The backlight frond of a green thatch palm glows in the late-day sun. Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

Related story: Subtropical paradise a delightful part of Norton Museum’s revamp

By Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley

Although many people think of the coconut palm as the quintessential South Florida palm tree, it’s not a native. In fact, the state has 11 native palm trees but not a coconut among them. To explore these indigenous palms, visit the newly reopened and socially distanced Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach.

Here, the permanent installation of the Florida 11 is on display throughout the museum’s Sculpture Garden. The planting was funded by a $20,000 grant awarded in 2019.
It came from the Stanley Smith Horticultural Trust, which supports “organizations working to advance research and/or education in ornamental horticulture.”

The trunks of (l-r) cabbage, buccaneer, silver and royal palms show the wide variety of color and textures of Florida’s native palms.

Florida’s landscape is flush with palms, but only 11 are indigenous
to the state. You can view them all at the Norton’s Sculpture Garden

Everglades palm, paurotis palm (Acoelorrhaphe wrightii — threatened)
Description: A clustering palm that can reach 30 feet tall. Slow growing, this palm is cold tolerant. Big thorns on leaf stems curve in both directions, so whether you move your hand in or out of the plant, you will get stabbed.
Growing conditions: Can be grown from extreme South Florida north to Orlando. These much-used palms are a wetland species requiring full sun and more moisture than irrigation systems can deliver.
Available: At native nurseries.

Key thatch palm, brittle thatch palm (Leucothrinax morrisii — threatened)
Description: Resembles the Thrinax radiata (green thatch palm), but this palm has silver underleaves and stiffer foliage. Small and slow growing with a thick trunk and open crown that reaches 5 to 7 feet wide. Older specimens reach 15 to 20 feet tall, well proportioned to backyards.
Growing conditions: Found in dry, deciduous forests and coastal areas. Requires sun to partial shade with little water once established in the landscape. Likes alkaline soil; in nature it grows on lime rock. Drought tolerant. Well adapted to heat, drought, storms and salt spray.
Available: At native nurseries where they tend to be pricey.

Florida royal palm (Roystonea elata — endangered)
Note: Often confused with the Cuban royal palm (Roystonea regia), and it is difficult to tell them apart. But the Florida palms have been distinct for 1,000 years so that they are a slightly different adaptation found only in Florida. The only natural stands of these palms existing today are in the Fakahatchee swamp and in the royal palm hammock of Everglades National Park.
Description: With a concrete-like trunk, this fast-growing palm often reaches 20 inches in diameter and 40 feet tall. Hurricane tolerant. Drops its large fronds. That’s fine in the wild but in the home landscape, the fronds can damage nearby trees and buildings, so they are often removed before they drop.
Growing conditions: Does well in swamps but, once it’s established, can resist drought. Although you often see them growing along streets or as singular trees, in nature they grow in dense hardwood or cypress forests where they push their crowns above the other trees to get light. Available: If it is available from native growers, the true native variety will have been grown from legally collected seeds.

Cabbage palm, also called palmetto, Carolina palmetto, swamp cabbage (Sabal palmetto)
Description: Our state tree comes booted (leaf bases remain on tree after leaves fall) or slick (leaf bases fall off with leaves or are trimmed for a smoother trunk). No need to trim these trees, as they provide habitat for animals, nectar for pollinators, and berries for birds and other animals. Bats that roost in the hanging brown leaves eat mosquitoes. Requires about 15 years’ growth before developing a trunk and then grows 6 inches in a good year.
Growing conditions: Grows in just about any soil as well as in swamps and beach areas. Hurricane resistant and salt tolerant.
Available: A common species grown from seeds in native nurseries. Or they are harvested fully grown from cattle grazing land. These full-size specimens are expensive to purchase in small quantities, cheaper by the trailer truckload.

Needle palm, porcupine palm (Rhapidophyllum hystrix)
Description: This clumping fan palm has dark green foliage with a small trunk that slowly grows to only about 3 feet tall. Has needlelike spines between the leaves.
Growing conditions: The needle is a north Florida species, with Palm Beach County just outside the historic growing range.
Likes shady, moist areas and average-to-rich organic soil, but will tolerate drought. Best planted in the understory of trees such as live oaks, cypress trees and slash pines.
Available: A commercially exploited palm that has been over-harvested in its native locations because it is one of the few palms that can grow in temperate climates. Grows very slowly from seed in native nurseries.
Silver palm, silver thatch palm (Coccothrinax argentata — threatened)
Description: Seeds have been spread by birds using the East Coast flyway for more than 1,000 years, so this palm grows in the Florida Keys up through Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. In Palm Beach it was first reported in the 1920s.
It is a single-stemmed or non-clustering palm with small, fan-shaped dark green leaves attached to a thin stem. The leaves twist in the wind, exposing their silvery undersides.
It grows about ½ to 1 inch a year, reaching 8 to 10 feet at maturity with some living over 100 years. Good for backyard planting as the trees remain in scale to one- and two-story homes.
Growing conditions: Requires full sun and alkaline soil that can be created by amending with lime rock pea gravel. Hurricane resistant. Very low maintenance.
Available: At native nurseries.
Buccaneer palm, hog palm, cherry palm (Pseudophoenix sargentii — endangered)
Description: Leaves resemble feathers; the slow-growing silver-blue trunk is smooth. Large clusters of yellowish-white flowers become big red seeds and then fruits that in the past were fed to hogs. This stopped reproduction of these palms, resulting in a dying out of the species.
Growing conditions: Thrives in the home garden in full sun; very drought tolerant.
Available: Often at high prices from native nurseries that cultivate these palms.
Green thatch palm, buffalo-top palm (Thrinax radiata — endangered)
Description: Fast growing with a delicate trunk and green leaves that have a pleasant “plastic” feel. Best planted in groupings, not as a hedge. Perfect for a dooryard or by a backyard pool.
Growing conditions: Shade or sun, wet or dry.
Available: Endangered due to habitat loss but grown commercially.

Dwarf palmetto, little blue-stem (Sabal minor)
Description: Its usual southern growing limit is around Lake Placid, northwest of Lake Okeechobee. Resembles a Sabal palm without a trunk. A small bushy palm with a bluish green cast; good filler among native plantings.
In the landscape, it resembles a bunch of leaves that grow 5 feet high and 5 feet wide. Has absolutely flat fan leaves with slits halfway up the middle. Very cold tolerant.
Growing conditions: Shady, moist habitat (needs more water than can be achieved with irrigation). Prefers the shady understory of a wet forest or cypress swamp.
Available: At native nurseries.

Scrub palmetto (Sabal etonia)
Description: Resembles a Sabal palm without a trunk because the trunk spirals underground for 10 to 20 feet and then grows skyward so that leaves reach 6 feet above ground. When they appear, the fans have curling mid-rib leaves.
The underground trunk was a survival mechanism for this plant, which originally grew in scrubland prone to wildfires. And it was probably sought after by ancient animals such as grazing mastodons and ground sloths.
Growing conditions: Found naturally nowhere else in the world but Florida, where it thrives from Broward County to Ocala. Full sun and well-drained soil; withstands fire.
Available: At native nurseries where they are raised from seeds in small quantities.

Saw palmetto, silver saw palm (Serenoa repens)
Note: The seeds are used as a holistic treatment for prostate problems. Cattle ranchers have been known to sell the berries from these palms growing on their property. The berries can earn them more than do the cattle they raise.
Jonathan Dickinson, a shipwrecked merchant from the late 1600s, was fed saw palmetto berries by the native population and described the fruit as tasting like “rotten cheese steeped in tobacco juice.”
Description: Leaf stems have sharp spines that give the species its common name. It is a slow-growing fan palm with trunk that usually hugs the ground to protect it from fire. Branches radiate from central spot. Many have dark green leaves but coastal varieties often are silvery white.
Clusters of small flowers smell like coconut and attract bees, producing what some consider to be the best honey available. Provides food and habitat to more than 10 bird species, 27 mammals, 25 amphibians, 61 reptiles and countless insects and butterflies.
Growing conditions: Grows in clumps or dense thickets in sandy coastal areas, and as undergrowth in elevated areas with acidic yet organic-rich soil. Adapts well to salt spray. Use to fill a corner or create a screen.
Available: At native nurseries where they are grown from seeds legally collected from the wild (seeds are not grown commercially for harvest).

Information sources: Amber Mathis, former director of horticulture at the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, and Richard Moyroud, Lake Worth native nursery owner and conservationist.
Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star and provided by the Institute for Regional Conservation, Wikipedia and the Florida Native Plant Society

By Amy Woods

The Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County won the 2020 Health & Human Services Organization of the Year award given by the Chamber of Commerce of the Palm Beaches.
Kristin Calder, the coalition’s CEO, accepted the honor during a virtual ceremony.

“This recognition allows us to raise awareness about the families that struggle each day and the ways we are helping to provide literacy and life skills to help them be successful in school and in life,” Calder said. “Our programs and initiatives have an impact countywide, and even in challenging times when we can’t meet in person we have adapted to deliver our programs virtually to continue educating and engaging our students so they continue to reach milestones and make important gains.”

In other coalition news, the Grand Bee, which spelling participants experienced virtually this season because of the pandemic, raised $20,000. The theme was “A Year of Mystery,” and more than 60 competitors helped make it a success.

The coalition’s mission is to improve the quality of life through literacy by serving 29,000 adults, children and families annually.

Doris Kearns Goodwin joins virtual gala in Boca Festival of the Arts Boca has raised more than $33,000 to benefit music education in South County, including the new Festival of the Arts Boca Music Competition.

Proceeds were generated during a virtual gala.

“We are very grateful to all those who tuned in and pledged their support for our ongoing mission to expand our community music-education programs,” said Joanna Marie Kaye, the festival’s executive director.

“The gala captured 632 views — many that included watch parties.

“This number exceeded our expectations and surpassed the reach a live gala would have garnered.”

Among the guests to the virtual gala were presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, former U.S. poet laureate Robert Pinsky and superstar violinist Joshua Bell, in addition to the festival’s music director, Constantine Kitsopoulos.

Funding targets small, emerging cultural groups

The Cultural Council for Palm Beach County is administering funds totaling $212,500 to 24 select organizations.

A motion approved by the council’s board designates dollars from the Cultural Development Fund for Small or Emerging Cultural Organizations to go to nonprofits with operating revenues of at least $25,000.

“This annual funding program supports diverse arts programming focused on education and cultural heritage in Palm Beach County,” President and CEO Dave Lawrence said.

“These programs provide opportunities to children and youth and create opportunities for residents to experience innovative cultural programs. We’re grateful to the Palm Beach County Board of Commissioners for their support and are honored to help these organizations grow through this grant.”

Grant amounts are based not only on organizations’ budgets but also on application scores and the county-approved funding pool.
For a list of 2020-21 winners, visit www.palmbeachculture.com/our-impact/grant-programs/small-or-emerging-organizations/ and look under the Grantee Toolkit.

Boca Regional campaign receives another big gift

Another $1 million gift has been made to “Keeping the Promise — the Campaign for Boca Raton Regional Hospital.”

The donation is one of nearly two dozen seven- and eight-figure amounts received by the campaign, which is steadily pushing toward its $250 million goal.

“The Sands Family Foundation and Constellation Brands only recently joined our family at Boca Raton Regional Hospital,” CEO Lincoln Mendez said. “They immediately embraced our culture of health care and philanthropy as well as our vision for the future. We look forward to a long and healthy relationship with the Sands family, and we are deeply grateful for their support.”

Rob Sands, executive chairman of Constellation Brands, added: “My parents set a wonderful philanthropic example and instilled in us the importance of giving back to support your community. It is a tradition that as a company and as individuals we continue to uphold. I hope our contribution inspires other philanthropic gifts to Boca Regional in this fundraising effort.”

United Way benefits from NCCI’s giving campaign

The National Council on Compensation Insurance raised $255,000 during its annual giving campaign for the United Way of Palm Beach County.

The campaign took place virtually and featured one drive that procured 304 books for the Achievement Centers for Children & Families and another that procured 1,410 pounds of food for CROS Ministries.

“Education and nutrition are so essential for building healthy minds and bodies,” said Freddie July-Johnson, NCCI’s campaign chairwoman, who noted the campaign’s theme,

“Nourishing the Minds and Bodies in Our Community.”

“Our team is proud that the pandemic didn’t hold us back from making a lasting impact on the lives of families in need in Palm Beach County.”

For information about the United Way of Palm Beach County, call 561-375-6600 or visit https://unitedwaypbc.org.

Junior League event haul: $160K and 40,000 diapers

The Junior League of Boca Raton had its 33rd annual Woman Volunteer of the Year event — virtually, of course — and raised more than $160,000 to help South County.

The event also brought in nearly 40,000 diapers for the Diaper Bank.

“Yvette Drucker and Nancy Walsh made the virtual Woman Volunteer of the Year a night to remember,” President Cristy Stewart-Harfmann said.

“Most importantly, thanks to attendees and our generous donors, the event raised significant funds to help women and children in our community.”

The theme was “Honoring the History of Women Volunteers” and highlighted the 685 past nominees.

From A to Y: 25 nonprofits vie for $100,000 grants

Impact 100 Palm Beach County has selected the 25 semifinalists that will have the opportunity to submit full applications for one of several $100,000 high-impact grants benefiting the nonprofit community.

The female-led organization used the virtual platform of Facebook Live to announce the charities in the 2021 competition.

“We received 84 grant applications this year, which means there are $8.4 million in funding requests from local nonprofits in need,” President Kathy Adkins said. “Impact 100 PBC acts as a lifeline to these vital organizations but more so than ever this grant-giving year.”

The charities are: Alzheimer’s Community Care; American Association of Caregiving Youth; Boca Raton Museum of Art; Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County; Coastal Conservation Association Florida; Connect to Greatness; Digital Vibez; First Serve USA; Florence Fuller Child Development Centers; Florida Atlantic University Foundation; Help Our Wounded Foundation; Junior Achievement of the Palm Beaches & Treasure Coast; Love Serving Autism; Milagro Center; Nova Southeastern University; Palm Beach State College; Pathways to Prosperity; Peggy Adams Animal Rescue League; PROPEL; Schoolhouse Children’s Museum & Learning Center; Spady Cultural Heritage Museum; Sweet Dream Makers; Tri-County Animal Rescue; Unicorn Children’s Foundation; and Young Singers of the Palm Beaches.

For information, call 561-336-4623 or visit www.impact100pbc.org.

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

Photo provided

Members of the Boynton Woman’s Club assembled 150 bags of candy for distribution to clients of the Palm Beach Habilitation Center in Lake Worth. The club chose the center as its 2020/2021 President’s Project. It offers vocational training, employment and community job placement as well as recreational activities and residential services to people with disabilities.

Photo provided

Crown Colony Club residents and the Ocean Ridge Police Department teamed up to provide dozens of toys and packages to Aid to Victims of Domestic Abuse for use at its shelter in Delray Beach. The packages included clothing, makeup, diapers and other essentials. The facility is one of only two shelters in the county that provide this kind of service.

Morana St. Hilaire, Garçon, Candace Tamposi and Ali Tamposi. Photo provided

Grammy-nominated songwriter Ali Tamposi and former NFL wide receiver Pierre Garçon attended the First Haitian Baptist Church Children’s Christmas Gift Giveaway and the unveiling of its new Enrichment Center in Belle Glade. The 4,500-square-foot center replaces a 1940s building that housed the after-school program for children for the past 25 years. Donations of $600,000 have been raised for the center, but an equal amount is still needed.

Adkins and Layman are caught on camera by videographer Jack Schulman. Photo provided

Impact 100 Palm Beach County and the Boca Raton Resort & Club sponsored a Zoom gathering led by organization President Kathy Adkins, membership Co-Chairwomen Kathryn Gillespie, Lisa Warren and Nicole Mugavero and grants Co-Chairwoman Renee Layman. The speakers provided background on the nonprofit and its plans for the 2021 grant cycle. ‘The key component of this organization is that women can make a tremendous impact in their own backyard,’

Adkins said. ‘As we enter our 10th year of grants in Palm Beach County, we are incredibly proud of the good our members are doing right here at home.’ 

Shaw with board President Gary Peters in 2006. Photo provided

Eric Shaw, Boca Helping Hands’ longest-serving board member, stepped down after 18 years of service, 14 as vice president. Shaw, described by staffers as ‘the perfect gentleman,’ personified the nonprofit’s mission of providing food, medical and financial assistance to people in need. ‘I stayed so long because it has been a phenomenal trip,’ he said. ‘It has been my personal pleasure and a professional privilege to be a small part of this great organization doing so much good for so many in our caring and compassionate community.’

Dozens of residents decorated themselves, their cars and golf carts, and even their pets as they took part in the neighborhood’s annual Holiday Festival of Lights Parade.
Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Mike and Deidre Neal (l-r) and their neighbors, Nick, Katherine and Mazie Malinoski, greet Mrs. Claus. Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

The coronavirus changed how municipalities celebrated the holidays, with the traditional large public gatherings canceled. In Ocean Ridge, the town spread Christmas cheer with a parade featuring Santa Claus, replacing the usual indoor event.

Golf carts loaded with Santa and his wife, and with town commissioners and the mayor dressed as elves, dispensed candy canes and dog treats. They received a police escort as they ventured down every street in Ocean Ridge and Briny Breezes.

Cathy Allen as Mrs. Claus, wife of Gulf Stream Police Chief Edward Allen, drops her mask for a moment to smile for a group of children.

The Reiter family —(l-r) Josh, Russell, Sam, Anya, Susan and Lily — is dressed for the occasion as Santa draws near on Old Ocean Boulevard.

The 150,000-square-foot Delray Beach Market will have more than 30 vendors of food and other products. It is scheduled to open in March. Rendering provided

By Jan Norris

With completion only a few calendar pages away, the Delray Beach Market is in the final stretch of signing on vendors. But like other businesses opening just now, 2020 problems are bleeding into 2021 plans for what is billed as the state’s largest food hall.

The $60 million, four-story project on Southeast Third Avenue, created by Menin Development of Delray Beach, has been years in planning. With 150,000 square feet — roughly three times the size of New York’s famed Eataly — it’s slated to have more than 30 independent vendors selling everything from sushi to surfboards starting sometime in March.

“Obviously, COVID has thrown us for a loop,” said Jordana Jarjura, Menin’s president and special counsel. “So what we’ve done is cut the permanent stalls from 32 to 25 and spaced them out. To make up for the stalls we removed, we’ll be reaching out to vendors using carts, such as Guaca Go,” she said.

Craig O’Keefe, managing partner of Clique Hospitality, the group responsible for managing the food hall, said that “one of the cool parts of having to eliminate stalls” is the creation of “an awesome opportunity for more startups, small mom-and-pops who wouldn’t otherwise have a chance to get the exposure they’ll get here.

“This will give people an opportunity to experiment and do some cool stuff.”

These vendors will rotate, depending on their success. The goal of each is to become a regular vendor, and Jarjura said “we will be happy” to lose anyone to a brick and mortar space. “That will mean they were successful. We’d love to see that.”

The development group has tried to attract food makers who aren’t represented along the busy Atlantic Avenue and surrounds.

“We were looking for authentic ethnic, local when possible, healthy and memorable,” Jarjura said. “We have Indian, Lebanese, Pan-Asian, healthy quick breakfasts and many more that will be unique.”

Vendors will include vegan, Mexican traditional, Italian pastries and a Caribbean stall with conch salad, conch fritters and Kalik beer.

They will come from around the county with a few outside of the area, Jarjura said. Some local chefs and food providers are on board. For example, Jimmy Everett of Driftwood in Boynton Beach will pay homage to Mexican sisters with Sorella’s, a fresh pasta stall.

“I was trained by these two Mexican sisters in New York who learned how to make pasta from this little Italian woman. Back in the day they really were the ones doing fresh pasta shapes for all the top restaurants,” he said. One of the pair died from cancer and with her went the dream of opening their own pasta shop.

“So Sorella’s means sister in Italian, and the shop is in honor of them,” Everett said. The tiny stall — roughly 250 square feet — will offer fresh pastas made on the spot, and sauces with some other components for a pasta dish.

He’ll manage in the little booth, he said. “Oh, I’m defin-itely used to working in tiny spaces: I had a kitchen in L.A. that was 75 or 100 square foot.”

A display case will have pastas by the pound, along with sauces to take home for a DIY dinner.

The retail is a bonus for Everett, and even though it won’t bear the Driftwood name, it’s up to his standards. Retail, he said, is a growing aspect in the restaurant industry as COVID-19 still keeps diners at bay.

The developers have taken the virus into consideration, with a cashless business model, touchless bathrooms, collapsible nano walls for open-air spaces, and outdoor seating as well as spaced-out interior tables.

The stalls are minimalist in decor by design.

“We wanted stripped-down stalls so the public can see the vendors in action. They can watch the pasta being made, and the sushi chef making sushi,” Jarjura said.

The money for decor was spent instead on murals, and a variety of artwork by local and national artists in a mix of media will be displayed, and rotated in and out.

“We want it to be a feast for the eyes and the soul,” Jarjura said.

A great deal of interaction will be involved in keeping the sprawling space lively. The mezzanine features a show kitchen and play area for kids, as well as a community gathering space where meetings or social events could be staged. While parents get some computer work done on the free Wi-Fi, kids can engage in gaming nearby. Balconies provide more open-air spaces on this level.

Jarjura believes the market will become a new social gathering space. “The Greenmarket is the green outdoor community space; we’re going to be the indoor community hub.”

The projected number of visitors is large, 2,000 a day, but the team said that has to do with the large hall, long hours of 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. every day, and the chance for visitors to come and go or to stay awhile.

“It seems like a really large number, but over the course of an entire day, people will come and go throughout, and different spaces will be utilized. With so much flex space it offers a lot of freedom to move around,” O’Keefe said.

The vendors have signed on for one year, minimum. And not all are for food, despite the description of the market.

Briny Breezes' surf shop Nomad is slated to set up shop indoors. It will offer beachwear and supplies for a day at the shore.

“We have some retail spaces in the market. They were a local favorite. I went to school with Ronnie Heavyside,” Jarjura said. “His father started it in the ’80s. And I know his brother Ryan through Ronnie. I just thought Delray was such a large part of their history.”

One example of the market’s authentic ethnic flavor is the Tiffin Box, a fast, fresh Indian takeout.

“We wanted traditional Indian,” Jarjura said. “The way he presents his cuisine, it’s more approachable. Even if you’re not familiar with Indian, it’s very easy to approach it.”
Bona Bona is an extravagant ice cream shop that has adult “boozy” mixtures along with family favorites. Tekka Bar is the sushi stall, coming from operators who are from Las Vegas.

O’Keefe said cocktails and beers will play a role in the market. A lounge area in the flex space on the mezzanine can host special or private events and turn into a more club-like atmosphere at night.

“Several vendors have their beer and wine license,” he said. “Sake at the sushi stall. There is a central bar on the ground floor; it’s the main focus for beverages on the ground floor. There will be the coolest craft beer bar in Palm Beach County among the retail components. The mezzanine bar is the only other bar with hard liquor.”

The lounge area is a potential community hot spot in the daytime, O’Keefe said. “Maybe Mommy and Me cooking classes, or how to play the ukulele, or yoga people can do. It will be real community engagement.”

Plenty of outdoor seating will be available on the oversized sidewalks.

“There is so much advanced technology throughout,” O’Keefe said. “You can order as a group on your phone with an app, from individual stalls, and pay as one ticket. And you will get a text message once your food is ready for pickup.”

As for parking, the four-story structure includes 220 spaces in an enclosed garage.

The market is scheduled to open in March at 33 SE Third Ave., Delray Beach, and be open daily, 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Co-owner John Calomiris of Dune Deck Cafe in Lantana said he was embarrassed after decades in business to have to discuss a rodent problem at the oceanfront restaurant.

“We know, the city knows and the exterminator knows about it,” he said. “They live under the wooden sidewalk and in the brush all around the restaurant. That is their home. They are out of control. The city came to clear out the brush at the back of the restaurant, but you can’t control them.”

Inspectors shut down the popular eatery when rats were found in the kitchen, and other violations, including a dirty ice dispenser, were discovered.

Overnight the restaurant was cleaned, reinspected and reopened within a day, Calomiris said. Crews come in early daily to clean, and a second crew comes at night, he said.

Exterminators come sometimes three times a week as needed.

Without a sealed walkway next to the restaurant on the ocean side, he doesn’t foresee an end to the problem.

“It’s embarrassing,” Calomiris said. “I’ve been here for 40 years, and haven’t been shut down except for COVID for 90 days.”

In brief: A makeover is in the works this year for the former Rum Bar and Grill at the Waterstone Resort and Marina in Boca Raton. It’s planned to become a premier outdoor waterfront dining experience, according to publicist Michelle Soudry of the Gab Group. … A high-end steakhouse will open in Delray Beach in 2021, brought to South Florida by the owners of Scarpetta and Campagna in New York City. Details will come as plans are released. ... At the end of December, longtime restaurateur Henry Olmino moved Mario’s, his popular Italian eatery at 225 Ocean Avenue in Lantana, to 707 Lake Ave., Lake Worth. In September, Olmino opened Fire and Ice at the Lake Worth location. The restaurant is now known as Mario’s on Lake Avenue. Mario’s had been in Lantana since 2015.

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

By Christine Davis

Patients admitted with COVID-19 at Boca Raton Regional Hospital may enroll in a clinical trial to test a new treatment for the disease. The trial is named Prevent, reflecting the hope that it will rapidly reverse the damages of pneumonia associated with COVID-19.

Researchers at Eugene M. & Christine E. Lynn Cancer Institute are enrolling patients for the trial, which uses a single, low dose of thoracic radiation to reduce the inflammatory process in the lungs. Very low doses have been effective in treating benign inflammatory diseases.

Experts say the treatment may prevent deaths and avoid the need for intubation.

Patients diagnosed within nine days of hospital admission with pulmonary pneumonia symptoms and 50 years of age or older are eligible for the trial. The Prevent multicenter clinical trial is jointly led by principal investigators from Lynn Cancer Institute and the Ohio State University. The trial is one of several investigational treatments for COVID-19 being researched at Boca Raton Regional Hospital.

Certified clinical research coordinator David Scott, president and CEO of Palm Beach Research in West Palm Beach, announced that Palm Beach Research is enrolling people for two phase 3 trials regarding COVID-19.

The Janssen’s study, of an adenovirus type 26 vector vaccine, is a two-year project for which Palm Beach Research will provide access to COVID-19 testing and related medical care. Participants will be compensated for every visit, up to a total of $775. Half of the patients will get the vaccine and the other half a placebo.

“Janssen’s vaccine is constructed to encode the COVID-19 spike protein. It is like a genetically engineered cold virus meant to look like the COVID-19 virus outer shell. So, your body will produce antibodies to remove that protein shell whenever it sees it. Thus, it trains your body’s immune system,” Scott explained.

To take part, visit https://palmbeachresearch.com/2020/03/02/covid-19-vaccine-study/

AstraZeneca’s convalescent study is of a prophylaxis, an infusion of antibodies intended to provide immediate protection from COVID-19. It is a one-year study, and during that time Palm Beach Research will provide access to COVID-19 testing and related medical care to participants. Patients will be compensated for every visit, up to a total of $850.

About one-third of the patients will get the placebo and the remaining two-thirds the convalescent plasma.

“AstraZeneca’s convalescent plasma study is providing patients with an infusion of antibodies that should provide protection against COVID-19, as the antibody (formula) came from hospitalized patients who recovered from a bad COVID-19 infection. This is not training your body’s immune system: It is providing immediate immunity,” Scott explained.

To take part, visit https://palmbeachresearch.com/2019/12/09/convalescentplasma/

Asked when patients receiving placebos would get an actual vaccine or plasma, Scott said: “Patients receiving placebo are enrolled in the clinical trial and the sponsors have been providing active product or vaccine after reaching important study milestones. The short answer is the protocol does not need a patient on placebo after a certain point, and the sponsors grant access to active product to those patients, at that point. Every sponsor is different.”

An optimistic time line for public access to vaccines may be the summer or fall of 2021, he thinks, adding: “If the FDA rescinds emergency use authorization, then the general public will have to wait until the clinical trials are concluded. The earliest would be October 2022.

“Vaccination through a clinical trial is the fastest path for most. Additionally, medical care is provided and ongoing in a clinical trial setting. Also patients are compensated for their time. And anyone receiving a placebo can expect to receive the actual product in due course.

“As an example, the Moderna vaccine trial will be distributing active vaccine to the 15,000 that received placebo in their clinical trial, and that is expected to occur possibly January 2021. Every sponsor is expected to follow a similar path.”

A related note: To see the current COVID hospital capacities, check out https://data.tallahassee.com/covid-19-hospital-capacity/.

Hilary Shapiro-Wright, D.O., has joined Christine E. Lynn Women’s Health & Wellness Institute and Eugene M. & Christine E. Lynn Cancer Institute at Boca Regional. She specializes in breast cancer surgery, high-risk breast pathology, benign breast disease, oncoplastic surgery and hidden scar surgery.

Previously, Shapiro-Wright was with the Kettering Health Network and Kettering Cancer Care. She was named the Cincinnati Top Doctor in Breast Surgery/Breast Cancer in Cincinnati magazine from 2013 to 2020.

She earned her medical degree from the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine and completed her general surgery residency at Botsford Hospital at Michigan State University and her surgical breast oncology and diseases of the breast fellowship at Allegheny General Hospital.

She sees patients at Lynn Women’s Health & Wellness Institute, 690 Meadows Road, Boca Raton.

In December, palliative care physician Patricia Jacobs, M.D., joined the Eugene M. & Christine E. Lynn Cancer Institute. Jacobs provides care that addresses a cancer patient’s physical symptoms as well as the emotional, psychological and social stress of undergoing cancer treatment.

Previously, Jacobs was at UCLA Medical Center, where she completed a hospice and palliative medicine fellowship. She is board-certified in internal medicine and worked in internal medicine before pursuing a subspecialty in palliative care.

Jacobs serves as an affiliate faculty member at the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine at Florida Atlantic University. She earned her medical degree from the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. She completed an internal medicine residency and a hospice and palliative care fellowship at UCLA Medical Center. 

She sees patients at the Lynn Cancer Institute, Harvey & Phyllis Sandler Pavilion, 701 NW 13th St., Boca Raton.

Joseph J. Ricotta MD, MS, DFSVS, FACS, was recognized as a 2020 TCAR clinical operator of experience for improving carotid artery disease treatment using the transcarotid artery revascularization procedure.

Ricotta is the national medical director of vascular surgery and endovascular therapy for Tenet Healthcare, chairman of the vascular surgery department at Delray Medical Center, and professor of surgery and program director of the vascular surgery fellowship at the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine at FAU.

TCAR is a proven, minimally invasive approach to reduce incidence of stroke in patients who face high risk in surgery. For more information, visit www.delraymedicalctr.com.

Dr. Eric Rudnick, MD FAAD, recently received his board certification in dermatopathology. As both a board-certified dermatologist and dermatopathologist, he has the training to analyze skin samples both clinically as well as under a microscope. Rudnick’s Dazzling Dermatology office is at 22029 State Road 7, Boca Raton, Florida. He is offering at-home general dermatology and cosmetic services. For information or to book a house call, visit https://dazzlingderm.com or call 561-923-0905.

Delray Medical Center’s trauma research department earned awards at the 2020 Florida Atlantic University College of Medicine Research Day event. Sarah Rabinowitz was awarded both first and second places in the Research Poster competition for her work related to the transfer of patients with abdominal injuries. 

With the goal of promoting lifelong learning opportunities for its registered nurses, the Health Care District of Palm Beach County signed a memorandum of understanding with Palm Beach State College to support Health Care District RNs in obtaining Palm Beach State’s bachelor of science in nursing degrees.

This “RN to BSN” bridge program, sanctioned by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing, is offered online and open exclusively to licensed registered nurses who have earned an associate’s degree or diploma. The Health Care District nurses will add to the more than 400 RNs from the state who have earned the college’s BSN degree to date. 

By Janis Fontaine

On Jan. 2, 1921, radio station KDKA became the first to broadcast a Christian church service, from Calvary Episcopal Church in Pittsburgh. Today, thousands of churches make their services available to people who can’t attend in person, but few church leaders expected virtual church to become such a vital part of serving their congregations.

So some churches were more prepared than others.

At First United Methodist Church of Boca Raton, Danny Davis has been helping improve the quality of the live-streamed services since the coronavirus pandemic forced a shutdown last March. The church was already broadcasting its services on Facebook and YouTube, but that wasn’t anything on which it spent a lot of time.

“Our congregation was aware of our online presence, but we didn’t market it,” said Davis, a lay leader for the church, which now has resumed a Sunday in-person service outdoors, with reservations required. “Mostly it was watched by people who were home sick and couldn’t get to church, about 10 views per week.”

But when COVID-19 hit, “we realized early on things weren’t going to change,” Davis said.

Job one was to improve the quality of programming. He said it felt “like someone outside looking in” and the church wanted viewers to feel like they were right there, a part of the service.

“We planned it out and filmed the parts and music separately,” Davis said. “We found a person in the congregation who produced videos and he volunteered to help. We used the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, as a model.”

The largest Methodist church in the U.S. has 20,000 members and a professional TV production crew.

“My wife and I watch and I love that you can watch it on the big screen at home or on your phone from anywhere and it looks and feels like you’re a part of it. It feels good,” Davis said.

Penny Johnson has been attending some virtual and some in-person church at First Presbyterian in Delray Beach. Because she lives alone, interacting with others at church is important.

COVID-19 also curtailed two other church ministries in which Johnson was heavily involved — the choir and Holly House, a crafting group. That left a huge void in Johnson’s life.

“There are four or five of us who have no family here, and those relationships have become stronger,” Johnson said. People’s reticence to travel has kept families apart, adding to the isolation, Johnson said. Her pod alleviates some of her loneliness until her family can resume visiting.

She laughed as she said that “for the first time ever,” Pastor Doug Hood “emphasized that it was perfectly fine if you wanted to stay home.”

For Stephanie Hernandez, “as soon as I could get back to in-person church, I was there. Just walking through the doors into the house of God gave me a sense of relief, of inner peace.”

The Hernandez family attends St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church in Delray Beach and their two daughters, 9 and 6, attend school there.

Hernandez said her younger daughter found it hard to focus on virtual church.

“There were a lot of distractions,” Hernandez said with a laugh. “The dishwasher buzzer would go off; my daughter would wander away.”

Hernandez tried taking her computer on the patio to watch Mass alone, but said people at the door would interrupt too often. The biggest void, though, wasn’t spiritual, it was emotional.

“I’m a very social person and mentally it wasn’t good for me,” she said. “I want to stay home when I want to, not when I am told I have to.”

Hernandez calls herself “faith-driven. I was born and raised in the church and Catholic school, and the church feels like family.”

At First United Methodist, Davis has found a new calling in working on the Facebook and YouTube live-streams.

“The joy of it for us as we perfected this was getting notices from as far away as the Philippines from people watching,” Davis said.

The church has even attracted a handful of virtual-only members, that is, folks who don’t plan to set foot in church. “But most of our membership longs for in-person church,” Davis said.

Davis said virtual church has expanded to Bible studies, book clubs, women’s group meetings and other ministries.

“These are just as important to the church as worship,” Davis said. “These are the folks actually doing the work of the church. And through Zoom or GoToMeeting, they can actually see each other.”

And in-person church isn’t what it was. Seating is restricted, so “you can smile and wave,” Johnson said, “but don’t really interact.” There are no Bibles or hymnals, just the printed bulletin. “A lot of people still don’t want to come back because they’re afraid. Being with people is important to me. I want to live my life.”

Davis agrees. “I like it, but it’s not as good as being together.”

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

By Janis Fontaine

It was a Hanukkah unlike any other.

The jubilant holiday of lights was dampened by COVID-19, but nothing could dowse the spirit of local leaders.

“Our message is light,” Rabbi Shmuel Biston said. “It only takes a small light to make a difference.”

Biston is co-director with his wife, Sari, of Chabad of East Delray. With support from the city of Delray Beach, the chabad lit the menorah at Old School Square for the previous decade.

In 2019, more than 1,000 people came out for the first night of the holiday. In 2020, Biston and Mayor Shelly Petrolia worked to come up with a safe way to hold the traditional public menorah lighting, but finally decided the risk to public health was too great.

On Dec. 10, the City Commission produced a virtual version of the Delray Beach 11th annual Hanukkah Menorah Lighting and posted it on the city’s Facebook page.

Biston told the Hanukkah story: When a poorly equipped group of Jewish rebels defeated an army of thousands of well-trained soldiers, the first thing the rebels wanted to do was light the menorah, an act that had been forbidden. But there was only one tiny jug of oil left unspoiled by the soldiers, oil that would last hours, maybe a day at most. They lit the menorah anyway, and the jug’s worth of oil lasted eight days.

The Hanukkah message was especially appropriate in 2020, Biston said, because “in times of darkness and in times of challenges, there is a new opportunity to discover what is inside of us and every single one of us has our own crucible of oil inside of us. All we have to do is find it. It takes just a little bit of light to dispel a ton of darkness.”

Hanukkah celebrates faith but it is also a social holiday — with the exchange of gifts and lots of food and fun. Last year cast a dark spell over that, like so much else.

Biston says not to lose heart. “2020 has been a year defined by differences,” he said. “But we have to have hope and we’re stronger together.”

In Judaism, one tenet says each person is a “guarantor” for his fellow man. A person has a responsibility to be “the most-healthy version of himself,” but he also has a responsibility for the health of those around him.

But you don’t have to go out and cure cancer. Just wear a mask, or social distance, or stay home.

“Everyone has to do their part,” Biston said. “Any little positive thing you do helps. You don’t have to hit a home run.”

Austrian artist Franz West’s 2006 epoxy resin work Gorgo is one piece featured in the Sculpture Garden, which opened in February 2019. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley

Those looking for a unique cultural experience or just a nice day in the great outdoors might visit the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach. Here they’ll discover a 37,000-square-foot subtropical Sculpture Garden for socially distanced enjoyment.

The garden was part of a major museum revamp overseen by award-winning architect Lord Norman Foster, the founder and executive chairman of Foster + Partners. He was behind the expansion of the museum and the creation of the garden, which opened in February 2019.

That’s when visitors were welcomed to what once was the museum’s 20,000-square-foot parking lot but now transformed into a verdant sculpture gallery.

“This lush outdoor space has now become the protagonist for the museum and is quintessentially Floridian,” Foster said in an email from his London headquarters.

He felt the garden space was so integral to the museum experience that he wanted it to flow seamlessly from the naturally lit indoor galleries. To ensure success, he worked on the garden himself, making this the first public garden he designed.

From the beginning, the garden was imagined as a subtropical paradise with shape, scale, color, texture and movement as focal points, explains Amber Mathis, the Norton’s former director of horticulture who oversaw the garden’s planting.

But this gallery also displays more temperate elements.

Sweeping lawns are used as gathering places, especially when schoolchildren can visit. Hedges block the view of the surrounding cityscape, enabling visitors to focus on the artwork. And the garden’s axis runs east/west along a path that ushers people past works of art set in natural alcoves and rooms.

“When you look into these alcoves and rooms, you may see a sculpture, but your perception is you don’t know what’s behind its backdrops of foliage. It could be more jungle or it could be a house,” Mathis explains.

This adds an air of mystery and wonder to the garden.

Working with Foster, Mathis understood his desire to immerse the viewer in his design philosophy. It went so far as his creating the benches. They look like they are made from teak but are Sipo Mahogany, or utile, a sustainably sourced wood.

As the garden matured, Mathis discovered that although most of the plantings had flourished, some did not.

To replace them, she selected more natives, so that today about 40% of the species used in the garden are native.

During the creation of the garden, some specimens were moved into new settings on the property — such as the gumbo limbos that came from the parking lot. Other plants were hand-picked from native nurseries or, like the mahoganies, moved from people’s yards on flatbed trucks.

For a good example of how this sculpture garden enhances your experience of the art, take a look at the stainless-steel sculpture titled Six Random Lines Eccentric II, by George Rickey.

Wait for a breeze to propel the steep arms of the statue into a kinetic frenzy. Then look beyond the statue where wind rustles through the thick background foliage to mimic the shape and movement of the sculpture, suggests Mathis.

This effect is created by a wall of plants that not only sways in the breeze but also focuses your attention on the artwork.

In this moving backdrop, there’s an Everglades palm that was already on site but moved to this spot under a stately live oak. The oak along with a nearby mango are older trees originally on the property and never moved.

“The native Everglades palm has extremely slender trunks that move in the wind. When the wind comes through, the sculpture moves and all the trunks move, so the whole space moves. That’s this palm’s contribution to the garden,” says Mathis.

There also are the yellow flowers on the giant leopard japonica, its oversized leaves reminiscent of lily pads. Peperomia provides its dark green leaves as do the lady and needle palms. Meanwhile, the native silver saw palm contributes a silvery shimmer to the moving phalanx.

“Contrasting the art against the lush organic forms of the garden invites contemplation and allows you to experience the art in a whole new context, at your own pace,” architect Foster says.

If You Go...

Where: The Sculpture Garden at the Norton Museum of Art, 1450 S. Dixie Highway, West Palm Beach
Information: Norton.org; 561-832-5196
Hours: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The first hour of each day is reserved for Norton members and their guests.
COVID-19: The museum requires you to wear a mask and have your temperature taken. For more information, visit the museum’s website.
Admission: Advance, timed-ticket reservations are required and can be scheduled on the museum’s website. Free for residents on Saturdays; always free for members; general admission $18; seniors 60 and older, $15.
Parking: Museum lot, 1501 S. Dixie Highway, $5 per car per day, with revenue funding museum programs. Free for members.

You can reach Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley at debhartz@att.net.

Author Shannon Q. McDonald also sold mask-making kits with holiday themes. Photos provided

By Janis Fontaine

When COVID-19 became a part of our lives last spring, Delray Beach mom Shannon Q. McDonald reasoned that mask-wearing likely would be required of children at some point.

She knew her daughter Sloane, 6, would adapt easily but that Sean, then 2, likely wouldn’t.

She was right on both counts.

The first thing McDonald, an in-house corporate attorney for a global tech company, did was research masks and kids. She knew the key to a smooth transition was in the presentation, and she was disappointed when she couldn’t find much to help her explain wearing masks to her kids.

McDonald had recently read a funny book on potty training, called Vegetables in Underwear, by Jared Chapman. McDonald decided to write her own children’s book about masks.

McDonald wrote the text and tested it on her daughter (her best and most honest critic), licensed beautiful illustrations from Etsy (yes, you can do that), self-published the book, printed 600 copies and hired a national publicist to help promote it.

McDonald’s Remember to Smile is full of rhymes and illustrations.

Remember to Smile is 20 pages of bouncy rhymes, a little bit like Dr. Seuss, and colorful illustrations featuring mermaids, superheroes and astronauts, plus kids visiting ice cream trucks and swinging in trees, all while wearing masks. But the star of the book may be Rudy, the McDonalds’ 8-year-old dachshund who is featured throughout.

McDonald, a Michigan native, brings a positive Midwestern perspective to everything she does, and credits her husband, Chris, for his support. “We thought, let’s make the best of it. Germs can be scary, so I focused on the fun of wearing a mask. I kept away from the words ‘should’ and ‘must.’ Although I did mention why we wear masks, it’s at the end on purpose. I didn’t want to make it at all political.”

McDonald has also put together mask-decorating kits for sale, including a Rudolph kit and a snowman kit for the holidays. Kids take pride in their creations and showing them off, so they want to wear their masks, McDonald said.

One reason McDonald suspected Sean wouldn’t like wearing a mask is sensory processing disorder, a neurological condition “in which the sensory information that the individual perceives results in abnormal responses,” according to the STAR Institute for Sensory Processing (see www.spdstar.org).

This means Sean may overreact to certain stimuli. Noise, lights, clothing, smells, touch, certain foods, and other things that seem innocuous or tolerable to most others can cause anxiety, irritability and discomfort to people with SPD. Being asked to wear a piece of cloth over your mouth and elastic bands around your ears seems tailor-made to upset someone with SPD.

Sean is adjusting — he prefers a plastic shield decorated with car stickers — and the book has made the family local celebrities. McDonald has appeared on television and in newspapers, but when her daughter told her, “Mom, I’m a cool kid because you wrote a book,” that was the highlight of her newfound fame.

Of course, with fame comes a dark side.

“I did have a couple of haters,” she said. “They argued COVID isn’t real. One said masks cause a build-up of CO2 in the body and that’s child abuse.”

McDonald is using proceeds from the book to help kids through the COVID-19 Relief Fund for Teachers and Students, a program of the nonprofit AdoptAClassroom.org. The money will help cover budget shortfalls that rising expenses for technology and PPE are creating during the pandemic.

Sloane McDonald attends St. Vincent Ferrer School in Delray Beach and has seen the challenges faced firsthand. She’s happy to be part of the COVID-19 solution.

Shannon McDonald says having a creative outlet was a blessing as she coped with her own fears and stress about COVID-19, and that seeing her book at Barnes & Noble fulfilled a dream.

McDonald continues to share her message through virtual visits and outdoor readings for small groups. To schedule an event, which can include a mask-making craft, or to buy the book or mask kits online, visit www.remembertosmile.org.

Books are $14 in hardcover at remembertosmile.org. 

At amazon.com, the hardcover is $17, plus there’s a paperback ($12) and Kindle version ($7.99).

Capt. Art Sapp (center) and his Native Son team based in Pompano Beach stand for photos after beating 39 other boats to win the Hope Town United Sailfish Tournament with 13 live-bait releases posted in two days of fishing last month. The team won $79,180. Photo provided by Hope Town United

By Willie Howard

Sailfish tournament veteran Art Sapp of Pompano Beach ran his 39-foot Sea Vee Native Son to the waters off Martin and St. Lucie counties to win the inaugural Hope Town United Sailfish Tournament with 13 sailfish releases scored in two days of fishing.

Often a top contender in South Florida’s winter sailfish tournaments, Sapp and his Native Son team won $79,180 along with a trophy depicting the Hope Town Lighthouse in the Bahamas.

Sapp said most of his team’s sailfish — along with a few mahi mahi and a blackfin tuna — were caught using the standard South Florida tournament bait presentation: live goggle-eyes and threadfin herrings dangled under fishing kites.

The Native Son team fished off Hobe Sound on the first day of the tournament, held Dec. 11-12, and farther north off Port St. Lucie on the second day.

Team Wrapped Up, led by Capt. Dave Dalfo and fishing aboard a 61-foot Spencer, scored seven released using dead bait to win the dead-bait division and $23,290.

Capt. Chris Agardy, who operates Fish Envy Charters based at Boynton Harbor Marina, fished on the No Regrets team that finished second overall in the live-bait division, with a two-day total of 10 releases.

Agardy said the No Regrets captain, Garrett Graue, chose to run his 38-foot boat north to the waters off Stuart, which paid off. No Regrets won top boat on the first day of fishing, with seven releases, and squeezed out another three releases on the second day, despite stormy weather.

An aggressive bull shark almost changed the score for the No Regrets crew. Agardy said the shark chased the team’s last sailfish of the tournament, forcing a quick run to the fish and release before the shark could reach it.

Team No Choos, a Bahama 41 skippered by George Brittain of Palm Beach, finished third overall. Brittain’s team also posted 10 sailfish releases over two days but placed behind No Regrets based on the time of the releases.

As is common practice in modern sailfish tournaments, each sailfish release was documented on video and uploaded for the tournament committee to review, eliminating the need to put human observers on boats.

“The majority of teams definitely follow gentleman’s rules,” tournament director Courtney Bowden said. “However, when you add prize money to the mix, you can never be too careful. Team transparency is key. Video validation ensures this.”

The Hope Town United tournament offered live scoring and team information through its own app, developed by Reel Time Apps.

The tournament was a fundraiser for Hope Town United, a nonprofit organization that is raising money for restoration work on Elbow Cay on Great Abaco Island in the Bahamas.

Elbow Cay was hit hard by Hurricane Dorian in 2019. More than 70% of the area’s homes were destroyed or badly damaged, according to Hope Town United. For details, visit www.hopetownunited.org.

The Miss Mae team, on a 38-foot Jupiter captained by Brion Weinberg (in background), shows off the 19.3-pound wahoo caught by Luc Croteau (front center) on Dec. 11, the first day of the sailfish tournament. Anglers released all sailfish but brought fish such as kingfish, dolphin and wahoo to the scales at Sailfish Marina in Palm Beach Shores. Willie Howard/The Coastal Star

Anglers on the Southern Ground, based in Delray Beach, won nearly $50,000 in prize money after catching nine sailfish in this early season tournament. In the tower are (l-r) Blake Johnson, Colin Page and Steven Rivero. Below are (l-r) Christian Mignano, David Beaumont, David Elliott, Callum Parrott and Evan Halberg.
Photo provided

More sailfish tournaments scheduled in January

Popular catch-and-release sailfish tournaments set for January in Palm Beach County include:
Jan. 7-8: The West Palm Beach Fishing Club’s 84th annual Silver Sailfish Derby. Started in 1935, the Derby is considered the longest-running billfish tournament anywhere. Entry fee: $1,300 for fishing club members or $1,800 for nonmembers. The Derby begins with a captain’s meeting Jan. 6. Register at www.westpalmbeachfishingclub.org.
Jan. 15-16: Operation Sailfish, part of the Quest for the Crest sailfish series organized by Bluewater Movements. Tournament begins with a kickoff party Jan. 13 at Sailfish Marina in Palm Beach Shores. Entry fee $1,700. Register at www.bluewatermovements.com.
Jan. 21-23: The 58th annual Buccaneer Cup. Teams fish any two of the three tournament days. Kickoff party Jan. 20 at Viking Yacht Service Center in Riviera Beach. Entry fee $2,000. Register at www.buccaneercup.com.

Watch for right whales

Ocean boaters and beachgoers should be on the lookout for right whales during January and February. Female right whales migrate to Florida’s east coast during the winter to give birth.

Although most of the visiting whales are spotted from Cape Canaveral north, they have been known to move south into the waters off Palm Beach County.

If you see a right whale, stay clear and report the sighting. Federal law requires maintaining a distance of 500 yards.

Right whales are dark gray or black. They have no dorsal fin and have white bumps called callosities on top of their heads. When they come to the surface and exhale, right whales shoot up a V-shaped spout of water.

Report sightings to the Marine Resources Council at 888-979-4253.

Tip of the month

Fifty-five new artificial reef structures were installed in 40 feet of water off Palm Beach in November as part of the Reef Hope Project. They can be found southeast of Palm Beach Inlet (aka Lake Worth Inlet) at these coordinates: 26/45.321 N and 80/01.566 W.

Willie Howard is a freelance writer and licensed boat captain. Email tiowillie@bellsouth.net.

By Arden Moore

We can agree that COVID-19 has made 2020 a year we all wish to forget. But it’s never been a better time to be a cat or dog.

It’s indisputable: Pets are steadily making direct and indirect impacts in all aspects of our lives nowadays.

“About 25 years ago, pets were not that visible, but today, they are our social glue,” says Mark Cushing, author of a new book called Pet Nation: The Love Affair That Changed America. “Pets have become this living fabric that connects people from all backgrounds.”

Cushing, who is an attorney and chief executive officer of the Animal Policy Group, shared some of his insights into pet life today versus a quarter-century ago as a recent guest on my Oh Behave show on Pet Life Radio (https://www.petliferadio.com/behave_player393.htm).

In the mid-1990s, few referred to themselves as pet parents. The pronoun it was common in mentions of dogs and cats in veterinary journals and magazine articles. Most family cats spent much of their days outside and rarely received annual medical examinations by veterinarians. Dogs napped in backyards inside wooden dog houses or attached to long chains to keep them from roaming the neighborhood.

You went to a local pound to adopt a mongrel in places now called animal shelters, and where staffers offer an array of pet education and training classes.

People relied on neighborhood kids to care for their at-home pets when they traveled because the professional pet industry was just getting started.

The beagle was the nation’s most popular dog breed, but in 2020, the most popular pick was the mixed breed, followed by the Labrador retriever, with the beagle not even in the top 10.

The Global Pet Expo in Orlando, the pet industry’s largest annual trade show, wasn’t even on the pet world radar. It began in 2005.

And, think of how the landscape has changed in Palm Beach County. Back in 1995, I was a reporter for the Sun-Sentinel, based out of its large building overlooking I-95 in Delray Beach.

People would flock to the 391st Bomb Squadron next to the Palm Beach International Airport to enjoy beer cheese soup. Every St. Patrick’s Day, people would celebrate with cans of beer in hand to cheer parades organized by Maury Power, owner of Power’s Lounge on Atlantic Avenue. Today, this newspaper office, this airport restaurant and this lounge are mere memories.

Somehow, pets seem to weather any societal or economic change or challenge, and their popularity continues to climb.

“Pets are not a fad,” Cushing says. “Pets are good medicine. They are emotionally nourishing. That’s why I wanted to write ‘Pet Nation’ to identify what happened, how it happened, where it happened and why.”

In his book, Cushion points out these examples of pet power and influence:
• Pets create new vocabulary. Case in point: furternity now exists. In some workplaces, employees are eligible for paid leave — known as furternity — so they can care for a newly adopted kitten or puppy. Millennials lead all generations in the desire to work at pet-friendly offices.
• Americans spend more than $30 billion a year on pet food — an amount tripled from 2000. The days of kibble and canned food have given way to a new generation of pet foods made with freeze-dried single proteins and frozen ready-to-eat meals. And, some companies are going a step further. Wild Earth is producing high-tech meatless dog and cat food made from fungi and lab-grown meat from mouse cells.
• More dogs are working and expanding their job duties. Dogs have been trained to assist people with visual or physical limitations and to serve on K-9 police units. Some can detect and issue alerts on everything from cancers and pending epileptic seizures in people to the presence of bedbugs in hotel bedding and the presence of peanuts in foods about to be served to people with peanut allergies.
• Pets have taken social media by storm. Jiff Pom, a small Pomeranian, is the most-followed animal on social media. Check out his ever-expanding follower stats: 10.6 million on Instagram, 21.2 million on TikTok and 1.3 million on Facebook.
Nala Cat, a crossed-eye Siamese-tabby mix, rules the feline following world with 4.2 million on Instagram.

In Chapter 1, Cushing illustrates that pets have indeed come a long way in a short time by sharing his observations of a chihuahua named Suzette that was in business class on his flight in 2019:

“Three years old, this long-haired Chihuahua was accustomed to the comforts of business class. From time to time, she took a sip of Tasmanian Rain bottled water. I learned that Suzette has a busy social calendar, a passport of her own, more Instagram followers than I will ever have and a full, pampered week ahead of her in Boca Raton.”

Although it has never been a better time for pets, Cushing says it also has never been a better time to have a pet or pets in your life.

“Why do we love pets? Because they listen to us,” he says. “They don’t argue or interrupt. They help us feel better and want to do better.”

You won’t get any arguments from me, Mark. Life during this persistent pandemic has been made far more tolerable thanks to my four-leggers, who answer to the names of Kona, Casey, Bujeau, Mikey, Rusty and Emma.

Arden Moore is an animal behavior consultant and master certified pet first aid instructor. Learn more at www.ardenmoore.com. 

This Highland Beach property offers 100 feet of direct ocean frontage on a 400-foot-deep lot in the Byrd Beach section of town.

This custom-built, 12,201-total-square-foot oceanfront Highland Beach estate offers 100 feet of direct ocean frontage with grand views of the Atlantic. The grounds have a pool with spa and tiki hut with seating directly on the beach. The home’s footprint is deep and features a private pathway to the mature ocean dune facing the water.

In addition to a seaside pool, outdoor entertainment space includes a summer kitchen, loggia and a tiki hut with seating directly on the beach.

The luxurious estate offers five bedrooms; five full and three half baths; gated entry to the property; four-car garage; basketball court, and large bonus area above garage that can be converted to extra bedrooms, recreation area or theater.

You enter the home on the first floor via a formal foyer and reception area with access to the grand stairway and elevator. The floor has a formal living area, a morning room and a family room, all of which open to a covered loggia. The floor also features a study, den, VIP suite with bath and a bedroom with en suite bath.

The kitchen was designed with custom finishes and top-of-the-line appliances.

Ocean views exist throughout the home, including from the billiards room.

Upstairs, the oceanfront master wing has a balcony, two separate master baths, dual walk-in closets and an office overlooking the ocean. Although the sumptuous master wing dominates the second floor, it has an additional bedroom with en suite bath.

Offered at $17,950,000. Call Nick Malinosky and Randy Ely, Douglas Elliman, 561-306-4597. 900 E. Atlantic Ave., Delray Beach, FL 33483. Nick.malinosky@elliman.com

Actor Michael Walters, well known to audiences at The Wick Theatre in Boca Raton, portrays the jolly old elf while doing a personalized video call as part of LiveSantaCalls.com. Tim Stepien / The Coastal Star

Keeping the holiday spirit alive in 2020

By Mary Thurwachter

If ever there were a year we all “need a little Christmas,” 2020 would be it. This year has been a downright slog, after all, courtesy of COVID-19. It continues to be a very different year and this will be a different holiday season.

Expect awkward moments under the mistletoe because strangers who find themselves beneath the berried plant — a symbol of love and an invitation to smooch — are too close and in violation of CDC social distancing guidelines. That could land them on Santa’s naughty list. (Somehow a spirited elbow bump doesn’t feel adequate.)

Mistletoe missteps aside, there are still many nice things happening to keep the season alive in this year of change. Like so many other events, holiday happenings are often taking a virtual spin.

Children will still be able to chat with Santa, he’ll just be less up close and personal.

Boca Raton Town Center: Socially distanced photos with Santa are part of the holiday at the mall. Photo provided

At Town Center in Boca Raton, there will be no sitting on Santa’s lap, no tugging on his beard. The jolly fellow in a red suit will be staying socially distant and he’ll be wearing a mask or shield. Little folks who come to be photographed with him will need to don the requisite masks, too.

Wish lists can be shared with Santa, but there will be no direct contact. Walk-up visits are available as space allows, but reservations — for visits through Dec. 24 — can be made at www.WhereIsSanta.com and are strongly encouraged.

Lantana’s Winterfest (www.lantana.org/enjoy-lantana-events) turns into a drive-by experience this year. Santa will wave to kids 12 and younger in cars as they parade by him from 6-7:30 p.m. Dec. 5 at the Sports Park (903 N. Eighth St.). Volunteers will hand out candy canes and gift bags to the children in the cars during the free event open to residents only.

Photos of Santa with his signature on them will be distributed.

A new link to the North Pole’s most famous resident is offered this year via LiveSantaCalls.com.

Two well-known South Florida actors, Michael Walters and Joe Zimmer, are offering virtual video chats that allow family members to personalize their children’s holiday experience with special messages and add festive options — including a cameo from Mrs. Claus, a story-time segment and a video Christmas card. Prices start at $50.
For reservations, visit www.livesantacalls.com.

O Christmas Tree!

Boca Raton, Delray Beach and Boynton Beach have canceled tree lightings, but the trees we are used to admiring every year will still be there.

• Boca’s 25-foot holiday tree, with more than 7,500 lights, can be enjoyed in Sanborn Square through New Year’s Day, and a 47-foot animated holiday tree at the south end of Mizner Park near the Yard House restaurant will be twinkling for the holidays. Free musical tree performances are scheduled daily starting at 5:30, 6:30, 7:30, 8:30 and 9:30 p.m.

• Delray Beach has already erected and lit its 100-foot Christmas tree at Old School Square. But the tree’s interior isn’t open for public viewing because of the pandemic, and the tree-lighting ceremony has been canceled.

The menorah-lighting ceremony will be virtual and can be viewed at 5:30 p.m. Dec. 10 on the city’s Facebook page.

Outdoor shows in the pavilion at Old School Square include Christmas with the Nelsons at 8 p.m. Dec. 5. It tells the story of three family Christmases in the lives of America’s “First Family of Entertainment,” the Nelsons, featuring Matthew and Gunnar Nelson.

Also: Big Bad Voodoo Daddy’s Wild and Swingin’ Holiday Party is set for 8-11 p.m. Dec. 11 at Old School Square.

Pod seating is available for both performances. A $100 pod is similar to buying four tickets for $25 per ticket. For parties of one to four, only one ticket purchase is necessary. For parties of five to eight, two tickets must be purchased. For parties of nine to 12, three tickets must be purchased. 

• West Palm Beach welcomes the return of the star of its annual Holiday in Paradise starting Dec. 5 on the waterfront: Sandi, the world’s only 35-foot, 700-ton holiday sand tree.
New this year will be a synchronized show with the city’s soon-to-be-completed Centennial Square Fountain, where the water will “dance to the music.” Sandi will host daily music and light shows, 6-10 p.m. through New Year’s Eve.

Home Tour goes virtual

The Delray Beach Home Tour will host a series of virtual events as a way to connect safely during the holidays and “Experience Holiday Traditions from Home.” The event benefits Achievement Centers for Children & Families.

Delray Beach Home Tour: In one of the tour’s virtual events, Grace Gdaniec, manager of the Arts Warehouse gallery, provides instruction on how to create your own wrapping paper with a starry night theme. www.artswarehouse.org/overview Photo provided

Participants can enjoy holiday decorating tips, fun recipes and holiday surprises provided by Delray Beach leaders, movers and shakers. For a $20 donation, participants will receive weekly emails, starting this month, that will feature videos starring community leaders, current and future home tour hosts, ACCF staff, families, and tour committee members.

Participants will be entered into a drawing to win a home tour basket, an in-person catered home tour committee cocktail party, or two home tour tickets for a future tour.

“We were very disappointed to cancel our annual event, but we are excited about this new adventure and to share our holiday traditions with the community,” says event co-chair Kari Shipley.

For tickets or more information, email Events@accffoundation.org.

Christmas classics

• A special presentation of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol — a reading of the 1843 novella by artists who have been integral to Palm Beach Dramaworks — will be offered at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 21. The prerecorded show features a large cast and artwork. Tickets are free, but reservations are required. Tickets to plays can be reserved by calling the box office, 561-514-4042, Ext. 2, or by visiting www.palmbeachdramaworks.org.

• Although Boca Ballet Theatre canceled live performances of The Nutcracker, a video production has been recorded complete with cast, costumes and scenery. Boca Ballet school’s dancers are joined by three professional guest artists. 
Tickets are available at $25 for the video production at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 12 or 2 p.m. Dec. 13. To register, visit www.bocaballet.org/season.

• The Bolshoi Ballet’s recorded performance of The Nutcracker can be viewed at 2 p.m. Dec. 20 at The Society of the Four Arts Gubelmann Auditorium, 100 Four Arts Plaza, Palm Beach. Tickets are $25 for adults and $15 for students. For reservations, call 561-655-7226 or visit www.fourarts.org. 

Kwanzaa celebration

Local artists and professional artisans will perform and work from 2-5 p.m. Dec. 26 at Kuumba Village at Spady Cultural Heritage Museum to celebrate Kwanzaa. Participants can create their own masterpieces to give during the holiday season. Kwanzaa is observed from Dec. 26 through Jan. 1. This free event will take place outside the museum at 170 NW 5th Ave., Delray Beach. COVID-19 protocols will be practiced. For details, call 561-279-8883 or visit www.spadymuseum.com.

Other holiday events

Lake Worth Playhouse: The Divas Holiday Party on Dec. 16 has limited tickets with assigned seating. Photo provided

• The Lake Worth Playhouse will have the annual Divas Holiday Party at 8 p.m. Dec. 16. Some of the theater’s favorite queens will sing holiday songs and perform skits for a comically good time.

Tickets, at $20 each, are limited with social distancing guidelines in mind. For reservations, call 561-586-6410, or visit www.lakeworthplayhouse.org.

• The Arts Garage, 94 NE 2nd Ave, Delray Beach (www.artsgarage.org), has two holiday concerts planned. A Bahamian concert featuring the Togetherness Band is set for 7 p.m. Dec. 18. A Christmas concert featuring local choirs will be at 7 p.m. Dec. 19. Tickets are $25 for each.

• Zoo Lights!, presented by Florida Power & Light Company, illuminates the Palm Beach Zoo, 1301 Summit Blvd., West Palm Beach, with more than 1 million eco-friendly lights on display Dec. 5, 6, 11, 12, 13, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 26, 27, 28, 29 and Jan. 1, 2, 3, 8 and 9. Unique themed displays stretch from the entrance through the Florida Wetlands and Tropics of the Americas. Photos with Santa are available until Dec. 23. Admission plus zoo lights tickets are $14.95 adults, $12.95 children 12 and under, free for kids under 2. For details, call 561-547-9453 or visit www.palmbeachzoo.org. 

Churches, synagogues

Many churches will hold Christmas services virtually.

• St. Lucy Catholic Church, 3510 S. Ocean in Highland Beach (www.stlucycommunity.com), displays its Nativity scene, but the town isn’t planning a lighting ceremony. 

• Temple Beth El will have an elaborate eight-day virtual Hanukkah, Dec. 10-17, on Facebook and its website. For details, visit www.tbeboca.shulcloud.com/chanukah2020.

For more on what the churches have planned, see Religion Notes, page AT17.

For four-legged friends

Pet Supermarkets are having a “Pet sELFie” holiday event from noon to 3 p.m. Dec. 5. Santa’s elves will hand out free stocking stuffers, while supplies last, to the pets on Santa’s “Nice List” and assist customers and their furry friends by taking their pictures in front of a holiday-themed backdrop. 

Stores will collect pet food donations to give to local animal shelters and rescues during the holiday season. For details, visit www.petsupermarket.com.

The 2020 ornament

By Amy Woods

The Boca Raton Historical Society & Museum has debuted its annual commemorative holiday ornament, marking the 30th anniversary of Mizner Park.

The festive collectible is the creation of Boca Raton artist Barbara Montgomery O’Connell, who has donated her time and talent to making ornaments since 1998.

“We produce fewer than 150 holiday collectibles each year, so history and holiday fans should make their online purchase today,” said Mary Csar, the society’s executive director.

The ornaments cost $20. For information, call 561-395-6766 or visit www.bocaratonornaments.com.

Jewish women’s group picks new board members

The Jewish Women’s Foundation of the Greater Palm Beaches has appointed five new members to its board and named a new chairwoman, vice chairwoman and secretary.

The group consists of Suzanne Holmes, Penny Miller, Denise Silverman, Caryn Stevens-Hare and Helene Weingarten as well as Chairwoman Deena Lockman, Vice Chairwoman Kristen Sacks and secretary Laurie Winston.

“We are delighted to welcome the new members to our board and to elect three phenomenal women to new board positions,” CEO Jennifer Kryshka said. “I know the combined expertise of all of the dynamic and inspiring women who serve on the board will bring our organization to the next level as we begin fundraising, event planning and programming for the upcoming year.”

For information, call 561-275-2200 or visit https://jwfpalmbeach.org.

Jewish Family Service busy with virtual events

The Ferd & Gladys Alpert Jewish Family Service honored more than 60 volunteers during a virtual volunteer-appreciation event.

CEO Marc Hopin and other leaders addressed the online group and started the festivities, which included games, icebreakers and a scavenger hunt.

“Volunteers are the heart and soul of what makes things happen,” Chairwoman Zelda Mason said. “On behalf of the board of directors, thank you for your dedication, time and caring. We are very grateful.”

In other news, the organization sponsored “Goal to Goal,” a virtual event featuring a Q&A with former National Hockey League player Mike Hartman. Hartman, interviewed by his cousin — director of development Tara Laxer — spoke about the importance of passion and purpose in his life as well as helping others.

“I’ve had to overcome a lot of hurdles in my life,” he said. “I wasn’t the biggest, strongest or fastest hockey player, but I studied, I watched and I prepared. My advice is to face adversity, have a plan in place and set measurable goals. Take the good in what everyone brings, and learn from it.”

For information, call 561-684-1991 or visit www.alpertjfs.org.

Three women honored by Bethesda Foundation

The Women of Grace Luncheon — typically taking place in November — honors female volunteers for their philanthropy in Palm Beach County.

This year, however, the Bethesda Hospital Foundation had a monthlong virtual celebration honoring the women on social media, in emails and through the local press. 

This years' honorees are Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office Lt. Patricia Brown (Take Stock in Children), Dr. Marla Dudak (Caridad Center) and Tandy Robinson (Impact 100 Palm Beach County).

For information, call 561-737-7733, Ext. 84445, or visit www.bethesdahospitalfoundation.org.

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