There’s always a full house at the Spontaneous Christmas Pageant at St. Joseph’s Episcopal Church. Photo provided

By Janis Fontaine

Five for Christmas

• Carols by Candlelight: at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 7, Old School Square, 51 N Swinton Ave., Delray Beach, featuring young people from Banyan Creek Elementary School, Dimensional Harmonies, Achievement Centers, Milagro Center and Village Academy.
Every one of them will be able to brag, “I once opened for Gloria Gaynor.”

Two other special guests will perform: Mary Gaines Bernard, who is Donna Summer’s sister, and the Holiday Voices, a traveling cast that has played at Disney, SeaWorld and Universal parks.

Tickets are $20 adults, $10 age 12 and younger, $50 premium and $100 VIP adults, $25 VIP age 12 and younger. VIP tickets include three drink tickets, access to a private lounge area with bar, complimentary light bites and assigned reserved seating.
561-243-7922, ext. 1; https://oldschoolsquare.org/events/4th-annual-carols-by-candlelight/

• Nativity viewing: St. Lucy Catholic Church is constructing a new outdoor nativity at the church at 3510 S. Ocean Blvd., Highland Beach. The church will celebrate the feast day of St. Lucy, for whom the church is named, with a special Mass at 6 p.m. Dec. 13.

Afterward, everyone will move outside, where the priests will bless the new nativity. A welcome-home dinner will follow in the Parish Center. Tickets are $10, available in the church office Monday through Friday. 561-278-1280; https://stlucycommunity.com

• Christmas at Boca Raton Community Church: Show your spirit and faith a few days early with a Christmas observation Dec. 18 at Boca Raton Community Church, 470 NW Fourth Ave. The church will celebrate with song, scripture and candlelight from 7 to 8:15 p.m. 561-395-2400; www.bocacommunity.org

• The Spontaneous Christmas Pageant: A delightfully chaotic presentation with no assigned actors or roles. Kids who want to participate do, and those who don’t still enjoy the fun-loving event.

It takes place at 4 p.m. on Christmas Eve at St. Joseph’s Episcopal Church, 3300 S. Seacrest Blvd., Boynton Beach, and there’s always a full house. 561-732-3060; www.stjoesweb.org

• Separate celebrations for adults, families: Christmas is about children. Then again, it’s not. It’s about the birth of Jesus, a child, yet never a child. For many, Christmas is the most important — and joyous — religious holiday, and all the glitter and over-the-top parties and gift-giving make heads spin. Plus, everyone’s spiritual needs are different.

Maybe this year, you’re really thinking about what it means that Jesus was born and the comfort that comes from that.

Unity of Delray recognizes this and holds an adults-only Christmas Eve candlelight services at 11 p.m. Two earlier services are offered for families at 6 and 8 p.m.

Unity of Delray is at 101 NW 22nd St. (at Swinton Avenue), Delray Beach. Visit www.unityofdelraybeach.org.

Rabbi Leibel Stolik at last year’s Hanukkah menorah lighting and festival at Plaza Del Mar in Manalapan. This year’s event is Dec. 29.

And 5 for Hanukkah
• “The MaccaBeatles”: At 6 p.m. Dec. 27, Temple Beth El presents this lively musical Hanukkah shabbat service and dinner/dance. Bring your menorah and light candles together. Hear the story of the Maccabees through the music of the Beatles led by clergy and the youth and adult choirs, accompanied by the synagogue’s band.

A Hanukkah dinner and latke party will follow, and you can choose between a DJ dance party or classical live entertainment. The event is open to the public, but RSVP at www.tbeboca.org/special-events. Tickets are $20 adult, $12 for age 4-12. After Dec. 20, cost is $25 and $15. The temple is at 9800 Yamato Road, Boca Raton. 561-391-8900.

• “The Italian Jewish Christmas Show”: Featuring twin brothers Will and Anthony Nunziata, this is a don’t-miss for Christmas or Hanukkah. Billed as two parts Italian singers and one part Jewish comedian, the show also features Comedy Central’s Jessica Kirson.

Tickets are $45, $60 VIP, for the shows on Dec. 19 and 20 at the Boca Black Box Center for the Arts, 8221 Glades Road, Boca Raton. 561-483-9036; www.BocaBlackBox.com

• “Barbra Streisand: Holiday Memories”: Starring Carla DelVillaggio, the show comes to Mizner Park Cultural Arts Center, 201 Plaza Real, Boca Raton, at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 20 for a single show. DelVillaggio, an award-winning tribute artist who has played Streisand all over the country, performs holiday music like Jingle Bells mixed with Streisand’s hits, including The Way We Were, People and Don’t Rain on My Parade. Tickets are $35 and $45, available at 844-672-2849, miznerparkculturalcenter.com

• The Kultur Festival: “A Very Jewish Concert on Christmas Day” is at 3 p.m. Dec. 25, Levis JCC Zinman Hall, 9901 Donna Klein Blvd., Boca Raton. The Klezmer Company Jazz Orchestra under the direction of accordionist Aaron Kula performs a concert filled with entertaining songs, stories and jazzed up arrangements of classic Yiddish, Israeli and Chassidic melodies. Tickets $30, $40 VIP. 561-558-2520; levisjcc.org/sandler

• Jewish Food Fair & Hanukkah Festival: from 4 to 6 p.m. Dec. 29 at Chabad in the Plaza del Mar, 224 S. Ocean Blvd., Manalapan. Features the “Holy Smokes” kosher food truck, vegetarian Mediterranean dishes and other classic Jewish delicacies, plus live music, children’s activities, and a grand menorah lighting. 561-889-3499; www.chabadofsouthpalmbeach.org ;

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

The crew aboard J2 leaves Sailfish Marina in Palm Beach Shores after checking in and weighing fish caught in the Nov. 9 Dust’em Off Sailfish Warmup tournament. Led by Capt. Charlie Nicklaus, the J2 team released two sailfish.
Willie Howard/The Coastal Star

By Willie Howard

Capt. Nick Carullo of Miami and his team aboard Showtime released eight sailfish in the waters off Boynton Beach to win the Dust’em Off Sailfish Warmup, a multiple-inlet sailfish release tournament that attracted teams from Islamorada to Jupiter.

Fifty teams released a combined 108 sailfish in the Nov. 9 tournament despite a cold front that brought rain, strong winds and heavy seas to the waters off South Florida.

The Showtime crew won $41,750 for its first-place finish, tournament director Capt. Ben Sharpe said.

Capt. Gene Lebron and his team on Three Times L/Fishless finished second, with seven releases, followed by Capt. Evan Hamilton and his team on Pharma-Sea/Zizzz, also with seven (based on time of the releases).

Luke Lacroix of Fort Lauderdale won top angler, with four releases. Darin Chafin won the fun-fish division with a 24.8-pound dolphin caught aboard the Asian Pearl.

Three Times L/Fishless won the charity category, with $3,800 going to the fishing team and $3,800 going to Mahogany Youth, a Miami nonprofit.

Boynton/Delray, Boca hold boat parades

The 48th annual Boynton Beach/Delray Beach Holiday Boat Parade is scheduled for 6:30 to 9 p.m. Dec. 13.

Boca Raton will hold its 43rd annual Holiday Boat Parade on Dec. 15.

Boats in the Boynton/Delray parade will line up at 6 p.m. near the Palm Beach Yacht Center in Hypoluxo. Boats decorated with holiday lights will proceed south to the C-15 Canal in Delray Beach.

A free watch party with live music is planned at Boynton Harbor Marina. Attendees are each asked to bring a new, unwrapped toy for Toys for Tots.

Other suggested places to watch the parade include Intracoastal Park and Jaycee Park in Boynton Beach as well as Veterans Park and Knowles Park in Delray Beach.

Boat owners and captains can enter the parade for free by downloading an entry form at www.catchboynton.com.

The mandatory captains meeting is set for 6 p.m. Dec. 9 at Banana Boat restaurant at Boynton Harbor Marina. Captains should bring a new, unwrapped toy to the meeting.

For more details, call Mercedes Coppin at 561-600-9097.

Boca Raton’s parade will begin at 6:30 p.m. at the C-15 canal (Delray/Boca line) and proceed south in the Intracoastal Waterway.

Decorated boats are expected to reach their southern destination at the Hillsboro Boulevard Bridge by 8:30 p.m.

Viewing locations include Spanish River Park, the Wildflower property and the west side of Red Reef Park.

Drawbridges will be held open about 45 minutes to allow the parade of boats to move through.

Bridges are scheduled to close to car traffic beginning at 6:50 p.m. at Spanish River Boulevard; 7:20 p.m. at Palmetto Park Road; and 7:30 p.m. at Camino Real.

Boaters interested in participating in the parade must enter by Dec. 9. A mandatory captains meeting is set for 6 p.m. Dec. 9 at the Boca Raton Community Center, 150 Crawford Blvd.

More information and a boat entry form can be found at www.myboca.us. Click on “experience Boca” and “special events” to reach the boat parade link or call 561-367-7073.

Students from the Marine Conservation Club at Wellington Landings Middle School toss biodegradable drift cards into the Lake Worth Lagoon from a public dock in downtown West Palm Beach. The cards are part of a citizen science project organized by the Angari Foundation and its partners to study currents in the lagoon. Photo provided by Whitney Jackson

Drift cards released in Lake Worth Lagoon

The Angari Foundation, a West Palm Beach nonprofit that promotes marine science research and education, released “drift cards” into the Lake Worth Lagoon in early November to study water movement.

It was the foundation’s fifth drift card release in the Lake Worth Lagoon, the county’s largest estuary, which stretches 20 miles from Ocean Ridge to North Palm Beach.

The yellow drift cards were released the afternoon of Nov. 2 in six locations in the lagoon, including one near Boynton Inlet.

The cards are made of thin plywood coated with a nontoxic paint, Angari Foundation spokeswoman Rachel Plunkett said.

Anyone who finds one of the cards labeled “Scientific Study — Please Report Discovery” is asked to keep the card and email a photo of it, including the location, date and time it was found, to lagoondrift@angari.org.

For details, visit www.angari.org/lagoondrift.

Coming events

Dec. 7: Basic boating safety class offered by Coast Guard Auxiliary, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the headquarters building at Spanish River Park, 3939 N. Ocean Blvd., Boca Raton. Fee $35 ($5 for youths ages 12-19). Register at the door. Bring lunch. Call 561-391-3600. Leave a message.

Jan. 1: A new bag limit for blackfin tuna takes effect. The limit is two blackfins per angler or 10 per boat, whichever is greater, in state and federal waters. Also, grouper season closes and will reopen May 1.

Jan. 8-11: 83rd annual Silver Sailfish Derby, a sailfish release tournament organized by the West Palm Beach Fishing Club and based at Sailfish Marina in Palm Beach Shores. Captains meeting Jan. 8 at the fishing club. Fishing will be Jan. 9-10, followed by awards dinner Jan. 11. Entry fee $1,000 per boat for fishing club members, $1,500 per boat for nonmembers. Must enter by Dec. 20 to avoid $300 late fee. Call 561-832-6780 or visit www.westpalmbeachfishingclub.org.

Tip of the month

Want to catch stone crabs, best known for their tasty claws? Buy a stone-crab trap that meets state specifications. (Go to www.myfwc.com to find recreational saltwater regulations for stone crabs and traps.) Stone crab season ends May 15. Minimum claw size: 2.75 inches.

Release the crab after removing a claw. Claws should not be taken from egg-bearing crabs.

Crabbers must have a Florida saltwater fishing license, unless exempt, and must complete a free online registration form at www.gooutdoorsflorida.com. A five-trap limit applies to recreational crabbers.

Willie Howard is a freelance writer and licensed boat captain. Reach him at tiowillie@bellsouth.net.

May McCarthy attributes her prosperity to her use of spiritual principles. She will speak Dec. 8 at Unity of Delray. Photo provided

By Janis Fontaine

Since 1982, May McCarthy has founded and grown seven successful, profitable companies, sold a ton of books, spoken at colleges, churches and universities throughout the country and fulfilled the goals she set for herself with better-than-average success.

You can find out how she did it at the workshop “The Power of Why in Creating Abundance” from 1 to 3 p.m. Dec. 8 at Unity of Delray Beach, 101 NW 22nd St. (at Swinton Avenue), Delray Beach.

McCarthy attributes her prosperity to her use of spiritual principles and her solid partnership with her “chief spiritual officer.” Her 2015 book, The Path to Wealth; Seven Spiritual Steps for Financial Abundance, is a mix of motivational talk and personal finance.

Her 2018 book, The Gratitude Formula: A 7-Step Success System to Create a Life That You Love, teaches that success is a system, not a secret.

The goal of the workshop is to help participants discover their purpose and achieve greater success and prosperity in their personal and professional lives. Learning to live your life with purpose creates more joy, better health, fulfillment and true prosperity.

Jack Canfield, the co-author and man behind the prolific “Chicken Soup” books, says, “If you can tune into your purpose and really align with it, setting goals so that your vision is an expression of that purpose, then life flows much more easily.” Register at www.unityofdelraybeach.org.

Voice contestant at CROS event

Christmas According to Jazz, a fundraiser benefiting CROS Ministries, features the Julius Sanna Quartet, The Voice competitor Michaela Paige and Jody Marlow, who plays sax, flute and clarinet, among other instruments. The show takes place at 4 p.m. Dec. 8 at Trinity Delray, 400 N. Swinton Ave., Delray Beach. Tickets are $10. Kids younger than 10 get in free.

CROS Ministries has one mission: feeding hungry people in Palm Beach and Martin counties. Visit www.crosministries.org.

Tips to navigate the holidays

Not everyone looks at Santa Claus or eight consecutive nights of gifts the same way. When the Interfaith Café meets on Dec. 19, you might hear something that will smooth the road to the holidays.

The meet-up will focus on family interactions during the holidays, with Rosemarie Rose-Spencer facilitating the discussion.
And facilitating is what Rose-Spencer does. A life coach, family mediator, career coach and teacher, she specializes in helping military active-duty and veterans and their families adjust to life in and out of the military.

The Interfaith Café group meets from 7 to 9 p.m. at the South County Civic Center, 16700 Jog Road, Delray Beach. Light refreshments will be served.

Last chance to see ‘Rescuers’

Adolph Rose Levis JCC Sandler Center has been hosting an exhibition by photographer Gay Block, “Rescuers: Portraits of Moral Courage in the Holocaust,” since the start of November. This exhibit, which debuted at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, shows people who risked their lives to save Jews from the Holocaust, their experiences and the reasons behind their heroic actions. The exhibition will close on Dec. 22. The gallery is at the Sandler Center, 21050 95th Ave. S., Boca Raton.

Catholic news on airwaves

A new faith-based radio station is on the air in Palm Beach County. Turn your dial to 98.3 FM, where you’ll find the Catholic Voice of the Palm Beaches. You can also listen online at the station’s website. Right now, programming is from EWTN, but local programming should be added soon. Listen at 98.3 FM or visit www.WPBVRadio.com.

Holiday volunteers needed

The 14th annual project Holiday Packing Day needs volunteers to help fill 500 care packages from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Dec. 8 at the Delray Beach Community Center, 50 NW First Ave.

The packages will be shipped to military men and women deployed overseas who have Delray Beach connections. Reserve a spot on the Project Holiday Facebook page at www.facebook.com/events/508322729920063/

Boca Helping Hands needs volunteers to prepare and serve food from 8:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. Dec. 7, at 1500 NW First Court, Boca Raton.

You’ll be in good company: This is the day Boston University alumni living in Boca Raton come out to serve their community. Registration is at http:// bit.ly/2PaNbFQ.

Jesse Levine, a Boca Raton pro who ranked as high as No. 69 in the world, is the new tennis director at the Delray Beach Club, succeeding Chuck Narvin. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Brian Biggane

By some accounts, Delray Beach Club tennis director Chuck Narvin is retiring for the fifth time. Narvin, 78, insists it’s only three.

Whatever the arithmetic, Narvin informed the club last summer the time had come to step away and the search began for his successor.

Enter Jesse Levine.

A Boca Raton product who as a player climbed to No. 69 in the world, Levine applied for the job and was at Wimbledon coaching Jessica Pegula when he heard from the club’s human resources manager, Kristi Frias.

“It was very good timing,” said Levine, 32.

“Being on the road 25-30 weeks a year is tough, and I’d been doing that since I was 14, 15 years old, living out of a suitcase,” he said. “I wanted to be at home, sleep in my bed, be close to my family and my girlfriend. It was important to get where the travel was minimized.”

Levine arrived in early November and planned to spend about a month working alongside Narvin to make for a smooth transition.

“I have big shoes to fill,” he said. “The members have nothing but good things to say about Chuck. Over the last few weeks I’ve gotten to spend almost every day with Chuck, and that’s been really neat, learning from him and learning about the culture he’s built here.”

A South Florida resident starting in 1973, Narvin spent time at Inverrary in Lauderhill, Woodmont, Gleneagles and the Country Club at St. Andrews before “retiring” and moving to Phoenix in 2004. He wound up at Anthem Country Club working four jobs.

“I was a teacher at Anthem with Walter Hurd, a substitute teacher, a ranger on the golf course and coached the team at Boulder Creek High School,” Narvin said.

The Delray Beach Club lured him back in 2011.

“I’ve been able to use my marketing skills as much as possible to develop a tennis program that took care of everything — social, competitive, and so forth,” he said.

“He came and pulled it all together,” General Manager Shane Peachey said. “He was exactly what we needed at the time. He’s done an amazing job, and Jesse has sort of picked up the racket and is taking it to the next level.”

A native of Ottawa, Canada, Levine moved to Boca with his family at 13 and played five sports at Boca Prep: soccer, golf, tennis, baseball and basketball.

He stopped the other four after realizing his junior year that tennis was his ticket to a college scholarship and wound up playing No. 1 singles at the University of Florida.

“I was there with Tim Tebow and my first day we won a national championship,” he said, referring to UF football.

Levine made All-America before turning pro in 2007.

At 5-foot-9 and 150 pounds, he needed to rely on quickness and fitness to hang with players like Gulf Stream’s Kevin Anderson, who stands 6-8.

“Being 5-9 has its limitations,” he said. “Everyone said I wasn’t going to be big enough or strong enough, but to me that builds fire. When they told me I wasn’t going to be able to do something, that just gave me more motivation to go and do it.

“When I cracked the top 100 at 18 people were like, ‘Who knows?’ I never said I was top 20, or top 50. I just wanted to maximize my game and be the best I could possibly be. I wound up getting to No. 68, and if somebody had told me that when I was 12, I would have signed on the dotted line.”

The winner of several national tournaments as a youngster, Levine scored his biggest match victory as a pro against former world No. 1 Marat Safin at Wimbledon in 2009. Five years later an elbow injury forced him into retirement.

“I got to walk away on my terms,” he said. “Not a lot of athletes can say that.”

Under contract as a player with Nike, Levine signed on with the sportswear giant as a talent scout while also serving as an analyst for the Canadian broadcaster Sportsnet.

He had become friends with Jeff Cohen, tennis director at Woodfield CC in Boca, and signed on as his assistant running the junior program.

Then came an offer to coach Madison Keys, whom he helped reach No. 7 in the world in 2016.

“Who knows if I’ll ever get a chance to coach a top-10 player again, so I jumped on that, and that led to coaching Jessica Pegula the last 21/2 years,” Levine said.

The daughter of Buffalo Bills and Sabres owners Terry and Kim Pegula, Jessica earned her first WTA title in August, just after she and Levine parted ways.

As much as he enjoyed working with top players, Levine said he gets just as much satisfaction from mentoring club members.

“It’s a lot different but it’s fun because there’s a lot of room for improvement, and they get such joy out of small improvements in their game,” he said.

“With the pros it’s more about focus, and mentality and pattern of play in their game. Here you change something. … I just got off the court with a member and he was so excited that he was starting to hit topspin backhands. That makes you feel good, to know you helped somebody.”

While the Delray Beach Club has only two courts on its fairly limited beachside tract, negotiations are underway to rent more, as has been done in the past.

Acknowledging that a solid foundation for the program is in place, Levine hopes to expand the junior program and bring in a few new ideas, such as cardio tennis.

“It’s about getting your heart rate up while enjoying yourself out there,” he said.

Narvin is confident he’s leaving the program is capable hands.

Levine has “impressed me with his history of playing and teaching,” Narvin said. “The members here are going to really enjoy his working here as tennis director. His personality is fantastic, and he certainly has the tennis skills to be a very good tennis director.”

Delray Beach’s 100-foot Christmas tree at Old School Square was set to light up Dec. 5. Photo provided

By Janis Fontaine

The Christmas and Hanukkah holidays are as busy as ever, and kids seem even more excited this year. Here are 10 events to help you plan the perfect holiday for them.

• The 100-foot Christmas tree: The tree lighting ceremony was set for Dec. 5 at Old School Square with Santa’s arrival and a holiday street fair. But that was just the beginning of the festivities. The tree remains open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. each day through Jan. 1 so visitors can walk through and see holiday scenes of Santa’s workshop, a reindeer bar and the train house. Kids can visit with Santa at his Key West-style house from 5 to 9 p.m. through Dec. 23. Visit www.downtowndelraybeach.com/holidays.

• Hanukkah party west: The Winter Family Festival takes place from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Dec. 8 at the Adolph and Rose Levis Jewish Community Center, 9801 Donna Klein Blvd., Boca Raton. Families with kids in preschool to fifth grade are invited to play on inflatables, climb a rock wall, do crafts, play sports and games, make a menorah, enjoy live entertainment and a petting zoo, and watch a Frozen princess performance. Do some holiday shopping at the shuk. Food vendors. Free and open to the community. Visit www.levisjcc.org.

• Boca’s street parade: The 49th annual Holiday Street Parade in Boca Raton takes place from 7:30 to 9 p.m. Dec. 11. The parade begins at Federal Highway and Southeast Fifth Street and travels north to the Mizner Park Amphitheater. More than 70 floats and groups will entertain viewers with dance, lights and music. Federal Highway will be closed to vehicles from Glades Road south to Camino Real from 5-11 p.m. Visit https://myboca.us/1465/Holiday-Street-Parade.

• Boynton/Delray boat parade: The 48th annual parade takes place from about 6:30 to 9 p.m. Dec. 13. It starts near Boynton Harbor Marina and goes south to Delray Beach along the Intracoastal Waterway. Viewing is available in Boynton Beach at Intracoastal Park and Jaycee Park and in Delray Beach from Veterans Park, among other spots. Call 561-600-9097 in Boynton or 561-243-7250 in Delray.

• Delray street parade: The Delray Beach Holiday Parade begins at 6 p.m. Dec. 14, along Atlantic Avenue from the Intracoastal Waterway west to Northwest Fifth Avenue. At least 70 floats, dancers, cheerleaders, bands and performers pave the way for the guest of honor: Santa will arrive on a fire truck. Visit www.delraybeachfl.gov.

• Boca boat parade: The 43rd annual parade begins at the C-15 canal at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 15, and travels south on the Intracoastal Waterway to Deerfield Beach. Bleacher viewing is at Silver Palm Park, Red Reef Park and the Wildflower property. Bridges are held in the up position for approximately 45 minutes during the parade. Avoid these areas during estimated closing times to avoid traffic delays. The estimated bridge closing times are Spanish River at 6:50 p.m., Palmetto Park at 7:20 p.m. and Camino Real at 7:30 p.m. Visit https://myboca.us/1464/Holiday-Boat-Parade.

• Hanukkah party east: The city of Delray Beach and Chabad of East Delray will cohost a Hanukkah celebration at 5:30 p.m. Dec. 22 at Old School Square. Special performances are planned, as are crafts, latkes and jelly doughnuts. The event is free and open to the public. Visit www.JewishEastDelray.com.

• Make something for the tree: Gumbo Limbo Nature Center will offer two ornament-making sessions for kids age 7 and older and adults on Dec. 14. “Ornaments Naturally” is from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. or 1-2:30 p.m. The center will provide shells, sea beans, pinecones and colorful craft supplies, but you are welcome to bring your own stuff. Reservations are required. For anyone younger than 18, an adult must sign up and participate. 1801 N. Ocean Blvd., Boca Raton. $7 residents, $10 nonresidents. 561-544-8605; www.gumbolimbo.org

• Hanukkah party central Boca: Light Up Hanukkah celebrates the second night of Hanukkah with the lighting of the menorah. From 5:30-7 p.m. Dec. 23 at Boca Center, 5050 Town Center Circle, Boca Raton, just off Military Trail one mile north of Palmetto Park Road. Enjoy latkes, gelt, story time and crafts and the second candle-lighting at 6 p.m., but the highlight will be a performance by the rock ’n’ roll rabbi, David Paskin. Call 561-852-6080 or email pjlibrary@bocafed.org.

• The holiday roundup at Sugar Sand Park: Those last few days when kids are out of school and excited about the holiday are some of the times that test parents’ patience. Sugar Sand Park has three ideas:
-- Have kids who like to bake? Kids can make gingerbread houses at 10:30 a.m. or decorate cookies at 1:30 p.m. Dec. 23 in the Community Center. Ages 4 and older. Adult supervision required. Register by Dec. 21.
-- If you need a few hours to get some last-minute errands finished and can’t stay to supervise your budding baker, take advantage of Sugar Sand Park’s Kids’ Day In … Parents’ Day Out from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Dec. 23. Drop off kids ages 5-12 at the Explorium for activities, games and pizza. Register by Dec. 22. $15 for residents, $18.75 for nonresidents.
Children ages 5 and older who like crafts can make three last-minute gifts at the park from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Dec. 24. Kids will make -- Slime, Sand & Swirls plus decorate wrapping paper or a gift bag. Parent/guardian supervision and registration required. $5 residents, $6.25 nonresidents.
-- Special winter break kids’ events continue at the park at 300 Military Trail, Boca Raton, through Jan. 5.
Call 561-347-3900 or visit https://sugarsandpark.org/.

During an assembly, head of school Gray Smith reads an essay by pre-K student Campbell Jones. Photo provided by Rachel O’Hara

By Rich Pollack

Gray Smith knew Gulf Stream School was unique even before he fled the Maryland winters to become its head of school.

Once he arrived and settled into the role for which he’d been preparing for decades, Smith had a chance to see firsthand what separates Gulf Stream School from similar institutions.

“It really is a special place,” he said last month, just a few days after he’d been officially installed as head of school. “It’s a small community and it’s a warm community.”

Since his arrival in the summer, Smith has been welcomed with open arms by members of that community, which includes parents of current and former students and alumni.

What came as a surprise to Smith was how much activity takes place at the school, just a stone’s throw from his school-provided home, where he can see things going on after school and on weekends.

“It’s an enchanting added bonus,” he said.

Maintaining and then building on Gulf Stream School’s powerful sense of community is an important part of Smith’s job. So is his role as an academic leader who is charged with making sure that close to 250 students — ranging from pre-K to eighth grade — get first-class educations.

Smith, who has a doctorate of education and organizational leadership from the University of Pennsylvania, is as much an educator — and lacrosse coach — as he is an administrator.

He is, in fact, teaching two sixth-grade reading classes this semester and will work with the school’s lacrosse program.

“I won’t be on the sidelines,” he says, “but I’ll be doing some coaching.”

Smith’s background with close to 25 years of teaching and serving in leadership roles at independent schools prepared him for his current role.

Prior to coming to Gulf Stream School, Smith, 47, served four years as the head of school at the Harford Day School in Bel Air, Maryland.

He previously served as head of the middle school at Severn School in the Baltimore area and before that served as assistant head of the upper school and dean of students at The Boys’ Latin School of Maryland.

He also held teaching and coaching positions in Kentucky and at Pine Crest School in Fort Lauderdale, where he was a teacher and assistant lacrosse coach in 2002 when the team won a state championship. He served as head coach in 2003.

In his role as an educator, Smith spent his first several weeks at Gulf Stream School visiting classrooms and seeing how skilled the faculty members are at building trust with the students.

He was impressed, he said, when he saw more than one veteran teacher watching over small groups of students talking about what they’re learning and then seeing those teachers work one-on-one with some of the students.

“It’s really individualized,” he said. “It’s been really interesting.”

Smith is also focused on bringing some new ideas to the classrooms while not shunning the techniques that are working well. He is interested in inquiry-based learning which poses questions to students and also presents them with problems or scenarios to resolve. “There are some things we can do here to make the great things we’re doing even better,” he said.

Smith’s ability to move forward, without discarding the traditions, sits well with parents like Chiara Clark, the mother of three children at the school and immediate past president of the parents auxiliary.

“I’m impressed at how he’s kept some traditions and added some twists along the way,” said Clark, who chaired Smith’s installation ceremony. “I love that he’s open to ideas and has already learned all the students’ names.”

Clark said she believes the fact that Smith has two sons attending the school will be a benefit.

“I love knowing he is taking a vested interest in all areas of our school because it’s where his kids attend,” she said. 

One of the challenges for Gulf Stream School, Smith says, is to get the word out about some of the innovative practices educators are using, as well as about the school’s overall environment.

“We’d like people to know how good we are,” Smith says.

A marketing committee of board members is on the task, but at the same time, Smith sees faculty members taking leadership roles among peers as another way to spread the word.

One example, he says, is to have some of the school’s educators lead workshops where they share the Gulf Stream School philosophy of developing trusting relationships with students that can improve academics.

As Smith continues to build relationships of his own — he greets students and parents every morning at drop-off and again at pickup — he remains mindful of the school’s 80-year tradition of serving the community.

“This feels like a place that is meant to serve the families that are here,” he said.

Chef Suzanne Perrotto, the keynote speaker, takes questions from the student moderators at Plumosa. Perrotto opened Brulé in downtown Delray Beach in 2008. The 2019 book was Thank You, Omu!, a 2018 book by Oge Mora. The story and illustrations are about Omu, who cooks a stew and shares it with her neighbors; they show their gratitude by bringing her food. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Delray Reads Day is an annual community-wide event established in 2012 to support the Delray Beach Campaign for Grade-Level Reading. It brings community leaders and residents into area schools to learn more about how they can help schools and students.

The large glass-walled great room connects to the poolside lanai. A summer kitchen serves the lanai’s dining/lounge areas backdropped by a tropical, private setting.

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Energy-efficient impact-rated glass is used in all windows and exterior doors. For effortless ease, Control4 smart-house systems integrate the whole-house LED lighting scenes and media wiring.

Enjoy the free-flowing living/dining space; a chef’s dream kitchen with lacquer-finished cabinetry, Caesarstone counters, an island/bar, a Miele six-burner gas range and dishwasher and a SubZero refrigerator. Next to the office/den overlooking the lush back garden, the private master suite shares tranquil views and opens to the saltwater pool. The suite’s luxe bath features a soaking tub, shower, Italian vanity, separate water closet and wardrobe room.

Upstairs, the generous club room and the three bedroom suites open to an expansive treetop deck above the pool.

The beachside location is in the well-established, sought-after Seagate neighborhood.

Modern, crisp simplicity greets you as you arrive at the front entrance to this tropical oasis.

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Offered at $3,489,900. Contact Pascal Liguori, 561-278-0100, pascal@premierestateproperties.com or Judi Lukens, 561-271-6702, judi@premierestateproperties.com; Premier Estate Properties, 900 E. Atlantic Ave., Suite 4, Delray Beach, FL 33483.

Crews pumped 4,583 cubic yards of concrete from about 500 trucks in one day last month for part of the underground garage floor at Atlantic Crossing. Noise from trucks awakened neighbors as early as 2 a.m. Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Jane Smith

The first concrete mixer truck rumbled into Delray Beach in the predawn hours the first Saturday in October.
When it was over nearly 15 hours later, some 500 trucks had delivered 4,583 cubic yards of concrete to create part of the underground garage floor for the massive Atlantic Crossing project.
It was, according to the city, the longest and largest continuous concrete pour in county history.
“It was neat to see,” said Andy Spengler, president of Spengler Construction & Masonry Inc., which partnered with Titan America.
He arrived at the job site to the northeast of the intersection of Atlantic Avenue and Federal Highway just after midnight and stayed until 10:15 a.m. The work crews were already there, and the trucks began arriving about 1 a.m. That pour created one-fourth of the underground garage floor.
On Nov. 2 the trucks were scheduled to return again in the wee hours for another pour, although Spengler said that one would not be as large. Jordan Vance, who lives just south of the project, won’t be pleased to learn of another early morning. He posted on the Delray Raw Facebook page that he was awakened at 2 a.m. He shot a video of the truck caravan and added, “Will this project ever end, will I get to sleep again?”
Most of the nearly 40 people who posted responses agreed with the complaint about noise. Several bemoaned the change in Delray Beach from all the building, saying the city had lost its charm and appeal.

ABOVE: Workers smooth the concrete poured for the floor of the underground parking garage at Atlantic Crossing in Delray Beach. BELOW: Dewatering pumps run continuously to send groundwater from the site to the Intracoastal Waterway.

The city granted permission for the concrete mixer trucks to arrive in the predawn hours. The work was done early on a Saturday to minimize disruptions for commuters.
The site is only a block from the Intracoastal Waterway, so loud dewatering pumps run around the clock to rid the area of groundwater, which is filtered before flowing into the Intracoastal.
Records show the project complies with its permit from the South Florida Water Management District. That permit expires March 31, 2021.
The developer has said that after the garage is finished it will still need pumps and backup generators to use when the power goes out.
Excavation work on the other half of the site will continue as the underground garage is built. Two additional concrete pours will be scheduled depending on how quickly that work progresses. Spengler estimated the earliest date for the third pour would be in six weeks.
Now that the garage has begun, vertical construction can start by the end of the year, according to Edwards Cos. Vice President Don DeVere.
The $300 million mixed-use project occupies 9.2 acres and stretches along the north side of Atlantic Avenue from Northeast Sixth Avenue to Veterans Park.
Edwards has signed three lead tenants for its retail and office building, which is projected to open in the fourth quarter of 2020.
Two current Atlantic Plaza tenants that will move into the new building are Merrill Lynch and Chico’s, a women’s fashion store. The financial firm will occupy the entire 20,000-square-foot third floor of the new building and Chico’s will rent 3,150 square feet in a shop facing Atlantic Avenue.
The new tenant is Chicago-based Hampton Social, a lifestyle-experience restaurant that has leased 8,677 square feet.
DeVere also said the project’s first luxury residences would be finished in 2021 and park-side residential units would be added in 2023.

An aerial fiber artwork by sculptor Janet Echelman would fill part of the space. Rendering provided

Artwork proposed
The developer also wants to replace proposed central artwork of a tall aquarium with a 209-foot, multicolored aerial fiber artwork by noted sculptor Janet Echelman.
She was inspired by fishermen in India when they were hand-tying their nets, according to her 2011 TED Talk. Echelman, a Tampa native, has a studio in the Boston area. She has said the work will mimic the flow of the Intracoastal from New England to South Florida.
Edwards CEO Jeffrey Edwards loves art and Echelman’s work, said Paul Campbell, one of the project’s architects.
Campbell represented Atlantic Crossing before the city’s Site Plan Review and Appearance Board in mid-October as he sought approval for landscaping and design changes in addition to the aerial sculpture.
The building engineers need to know whether the soaring artwork is approved, Campbell said, because they will have to design the buildings to carry the load.
One board member asked whether the artwork could withstand hurricane winds. Campbell said it could, but he did not know the exact wind speeds. The piece will not be removable, but will be attached to a cable that is then attached to the four buildings by metal cables.
Another board member asked about the artwork’s impact on birds and people below. Campbell said he did not know, but Echelman would. He said she would come to a future board meeting.
Board members said they liked the aerial artwork, but postponed the decision on the artwork and other changes because they were not given a complete list of requested changes from the 2014 plan. Most of the current members were not on the board when the site plan was approved.
The project will be discussed at the Nov. 13 board meeting.
Atlantic Crossing will transform nearly everything about that four-block piece of downtown Delray Beach.
The project will add traffic, stores, offices and restaurants to the area, which sits just north of the Marina Historic District, whose small houses and narrow streets date to the 1930s.

The curve’s posted 25-mph speed is advisory; the enforceable limit is 35. But the town hopes monitors that show each vehicle’s speed will slow down traffic. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

Accident-prone curve lies south of Town Hall

By Dan Moffett

Months of persistence in dealing with state transportation officials has paid off for Manalapan.
Well, at least partly paid off.
Police Chief Carmen Mattox got a call from the Florida Department of Transportation just before the Oct. 22 commission meeting with news that the state has agreed to install speed monitoring signs at the accident-prone S-curve on A1A a little more than a mile south of Town Hall.
They won’t be the flashing warning signs that Mattox wanted. But they will be motion-activated signs that display the speeds of approaching northbound and southbound drivers.
“After a year and a lot of pushing and jumping over certain people to get us to this point,” Town Manager Linda Stumpf said, “we’re going to be getting speed monitoring signs. It’s a good start.”
Stumpf said she expects the signs to be up and running by the end of January. It will be the town’s responsibility to maintain them.
Results of a recent speed study gave the town some compelling talking points to use in making its case to FDOT.
The study found that, in general, 92% of vehicles entering the so-called Bentley Curve — named for the considerable number of luxury cars that have crashed there — are going over the posted speed of 25 miles an hour, about 50% of them at least 29 miles an hour.
Traffic engineers believe the greater the speed over 30 mph, the greater the likelihood of off-the-road crashes.
During nighttime hours, which has been when most of the worst accidents occurred, the number of drivers faster than 25 mph swells to 97%.
About 2,400 vehicles go through the curve every day. And the traffic mix of a residential neighborhood complicates the picture.
“The roadway is frequented by vehicle, bicyclist and pedestrian traffic,” Mattox told FDOT officials in an October letter. “There are no sidewalks in this area.”
Another complication is the difference between the state’s enforceable speed limit and the advisory posted speed.
Mattox wanted the state to make 25 miles an hour the enforceable limit, not just the advisory speed, so his officers could stop and cite violators. But the state has steadfastly refused, saying the enforceable speed limit would remain at 35 miles an hour.
In other business:
• The professional life span of town managers among coastal municipalities is often more accurately measured in months than in years.
Stumpf, however, is a notable exception. She just signed a five-year contract to work for the town through 2024, which will give her 15 years on the job.
Mayor Keith Waters said continuity was a more important factor than longevity in signing Stumpf for the long haul. Town Clerk Lisa Petersen plans to retire in three years, so Waters said he wants future commissions to have experienced staff as long as possible to guide transitions.
“What we’re trying to do is make sure we have a very clear succession path as to how the town is going to continue to operate,” Waters said. “So a five-year window works very nicely.”
The new contract calls for paying Stumpf a base salary of $140,028 in the first year and the same amount plus cost-of-living adjustments during each of the next four years. Her previous salary was $134,642.
• Commissioners approved a holiday schedule that sets their monthly meetings for Nov. 12 and Dec. 10, at 10 a.m. as usual. 

Thank you, loyal readers.
Once again your passion for our newspaper is inspirational. We always learn a lot from your feedback and this month exceeded expectations.
One thing many of you wanted to stress is that the plastic sleeve on our driveway-delivered newspaper is not wasted. It’s used for storing household items and for picking up dog poo. It’s good to know the plastic wrapper isn’t really single-use!
Some of you said you don’t mind taking the plastic delivery sleeves to the recycling bins at Publix. Thank you.
One reader suggested we run a contest with local universities and business incubators for innovative solutions. Good idea.
We were gently warned by another concerned reader that we are putting ourselves into an unenviable — even hypocritical — position by continuing to print on dead trees and tossing them into driveways. Can’t argue.
That’s why we’re exploring options to better provide local community news that won’t turn into a soggy mass of wood pulp on a rainy day.
Our business partners tell us they like the advertising display they get in our print product (we think it looks great!) and are willing to pay a premium for delivery into every household in our coastal area. It’s a business model that has worked for them (and for us) the past 11 years. Still, we don’t want to become complacent.
One model we see other newspaper companies embracing is underwriting. We’ve done the research and feel it might work for The Coastal Star as we explore switching hand-delivered home delivery to the U.S. Postal Service.
We’re still open to other business suggestions — keep them coming — but are hoping to move forward with offering underwriting opportunities before the end of the year.
So, if you know individuals, businesses or nonprofits that would like to reach our barrier island readers with a message of environmental awareness and concern, please ask them to contact us. Together we can find solutions.

Email us at sales@thecoastalstar.com

Mary Kate Leming, Editor

Alex Ridley’s skills in fundraising and grant writing have helped bring in thousands of dollars to the center each year. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Stephen Moore

Five years ago, Alex Ridley, board president at Sandoway Discovery Center, moved his family from the Boston area to Delray Beach to start another chapter of the family’s life — and to escape the cold winters.
Ridley and his wife, Rosana, brought their children — Christopher, now 14, Leo, 12, and Alby, 7 — to South Florida, where he had often come to vacation.
“I had been coming to Ocean Ridge since the ’70s where my grandparents had a home,” Ridley said.
In Delray Beach, Ridley found a new lifestyle — a place where his kids could play soccer year round, and his Brazilian-born wife could enjoy the warmer climate she craved. Ridley could drive a couple of miles to his office — or a golf course on A1A, playing whenever he wanted. He runs a family business based in Delray Beach.
“I do a mix of investments, trustee work, estate planning and philanthropy, admittedly expert at none but a solid working knowledge of all,” he says.
Delray Beach is also where he found Sandoway and met Executive Director Danica Sanborn.
“I got involved with Sandoway because before we moved here I was on the board of a grant-making organization,” said Ridley, who grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts. “I wanted to get involved in a local organization. I poked around and met with Danica Sanborn and talked to her about some of the center’s needs. There was a clear skill set that they needed and I had from my previous career.”
Ridley, 46, has a background in finance and interest in conservation. After graduating with a degree in history from Pitzer College in Claremont, California, in 1995, he took a job with Merrill Lynch. After seven years there, he began working for The Nature Conservancy, one of the largest conservation nonprofits in the world.
“I was the associate director of development and also worked in fundraising,” Ridley said. “I worked in finance for a while and I wanted to do something different and was lucky enough to get a job at The Nature Conservancy, admittedly not knowing a lot about conservation but learned along the way. It was interesting to go from the world’s largest conservation organization to Sandoway, arguably one of the smallest.”
At Sandoway, he works closely with a supportive and experienced board — and with Sanborn, who oversees two other full-time employees and one part-time employee, a score of volunteers and more than 60 animals. The center attracts more than 22,000 visitors a year.
“Over the last five to 10 years, under the leadership of our previous board president, Ann Heilakka, the center has transformed from really a visitor center to a true education center,” Ridley said. “We now teach over 6,000 students who have participated in one of our tailored education programs. We teach to the Sunshine State Standards, a variety of classes. We teach Palm Beach County’s only climate change class, which won the 2019 Pine Jog Environmental Program of the Year.”
Sanborn says Ridley has had a big impact on the center. “His expertise in grant writing and donor cultivation has helped bring in thousands of dollars annually,” she said. “He is highly dedicated and eager to move Sandoway toward its mission of providing experiential environmental education to students and visitors.”
He and the center face some challenges — perfecting the balance between being a visitor center and an educational center; diversifying the revenue stream and moving from an event-based fundraising model to a donor-based model; and maximizing the space in the 3,581-square-foot, two-story Sandoway House.
Designed by noted architect Samuel Ogren Sr., the house was built in 1936 and is listed in Delray Beach’s local Register of Historic Places and the National Register of Historic Places.
The center has met some challenges with the hiring of Evan Orellana several years ago as a full-time director of education and Amanda Clough as a full-time naturalist.
“We have a goal that every visitor who comes in gets some personal interaction with one of our educators,” Ridley said. “Whether it is seeing a shark feeding or interacting with a snake — and they leave saying ‘Oh wow, I didn’t know that.’”
More improvements are in the works, from upgrading the appearance of the building to hiring a full-time membership director. And the board has plans to enhance the center with a new, larger stingray touch tank.
“For a small space, at times we are bursting at the seams,” Ridley said. “But I have expertise and experience in grant writing, so we have been lucky enough to secure some important funding from a number of Palm Beach County foundations, and that has allowed us to expand our offering.”
So this next chapter in the life of the Ridley family is taking shape.
“This place is too unique, too special to be constantly trying to stick your finger into the monetary dike,” Ridley said. “That’s my goal and, when my time is up, I hope I leave the place looking better and in better fiscal shape. I don’t always get it right, but I do care and I do try and two out of three is not bad.”

By Mary Hladky and Jane Smith

Less than three months after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, iPic Entertainment has emerged from the legal process in the arms of its largest creditor.
Delaware U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Laurie Selber Silverstein on Oct. 28 approved the sale of iPic’s assets for $51.8 million to an affiliate of the Retirement Systems of Alabama, which has loaned iPic about $220 million, Law360 reported. The sale is to close this month.
The affiliate, iPic Theaters, was the top bidder for the luxury theater chain’s assets at an Oct. 17 bankruptcy auction.
It beat out a competing $48.8 million bid by Cinemex Holdings USA, a subsidiary of Mexican movie theater operator Cinemex, which opened its first U.S. theater in Miami in 2016.
IPic’s 16 theaters, including in Delray Beach and Boca Raton, are expected to continue operating for now, but the long-term picture is less clear.
IPic attorney Jeffrey Pomerantz said RSA will keep open at least eight of the chain’s theaters and could continue developing six more sites, according to the Law360 Oct. 28 report. Those sites include planned theaters in Fort Lauderdale and Sunrise, according to filings in the case.
But the chain’s headquarters will not move to Delray Beach as long promised. RSA wants to keep it in Boca Raton, where it has been located since iPic was launched in 2010.
That is a blow to Delray Beach city leaders, who had conditioned approval of the construction of a downtown iPic on the headquarters move, and to the city’s business leaders, who wanted to score another corporate headquarters for the city.
An RSA spokeswoman declined comment. Two publicists for iPic founder and CEO Hamid Hashemi did not respond to emails.
The Delray Beach iPic opened in March after six years of wrangling with the city.
One week after iPic Entertainment filed for bankruptcy protection on Aug. 5, Hashemi lamented the time it took to complete negotiations with the city and build the theater, causing cost increases.
The theater project, now known as 4th and 5th Delray, includes office space, retail and a parking garage just south of Atlantic Avenue between Southeast Fourth and Fifth avenues.
IPic paid $3.6 million for 1.6 acres in April 2017. A few weeks earlier, a new entity called Delray Beach 4th and 5th Avenue paid $2.3 million for .14 acres to provide a loading zone.
The same day the 1.6-acre sale closed, Hashemi’s Delray Beach Holdings sold the land to Delray Beach 4th and 5th Avenue.
That entity has a joint venture partner in Boston and an investor partner in Los Angeles. Hashemi retained a small stake.
In contrast, the construction of a theater and adjacent Tanzy Restaurant in Boca Raton’s Mizner Park in 2012 generated no controversy. IPic’s headquarters also is in Mizner Park.
IPic offered a new concept: luxury theaters with reclining seats, quality food and drinks brought to patrons, and pillows and blankets.
The chain planned to grow to 25 theaters in the U.S. and to expand to Saudi Arabia. Its third Florida theater is in North Miami Beach.
But since iPic was formed, theater-going has decreased as people opt to stream movies at home. At the same time, larger chains copied iPic’s dine-in option and reclining seats.
IPic’s revenues declined in the first quarter of this year. On July 1 it missed a $10.1 million interest payment due to RSA.
Shortly after it sought bankruptcy protection, its stock was delisted on Nasdaq and traded over the counter at about 40 cents per share.
In recent documents in the bankruptcy case, landlord Delray Beach 4th and 5th Avenue said it is owed about $135,947 on its theater lease.
IPic’s Boca Raton landlord, Brookfield National Properties, said it is owed $79,907.
IPic disputed those amounts. A bankruptcy court hearing is set for Nov. 13 to resolve these and other remaining disputes.
Brookfield also objected to RSA’s assumption of the lease and asked for more information about its experience with theaters and restaurants and its financial health.
But in her order, Judge Silverstein said RSA had provided adequate assurance that it could operate the theaters.

By Steve Plunkett

If Ocean Ridge resident Richard Lucibella believed police were in his backyard illegally when he was arrested in 2016, he should have argued that before his trial began this year and he was convicted of misdemeanor battery, the state Attorney General’s Office says.
But Lucibella, at the time Ocean Ridge’s vice mayor, “did not move to suppress the evidence based on a warrantless entry and search. He did not move pretrial to dismiss the charges based on a warrantless entry,” Senior Assistant Attorney General Melynda Melear writes in her answer to Lucibella’s appeal.
Melear asks that the 4th District Court of Appeal in West Palm Beach affirm Lucibella’s Feb. 21 conviction. Lucibella wants the appellate judges to vacate his conviction and order Circuit Judge Daliah Weiss to enter a judgment of acquittal or give him a new trial.
The case began Oct. 22, 2016, when neighbors called 911 to report hearing gunfire. Ocean Ridge police Officers Richard Ermeri and Nubia Plesnik and Sgt. William Hallahan responded to Lucibella’s backyard; a scuffle ensued.
Lucibella, now 66, was found not guilty of resisting arrest with violence and not guilty of felony battery on a law enforcement officer, but guilty of simple battery. He was ordered to pay $675 in court costs.
In her Oct. 16 brief, Melear says Lucibella’s contentions that police were not properly on his property, that there was no probable cause to arrest him and that the officers were trespassing are moot issues.
“Each one of these arguments bears on the element of the battery on a law enforcement officer charge that the officer was engaged in the lawful performance of a legal duty,” she writes. The charge of simple battery “does not contain this element but only requires a showing of an intentional unwanted touching.”
Melear’s view of the facts presented at the trial differs sharply from that of Leonard Feuer, Lucibella’s appellate attorney. Feuer, for example, said in his initial brief that “It was undisputed by Ermeri he caused the first instance of violence in this case by grabbing Lucibella’s shoulders to obstruct his entry into his home or prevent him from obtaining a drink.”
Melear’s version: “The evidence not only showed that [Lucibella] poked the officer forcefully in the chest while threatening him, but also showed that he first walked aggressively into the officer’s extended hands and grabbed him by the neck.”
Lucibella’s case may linger into 2021. Feuer’s initial brief and Melear’s answer are the first salvos in the court battle. Generally, it takes two to three months after the last document is filed to get on the District Court of Appeal’s calendar, its website says. A three-judge panel renders its decision in most cases within six months, the website advises.

By Jane Smith and Dan Moffett

Three South County beaches will be restored this season with nearly 800,000 cubic yards of sand, costing $13.66 million.
Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co. of Oak Brook, Illinois, will dredge the sand offshore and then coat the southern coast of Delray Beach, from Casuarina Road to the city line with Highland Beach.
Boynton Beach’s Oceanfront Park beach, about 1,000 feet long, will receive extra sand.
The contractor also will restore about 3,000 feet north of Oceanfront Park and about 2,000 feet south of it. Both parcels sit in Ocean Ridge.
Heavy equipment will be stationed at Oceanfront Park, said Michael Stahl, deputy director of the county’s Department of Environmental Resources Management.
“The projects will restore sand lost during Hurricane Irma,” he said.
Initial assessments didn’t reveal that much sand was lost during the 2017 storm.
“It wasn’t until we did the studies that showed the substantial sand loss below the waterline,” Stahl explained.
The projects will be paid for with federal tax dollars, authorized by Congress in June under the Flood Control and Coastal Emergency Act. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will oversee the work.
The Delray Beach work is estimated to start in December and the Boynton Beach/Ocean Ridge project in February, according to David Ruderman, Army Corps spokesman.
In addition, Ruderman said the Army Corps office in Jacksonville awarded a separate $8.39 million contract to Great Lakes to restore the Jupiter area beaches in northern county. That work is scheduled to start by the end of 2019 and add 517,000 cubic yards of sand.
In South Palm Beach, the Town Council is hoping to partner with neighboring Palm Beach for a beach renourishment project early next year, paid for with federal tax dollars.
South Palm would purchase about $700,000 worth of sand from Palm Beach so the project can be extended five-eighths of a mile south. The town already has the money set aside.
But both municipalities are having the same problem getting the joint venture started: easements. Palm Beach needs 51 easements from property owners to reconstruct 2.8 miles of its beaches. As of October, only about 40 have agreed to grant access. The others are balking, saying they’re reluctant to open their private waterfront to public use.
South Palm Beach needs 16 easements and has 15 in hand, according to Mayor Bonnie Fischer. The holdout is one of the town’s few single-family homeowners.
Fischer said she remains optimistic that agreements can be reached with that homeowner and with those in Palm Beach.

More than 25 volunteers worked under the direction of the Institute for Regional Conservation to improve the native plant biodiversity of the dune at one of the IRC’s regular events Oct. 19. ABOVE: IRC chief George Gann worked with Keith Buttry, owner of Neglected Plants nursery, to carry sea lavenders that they mixed into existing native plants at the public beach. BELOW: So many people volunteered that the IRC’s Cara Abbott joined Kimberlee Duke Pompeo and more than a dozen other volunteers to pick up trash. The next IRC educational and planting event is scheduled for Nov. 16 at Ocean Ridge Town Hall. Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Dan Moffett

For the second time, Ocean Ridge commissioners considered a ballot referendum to the town charter that would require a four-vote supermajority for approving increases to height and density development rules.
And for a second time, the commission rejected the idea, again on a 3-2 vote at the Oct. 7 town meeting.
Mayor Steve Coz and Commissioner Phil Besler voted against the proposed referendum, as they did last November. They were joined by Commissioner Susan Hurlburt, who was elected to the commission in March, taking over the seat held by former Mayor James Bonfiglio, another supermajority opponent.
Hurlburt said she worried about “unintended consequences” of the charter change and urged residents to have more faith in their elected commission.
“You guys have got to trust us because we’re five residents here,” Hurlburt said. “We really care what our town looks like.”
Vice Mayor Don MaGruder and Commissioner Kristine de Haseth again cast the two votes for putting the supermajority requirement on the March 17 ballot.
MaGruder and de Haseth have argued that the town’s coming transition from septic tanks to municipal sewer systems could open the door to a new wave of development and put commissioners in the cross hairs of influential developers. They argued a supermajority requirement would help insulate the town from special interests and shortsighted development.
This time during supermajority discussion the commission heard from all five members of the town’s charter review committee. Last year it recommended advancing the proposal, but did so on a 3-0 vote, with two members absent and another, Polly Joa, later saying she reconsidered her yes vote.
“The one thing when we started out is we talked about how infrequently you make changes to the charter and how serious that is,” Joa told the commission. “I don’t think at this point we go back and change the charter.”
Two former mayors on the committee, Ken Kaleel and Geoff Pugh, said the supermajority requirement would hurt the town.
“Over the umpteen years I was involved with this town, I can’t tell you how many positive things came out of a 3-2 vote,” Kaleel said. “You wouldn’t even have this Town Hall if it wasn’t for a 3-2 vote.”
Pugh wondered why the supermajority idea had even come up. He said the town has “very, very strict zoning areas” and allows no commercial development. He said that although Ocean Ridge has changed over the years, it has controls in place to stop excessive development and protect its quality of life.
“If you look at our town and see the eclectic nature of our town, the town has changed but the character of the town has not changed,” Pugh said. “I do believe that the town and its very vocal residents tell the commissioners what they want and what they don’t want.”
Two former commissioners on the charter review committee, Terry Brown and Zoanne Hennigan, supported the supermajority idea. Brown said commissioners should approve putting it on the ballot so residents could make the decision.
“Why not let the voters have a direct vote on the way in which the character of the town remains,” Brown said. “Let them decide. What are you afraid of?”
Hennigan, who chaired the committee, said the proposal was needed to protect the town from narrowly approved development decisions such as those that have changed the character of Boynton Beach and Delray Beach.
“This amendment may be the single most important thing our community can do to preserve our unique and special lifestyle,” she said. “The bottom line is the voters in Ocean Ridge deserve their voice to be heard.”

ABOVE: The eighth annual Witches of Delray Ride along Atlantic Avenue on Oct. 26 consisted of about 300 witches and raised $15,908 for Achievement Centers for Children & Families in Delray Beach.  BELOW: The ‘Sea Turtle Rescue Witches of Highland Beach’ won first place in the category of best group theme.

Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Rich Pollack

Ocean Ridge town leaders will soon receive a recommendation from one of their advisory committees to turn over control of miles of water pipes to Boynton Beach Utilities — but they will have to wait for a suggestion from the team on whether to convert to a centralized sewer system.
Last month members of the Septic to Sewer Citizens Advisory Committee voted 4-1 to recommend that Ocean Ridge turn over responsibility for the town’s more than 85,000 linear feet of water pipes to Boynton Beach when an agreement between the two communities expires next year.
Boynton Beach Utilities is operated by the city of Boynton Beach but provides water and sewer services outside the city limits as well. It provides water to Ocean Ridge residents under the current agreement, but has no responsibility for maintenance or repair of the pipes still owned by the town.
In making its recommendation to the Town Commission, the committee included a stipulation from member Art Ziev that Ocean Ridge residents continue to pay the same water rates as Boynton Beach residents and that Boynton take full responsibility for maintenance and repair of the pipes “in perpetuity” at no cost to the town.
During discussion of the issue, committee Chairman Neil Hennigan and other members said they had heard from residents who opposed transferring ownership of waterlines to another entity.
“People are not comfortable with a large part of our infrastructure going to Boynton,” he said. “There’s a sense we’re giving something away.”
Committee members said they understood those concerns but felt they were not fully on point.
“The idea of Boynton taking over lines is more emotional than actual,” committee member Ron Kirn said.
Resident Terry Brown told the committee he didn’t think it would be wise to turn the lines over to Boynton. “This is not a smart idea,” he said. “You need to keep control of the pipes. I’m not sure why they would want the pipes.”
Representatives from Boynton Beach said one reason the utility wants to own the pipes is so it can have more overall responsibility for the quality of water getting into the homes.
“The utility needs to maintain the waterlines to ensure the high quality service to customers and it will lower the overall cost,” said Colin Groff, Boynton Beach’s assistant city manager for public services.
One challenge for Boynton Beach under the current arrangement is that the utility is held responsible by state officials for the quality of water delivered to homes in Ocean Ridge, but without oversight of the lines doesn’t have complete control.
Ocean Ridge has no water quality issues, Groff said.
Utilities director Joseph Paterniti said Boynton has the staff and equipment to ensure lines are property maintained.
“Boynton Beach Utilities have a full complement of utility field technicians that provide maintenance on all the utility’s infrastructure,” he said.
Should the Ocean Ridge commission accept the committee’s recommendation to turn over ownership of the pipes, terms of an agreement with Boynton Beach would be subject to negotiations.
Also at the Oct. 17 meeting, committee members rejected a recommendation to abandon the idea of installing a centralized wastewater system to replace septic tanks.
“There is no imminent need for a conversion at this time,” said Ziev, whose motion for a recommendation did not receive a second.
Kirn, who has been surveying the town’s multifamily units to determine what types of systems are used, said he believes there may be alternatives available other than installing an expensive and expansive centralized sewer system.
“An all-or-nothing proposal seems to be premature,” he said.
Further discussion of the issue is expected at the committee’s Nov. 21 meeting.

By Jane Smith

When Boynton Beach issued a systemwide precautionary boil water advisory in early October, not all its customers knew about the notice until hours later. In a few cases, it took days.
“I found out about 9 p.m.,” said Marie Chapman, a County Pocket resident. She made a pot of chicken soup for dinner, bathed her kids, made sure they brushed their teeth, put them to bed and then checked Facebook — about five hours after the notice was issued.
“They know how to find me when I don’t pay my bill,” said Chapman, who wanted to be personally notified. “I want to be informed and then let me make that choice for my children.”
Ocean Ridge residents also were not notified directly.
“About five residents called or sent emails to Town Hall, saying they were frustrated,” said Tracey Stevens, Ocean Ridge town manager.
The town’s Police Department first checked with Boynton Beach leaders to verify the notice affected all water customers. Then, police notified Ocean Ridge residents at 9:28 p.m. using the CivicReady application, Stevens said.
Stevens spoke with Boynton Beach officials two days later and reached an agreement that they would notify Ocean Ridge officials next time a boil water advisory or order is placed.
“We will notify our residents,” Stevens said.
It turned out that no bacteria entered the system and the water was safe to drink.
The problem started about 12:15 p.m. Oct. 8 at the main Boynton Beach water plant, according to the description given at the Oct. 15 City Commission meeting.
Workers were testing a generator. When they turned it off and switched over to electric power, nothing happened because the main breaker had failed, said Colin Groff, assistant city manager.
Staffers tried to reset the breaker manually for about 2 minutes, said Groff, a former utilities director. When they couldn’t do it, they immediately called the other plant operators to turn on the pumps to maintain pressure.
“Workers did not realize the pressure had dropped until about 10 minutes later when customers began to complain about low pressure,” Groff said.
Staffers reviewed the data for about 30 to 40 minutes. They found five or six points in the system where pressure dropped below 20 pounds per square inch.
That’s the pressure needed to make sure the water reaches customers and flows out of their faucets. When water stays at the plant or in the pipes, naturally occurring bacteria can grow, Groff explained.
“About 2:30 p.m., staff determined there was a pressure drop in the system,” Groff said.
Boynton Beach, as other water utilities, operates under a state permit that falls under the Florida Department of Health.
“We called the Health Department and spent time discussing the incident,” Groff said. “About 3 p.m., out of an abundance of caution, we decided it was advisable to do a systemwide notice that we had an issue. The law does not require us to do that. We could have just notified very specific customers, such as hospitals and dialysis centers.”
He told commissioners that it took until 4:15 p.m. until the city and the Health Department agreed on the wording of the notice.
The notice then went to the city’s utilities and marketing departments to decide how to inform its 112,000 water customers.
Under state law, the city had three choices, Groff said.
The first was door hangers.
“That’s what we do when we have a boil water order that affects a small number of customers. With 112,000 customers that notification could not be done in the (required) 24 hours,” Groff said.
The second option was telephone calls.
“We have 35,000 accounts with multiple customers. Homeowner associations, apartment buildings and condominiums all get one bill,” Groff said. “We talked about doing reverse 911 calls, but this incident did not rise to the level of an emergency.”
The third option, which Boynton Beach used, was the media.
“We sent the notice to the 24 media outlets that serve Boynton Beach. We also posted the notice on the city’s website and Facebook and Twitter accounts,” Groff said.
He added, “It was not required.”
The city chose to use the media because it would have the biggest impact, Groff said. “Many people have text alerts on their smartphones to be notified when news happens in their area,” he said.
“The water system was completely clear,” Groff said when the last notice was lifted five days later.
After the city had the test results, staff could say no one’s life was in danger. “But at the time, I could not say that,” Groff said when answering a commissioner’s question.
Next time, the city will send out an email to its water customers to notify them of a precautionary or urgent boil water notice, Groff said, agreeing with Mayor Steven Grant’s suggestion.
City staff is also testing the CivicReady application to notify its residents and water customers.
People would have to opt in, Groff said. The system contacts users by calls, texts or emails.
While the Health Department found that Boynton Beach followed the guidelines in notifying its customers, the city could not control the reporting by media outlets.
“I learned about the notice on the 6 p.m. news,” said Dale Sugerman, Briny Breezes town manager.
“From the news report, I could not tell whether it was an isolated area or the entire system. I called the Boynton Beach city manager and utilities manager to learn it was systemwide.”