By Steve Plunkett

The fifth time was the charm for James and Nadia Davis’ plan to build an 8,699-square-foot home on an oversized lot at the mouth of Polo Cove off the Intracoastal Waterway.
Their proposal was evaluated three times by the town’s Architectural Review and Planning Board and twice by the Town Commission, which bounced it back to the ARPB on Dec. 10 and gave it grudging approval on Feb. 11.
Mayor Scott Morgan, who originally complained about the massing of the structure and its need for a special exception, was the sole “no” in a pair of 4-1 votes for the exception and the overall site plan.
“It’s a beautiful home, should have been smaller,” Morgan said.
Architect Benjamin Schreier said he tweaked his plan for 588 Banyan Road by reducing the pitch of the roofs, lowering the height of the second story by 2 feet and the first story by 3 feet.
“What we’ve done is reduce the mass by 13% on this house,” Schreier said, adding that he also lowered the chimneys by 6 feet.
James Davis, who presented letters of support from 14 neighbors, called his land “a very large and unusual lot.”
“It’s a significant lot. It’s the largest core point lot in the neighborhood, and it’s worthy of a proportionate and significant home,” he said.
He also said the home conforms to Gulf Stream’s code, rules and regulations “by all objective measures” and meets the criteria for getting a special exception for a waterfront lot.
Even with the special exception, the home will be 30 feet from the water to its south, which is 5 feet farther than the existing home and twice the distance of the house on the other side of the cove’s entrance, Schreier said.
He said the Davises’ home was in the middle, size-wise, of eight point-lot homes in the town’s core district but that at 30,600 square feet its lot was the largest.
Two towering banyan trees at the entrance meant the home had to be pushed south toward the water, creating a need for the special exception, he said.
Commissioner Paul Lyons called the home an “outlier” unlike other core residences.
“I struggled with this particular application more so than any one I’ve ever looked at in 10 years,” he said.
Commissioner Donna White was pleased by the lowered roof lines, saying the original proposal made the house too lofty.
Morgan said the Davises should have removed the need for a special exception.
“You take a few square feet out of every room, you reduce one large room somewhat, you’d never notice the difference and you would have satisfied in my opinion the neighborhood district characterization that we are trying to achieve,” he said.
The plan received 5-0 approval from the ARPB on Nov. 18, was sent back by the commission on Dec. 10, was postponed by the review board on Jan. 27 to let the architect address the massing, was approved 4-0 by the board at a special meeting Feb. 3 and got its final 4-1 commission vote Feb. 11.
The commission also approved on first reading an ordinance saying that site plans for homes cannot be too dissimilar in architectural compatibility and height of building from homes within a 250-foot radius.
The ordinance was patterned after one in the town of Palm Beach. Gulf Stream already had a regulation prohibiting excessively similar structures.
“This is a way to sort of compare the streetscape as you’re driving by and ensure that we maintain the character on a sort of micro level as opposed to just from a districtwide standard,” Assistant Town Attorney Trey Nazzaro said.

Volunteers and staff remove records, furniture and personal items from Old School Square on Feb. 11. Many larger items were sold on site. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Related Story: Boca art museum in talks to take over Cornell Museum

By Jane Smith

The city’s Community Redevelopment Agency has demanded that the former operators of the Old School Square campus produce financial records to prove they properly spent nearly $200,000 the CRA gave them or risk being forced to return the money.
If they fail to meet a March 10 deadline, the CRA will move to claw back the $187,500 it gave the Old School Square Center for the Arts Inc. The money represents the first-quarter payment of the 2020-2021 budget year.
“They keep saying ‘we gave you what you asked for, where is our money?’” Renee Jadusingh, CRA executive director, said at the Feb. 22 board meeting. The former operators were referring to the rest of the CRA money — $562,500 — that had been allocated the last budget year.
“If they didn’t spend it in Category A, they simply moved the money to Category B,” which violates the funding agreement, Jadusingh said. Changes of more than 10% to a budget line item must be approved by the CRA, she said.
She told the board members that the CRA staff has requested canceled checks to prove how its money was spent.
In an email response to questions from The Coastal Star, Carli Brinkman, the former operators’ spokeswoman, wrote that the CRA has “requested information that far exceeds the scope that is relevant to the City’s financial involvement, which accounted for only 20% to 25% of our operations.”
Still, she wrote, “We are working hard to provide the requested relevant information and feel confident we can respond in a timely fashion.
“We think it is important that Delray Beach residents are aware that the same CRA that is withholding these funds, making claims of non-compliance and making request after request for more information from us, is run primarily by the very City officials that just terminated our lease and are being sued by us. These individuals already have a vested interest in seeing us exhaust our funds and resources so that we are no longer able to operate in any capacity as an organization.”
Not the case, insisted CRA board member Juli Casale. Under her questioning, Jadusingh agreed it was the OSSCA leaders who were “not cooperative.”
Casale also requested the CRA staff contact the federal Small Business Administration to request the documents that OSSCA provided to secure two payouts under the Paycheck Protection Program.
The OSSCA received a PPP loan for $309,709 in April 2020 that was later forgiven and a $283,095 loan in March 2021 that was not forgiven.
Casale wanted the CRA staff to compare the documents to determine that the payroll expenses were not covered both by the CRA and the federal programs. That would be “double-dipping,” Casale said.
CRA board member Angie Gray said, “The CRA is getting blamed for what’s going on at OSS. ... Why are we giving them (more time) when the (mismanagement) has been going on for years?”
The CRA board voted 6-0 to approve sending the deadline notice. Board member Ryan Boylston was absent.
The OSS campus carries a deed restriction. It must remain an arts and cultural center. If it does not, the property reverts to the Palm Beach County School District. The campus has five entertainment venues: the Field House, the Crest Theatre, the Creative Arts School, the Cornell Art Museum and the Pavilion.
In August, frustrated that their repeated requests for financial records from OSS managers had gone unanswered, the City Commission voted 3-2 to terminate the OSS lease. Mayor Shelly Petrolia, Shirley Johnson and Casale voted to end the lease. The decision prompted an unsuccessful, but heated and sometimes mean-spirited, public relations and social media campaign to force them to reconsider.
The city lease with the OSSCA operators ended Feb. 9. The scene on the last day was chaotic as the former operators moved belongings and sold old wooden desks and display cases. Concerned residents called the city to complain.
Delray Beach police “performed a security detail during the transition,” Chief Javaro Sims wrote in an email sent Feb. 18 by Ted White, police spokesman.

The city's spokesperson said the city made a photographic inventory last fall of city-owned items in the OSS buildings, according to an email sent Feb. 24.

Related Story: CRA demands financial records from departed Old School Square management

By Jane Smith

The Boca Raton Museum of Art is in talks to take over the operations of the Cornell Art Museum on the Delray Beach Old School Square campus.
City Manager Terrence Moore told commissioners March 1 that he is talking with the Boca museum about running the Cornell Art Museum for 18 months. The costs will be determined during the negotiations.
“I’ve had a challenging time containing my excitement and enthusiasm for this relationship,” Moore told the commission before introducing Irvin Lippman, executive director of the Boca Raton museum.
Lippman said he and his museum’s board were concerned that the Cornell Museum had been closed to the public.
“We decided to offer our assistance,” Lippman told the commission. “It will be a full partnership, not an annex of the Boca Raton museum.”
Lippman talked about the benefits of a partnership with a nationally accredited museum that must adhere to the highest budgeting and accounting standards, establishing a Delray Beach advisory board, and the possibility of creating an artist-in-residence program in Delray that could have a regional reach.
“It sounds very exciting,” said Mayor Shelly Petrolia. “We’re very pleased to have you here today.” On Feb. 24, Moore went to the Delray Beach Preservation Trust meeting, as part of his visits to all nonprofits in Delray Beach. He talked about the relationship between the Boca Raton museum and the Cornell.
“I have been to the Boca Raton museum for the past number of years,” said Sandy Zeller, a Preservation Trust executive board member who also sits on the city’s Planning & Zoning Board.
“I like how they expanded and was impressed with their Machu Picchu exhibit,” he said on Feb. 25. “It is of international quality, not just local artists showing their stuff.”
That exhibit features 192 artifacts from the royal tombs of the ancient Incan retreat of Machu Picchu in Peru. It also has a virtual reality upgrade that transports visitors to the site and its iconic facets, such as the Temple of the Sun.
The exhibit was featured in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Miami Herald newspapers. It has helped the Boca Raton Museum of Art triple its membership, Lippman said Feb. 27.
The Boca Raton museum board waited until the city’s lease ended with the old operators of OSS before contacting Moore. It did not want to get involved in the dispute between the city and the former operators.
“We met with him on Feb. 14 about running the Cornell,” Lippman said.
The Boca museum’s executive committee then met on Feb. 17 and approved “moving ahead with discussions to manage the Cornell Museum,” according to a Feb. 18 email from Lippman to Moore.
“We will come as an established institution with strong curatorial and marketing departments,” Lippman said.
The first thing the Boca museum would do is hire a full-time curator and set up an advisory committee, Lippman said. It would not take over the creative arts classes that are held in the Crest Theatre building. Renovations stopped there last summer amid a dispute between city officials and the former operators of OSS.
Lippman pointed out that the Boca Raton Museum of Art already has relationships with two Delray Beach nonprofit institutions, the Spady Cultural Heritage Museum and the Milagro Center.
Three of its board members either live or have businesses in Delray Beach, he said. About half of the Boca Raton museum members live in Delray Beach or Boynton Beach.
“It will never have Boca Raton in its name,” Lippman said of the Cornell. “It will have its own identity.”

Ray Steele, his wife, Lauren, and their son Ace get creative at the Selfie WRLD the family opened at Town Center mall. Photo provided

By Christine Davis

Pop-up selfie studios have gained popularity, and two of them have cropped up in south Palm Beach County. The venues give visitors opportunities to snap the perfect selfies with cameras, props and lighting.
The Studio at 411 E. Atlantic Ave., 200E, Delray Beach, opened about a year ago and is owned by Colleen Guglielmo, who enjoys photography. She has a finance background and is a full-time mom who is building a home in east Delray Beach.
She credits her kids for providing inspiration.
“I was in Miami with my youngest, Ava, 15, and her friends, and we came across the Miami Selfie Museum, and I thought that would be fantastic for Delray,” Guglielmo said.
She started bouncing ideas off Ava and Anthony, 19, as well as Faith, 17, and they came up with 25 photo backgrounds in four rooms and hallways in one location.
The clients’ ages and wishes are quite diverse, she said. “We’ve done everything from teen birthday parties to network and marketing events, to professional photographers coming in with models.”
Some favorite scenes include a “glow room,” first-class seats on a jet and a moon swing in front of a starry sky.
It’s all about lighting, angles, and having a fun time, which The Studio provides, Guglielmo said. Hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday to Friday and noon to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Prices range up to $28 an hour, and sessions must be booked in advance. To make a reservation, visit https://thestudiodelray.com.
In October, Ray Steele and his family opened Selfie WRLD Boca Raton, one of about 30 do-it-yourself photography studio franchises nationwide, at No. 1158 in Town Center mall.
Steele is an entrepreneur and real estate agent. His wife, Lauren, is a medical aesthetician and makeup artist who offers her services at the photo studio. Steele describes the business as a place where people of all ages can have fun and shoot great photos with phones or cameras.
“We walk each customer through how to set up their countdown timer on their cellphones, show them how to use our ring lights that provide professional lighting, and how to use the cellphone holders on our ring lights,” he said.
Selfie WRLD Boca Raton has 20 backgrounds for people to use in pictures and videos. They can take photos for holiday pictures and cards or make music videos; photographers can use the space for shoots.
People love the vibe, the music, and the look of the neon lights, Steele said. The cost is $29 for a one-hour session. People can make reservations, or they can walk in. Hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday. For more info, visit https://selfiewrldbocaraton.com.

***

Some big real estate deals — commercial, retail and multifamily — have been negotiated in the last two months in Delray Beach.
 630 Atlantic Investments LLC, managed by James Batmasian, paid $6.5 million for a retail and office building at 630 E. Atlantic Ave., according to public records dated Jan. 28. Thor Equities bought the building for $4.1 million in 2015, property records show.
Constructed in 1950 on 0.125 acres, the 9,819-square-foot building is fully leased, according to a Thor Equities spokesperson. Retailers include J&J Seafood Bar & Grill, Carolina Cigar, and Boru Poke & Boba, with offices upstairs.
Additionally, as reported by The Real Deal, James and Marta Batmasian’s company, Investments Ltd., bought a 1926-era, two-story retail and office building at 411 E. Atlantic Ave., for $18.5 million.
Babak Ebrahimzadeh, owner of Master Mind, held a land lease on the property, and Love 411 LLC, managed by Burton Handelsman, owned the property. The latter part of the transaction was recorded on Jan. 25, for $7.75 million.
Businesses in the fully leased building include The Wine Room Kitchen & Bar, Love Shack clothing store and Royal Bee medical spa on the ground floor, with a watch sales and repair firm and a photography studio occupying offices on the second floor.
“Atlantic Avenue is very hot and I’m very happy to make an investment there,” James Batmasian said. “We hope the street doesn’t collapse. There’s no parking, and that’s bad, but people are still patronizing the stores. Rents on Atlantic Avenue are high, but the businesses are doing well, so it’s all going in a positive direction.”
He said at this point he has no intention of making changes to the properties.

***

Ocean Breeze Apartments LLC bought the 60-unit Fall Ridge of Delray condominium complex, 1100 SW Fourth Ave., for $13.5 million, according to public records dated Jan. 20. The seller was B & H Delray, a Delaware LLC managed by Eyal Levy. Ocean Breeze Apartments LLC is managed by Gabriel Ormachea, president of Grand Capital, a Fort Lauderdale-based real estate investment company.
B & H Delray assembled the Fall Ridge of Delray condos in September 2013 in two separate deals, from Fall Ridge Unit Holdings LLC and Highland Land Co. LLC, for $1.482 million and $1.653 million respectively, records show.

***

The 32 members of the Greater Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce leads group, the Delray Beach Partners, set a record for collaboration during 2021, generating more than $167,000 of gross sales by doing business with one another or by referring their colleagues to other potential clients. 
Jan Kinder, the group’s chair, said: “Chamber leads groups allow members to develop strong relationships with their counterparts in a variety of other businesses. The friendship, trust and support that is cultivated among its members lends to business and personal growth for all involved.”
For more info, visit https://delraybusinesspartners.com. 

***

Katz & Associates, a retail real estate brokerage and advisory firm, announced promotions at its Boca Raton office. Roxanne Register, who focuses primarily on landlord representation, was promoted to senior vice president. Nicole Fontaine, David Eggnatz and Eric Spritz were promoted to vice president positions.

***

Florida Prepaid is offering its annual open enrollment, and families who purchase a 529 Prepaid Plan by April 30 can receive up to $500 to be used toward additional college expenses. All plans are guaranteed by the state of Florida. Families can use the online pricing tool to explore plans and payment options. To learn more, visit www.myfloridaprepaid.com.

***

Florida Atlantic University’s board of trustees unanimously approved a 10-year, facilities-use agreement with Bezos Academy, which will open a tuition-free, Montessori-inspired preschool for low-income families adjacent to FAU’s A.D. Henderson University School on the Boca Raton campus in fall 2022.
“It’s fitting that we are the first state university in Florida to host Bezos Academy since it directly aligns with FAU’s long history of providing the whole community access to an excellent education,” said Joel Herbst, Ed.D., superintendent and assistant dean of PK-12 Schools and Educational Programs at FAU.
“Considering their mission, I can’t conceive of a better partner than Bezos Academy for a preschool program on our campus.”
Bezos Academy will cover all the operating expenses for the preschool program at no cost to the families it serves. FAU’s colleges also will have opportunities to engage with the academy’s programming.

***

The League of Women Voters of Palm Beach County will host a Zoom event at 2 p.m. March 29, where author Tom Gabor will speak on the “Gun Crisis In Florida & America.”
The link to register is https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_UqGO4EksSLinXC3uH-5CAw

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

Zeebunisa (l-r), her niece Sana, 11, Karenat and her mother, Zeenat, gather at the Ocean Ridge home of Lynsey and Bobby Kane during a day trip from their temporary lodging in Miami. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Visit to Ocean Ridge helps young Afghan family cope with separation from elders

By Joe Capozzi

Even in the comfort and safety of an Ocean Ridge home, memories of her hasty departure from Afghanistan last August are still fresh for Zeebunisa.
“Insha allah,’’ she said, using the Pashto term for “God willing,” as she recounted the day a bomb exploded at the Kabul airport where her parents, siblings and other family members were trying to evacuate as U.S. forces withdrew from her native country.
The explosion killed 170 Afghans and 13 U.S. troops. Zeebunisa and her family were unharmed, but they were separated in the chaos.
She and some relatives boarded one of the few flights out of Afghanistan, but her parents and one brother didn't make it out.
“It was very scary,’’ she recalled as she relaxed one day in February with her host, Lynsey Kane, who befriended the sisters in November while delivering relief supplies to Afghan refugees.
For years, Zeebunisa's father, brother and uncle worked as translators for the U.S. military, making them Taliban targets.
She is confident they are alive and looks forward to the day when the family is reunited in the United States.
“Insha allah,’’ she said again, a term she used many times during an interview to show her appreciation.
Church World Service, a charitable group working with the U.S. government, was able to put Zeebunisa and other Afghan refugees into temporary housing in Miami. Volunteers like Kane have donated their time to try to make Zeebunisa and her family feel at home, mainly with weekly visits to Miami.

On Super Bowl Sunday afternoon, Kane opened her Inlet Cay home to Zeebunisa, 19, her artist sister Zeenat, 25, and four relatives for a four-hour visit. Another Afghan man living in the area brought traditional Afghan food.
In the kitchen, Zeenat showed off some of her oil paintings. A dining room table was set with traditional Afghan dishes — Kabuli pulao (with chicken instead of lamb), turkey meatballs and chalow (white rice).
“It’s beautiful here, and much warmer than Afghanistan,’’ said Zeebunisa, who speaks functional English, a language she practiced as a university student in Kabul. “My brother rides a bicycle. Sometimes we go to the beach.’’
The bicycle, one of many donated items, is also used to fetch groceries at a local Walmart. And Zeebunisa, who recently acquired a temporary work permit, is working on a résumé.
Aside from donating clothes and food and ferrying the family on errands around Miami, Kane has purchased art supplies for Zeenat, a talented mural and oil painting artist who has had a few commissions since arriving in South Florida.
Zeenat, who has been hearing impaired since childhood, hopes to display her work at art shows later this year.
During the interview, the sisters were polite and outgoing, smiling often and offering almost no hint of the emotional trauma they’ve endured since August. The Coastal Star is not using their surname in an effort to protect their family in Afghanistan.
“We are in a tough situation, coming to a new country and seeing a new culture,’’ Zeebunisa said, pausing to sign to her sister so she could follow the interview.
But, she added, “It was a big problem with the Taliban. If you worked for the (U.S.) government, your life was in danger.’’
Although the family is close, she said her parents insisted the young people get out, even if their elders could not.
“When the Taliban came, the most important thing for us was saving our lives,’’ she said.
“We have our two nieces. They came without their parents. The little one is 2 years old. She’s very young to be without her mom and dad.’’
She said she is confident the challenges she’s enduring now will help her when she continues with her goal of studying to become a lawyer.
Zeebunisa is in some ways much like any other South Florida teenager, with a love for the beach, a passion for movies and ambitious plans for the future.
But over the past six months, she has shouldered burdens usually handled by people much older. She is the main Miami caregiver for two younger siblings and one niece; the sign-language interpreter for Zeenat, and the de facto English-to-Pashto family translator in a place she never expected to be this time a year ago.
“Every young girl has her own ideas and hopes. I plan to finish my studies and be a good lawyer,’’ said Zeebunisa, who said she worked in Afghanistan for the UN’s International Organization for Migration.
She added, “I just want my family to be closer to me. It will take a long time. It should be easy to bring them here because, my parents, their lives are in danger.’’
Lindsay Hays Saraj, a close friend of the Kane family, said the two sisters have done a remarkable job under difficult circumstances.
“If they feel like they are in a safer environment, that they have more opportunities and can flourish to be the persons they want to be, that’s the best part of what this is about, and I am so happy they got out. Here they can contribute to society without restriction in a way they couldn’t there,’’ said Hays Saraj, who runs the public relations agency Hays Grace.
“That said, there is hardship. With such a quick evacuation, they didn’t have time for preparation and now that they’re here they have to absorb so many things in a small amount of time. But they seem very determined. I think they want to do their best and I think they’re going to be OK.’’

Anyone interested in purchasing Zeenat’s art can email Kane at kanelynsey@gmail.com.

Susan Mullin and Kathie Walker, co-chairwomen of the event to benefit the Delray Beach summer camp, flank honorary chairs Kirsten and Tom Stanley. Photo provided by Jenny Mullin

By Amy Woods

Susan Mullin’s involvement with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County dates to 22 years ago when her husband, Michael, joined its corporate board of directors.
Mullin, from Delray Beach, will bring that experience to her job as co-chairwoman of the Be Great Celebration Dinner on March 10.
“We are looking forward to a wonderful dinner with all of our friends and supporters after two years of not having the event,” said Mullin, noting that it benefits the Delray Beach club’s summer camp program. “I’m happy to be a part of the worthwhile organization that continues to do so much for our children in the community.”
The dinner — absent earlier in the pandemic — will recognize the achievements of the club’s Youth of the Year, 17-year-old Aryatha Dornezon, and will feature a violin performance by members under the direction of The Symphonia.
The evening will commence with a cocktail party, include a fancy dinner and end with a live auction. Several guest speakers will address the audience. The goal is to raise $180,000.
“We live in an area that is nothing but fun and sun and really wonderful things, and right across the railroad tracks there is a high need in our community,” Mullin said. “This world is full of less-fortunate people right now, and hopefully Delray is becoming more aware of it.”
Summer camp runs from 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. weekdays May 31 through Aug. 5. Children receive two hot meals and a snack, plus they are taken on various field trips. Many families cannot afford to pay for their sons and daughters to attend.
“The issue is that we’re nonprofit, and we’re not in it to make money, but we need to cover expenses,” said Eric Roby, vice president of corporate partnerships and marketing for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County.
Roby said a donation of $1,000 will send one child to summer camp and fund the cost of the field trips; a $10,000 donation takes care of 10 children.
“It is our mission to make sure that every child is able to reach their full potential,” he said. “By supporting an event like this, you’re able to do your part to make sure there’s more of an even playing field in our community.”

If You Go
What: Be Great Celebration Dinner
When: 6-9:30 p.m. March 10
Where: Quail Ridge, 3715 Golf Road, Boynton Beach
Cost: $225
Information: 561-683-3287 or https://bgcpbc.org

Steven Bernstein and his daughter Abby Rose Bernstein Henderson. Photo provided

By Amy Woods

Boca Raton resident Steven Bernstein has made a $1 million gift to “Keeping the Promise — The Campaign for Boca Raton Regional Hospital.”
Bernstein’s contribution emanates from the Bernstein Family Foundation, which he runs with his daughter, Abby Rose Bernstein Henderson, and brings the total funds raised through the initiative to more than $215 million.
“We are delighted to welcome Steven Bernstein and the Bernstein Family Foundation to our treasured group of Keeping the Promise donors,” hospital CEO Lincoln Mendez said. “This is the Bernstein Family Foundation’s first gift to Boca Regional, and we are eternally grateful it comes in the midst of our largest ever capital campaign and the most significant campus initiative in our history.”
The ambulance entrance to the emergency room will be named in the foundation’s honor.
“The Bernstein Family Foundation prides itself on supporting local charities and is excited to help fund the expansion of Boca Raton Regional Hospital,” Bernstein said. “We believe the hospital upgrades will enhance the quality of medical services provided to our community.”
For more information, call 561-955-4142 or visit https://donate.brrh.com.

Dream Makers milestone: 10,000 beds provided
In five years of serving Palm Beach and Broward counties, the nonprofit Sweet Dream Makers has now distributed more than 10,000 beds at no cost to families in need.
The bed sets each include a new mattress, mattress protector, box spring, bed frame, bedding, comforter and fresh pillows. As a result, nearly 5,000 recipient families are better rested and more prepared to face the day.
“Families experience bedlessness for a variety of reasons, and each family has their own story,” says a news release from the group. “Some of these causes include co-sleeping, housing placement after being homeless, sleeping on an air mattress or blanket, surviving domestic abuse, mold or unsanitary conditions, eviction, cribs needed for a baby due soon or the economic strain of buying new beds.”
For more information, call 561-571-7363 or visit https://sweetdreammakers.org.

Send news and notes to Amy Woods at flamywoods@bellsouth.net. 

The 12th annual fundraiser for the Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County generated $65,000 for programs that will help children and adults succeed in school and life. More than 400 bicyclists, runners and walkers joined 200-plus donors and sponsors in supporting the popular event.

ABOVE: (l-r) Coalition CEO Kristin Calder with Steve and Lori Leveen.

Photo provided by Tracey Benson Photography

The sold-out audience at LIFE’s 28th annual event was treated to performances by legendary singer Dionne Warwick, entertainers Billy Davis Jr. and Marilyn McCoo and comedian Rita Rudner. More than $1.5 million was raised for Pups4Patriots and Lois’ Food4Kids. ’ Everything that we have achieved with the Lady in Red Gala over 28 years — all the lives we have touched for the better, the difference we have made in helping disabled veterans, impoverished and hungry children, in saving dogs and cats, and so much more — is because of you and your generosity, empathy, friendship and commitment,’ event chairwoman Lois Pope said.

ABOVE: (l-r) Robin Ganzert, Pope and Marti LaTour.

RIGHT: Dr. Peter and Simone Bonutti. Photos provided by Capehart

The Highland Beach chapter of UNICO National donated $10,000 to Love Serving Autism, a nonprofit that works through the sport of tennis to reach children on the spectrum. Founder and former pro player Lisa LaCroix proudly accepted the first check, totaling $2,500, of the service organization’s pledge.

ABOVE: (l-r) LaCroix, chapter President Giulia Merklein and Love Serving Autism outreach coordinator Alexis Broussard. Photo provided

Roberto Coin jewelry, in partnership with Hamilton Jewelers and Purist magazine, honored Audrey Gruss, founder and chairwoman of the Hope for Depression Research Foundation, during an afternoon of shopping and sipping to raise funds for the nonprofit’s mission — delving into the origins, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of depression and related disorders. Gruss founded the organization in 2006 in memory of her mother, Hope, who suffered from the illness. To date, Gruss has helped direct more than $40 million to 125-plus research grants.

ABOVE: (l-r) Cristina Cuomo, Peter Webster and Beatrice Rabassa. Photo provided by Nick Mele Photography

Miami-based chef and restaurateur Michelle Bernstein mentored Lindsay Autry, now executive chef at The Regional in West Palm Beach. Photos provided

A growing number of establishments are owned and led by females

By Jan Norris

Professional kitchens have come a long way since the 1970s when women were making small inroads into the male-dominated culinary field.
Although the changes followed those in other patriarchal industries, cracking the centuries-old kitchen batteries led by stereotypical angry male chefs was different, according to Miami chef and restaurateur Michelle Bernstein.
Bernstein, who hosts the PBS show Check, Please! South Florida and owns MB Catering, knows the challenges very well. Women’s places in the hospitality industry and entrepreneurship will be the focus of her talk as the keynote speaker at a luncheon sponsored the Jewish Women’s Foundation of the Greater Palm Beaches.
The second annual Investing in Women luncheon is March 9 at the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach.
Bernstein, who opened the restaurant at the former Omphoy resort in Palm Beach — now the Tideline — is frank about her experiences as a woman breaking into the culinary world when females were generally relegated to serving positions. There were very few executive woman chefs as role models.
“It isn’t easy,” she said. “But I can’t think of anything else I’d have done. I’ve been doing this for 30 years — since culinary school. I don’t look backward. Never, ever once did I reconsider or thought maybe I should think about doing something else.”
Because of the pandemic and a brief shutdown, she got “a little glimpse of a life.” She experienced what a “normal” working woman’s life looks like, with time to have girlfriends to hang out with over dinner, or enjoy Hanukkah at home with her family, she said.
Being a chef, “I missed out on that. COVID is the first time I stopped, and made girlfriends. I was loving it.”
The independent kitchen was a rough place. Along with scrutiny and sexual harassment from coworkers, she was taunted with bets made against her success. “‘You’re too Jewish, too little, too weak,’ they said. ‘You can’t do it.’”
She proved them wrong.
“It lit a fire in me. Thanks to all those schmucks, all those insults and constant tests, I actually grew into someone bigger. I became a strong person.
“I took the BS the first three-quarters of my life. I was the demure, want-to-please person who went along. I was pushed and bullied to the point I asked, ‘Why not me? Why can’t I?’” she said.
Instead of becoming a “sour grapes” worker, which she said she saw a lot of among other women, she decided she would not be bitter.
She had given up a promising ballet career for the kitchen, and as on stage, she knew “a lot of angry people who never made it. I never wanted to be that way. I’m a happy person — a very patient one at that.
“I said, ‘You’re going to be a strong, amazing woman. I’m not going to take shit. I’m not going to use all this anger and bitterness against them. Who would want to work for these women?’”
She gained confidence and experience working as one of several females for renowned chef Jean-Louis Palladin in Washington, D.C. He helped her realize the dream of becoming an executive chef and restaurant owner.
She found national fame after opening Azul in Miami in 2001, and won the prestigious James Beard Best Chef South award in 2008, cementing her place among the pros.
Since then, she has opened her own award-winning Michy’s, and now has Cafe La Trova, La Cañita and Sweet Liberty, all in Miami.
She plans to open two fast casuals in the coming months, Michy’s Chicken Shack and Luncheria, both in downtown Miami.
Investing in Women luncheon, 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. March 9 at the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach. 561-275-2200 or https://jwfpalmbeach.org/iiw2022.

Lindsay Autry
Bernstein is proud of all the chefs, both women and men, whom she’s mentored and who’ve found their own success. They include Lindsay Autry at The Regional in West Palm Beach, and Timon Balloo at his new restaurant, The Katherine, in Fort Lauderdale.
“I’m humbled they call me their mentor. They have surpassed me a long time ago,” Bernstein said.
Autry as an executive chef still looks up to Bernstein, however. “She’s like a big sister to me. I got to see how to handle it, and she taught me how to manage it.”
She also remembers a day when female chefs were scarce. “There were only two of us girls at Azul — me and Michelle,” she said. She knew of only a few women’s names that were associated with high-end kitchens — Cindy Hutson and Hedy Goldsmith, a noted pastry chef.
“Our industry is starting to evolve,” Autry said. “There are a lot more females in the kitchen now.”
But there’s still a puzzle to solve: “We need to figure it out — how to be a mom and a chef. It is hard,” Autry said.
She has a 2-year-old and must find ways to spend quality time with him yet still run a restaurant.
“For me, the hardest part about myself is myself. I’m always terrified something’s going to go wrong if I’m not there. If I take one night off a week, someone’s going to ask for me and wonder why the chef isn’t there,” Autry said. “The diners expect the chef to always be there. I used to be there seven days a week.”
She’s seeing the attitude change, but said, “It has to be more forgiving for everyone.”
For example, the people coming back to work after having time off during the pandemic are asking for better hours and work conditions.
“I’m proud of them for doing that — asking for it,” Autry said. “We need to find a new way to work our staff. They don’t deserve to have to work 80 hours a week.”
More women than ever before are applying as kitchen workers, she said. “I have five women out of 12. It’s a lot more balanced than it’s ever been.”

Suzanne Perrotto owns the Brulee and Rose’s Daughter in Delray.

Suzanne Perrotto

Perrotto, chef and owner of the Brulee and Rose’s Daughter restaurants in Delray Beach, is the daughter of a female chef and grew up in the business, yet even her father was against her running a kitchen, she said.
“He told me I’d never make it. He said the only reason my mother made it was because of him.”
Like Bernstein, she says all the challenges made her a better chef.
“Those days were interesting,” Perrotto said. “I experienced issues on several occasions. It got ugly. I got pushback in all the kitchens, but especially in French kitchens.”
But, she said, she always found a positive person to encourage her and make her feel worthy. “I was always a positive person in the kitchen. I was the harder worker. I had to make sure my knife skills were perfect, all my work was better.
“They doubted me at first: They’d throw down a whole fish, assumed I didn’t have a sharp enough knife. They’d watch you, and I’d break it down perfectly, then they were like, ‘Oh, OK.’”
Respect eventually came. “It all made me a better chef. I love to say that in the end, it was all worth it.”
Still, Perrotto would like to see the culture change more. As a single mom, having a family and still working every night in the kitchen made her aware of how hard it is to balance a culinary career and a family.
“I always lived close to my son’s school. But I was the only single mom in culinary school. Later, as a chef, I’d show up at my son’s soccer game after plating 800 salads, then go back to the restaurant to oversee desserts. It was definitely a challenge,” Perrotto said.
Her son now works with her in the kitchen. She has turned into a mentor and brings in young cooks for proper culinary training they don’t get in fast-food jobs. They’re then able to go out on their own and get other restaurant jobs that help them grow.
Challenges from the pandemic are nothing Perrotto can’t handle. “Our profit margin has shrunk,” she said, “But we’re still standing.”

Lisabet Summa runs Elisabetta’s in Delray and is a partner in Big Time Restaurant Group.

Lisabet Summa
Like the others, Summa is a testament to a strong work ethic and self-confidence that comes with experience and maturity. She says she’s had them all along, and that has made a difference.
“I’ve been cooking since I was 19. I’m 61,” Summa said. “Running restaurants and being a chef has been a really great career for me.”
She’s executive chef and co-owner of Elisabetta’s in Delray and partner in Big Time Restaurant Group, which also includes Louie Bossi’s, City Cellar, City Oyster, Grease Burger Bar and Big City Tavern.
She did not find that being the only female in the kitchen ever handicapped her. “My experience was a little bit different. It was very positive. I was lucky: I wasn’t perceived as being inadequate by being a female. I wasn’t exposed to gender adversity as much as others.”
She says people have told her, “You’re a high performer, highly intelligent, people knew not to mess with you.”
Yet Summa admits she’s had to try harder as a woman, “But that’s true in any profession. Most work environments have been a part of patriarchy.”
Today’s women in business are emboldened, she said. “Young women are fierce, enlightened, educated and bold. They are not demure.”
Men have changed, too, especially since the ’70s, Summa says. “The younger generation of men are more aware and enlightened.”
The new women coming to kitchens have been exposed to healthier lifestyles and seen the farm-to-table and artisan food movements along with social changes. And they’re willing to push to have both career and family, Summa said.
“Women shouldn’t have to make a choice between having a family and working as an executive chef. There has to be systemic change.”
She says nighttime child care is one change that women in culinary are pushing for today. “Women feel they have options. They are prioritizing career and happiness in everyday life.”

***

Feeding South Florida’s 2022 culinary training and warehouse training programs have been announced. The culinary training is a 12-week program led by chef Lindsay Autry. Graduates will be placed in jobs in area restaurants. The warehouse training enables graduates to move to warehouse work elsewhere.
Contact Feeding South Florida in Boynton Beach at 561-331-5441 for more info.

Jan Norris is a food writer who can be reached at nativefla@gmail.com

By Joyce Reingold

Sharon L’Herrou’s voice breaks when she tells the story:
“I’m just sitting at my desk and I get a call from a mom. I don’t even know how she got my number. But she called me and said, ‘I just wanted you to know that my son is alive today because of you and your team. He called in the middle of the night. I didn’t even know anything was going on until the call, and he would’ve been dead. But he is OK. We got him to the hospital. You guys saved his life. I’m still a mom today because of you.’”
He had dialed 211, a helpline, hotline, lifeline.
“It chokes me up every single time that I think about her voice when she talked about her son and how she almost lost him,” says L’Herrou, who is president and CEO of 211 Palm Beach/Treasure Coast, which was founded in 1971 as a drug hotline and has grown to offer crisis counseling, suicide prevention, information and referrals.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says suicide is the 10th-leading cause of death in the United States, and the second-leading cause of death for people between the ages of 10 and 34.
Last year in Palm Beach County, the 211 Helpline received close to 50,000 requests for help; 604 of them were suicide-related. 211 has highly trained resource specialists available 24/7 to provide confidential crisis intervention and connect people to vital resources.
“One person’s crisis may not seem like a crisis to another person,” L’Herrou says. “We’ve gotten calls from teenagers who are actively suicidal because their boyfriend or girlfriend is breaking up with them. So, depending on the situation … they may actively say, ‘I am thinking about killing myself,’ or they may say something that’s a little more vague like, ‘I just wish I wouldn’t wake up in the morning.’
“We are going to ask them some questions about that and talk to them about where they are with the goal of deescalating and keeping them safe. … Our primary goal is to help them live through that day. So, we’re not necessarily thinking longer term in that moment.”
During the call, the resource specialist will try to extract a promise that the caller isn’t going to harm himself, L’Herrou explains.
“We say, ‘We want to talk to you again tomorrow. Can I call you again tomorrow?’ And then if we get that permission, and we know that they have promised to stay safe, we’ll follow up with them the next day, and maybe even a few days later. We can follow up several more times to the point where they may then be willing to talk with us about ongoing supports and services, which we will do in a follow-up call.”
L’Herrou says quite a few support options are available in Palm Beach County, including counseling and therapy services that are offered free or on a sliding scale. Support groups are another possibility.
“There are support groups for different populations that are facing specific stressors. It’s been commonly talked about recently that people in LGBTQ community have higher instances of challenges with mental health and suicidal thoughts. Our veterans are a group that have higher rates of suicide. In fact, on our team, we’ve added two veteran peers to work with veterans specifically,” she says.
And we can all try to prevent suicide by becoming better educated and improving our awareness.
“Everyone has a role to play to save lives and create healthy and strong individuals, families and communities,” the CDC says.
L’Herrou fervently agrees.
“I think that there are so many things we can do and honestly, at its most basic level, what we have to do is just remember to care about each other. Really, really just care about each other. We have to step back a little bit from some of our harsh viewpoints … that lead us to be maybe a little bit harder on our neighbors and our colleagues and our friends.
“And to remember that we don’t know what’s going on with people under the surface. So, if we can just start from a place of caring, that’s huge,” she says.
“And then, for the people that we’re close to, if we can be there for one another, check on each other, make sure that we are reaching out to the friend that maybe we haven’t heard from in a while. … The human touch is the most important thing of all.
“And that’s why the work that we do is so valuable, because it’s one human talking to another. Sometimes people who are thinking about suicide say … and this chokes me up, ‘No one cares if I live or die, no one cares.’ And so, when they reach out to us, our team is able to say, ‘I care, I am talking to you right now. And I care.’”

Joyce Reingold writes about health and healthy living. Send column ideas to joyce.reingold@yahoo.com.

How to get help
If you or someone you know might be at risk of suicide, dial 2-1-1 or text your ZIP code to 898211.
The 211 Helpline can be reached 24/7/365 for support. Online chat is available from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. Visit www.211PalmBeach.org/get-help-now, or www.211TreasureCoast.org/get-help-now, or email help@211pbtc.org.
Calls to the 211 Helpline are free and confidential.

Warning signs
People may need help if they are:

• Talking about wanting to die or to kill themselves
• Looking for a way to kill themselves, like searching online or buying a gun
• Talking about feeling hopeless or having no reason to live
• Talking of feeling trapped or in unbearable pain
• Talking about being a burden to others
• Using alcohol or drugs more often
• Acting anxious or agitated; behaving recklessly
• Sleeping too little or too much
• Withdrawing or isolating themselves
• Showing rage or talking about seeking revenge
• Having extreme mood swings

Source: National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

By Christine Davis

Baptist Health South Florida Foundation announced the promotion of Barbara James to vice president of development and development support. 
James will continue to lead the foundation’s philanthropic efforts and be responsible for its corporate philanthropy partners program, research and prospect management efforts and systemwide events team. 
James holds a BA in English and business management from Christian Brothers University and Lean Six Sigma and fundraising certifications from the University of California, Irvine. Additionally, she has completed management and leadership coursework at Western Governors University.
She is a member of Palm Health Foundation’s board of trustees and serves on the board of the Palm Beach County Medical Society. She is a member of Impact the Palm Beaches and Impact 100 Palm Beach County, the International Women’s Forum Palm Beach and Forum Club of the Palm Beaches.

***

Boca Raton-based JFS at Home, a nonprofit licensed home-health agency that is affiliated with Ruth & Norman Rales Jewish Family Services, has entered into a new partnership with Toby & Leon Cooperman Sinai Residences, a continuing care residential community in Boca Raton.
Through the partnership, JFS at Home now offers 24-hour licensed nursing support for independent living residents at Sinai Residences.
“Our mission is to promote healthy aging and we look forward to ensuring that the residents we support continue to live independently with the added security of our trusted and compassionate nurses,” said Marissa Gordon, administrator for JFS at Home.
For more info, visit https://jfshome.org.

***

As part of Florida Atlantic University’s Stiles-Nicholson Brain Institute’s “Brainy Days of 2022: A Celebration of Neuroscience,” several events are scheduled this month. The presentations and lectures aim to educate the public about the importance of brain research and wellness and reducing the stigma associated with brain disorders. Among the events:
• On March 15, author John Marzluff will speak about his book Gifts of the Crow at Spanish River Library in Boca Raton.
• On March 25, the Diversity in Science Festival will be hosted by NeuroSquad and Neuroscience Student Organization at FAU’s Boca campus.
• On March 31, a talk on “The Past, Present and Future of Alzheimer’s Prevention” will be presented by Richard Isaacson, M.D., at the Spanish River Library.  
For more information, contact Nicole Baganz, director of community engagement and programming for the Stiles-Nicholson Brain Institute, at  BI-outreach@fau.edu or 561-799-8100. 

***

Sollis Health, a 24/7 members-only VIP medical service, plans to open a flagship location at 324 Royal Palm Way, Palm Beach, this month. The 4,000-square-foot space, staffed with ER physicians, will offer an alternative to hospital emergency rooms and public urgent-care facilities.
It will serve medical needs from ear infections to coronavirus testing, IV infusions, stitches and EKGs. It will be equipped with labs and advanced diagnostic imaging capabilities, including MRI, CT, ultrasound and X-ray. 
Individual pricing for Sollis Health memberships starts at $3,000 per year. Membership includes unlimited access to all Sollis Health medical centers, 24/7 consultations with physicians, telemedicine, plus expedited appointments and referrals and amenities such as house calls and travel medicine.

Performers in the B’nai Torah Congregation concert series include (belowt) Israeli singer Noa accompanied by Gil Dor; and (above) pianist Guy Mintus. The four-show series will be at the congregation in Boca Raton. Photos provided

By Janis Fontaine

B’nai Torah Congregation announced the return of the synagogue’s popular concert series for the 29th year. The 2022 Concert Series will include four live, in-person performances in the sanctuary at B’nai Torah Congregation, 6261 SW 18th St., Boca Raton. A virtual option will also be offered. Tickets are $25-$75 for members and $36-$100 for non-members. Call 561-392-8566.
The live performances scheduled are:
• Noa accompanied by Gil Dor — 7:30 p.m. March 9. Noa is an Israeli singer, songwriter, poet, composer, percussionist, speaker and activist who has released 15 albums with her longstanding musical collaborator Gil Dor.
• Boaz Davidoff with cantor Magda Fishman — 7:30 p.m. March 22. The congregation’s former cantor returns.
• Pianist Guy Mintus with Fishman — 7:30 p.m. March 30. This young performer has been described as “George Gershwin meets the Great Israeli songbook.”
• The New York Cantors — 7:30 p.m. April 5. A presentation of the PBS program featuring Yanky Lemmer, Netanel Hershtik and Chaim Dovid Berson, three of the world’s most highly acclaimed cantors, in a concert of Jewish sacred and secular music.

St. Vincent Ferrer to have raffle to support school
St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church in Delray Beach canceled its annual Parish Festival fundraiser this year because of road work that would have made it difficult and dangerous for people to attend. But the festival is the main fundraiser for St. Vincent Ferrer school, so the leaders found a solution: a raffle. A big one.
The grand prize is $25,000. Second place gets $5,000 and third place $2,000. Tickets are $100. The drawing will take place April 27. Get tickets at www.stvincentferrer.com. Click on “Giving.”

Progressive dinner set for St. Gregory’s
St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church, 100 NE Mizner Blvd., Boca Raton, will hold its 2022 progressive dinner March 12. The theme is “Fabulous Building, Fabulous Dining,” with your choice of culinary journeys inspired by the world’s most famous sites, including the Eiffel Tower, the Pyramids of Giza, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Opera de Paris and Machu Picchu.
The festive event begins with wine, champagne and hors d’oeuvres at 5:30 p.m., followed by dinner at 7 p.m. and dessert at 9:30 p.m. Tickets are $125 per person and must be purchased by March 6, available at www.eventbrite.com.
An alternative to make arrangements is to call 561-702-6964 or 561-302-2351, or email arely@coxpartners.com or andimo31@gmail.com.

Love Delray event needs more volunteers
Love Delray, a quarterly volunteer initiative, takes place March 19. Volunteers from local churches participate in community projects, but more volunteers are needed.
Volunteers will meet at 8:15 a.m. at Trinity Lutheran Church, 400 N. Swinton Ave., in the courtyard for a brief prayer, fellowship and coffee and light snacks.
Projects this quarter include outdoor work like helping clean and replant the Delray Beach Children’s Garden and indoor jobs like helping Forgotten Soldiers Outreach sort and pack toiletries or write notes of encouragement and cards to troops.
To register, go to https://lovedelray.com and pick the project you want to help with.
For more information, email Allison@theavechurch.com or call 561-901-1302.

Legacy Polo Brunch for the Fuller Center
The Fuller Center Foundation will host the second annual Legacy Polo Brunch on March 13 to support the Fuller Center in Boca Raton, which has provided under-resourced children with educational opportunities for more than 50 years.
A private reception starts at 1 p.m. with a champagne brunch at 2 p.m., followed by the USPA Gold Cup polo match at 3 p.m. at the International Polo Club Palm Beach, 3667 120th Ave. S., Wellington.
Tickets are $275 per person. Attire is polo chic, and hats are encouraged. Call 561-391-7274, ext. 134 or email alagerstrom@ffcdc.org for more information.

Bill exempts houses of worship from shutdowns
Under a bill approved in January by the Florida Senate, churches and other religious institutions would not have to turn congregants away during future emergencies and will be treated like businesses. The Senate voted 31-3 to approve Senate Bill 254, which says if businesses are allowed to stay open, churches and synagogues can’t be directly or indirectly prevented from conducting services or activities.
The House has a similar bill in the works.
The new rule would apply not only to a pandemic, but any other emergency, lawmakers said. Of course, churches could still follow mandates of local dioceses.

Environmental analysts Antonio Rodriguez and Victoria Strange look at an insect in the midst of a saw palmetto, one of the dominant scrub area plants.  Photos by Joe Capozzi/The Coastal Star

By Joe Capozzi

For nature lovers, Palm Beach County’s best-kept secret might be a 36-acre oasis of wilderness surrounded by an industrial park, police station, public health facility, ballfields and residential homes on the north end of Lantana.
The Lantana Scrub Natural Area, tucked inside a densely populated area between Interstate 95 and U.S. 1, would seem like an easy place to reach. But getting there is part of the adventure.
The newest of the county’s 34 natural areas, the Lantana Scrub has no parking lot. Eight parking spaces will be designated later this year at the Palm Beach County Public Health Department parking lot off Southwinds Drive, which borders the Lantana Scrub’s southwest boundary. 
For now, visitors can access a half-mile hiking trail and maintenance roads by entering two public maze gates, at the northeast and southeast corners of the property. There is no designated parking at those entrances, either. And the maze gates, open to the public from sunrise to sunset, are tucked away from the road. 
The gates are fairly easy to find if you have a little patience and determination. At both entrances, noise emanates from trucks coming and going from a Waste Management Recycling Center on Hillbrath Drive.
Once you are on the interior paths, all signs of the busy urban surroundings give way to the peace and solitude of towering scrub pine trees, lush silver and green saw palmettos and tweeting songbirds. 

Fallen trees, like this one near a path, are left to naturally decompose in county-managed natural areas like Lantana Scrub.

Formerly part of the now closed A.G. Holley State Hospital property, the Lantana natural area is named for its Florida scrub and scrubby flatwoods, home to Florida rosemary, powder-puff lichen and hog plum. 
Wildlife includes gopher tortoises, Eastern Phoebe songbirds, red-bellied woodpeckers, golden-winged skimmer dragonflies and raptors like osprey, Cooper’s hawk and swallow-tailed kite.
The only reminders of civilization are the faint buzzing of airplanes taking off from the nearby Lantana airport. 
“It’s a great start. I want to see more of this,’’ Abbe Gleicher of Boynton Beach said on a recent Lantana Scrub tour guided by analysts with the county’s Environmental Resources Management Department.
“Every area needs nature. Nature decreases anxiety and increases a sense of well-being and health,’’ she said.
The Lantana Scrub is owned by the state, which has leased it to the county since 2012 for an annual $300 fee. Before the county started preparing it as a natural area, the site historically had been used as a homeless encampment. 
The maze gates, with information kiosks, were added in 2018. Hiking trails were cut in 2020. The county is waiting on additional signage before designating the eight parking spaces at the health department later this year. 
“This is a really cool site. It’s very intact considering how much development surrounds it,’’ said Victoria Strange, an ERM analyst. 
Abundant flowering tillandsia, dancing lady orchids and air plants can be found in the open scrub of the eastern half, just west of the Lantana Sports Complex. 
The dancing lady orchids were introduced to the site by Pine Jog Environmental Education Center.
“There’s a lot of wildlife that uses this little fragment, too, because there’s nothing else in the area until you get to Hypoluxo,” the scrub area about 2 miles south, Strange said.
“There’s a bunch of predatory birds. There’s a Cooper’s hawk nesting pair that is very active on site. An osprey comes here with his fish and hangs out with his fish on the snags’’ of the scrub pine, she said. 
ERM’s recent tour of Lantana Scrub highlighted some of the natural area’s tiniest inhabitants — insects, from silver garden spiders to ox beetles.
“It’s kind of like bird- watching,’’ said ERM analyst Antonio Rodriguez, who used his i-Naturalist app to identify the diverse invertebrates. 
“It’s pretty fun to collect a whole bunch of different species, to say you’ve seen it.’’

If You Go
What: Lantana Scrub Natural Area
Where: Adjacent to the Lantana/Lake Worth Health Center at Andrew Redding Road and Southwinds Drive.
Open: Sunrise to sunset; no designated parking, accessible by pedestrian traffic only.
For more information: https://discover.pbcgov.org/erm/NaturalAreas/Lantana-Scrub.aspx

Toni Cvetko is chairwoman of Art in Bloom, set for March 4-5. Garden club members create floral arrangements based on students’ artwork. Here she is at the 2019 show. Photo provided

This is the third in a series on five local garden clubs.

By Jan Engoren

Think a green thumb and a basic knowledge of plants are prerequisites to becoming a member of a garden club?
Not so, says Lorelei Wolff, co-president of the Boynton Beach Garden Club along with Delray Beach resident Toni Cvetko. The two are friends from New Jersey and past members of a junior woman’s club there.
“It’s a misconception to think that you need to have a knowledge of plants to join the Boynton Beach Garden Club,” Wolff says. “I knew nothing about gardening before I joined. But, I had an interest.”
The club, which began in 1938 with its first president, Bertha Chadwell, is open to all and members do not have to live in Boynton Beach.
The club, which had 44 members as of February, was founded to encourage home and civic beautification. Those goals still stand, but have widened in scope to include more environmental and conservation issues.
Expanding the knowledge of gardening, cultivating an appreciation of floral arts and realizing beautification efforts in the community are all part of the mission. Over the past two years of the coronavirus pandemic, the club has been meeting by Zoom.
One of the club’s earliest projects, in 1952, was to create a proper cemetery for residents. That year, the club turned the cemetery over to the city. Another project in the early years was to plant trees, including the now 65-year-old kapok tree that stood in front of the Boynton Beach High School on Ocean Avenue until it was uprooted and replanted across the street three years ago, as part of the city’s redevelopment plan.
Before it was known as Federal Highway, Route 1 was the only highway to run up the eastern coast. When it was widened and renamed Federal Highway, the Garden Club planted and maintained 2 full miles of the road.
In 2017, Cvetko saw a program the club was having about orchids and wanted to learn more.
“I thought — why not try it?” she remembers.
Before joining the club, Cvetko had no plants on her lanai. As a full-fledged member and co-president, she now has 15 plants thriving on her patio, including a spider plant, a ponytail palm tree in a pot and seven blooming orchids.
The current programming theme is “Go Wild, Go Native!” — as in using wildflowers and opting for native plants whenever possible.
Some outgrowths of that philosophy are the Butterfly Garden the club members created and maintain at the Schoolhouse Children’s Museum on Ocean Avenue; the memorial garden they planted at the High Point Condominiums where they hold meetings; and the community garden where they planted firebush, milkweed, elderberry, blue porterweed and the club’s flower, the allamanda, at Northwest Sixth Avenue and Seacrest Boulevard, on a plot the city donated in 2018. Last year, the club added orchids to the mix. Wolff gives credit to the city and its mayor for their encouragement.
“Mayor Steven Grant has been very supportive of our efforts,” says Wolff.
The club also does philanthropic work with the Rustic Retreat Retirement Home on Federal Highway, maintains the Blue Star marker on Federal and is a member of the Mounts Botanical Garden.
In January the club held one of its main fundraising events — a potluck lunch and auction — at Sterling Village condominiums.
On March 4-5, the club will host one of its signature events, the annual Art in Bloom, a Boston tradition that began at the Museum of Fine Arts 40 years ago. The event is replicated in Boynton Beach every March at the Schoolhouse Museum.
Art in Bloom, of which Cvetko is chairwoman, invites garden club members to create floral arrangements based on the works of student artists from Poinciana Elementary School. The arrangements are then judged in a variety of categories, including best use of color, best use of texture, best interpretation of the art as well as a category for people’s choice.
Cvetko lists a few other characteristics that make the club distinct. The monthly newsletter includes informative columns including one titled, “Ask AMI,” which stands for Any Member Interested.  
“It’s an opportunity to get advice from the collective wisdom of our fellow BBGC members,” she says.
Another column, “The Culinary Gardener,” details information on an herb, then includes several recipes using that herb.
“The Butterfly Corner” column provides detailed information about butterflies and how to make sure that they have the necessary plants and flowers to thrive.
“Joining the Boynton Beach Garden Club is a great learning experience,” Cvetko says. “You have the chance to learn from every chairperson and committee member.
“You get the opportunity to go places such as the McKee Botanical Garden in Vero Beach and the Heathcote Botanical Gardens in Fort Pierce, and do things you might not ordinarily do,” she says. “I’ve created so many friendships and met so many interesting people and learned how to garden all at the same time.”

For more information, visit the club on Facebook or at boyntonbeachgardenclub.org.

Art in Bloom
Where: Schoolhouse Children’s Museum, 129 E. Ocean Ave., Boynton Beach.
Evening reception: 5-7 p.m. March 4, desserts and refreshments included. Free.
Art display: 10 a.m.-4 p.m. March 5. Entry is free. Admire the artworks and vote for the people’s choice honor.
More info: 908-757-0116 or 561-742-6780

Mia Bonutti, a senior at Oxbridge Academy in West Palm Beach, stands inside the 30-foot camper she renovated for her independent study project, which allowed her to tackle a real-life topic of interest. She hopes to donate the RV to an organization that will use it to house homeless people. Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Janis Fontaine

Mia Bonutti likes solving problems. When the coronavirus pandemic hit, she hunkered down with her family in Manalapan, watching news reports. At the same time, Mia, a student at Oxbridge Academy in West Palm Beach, was considering ideas for an independent study project.
The tiny-home craze caught her attention, and she likes woodworking and getting her hands dirty. Homelessness is a huge problem. She thought: Could I build a tiny home and give it away to a homeless person?
She talked it over with her dad, Peter Bonutti, an orthopedic-reconstructive surgeon and inventor.
“My dad and I know nothing about plumbing,” Mia said, so her dad suggested they find an older RV with good bones and refurbish it. Before long, a 30-foot, 10-year-old trailer with a small pop-out and intact plumbing was parked at Oxbridge Academy, ready to be worked on. She and her family paid $7,000 for the camper and eventually invested $4,000-$5,000 in improvements.
Mia gutted the vehicle, then renovated it mechanically and remodeled the interior. Teachers and advisers helped her with things she wasn’t familiar with, like electrical work.
“The demolition,” she said, “was the hardest part.” It took five months, working part-time, and recruiting friends to help.
Once the RV was stripped down to the bare walls, the fun part started. The camper, once a boring brown, is now finished in tasteful white and gray. The kitchen has white cabinets and bead-board paneling, an oven, stove and microwave and blue gingham-check curtains on the windows. The counters are a combination of gray and white synthetic material that looks like quartz and butcher block.
The living area is bright and airy, with flowing white privacy curtains. There’s plenty of storage, and a flat-screen TV is tucked into the built-in shelving unit. A dining table and chairs, and two couches with animal print pillows, offer comfortable seating.

Mia shows off the remodeled interior, a far cry from the stripped-down RV. Gutting it took five months. Her advice? ‘If you have a dream, keep at it.’

The bathroom has a corner shower and the bedroom has more built-in storage and a headboard that resembles black subway tile.
Finding a place to donate the camper has come with its own challenges. She was just a day away from donating the RV when a friend’s research showed her that her ideals didn’t line up with those of the charity. The group wanted to auction the RV for cash and use the cash to help the homeless.
“I wanted someone to live in it,” Mia said. Throughout the project, Mia had imagined a person making the space a home. Plus, she questioned how much of the proceeds from the sale or auction would actually go to help homeless people.
Mia had to make a difficult decision and a difficult phone call. Her mother, Simone Bonutti, is the vice mayor of Manalapan and could have easily handled the matter, but Mia didn’t ask her to do that.
Eventually, Mia connected with the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States in Ocala. The VFW is a nonprofit service organization that can help veterans find housing — and hope.
Mia learned the VFW planned to use the RV as part of transitional housing to get veterans off the street until the organization found permanent housing. The RV would be a temporary home for a plethora of people passing through the Ocala facility on their way to self-sufficiency.
“It seemed like a good fit,” Mia said. But that plan didn't pan out and as of late February, nearly two years since she hatched the RV idea, Mia was in search of other options.
Mia, now a senior, hoped to have the issue resolved to let her focus on lacrosse season, which she calls “long pants season” because of her leg bruises. Mia is team captain and goalie, after first being recruited from the soccer team, where she’d already proved fearless on the field.
“I just stay focused and keep my eye on the ball,” she said. “I know my teammates are there to help me out.”
In the fall, Mia will move to Charlottesville to attend the University of Virginia, where she’ll study chemical engineering. She says CE is a degree with lots of applications and opportunity, and that a path heavy on math and science and light on English fits her.
Mia, the oldest of six kids, says being big sister brings a lot of responsibility — especially when she was the only kid with a driver’s license and everyone else needed rides.
At 18, she already has one patent with her dad and a few in the works. For athletes, pierced earrings and sports add up to a problem, so Mia and her father designed and patented unisex sports-safe earrings.
Mia also makes stuffed animals and hats for the babies in the NICU at Holy Cross Hospital in Fort Lauderdale, where her aunt is a nurse.
“My mother calls me a grandma because I like to knit and crochet,” Mia says with a laugh.
But really, Mia likes doing things for other people. Her altruism even got her a bit of national attention: Kelly Clarkson’s daytime television show has asked Mia to submit a video about her project.
A significant part of the Oxbridge Academy philosophy is its focus on character development within a culture of kindness.
Mia and her classmates take the “kindness” seriously, participating in canned food drives and other volunteer activities. It goes hand in glove with the self-directed independent study programs that ask students to tackle real-life issues.
“I learned a lot from the project,” Mia said, “but I think the biggest life lesson was: If you have a dream, keep at it. Nothing happens overnight.”

Photo provided by Mia Bonutti

Cats have delicate systems and can become ill if their diets change abruptly. This is an issue because of pandemic-related shortages, rising prices and shipping delays. Photo provided

By Arden Moore

Since the pandemic began two-plus years ago, grocery shopping has never been the same. It has turned into a treasure hunt of hope as you push your cart up and down the aisles in search of fresh eggs, your favorite brand of toilet paper or even pizza dough.
Or, you find yourself reading signs that limit how many paper napkins, sports drinks or pounds of bacon you can buy.
We aren’t the only ones feeling the impact of product shortages, rising prices and shipping delays. So are thousands of cats in Palm Beach County who depend every day on the generosity of volunteers to feed them in community cat colonies, small shelters and foster homes.
Before the coronavirus hit, Susan Carmichael, founder of Florida’s Forgotten Felines, never had an issue fulfilling her standing order of 100 cases of canned cat food with a PetSmart store in Boynton Beach to feed more than 400 community cats.
John Wood of Adopt a Cat Foundation Inc. could count on buying plenty of canned cat food at bargain prices at Pet Supplies Plus for his group’s kittens and cats up for adoption.
Dawn Herrmann of Truly All Cats Trapping and Rescue used to breeze into Publix any time to pick up ample amounts of Friskies canned food for her group’s cats in foster homes and in cat colonies. The shelves were always well stocked.

Empty shelves like these at a Boynton Beach Publix are a common sight. Coastal Star staff

Today, they and other cat rescue groups are traveling farther, paying more and seeking food alternatives for their dependent felines.
“Friskies pate is a favorite canned food for many of the cats, but now, it is the hardest to find,” says Herrmann, a registered nurse from Lantana who co-founded the group with Kara Sullivan. “The shelves are empty at Walmart and Publix. We pay about 50 to 60 cents a can for Friskies, but sometimes have to buy more expensive brands that cost up to $2 a can.
“Making matters worse, some of our cats only eat pate or they will lap up the gravy and leave the rest of the food. It is easier to mix medications in pate than gravy-based cat food.”
Carmichael has been feeding cats in need since 2002. She is 76 years old and is doing her best to locate affordable canned food in chicken flavor, a protein favorite for her felines.
“Not all cats like fish and will not eat say, a tuna-flavored can of food,” she says. “It’s very challenging now, but my biggest reward is when a sweet feral cat I feed finally lets me pet her.”
Wood is the president of Adopt A Cat Foundation, committed to finding permanent homes for rescued cats and kittens. The game plan for his team of volunteers is to communicate and be creative in searching for affordable canned cat food.
“When any of us are able to buy 24 or 36 cans at a time, we consider it a major score,” says Wood, a property management administrative assistant from West Palm Beach. “It is not good for a cat’s digestive system to suddenly switch diets, so we work together and do the best we can to find the canned food.”
If you abruptly switch a cat’s diet, it may cause vomiting, diarrhea and stomach pain. Feline tummies can be sensitive, especially if changes in food flavors and forms happen suddenly.
Veterinary nutritionists recommend the 3-3-3 rule, in which you give a cat two-thirds of his current food mixed in with one-third of the new food for the first three days. Then during the next three days, switch the amounts to one-third of the current food with two-thirds of the new food.
Within seven to 10 days, most feline digestive systems are able to tolerate the new food without digestive upset.
Fortunately, large shelters in the area, such as Peggy Adams Animal Rescue League based in West Palm Beach, are not experiencing cat food shortages.
“Large brick-and-mortar places like ours and Tri-County Animal Rescue in Boca Raton have contracts with major pet food manufacturers who supply us with food to feed our animals at the shelter at deeply discounted prices in exchange for promoting their brand of food at our shelters,” says Paul Bates, communications manager who oversees the trap-neuter-vaccinate-release program at Peggy Adams.
Bates works with several TNVR groups in the county that feed cat colonies. He has been suggesting that they expand their searches by looking for canned cat food at major wholesale stores like Sam’s and Costco or going online at Chewy.com.
“These big-box stores and online places like Chewy have large warehouse space to house the cat food. Supermarkets don’t have that kind of storage space or the money to place large-quantity orders,” Bates says.
Herrmann hopes that the supply of preferred canned cat food will catch up with demand soon.
“This canned cat food shortage is not just affecting us, but everybody, so any donation of wet food is much appreciated,” she says.

Arden Moore, founder of FourLeggedLife.com, is an animal behavior consultant, author, professional speaker and master certified pet first-aid instructor. She hosts Oh Behave! weekly on PetLifeRadio.com. Learn more by visiting www.ardenmoore.com.

How to Help
All three of these are designated 501(c)3 nonprofits and accept donations of food, money and volunteer time:

Adopt a Cat Foundation: http://adoptacatfoundation.org, 561-848-4911. Its shelter is at 3110 45th Street, Suite E in West Palm Beach and its thrift shop is at 889 Donald Ross Road in Juno Beach.
Florida’s Forgotten Felines: https://floridasforgottenfelines.org, 561-252-2545. Founder Susan Carmichael prefers phone calls over email.
Truly All Cats Trapping and Rescue: https://trulyallcats.org, 561-801-8228, rescueme@trulyallcats.org.

ABOVE: A beamed-ceiling great room with floor-to-ceiling windows features a living area, casual dining arrangement and wet bar. BELOW: This estate in Delray Beach is walled and gated for complete privacy and has 110 feet +/- of direct oceanfront. Photos provided

This recently reinspired contemporary home has 8,566 +/- total square feet. It has a crisp architectural design that features an open floor plan built around the incredible views of the ocean. With seven en suite bedrooms, three of which are on the ground floor, there is plenty of room for a larger family or one who welcomes plenty of seasonal visitors. An additional family room (with custom built-ins) and a morning bar, two bedroom suites plus an expansive VIP suite, all overlook the ocean from the upper floor.
Outside, recreational amenities abound: a covered dining loggia and a freestanding arbor surround the beachfront heated pool and spa — all set within a huge patio connected to the wet bar and kitchen for seamless indoor/outdoor entertaining opportunities.
Inside features include wood-plank and slate flooring, detailed ceiling features and stunning window design through which to view the ocean.

Offered at $21,995,000. Contact the Pascal Liguori Group at Premier Estate Properties, 900 E. Atlantic Ave., Delray Beach, FL 33483. Pascal Liguori, 561-789-8300 or PascalLiguoriGroup.com. View more at www.rx10758571.com

The master suite has a sitting area as well as sliding doors in a bay configuration that opens to the deck and ocean beyond.

Dramatic skylights and task lighting crown a center island gourmet kitchen, which has polished concrete countertops.

Second-floor balcony overlooks the dune walkover to the beach and ocean.

Each month, The Coastal Star features a house for sale in our community. The House of the Month is presented as a service to our advertisers and provides readers with a peek inside one of our homes.