By Dan Moffett

Manalapan town commissioners and Palm Beach County environmental managers got to meet face-to-face and discuss the controversial beach groin project that threatens to provoke border wars with neighboring communities.
Manalapan Mayor Keith Waters told the environmental officials he wants assurances that the seven groins the county wants to install in South Palm Beach won’t end up stealing sand that belongs in Manalapan.
“What I’m looking for in the bigger picture in the negotiations as neighbors is something that protects the town of Manalapan 30, 40, 50 years from now,” Waters said. “Our job is to protect our town from things that could affect our town and the lives and enjoyment of our citizens. In the absence of that, this is something we’re going to fight vigorously.”
Rob Robbins, director of the county Department of Environmental Resources Management, told Waters the county intends to bring 90,000 cubic yards of sand onto the South Palm beach and on Lantana Municipal Beach to place between the groins every three years. Ultimately, he said, much of that sand will drift naturally to Manalapan.
“Manalapan should benefit from those 90,000 cubic yards drifting south,” Robbins said. “I don’t know if I can convince you, but we do have you in mind in that project.”
Mike Stahl, county environmental manager, told commissioners that the function of the groins is largely misunderstood. He said they won’t intercept sand that’s heading south to Manalapan.
“The project is designed to hold that sand that has been mechanically placed — not to capture sand that’s moving with the natural, littoral flow,” Stahl said.
Robbins and Stahl said the county has contingency plans in place in case Manalapan beaches begin to erode. Engineers can adjust the height of the groins, and they can haul in more sand to replenish trouble spots. Stahl said state regulators who are reviewing the project for permits and the November 2018 start date “are very, very focused on all the potential down-drift impacts,” and that includes what happens to Manalapan — including the Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa, the town’s largest commercial enterprise and a vocal opponent of the plan.
Waters said he trusts the good intentions of county officials, but questions the ability of future officials and future county commissions to honor commitments made today. Will the county be willing to pay for more sand during lean budget years decades from now?
“If this is not going to be a permanent line item [on the county budget],” Waters said, “then this is going to be difficult to support.”
South Palm Beach Mayor Bonnie Fischer, who attended the Dec. 19 meeting, is a strong supporter of the $5 million groin plan yet expressed similar concerns. She said the cost of the project is supposed to be split among the state (50 percent), county (30 percent) and South Palm (20 percent).
“South Palm Beach can’t afford to fund this project,” she said, if the county or state can’t write the checks years from now.
Lantana Mayor Dave Stewart said he was more concerned about dealing with Manalapan than the county or state.
“It’s obvious they came with preconceived notions, instead of delving into the details of the project,” he said of the commissioners. Stewart said his town’s support for the plan is unwavering because of the belief it will help restore Lantana Municipal Beach.
“Lantana’s been onboard for 12 years,” he said. “This is for a public beach, for tourists and all the citizens of Palm Beach County.”
Robbins told the commission that, while the plan will also benefit the condo buildings in South Palm Beach, its main purpose is to protect Lantana’s beach.
“The driving intent for the project is to benefit that small public beach,” he said.
Waters said evidence of Manalapan’s effort to be a good neighbor is the agreement the town signed 21 years ago with the county, state and Ocean Ridge to settle a decade of legal disputes over the transfer plant that pumps sand south around the jetty at the Boynton Beach Inlet.
“We’re going to be good neighbors,” Waters said. “So much so that we entered into an agreement with you guys to move our sand around an inlet so that Ocean Ridge didn’t get hurt, because that was really important to us. But now this plan has been put in place without regard for how it’s going to affect us.”
Waters reminded the county officials that the sand transfer plant agreement expired in September.

By Jane Smith

Delray Beach will soon have eight new lifeguard towers to match the recently finished $3.1 million promenade upgrade at the Municipal Beach.
City commissioners approved spending about $126,000 per tower by a 4-1 vote Dec. 11. The total cost of $1.2 million includes demolishing and removing the eight existing towers, adding skids to the new towers so they can move along the beach with the tides, putting lockable shutters over the impact-glass windows to close the towers overnight and having solar panels on the roof to provide power for police radios and to operate fans in the hot summer months.
“Our beach is getting more and more popular,” said Mayor Cary Glickstein. “I’m comfortable with the design. For far too long, this city has been penny-wise and pound-foolish when just looking at the dollars.”
Subcontractor Robert Cohen said, “You are building something in one of the most hostile environments.” He works for Post & Beam in Boynton Beach, which is employed by Hartzell Construction, the only bidder.
The city sent out 40 bid invitations, said Missie Barletto, deputy director of project management for the Public Works department. She thought the criteria too strict and the required experience was downgraded to: building six lifeguard towers and three wooden ones in the past 36 months.
One would-be bidder wanted the city to change the criteria to allow aluminum lifeguard towers, but those towers hold the heat in the summer, she said.
The cost is high, Barletto said, because of what the city wanted: stainless steel bolts, cedar shakes on the roof, fiber-cement siding, lockable shutters over the windows on each side of the tower and an “artsy look.”
The type of stainless steel bolts the city specified will have stainless steel all the way through, Cohen said. “Most other stainless steel bolts have a nickel base that is coated with stainless and then there are the galvanized steel bolts that are hot dipped,” he said.
The city insists on 100 percent stainless steel bolts to minimize maintenance, Barletto said.
The solar panels on the roofs also add to the costs. Ocean Rescue Division Chief Phil Wotton said the city lifeguards will use the solar panels to power public-safety radios that lifeguards use to call police or fire-rescue and to communicate with other towers.
In addition, the solar panels will be used to operate fans during the summer. “The lifeguards work 365 days a year,” he said. “They need fans in the summer to move the air because the [tower] floor is solid.”
Tom Leeman, an organizer of the city’s annual surf festival, said, “The pros need professional tools.”
The festival was held in early December in 2017. All of the money raised goes to support Ocean Rescue, he said. In its fifth year, nearly 2,500 people attended, he said.
The sad state of the city’s lifeguard towers was pointed out in early 2017 by Chris Heffernan, an investment adviser who has walked the beach daily for the past 20 years.
The towers have spider-webs of cracked impact glass, he said at the Dec. 11 commission meeting. “The fiberglass structures can’t be used in the summer because they hold the heat,” Heffernan said.
Even so, the cost of the lifeguard towers was likened to “a mini-condo on the beach without a bathroom” by Commissioner Shelly Petrolia. She voted against spending the money for the lifeguard towers, which will last 20 or more years.
Hartzell will need 90 days to complete all eight lifeguard towers. Each one will be painted a different, soft beach color to allow beach-goers to identify meeting locations by the color of the tower.
The first one will sit on the beach near the Atlantic Avenue pavilion entrance in time for the grand opening ceremony for the promenade at 10 a.m. on Jan. 27. That’s when the city plans to show off the new promenade and visitors center.
The promenade work — with its wider sidewalks, coordinated furniture and improved landscaping — was in the making for about 10 years.

By Steve Plunkett

A request to paint garage doors black has Gulf Stream trying to discover the best way to keep design elements on its “discouraged” list from showing up in town.
The town’s architectural guidelines allow certain features, prohibit some and discourage others. A project can have as many as three discouraged items and still win approval.
Mayor Scott Morgan said the distinction has bothered him ever since his days on Gulf Stream’s Architectural Review and Planning Board.
“If it’s something that the town doesn’t want, why are we allowing it?” Morgan asked.
Discouraged elements come into play mainly in proposals to enlarge homes, the mayor said, offering as an example larger, taller eaves on second-story additions.
“When you have not just one but two and three discouraged elements, you can get a house that really doesn’t fit in the context of our neighborhoods,” he said. “Some houses have made it through that matched the code, you couldn’t prohibit them, but they had these discouraged elements that did not look right. They’re not right.”
Gary Cantor is building a new, single-story home on Palm Way and presented plans in August at a meeting that Morgan missed. The plans included black shutters and garage doors. Noting that the town discourages any color but white, commissioners asked Cantor’s architect to consider painting the doors gray.
Town Clerk Rita Taylor said the discouraged list was developed when Gulf Stream first adopted design rules in 1992 to add some flexibility. “It didn’t make such a harsh change from when they could do most anything they wanted to,” she said.
Taylor said the ability to approve discouraged elements proved valuable for renovations to a large, older house on the beach. “By using the discouraged feature, they’ve been able to show us a very nice change to the structure,” she said. “I’m not saying they couldn’t have done it without that, but they did use that to their advantage and our advantage.”
Commissioners directed the ARPB to review the design manual and evaluate whether to continue using the discouraged list. The review will not affect applications in progress, Morgan said.
In other business, commissioners asked staff attorney Trey Nazzaro to fine-tune a proposed ordinance regulating how soon plywood must be taken off windows and doors after tropical storms. At the November meeting, Commissioner Donna White said a Place Au Soleil residence still had plywood nailed up two months after Hurricane Irma’s winds.

By Mary Thurwachter

Hypoluxo Island residents can expect to see workers on South Atlantic Drive during the next few months as a water main replacement project for fire protection takes place.
At the Dec. 11 Lantana Town Council meeting, council members approved a $958,842 contract with Intercounty Engineering Inc., the lowest of three bidders for the work. The project is expected to begin in January and be completed in four months.
Mayor Dave Stewart said, among other things, some speed bumps and some hedges would have to be removed and replaced and mailboxes would need to be relocated.
Council member Phil Aridas asked if the entire road would be dug up. Aaron Cutler of Mathews Consulting said that wouldn’t be the case.
“The good thing about water main, it’s not like a sewer project where you have to go really deep and tear up from edge of road to edge of road sometimes,” he said. “With a water main, it’s typically 3 feet deep so you can isolate that to one lane when it’s in the pavement. At the end of the day, the contractor is required to provide restoration back so that residents have full access at the end of each day.”
In other action, the town:
• Approved a contract with DBE Management Inc. to construct an Intracoastal water main underwater crossing for $496,536.
• Authorized the purchase of a 2018 Nissan Frontier pickup truck for $19,703 to be used by code enforcement officers.
• Authorized spending more than $4,000 (at $15.76 plus tip per person) for a holiday party for town employees. The 2017 party was to be held in a restaurant rather than the recreation center.

By Steve Plunkett

Often-flooded Polo Drive will get a new catch basin to drain the low-lying roadway to the Intracoastal Waterway in the coming months.
Town Manager Greg Dunham urged town commissioners Dec. 8 to seize the opportunity to install a storm sewer pipe at the southern border of 3140 Polo Drive while a house is being built to minimize disruption to the future homeowners.
The first step was to hire engineers to design and get permits for a 139-foot underground pipe, which will penetrate the sea wall on the eastern end of the canal between Palm Way and Middle Road. Dunham estimated that cost at $13,700.
“I think this makes good sense for the town to go ahead and do this. We have the money budgeted to do it,” Dunham said.
“Hopefully we’ll begin to address some of the problems,” Mayor Scott Morgan said.
“I thought this would be done a while back,” Commissioner Joan Orthwein said.
Engineers at Mathews Consulting were the first to realize the town could do the storm sewer project when they embarked on a 10-year capital improvements study for Gulf Stream. They proposed mapping and surveying the site, preparing contract and construction documents, estimating construction costs and preparing permit applications. Dunham added 10 percent to their $12,484 proposal to cover contingencies.
Mathews said it will take seven to 11 weeks for it to collect data, design the project and apply for permits. The firm assumed there are no sea wall tie-backs or pile caps that will affect placing the outfall pipe within the drainage easement.
In June 2015 the commission re-platted three lots at the southwest corner of Palm Way and Polo Drive into two lots, which became 3140 and 3180 Polo Drive. As part of the re-plat process, a 10-foot-wide drainage easement was relocated to the southern property line of 3140. The easement goes from the edge of the pavement west to the sea wall, Dunham said.
Financier James Cacioppo and his wife, Jennifer, own the parcel at 3140 Polo Drive, which the property appraiser considers vacant and values at $2.6 million. James Cacioppo, whom bloomberg.com identifies as a Colgate graduate with an MBA from Harvard, is the principal at the Boca Raton office of One East Capital Advisors. Jennifer Cacioppo graduated from Sweet Briar College, according to a 1997 wedding announcement in The New York Times.

By Jane Smith

The Delray Beach City Commission unanimously awarded a $4.1 million contract to Lanzo Construction of Deerfield Beach to cover a new water and sewer system, some drainage improvements and reclaimed-water hookups on the barrier island.
The streets receiving the upgrade are Lewis Cove Road, Brooks Lane, White Drive, Rhodes Villa Avenue and Del Haven Drive. The contract was approved at the Dec. 11 meeting.
The city will hold a public outreach meeting on Jan. 17. The project will start in March.
The portion to install the reclaimed-water pipes will cost the city $1.5 million. Delray Beach will be reimbursed by a $700,000 grant from the South Florida Water Management District and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
The connection to the reclaimed-water system is mandatory for irrigation. Under a city ordinance, once reclaimed water is available, residents have 90 days to request a hookup to the system without having to pay for the meter installation. After 90 days, they will be charged for the meter installation.
Everyone in the area where reclaimed water is available will be charged a base rate, regardless of whether they use the system for irrigation.

By Dan Moffett

Residents of Inlet Cay in Ocean Ridge may soon have some clear answers about the chronic drainage problems that have plagued their island community for decades.
In December, town commissioners gave their blessing to a two-part plan to diagnose and treat the worsening issues with floods. They turn driveways into wading pools during king tides and heavy rainfalls.
First, the commission approved a contract with Higgins Engineering Inc. to study the neighborhood’s drainage system and propose ways to improve it. The study will begin immediately and take three to four months to complete, at a preliminary cost of $22,400.
Robert Higgins, president of the West Palm Beach company, said he will try to answer questions about the man-made island’s stability that have concerned residents for years — especially those along Spanish River Drive at the northern end, where flooding has been worst.
“I know the town has been questioning, is the island sinking?” Higgins told the commission on Dec. 4.
The 25-acre island, which sits in the Intracoastal Waterway north of Town Hall, was built mostly with fill during the late 1960s. Today the neighborhood has about 60 homes.
“At first blush, the system has very limited capacity,” Higgins said of the network of drains and pipes.
The second part of the Inlet Cay plan is hiring TeleVac South, a Pompano Beach drain cleaning and repair company, to take over maintenance of the town’s roughly 18,000 linear feet of pipes.
Town Manager Jamie Titcomb brought in TeleVac to replace the town’s former maintenance contractor, which went out of business this fall. In November, TeleVac began surveying all the drainage pipes in Ocean Ridge, mapping the network and running closed- circuit TV cameras through it.
Company President Dennis Simmons said many problems on Inlet Cay were apparent, and construction-related: plaster and concrete debris restricting flow in the pipes, breaks and leaks, dirt and sand clogging openings. He said one drain opening had been rendered useless because a driveway had been built over it.
Titcomb said the town’s contract with TeleVac calls for the company to inspect and make repairs throughout Ocean Ridge in the coming years, beginning with Inlet Cay.

By Jane Smith

On Dec. 21, Delray Beach became the first Florida government entity to sue major drugmakers and wholesalers for their roles in causing the opioid epidemic playing out on its streets, officials said.
Its federal lawsuit joins others filed by nearly 200 cities, counties and states nationwide. Palm Beach County and scores of Florida cities and counties are expected to file similar lawsuits.
“The city has done as much as possible, without further state and federal legislative help, to ensure those seeking addiction treatment are not victimized, while also protecting our residents through regulation and criminal prosecution,” said Cary Glickstein, Delray Beach mayor.
Why is the city suing the opioid drugmakers and distributors?
“The data indicates that over 80 percent of drug addiction starts with opioid pain medications that have been negligently marketed, distributed, prescribed and supplied to people,” Glickstein said.
Delray Beach has become a popular recovery destination for companies marketing the city through websites and glossy brochures featuring pictures of its beach and palms.
The named defendants are major drugmakers and wholesalers, some appearing on the Fortune 500 list of top companies or Fortune’s list of the wealthiest American families. They include Purdue Pharma, which makes OxyContin, America’s most-prescribed pain reliever.
Delray Beach is severely affected by opioid abuse, officials said.
For each overdose call, the city spends nearly $2,000 on first-responder staff time and necessary lifesaving equipment such as the drug Narcan, used to reverse an overdose, according to the lawsuit.
In 2016, Delray Beach police responded to 690 overdose calls — up more than 250 percent compared to 2015 — and 65 people died from overdoses, according to Police Department records. For the first half of 2017, police responded to 412 overdose calls that resulted in 37 deaths.
The city’s Fire-Rescue Department responded to 748 overdose calls in 2016, according to the lawsuit.
For 2016, Delray Beach estimates it spent about $3 million responding to overdoses, including increased public safety and public works expenses, hiring additional city employees and offering mental health counseling and workers compensation for its first responders, the lawsuit states.
The expenses, the lawsuit claims, would not have been necessary if the major drugmakers and wholesalers had followed state and federal laws.
Delray Beach Police reported a nearly 10 percent drop in opioid overdoses and a slightly more than 12 percent fall in fatal overdoses between 2016 and 2017. Chief Jeff Goldman said the numbers made him “cautiously excited” because he knows that a bad batch of heroin mixed with fentanyl can cause the overdoses to increase.
Goldman credits the decrease in part to the police department hiring a service population advocate in late June. Ariana Ciancio, who also helps mentally ill and homeless people, said she’s assisted 27 people to get into treatment or a sober home and referred another 67 to social service resources.
As of Jan. 2, none of the defendants had filed a response to the Delray Beach lawsuit.

Taiko drummers pound out music for the Japanese New Year at the Morikami Museum. Photo provided

This is the first in an occasional series about traditions that accompany the start of a new year.

By Janis Fontaine

Happy 2018, everyone!
New Year’s is our only truly global holiday. Everywhere you go there’s a New Year’s Day, and only a few places on the planet where it passes unnoticed.
Over centuries, the cultures of the world have developed customs, traditions and superstitions surrounding the new year, most designed to bring prosperity and ward off bad luck in the year ahead.
If you lived in Spain or Chile, chances are you ate 12 grapes at the stroke of midnight, one for each chime of the clock. If you lived in Switzerland, maybe you purposely dropped a scoop of Rocky Road on the floor. It’s supposed to signify the abundance you hope for in the coming year. Raising our glasses and toasting the new year as the clock strikes midnight is one of America’s most enduring traditions. Nearly every celebration or party, public or private, culminates in a champagne toast at midnight, often with a backdrop of fireworks. Americans like toasting so much, we make it part of nearly every celebration.

A variety of traditions
Shane Peachey, general manager at the Delray Beach Club, said the New Year’s Eve party is one of members’ favorite celebrations at the club. The annual party is a “not too big” black-tie affair for about 150 people.
The outlook for the new year has been largely positive, Peachey said.
“I would generally say that people are feeling good about the new year. Of course, it’s hinging on the stock market.”
Doesn’t everything? Getting your finances in order — clearing out debts and personal obligations — is an important part of many new year celebrations.
The ancient Romans changed the calendar to begin the year with the month of January, which they named for Janus, the two-faced god who looks both into the future and into the past. January became synonymous with a thorough housecleaning. People in Buenos Aires, Argentina, shred old documents and papers to symbolize leaving the past behind, and around noon on New Year’s Day, they throw the scraps of paper from windows all over the city in a shower of confetti.
Of course, if you’re planning to shred the mortgage, it’s probably a good idea to make sure those documents are free of sensitive information. Confetti thrown during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 2012 contained confidential data from shredded police reports.
Peachey says he, like millions of others, makes the “same old resolutions” (drink less, exercise more) every year. Historians trace that practice back to the Babylonians as early as 2600 B.C. After examining the past, the ancient people would make plans for improvements.
Some traditions aren’t so introspective. In Ireland, to drive out bad luck, the Irish pound the walls and doors with a special Christmas bread.
In Denmark, people save their chipped dishes and plates and smash them on the doorsteps of friends and neighbors. If you’re mad about a big mess, don’t be. The more shards of tableware on your doorstep, the more beloved you are!
Some traditions are literal: A custom in many Latin American countries, including Mexico, Ecuador and Colombia, suggests that if you want to travel in the new year, you carry your suitcase with you everywhere you go on New Year’s Day.

Morikami makes a splash
In Japan, New Year’s is one of the most important holidays. People are off work and travel home to be near family and friends. At the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens in Delray Beach, the New Year is celebrated with Oshogatsu, a daylong festival and one of the Morikami’s most popular special events. It’s Jan. 7 this year.
The family-friendly activities reveal many of Japan’s favorite customs, including the rice-pounding ceremony (mochitsuki), Taiko drumming performances and shishimai, the traditional lion dance performed to the sounds of flutes and drums.
“We have activities all day long,” Morikami’s marketing and events coordinator Jillian Kogan said. “Lots of things for kids and families to do.” Mochitsuki, the rice-pounding ceremony, is a rhythmic spectacle, with two people working together to make mochi, little rice cakes. One person mashes a sweetened rice paste with a big hammer called a kine, while the other quickly scrapes up the smooth paste and replaces it with more paste to be pounded. The smooth paste is shaped into mochi and left to cool. The cakes can be eaten as they are or added to a sweet or savory dish.
The simple act is a tradition with deep roots. Mochi cakes have been part of Japanese culture for more than a thousand years.
Oshogatsu will celebrate 2018 as the Year of the Dog, from the Japanese zodiac. People born in the Year of the Dog are trustworthy and loyal friends, humble, dependable and good secret keepers (much like our four-legged pals). People born in 2006, 1994, 1982, 1970, 1958, 1946, 1934 and 1922 were born in the Year of the Dog. In Japan, it’s popular to host “forget the year” parties, and Kogan gets it. “It was a long year, and a lot of things went down,” she said. “But I think everyone is optimistic about the new year.”
Other traditional activities at Oshogatsu include omikuji, or New Year’s fortune-telling, and hanetsuki, a game similar to badminton but played without a net.
For people 21 and older with a taste for sake, Oshogatsu offers a new avenue to explore Japanese culture in its sake-tasting room. This VIP experience offers tastes of rare, high-end sake, plus Japanese beer and sake cocktails. Carrie Becker, a certified advanced sake professional, will hold a few informal talks and will be available throughout the day to answer questions about the fine rice wines.

Fireworks light the sky at one of Delray Beach’s First Night celebrations. Photo provided

Fireworks or a flaming log
Delray Beach’s nod to the start of 2018, First Night, has already passed.
A relatively new celebration inspired by similar events in Boston and other cities, First Night debuted at Old School Square 20 years ago. It’s a family-friendly evening stretching across Atlantic and Swinton avenues with food trucks, music, dancing, interactive games, performances and fireworks from the top of the Old School Square garage. Fireworks, invented in seventh-century China, have long been a part of New Year’s parties. The sparkly displays were believed to ward off evil spirits. Americans much later picked up the tradition.

England of the 1300s

The Episcopal Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea will host its Boar’s Head and Yule Log Festival on Jan. 6-7. Photo provided

Another highly anticipated local New Year’s celebration is the Episcopal Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea’s annual Boar’s Head and Yule Log Festival, a tradition on Palm Beach since 1977. The gothic church is a perfect setting for time travel back to England in the 14th century, when wild boars terrorized the countryside and a successful hunt and the subsequent feast were believed to mirror the triumph of good over evil — and the triumph of Christ over the sins of man. The yule log’s lore requires it be robust enough to last for the 12 days of Christmas, and still have enough burn to start the specially chosen yule log the following year.
On Jan. 6 and 7, dozens of cast members of all ages, including the Bethesda Choir, the Palm Beach Pipes and Drums, and other musicians and vocalists, will dress in elaborate period costume as lords and ladies, shepherds and huntsmen, sprites and jesters, to perform Christmas carols, traditional dances, and celebrate the birth of Christ as they did 800 years ago. A live Nativity scene is always a touching part of the event. The festival takes place the Sunday closest to the Epiphany, the 12th day after Christmas, which commemorates the arrival of the Three Kings or wise men in Bethlehem.
For this year, the 40th anniversary of the festival in Palm Beach, a special third performance has been added on Saturday.
This performance was formerly open only to church members and families of the cast and crew. Last year, more than 1,000 people relived the story of the birth of Christ at Bethesda’s Boar’s Head festival, and that doesn’t include 150 cast and crew members who make the show happen each year.
“For a lot of families, it has become a tradition to participate in the performances every year as part of the cast or crew,” said Renée Boger-Cheifet, communications coordinator for Bethesda.
And just like that, a new tradition is born.

If You Go

Oshogatsu
Where: The Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens, 4000 Morikami Park Road, Delray Beach.
When: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Jan. 7
Tickets: $15 for ages 11 and older, $10 ages 4-10, free for museum members and ages 3 and younger. Tasting room: $30 members, $35 nonmembers.
Info: 495-0233; www.morikami.org

Boar’s Head and Yule Log Festival
Where: The Episcopal Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea, 141 S. County Road, Palm Beach
When: 3:30 p.m. Jan. 6, and 2 and 4:30 p.m. Jan. 7
Admission: A donation of $20 is requested. Seating is first-come, first-served.
Info: Call 655-4555, ext. 103, or email boarshead@bbts.org; on the web at www.bbts.org

Traditions for a New Year

So many customs! Where did they come from?
• Why is it called a toast? The term originated in 16th-century England when floating a piece of fried or toasted spiced bread on top of a drink was a common practice. Naturally, it soon became commonplace for the act of raising a glass to be called a toast. The earliest literary mention may be Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor. Americans love a good toast and the longer the better, it seems. Why can’t we just keep it simple with a hearty “Cheers” or “To your health”?
• Why do we toast with Champagne? Most people probably don’t toast with Champagne. They toast with sparkling wine. True Champagne, that is, Champagne with a capital C, is a sparkling wine that comes from the Champagne region of northeastern France.
Bubbly wine from other regions is technically not Champagne, though people tend to use champagne with a small “C” for sparkling wine. Initially, Champagne was just a happy accident that occurred when wine fermented. It was first reserved for nobility, but common folks fell in love with the bubbly beverage, saving it for special occasions such as weddings, parties and New Year’s Eve.
• Why do we sing “Auld Lang Syne”? The song title means “times past.” Beyond that, it’s hard to say. Our resident Robert Burns scholar, FAU’s Dr. Carol McGuirk, once told the Chicago Tribune that the lyrics don’t tell enough of a story to really analyze. McGuirk said it’s the “emotional chord” of the song that we’ve become attached to. By the time most people get around to singing the song, they don’t know what they’re singing anyway. It’s safe to say that Burns would be surprised that his most remembered contribution to modern society is a song no one understands.
• Why does that ball drop? The ball is a time ball, an obsolete time-keeping and signaling device for ships’ navigators. A large, painted wooden or metal ball that dropped at a predetermined time allowed ships offshore to confirm the setting of their marine chronometers, because accurate timekeeping is required for calculating longitude at sea. Only a few such balls still exist, and they’re just tourist attractions now. The Times Square time ball is easily the most famous time ball of all, unless you live in Key West, where the conch shell drop and the drag queen drop duke it out for the most beloved.
— Janis Fontaine

ABOVE: Harbour’s Edge residents practice satsang, a form of meditation that focuses on breathing. From left are Ellie Landesman, Shirley Krug, Ann Carballo and Laurel Herman. BELOW: Instructor Tom Notarianni says one goal is to free the mind of worrisome thoughts. Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Lona O’Connor

Tom Notarianni perches cross-legged on a cushion on a banquet table covered with a bright striped blanket. In a glass-walled meeting room at Harbour’s Edge retirement community in Delray Beach, facing him are a dozen residents and a couple of guests, sitting in a semicircle. He switches on a recording of deep-voiced monks chanting “om” and the group joins with the recording for several minutes.
This is the end of the weekly meditation circle that has taken place at Harbour’s Edge for more than five years.
For about 90 minutes before the chanting began, Notarianni and the group discussed how to make peace with life, death and everything in between, using the tools of meditation.
Shirley Krug chose Harbour’s Edge about six years ago, when she and her husband needed a home that was easier to manage than the one they had in Boca Raton.
It was a watershed moment in Krug’s life: selling a home, buying a new one. At the same time, her husband became ill and died.
Krug had tried a meditation group in her previous neighborhood, but it left her cold. With some misgivings, she decided to join the meditation group that had just formed at Harbour’s Edge.
“I didn’t come down immediately, but when I started feeling all the stress, I said, let me give it a try,” she said. “It was not easy. It took me a long time, but in the past year or two, I’m really getting into the complete understanding.”
Notarianni runs the Peaceful Minds Center in Hypoluxo. He started 25 years ago as a personal trainer, but his emphasis gradually shifted from the care of the body to the care of the whole organism, body and mind. He now leads a variety of meditation groups and related activities.
His first sessions at Harbour’s Edge were teaching reiki, a Japanese healing art. Then he switched to meditation.
The new group foundered, with only five people attending. But Krug was by then hooked on meditation and was not about to let the group disband.
“We thought we were going to lose him, so I started to do marketing. I asked people living here and slowly they started to come down and they enjoyed it.”
Depending on the time of year, the group can now swell to as many as 25.
When the participants filed into the meeting room, they chatted for a few minutes about the snowfall in the Northeast, where many of them have families and friends. Notarianni assumed his seat, chimed a brass bowl and began the satsang — a meeting of people seeking understanding and truth.
The session began with a discussion of impermanence, the Buddhist concept that everything passes, both the good and the bad.
A portable microphone was passed to Krug for a comment, but despite several people’s best efforts, it failed to operate.
“It worked fine before,” someone observed. They continued the discussion without the malfunctioning microphone, the day’s first example of impermanence.
“We know that everything is impermanent, but we don’t perceive things as impermanent,” says Notarianni.
Thoughts, he tells the group, can bedevil them, keep them locked in the past with regrets or pointed at the future with worry.
“As long as the thought is you, it’s got you by the neck. When you learn to get separation from your thoughts, you begin to realize that I am the awareness that is awareness of the thought. That thought arose, and I became aware of it. … Am I making sense to you?”
Most of the people in the room nod.
“What I’m trying to describe is indescribable. I want to lead you to having this experience, and the best way is to practice. Spend time every day in meditation and you become more and more comfortable in that empty mind, where you’re not incessantly paying attention to every thought that comes into your mind. You are your own guru and you find what works for you.”
At the age when people enter a senior residence, their concerns can be sobering: Spouses die; the body aches and weakens; families once close don’t visit as often or have their own dramas; friends die, pets die.
These are some of the subjects that members of the group bring up, with questions about how to face them.
“The body is old but the awareness is young,” says Notarianni. “I don’t teach them any differently than anybody else.”
There is one key difference between older and younger people, he adds.
“People find themselves alone with a lot of free time, with the hamster wheel going in their mind. Some come and go and I don’t see them again. That’s natural. You come to these teachings when you’re ready. But there are a lot of people who have really connected with the teachings.
“There is a unique energy here. I notice how present everyone is in class. Something has changed. They’re experiencing life in a much more desirable way.”
As the teachings wind down, Notarianni explains the mantra, another tool of meditation. It is a word or phrase that helps to keep the mind clear of the endless chatter of thought. He gives them two: a short Sanskrit phrase and “om,” said to be the sound from which all other sounds began.
“He covers anger, fear, ego, the whole itinerary,” says Krug. “Then he gives you the meditation.”
If the words of a mantra are unfamiliar or meaningless, so much the better. Notarianni recalls a friend who, “when she felt her mind go off the rails, started singing that old song, Mairzy Doats (and dozy doats).”
While chanting the mantra, aloud or silently, he told them, it helps to hold a calming image in mind. He favors a closeup of the serene face of the Buddha.
“The mantra is the gatekeeper. You’re closing all the gates where those thoughts can get in.”
The second and final chant of the session is just the word “om,” but Notarianni demonstrates in a deep voice how to stretch it out into three long continuous syllables: ah-oh-om.
“It’s easy to remember, so it’s a mantra you can do anywhere.”
The recorded monks’ chanting is loud enough to produce a vibrating sensation. He had already warned the group to adjust their hearing aids. A rolling thunder of “oms” continues for about 10 minutes as everyone in the room sits with eyes closed, some of them chanting along. When the recording ends, Notarianni and his audience gradually open their eyes.
There is deep silence in the room.
“Do you see what that does?” asks Notarianni. “Somehow it drowns out all the other stuff, and then, aaaaah, our minds are quiet, so peaceful and beautiful. You guys were saying it pretty loudly. Did you notice that the vibration helps? It just aligns everything.”
Over the years, Krug and Notarianni have formed a mutual admiration society. He calls her a “vibrant person” who has shown a strong interest in learning more. “She has a much deeper grasp.”
Following Notarianni’s suggestions, Krug meditates every day and pays attention to exercising, eating and sleeping in a healthy fashion and, of course, attending weekly satsang.
“Oh, I could go on and on,” Krug says. “He’s not interested in making big money, he wants to impart his knowledge and he puts it in terms that the layperson can understand. I’ve learned as a result of Tom how to give myself a peaceful mind. He’s my guru.”
Then, remembering what he said at the beginning of that day’s satsang, she corrects herself. “He has shown me how to be my own guru.”

Notarianni holds regular sessions on Wednesdays at the Duncan Center in Delray Beach.
For more information on events, call 531-3626 or text “peacefulminds” to 33222 to be included on the center’s text list or visit www.peacefulminds.org.

Lona O’Connor has a lifelong interest in health and healthy living. Send column ideas to Lona13@bellsouth.net.

By Christine Davis

Former Baltimore Ravens punter and Super Bowl XXXV champion Kyle Richardson and Shaun O’Neill of the FBI’s health care task force will be keynote speakers at the fourth annual Call 4 Health user conference. The event, open to the public, will be Jan. 9-10 at Marriott Delray Beach.
Call 4 Health, a medical call center and nurse triage service headquartered in Delray Beach, will host the event. It will focus on customer service satisfaction and offer lectures, networking opportunities and discussion.
Richardson is a vice president of Caring One, which offers information services to health care providers. For more info or to buy tickets: www.call4health.com.

Boca Raton Regional Hospital presents “Mindful Boca 2018: An Evening With Glennon Doyle” at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 16. Doyle, a No. 1 New York Times best-selling author of Love Warrior, had a good upbringing but suffered from bulimia, alcoholism and bad relationships. In 2002, finding herself addicted, unwed and pregnant, she vowed never to have another drink, cigarette, drug, unhealthy relationship or food binge.
Sponsored by Elaine J. Wold, the event will be hosted at Lynn University’s Keith C. and Elaine Johnson Wold Performing Arts Center. Tickets are $35 for general admission and $100 for priority seating. Registration is required. To register, call 955-7227 or visit www.brrh.com/WIEvents.

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

ABOVE: Part of a trimaran sailboat broke loose during Hurricane Irma and wedged under floating docks at Gateway Marina. The incident caused $90,000 in damage to the docks. Photo provided by Gateway Marina

BELOW: Shredded sails, a tarp and algae covering the bottom are telltale signs that this sailboat is likely to stay in the area for more than a few days. Willie Howard/The Coastal Star

By Willie Howard

Gateway Marina owner Chris Ciasulli knows firsthand the financial hazards posed by boats that drop anchor in the Lake Worth Lagoon near Boynton Inlet.
A trimaran sailboat anchored near his marina broke loose during Hurricane Irma, came apart and wedged under four sections of the marina’s floating aluminum docks, causing $90,000 in damage. The docks were not insured.
Ciasulli said he met with the owner of the sailboat, Michael Yesilevich, 44, of Delray Beach, who apologized but offered no compensation for the damages.
Boynton Beach police said Yesilevich had two or three boats anchored in the area that were advertised for sale on Craigslist at the time of the hurricane.
His trimaran was not considered derelict before the hurricane, police said. Officers with the Police Department’s marine unit tried to persuade him to move the 1982 sailboat to another location before Irma’s winds arrived in September, but they were not successful.
“A common misconception is that all sailboats anchored or moored that do not move are derelict,” said Officer Darin Hederian of the Boynton Beach Police Department’s marine unit. “If the vessels are dewatering, not sunk, not aground and not in disrepair, they are probably not going to be classified as derelict.”
Boats at anchor are required to have a current registration and proper lighting. White anchor lights are supposed to be displayed at night so boaters can steer clear of anchored vessels after dark. Boynton Beach police marine unit officers say they issue citations to boat owners for improper lighting.
Ciasulli and several waterfront homeowners in Boynton Beach said they are frustrated with a system that allows sometimes shabby boats to be anchored in the lagoon, often with no insurance and no limit on the length of time they can stay.
“You can anchor wherever you want,” Ciasulli said. “If it survives, fine. If not, your headache’s gone.”
Harry Woodworth, who lives on the water in Yachtsman’s Cove, said three boats dropped anchor inside Boynton Inlet after Hurricane Irma. Two of them broke loose during windy conditions in November.
“The minute they sink on my property, I have the $15,000 problem,” Woodworth said.
It’s illegal to anchor “at-risk” boats in state waters.
Florida law (327.4107) defines “at risk” as boats that are taking on water without an effective means of dewatering, such as a bilge pump.
Boats that are not sealed to the elements as originally designed and boats that are in danger of breaking loose from their anchors also could be classified as at risk of becoming derelict.
“It’s an ongoing issue because there’s a fine line between derelict and someone’s boat,” said Officer Gregg Koch of the Boynton Beach Police Department’s marine unit.
Jim DeVoursney, a waterfront homeowner and member of the Inlet Communities Association, said the number of older boats dropping anchor inside Boynton Inlet began growing during the spring of 2017.
“It’s a bad thing for Boynton Beach and the value of these homes to have this become a boat graveyard,” DeVoursey said.
The problem is not unique to Boynton Beach.
Dozens of boats, some in poor condition, are moored inside Lake Worth Inlet near Peanut Island. Farther north, Jupiter officials are grappling with old boats dropping anchor near county parks, where access to land is easy.
Kevin Homer, a Boynton Beach waterfront homeowner, said he plans to ask city commissioners to hire a maritime lawyer to address the problem of boats dropping anchor inside Boynton Inlet. Homer said old boats pose environmental hazards if they leak fuel or dump human waste and become hazards to navigation if they sink.
“We’re the ones paying taxes here,” Homer said, referring to homeowners. “Why should these people [boat owners] not have to pay rent or pay taxes?”

Wahoo for dinner

Adam Birdwell, operator of the Boynton Beach dive charter Starfish Scuba, shows off a 53-pound wahoo he speared Dec. 1 while diving off Jupiter. Birdwell had been reef diving in 100 feet of water and had paused in 20 feet of water for a safety stop. The wahoo swam within a few feet of him, as if daring him to spear it. After Birdwell shot the wahoo, it dragged him for a while, trying to avoid a bull shark. Birdwell, who says he has been diving nearly 4,000 times, was using a locally built Koah spear gun. Photo provided by Adam Birdwell

Grouper season
closed until May 1
Grouper season closed Jan. 1 and will remain closed until May 1 on Florida’s east coast, including state waters off Monroe County. The seasonal closure applies to red, black, gag, yellowfin and yellowmouth grouper as well as scamp and graysby grouper.

Coming events
Jan. 10: Captain’s meeting for the 81st annual Silver Sailfish Derby, a sailfish release tournament organized by the West Palm Beach Fishing Club. Tournament fishing Jan. 11-12. Awards dinner Jan. 13. Limited to 50 boats. Call 832-6780 or www.westpalmbeachfishingclub.org.
Jan. 13: GPS for mariners class offered by Coast Guard Auxiliary, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the classroom next to the boat ramps, Harvey E. Oyer Jr. Park, 2010 N. Federal Highway, Boynton Beach. Fee $25. Call 704-7440.
Jan. 13: 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 for adults or $20 ages 12 to 19. Register at the door. Bring lunch. Call 391-3600 or email fso-pe@cgauxboca.org.
Jan. 24: Robert “Fly” Navarro shares tips for catching winter sailfish, 7 p.m. at the West Palm Beach Fishing Club, 201 Fifth St., West Palm Beach. Free. Call 832-6780.
Jan. 25: Captain’s meeting for 55th annual Buccaneer Cup Sailfish Release Tournament, Buccaneer Yacht Club, 98 Lake Drive, Palm Beach Shores. (Late entry and registration, 4-6 p.m.; captain’s meeting 7 p.m.) Fishing Jan. 26-27. Call 909-7868 or visit www.buccaneercup.com.
Jan. 27: Basic boating safety class offered by Coast Guard Auxiliary, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the classroom next to the boat ramps, Harvey E. Oyer Jr. Park, 2010 N. Federal Highway, Boynton Beach. Fee $25. Register at the door. Call 704-7440.

Tip of the month
Manatees move into the warm waters of South Florida during the winter. Slow-speed zones for boaters took effect Nov. 15. To avoid manatees, boaters should wear polarized sunglasses, stay in deep, marked channels as much as possible and watch for the snouts and tails of manatees on the surface.
The Save the Manatee Club offers free resources for boaters, including a boating safety packet that includes the hotline number — 888-404-3922 — for reporting manatee injuries and harassment. The club’s Manatee Alert app for iPhones and iPads helps alert boaters when they’re near manatee zones and displays zone maps. For details, call 800-432-5646.

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

Amy Carver enjoys that St. Andrews Club ‘has a very relaxed atmosphere.’ Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Brian Biggane

A strong teaching pedigree and a familiarity with members from her time at a club in Connecticut proved to be key assets when Amy Carver earned the job as head golf professional at St. Andrews Club.
Carver, 55, replaces Jim Simon, who retired.
A native of Meridian, Miss., and graduate of Mississippi State, Carver brings an expansive resume to the par-3 St. Andrews course, which includes working under Craig Harmon at Oak Hill in Rochester and Mike LaBauve in Phoenix, both of whom are listed among Golf Digest’s Top 50 teachers.
She’s also familiar to several members of St. Andrews who spend their summers at Wee Burn Country Club in Darien, Conn., where she had worked from 2009 prior to taking on her first head professional position.
“I wanted to come back to South Florida, so it was a nice opportunity,” said Carver, who previously also spent five years at Mariner Sands in Stuart.
“Then I came to the club and it’s very laid-back here; there are certainly rules, but it’s a very relaxed atmosphere.”
Carver interviewed at the club in early April and was hired a month later.
“There was a lot about her background that we liked,” general manager Robert Grassi said. “Some of our members had experience with her, and she came across very strong. There were many reasons: Her whole demeanor, she’s very optimistic, her status as a PGA professional — they were all part of it.”
A fitness management major at Mississippi State, Carver began her career at Belle Meade Country Club in Nashville. Her quest to earn her PGA card brought her to Mariner Sands, and members there helped her move on to Oak Hill in 1993, where she stayed through 1995, when the course hosted the Ryder Cup.
She took a couple of sabbaticals from golf, working in the restaurant business and selling pharmaceuticals for Upjohn, but the game kept drawing her back. She made stops at Stonecreek in Phoenix, Maidstone on Long Island, Colonial in Memphis and another go-round at Oak Hill, this time from 2003 to 2009.
Carver learned about the St. Andrews opportunity while at Wee Burn; with another MSU grad, Charley Crell, already on board as greens superintendent, it seemed a good fit.
“Everything I heard was ‘You’re going to love the people,’” she said. “And I’ve certainly not been disappointed. The golf course is a great golf course, Charley works hard to keep it in good condition, and it’s challenging.”
Carver has mostly taken a wait-and-see attitude toward putting her imprint on the golf program as she anticipates the busiest season after the holidays.
“It’s important to see how things operate, to know what works well and what I’d like to change,” she said. “There’s a beautiful course that gets used a lot in the morning but not in the afternoon, so I want to get more use out of it. The wonderful thing is you can play 18 holes in 2 1/2 hours.
“It’s wonderful to be at a course associated with” Pete and Alice Dye, she added. “I’ve been fortunate enough to meet them, and it’s an honor to be at a course they designed, because they’re so respected in the golf design community. It’s very cool to be here, to see them out riding around and still interested in what’s going on.”

ABOVE: Silver saw palmetto and a single thatch palm define the sidewalk area in front of the Lake Worth studio of Debra Yates and her son Benjamin Burle. BELOW: Staghorn ferns and a large mirror adorn the back patio. Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley

Since 2016, when Debra Yates and her son Benjamin Burle moved into Lake Worth’s Old Lucerne Historic District, they have reworked their 1945 coastal cottage — both inside and out.
This mother/son team is the creative force behind Burle Yates Design. Their signature work begins with interior design that flows seamlessly into outdoor living spaces.
Like a fine wine exhibits terroir, their designs provide a “sense of place” and time accomplished by the use of natural groupings of native plants.
“Because we use natives, not one power tool is required to care for this garden,” said Burle.
For example, instead of St. Augustine grass that needs mowing, he incorporates areas of gray granite gravel and coquina sand maintained by raking and the pulling of a weed or two.
Instead of using things such as podocarpus or trinette trimmed into hedges that require constant pruning and often become stick-filled cubes, Burle created privacy by planting a native hammock.
At their home, which was built in 1945, the hammock includes easy-to-maintain natives such as a crabwood that has grown only a foot in the year and a half it’s been there. The hammock also showcases native myrsines, Spanish stoppers and white indigo berry trees.
Besides little pruning, these also require little irrigation after the trees are established.
The field-grown sea grape on the north side of the front yard balances a towering lychee tree on the south with help from the ornamental Bahama strong bark planted in the middle.
For planting, Burle likes to use field-grown trees that often are healthier because they are grown in the ground at the nursery instead of in plastic buckets.
The towering lychee was one of the trees on the property when Yates and Burle arrived. “Otherwise it was a lot of red mulch and bad grass,” said Burle.
Because natives are known for being distinctive but not particularly showy, he adds color with a bougainvillea sporting hard-to-find coral blooms, gaillardia with red and yellow flowers and potted pink-edged bromeliads. The pot on the roof of the front porch adds a touch of whimsy.
Along the street, silver saw palmettos act as “a bold native ground cover” set in front of a cedar fence. Its 5-foot setback from the curb creates the illusion of depth in this small area.
If you are lucky enough to be a guest or take a house tour (1,000 visitors were welcomed here during last year’s Mounts Connoisseur’s Garden Tour), you may be invited into the backyard, which includes a comfortable wooden deck with bench seating. Here, two large staghorn ferns are mounted next to a mirror as wall art.
A few steps down are a patio with table seating under an umbrella and, farther back, a carport that’s been transformed into Yates’ painting studio.
When they took over the property, the backyard had a sabal palm and two mangoes. Today it’s filled with arresting natives, including the slow-growing silver palm that has green fans showing silver underneath.
You’ll also find Queen Emma’s purple crinum lilies, a yellow-flowering necklace pod tree, with seed pods that look like strung beads, and a sea plum. That’s a hybrid between a sea grape and a pigeon plum, explained Burle, who first saw one in Palm Beach.
For privacy, the backyard is surrounded by a fence fashioned from a creative mix of painted plywood, corrugated iron that was part of a water silo in Key West, a wooden gate repositioned from the alleyway, black mesh and vines.
But tour or no, feel free to visit the back alleyway. “It’s almost like a country lane,” said Yates. Although most people ignore their back entrances, Burle and Yates once again use native plantings to ensure that arriving here instills the same sense of calm, natural beauty and balance as the rest of their landscape. And, once again, it’s easy to maintain.
“We wanted to show people that no matter how big your yard, you can do amazing things,” said Yates.

Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley can be reached at debhartz@att.net.

If You Go
The Burle Yates Design studio and home is at 128 N. O St., Lake Worth. For information, contact Debra Yates at 305-304-8965 or debra@debrayates.com; or Benjamin Burle at 305-304-1554 or benburledesign@gmail.com.
For a look at the private backyard, keep an eye out for garden tours on which this historical home is often included.

Gardening Tip
After Hurricane Irma, I immediately started watering all the plantings. People asked me why I was adding water after so much rainfall. But it wasn’t for irrigation that I was watering. I wanted to wash the salt spray off the foliage. The salt causes it to brown. So, if you want to save your trees after a storm, you need to water, water, water.
— Benjamin Burle

The Peggy Adams Animal Rescue League provides food and works with volunteers to keep community cat colonies fed and healthy all over the county. Arden Moore/The Coastal Star

By Arden Moore

Hidden in the lush vegetation, perched on top of a mobile home roof or staying motionless under a parked car, about 20 cats silently wait for the appearance of their trusted caretaker, Brenda.
“Come on, babies, it is time to eat,” she calls out as she begins spilling kibble into large stainless steel bowls. On cue, the cats head for the first of two meals she will serve this day. They answer to such names as Freddy, RJ, Freckles, Can Do, Annie and Fuzzy.
As I look from a distance so as not to scare them away, I spot a fluffy gray cat hoisting a plumed tail. Then two muscular orange tabbies appear. A confident black-and-white cat steps from his hiding spot behind a tree. They all sport notched left ears to indicate that they have been spayed or neutered and received needed vaccinations. They appear healthy and content.
I am witnessing a successful community cat colony in operation at a mobile home park somewhere in Palm Beach County. I am not disclosing the location or Brenda’s last name at the request of my guide on this Tuesday morning, Paul Bates.
He oversees the Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Release program at Peggy Adams Animal Rescue League. He does not want people to dump unwanted cats into this colony and disrupt its harmonious balance or, worse, commit acts of animal abuse.
What can be disclosed is that this scene is happening in countless neighborhoods throughout the county and the country each and every day. In Palm Beach County, it is estimated that about 230,000 cats are living on the streets. Once branded as feral cats, these felines are now being identified as community cats.
“These are cats who live outside, who do not belong to anybody and who are not adoptable because they are not socialized with people,” says Bates. “And they certainly do not belong in animal shelters where they are often euthanized.
“Our job is to work with people like Brenda and ensure these community cats are neutered/spayed, vaccinated and returned to their outdoor homes.”
Bates first had to build trust with Brenda, a retiree living on a meager fixed income. She and her late husband, Joseph, have been lifelong cat lovers and she gladly takes on the feeding duties for her colony with food that is donated to her.
“These are my babies. I love them,” she tells me. “Some love to sit in my lap. If you are good to them, they are good to you. They make me smile and laugh.”
There are thousands of Brendas in every state feeding these homeless cats and working with agencies like Peggy Adams to catch them in humane traps so that they can be safely transported to shelters or veterinary clinics for medical care. Many are retirees who have a special fondness and dedication to these often forgotten cats.
Bates coordinates Project CatSnip with community cat colony programs in the county to ensure these cats are healthy and protected. He helped launch a Facebook group called Community Cats of the Palm Beaches to network with community cat advocates and to share information on how to care for these cats.
He is a man armed with education and a steady eye on statistics. Before the Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Release program launched in 2009, Palm Beach County shelters took in 19,000 homeless cats. That number fell to 10,000 cats in 2016. And, the number of cats euthanized in shelters dropped from 14,000 in 2008 to 2,300 in 2016.
“This has made a big difference, but it is still not acceptable,” he says. “In 2016, 6,654 community cats underwent TNVR and were returned to their colonies. In October 2017, Peggy Adams celebrated having completed 30,000 TNVR surgeries.”
Trapping and sterilizing these community cats is key. As Bates says, “Once 85 percent of cats in a community colony are spayed and neutered, the population stabilizes.”
He shares other insights into community cats:
• Community cats should not be relocated. Many risk injury or death from vehicles or predators in their determination to travel miles to return to their colonies. Attempts to completely remove a cat colony will only result in another cat colony moving in and producing far too many kittens. This is known as the Vacuum Effect.
• The best way to lure intact community cats into humane traps is to place these traps where they gather to eat and allow a few days for the cats to get used to them. Then create a trail of food leading into the traps and place the highest-quality food in the middle of them. To these cats, that food is usually sardines, tuna or, strangely, Kentucky Fried Chicken.
• Once cats in the colony have been spayed and neutered, incidents of nighttime yowling, fighting and urine marking by males looking to mate subsides.
• If you find a homeless cat with his left ear notched, do not bring him to a shelter unless he is injured or ill. This is the universal sign that he is a community cat who has been neutered.
• If you are feeding cats in your neighborhood, please contact Bates and the Peggy Adams staff so that they can assist in getting the cats vaccinated, dewormed, treated for fleas, spayed/neutered and ear-tipped plus microchipped for identification. And never leave food out as it will attract raccoons and other wildlife.
I ended my visit with this realization: Community cats in Palm Beach County are fortunate to have Bates as their crusader and people like Brenda as their unheralded advocates.
“We are making big strides in educating people about these cats, but we still have a lot of work to do,” Bates says, watching with admiration as a few cats rub against the legs of Brenda after their breakfast.

Arden Moore, founder of FourLeggedLife.com, is an animal behavior consultant, editor, author, professional speaker and master certified pet first aid instructor. Each week, she hosts the popular Oh Behave! show on PetLifeRadio.com. Learn more at www.arden moore.com.

Learn more

If you would like to volunteer, make donations or help community cats, contact Paul Bates at 472-8864 or email tnvr@peggyadams.org. To learn more about TNVR, visit the Peggy Adams Animal Rescue League at www.peggyadams.org/tnvr.

By Janis Fontaine

How often do you stop to listen?
And even if you do, how often do you encounter silence?
If you don’t, how will you ever hear the “still small voice” of God?
Silent worship is one of the hallmarks of the Quakers’ beliefs, and the Palm Beach Quakers invite you to learn about this topic and more during a “Meeting for Learning” each Sunday this month.
The Palm Beach Religious Society of Friends, as the local Quakers are known, will serve coffee and pastries at 9 a.m. and have the meetings at 9:30 at the Meeting House in Lake Worth.
John Palozzi of Lake Worth has been a Palm Beach Quaker for about 10 years. The local Friends formed in the 1950s and most of the founders have died.
“We’re looking to attract some new members,” Palozzi said. “We’re never going to be a megachurch, but five or six new members would be great.”
The Quakers believe that in silence you’re more likely to hear God speak to you. They put the Psalm that says “Be still and know that I am God” into practice.
No intermediary is necessary for worship or to live one’s life. No priest or preacher, minister or book, rabbi, guru, shaman or doctor of theology is required for one to have a relationship with God.
If Palozzi had to tell you just one thing about the Quakers it would be this: “We have no dogma. We believe you can go within yourself and find God.”
Palozzi says the Friends are looking for people who have been searching for a spiritual home. It doesn’t matter what road people took to get there.
The Friends find inspiration in all religions and all religious texts, but they believe most firmly in the six testimonies, which are basically tenets on how to live your life. How you live your life is a testimony to your ideals and the kind of person you are.
The testimonies — simplicity, peace, integrity, community, equality and stewardship — are universal.
Stewardship was the last testimony to be added, Palozzi said, to focus on environmental issues like climate change and habitat and species loss.
In addition to the learning session that morning, the Palm Beach Friends will host a special presentation, “Questions & Answers by Quakers,” at 1 p.m. Jan. 28 at the Meeting House, 823 N. A St., Lake Worth.
Members will address what it means to live a Quaker life in the 21st century. The meeting is free.
For more information about the Palm Beach Friends, visit www.palmbeachquakers.org or email pbquakers@gmail.com.

Gift baskets for charity

The Council of Catholic Women and Birthline Volunteers are raising money for Belle Glade mothers and babies in need via various events at St. Lucy Catholic Church in Highland Beach. These gift baskets were auctioned off Nov. 14 to raise funds. ABOVE: (l-r) Jeanette Schmitz, Peggy Brown, Anne Mongon, Ronnie Svenstrup, Connie Thuesen and Rose Marie Amat. Photo provided

Pastor Barbour retires
After almost 40 years as a pastor — the past 11 with Boca Raton’s Advent Lutheran Church — Pastor Richard Barbour retired in late 2017.
Barbour made many contributions to the church and the local community, and he loved and appreciated that 300 people came to say goodbye to him at his retirement celebration.
Through his tenure, Barbour did everything he could to promote Advent Lutheran’s many ministries. He held Bible study groups, headed “Church Without Walls” projects, led chapels for Advent School, taught religion to middle schoolers and was involved in all aspects of Advent Life ministries.
Barbour started the Stephen Ministry group at Advent. Stephen ministers are lay people specially trained to help people navigate through grief and other life tsunamis.
Stephen ministers provide one-on-one care to people in need, and Barbour says their dedication inspired him.
Barbour also served outside the church as a board member for Family Promise, a multifaith group providing support for homeless families, and for Boca Helping Hands, which provides food, medical and financial assistance, as well as education, job training and guidance to create self-sufficiency.
Barbour, in partnership with Pastor Andrew Hagen, worked to blend traditional Lutheran values with modern innovations.
Hagen said of Barbour: “God makes each of us like tools for a specific time and purpose, and Pastor Rich has been exactly the right instrument of God’s love for the past 11 years.”
Barbour plans to stay local. He and his wife, Avis, are ballroom dancers who look forward to staying out late on Saturday nights now.
“We’ve been taking lessons for 15 years and have met some wonderful people,” Barbour said. The couple also loves Latin dancing, and Barbour says the Argentine tango is their favorite.
For some people, retirement is an adjustment, but Barbour says, “I haven’t had any trouble. It’s been fully enjoyable.”
A runner for years, he has discovered the joys of a morning run and covers about 3 miles before breakfast.
He and his wife have four children, in Washington state, Manhattan, Jacksonville and Buffalo, so they have travel plans to make and fulfill and three grandchildren who need spoiling. Barbour makes each child a special Bible, with his favorite passages highlighted and special notes in the margin.
And of course, Barbour has lots of little projects to do around the house that seem like fun now that he has more time. And the family just passed another milestone: For the first time in 40 years, Barbour didn’t work on Christmas Eve.
Being a pastor is a 24/7 job, one lived at the emotional poles. The pastor is there at the peaks and valleys: your baby’s baptisms and your parents’ funerals, your daughter’s wedding and when you’re about to die.
So even though he has retired, Barbour hasn’t left the ministry behind. He has become the informal chaplain for his dance group. He’s already officiated a wedding and helped with a funeral.
To someone with the calling to be a pastor, it’s not really work, Barbour said. “It’s a privilege.”

Beach baptisms
The Avenue Church will hold beach baptisms at 9 a.m. Jan. 13 at Anchor Park, 390 S. Ocean Ave., Delray Beach. A class is required before baptism. The Avenue Church is at 2455 W. Atlantic Ave., Delray Beach. Call John at 927-4000 or email John@theavechurch.com.

Spiritual discussions
Join the Interfaith Café’s theological discussion from 7 to 9 p.m. Jan. 18 at South County Civic Center, 16700 Jog Road, Delray Beach.
Light refreshments are served. The meeting is free, but donations are appreciated. The Interfaith Café meets the third Thursday of the month, and volunteers are needed to assist with a variety of duties to keep this program going.
For information or to volunteer, email Jane@Aurorasvoice.org.

Brahms program
“Music at St. Paul’s” continues with a concert by the Klotz/Calloway/Strezeva Trio at 3 p.m. Jan. 21 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 188 S. Swinton Ave., Delray Beach.
The program is all Brahms, and featured works include Scherzo in C minor (F-A-E Sonata); the Trio in C Major, Op. 87; and the Trio in A minor, Op. 114. The trio has violist Michael Klotz, cellist Jason Calloway and pianist Milana Strezeva.
Arrive early at 2:30 p.m. for a special lecture by music director Dr. Paul Cienniwa.
Tickets are $20. Admission is free for ages 18 and younger.
For more information, call 278-6003 or visit www.music.stpaulsdelray.org.

Distinguished Preachers
First Presbyterian Church of Delray Beach will continue its Distinguished Preacher Series with Dr. Michael Brown leading worship Jan. 28 and Dr. Steven Eason speaking Feb. 18.
Brown, the senior minister of Marble Collegiate Church in New York City since 2009, is the author of six books and a contributing author to 11 others. He uses humor and personal anecdotes to illuminate his stories.
Brown will also speak at First Presbyterian’s annual Congregational Dinner on Jan. 26 at Benvenuto restaurant in Boynton Beach. The evening features a social hour at 5:30 p.m. followed by dinner at 6:30. Dinner is $30 and reservations are recommended. Call the church office at 276-6338.
Eason, a graduate of Duke Divinity School, has 40 years of experience in the ministry from solo pastor to senior pastor, but may be best known as an authority on team building. His book, Making Disciples, Making Leaders: A Manual for Developing Church Officers, was published in 2016. It drew on 24 years of building, training and nurturing leadership teams.
First Presbyterian Church of Delray Beach is at 33 Gleason St. Visit www.firstdelray.com

Coming up at St. Mark’s
St. Mark Catholic Church has several events coming up in January. Get more information at the church, at 643 St. Mark Place, Boynton Beach, or by calling 734-9330 or visiting www.stmarkboynton.com.
• Bereavement Ministry Training: Sister Mary Joan has started her 12-week class to prepare parishioners to serve as Core Bereavement Ministers. Ministers help church members cope with their losses by visiting them after the death of a loved one, helping to plan a funeral and Mass, and providing support and help in the months following a death. For more information about the program, call the church.
• Ministry Fair: From 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Jan. 21 in the parish center, learn about the parish ministries that need help. There’s also a special Taste of Germany lunch with bratwurst, frikadeller and sauerkraut, and for the children, chicken fingers.
• Prime Rib Dinner: The St. Mark Council of Catholic Women will hold its annual prime rib dinner on Jan. 26. Tickets are $27, for sale in the church after Mass Jan. 13-14 and Jan. 20-21. Music will be provided by the Doo Wop Kids. Call Ann Albano with questions at 274-9553.

Induction ceremony

The Palm Beaches Commandery of the Sovereign Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Knights Hospitaller, inducted 16 aspirants at a formal investiture. The Nov. 4 ceremony at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Palm Beach Gardens was followed by a reception and black-tie gala at PGA National Resort & Spa. The Palm Beaches Commandery has more than 65 active members who do volunteer work and raise money for charities. ABOVE: (l-r, in front) Elaine Meier, Claire Clarke, Eloise Witham, Julie Bird Winchester, Douglas Blanz, Jay Owen, (middle) Marie Ryan, Candace Tamposi, Heath Black, Chelneca Templeton, Gary Templeton, (in back) Matthew Piotrowski, Monique McCall, Walter Jones Jr., David Barninger and Ken Nunnenkamp. Photo provided

Sexual harassment lecture
The Jewish Business Network will host a lecture by relationship expert Rabbi Manis Friedman, author of Doesn’t Anyone Blush Anymore?, at 6 p.m. Jan. 15 at the Boca Raton Library, 400 NW Second Ave., Boca Raton. The topic is “Sexual Harassment in the Workplace Exposed.” Tickets are $25 and include a light supper at 5. Make reservations at 394-9770 or bocabeachchabad.com/JBN

Communications course
Chabad of Delray Beach will offer a six-week class, “Communication: Its Art and Soul,” from 7:30 to 9:15 p.m. Wednesdays beginning Jan. 24, at 7495 W. Atlantic Ave.
The fee for the course is $79, which includes the textbook. Bring a friend and save $20. If you want to check it out first, you can join the first class for free with no obligation to continue. For more information, call 496-6228 or email info@Chabaddelray.com.

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

Students at Saint Joseph’s Episcopal School in Boynton Beach donned cultural outfits, created display boards and served food based on their Hispanic countries of choice Nov. 17 while learning about various cultures and dancing to live mariachi music. Faculty and staff donated 3,139 pounds of nonperishable items to the Food for Families drive in conjunction with WPTV-Ch. 5. ABOVE: Kyle Stokes, with William Tirado, both 12, show their Puerto Rico presentation. Photo provided

ABOVE: Ocean Ridge resident Rebekah Laflin plays at Town Hall with (l-r) Kimmy, Shane, Bobby and Adam Savage. BELOW: Rebekah Laflin plays flute and piano. She, the Savage brothers and Zach Hoffman make up the group Appassionato. Photos by Tim Stepien and Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Ron Hayes

     Residents and friends arriving for the annual holiday celebration Dec. 1 found something missing from Ocean Ridge Town Hall.
     The tree was trimmed, the halls were decked and the feast was spread; but where was the traditional CD player that had jingled bells, let it snow and brought joy to the world as long as anyone could recall?
     This year, the crackling fire blazing on the screen behind the commissioners’ rostrum was fake, but the classical string quintet serenading the crowd was very real.
     Appassionato, as they call themselves, are an ensemble of young, talented musicians fast approaching the line between amateur and professional.
     As the partygoers greeted each other, nibbling on sandwiches and chicken wings, sugar cookies and carrot cake, Appassionato slipped from Silver Bells to Jingle Bells to Santa Claus Is Coming to Town.
     Kimberlee Marshall, president of the Ocean Ridge Garden Club, watched them, impressed.
     “To have a classical string quintet to launch us into the Christmas spirit,” she marveled. “Whoever thought of it was brilliant.”
     Actually, the piano and flute were locally grown.
     Rebekah Laflin, 15, was born and raised in Ocean Ridge and began studying piano at 10.
     “But I didn’t get really serious until a couple of years ago, when my grandparents offered to buy me any instrument,” she says. “And I picked flute.”
     Since then, she’s appeared with the Honor Band of America, the Florida All-State Concert Band, and was chosen to participate in the Eastman School of Music’s Artistic Flutist Camp. She studies at the King’s Academy Conservatory of Music, sitting first chair in the symphonic band’s flute section.
     Appassionato was born when Laflin met the Savage family at Grace Presbyterian Church in Stuart, which she attends. The three brothers and a sister were already seriously into serious music.
     They began playing casually in the hours between the morning and evening services at church, honing their talents over five or six years.
     Appassionato is:
     Shane Savage, 16, string bass.
     A member of the Treasure Coast Youth Symphony for the past six years, he’s performed with the Philadelphia Symphony at Carnegie Hall, and played with the Florida All-State Concert Band for five years, as well as Music for All’s National Honor Orchestra in Indianapolis.
     Adam Savage, 13, viola.
     He’s studied since he was 8, has led the viola section of the state concert band for the past two years and has won the Florida Association of Christian Colleges and Schools solo competition award for four consecutive years.
     “I chose the viola because I think it’s the warmest sound,” he says, “right in between the violin and cello.”
     But Jenni Savage, the brothers’ mother, has a different explanation: “We couldn’t fit two string basses in our trunk.”
     Bobby Savage, 22, violin.
     A member of the Treasure Coast Youth Symphony for five years, his first love is bluegrass music, and he leads a music ministry at the Stuart church.
     And then another friend joined the band.
     Zach Hoffman, 17, violin.
     “My sister, who’s three years older than me, began playing violin when she was 4,” he recalls, “so when she was 7 and I was 4, I saw that she was getting a lot of attention.”
     A student at Morningside Academy in Port St. Lucie, he’s been studying the violin ever since.
     “We call each other cousins,” Rebekah Laflin says, “but we’re not really.”
    As the group ­–Appassionato is the musical directive to play with passion – honed its talents at church, it began playing free gigs at weddings and funerals, cocktail parties, fundraisers, religious gatherings, even a quinceañera party.
     If you want a bit of Bach, they’ll give you the Air on a G String. They soar with Holst’s Planets, soothe with Pachelbel’s Canon. They can handle Handel, bluegrass and the Beatles, too.
     “Our first paying gig was at a Jewish wedding in Stuart last month,” Shane Savage says. “Zach’s sister knew the family, and they wanted baroque, so we played a lot of Bach and Handel.”
     Then he remembers that paying musicians have to sell themselves, and adds: “But we can do Going to the Chapel too, if people want that.”
     At the Ocean Ridge holiday party, sister Kimmy Savage, 8, filled in for Zach Hoffman, who was home cramming for a college entrance exam the next morning. Her relative youth was no impediment.
     Kimmy played cello and sailed through O Tannenbaum and O Little Town of Bethlehem so smoothly that the loyal CD player of holiday parties past was all but forgotten.
     “It’s a world apart from a CD player,” said Police Chief Hal Hutchins. “It makes the room.”
     Mayor Geoff Pugh agreed.
     “It’s wonderful,” he beamed. “It adds a really special touch to the whole gathering. It’s exactly what we needed.”

    The Appassionato Ensemble can be reached at SiempreAppassionato@gmail.com or 772-932-9341.

Students of St. John Paul II Academy in Boca Raton donated clothing and other essentials for more than 200 angels on Dec. 13. The donations included sneakers, socks and underwear, plus small toys for holiday gifts. ABOVE: (l-r) Anthony Pecoraro, Christina Wayt, Francesca Bastos, Ian Carr, David Curlee, Roman Desmond, Travis Tritsch, Fabrice Blanchet and (standing in truck) Peter Verna. Photo provided

Kids got a chance to have their pictures taken behind the jaws of a Great White Shark. Photo provided

By Janis Fontaine

    Sandoway Discovery Center will be shark central on Jan. 27 when Sharkfest 2018, a day of fun, educational activities for all ages, takes place there.
    “We’ll have local shark groups, researchers and people from FAU’s shark lab on hand to talk about sharks,” said Evan Orellana, director of education and animal care at Sandoway. Lectures and presentations are part of the plan, as are kids’ activities like crafts and games out on the front lawn, where the South Florida Science Center and Aquarium and local conservation organizations will have exhibits.
    In the Sandoway House Nature Center, visitors can learn about Delray Beach’s history, explore Southeast Florida’s largest private shell collection, get an up-close view of some of Florida’s native and invasive reptile species and meet sharks, stingrays and other fish at the coral reef pool. Orellano says sharks are often misunderstood while charismatic marine animals like sea turtles get more attention. He welcomes the opportunity to talk about the amazing things sharks do and what we can do to protect them. It all starts with education.
    “We’re focused on shark conservation, and coastal conservation,” executive director Danica Sanborn said.
     Sandoway has been educating people about South Florida’s fragile marine and freshwater environments for almost 20 years, but this is just the second year for Sharkfest. About 300 people came to Sharkfest in 2017.
    “It’s a nice, family-friendly, community event,” Sanborn said.

If You Go
When: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Jan. 27
Where: Sandoway Discovery Center, 142 S. Ocean Blvd., Delray Beach
Admission: Lawn activities are free; admission to the center is $5.
Info: 274-7263; www.sandoway.org