Grilled salmon salad is one of the $7.99 Thursday lunch specials at Cafe Frankie’s in Boynton Beach. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Those who stay put during the sweltering season are treated to restaurant deals well worth checking out

By Jan Norris and Janis Fontaine

It’s heating up out there — and not just the weather. Summer dining deals are getting hotter as restaurants aim to lure customers to make up for those who have fled to cooler climes.
Those who sweat it out are rewarded.
Check out the prix fixe menus at 50 Ocean, above Boston’s on the Beach in Delray Beach. Two-course lunches are $19, and a three-course dinner for $39 with that oceanfront view is well worth it. Try the fire-grilled swordfish with farro tabbouleh and preserved eggplant. It’s a terrific spot to take out-of-towners.
On the ocean in Manalapan at Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa’s Temple Orange Mediterranean Bistro, the three-course Eau Neighbors lunch prix fixe is $28, and the Neighbors dinner is $60.
If it’s a drink you’re after at Eau Palm Beach, the bar at Angle and the Stir Bar & Terrace both offer Manhattans or glasses of Champagne for $5 each Tuesday through Thursday. Angle’s three-course prix fixe dinner on those days is $75 and has entree choices such as a Fort McCoy Ranch filet mignon, a miso-glazed Florida grouper and Lake Meadow Farm duck breast — all with sides. Fruit cobbler with the signature strawberry-basil ice cream is what we’d choose for dessert.
More drinks are on tap at Deck 84 in Delray Beach on the water. It extends happy hour from 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. A bar bites menu is available 3-6 p.m. with a gluten-free, spicy tuna taco for $12. Bring Rover on over, too — dogs have their own menu here that even features a vegetarian option and a CBD biscuit. Howl, yeah.

Tanzy’s farm-to-glass cocktails are $7 during happy hour at the Boca Raton restaurant. Photo provided

At the Sardinia Enoteca Ristorante in Delray, take 40 percent off the food menu prices on Mondays (spaghetti Bottarga di Muggine — oh, my!) and half off bottles of wine on Tuesdays. A plate of pasta is just $12 on Wednesdays, and ladies drink free at the bar from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursdays.
Josie’s Ristorante in Boynton Beach is taking 20 percent off the whole check each Monday through Thursday, lunch and dinner, and up to 3 p.m. on Fridays.
The craziest deal is Meatball Monday, however — but get there early because word’s definitely out. The signature giant meatballs with fresh ricotta cheese are only $2 each, and one may fill you up. Meatball sliders are just $2.50, and the restaurant whacks $3 off the martinis. That’s one cheap date. (Grab a rideshare home, please.)
In Palm Beach, saddle up for the steak deal on Sundays at the Meat Market. It’s half price for all the signature steaks.
There’s an early bird deal at PB Catch, also in Palm Beach, where it’s BOGO on the entrees every night before 6:30. That includes the signature cioppino, a treasure of a dish filled with seafood in a tomato-fennel broth with a grilled crostini to dip in it. A true taste of coastal summer.

The Atlantic Grille, at the Seagate Hotel in Delray Beach, offers happy hour specials, plus a prix fixe menu. Photo provided

Most of these deals last through summer; check the restaurants ahead of time just to be sure. Reservations might be a good idea, though it shouldn’t be as hard to get in during these lazy days of summer.

Boca Raton
Casimir French Bistro — 416 Via De Palmas Suite 81, Boca Raton. 955-6001; www.casimirbistro.com.
Summer Madness dining deals through Oct. 25 include: Monday, All-you-can-eat mussels, $25.50; Tuesday, Reward night: Spend $75 and get a $25 gift card; Wednesday: Duck Night. The house favorite is $23; and Thursday, Lobster Night: Get a 1.5-pound lobster, sautéed spinach and basmati rice, $28.
Chops Lobster Bar — 101 Plaza Real S., Boca Raton. 395-2675; www.buckheadrestaurants.com/restaurant/chops-lobster-bar-br/
Happy Hour: 5-7 p.m. daily. Wine by the glass, $6; spirits, $7; signature martinis, $7.75. Get $8 small bites including baked clams casino, Thai chili calamari, truffle fries and burrata mozzarella. $12 plates include lobster and white cheddar mac ’n’ cheese and ahi tuna tartar. Get a 7-ounce bacon cheeseburger with gaufrette chips for $11.
Three-course prix fixe dinners: Sunday-Thursday. Choose from six appetizers, eight entrees including filet mignon and lobster-stuffed lobster, and three desserts starting at $54.
Louie Bossi’s Ristorante — 100 E. Palmetto Park Road, Boca Raton. 336-6699; www.
louiebossi.com.
Martini Monday: Half off all martinis and $2.50 meatball sliders, Monday 4 p.m. to close.
Roman Holiday: Half off every bottle of wine under $99 with the purchase of an entrée, Wednesday.
Extended Happy Hour: 4-7 p.m. daily at the bar. $2 off drinks and half-price pizzas.
The Rebel House — 297 E. Palmetto Park Road, Boca Raton. 353-5888; www.lifetastesbetter.com.
Beer, bourbon, barbecue: A five-course dinner pairing: 7 p.m. July 3. $75, inclusive.
Rocco’s Tacos — Boca Center, 5250 Town Center Circle, Boca Raton. 416-2131; and 110 E. Atlantic Ave., Delray Beach. 808-1100; www.roccostacos.com.
Summer dining deal: From 4-7 p.m. daily at the bar, get signature tacos and appetizers for $2, $3 house wine, Mexican beer starting at $3 and $5 well drinks and margaritas. Bottles of Veuve Clicquot are $50.    
Tanzy Restaurant — Mizner Park, 301 Plaza Real, Boca Raton. 922-6699; www.tanzyrestaurant.com.
Weekend brunch: 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Happy Hour: 4-7 p.m. Monday-Thursday. Get wine by the glass and beer, $5. Farm-to-glass cocktails, $7. Small plates like housemade meatballs and flatbreads, $6. And Chef Jet Tila’s spicy tuna on crispy rice, $6.
The Yard House — Mizner Park, , 201 Plaza Real, Suite 1201, Boca Raton. 417-6124; www.yardhouse.com.
Happy Hour: 3-6 p.m. Monday-Friday, and late night from 10 p.m. to close Sunday-Wednesday. Get select half-priced appetizers, including boneless wings, poke nachos, ahi sashimi, spinach cheese dip, queso dip, chicken nachos, chicken lettuce wraps, fried chicken tenders, classic sliders, Wisconsin fried cheese curds, fried calamari, moo shu egg rolls, fried mac and cheese, and half-priced pizzas. Take $2 off draft beer, wine, spirits and cocktails, $3 off nine-ounce wine and $4 off half yards.

Boynton Beach
Café Frankie’s — 640 E. Ocean Ave., Boynton Beach. 732-3834. www.cafefrankies.com.
Half wine deal: Take 50 percent off all bottles of wine from 8-10 p.m. daily. Dine in only.
Dollar off deal: Take $1 off all bottled beer and $2 off glasses of wine.
Discounted appetizers: 4:30-6:30 p.m. daily. $5 (grilled eggplant), $6 (fried calamari) and $8 (spicy mussels).
Lunch specials: $7.99 lunch deals from 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Josie’s — 1602 S. Federal Highway, Boynton Beach. 364-9601; www.josiesristorante.com.
Summer celebration deal: Take 20 percent off the menu all day Monday through Thursday and until 3 p.m. Friday. Dine in only. Limited time. Some exclusions apply.
Eight for $8 deal: Choose from eight lunch specials including shrimp or chicken Caesar, eight wings, 2 meatball sliders, rigatoni bolognese, panini caprese. Dine in or take-out.
Extended happy hours: 2-7 p.m. Monday-Friday and 4-7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Late Night Happy Hour: 9 p.m. to close, order from the happy hour bar menu.
Meatball & Martini Monday: $2 meatballs, $2.50 sliders and reduced-price martinis, dine in only.
Take-out pizza special: Get a large one-topping pizza for $10.99 on Monday and Tuesday.

Delray Beach
The Atlantic Grille — 1000 E. Atlantic Ave., Delray Beach. 665-4900; www.theatlanticgrille.com.
Happy Hour: Get $4 house wine, draft beer and well cocktails, $6 Svedka martinis and reduced-price appetizers.
Prix fixe menu: Sunday through Thursday, order from the special prix a la carte fixe menu. Choose from two appetizers, two entrees and two desserts. The menu (and prices) change each week. In week one, they offered a watermelon caprese, $12, or chilled cherry soup, $10. Entrees: Sautéed flounder amandine yellow rice, garlic green beans, $27, or farro primavera, $24. Desserts are blueberry cobbler and white chocolate cheesecake, $9, or ice cream, $8. Get three courses with a choice of La Terre Merlot, Cabernet, Chardonnay, or Rex & Goliath Pinot Grigio. Two glasses per guest or one bottle of wine per two guests, $38 per person.
50 Ocean — Above Boston’s at 50 S. Ocean Blvd., Delray Beach. 278-3364 or 665-4666; www.50ocean.com.
Prix fixe menus: Two-course lunches are $19, and a three-course dinner for $39. Try the fire-grilled swordfish with farro tabbouleh and preserved eggplant.
Burt & Max’s — 9089 W. Atlantic Ave., Delray Beach. 638-6380; www.burtandmaxs.com. Deals are valid through Sept. 30.
$1 Kids’ Meals: Monday through Thursday, get a kids’ meal for a buck with the any adult entrée purchase. The $1 price benefits the Child Rescue Coalition. Kids are age 12 and younger. No take-out/delivery.
Extended Happy Hour: From 11:30 a.m.- 6 p.m., get wine by the glass and half-price on beer and spirits at the bar and high tops. A bar bites menu is available from 3-6 p.m.
Half-Price Wines Days: Mondays and Wednesdays, get half off bottles of wine with the purchase of an entrée.
$20 Bottles of Wine: Choose from a rotating list of wines by the bottle.
12 for $12 Lunches: Twelve meals priced at $12 each, Monday through Friday, 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m.
Caffe Luna Rosa — 34 S. Ocean Blvd., Delray Beach. 274-9404; www.caffelunarosa.com.
Wine Dinners: A four-course meal paired with appropriate wines selected by the restaurant, $59, plus tax and tip. Dates: July 23, Aug. 13, Sept. 3 and 24, Oct. 15, and Nov. 5 and 26.
City Oyster & Sushi Bar — 213 E. Atlantic Ave., Delray Beach. 272-0220; www.cityoysterdelray.com.
Half-price wine: Take half off any bottle of wine under $99 on Mondays with the purchase of an entree.
Happy Hour: From 4-7 p.m. daily at the bar; includes half-off drinks, beer and select wines and $1 off raw bar.
Bottomless brunch: $13 mimosas and $13 endless Bloody Marys with the purchase of an entrée, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturdays and 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Sundays. 
Deck 84 — 840 E. Atlantic Ave., Delray Beach. 665-8484; www.deck84.com.
$1 Kids' Meals: Monday through Thursday, get a kids’ meal for a buck with the any adult entrée purchase. The $1 price benefits the Child Rescue Coalition. Kids are age 12 and younger. Through Sept. 30. No take-out/delivery.
Wine Wednesdays: Half-price.
Extended Happy Hour: From 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday get wine by the glass and half price on beer and spirits at the bar and high tops. A bar bites menu is available from 3-6 p.m.
Ellie’s 50’s Diner — 2401 N. Federal Highway, Delray Beach. 276-7716.
Summertime Specials: Prix fixe breakfast ($4.97), lunch ($8.97) and dinner ($13.97).
Cash only deal: Get 20 percent off your check when you pay cash through Sept. 30. Not valid on Summertime Specials.
Harvest Seasonal Grill & Wine Bar — 1841 S. Federal Highway, #402, Delray Beach. 266-3239; www.harvestseasonalgrill.com.
Prix fixe menu: From July 21-Aug. 2, get a $20 three-course prix fixe lunch menu and a $35 four-course dinner menu.
Lemongrass Asian Bistro — Two locations: 420 E. Atlantic Ave., Delray Beach. 278-5050; www.lemongrassasianbistrodelraybeach.com, and 101 Plaza Real S., Boca Raton. 544-8181; lemongrassasianbistrobocaraton.com.
Lunch specials — 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday-Friday. Sushi and sashimi lunch specials ($9.95-$12.95) come with a choice of appetizer: ginger salad, shumai (steamed or fried), gyoza (steamed or fried), California roll or a vegetarian spring roll. Poke bowls are $15.
Luigi’s Coal Oven Pizza — 307 E. Atlantic Ave., Delray Beach. 274-1969; www.luigiscoalovenpizzadelray.com/food/ ;
Summer Happy Hour: From 3-7 p.m. Monday Friday and 3-6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, get half off well drinks, glasses of wine $12 or less, domestic beers, $1 off craft and imported beers, plus an array of appetizers from $5-$9.
Wine Wednesday: Half off all bottles of wine $100 or less all day.
Late Night Happy Hour: Get an 8-inch pizza for $5 from 10 p.m. to close Friday and Saturday.
Mussel Beach — 501 E. Atlantic Ave., Delray Beach. 921-6464; www.musselbeachdelray.com.
Happy Hour: 3:30-6:30 p.m. Monday-Friday in the bar/lounge only. Get half-priced cocktails, $10 off mussel bowls and appetizers for $7, $10 and $14.
Sardinia Enoteca Ristorante — 3035 S. Federal Highway, Delray Beach. 332-3406. www.sardinia-ristorante.com.
40 percent off Mondays: Take 40 percent off the food menu on Monday nights.
Pasta Wednesdays: Get a bowl of pasta for $12.

Manalapan
Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa — 100 S. Ocean Blvd., Manalapan, 800-328-0170, www.eaupalmbeach.com.
Breeze Ocean Kitchen — Daily: Get two tacos and a margarita for $20.18.
Temple Orange Mediterranean Bistro — Daily Eau Neighbors Lunch: A three-course meal is $28. 
Daily Eau Neighbors Dinner: A three-course meal is $60.
Stir Bar & Terrace — The classic summer special: Tuesday through Thursday, get $5 Manhattans and Champagne by the glass at the bar.
Angle — Get a three-course tasting menu for $75 Tuesday through Thursday (a $20 savings).

Palm Beach
The Breakers — 1 S. County Road, Palm Beach. 659-8488; www.thebreakers.com. Summer deals continue through Sept. 30.
Prix Fixe Summer Specials: Specially priced three-course menus at Echo and the Italian Restaurant.
Flagler Steakhouse’s Prix Fixe Brunch — A specially priced three-course Sunday brunch menu, through Sept. 30.
Sunday Brunch at the Circle dining room — Hotel guests save 20 percent.
Buccan — 350 S. County Road, Palm Beach. 833-3450; www.buccanpalmbeach.com.
Summer Sunday Fried Chicken Special: Chef Clay Conley brings back his summer fried chicken special. Every Sunday night through September, get three pieces of crispy chicken with specialty sides (like collards, baked beans, mashed potatoes, biscuits) for $27.
Café Boulud — 301 Australian Ave, Palm Beach. 655-6060; www.cafeboulud.com.
Le Voyage: Vietnam — July.
Le Voyage: China — August.
Summer Les Plats Du Jour — Monday to Sunday. A selection of classically inspired dishes
prepped by Executive Chef Rick Mace: Monday: Coq au Vin; Tuesday: Moules Frites; Wednesday: Moroccan Lamb Shank; Thursday: DB Burger; Friday: Salt Baked Yellowtail Snapper; Saturday: Chateaubriand for Two; Sunday: Veal Viennoise.
Brunch Prix Fixe: 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Three courses, $39.
Lunch Prix Fixe: Noon-2:30 p.m. Monday-Friday. Two courses, $29, or three for $36.
Dinner Prix Fixe: Three courses with your choice of dishes like Key West pink shrimp, pate grand-mere, moules frites and baked Alaska. Monday to Thursday, $49.
Happy Hour: From 4-6 daily in Le Passage, the remodeled lounge, get $9 wine and signature cocktails and ten $17 bar bites like squash blossoms, chicken yakitori, charred octopus and crispy duck pastilla.
Café L’Europe — 331 S. County Road, Palm Beach. 655-8272; www.cafeleurope.com.
Sensational Summer Prix Fixe menu: Choose from a trio of appetizers, four entrees and three desserts for $55.
Wine Not Wednesday — Bring your own bottle, with no corkage fee.
Thirsty Thursdays — 30 percent off all wine and Champagne bottles.
Fabulous Fridays: Start the weekend with a bottle of Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label — $85.
Wine Flight Weekends: Sample two ounces, three wines for $19.50 per flight.
Hai House — 150 Worth Ave., #234, Palm Beach. 766-1075; www.haihousepb.com.
Get a Summer Prix Fixe for 2 for $50, featuring soup, a dim sum sampler plate, and a shareable entrée and house fried rice. Upgrade to include two cocktails, wine or draft beer for $62.
Meat Market Palm Beach — 191 Bradley Place, Palm Beach. 354-9800; www.
Meatmarket.net.
Signature Steak Sundays — Every Sunday five Signature Steaks are half price and offered at full- and half-sizes.
PB Catch Seafood & Raw Bar — 251 Sunrise Ave., Palm Beach. 655-5558; www.PBCatch.com
Summer BOGO: Before 6:30 p.m. daily, buy one entrée and get the second free. Dine in only.
Happy Hour: From 4:30-6:30 p.m. daily, get two-for-one drinks and oysters, and $5 appetizers.

And there’s more!

Flavors of the Season: Summer Dining Series — The annual series hosted by the Society of the Four Arts features four lunches by award-winning chefs at some of your favorite restaurants in Palm Beach. Chefs present meals especially suited to our long hot summer and will include a discussion with the chef on current dining trends. Lunch begins at 12:30 p.m. except the Grand Finale at the Flagler Steak House, which begins at 11 a.m. At that program, a discussion — “The Breakers — A City on the Island” — is planned. Tickets for the four-part series are $300, single lunches are $95. Meet at the restaurants; valet parking is available. Reservations are required at 805-8562; email campus@fourarts.org; www.fourarts.org.
Restaurants: July 11, Sant Ambroeus, Marco Barbisotti; Aug. 1, Renato’s, Javier Sanchez; Aug. 21, The Grand Finale at The Breakers Flagler Steak House, Anthony Sicignano.

Flavor Palm Beach
For September, the best restaurants throw a party and offer a three-course lunch for $20 and a three-course dinner for $30-$45. More than 50 restaurants are participating, including Ruth’s Chris, Morton’s Steakhouse, 50 Ocean, PB Catch, Vic and Angelo’s and Sant Ambroeus.
Info: www.flavorpb.com.

Dine Out Downtown Delray Restaurant Week — From Aug. 1-7, restaurants in downtown Delray Beach are hosting a week of multi-course prix fixe menus starting for lunch at $20 and dinner at $40 per person. More than 35 restaurants will participate, including Caffe Luna Rosa, Deck 84 and 50 Ocean. Info: www.downtowndelraybeach.com/restaurantweek.
Boca Restaurant Month — This takes place in September at more than 20 restaurants in Boca Raton. For $21, get a three-course lunch, and for $36 get a three-course dinner. Restaurants include Rocco’s Tacos, Brio, the Melting Pot, Morton’s Steakhouse, Prezzo and Ouzo Bay. Info: www.bocarestaurantmonth.com.

— Compiled by Janis Fontaine

ABOVE: Serving on the Junior League board are (l-r) Krista Downey, Alexandra Chase, Emily Schachtel, Laura Wissa, Ann a, Pam Schanel, Sue Gibson, Felice Shearer, Julie Rudolph and Sarah Cohen.
BELOW: The management team includes (l-r) Aimee Shaughnessy, Jeana White, Natasha Rawding, Felice Shearer, Kathryn Sexton, Nadia Islam Spivak and Sarah Kudisch.
Photos provided by CAPEHART

The Junior League of the Palm Beaches has named its 2019-20 board of directors and management team.
Leading the cause is President Laura Wissa, who has been a member of the league since 2006 and served as vice president of fundraising as well as chairwoman of numerous committees.
“In my 13 years of being in JLPB, this organization has changed me,” Wissa said. “It has taught me how to become a community leader and a better person.”
Members of the board of directors are President-Elect Julie Rudolph, Executive Vice President Felice Shearer, Secretary Krista Downey, Treasurer Ann Breeden, Nominating Chairwoman Kristen Laraia and members Alexandra Chase, Sarah Cohen, Sue Gibson, Emily Schachtel and Pam Schanel.
The management team, which oversees the league’s day-to-day operations, includes Shearer, Executive Vice President-Elect Sarah Kudisch, Membership Vice President Jeana White, Community Vice President Kat McGinley, Communications Vice President Aimee Shaughnessy, Treasurer-Elect Nadia Islam Spivak, Fundraising Vice President Natasha Rawding and Fundraising Vice President-Elect Kathryn Sexton.

Community Foundation caps year of giving
The Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties’ year of charitable giving — focused on community revitalization — included grants totaling over $1.3 million to area nonprofits. The foundation also awarded more than $1 million in scholarships to 104 county high school students in amounts that ranged from $1,000 to $26,000, with Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts, Atlantic High School and Lake Worth High School earning the most scholarships.

Major legacy gift to benefit Boca Helping Hands clients
Boca Helping Hands has announced that the late Arthur Remillard Jr. left the organization $1 million as a legacy gift to its endowment fund.
“This is huge in our world,” said Gary Peters, Boca Helping Hands board president. “Arthur Remillard’s first major gift to Boca Helping Hands in 2006 enabled us to purchase the building we are in today, allowing our organization to expand from its beginnings as a small soup kitchen. His estate gift will help ensure that we can keep growing and serving those in need for decades to come.”
When Remillard initially contacted Peters, Boca Helping Hands was providing 36 meals per day. Now it is feeding nearly 200 poor and hungry a meal six days a week, serving 4,000 per month.
“As a longtime Boca Raton resident, our father was passionate about wanting to help establish a comprehensive resource center for the less-privileged citizens of this great town,” son Regan Remillard said. “Boca Helping Hands is the culmination of that passion, and our father’s legacy gift will help Boca Helping Hands continue its critical, compassionate mission of providing food, access to medical care, financial assistance and job training to Boca’s neediest residents.”

Glades seniors get college scholarships via Take Stock
Fifty seniors from Glades Central High School received $440,000 in Florida Prepaid scholarships as a result of their commitment to the Take Stock in Children Palm Beach & Johnson Scholars program.
The students joined the program in 2015 and have maintained their participation in the Glades Climate Change Initiative. The initiative paired the then-freshmen with volunteer mentors and set them on a course to academic success. The graduation rate nearly doubled in four years.
“Our students in the Glades are so deserving of this opportunity,” said Nancy Stellway, Take Stock in Children’s executive director. “Belle Glade is an area that can often be overlooked because of the economic disparity, but it is so encouraging to know that we are giving the students an opportunity to further their education and improve their future lives and the lives of their family members.”

Moran Foundation aids environmental education
Sandoway Discovery Center in Delray Beach has received a two-year grant totaling $90,000 from the Jim Moran Foundation.
The money will be used to support the center’s education and animal-care programs that allow students and visitors to learn about the environment through hands-on activities and live-animal encounters. The money also will enable a book to be sent home with every student from a Title I school participating in the Junior Naturalist Program.
“This is a tremendous opportunity to enhance and strengthen the student experience at Sandoway,” Executive Director Danica Sanborn said.

CROS Ministries event raises nearly $50,000
CROS Ministries welcomed 200 supporters to its “Raise Your Glass To End Hunger” event at Delray Beach’s Old School Square Fieldhouse.
The fundraiser included wine and beer tasting, as well as signature dishes from local restaurants and caterers. Guests bid on a variety of donated items in both the silent and live auctions.
The nearly $50,000 in proceeds will benefit the faith-based organization that brings together members of the community to help alleviate hunger.

Arts grant to fund Spady comic book project
The Spady Cultural Heritage Museum has been awarded a $20,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to create an exhibit and a series of community events exploring the origin and impact of multicultural comic book heroes.
The history of multicultural comic book characters extends far beyond Black Panther, Falcon and Storm — heroes made famous by recent movies — and the project, titled eroica: black, brown, red and yellow comic book narratives, focuses on the origins and representations of superpowers of color.
“eroica will be an opportunity to engage people in conversations and reflections that deal with pop culture, iconic imagery, cultural representation, civil rights, modernism and history — all through the depiction of heroism in comic books,” museum Director Charlene Farrington said.
Additionally, The NEA awarded an Art Works grant of $10,000 to Palm Beach Poetry Festival in support of the 2020 festival, which will be Jan. 20-25 in Old School Square, Delray Beach. 

5K run/walk benefits four local charities
The 12th annual Rooney’s 5K Run/Walk held in April at Palm Beach Kennel Club raised $19,039.41 for Greyhound Support Transport, Palm Beach County Police Athletic League, Potentia Academy and Westgate/Belvedere Homes Community Redevelopment Agency, with the help of sponsorships and nearly 600 participants.
 The fourth annual Rooney’s Spring Golf Tournament, at Abacoa Golf Club, raised $16,000 to benefit Awesome Greyhound Adoptions/Hounds & Heroes, Florida Atlantic University Honors College, Forgotten Soldiers Outreach and Wounded Veterans Relief Fund. 

Office Depot employees assist at Boys & Girls Club
Boca Raton-based Office Depot recently had its second annual Depot Day of Service volunteer initiative. In South Florida, more than 300 volunteers helped to complete a revitalization project at the Naoma Donnelley Haggin Boys & Girls Club in Delray Beach.

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

ABOVE: (l-r) Peter Bonutti, Iain Calder, Harrison Calder and Glen Calder. Photo provided

The Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County scored a hole in one with its third-annual outing, raising more than $20,000 to provide links to literacy for children, adults and families who struggle with reading. A total of 40 players took part in the oceanside tournament, which was followed by lunch and a silent auction. The winning foursome was Vincent Delazzero, Trent Hayes, Wayne Warren and Troy Wheat, but the real winners are those the coalition serves. ‘One in seven adults in our county is unable to read and understand information found in books, newspapers and manuals, and nearly half of all third-graders are not reading on grade level,’ said Kristin Calder, CEO of the coalition. ‘Fundraisers like Literacy Links help us ensure that every child and every adult in Palm Beach County can read.’

ABOVE: Stephanie Cherub with Kari Shipley. BELOW: Reeve and Anne Bright. Photos provided

Glitz, glam and giving were the stars of the show celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Achievement Centers for Children & Families. Specialty retailer Boston Proper unveiled its summer line on the runway, but the bigger announcement was that the Boca Raton-based company has donated more than $1 million to ACCF since their partnership began 11 years ago. ‘It was a stunning evening that captivated everyone’s attention and hearts,’ Executive Director Mary Kay Willson said. ‘We are grateful for our long-standing partnership with Boston Proper and the opportunity to serve more than 10,000 families over the years.’ This year, the event raised $78,000. ‘There’s no other organization making the kind of impact ACCF is on our community,’ Boston Proper CEO Sheryl Clark said. ‘We are absolutely delighted to support this worthy cause year after year.’

St. Joseph’s Episcopal School had its 61st-annual auction — the institution’s signature fundraiser — to benefit the Jaguar Fund. The Jaguar Fund is used to provide scholarships and financial aid to eligible students; it also is used to make improvements to the campus. This year, proceeds will help purchase technology to enhance the STREAM (Science, Technology, Religion, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) initiative. ABOVE: Amy McCabe with Suzanne Boyd.
Photo provided by Carol Cunningham

TOP: (l-r) Caroline Villanueva, Jeff Stoops and Erren. MIDDLE: Elmore and LaTour. BOTTOM: Caron and Bob Dockerty. Photos provided by CAPEHART

Palm Beach County Food Bank supporters came together for an evening of celebration sponsored by Marti LaTour, chairwoman of the agency, and George Elmore, who welcomed guests with cocktails and passed hors d’oeuvres. LaTour shared accomplishments from the past season and goals for the future, pointing out that the issue of hunger continues to grow. ‘According to the Palm Beach County commissioners’ study, there is a 78-million-pound gap here in our county from what we currently distribute to what is actually needed,’ she said. Added Executive Director Karen Erren: ‘When we think of Palm Beach County, we think about a lot of things, but we don’t always realize that there are almost 200,000 people in our county that don’t know when they will get their next meal.’

More than 100 golfers participated in a dynamic day on the course to support Sacred Heart School’s scholarship fund. The 10th-annual charity event raised $154,000. ‘The weather was amazing, and the greens, as usual, were impeccable,’ Principal Candace Tamposi said. To date, the school has provided grants to more than 1,800 students. ‘These amazing students have received scholarships to prestigious high schools like Cardinal Newman, Oxbridge Academy, American Heritage and St. John Paul II Academy, just to mention a few,’ Tamposi said. ABOVE: Honorary Chairman Patrick Donaghy with Tamposi. Photo provided

Tatyana Fishman gives Eva Takacs a hug during her 90th-birthday party at Oceanfront Park.
Fishman and Takacs, both of Boynton Beach, do daily swims there. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

People walk the beach at Oceanfront Park scanning the shore for wave-smoothed shards of sea glass or unblemished sand dollars. Almost four years ago, ocean swimmers Eva Takacs and Tatyana Fishman found the most precious treasure of all — each other.
“One day I was swimming, and I always have trouble getting out of the water,” says Takacs, 90, of Boynton Beach. “My balance isn’t great. So, I was looking around for somebody to help me. Here’s this poor, pathetic, old lady trying to get out of the water. Tatyana came along and took me out like I weigh nothing.”
Fishman, 57, also of Boynton Beach, smiles. “Since that day, I am responsible for getting her in and out of the water. It’s funny to see but we have developed a friendship. She is an inspiration. I actually don’t know anyone else who is 90 that goes into the ocean. Do you?”
“Tatyana has extended my life,” Takacs says. “The ocean has extended my life.”
Fishman, Takacs and Ocean Ridge resident Jay Magee, 66, form a trio of daily and lifelong swimmers who combine the healthful benefits of friendship and a vigorous ocean workout. They swim for an hour at their own pace, as long as there’s no red flag flying from the lifeguard stand. When all’s clear, the swimmers suit up in their own mix of neoprene, sun-shielding clothing and topical skin protection, and head into the surf.
Fishman, who’s a good foot taller than Takacs, leads her friend into the ocean and finds her a sargassum-free patch of water not too far from shore. Then she heads off on her own, usually swimming about a mile. Throughout, she keeps a close eye on Takacs’ bathing cap-cloaked head. Of course, the lifeguards always have this beloved beach icon in their sights.
Magee, a former swim coach, logs about two miles every day. “I feel like a Coast Guard rescue swimmer some days when it’s really big out there,” he says. “I like swimming through the waves. You’re more buoyant because of the salt, and it’s just easier to swim. I’ve seen incredible things. I see tarpon all the time. I’ve seen lobster doing a lobster crawl, where they’re all head-to-tail in a line — hundreds of them. I’ve seen manatees out there. There’s a nurse shark that lives down on the rocks off the Ocean Club. It’s just amazing what you see.”
That sense of wonder is another gift from the sea. Being outdoors adds a natural dose of Vitamin D, good for bone health. And swimming can help lower blood pressure, boost mood, ease arthritis pain and tone the body.
Though just a sample size of three, Takacs, Fishman and Magee could provide researchers with anecdotal evidence gathered over their lifetimes of swimming in the sea. Takacs has been swimming at Oceanfront Park for 60 years, from the time her parents made Boynton their home.
“The funny thing is, it gives you relaxation but at the same time it gives you energy,” Fishman says. “Whatever happened yesterday, whatever happened in the morning … after swimming an hour, you forget about it. I spoke to a therapist once who told me that swimming is dynamic meditation, because it’s all about breathing in and out. You can basically do it with walking, too. That’s why his wife walks the beach.”
Nadine Magee walks daily from Oceanfront Park to Gulfstream Park and back. “That’s how you met her,” Jay Magee says to Fishman. “She was walking back.”
Such are the serendipitous friendships that blossom at this beach. Lured by the sun, sea and salt air, an informal group of beach-lovers congregates regularly.
“They’ll come early in the morning. Some will stay a short time; some will stay all morning. Everybody knows everybody. And, you know, it’s ‘Hi, how are you’ and ‘Beautiful day on the beach.’ We just love this,” Magee says, gesturing toward the ocean. “The beach, and the water.”
When Takacs turned 90 in April, Fishman organized a beachside surprise party for her cherished friend.
“Everybody was so happy to congratulate her on her birthday,” Fishman says. “She’s amazing. She’s sharp, and we are really friends. I tell her things … that I wouldn’t trust to anyone else.”
“And I care,” Takacs says, “I really care. I don’t have many friends. They’re all in a nursing home or someplace else. Except at the beach.”
The ocean, her friends, the swimming— they’re “everything,” Takacs says.
“It’s made me feel different. If I’m tired, instead of lying down or looking at television I want to go swimming. And it makes me feel great. And it’s never too crowded, even if it’s crowded. We just go on out. And we’re in the water, and it’s all ours.”

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

The Palm Beach County Medical Society Services honored 39 men, women and organizations in health care for their outstanding service during the 16th annual Heroes in Medicine luncheon. The event was held in May at the Kravis Center’s Cohen Pavilion.
Shawn Baca, MD, Rheumatology Associates of South Florida, Boca Raton, and Colleen Haley, ARNP, Team Health, received the Hero in Medicine of the Year awards.

Other South County honorees included Michelle Lizotte-Waniewski, PhD, and medical students Jordyn Cohen and Rachael Silverberg of Florida Atlantic University; Bonnie and Jon Kaye of Kaye Communications; Pediatric Interest Group at FAU; Rhonda Goodman, PhD, of FAU nursing; Stephanie Stiepleman of West Boca High’s Medical Science Academy; Anthony Goldberg and Tatiana Cavarretta of the FAU Student Nurses Association; Mario Jacomino, MD; Ari, Gracyn and Jarrett Smith of Smith Smiles Toy Donations; Mary Labanowski, MD; Jose Castaneda, MD; and Diane Schofield, RN.

In honor of Stroke Awareness Month, Delray Beach Medical Center held its Stroke Survivors Reception and Get With the Guidelines Award presentation.
Jeffrey Walker, director of quality and systems improvement from the American Heart Association, Palm Beach County, presented the hospital’s stroke team with the Get With the Guidelines Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite Plus award for the fifth consecutive year. The award recognizes the hospital’s commitment to ensuring stroke patients receive the quickest, safest and most appropriate treatment.
The Elite Plus Gold designation represents the highest level of distinction that can be awarded by the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association.

In June, Delray Medical Center, Good Samaritan Medical Center, Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center, St. Mary’s Medical Center, Palm Beach Children’s Hospital and West Boca Medical Center led a community effort to provide area children and adults struggling with hunger with a healthy breakfast during the summer through the Healthy Over Hungry Cereal Drive.
The following partnerships took place: Delray Medical Center: CROS Ministries/Caring Kitchen of Delray; Good Samaritan Medical Center: Feeding South Florida; Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center: Feeding South Florida; St. Mary’s Medical Center & Palm Beach Children’s Hospital: Boys and Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County; West Boca Medical Center: Boca Helping Hands.

Out of approximately 460 programs nationwide, Palm Beach State College was one of 139 to receive the Distinguished Registered Respiratory Therapist Credentialing Success Award from the Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care. Graduates of Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care-accredited programs in the U.S. are eligible to take the registered respiratory therapist credentialing exam administered by the National Board for Respiratory Care. Upon passing the exam, they become registered respiratory therapists.
The college’s Respiratory Care program is also recognized by the American Medical Association. The associate’s degree program is based at the Palm Beach Gardens campus.

Andrew Burki, Hanley Foundation’s new chief public policy officer, will develop the foundation’s relationships with national recovery organizations to create grant and funding opportunities related to the prevention and treatment of substance use disorders, with a focus on initiatives for young people.
Burki holds a master’s degree in social work from Florida Atlantic University. He is a member of the Young People in Recovery national board, as well as a board member of a recovery high school in Philadelphia. He served on the Florida Sober Homes Task Force and participated on advisory panels for the Office of National Drug Control Policy and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration under the last two presidential administrations.
In 2012, he founded an academically focused comprehensive continuum of care offering treatment for young people with substance use disorders.
The Hanley Foundation is based in West Palm Beach.

Delray Acura collected 23 pints of blood during a drive on June 14 as part of World Blood Donor Day and Acura’s annual National Week of Service.

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

Luciana Boaventura of Delray Beach plans her next move as she paints during the inaugural Art Throwdown fundraiser at the Arts Warehouse. Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Stephen Moore

Imagine preparing for a day’s work at your place of employment. But as you walk into your office, you are met by 200 inquisitive guests wanting to find out what you do at work and how you do it. There is a DJ in the corner blasting out feel-good vibes, inspiring guests to tap their toes, sing along with the lyrics or break out in dance. Those curious guests could also purchase pizza, drinks and visit a popular virtual reality booth with a long line to prove it.
That was the scene on June 7 at the Arts Warehouse in Delray Beach during the first Art Throwdown & Monster Drawing Rally and fundraiser. Four local artists tested their concentration and creativity by drawing or painting any subject they chose during a 90-minute session and using limited supplies. All the while, curious onlookers and reporters asked questions. The artists were trying to block out the clatter of conversation that at times approached commotion status.
“No, I’m not really comfortable,” said Luciana Boaventura, a Brazilian artist living in Delray Beach. She was declared the winner of the event as determined by the amount of applause each contestant’s artwork received from the crowd of approximately 200. “Oh my gosh, this is fun. But I am not comfortable.”
But Arts Warehouse Director Jill Brown looked very comfortable as she patrolled the 3,000-square-foot hall, handling announcements, checking on the vendors and the four contestants, and offering encouragement to the 20 or so amateur artists who were not contestants but were working on their own creations.
“We just want to give the people the opportunity to create,” Brown said early in the day. “We want people to come in shorts and flip flops and have fun and experience what we are. Tonight, the spectators get to see the process of creativity and they are also able to purchase some original art.”

Her friends and family applaud and cheer as she is announced the winner among four artists. The fans include (l-r) Joshua Longhi, Luciana’s daughter, Gabriela Boaventura, and her son, Luis Fernando.

All the artworks, by both amateurs and pros, were hung on the Buy Wall with the beginning price of $30. A bidding war began on Boaventura’s floral-painted creation, which ended up selling for $275.
“I’m still not really comfortable,” she said after receiving first-place prizes of a belt that looked like it was stolen from a professional wrestling champion, a trophy establishing her as the 2019 winner and the invitation to defend her title at the next competition in 2020.

One of Luciana’s awards was a trophy. Her floral painting sold for $275.

“But I’m much better because we are finished. I didn’t have an idea of what I was going to paint because I wasn’t sure of the materials I would get. But I got inspired by nature. The florals kind of inspired me. I tend to get inspired by science and try to find the path of the right and left brains. So, I would listen to the painting. I do a lot of florals. I love the colors.”
Batia Lowenberg, a New York artist who has lived in Tel Aviv and currently resides in Boca Raton, was working well with the people and the commotion. She danced to the music while putting the finishing touches on her painting, which revolved around ladders.
“I have never done this artist throwdown,” she said. “In fact, I don’t know anyone who has done it. So, it is going to be fun. I don’t consider this throwdown as a competition. This is a creativity. Artists are my brethren and getting together with a lot of artists is just fun.”
Gregory Dirr, a Boca Raton painter, was nonchalant about all the excitement as he tried to channel a Bob Ross painting. Ross was the creator and host of the PBS show The Joy of Painting, televised from 1983 to 1994.
“I’m used to the distractions. I do a lot of outside work,” Dirr said. “This is not finished. I usually like to refine and go over and over it. I just wanted to do a Bob Ross painting, just to give a hint or an idea of an image.”
Eric Karbeling, a painter from Miami, found the atmosphere relaxing.
“There are a lot of distractions, but I like that,” he said. “I had an idea what I wanted to do and after that it was just a question of what colors to use.”
The Arts Warehouse, which opened in 2017, is a 15,000-square-foot, renovated warehouse building in the Pineapple Grove District in Delray Beach. It has 18-20 rented-out artists’ studios. The two-story building also has gallery space for exhibition shows.
“We didn’t have any monetary goals this year,” Brown said. “Our goal was to create awareness for the arts community. We started this day at 7 a.m., and this entire organization came together to make this a great day. I’m really pleased with the turnout and the interest. It was a real eclectic crowd. I had a lot of great feedback, lots of people said they were looking forward to next year’s event and other events we have planned.”

Philanthropist Lois Pope has helped Tri-County Animal Rescue’s Suzi Goldsmith with the clinic and other needs. Photo provided

A shiny new car. A diamond ring. An original painting by a renowned artist. Pricey but cherished possessions, right? However, for many of us, the most priceless asset we have wags a tail or purrs steadily.
Scientific studies reinforce what many of us already know: Pets are good for our health and outlook on life. But no matter how you got your pet — from a shelter, a breed rescue group, a responsible breeder or found wandering on the streets, keep this in mind: There is no such thing as a free pet.
Even if you did not pay to adopt, you are paying for veterinary care, food, bedding, toys, treats and more. In fact, it costs more than $1,000 annually per pet to provide basic care, according to a study conducted by the ASPCA.
That amount does not include the unexpected hits to your wallet: an expensive dental procedure or surgery to mend an injured leg or installing a fence in your backyard to keep your roaming dog at home.
People who love their pets come from all socioeconomic levels. But tragically, people who become suddenly jobless or on tight household budgets sometimes have to surrender their beloved pets to a shelter. Or worse, some must make the gut-wrenching decision to have their pets “economically euthanized” at veterinary clinics simply because they lack the funds to pay for medical expenses.
But now there is some added assistance for people in South Florida. Last month, Tri-County Animal Rescue celebrated the new Lois Pope Pet Clinic, set to open sometime in July, on its grounds in Boca Raton. This $5 million clinic contains much-needed staff (one veterinarian and four veterinary technicians per shift to provide veterinary and dental care) and equipment inside its 9,000 square feet. It features an ultrasound machine, surgical areas, a lab, isolation areas, outdoor runs and fenced-in play yards. Soon it will have an MRI machine donated by American Humane.
This new clinic will enable Tri-County Animal Rescue to provide spay/neuter surgeries and other needed care on site for the dogs and cats housed at the shelter. There will be less of a need to transport these shelter animals to outside veterinary clinics in the area. Second, it will offer reduced veterinary rates exclusively to pet owners with low incomes. Individuals just need to bring proof of income. This is the first time that Tri-County has arranged to offer discounted rates to low-income people.
“We are thrilled because the Lois Pope Pet Clinic can help us save thousands more dogs and cats and help those who cannot afford the care to keep their pets alive,” says Suzi Goldsmith, co-founder and executive director of Tri-County Animal Rescue. “Plus, the new building is 100 percent hurricane-proof. If a storm is approaching, we can move all of our animals in there.”
The lead financial backer to build this clinic is renowned philanthropist Lois Pope. A resident of Manalapan, Pope is a lifelong animal advocate who has adopted many dogs and cats, including five dogs from Tri-County.
“I’m fortunate that I can afford the best health care for my pets, but there are thousands of low-income families in the tri-county region who have pets, but who do not have the financial resources to provide them with medicine or shots, or even take them to a veterinarian,” says Pope. “In many cases, the families give up their dogs and cats to shelters, or worse, just abandon them. So, when Suzi Goldsmith approached me about helping to establish this new state-of-the-art veterinary clinic specifically focused on providing low-cost or free health care for pets in low-income families, I knew that it was the right thing, and the most humane thing to do.”
Goldsmith and Pope met more than three decades ago at a theatrical production in Manalapan, and in the words of Pope have been “soul sisters” ever since. They even arrange play dates for their own pets.
“We are soul sisters when it comes to the welfare and well-being of animals,” says Pope. “So, whenever she has come to me for help with a Tri-County need, I always say yes.”
Adds Goldsmith, “Both of us share a passion for animals. My dogs ... get along well with all of Mrs. Pope’s dogs.”
Tri-County is a no-kill, nonprofit animal shelter that serves Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties. Since 1996, Tri-County has adopted thousands of companion animals and saved more than 64,000 domestic animals from being euthanized by placing them in homes through its adoption center.

The Lois Pope Pet Clinic is at 21287 Boca Rio Road, Boca Raton, on the Tri-County Animal Rescue campus. Hours of operation are to be determined. Call Tri-County's main number at 482-8110.
Learn more at https://tricountyanimalrescue.com.

Learn more about animal behavior consultant Arden Moore at www.ardenmoore.com.

Connor Cane will spend two weeks planning a simulated mission to Mars. The plaque honors previous missions. Photo provided

By Janis Fontaine

On the Cane family’s homepage under 15-year-old Connor Cane’s name is a quote by Albert Einstein: “Curiosity has its own reason for existing.”
The reason, says George Torok, who posts insights on creative thinking on www.creative-problem-solving.org, is that “curious people learn more, discover more and change things. If you want creative people — look for curious people. They ask the questions about things that others ignore.”
And Boca Raton’s Connor Cane is curious about a lot of topics: the space program and missions to Mars, epidemiology and the threat of antibiotic-resistant superbugs, underwater robotics that can explore unseen worlds, precision drone-flying, bike racing and scuba diving. He also enjoys chess.
From July 21 to Aug. 5, Connor’s curiosity will take him to United Space School in Houston to represent the United States in an advanced, international program that will challenge students aged 15-20 to plan a simulated mission to Mars — with the help of NASA engineers and scientists.
Connor is one of only 50 fertile minds from around the world to be hand-picked from thousands of applicants in an arduous process that included writing an essay and excelling at a Skype interview with seven NASA engineers.
During the program, Connor hopes to work on the team that will design ground operations. Other students will be charged with the flight, and Connor’s team will make the mission viable. “I want to work on the team designing the habitat once they get onto the planet,” Connor said.
It’s not Connor’s first connection to the space program. In 2012, he won an essay contest at the South Florida Science Center in West Palm Beach that earned him the opportunity to speak with Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide on the International Space Station while it was passing overhead at more than 17,000 mph.
Connor is an alumnus of the U.S. Space Camp in Huntsville, Ala., where he simulated astronaut training. More important than the science, which for Connor is super-fun, he took away lessons in leadership and teamwork. These days, people skills are just as critical as a sharp mind.
Connor is currently sharpening his mind in an accelerated pre-collegiate program at FAU’s Dual Enrollment High School/University in Boca Raton. When he graduates, probably around 2022, he’ll have a high school diploma and a bachelor’s degree. He hasn’t chosen a major yet because his interests and skill set are so diverse, it’s like trying to pin down a hummingbird. Or, in the case of the space school, a flock of 50 hummingbirds.
In June, before heading to Houston, Connor went to Tanzania in Africa to work on a research project at Gombe National Park. He planned to join the technology team for a research project on a new species of monkeys. He hoped to capture enough images of individual animals to create a facial recognition algorithm for the head researcher.
It’s more proof that Connor is a deep thinker capable of so many things. “I like to work as part of a team to put together ideas, check each other’s work, avoid mistakes,” he says.
Because the stakes are high — life and death — in space.
But the stakes are high on earth, too. Connor’s other arena is solving the superbug threat and changing how we treat diseases. “I try to balance them both, but if I had to choose, I’d choose biomolecular engineering,” he says.
Specifically, Connor wants to find new ways to fight diseases, some of which have the potential of becoming the next Black Death. The bubonic plague caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis killed 60 percent of Europe’s population and 50 million people worldwide in the 14th century, before antibiotics.
Today’s medical treatments are working toward fighting bugs by using other bugs, tiny bacteriophages, viruses that kill the bacteria that cause the deadly infections.
Phages work a little bit like our own immune systems, but “one key difference,” Connor says, “is that the immune system gets overwhelmed over time and phages get stronger.”
It’s fascinating, cutting-edge stuff, but there’s a bigger purpose.
“Ultimately,” Connor says, “I want to save lives.”
Connor is the son of Dan and Deb Cane of Boca Raton. Dan Cane founded the data company Modernizing Medicine in 2010 with Palm Beach County dermatologist Dr. Michael Sherling.
The company is usually described as an electronic medical records provider, but it’s really an iPad compatible system designed to lower health care costs and improve outcomes. Cane’s first successful venture was Blackboard, an e-learning tool used by universities, which he sold in 2011 for $1.6 billion.
Dan and Deb Cane have two other children, Elizabeth and Anya, and are well known for their generous financial gifts to local nonprofits like the South Florida Science Center and Aquarium, and the A.D. Henderson University School.

Daniela Guarino in costume as Miep Gies, the woman who helped Anne Frank and family hide from Nazis. Photo provided

By Ron Hayes

Daniela Guarino was given just 10 minutes to dramatize the tragedy and triumph of the Holocaust. It took her 10 months, but she triumphed.
She was 13, an eighth-grader at American Heritage School of Boca/Delray.
The National History Day Contest was 45. Founded at Case Western Reserve University in 1974, it attracted 124 students that first year.
This year, more than half a million junior and senior high school students from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa and international schools in China, Korea and South Asia would compete in five categories.
Obviously, a girl from Manalapan didn’t have a chance.
But she also didn’t have a choice.
“It was required,” Daniela conceded. “Everyone at American Heritage has to participate in National History Day.”
Last year, she’d chosen Billie Jean King in the Exhibit category, creating a large panel about the tennis legend and feminist. This year, she decided to enter the Individual Performance category, for which she would develop a monologue lasting no longer than 10 minutes.
“I love acting, and I liked that Anne Frank could find the triumph in any tragedy,” Daniela said. “When bad things happened, she bounced back. But she was a common topic, and I thought being Anne Frank in a performance would be kind of weird. Me as Anne Frank, talking about myself?”
And then she remembered Hermine “Miep” Gies.
From July 8, 1942, when Anne and her family went into hiding in the attic of her father’s Amsterdam spice company, until Aug. 4, 1944, when they were betrayed and taken away by the Nazis, Miep Gies risked her own life to bring them food. And when they were gone, she found and saved the diary her teenage friend had left behind.
And so, in August 2018, Daniela began researching Miep Gies and Anne Frank.
“National History Day is about learning, so they force you to find the cause of historic events and the long-term effects,” she said. “The Holocaust didn’t just happen.”
To prepare her monologue, she scoured websites for magazine articles, watched videos and read books. She read The Diary of Anne Frank and delved into Mein Kampf, Adolf Hitler’s autobiography.
“I was absolutely disgusted with each word I read,” she said of the latter.
She interviewed Marion Blumenthal Lazan, a Holocaust survivor.
She found a wig and a 1940s dress on amazon.com and built a 6-by-2-foot revolving set from enlarged photographs of Anne Frank’s hiding place and Miep Gies’ apartment.
On Jan. 23, she premiered her monologue, competing against two other American Heritage students at school.
“Hello, children,” she began, adopting the accent she’d learned from video interviews with Gies. “My name is Miep Gies and they call me a Righteous Gentile, which is a fancy term for someone who helps others.”
In a mere 10 minutes, she moved from the elderly woman sharing her memories of Anne Frank with a group of children to the young woman bringing groceries to the attic and speaking directly to Anne and back.
She and a second student, Riley Shanahan, moved on to the county competition, competing against four other performers Feb. 8 at Park Vista High School in suburban Lake Worth.
She won first place in the performance category of junior high school students and moved on to the statewide contest.
Her father, Patrick Guarino, loaded the 6-foot set into a rented van and drove it to Tallahassee Community College, where on May 7, competing against about 35 performers, Daniela took another first-place award and moved on to the finals June 9-13. This time, her father had the set shipped to the University of Maryland.
In the first round of the finals, she faced about 85 competitors performing in 10 rooms. One winner was chosen from each room. She was one of those 10 finalists from which the first-, second- and third-place winners would emerge the next day.
She almost made it.
Of the 10 performers, the panel of three judges ranked her No. 5.
“Effective characteriz-ation,” one judge wrote. “You really embodied her relentlessly positive spirit.”
“Highly effective acting with impressively consistent use of an accent,” said another. “Well done!”
She came home to Manalapan with two medals, one from state and one from the nationals, and a lot to think about.
Why do some people cooperate with such evil?
“It’s a mob mentality and groupthink,” she decided. “In their propaganda, they chant and you get into a mindset that if everybody else is doing it, it must be right.”
And why do some, like Miep Gies, risk their lives to do good?
“In the beginning, Gies was just helping her friends,” she said, “doing the Christian thing for her friends. And from there she went on to help other Jewish families.”
And the hardest question of all: Could you be a Miep Gies?
“Normally, I’m scared of any kind of thing,” she said, “but I think I would have helped. Knowing what I know now.”
The contest rules required that contestants cite 12 sources they had consulted. After her 10 months of research, Daniela had gathered 75 sources. The list filled a 25-page supplement, but of them all, she said, one quote by Miep Gies seemed to sum up her entire performance.
“During the hiding time,” Gies once recalled, “I lived for the day that the war would end, when I would be able to go into the hiding place, throw open the doors, and say to my friends, ‘Now go home!’ And Anne, with her usual curiosity, will get up and rush toward me saying, ‘Hello, Miep. What is the news?’ But this was not to be.”
Even today, many people mistakenly assume that Anne Frank died in the gas chambers at Auschwitz. In fact, both she and her sister, Margot, were sent to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in northern Germany, where they succumbed to a typhus epidemic brought on by poor sanitation and the lack of adequate food and water, weeks before the camp was liberated. Anne Frank was 15.
Miep Gies died on Jan. 11, 2010, a month before her 101st birthday. On June 18, Daniela Guarino turned 14.

To watch a video of Daniela’s performance,  or go to YouTube and search for Daniela Guarino NHD Performance National Finals 2019. For more information about National History Day, visit www.nhd.org.

The Plate: Shrimp & Grits
The Place: The Old Key Lime House, 300 E. Ocean Ave., Lantana; 582-1889 or www.oldkeylimehouse.com.
The Price: $11.99
The Skinny: The view is so pretty at Lantana’s Old Key Lime House that the food could be beside the point at the waterfront restaurant.
But the team does one better than that, serving up fresh seafood that’s decent regardless of the view.
This order of shrimp and grits, served at brunch on Sundays, had five large shrimp served in a savory sauce atop creamy grits.
The five shrimp were plump and tender and the bits of bacon lent a decadent crunch to the savory sauce.
The Maryland-style crab cake was a hit with my companion, who said the patty was loaded with large lumps of sweet crab meat.
— Scott Simmons

Coyotes have long slender legs. Photo provided by Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

By Cheryl Blackerby

Sharp-eyed and quick, coyotes are turning up in Palm Beach County as far east as the Intracoastal Waterway, running across neighborhood lawns and nimbly jumping 6-foot fences. They have been in Palm Beach County for a little less than three decades, and since they are excellent swimmers, waterways are proving to be no deterrent.
Sightings have been reported in neighborhoods in the northern part of Boca Raton around Hidden Valley, and in the southeastern part of the city including Palm Beach Farms, Camino Gardens and Boca Square neighborhoods, according to Mary McGuire, a Boca Raton spokesperson.
In southwest Delray Beach, a Sabal Pine Condominium resident’s small dog was mauled and killed by a coyote when she briefly left the dog alone outside just before dawn. She saw the coyote carry the dog off and found her pet the next day.
Delray Beach Police Lt. Scott Privitera said there have
been no other reports of coyote sightings, and said he has never seen one.
No coyote sightings have been reported in Boynton Beach, said Eleanor Krusell, city spokesperson. Lantana also has had no reports of coyotes.
One reason for more frequent glimpses of coyotes in some areas is the land clearing for big projects, which is exposing and displacing wildlife.
The projects include major canal clearing work by the Lake Worth Drainage District and the South Florida Water Management District, and the Florida Department of Transportation’s express lane project that is affecting the Hillsboro Canal area and southern Boca Raton border. The city also has begun clearing the land for Hillsboro El Rio Park off 18th Street.
Palm Beach County is clearing land for the shared use pathway along Palmetto Park Road, and the Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District is about to begin construction on the old Ocean Breeze Golf Course along Second Avenue north of Yamato Road, according to McGuire.
But coyotes belong in the Western states, not on Florida golf courses, right?
That was one of the first questions asked at a workshop on coyotes hosted by the city of Boca Raton and presented by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission on May 9 at the Boca Raton Downtown Library.
“In 1900, coyotes were primarily in the West, but because of habitat change they spread east and southeast,” said Bryce Pierce, FWC wildlife assistance biologist.
The near extinction of the red wolf by the 1920s, because of habitat loss, deforestation and hunting, paved the way for coyotes. They expanded east past the Mississippi River to the Southeast by the 1960s. Coyotes, it turned out, acclimated well to agriculture and open fields.
“In the 1970s, they were in the Panhandle and by 1983 were found as far south as Orlando. In 1990, they were all the way to Broward,” said Pierce.
But coyotes are considered native or naturalized species — fossils indicate coyotes were in Florida 2 million years ago — and are now in all states except Hawaii. They are in all Florida counties, but have not yet made it past the Seven Mile Bridge channel in the Florida Keys.

The coyotes in Florida weigh 25 to 35 pounds and are brown, tan or black. Land clearing for big projects helps explain occasional glimpses of them in east Palm Beach County. Photo provided by FWC

Many of the people at the workshop had never seen a coyote until recently and didn’t know what to think. Do they run in packs, do they kill pets, do they hurt people, do they carry disease?
They don’t run in packs like dogs, said Pierce. They usually hunt alone. They will kill pets under 20 pounds, and Pierce advised keeping dogs on leashes and cats in the house. Cats do enormous harm to wildlife, especially birds, he said, and are more of a danger to native animals than coyotes.
Only one person in the U.S., a child in California, has been known to be killed by coyotes in the last 39 years. They might bite, though, if cornered.
“Rabies is extremely rare in coyotes,” Pierce said, and they prey on small mammals that carry rabies.
And another big question, can you get rid of them?
“No. They’re here to stay,” said Pierce. But you can easily run off shy coyotes by waving your arms, making noise, or throwing rocks in their direction (not hitting them), he said. Relocating or killing coyotes requires a permit, which the average urban dweller is not going to get.
The city of Boca Raton does not have the jurisdiction or control over these animals and is not authorized to trap or relocate. The FWC will not remove coyotes.
How to keep them away: Don’t feed them; don’t leave pet food and bird seed outside; and clear away fallen fruit. They are omnivorous, eating plants and animals, but only 31 percent of their diet is mammals.
There are reasons you may want coyotes to stick around. They help maintain balanced ecosystems by controlling populations of rodents and smaller predators. They eat cockroaches and rats. Pierce showed a photo of the contents of a coyote’s stomach containing 47 rats, all eaten within five hours.
They probably eat small iguanas and young pythons, too, although the FWC doesn’t have research statistics yet.
Coyotes don’t compete with Florida’s native panthers and bobcats. They could potentially eat indigo snakes and burrowing owls, both threatened species in Florida, but coyotes don’t target them like raccoons and other animals do.
And it is unlikely a neighborhood will be overrun with coyotes, which are highly territorial. A family of coyotes stays in its territory of about 1,500 to 12,000 acres, and other coyotes usually do not intrude. If a coyote is killed, he is immediately replaced by another coyote family.
Coyotes, a close relative of the domestic dog, have one breeding cycle per year, usually producing four to six pups, which disperse to new territories when they are about 9 months old. Their lifespan is six to seven years. The coyotes in Florida weigh 25 to 35 pounds and are brown, tan or black.
There’s another reason to want coyotes around, Pierce said: “They have aesthetic value. They are part of wildlife here.”
For more information about coyotes, go to https://myfwc.com, or call the FWC regional offices at 625-5122.

Garden Club unveils Blue Star Memorial Marker at Town Hall

A crowd gathers on Memorial Day for the unveiling of a Blue Star Memorial at Ocean Ridge Town Hall. Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Ron Hayes

This past Memorial Day, members of the Ocean Ridge Garden Club, residents and guests met outside Town Hall to unveil a memorial that will honor our country’s service members every day for years to come.
Promptly at 11 a.m., an honor guard from American Legion Post 164 in Boynton Beach presented the colors, allegiance was pledged and Garden Club president Mary Ann Cody welcomed about 70 people to the ceremony.
“Good morning,” she began. “Our gathering today is just one small spark in the flame of pride that burns across the nation today.”
That one small spark was a Blue Star Memorial Marker waiting to be unveiled, a 7½-foot, cast aluminum tribute to the men and women who serve, have served and will serve in all branches of the armed forces.
In 2017, the club’s 65 members voted to allocate $1,540 to purchase the marker, and civic committee co-chairs Lynn Allison and Barbara Cook worked with the Florida Federation of Garden Clubs and town officials to facilitate its placement.
In accepting the gift on behalf of Ocean Ridge, acting Town Manager Tracey Stevens became briefly emotional as she noted that the towering flag above the hall was at half-staff.
“Memorial Day is one day,” she reminded the crowd, “but this memorial marker will be a reminder every day of the sacrifices by our nation’s finest and bravest.”
Barbara Hadsell, president of the Florida Federation of Garden Clubs, noted that Ocean Ridge now boasts one of 3,204 Blue Star memorials in the 50 United States.
Florida has 184 memorial markers, including two in Boynton Beach, one on U.S. 1 at the north entrance to the city and another on 32nd Lane, off Boynton Beach Boulevard between Seacrest Boulevard and Interstate 95.
The Boca Raton Garden Club has placed a marker in Sanborn Square Park, and a second in front of its clubhouse on Northwest Third Avenue.
Lake Worth has a marker on U.S. 1 at 19th Avenue North, and the West Palm Beach Garden Club has sponsored another in Prospect Park.

ABOVE: The unveiling of a Blue Star Memorial Marker in Ocean Ridge on Memorial Day was two years in the making. The Garden Club voted to allocate $1,540 to purchase the marker and worked with its state federation to place it. BELOW: Lynn Allison and Barbara Cook (l-r) co-chaired the memorial committee. Lt. Gen. Thomas Bostick and Vietnam veteran Al Naar spoke at the ceremony. Naar reminded the crowd that ‘war is a dirty business,’ and Bostick said troops who died ‘made the ultimate sacrifice.’

A start with WWII
The Blue Star Memorial Highway tradition began with a world war, a garden club and 8,000 white dogwood trees.
In 1944, the New Jersey State Council of Garden Clubs planted those 8,000 trees along a 5½-mile stretch of U.S. 22 between the towns of Mountainside and North Plainfield, to honor the men and women of the state then serving in the armed forces.
The blue star came from the star on military service flags that families displayed in their windows to show they had a son or daughter serving.
In 1945, the program went national. Individual garden clubs collaborated with state highway departments, and a uniform marker was designed by Cornelia Kellogg, founder of the clubs’ national council.
With the war over, the program came to honor all who were serving, had served or would serve. Blue Star Memorial Markers and a smaller “byway marker” were added for display at cemeteries, veterans organizations and public buildings.
In his remarks, Al Naar, an Ocean Ridge resident who served as an operating room Navy medic in Vietnam in 1968-69, refused to let patriotic sentiment disguise the horrors of war.
“War is a dirty business,” he said. “We struggled to save the wounded, sometimes after days without sleep, and sometimes during incoming fire.”
In March 1969 alone, his 3rd Medical Battalion handled 1,464 cases, took 7,752 X-rays and performed 130 blood transfusions.
Naar closed by quoting Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s farewell address.
“The soldier above all other people prays for peace,” MacArthur told the U.S. Congress, “for he must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war.”
The day’s keynote speaker was Lt. Gen. Thomas Bostick, who retired in 2016 as the commanding general of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
“Memorial Day is a recognition of those who made the ultimate sacrifice,” he said, “but none of them willingly died. They willingly served their country and their teammates, and they died as part of that.”
And then the general quoted Nelson Henderson, a Canadian farmer who said, “The true meaning of life is to plant trees under whose shade you do not expect to sit.”
Recalling a time in his military career when he was a recruiting officer, Bostick said, “You reach out to young people and plant trees, and that’s what this garden club does in many ways.”
And so the time had come.
Mary Ann Cody, along with Barbara Hadsell and Carol Coleman of the state federation, lifted the cover from the tribute, the honor guard fired a volley, and Legion Post 164 bugler Christine Morales sounded a slow and mournful taps.
The first Blue Star Memorial marked where New Jersey garden clubs had beautified a highway 75 years ago. The marker was not an end in itself, and the new one at Ocean Ridge Town Hall is no exception.
Next, Lynn Allison said, the club plans to create a small garden around the marker’s base.
“Something we can maintain.”

Sweet Dream Makers founder Suzy Broad gets financial support from Neil Gillman and logistical help and donations from Marc Schiller of City Mattress. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Janis Fontaine

There is no substitute for a good night’s sleep. You can’t buy one. You can’t pay someone to sleep for you.
Something happens when we sleep. We heal. We learn. We adapt. We solve problems. And we dream.
No one knows exactly why, but experts do know sleep is just as critical as food and water. Fatigue from too little sleep increases the risk of accidents and injuries, and sleep deprivation contributes to the development of heart disease and other medical problems.
For children, sleep is even more critical. Their brains are still maturing, and they’re constantly challenged with new learning and experiences. Teachers will tell you a child needs two things to set him up to learn: a good night’s sleep and breakfast.
There’s a network of food pantries and free school breakfast programs working hard to get kids the nutrition their brains need to grow.
On the sleep side, there’s Suzy Broad and Sweet Dream Makers.
A dozen years ago, the former advertising executive volunteered at her synagogue, Boca Raton’s Temple Beth El. One of the first families she helped taught her a lot about the challenges families living at the poverty level face. Broad, 54, realized she had given them lamps but no light bulbs, and school supplies but no desk to work at or cabinet to store them.
But Broad had also given a little girl in that family a bed. The house was in disarray, but the girl’s bed was neatly made, her new teddy bear propped lovingly on her pillow. Broad had an “aha moment.” Could there actually be a need for beds?
There was. A big need.
To fill it, Broad started what would become the 501(c)(3) nonprofit Sweet Dream Makers, which has given away nearly 3,000 beds so far. SDM grew so quickly it became Broad’s full-time job.
Broad, who lives in Boca Raton, found her biggest hurdle was always logistics: Delivering and setting up beds and picking up donated used furniture required a truck and driver, some heavy lifters and bed assemblers, and a storage unit.
Marc Schiller of City Mattress, who was looking for a local charity to support, heard about Sweet Dream Makers from a friend. Both he and Broad knew their partnership was meant to be after they met.
Now Schiller, who lives in coastal Delray Beach, has filled the gap in the logistics area, and benefactors Neil and Doris Gillman have garnered financial support.
Neil Gillman, who heard Broad speak about SDM at a meeting of the Boca West Foundation, told his wife, Doris, who immediately picked up the phone to call Broad.
Since then the Gillmans have rallied around SDM, Broad said, and Doris gets the credit for connecting SDM with Boca Raton Regional Hospital. Now SDM ensures every baby born there goes home to a crib or other safe, sanitary place to sleep.
In December, the Gillmans hosted the second annual “Be a Sweet Dream Maker Celebration” at their home in Royal Palm Yacht & Country Club. The event, which honored Schiller, raised more than $200,000, enough for about 600 beds.
Broad, Schiller and the Gillmans sleep better knowing they’re helping other people sleep better.
To connect with SDM, call Broad at 571-7363 or email her at suzyb@sweetdreammakers.org.

Sea turtle tracks are on the beach and TV weather maps already show suspicious-looking bright blobs in the Atlantic. The steady hum of air conditioners is all around and even the finest restaurants are offering enticing dining deals. It must be summer.
Less traffic, more parking, cheaper admission. What’s not to love? Soon the ocean will be warm enough for natives to swim in and the predictable afternoon thunderstorms will pass, casting rainbows on balmy evenings.
Now is the time of year when our publication scales back to allow our advertisers and employees to take vacations if they choose. As a result, we plan to produce a smaller newspaper each month. Beginning this month, expect two sections instead of three and know that some of your favorite columnists will be taking brief sabbaticals. It’s all planned. Nothing to worry about. All is good at The Coastal Star.
We’re just trimming the sails for a smooth cruise through summer.
That doesn’t mean we’ll stop covering news. Not at all. The summer months are when municipalities begin budget talks — discussions that decide how your tax dollars will be spent in the coming year.
We’ll be at those meetings and will write about what your elected officials decide. If you’re here year-round, we hope to see you there. It’s your money; make sure your voice is heard.
And make sure the calm of summer isn’t used as cover for sneaking personal agendas through without input from seasonal residents. It happens.
And, of course, we’ll write about more than budget news. We’ll also continue to find fascinating people to profile, interesting stories about our area to share and, as always, we’ll bring you information on coming events. Our advertisers will be around too, and you can count on them to show you the most attractive real estate along the coast and keep you informed about the year-round (and seasonal) services they provide to our community.
So, even though many of us have vacations planned and we expect to deliver fewer pages in each monthly edition, we’ll still be around — as long as hurricane season is kind and the air conditioner keeps working!

Mary Kate Leming,
Editor

By Sallie James

Nearly a year after Boca Raton Regional Hospital said it would merge with Baptist Health South Florida, the hospital has named its new chief executive officer: Lincoln S. Mendez, the former CEO of South Miami Hospital, a Baptist property.
Mendez will replace Jerry Fedele, president and CEO of Boca Regional Hospital, when Fedele retires in August. Fedele has served as CEO of the hospital for the past 11 years.
The two hospitals also announced they have signed an agreement regarding a strategic partnership between the two organizations, solidifying their plans for affiliation. In December 2018, Boca Raton Regional and Baptist Health South Florida agreed on a letter of intent for the partnership.
“We are excited about this significant step in the journey we embarked on in 2017. The agreement was enthusiastically endorsed by a unanimous vote of our board, and we are looking forward to continuing with Baptist Health on the path toward elevating the health care we provide for our communities,” Fedele said in a written statement. “Our organizations share similar cultures, values and expectations for excellence that are essential for a great partnership that is focused on increasing access to high quality care across South Florida.”
Boca Regional, at 800 Meadows Road, began discussions with Baptist more than a year ago with the hope of elevating the hospital’s position as an academic referral center in South Florida. Baptist, headquartered in Coral Gables, is the largest not-for-profit health care organization in the region, with 10 hospitals and more than 100 physician and outpatient locations from Palm Beach County to the Florida Keys.
Today, Boca Regional has grown into a regional treatment complex, with about 2,800 employees, 1,200 volunteers and approximately 800 doctors on staff.
The Debbie-Rand Memorial Service League has provided more than $31 million to the hospital since the league’s formation in 1962.
The beloved community hospital, once known as “The Miracle on Meadows Road,” was born out of tragedy in 1967. The poisoning deaths of two young children and the absence of a local medical center became the impetus for its founding. The town had about 10,000 residents and a group of volunteers with a mission.
Board member Pat Thomas, also past president of the Debbie-Rand Memorial Foundation, said Mendez will serve Boca Regional well.
“I am very excited. I think it’s going to be a great partnership for both of us,” Thomas said. “He has an outstanding résumé, he’s been in the hospital industry for several years and was recently a CEO at a Baptist Hospital in South Florida.”
She called the merger between the two hospitals a “good marriage” and said the hospital’s future looks bright.
She also commended Fedele on his years of dedicated service. “Jerry Fedele did wonderful things for our hospital and we owe him a mountain of gratitude,” Thomas said.
Mendez’s background is notable. During his tenure, South Miami Hospital earned national accolades for quality, innovation and clinical excellence, while experiencing significant growth in its facilities, technology and programs.
Christine E. Lynn, Boca Raton Regional Hospital Board chair, said that Mendez “provides the depth of experience and executive skill sets that are tailor-made to lead Boca Regional in its continued ascent to becoming one of the premier, tertiary academic medical centers in Florida.”
She also expressed confidence “in his ability to continue the most positive momentum and trajectory of our hospital that was established and sustained by Jerry Fedele.”
Joan Wargo, 89, who’s been volunteering at Boca Regional for more than 50 years, was delighted to hear of the progress.
“They have been working on this for a long, long time. They chose the CEO after many, many meetings. The people that were on the committee were all very satisfied. I have not met the man, but the people I know and trust and respect are very happy with him,” Wargo said. “We are looking forward to having him here.”
Brian E. Keeley, president and CEO of Baptist Health, said the collaboration between the two hospitals “reinforced our common vision for carrying out our mission of delivering compassionate, exceptional care to our patients and families.”
“Baptist Health has grown strategically in recent years to meet the needs of our communities, and (this) announcement brings us one step closer to completing our much-anticipated affiliation with Boca Raton Regional Hospital,” Keeley said. “With Lincoln’s leadership, we believe this partnership will be mutually beneficial to our respective organizations and, most of all, for the many people we serve across four counties.”