards.”

Wolf estimated that about 60% of nursing home residents don’t get visitors, so the Gals aim to provide some sort of consistent companionship.

“They’re always ecstatic to see us and are usually already seated in the manicure area, waiting,” Wolf said. 

“The students love getting to chat with different types of people while still getting to have fun and give manicures.”

The Gals also meet once or twice a month in Contessa’s room to write letters and create bookmarks to give the seniors during visits. 

They smile as they read the kind messages and often ask the Gals to write their names on their creations. 

The club has to limit volunteers as too many sign up to attend a single assisted living community. They will soon be volunteering at several more elderly communities in the area. But for now, they’re sticking with the Atrium — about a mile away from the school on Northwest 15th Street — to get familiar with the residents. 

The seniors get sad when the Gals have to leave. 

Usually after the manicures, they sit to talk and enjoy each other’s company.

“As the students hold hands and partake in a genuine act of care with the elderly, listening to them and sharing stories while making their hands look beautiful, both parties are enriched by the experience,” Contessa said. 

“I can’t praise president Lyla Wolf enough.”

This fully renovated 3,603 total square foot waterfront home is in East Boca Raton’s highly sought-after Boca Keys community on a cul-de-sac at 872 Glouchester St. Inside, you'll find four bedrooms and four baths with contemporary amenities in a seamless combination of porcelain tile and white oak flooring, a custom floating staircase crafted from white oak with open risers, and a dedicated wine cellar. 

This residence blends thoughtful, high-end updates throughout. It has 90 feet of water frontage with a 40-foot private dock just a stone’s throw from the Intracoastal Waterway. Photos provided

The home is outfitted with code-compliant PGT hurricane impact windows and doors to ensure top-tier storm protection. The open kitchen has been completely remodeled, featuring premium cabinetry, quartz countertops, top-of-the-line appliances, and a stylish designer backsplash. 

Step outside to a brand-new paver circular driveway and a three-car attached garage. A new concrete tile roof adds the finishing touch, making this home truly move-in ready. 

Offered at $4,495,000. 

Contact Hunter Presson, Steven Presson, The Presson Group - The Corcoran Group, 901 George Bush Blvd., Delray Beach. 561-945-1988, hunter.presson@corcoran.com.

When a knee injury sidelined a Saint Andrew’s athlete, he tackled and conquered a new challenge: Bagpipes

Senior Chris D’Angelo leads the Saint Andrew’s football team onto the field in August while playing Scotland the Brave. While recovering from knee surgery, he learned a new skill, becoming an inspirational part of the team. Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Ron Hayes

On Oct. 15, 2024, Theo Loucas, a goalie on the lacrosse team at Saint Andrew’s School in Boca Raton, was scrolling through his phone in the athletic training room when a TikTok video stopped him.

In 1996, the University of Notre Dame had a lacrosse player named Sean Meehan who also played the bagpipes. When his teammates found out, they insisted he play them onto the field with Scotland the Brave.

 A tradition was born, and to this day a member of the Fighting Irish men’s lacrosse team leads his teammates out, piping that rousing march.

Theo, who lives in Ocean Ridge, watched the TikTok video, and had an awesome idea.

His best friend, Chris D’Angelo, had messed up his knee really bad in a football game against Somerset Academy Key the day before. He wouldn’t be playing football or lacrosse for at least nine months, and the Saint Andrew’s lacrosse season would begin on Feb. 15, 2025.

“Hey, Chris,” Theo called to his friend, “do you think you could learn the bagpipes in four months?” 

Christopher D’Angelo, 17, is the captain of Saint Andrew’s lacrosse team. He is captain of its football team. He plays trumpet in the pep band. He has been a homecoming king. In ninth, 10th and 11th grades, he was the class president. This senior year, he’s the Student Government president over the whole school, and if that school had a Mr. Saint Andrew’s, he would no doubt be that, too.

“He’s an absolutely outstanding young man and a great student,” says Tony Seaman, the head lacrosse coach. “He does anything he says he’s going to do.”

•

In an essay for his ethics class on the topic, “A Story That Shaped You,” Chris described the football injury he suffered:

“It was the district championship game. Third down in the red zone, everything on the line. The crowd was roaring, and the lights were shining on me like a Broadway play. We needed to score here.

“I lined up at left tackle, locked in and ready to go. I kick-stepped back into pass protection. Then I planted and reset my feet and just like that I heard a pop. I felt it and heard it at the same time. A snap in my knee. My leg buckled and I went down. The most pain I’ve ever been in. For a second, everything blurred. The crowd noise faded, my helmet started to get tighter pressing into the grass. I knew right away this wasn’t just a ‘just going to put ice on it’ scenario.”
Saint Andrew’s defeated Somerset Academy Key that day, 35-8.

Weight training takes on added importance as Chris D’Angelo strengthens his scarred left knee and gets back into football shape.

The pipes are calling

Chris considered Theo’s challenge.

Saint Andrew’s School is named for the patron saint of Scotland. Its sports teams are the Scots. In years past, bagpipes had been part of the music program. They’re heard at graduations, chapel and homecoming.

Could he learn Scotland the Brave for the opening game of the lacrosse season only four months away?

When life hands you a lemon, they say, make lemonade.

Football had handed Chris D’Angelo’s left knee a torn ACL and meniscus, so he would make music instead.

After all, he thought, how hard could it be?

•

On Oct. 16, 2024, two days after the injury, Chris approached Emily Nichols, the school’s director of symphonic and advanced bands.

“Notre Dame does this cool thing,” he told her. “Do you think I could learn to pipe?”

Nichols jokes that she can make any instrument sound like she knows what she’s doing. Except the bagpipes.

“How about you play reveille on your trumpet?” she suggested.

But Chris was insistent, so she called Bill Paul, who had taught the pipes back when they were part of the school’s music program.

“It takes years,” Paul told her, but he agreed to meet the boy.

When his new bagpipes arrived in the mail, Chris sent Nichols a video of himself.

“He was making some kind of sound,” she recalled with a smile.

D’Angelo marches on the streets and docks of his Royal Palm Yacht & Country Club neighborhood in Boca Raton to practice playing bagpipes. He says the timing with his feet is important.

Taming ’a wild animal’

Pat Crowley played bagpipes with the Palm Beach Pipes & Drums for 25 years.

“The melody isn’t all that complicated,” he explains. “It’s nine notes. Once you get the balancing between the air and squeezing the bag to disperse the air, it’s a rhythm. But it does take upper body and arm strength. I set my pipes down four years ago, and I just wanted to die when I picked them up again. It’s like having a wild animal tucked under your armpit.”

•

Chris did not come to the bagpipes as a complete musical neophyte. In third grade, the school let him try out instruments to choose the one he wanted to learn.

“Hey, Mom,” he said, “what do you think about the tuba?”

Mom said, “No.”

He moved on to the trumpet, which he’s played for nine years. He knows how to finger a wind instrument, and he can read music.

Now he set to work taming the wild animal tucked under his armpit.

“With the trumpet, you blow air into the mouthpiece and sound comes out,” he discovered. “With the bagpipes, you blow air into the mouthpiece, it goes into the bag, and then you have to squeeze the bag, the sound comes out and you have to finger the notes while marching in step.”

•

On Oct. 29, Chris had surgery on his injured left knee at Boca Raton Regional Hospital.

“I was really nervous because I’d never had surgery before,” he recalled. “They had to give me some extra calm-drug, and then it was 10, 9, 8, and I was out.”

The surgery lasted two hours, followed by crutches for four weeks, then a brace, and physical therapy three times a week for 11 months.

When Bill Paul begged off more lessons for health reasons, Chris kept practicing. He couldn't march, so he lay on the couch with his leg up, until he could walk again. Then he practiced at home until bedtime.

“My dad was definitely bothered by it,” he says, “but Mom was very supportive.”

Chris has two brothers. Nicholas is 19 and attends Boca Raton Community High School. Matthew, 14, is a freshman at Saint Andrew’s.

“He would wake me up at 10:30 or 11 at night,” Matthew recalled. “Morning and night he’d march right into my room and not even knock.”

On weekends, Chris marched up and down his street in the Royal Palm Yacht & Country Club.

“The neighbors loved it,” he recalled. “Old people said, ‘You’re getting better,’ and then they’d go back inside.”

•

And he did get better.

He mastered a recognizable Scotland the Brave and moved on to Amazing Grace. And then Tartan Tapestries, a piece commissioned by the school’s arts foundation and composed in 2016 by Larry Clark, who specializes in musical arrangements for schools and universities.

“The hardest part is the lung capacity,” Chris said. “It takes a lot of air, and the timing with your feet. Every step is a different note.”

Did he ever despair?

“The lacrosse team told me, ‘You got this. Keep going.’”

D’Angelo leads the Saint Andrew’s football team onto the field in September while playing Scotland the Brave. He did the same for the lacrosse team earlier in the year while his knee was recovering. 

Chris the Brave

The goal had been to lead his teammates onto the field for the opening game of the lacrosse season. But he beat it.

Two weeks before that game, he’d been practicing with a friend when the Rev. Ben Anthony, the school’s chaplain, asked if he could play in the chapel.

On Feb. 4, 2025, he led the processional for the weekly Tuesday Mass. His public debut was not Scotland the Brave, but Amazing Grace.

Scotland the Brave arrived that same afternoon, when he led the girls’ lacrosse team onto the field.

“For being nervous, I think I sounded pretty good,” he said.

•

When the 2025 boys’ lacrosse season began on Feb. 15, Chris did not play lacrosse. He played the bagpipes.

“On game day, I put on my jersey, tuned the pipes and walked my team out playing Scotland the Brave. I didn’t touch the ball once that season, but in that moment, when I physically couldn’t play, I had never felt more connected to the team.”

•

And what about Theo Loucas, who threw out the bagpipe challenge that October day in the training room? Did he really believe Chris would meet his goal?

“Not until he actually said he was taking a lesson and started practicing,” Theo said. “But that’s the guy Chris is. He’s been my best friend since seventh grade, and he’s a go-getter.”

•

On Monday, Sept. 15, Chris returned to the football field for his first game since his injury nearly a year earlier.

“I played the second and third quarters,” he reported the next day in the midst of another physical therapy session. “I wanted to limit myself the first game back, and to be honest I was really nervous. I was sweating even before going in, but then after that, I just thought, if I’m scared and nervous, that’s how I’ll get hurt.

“I made a couple good blocks. I didn’t let anyone through, and that’s my job, so I did my job.”

Saint Andrew’s beat Saint John Paul II Academy, 47-8.

D’Angelo (second from left), a senior captain, lines up at guard on Sept. 19 for his second game in five days, marking his return from the knee injury he sustained almost a year earlier. He had limited playing time and wore extra support on his legs. The Scots beat North Broward Prep, 31-9.

•

Next May, Chris D’Angelo will graduate, leaving the school he’s attended since kindergarten, and leaving its lacrosse and football teams without a bagpiper to lead them onto the field.

At Notre Dame, when a piper graduates, he chooses a younger member of the men’s lacrosse team to carry on the tradition.

Matthew D’Angelo is a freshman at Saint Andrew’s, and a member of the junior varsity lacrosse team.

“Hearing Chris practice was a little annoying at first,” he reflected one afternoon as he watched his brother pipe the football team onto the field.

“But the bagpipes are definitely exciting and fun. I also want to learn.” 

Rebuild underway after salt corroded inferior fasteners 

Damaged wood and corroded fasteners are now exposed on the structure. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Jane Musgrave

Since Delray Beach built its first beachside pavilion more than a century ago, the popular gathering spot has been damaged, destroyed or washed out to sea by deadly hurricanes.

But, its latest iteration, built in 2013, came to a far less dramatic end. Its downfall was a simple human mistake.

The iconic pavilion at the end of East Atlantic Avenue is being rebuilt at a cost of $817,400 because the wrong fasteners were used to hold it together and it began falling apart, said Cynthia Buisson, the city’s assistant director of public works.

Instead of top-grade 316 stainless steel fasteners, a lower quality was used. 

“The previous engineers thought it would be sufficient, but obviously that turned out not to be the case,” she said.

In the 12 years since the $249,000 pavilion was built, the salt air wreaked havoc on the substandard screws and bolts. While the lumber held up well and will be reused, corrosion that defied coats of rust inhibitors threatened the integrity of the building.

“We’d been keeping an eye on it,” Buisson said. Ultimately, it was clear it had to go.

“It’s heartbreaking to me,” she said. “I hate to see inefficiency. But some things don’t work out the way you want them to.”

Participants in a series of history tours sponsored by the Delray Beach Historical Society gather last winter at the beach pavilion. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star 

A top priority

Like its predecessors, the 2013 pavilion was built with community support. 

In 2009, the Beach Property Owners Association held a series of public meetings to develop a beach master plan. Residents agreed their top priority was replacing a small rotting pavilion that had been built in 1984.

Looking at postcards of the pavilion’s glory years, they said they wanted the new pavilion to mirror the picket-fence Americana style of the one that had been built in 1929, complete with the green-striped roof.

Architect Bob Currie, whose mark is on many Delray Beach landmarks, agreed to design the pavilion for free. “This will be pretty nice. It’s got some character to it,” Currie told The Palm Beach Post in 2011. Currie, a member of the association’s board, died in 2019.

But, even with Currie’s gift, plans for the pavilion stalled. City officials said no construction money was available.

Hoping to jump-start the project, the BPOA began raising money. It held a $100-a-person benefit concert at Old School Square, featuring seven Delray Beach area bands. Local businesses kicked in as well.

Ultimately, $60,000 was raised. The city contributed the rest and finally construction began.

Historic community support

Such a grassroots effort was nothing new. The first pavilion, built between 1902 and 1912, was funded by donations from the Ladies Improvement Association, said Tom Warnke, archive coordinator at the Delray Beach Historical Society.

When it was destroyed by the 1928 hurricane, one of the deadliest on record, Delray Beach residents began pushing for a replacement.

But the Great Depression hit. City coffers were bare. So, residents and businesses, led by the local Kiwanis Club, raised the $720 needed to make the new pavilion a reality.

It lasted until 1947 when it was washed out to sea by a hurricane. A smaller one was built in 1950, Warnke said.

It was replaced in 1984 with one that was modeled after the Orange Grove House of Refuge. The first known building in Delray Beach, it was an overnight stop for the “Barefoot Mailman” on his delivery route up and down the coast.

Delray Beach residents enjoy the pavilion at an event in 1916. Photo provided by the Delray Beach Historical Society 

Beach improvements

Buisson said she didn’t know why the correct fasteners weren’t used 12 years ago. Those who were involved in the project no longer work for the city and records aren’t available.

Still, she acknowledged, the building should have lasted at least 20 years, possibly longer. And, while Buisson can’t control Mother Nature, the one now under construction won’t suffer a similar fate, she said.

If all goes as planned, the new pavilion should open in March.

In the meantime, other improvements are underway along the beach. By the end of October, city officials said they expected to have installed new concrete benches at 17 beach access points along with new showers and drinking fountains.

Bob Victorin, a longtime president of the property owner association, said he is glad the city is replacing the pavilion that his group worked to make possible.

“I’m just glad they are rebuilding it to make it safe,” he said. 

Contractor failed to curtail invasive pests, town says

This AI image was displayed at Manalapan Town Hall during a discussion about using a Police Department sharpshooter to cull iguanas. The town’s mascot is a heron. Image provided

 By John Pacenti

Let’s face it: It’s the iguanas’ world; we just live in it.

The South Florida iguana invasion is quite impressive. 
With apparently few predators save for birds of prey and the occasional house cat, the lizards have set up shop in municipalities throughout Palm Beach County and the rest of the region.

As a result, cities and towns have had to wrestle with how to control the reptile population. 

Unless our eyes deceive us, they are losing the war.

“They do cause a lot of property damage to docks, banks and areas that they like to burrow,” said Manalapan Police Chief Jeff Rasor.

Manalapan commissioners decided at their Sept. 22 meeting to shift the burden from a private company — which officials said wasn’t helping much — to the Police Department. Police will task their top sharpshooter to use a pellet gun to shoot the critters on sight.

Talk about cold-blooded. “I think we will do a better job than hiring an outside company,” Rasor said.

Giving police the ability to go hand-to-hand with the iguanas makes more sense than one might think at first blush. It’s not like officers will be driving down State Road A1A taking aim out of the driver’s side windows of their squad cars when an iguana is sighted.

First off, let’s talk about the problem with using a private contractor. The wily iguanas — they are particularly plentiful on Point Manalapan — would just move onto private property when they were being hunted. 

Worse, residents saw men with what looked like long guns lurking around their homes.

“We get calls all the time because some people think that they’re out there with an AR-15, but they’re really out there with an AR — with an air rifle — exterminating,” Rasor said.

The commission’s discussion on the issue was lighthearted while recognizing the iguanas are a menace that need to be addressed. There was even an illustration, created using AI, displayed on the overhead screen that showed a young cowboy abreast a heron — the town’s mascot — trying to lasso smiling iguanas. 

And, as Chief Rasor said, they do cause a lot more damage than just trimming grass. A single iguana can lay as many as 50 eggs, he said.

The iguana young are ravenous, easily taking down a large hibiscus in just days. 

The lizards are not native to Florida but were introduced to the state as stowaways on cargo ships and through the pet trade, starting in the 1960s. 

Rasor said he will put his best shooter on the mission: Sgt. Tracey Merritt. He is the department’s firearms range master and expert.

Merritt will be in uniform, so that should put residents at ease when they see him with the air rifle. The town is sending an email to homeowners asking if they want to "opt in" to the new iguana eradication program.

Vice Mayor Simone Bonutti suggested that bulletins be put up at the guard house leading into Point Manalapan so residents know when an officer is on iguana duty. She also suggested that one day a week could be designated as iguana hunting day.

Bonutti also said her dogs may be of help. “What if the dogs get ’em? My dogs bring me one every day,” she said. 

By John Pacenti

Ocean Ridge commissioners passed a $14.8 million operating budget smoothly on Sept. 15 — a contrast to recent years, where elected officials clashed with the town manager and the math didn’t add up.

But Ocean Ridge is in the Michelle Heiser era, the new town manager brought on in May.

The budget, though, is hefty by Ocean Ridge standards, representing a 9.6% increase over the Fiscal Year 2025 budget. It is also more than $1 million higher than what Heiser originally proposed back in July.

The budget includes $4.36 million allocated for capital projects, with a notable focus on infrastructure improvements, including potential design and construction of changes to the town's aging water pipe system in the southern part of town to address hydrant-related challenges.

All this will be done with 4.7% less revenue, in part because of the sunsetting of a local sales tax initiative that expires in December, Heiser said. Gov. Ron DeSantis also vetoed a $600,000 state grant for the town’s water main replacement program.

Operating expenses have increased by 7%, driven by contract obligations, insurance costs, and utility expenses.

Which brings us to property taxes — the money coming directly from residents and businesses. Let’s play good news, bad news.

The good news is that the tax rate will stay the same, at $5.40 per $1,000 of taxable property value. The town is using almost $2 million from its reserves to balance the budget and cover the added capital projects.

The bad news is that residents' taxes are still going up, thanks to a 10.14% increase in property values.

Homesteaded properties won’t see more than a 3% increase thanks to the Save Our Homes state law. The increase for commercial properties and non-homesteaded residential properties is capped at 10%.

Heiser said the extra $1 million added to the budget from estimates in July is due to the commission's decision to address the water main issue and an emergency caused by poor hydrant pressure along State Road A1A from Ocean Avenue south to Thompson Street.

In July, she said, a $13.3 million budget estimate for 2025-2026 fiscal year reflected that the town was just going to design what is called Phase 4 of the project, but now shovels will pierce the ground in January.

Jon Pearlman (center,front) and other Save Boca supporters bring petitions to Boca Raton City Hall on Sept. 23 to give to the city clerk. The petitions seek a vote on a city charter change regarding the sale or lease of city property. Photo provided by Save Boca

Ideas to downsize don’t sway critics

Related: Voters to be asked to OK financing of new police headquarters

By Mary Hladky

Despite Terra and Frisbie Group’s substantial revisions to its plans for redeveloping Boca Raton’s downtown campus, resident opposition has reached fever pitch.

United under the banner of Save Boca, opponents have brushed aside Terra/Frisbie’s downsizing of the project — designed to overcome their objections — and insist that it should be scrapped entirely.

The city, they say, should assume control and finance limited changes itself.

They want no part of residential and office buildings on the city-owned 30 acres where City Hall and the Community Center now sit.

Instead, they say the city should simply rebuild both old, crumbling buildings and keep the existing recreational facilities on the site.

The sustained pressure, with overflow crowds of residents speaking up at every council meeting, has yielded wins for Save Boca.

The City Council fast-tracked the project earlier this year after deeming it the top city priority, and set Oct. 28 as the date to approve a master agreement with Terra/Frisbie.

The council on Sept. 8 postponed that vote indefinitely.

“I think it is clear we will not have an Oct. 28 vote on this matter,” Mayor Scott Singer said.

What will voters decide?
Council members also acceded to Save Boca’s demand that voters should decide the fate of the project.

They directed City Attorney Joshua Koehler to draft a referendum question that will appear on the March 10 city election ballot.

“The council has already said there will be a vote,” Singer reiterated at the Sept. 22 meeting. “We will have a vote.”

Terra/Frisbie has voiced no objection. “We welcome that process,” Frisbie Group principal Rob Frisbie said on Sept. 8.

“We are not trying to force this on anyone. We are trying to collaboratively design something that is truly in the best interest of the community.”

The council acted after it became obvious that Save Boca would be able to gather enough resident signatures on petitions to force the city to allow a vote.

Save Boca wants ballot questions on a city ordinance change and a city charter change. Both would not allow the council to lease or sell any city-owned land greater than one-half acre without a vote. The city wants to lease its land for 99 years to Terra/Frisbie.

Residents have their say
The council made the tactical retreat after hearing withering criticism from residents who have packed city meetings.

“Get these people out of here,” Save Boca organizer Jon Pearlman said of Terra/Frisbie officials on Sept. 8. “We don’t want to see them anymore.”

Council members weren’t spared in the scorching.

“Three minutes is hardly enough to express my disgust,” said Richard Warner about the time allotted to speakers. “For you, the council, to be this tone deaf? I don’t get it. Nobody wants this.”

“The fundamental problem here is we don’t trust you,” Becky Tucker told the council.

If the project has any significant support, it is not readily apparent. Only a handful have spoken in favor at council meetings or on social media.

A majority of council members still favor redevelopment through a public-private partnership, although they say they are open to additional changes to respond to residents’ concerns.

Singer described the plan as “evolving” in a Sept. 29 email to residents.

Only Council member Andy Thomson is opposed, and has repeatedly voiced that for months. He wants to terminate negotiations with Terra/Frisbie for a master agreement and says the project is too dense and has been pushed forward too rapidly.

He also has insisted that residents should have the final say at the ballot box, and that the council suspend any action to move ahead with the partnership unless a majority of voters endorse the project.

Lots of revisions
Terra/Frisbie’s revamped redevelopment plan, presented on Sept. 8, reduces the project’s density and preserves more green and recreation space.

The changes would come at substantial cost to the city.

Under the original plan, the project would have generated $3.1 billion for the city over the span of the 99-year land lease. That now would drop to $2.1 billion, according to Terra/Frisbie calculations.

Now eliminated are a hotel and one office building and one residential building.

The number of residential units, which Terra/Frisbie had decreased earlier, are downsized again from 912 to 740.

Retail square footage has dropped from about 140,000 square feet to 80,000.

Eight clay tennis courts will remain on site and the number could increase to 10. Other recreation facilities have been incorporated into the plan.

Terra/Frisbie no longer will move two of the site’s large banyan trees, a process the trees might not have survived. All six of the existing banyans will be preserved, and a children’s playground will be located near five of the trees.

To counter criticism that Terra/Frisbie’s plan would dishonor fallen World War II veterans, the 17 acres within the site known as Memorial Park would include a monument to them.

Veterans groups would help design it.

Terra/Frisbie has proposed that the former Children’s Museum, which was housed in a historic building, remain on site. The city had planned to move it to Meadows Park.

A 200-by-300-foot multi-purpose field would now be included on the site, which could accommodate a host of activities.

Another feature would be a mobility hub that would include electric vehicle chargers, bicycle racks and a ride share location.

Flexing their muscles
Save Boca has not credited Terra/Frisbie for any of the changes and has continued to find fault.

For example, some of its supporters complained that while the six banyans will be saved, other less significant trees will be cut down.

All the while, their efforts are infused with high drama.

They cheered wildly when Pearlman dramatically strode to the podium on Aug. 26 to hand over to the city clerk a tall stack of signed petitions for the ordinance change.

A similar scene unfolded on Sept. 23 when Pearlman and a group of supporters marched into City Hall to drop off two banker’s boxes full of signed petitions for the charter change.

As Pearlman called city clerk office employees to tell them that he was delivering more petitions, supporters cheered in triumph.

Save Boca now has met the requirements for a ballot question on the city ordinance change.

Save Boca collected 5,200 signed petitions and needed 3,676 valid signatures to qualify for inclusion on the ballot. On Sept. 22, Supervisor of Elections Wendy Sartory Link certified 3,689, or just barely enough.

The next day, Save Boca members submitted to the clerk about 7,700 signed petitions for the charter change. They need 6,112 valid signatures.
Link’s office is now reviewing them to determine how many are valid.

Save Boca prefers the charter change because the City Council could repeal its ordinance. Only another vote could reverse a charter change.

Pearlman has wanted both the ordinance and charter change considered in a special election to be held as soon as possible after all the ballots are certified.

But Link’s office said that the supervisor is not able to schedule a special election before March 10, the long-standing date for the city’s election when residents will vote for a new mayor and on two City Council races.

So, barring some other development, that is when voters will get their say.

Terra/Frisbie is gathering additional feedback from residents. It held a public meeting at the the Studio atg Mizner Park on Sept. 29 and will hold another one at the Spanish River Library from 4 to 7 p.m. Oct. 6.

Frisbie said the developers plan a “reset” and will revise their plans by taking into account what residents want to see.

“The goal is to bring everyone together,” he said at the Sept. 29 session.

Residents had the chance to speak directly with the Terra/Frisbie team. They were engaged and cordial and their comments ran the gamut.

Many want recreational space preserved on site. Others feared the project would increase traffic, asked that the area become more walkable, or said they opposed adding tall buildings.

Frisbie estimated that the plans could be revamped yet again by mid-October.

The summer of ’25 will be remembered as a time when the heat — political heat, that is — reached a boiling point along the coast here.

In Delray Beach, impatient Florida officials demanded the city remove its colorful Pride intersection in downtown’s Pineapple Grove, originally installed as a memorial to the victims of the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando.

Florida Department of Transportation workers (who had already painted over a similar memorial outside of Pulse in August) rushed in again to do the job in Delray Beach in September when the city didn’t move fast enough.

In Boca Raton, meanwhile, residents mounted a successful petition drive — that may force a referendum — after they felt the City Council turned a deaf ear to their concerns about a massive public-private project moving forward downtown using city-owned property.

Delray Beach officials bristled at the bullying tactics the state used over the city’s intersection. They demanded, unsuccessfully, a fair hearing and reluctantly cried “Uncle” when it became clear the state was the state and was going to do whatever it damn-well pleased — and woe to anyone standing in its way.

Boca Raton residents bristled as well at their government leaders, but they weren’t in Delray Beach’s helpless state. They demanded a vote on the future of city-owned properties — and collected signatures to get it on the ballot, probably in March.

What happens next as autumn settles in? This is South Florida, after all, where the heat tends to linger. 

Delray Beach officials are looking now for another way to honor the Pulse victims, acknowledge the city’s LGBTQ residents and show everyone that Delray Beach remains a welcoming city.

There are ideas about what could be done, including renaming part of Northeast First Street as Pride Street or hanging rainbow banners from downtown lamp posts.

Whatever is decided, I hope part of it focuses on the Pride intersection itself. Not on the pavement where the state made its stand, but alongside it or above it — some fitting rebuke to the state’s overreach.

As for Boca Raton, officials there have some big decisions coming up. They have said the proposed referendum would be draconian and have far-reaching negative consequences if approved. It would require a taxpayer-financed city election anytime there’s a planned sale or lease of virtually any city-owned property — anything more than a half-acre in size.

Terra and Frisbie Group, the developer for the city’s downtown campus project that also includes a new City Hall and Community Center, has made changes that would reduce the project’s density and increase its park space, but they are still nowhere close to overcoming residents’ objections. 

Boca Raton should determine the best plan it sees for its 30-acre campus, which now includes the 17-acre Memorial Park, and put it on the same ballot as the petition referendum. That would give voters the say they want on the downtown project — and maybe make them more receptive to the city’s concerns about the petition referendum. 

But city officials may discover they haven’t done enough to turn down the heat, with residents’ frustrations still at the boiling point. 

A tie-the-city’s-hands-forever referendum may be exactly what residents desire. They saw how the state was ruthless in using its power in Delray Beach. They may want that same kind of power for themselves when it comes to decisions about their city’s future. 

— Larry Barszewski,
Editor

Hailey Clark, a marine biology student at Florida Atlantic University and a Coastal Stewards volunteer, releases the group’s last turtle patient into the ocean on July 10. The patient is Sparrow, a green sea turtle. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Gumbo Limbo’s sea turtle rehab may never return

By Steve Plunkett

Citing “ongoing financial challenges,” the Coastal Stewards, a nonprofit that started out more than 40 years ago as the volunteer Friends of Gumbo Limbo in Boca Raton, has dissolved itself.

The move came three months after the group on June 12 barred the public from its sea turtle rehabilitation area at the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center and shuttered its gift shop there.

It transferred or released 12 recuperating sea turtles and let its final turtle patient return to the ocean off Red Reef Park on July 10.

City staff is now recommending other uses for Gumbo Limbo’s rehab space.

“My heart is so sad that this group fell apart,” said Michele Peel, a former president of the former Friends.

“Gordon Gilbert would be devastated, I suspect,” she added, referring to the Boca Raton High School teacher who took science students to the beach, founded the nature center in the early 1980s and served on the Friends board of trustees.

In a Sept. 12 news release, the nonprofit said it would give 75% of its assets to the George Snow Scholarship Fund to endow a Coastal Stewards scholarship.

The remaining dollars were split among the Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach, the Dolphin Research Center in Marathon and the Marine Animal Rescue Society in Miami, it said.

When the Coastal Stewards decided to close the turtle rehab unit, it had $1,000,012 left in its bank accounts, down from $3.7 million the group reported having in assets to the IRS in 2020 under its former name.

“While this decision is bittersweet, the trustees felt strongly that the best way to honor our history and preserve our mission was through a lasting legacy,” said Shivani Gupta, a corporate wellness speaker and one of the group’s trustees since late 2023. “These gifts to the George Snow Scholarship Fund and several of our valued nonprofit partners will ensure that commitment lives on.”

Merchandise left over from gift store operations was donated to the Sandoway Discovery Center in Delray Beach and Friends of MacArthur Beach State Park Inc., in North Palm Beach, the group said.

Earlier, it had donated turtle hospital equipment to Loggerhead and commissary items and furniture back to the city.

New approaches
On Sept. 3, meanwhile, two former Gumbo Limbo workers opened a “behind-the-scenes” hospital for sick or injured sea turtles at the Palm Beach Zoo in West Palm Beach.

And in an August memo to the City Council, then-City Manager George Brown urged that the city discontinue sea turtle rehab and veterinary hospital operations at Gumbo Limbo “and instead repurpose the former hospital/rehab space to expand marine education exhibits and enhance public programming.”

That expansion might eventually include installing a shark and stingray tank, he said.

Driving Brown’s recommendation: a proposal from the Loggerhead Marinelife Center that it open a satellite rehab center at Gumbo Limbo in return for a $750,000 annual subsidy from Boca Raton.

Council members have not publicly discussed Brown’s ideas.

His memo also discussed the search for someone to reopen the popular gift shop at Gumbo Limbo. Deerfield Beach-based surf shop Island Water Sports “expressed interest in the retail opportunity,” Brown wrote, and the city then issued a Request for Letter of Interest to qualified vendors.

The city is just now evaluating responses to the request.

Programs still in place
The closure of the Coastal Stewards rehab center did not affect Gumbo Limbo’s three “resident” sea turtles housed in outdoor tanks, which remain on display and available for public viewing because they could not survive being released. Also still open are the city-run turtle nesting and hatchling programs, youth camps and community education, the butterfly garden, boardwalk and observation tower.

The ex-city employees at the new West Palm Beach turtle hospital, Whitney Crowder and Emily Mercier, lost their jobs at Gumbo Limbo in March 2023 as Boca Raton transitioned turtle care at the city-operated nature center to the Coastal Stewards.

Along with fellow Boca Raton resident Samantha Clark, they started their own nonprofit, Sea Turtle Care and Conservation Specialists LLC, two years ago.

“Our hospital isn’t open to the public, but that won’t stop us from bringing you along on this journey. We’ll be sharing patient updates, recovery stories, and moments of hope, while also connecting with so many of you at our outreach events,” the group said on Facebook.

It also has a website, careandconservation.org.

Leaving a void
The nonprofit Coastal Stewards shifted from being strictly volunteer-run in 2020, hiring John Holloway as its president and chief executive officer to guide the transition.

Holloway’s salary was $122,323 in 2023, according to Internal Revenue Service records.

Peel, the past Friends president, said the city from the start “didn’t really want rehab,” which was added to the mix in 2010.

“I got questions like, ‘if a sea turtle in rehab came from a beach in Delray, shouldn’t we charge Delray for its care?’” she recalled. “They also questioned why Friends should fund education and scholarships of children who were not city residents.”

Peel praised the Snow fund for administering Gumbo Limbo scholarships for years. “But donating all their assets to Snow seems to be a violation of donors’ wishes,” she said.

And, she added, “Who is funding the (field trip) busing for the less fortunate school kids? Friends used to do that.”

She foresees someone starting a more volunteer-friendly group to fill the void left by the Coastal Stewards.

“There will likely be a new nonprofit, styled like the Friends of the Library, with little real activities of their own. And that’s a good thing,” Peel said. “It will never be as strong as the Friends of GLNC was because times have changed. Boca isn’t the little city it was in the 1980s when a handshake was how you did business.” 

By Mary Hladky

Save Boca’s battle against the city’s plans to redevelop 30 city-owned acres in the downtown campus now has impacted city politics.

Save Boca supporter Meredith Madsen is challenging incumbent Boca Raton City Council member Marc Wigder in the March 10 city election.

Madsen, founder and CEO of Sunshine & Glitter, which sells sunscreen products, has spoken out against the city’s plans to redevelop the downtown campus in partnership with Terra and Frisbie Group.

Residents “are telling you, please, let’s fix the things we have. Let’s make better parks. But we do not want you giving away our land to developers…,“ she said at the council’s Aug. 26 meeting.

In an interview, Madsen said she was propelled to seek a council seat because most council members are proving to be poor stewards of the city’s land.

“We need to protect the town from seemingly endless development,” she said.

She is opposing Wigder — who she said seems like a “nice guy” and wants to do “civic good” — because he “is always on the side of development.”

Rather than team up with developers who will profit from redeveloping the property, the city should pay the cost of rebuilding the government buildings where they now sit and scrap plans for residential and office buildings, she said.

Like many residents, Madsen said she was unaware of the scope of what the city was planning, and only learned the details because she plays tennis at the city’s tennis center next to City Hall and the Community Center. Tennis advocates have pressed the city to maintain 10 clay courts on the downtown campus.

The election is shaping up to be contentious.

Deputy Mayor Fran Nachlas and Council member Andy Thomson are facing off to become the next mayor, replacing Scott Singer, who is term-limited from running again. Joining them in that race is perennial candidate Bernard Korn.

Korn and former candidate Christen Ritchey are vying for Nachlas’ seat.

Former City Council member Robert Weinroth is seeking Thomson’s seat.

In addition, there will be a referendum on the ballot on funding a new police headquarters and one or more questions allowing residents to have a say related to the proposed redevelopment of the city’s downtown campus. 

Robert Certilman of Highland Beach teamed up with Big Brothers Big Sisters in August to take children shopping for school supplies and clothing, spending about $12,000. He contacted the local chapter because he wanted to continue a practice he started in New York. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Rich Pollack

Robert Certilman saw the need in his community firsthand while living on Long Island.

During a Christmas party he sponsored for children served by the local Big Brothers Big Sisters organization, he noticed a little girl in tattered jeans that were on the brink of being unwearable. 

“I said, ‘How would it be if I sponsored 50 kids and we took them shopping?’” Certilman recalled.

That was the beginning of a tradition that Certilman, the retired owner of a couple of car dealerships up North, is carrying forward in Florida. 

A recent transplant to Highland Beach, he teamed up with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Palm Beach and Martin Counties in August to take 80 kids shopping for school supplies and clothing. 

Certilman initiated the shopping spree with an unexpected call to the local organization. 

“I called them up and told them I wanted to take kids in need to buy school supplies and clothing and help them succeed in school by feeling good about themselves,” he said. 

Each child, who was accompanied by a parent or Big Brother or Sister, was given a gift card worth $150 and then sent shopping for clothes and supplies. 

Certilman would often be close by, checking in with the shoppers and learning more about what they had gathered. 

“The kids would show me what they got,” he said. 

Being there was an important part of the day, Certilman said. 

“Anyone can write a check, but it’s more effective to have a conversation with the kids,” he said. “I get satisfaction out of seeing the smiles on the kids’ faces.”

The financial support for the shopping spree from the former owner of Honda and Acura dealerships was much appreciated by leaders of the local Big Brothers Big Sisters chapter.  

“The back-to-school season often brings added pressure for many families but thanks to Robert’s support, our ‘Littles’ this year started with not only the supplies they need but also a sense of excitement,” said Yvette Flores Acevedo, the CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Palm Beach and Martin Counties. 

Big Brothers Big Sisters provides children facing adversity, ages 6 to 18, with volunteer mentors who serve as positive role models. In the past year, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Palm Beach and Martin Counties has served 446 children, and the organization is seeking adult volunteers to be mentors. 

For Certilman, who supported several causes in New York and now supports a few other organizations in Florida in addition to Big Brothers Big Sisters, said helping those in need is something he enjoys. 

“It feels good,” he said. 

His advice to others is to find something you love and then support it. 

“It doesn’t matter how you support it, as long as you support it,” he said.

Certilman says that he’s glad he is in a position to help others. 

“I feel fortunate and blessed with what I’ve accomplished and this helps complete the circle,” he said. 

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By John Pacenti

Animal Farm and 1984 author George Orwell once wrote, “There are occasions when it pays better to fight and be beaten than not to fight at all.”

When it came to the Delray Beach LGBTQ Pride rainbow intersection, the city showed plenty of fight — putting it in the spotlight as it pushed back against Gov. Ron DeSantis’ edict to erase its symbol of inclusion and tolerance.

DeSantis may have won the battle by using the cover of night for his Department of Transportation to paint over the intersection, but the right-wing governor — who has also targeted the LGBTQ community on other issues — may have lost the war.

Civic engagement was off the charts when it came to the intersection of Northeast Second Avenue and Northeast First Street in downtown’s Pineapple Grove. The haters stayed home. And members of the LGBTQ community showed they are organized and more than ready to stand up for themselves in these times.

“If Gov. DeSantis believed that by literally destroying and covering over public art celebrating the queer community would diminish us, he has clearly failed,” said Rand Hoch, president and founder of the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council.

A feud over art
Municipalities in urban areas started to dedicate intersections or crosswalks to the LGBTQ community after 49 people were gunned down at Pulse nightclub in Orlando in 2016.

The Delray Beach intersection, with $16,000 from the Human Rights Council, was painted in Pride flag colors in 2021.

In July, DeSantis’ Florida Department of Transportation ordered cities to paint over them, claiming they were unsafe, even though studies showed intersections with public art are generally safer than typical intersections.

The governor’s move backfired spectacularly as FDOT, to treat other such intersections equally, had to paint over all artistic roadway art — like the iconic checkered flag crosswalks near Daytona International Speedway.

In Delray Beach, it was a roller-coaster ride as the LGBTQ community and its allies came out in force during commission meetings and the elected leaders decided to fight the FDOT order in August and exhaust administrative remedies.

There were two special commission meetings in September on the issue, which also spilled over into the commission’s two regular monthly meetings, as television news crews covered Mayor Tom Carney and company like a sporting event.

Commissioners voted on Sept. 9 to file a petition, as Miami Beach and Fort Lauderdale had done, to challenge the new state policy — only to pivot and consider other ways to honor the LGBTQ community once the FDOT crews sandblasted and painted over the intersection after their botched first try.

Community reaction
Now the commission is considering other symbolic gestures, such as wrapping light poles in Pride colors, putting a plaque up at the intersection and bathing the water tower in rainbow lights.

“The municipalities where queer public art was destroyed by DeSantis will replace them with bigger, bolder and brighter tributes to the queer community,” Hoch said.

Vice Mayor Rob Long, who made the intersection a public cause, said there was not one speaker who opposed the intersection who came out to commission meetings.

“I thought for sure there’d be a counter protest or something that would happen, there’d be some sort of reaction. And the fact that there was not, it was actually amazing,” Long said.

The critics lurked on community forums dedicated to Delray Beach, posting on the intersection, saying the intersection issue overshadowed their efforts to mourn the death of conservative firebrand Charlie Kirk, who was shot and killed at a college campus event he was headlining.

“We saw more public engagement on this issue than we’ve ever seen, and every single person who got up and spoke about it was in support of freedom of expression and the LGBTQ community,” Long said. “All the haters, all the people who were against it, it just proved their cowardice.”

Commissioner Juli Casale said the issue allowed residents to engage with their government. “Getting involved with how your government operates, especially on a local level, is encouraged,” she said.

In the cover of night
DeSantis struck after Delray Beach filed an administrative motion following a Sept. 2 FDOT hearing in Orlando, with the city seeking the disqualification of FDOT’s presiding officer who had heard the appeal. The city noted communications that showed bias on the part of the hearing officer.

During an overnight downpour in the early morning hours on Sept. 9, FDOT tried to paint over the intersection, but the rain washed it out. Instead, it looked like the state defaced it, as if the biggest monster truck in the world did burnouts on it with the rainbow still visible.

The commission was furious that the botched paint job belied DeSantis’s cover that declaring war on all LGBTQ intersections statewide was in the name of traffic safety.

Commissioner Tom Markert said the intersection was “dirty, messy and dangerous.”

The commission voted 3-1 to join Fort Lauderdale and Miami Beach in filing a petition challenging FDOT’s rulemaking authority and seeking to obtain a stay.

Carney voted no, saying he was concerned that DeSantis would punish Delray Beach by withholding $60 million or more in state funding. Casale was not at the meeting.

“As the arts people learned last year, with a stroke of a pen, $100,000 that was coming to the city of Delray evaporated,” said Carney, noting DeSantis vetoed money for arts throughout the state in 2024.

FDOT returned that same night following the commission meeting and repainted the intersection — this time eliminating any hint of a rainbow. So, the commission held another special meeting on Sept. 11, and after much debate, decided to withdraw its decision to seek litigation.

‘Choose your battles’
Commissioners suddenly were channeling Kenny Rogers’ The Gambler, where you need to know “when to fold ’em.”

“Sometimes you got to play the cards you were dealt,” Carney said.

“Sometimes you have to choose your battles. And, you know, maybe this is just not the one at this time,” Commissioner Angela Burns said.

This time, it was Long who was the lone no vote, urging the commission to stick to its earlier decision.

“When I ran for this seat, I did it because I hate bullies. I hate bullying, and I can’t think of a more obvious example of us being bullied and disrespected,” he said.

Long said he is worried that the commission won’t follow through on replacing the Pride intersection with a new LGBTQ symbol — especially since Carney talked about getting private groups to fund the effort.

“They’re waiting for me to be gone so they can virtually do nothing,” he told The Coastal Star. Long is running for a vacant statehouse seat and must resign his commission seat in December after the special election is held.

Carney told this publication that private groups paid for the rainbow intersection and that he is in contact with a number of people on the issue in the LGBTQ community.

“We’re starting the process. We’re going to be coming back with some ideas,” he said. “There’s going to be some interesting stuff coming forward.” 

Manalapan commissioners moved ahead with a plan to explore building a new Town Hall at the corner of Ocean Boulevard and Ocean Avenue.

At the Sept. 8 commission meeting, they heard from eminent domain attorney Doug MacGibbon, who has been hired to explore acquiring the property — an outparcel at Plaza del Mar — that was once home to a gas station, then a bank that was eventually converted into office space.

MacGibbon also serves as Manalapan’s special magistrate, conducting hearings and issuing rulings related to code violations.

“This is the best time to do this,” MacGibbon told commissioners, explaining that the vacant lot presents a unique opportunity for town expansion. He recommended hiring an appraiser to conduct a comprehensive valuation, with initial property assessments suggesting a value around $1.3 million.

However, he cautioned commissioners, “This is an expensive adventure.”

“It’s going to be more expensive than usual, because this is a barrier island and all your values are going to be higher than most other places,” MacGibbon said. He said professional fees from the seller’s attorneys could add $1 million. He also encouraged the town to start negotiating with Plaza del Mar’s owner to purchase property around the site for parking.

One wrinkle is that MacGibbon’s research showed that gas tanks from the former service station are still on site.

“So that becomes an appraisal issue with regards to the cost to either remove the tanks or to have them pumped full of sand and sealed,” he said.

— John Pacenti

Manalapan commissioners unanimously approved an $18.7 million total budget Sept. 22 for the 2025-2026 fiscal year that started Oct. 1.

The budget includes $10.2 million for the general fund, $97,000 to run the library, and $8.3 million for the town’s water and sewer services.

Commissioners voted to maintain the town tax rate at last year’s rate of $3 per $1,000 of taxable property value. However, taxes overall are increasing because taxable property values for Manalapan increased by 7.6%.

Under state law, homesteaded properties can have their taxable value raised a maximum of 3% each year. All other properties can have their taxable values increased up to 10%.

Key budget allocations will support various town departments, including ongoing projects such as guard house upgrades. 

Regarding the guard house — a signature building for the town on Point Manalapan — Town Manager Eric Marmer said that architects have been hired to design upgrades with the focus on visibility and technological capabilities.

Marmer indicated that once conceptual designs are completed, they will be presented to the commission for review and approval.

— John Pacenti