By Henry Fitzgerald

    Municipal elections will take place March 13. Here are the cities and towns in The Coastal Star’s coverage area with seats up for grabs and their respective qualifying periods.  

Boca Raton
    The city’s qualifying period, when candidates can officially be put on the ballot after they meet certain requirements, will take place Jan. 2-10.
    City voters will get the chance to fill two City Council seats. Council member Robert Weinroth is running for re-election to Seat D, while Deputy Mayor Jeremy Rodgers plans to seek re-election to Seat C.
    Meanwhile, Mayor Susan Haynie announced last month that she would run for County Commissioner Steven Abrams’ District 4 seat. The primary election for that post will take place Aug. 28, while the general election will be held Nov. 6, 2018.
    Haynie, whose mayoral term would expire in 2020, will have to submit a resignation letter 10 days prior to the qualifying period for the county seat, which runs June 18-22. Her resignation from the mayor’s seat must be effective on or before Nov. 20, 2018, whether or not she wins the County Commission seat, according to the city’s website.
“I have heard from many community leaders and residents encouraging me to run for County Commission District 4,” Haynie said in a news release. “As mayor, I have been an effective leader with a proven record of accomplishments. I understand our community, have a firm grasp of the issues and the experience needed to help move Palm Beach County forward.”
    Following Haynie’s departure, the deputy mayor will serve as mayor temporarily until a special election is held in March 2019 to fill the rest of Haynie’s term. Council members will choose their next deputy mayor in March 2018 during their annual reorganization.
    Council member Scott Singer, who also chairs the Community Redevelopment Agency, announced Oct. 23 that he would run in 2019 for the remaining year of Haynie’s mayoral term.

Briny Breezes
    Qualifying for the March municipal election will run Dec. 5-19. Three aldermen — Christina Adams, Jim McCormick and Bobby Jurovaty — are up for election.
Briny Mayor Jack Lee resigned in October. The council plans to fill his non-voting seat by appointment before the end of the year.

Delray Beach
    The qualifying period will take place Dec. 1-20. Three commission seats are open in March. They are: Seat 1, now held by Shelly Petrolia, who plans to run for mayor/Seat 5; Seat 3, now held by Mitch Katz, who is running for re-election; and Seat 2, now held by Vice Mayor Jim Chard, who also plans to run for mayor/Seat 5.
    Seat 5, now held by Mayor Cary Glickstein, will be open because Glickstein announced he would not run for re-election.
    Glickstein could have run again because the city charter changed the length of the terms during his first term in office. He’s held the position for five years — a two-year term and a three-year term.
    At the Oct. 17 commission meeting, Glickstein listed his accomplishments as stronger neighborhoods and historic districts, more control over sober homes, elimination of the SWA no-bid contract, transparency over how the CRA spends tax dollars and development focused on West Atlantic Avenue.
    “I have been struggling with the decision for a few months now and needed to make a decision to allow other candidates a fair shot,” he wrote in an email. “While I would have liked to have had another year with the new city manager, I was uncomfortable asking voters for a third term that I could have sought due to a city charter change effective after my first election that now limits mayors to two terms. You know the old adage — ‘Just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should.’”

Highland Beach
    The qualifying period runs Nov. 28-Dec. 12. Open seats for the 2018 election are Vice Mayor Bill Weitz and Commissioner George Kelvin.

Lantana
    The qualifying period runs Jan. 2-16. The only open seat is Group 5, occupied by Mayor Dave Stewart, who will seek re-election.

Manalapan
    Qualifying in Manalapan for the municipal election will run from Dec. 5-19, Town Clerk Lisa Petersen said. Up for election are Mayor Pro Tem Simone Bonutti, Commissioner Clark Appleby and Commissioner Monica Oberting. Commissioners serve two-year terms.

Ocean Ridge
    The qualifying period is Dec. 5-18. Mayor Geoff Pugh and Commissioner Gail Aaskov are up for re-election, while Vice Mayor James Bonfiglio plans to give up his seat for a run at state House District 89, now held by Bill Hager, who is term-limited.
    However, Bonfiglio won’t have to leave his seat until well into next year. He must submit a resignation letter 10 days prior to the qualifying period for the state seat, which runs June 18-22, and his resignation from the vice mayor’s seat must be effective on or before Nov. 20, 2018, whether or not he wins the state House seat.
    “I decided to run for Florida House of Representatives, District 89, because I want to continue my service to the community,” Bonfiglio wrote in an email. “I think I have fresh ideas and a bold vision to solve some of the town’s problems, which also present themselves in [the rest of] District 89. For example, Ocean Ridge shares flooding and beach problems with most of the district’s residents. I love the town of Ocean Ridge and want to serve more people, including the Ocean Ridge residents as the next Florida representative for District 89.”

South Palm Beach
    The qualifying period is Dec. 4-8. Council seats up for election are held by Stella Gaddy Jordan and Vice Mayor Robert Gottlieb.

    Sallie James, Dan Moffett, Steve Plunkett, Rich Pollack, Jane Smith and Mary Thurwachter contributed to this report.

The Gulfstream Hotel in Lake Worth has been closed for more than 10 years. Photo provided

By Jane Smith
    
    Two partners are vying for control of the historic Gulfstream Hotel in Lake Worth as an April expiration nears on the city’s approvals of a proposed $70 million renovation.
    Steven Michael, a principal of Delray Beach-based Hudson Holdings, said his firm on Oct. 20 offered to buy out Carl DeSantis from his stake in the Gulfstream Hotel. The offer is good for 60 days, Michael said. He declined to offer details.
    “We have no comment on any proposed transaction involving the Gulfstream Hotel,” Jeff Perlman replied via email on Oct. 24. He is executive vice president of DeSantis’ CDS International Holdings in Boca Raton. “CDS Gulfstream remains the managing member of the property.”
    Over the summer, CDS moved to gain control of the six-story, Mediterranean-style Gulfstream, long considered a crown jewel in Lake Worth. Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, the Gulfstream Hotel has been closed for more than 10 years.
    “Recently, we have become managers of the project,” Perlman said via email in early October. “We immediately started to work with the city to clean up the property and work through code enforcement issues.”
    William Waters, community sustainability director for Lake Worth, confirmed that the city placed a notice on the hotel this summer about code violations including high grass and broken windows. The code issues have since been addressed, he said.
To date, the only portion of the project completed has been the razing of two historic houses on the 1.8-acre site near the foot of the Lake Worth Bridge.        Perlman declined to answer specific questions about when CDS Holdings took control of the hotel from Hudson Holdings and why the change occurred.
    On June 16, state corporate records were changed to have William Milmoe, CDS Holdings president, listed as the property’s registered agent.
    He replaced Hudson Holdings principal Andrew Greenbaum as the registered agent.
    Hudson Holdings is also the developer of the proposed Midtown Delray Beach project along Swinton Avenue in the Old School Square Historic District, which includes the historic Sundy House. The project of retail, condo, office and hotel rooms was rejected by the city’s Historic Preservation Board in June, but a revised version is under review by city planners.
    In February, Terry Woods, a Delray Beach real estate investor, sued Hudson Holdings Gulfstream, the division involved with the hotel, for nonpayment of a $1 million balloon loan that carried a 9 percent annual interest rate. HH Gulfstream missed the interest payment due in November 2016 and the months following, according to the lawsuit.
    Woods filed a voluntary notice of dismissal in July, indicating that he was paid.
    DeSantis, a billionaire who founded Rexall Sundown vitamins, personally guaranteed a $5 million Hudson Holdings loan from Florida Community Bank in Winter Park that made up the bulk of the $7.2 million Gulfstream purchase in 2014. Greenbaum signed the mortgage for Hudson Holdings, according to property records. The mortgage remains on the hotel.
    Michael met DeSantis around 2006, when DeSantis owned the two-square-block property on Atlantic Avenue and the Intracoastal Waterway in Delray Beach now known as Atlantic Crossing. Perlman was the city’s mayor at the time. Michael tried to take the mixed-use project through the Delray Beach approval process but was unsuccessful.
     “The city turned him down because we thought it was just too much development for that property,” Perlman said.
    Michael’s team did take the Gulfstream through Lake Worth’s historic review process, receiving approval in March 2016. The current development order is good through April 2018 due to hurricane-related development extensions.
    The renovation is planned in phases with the hotel finished first, according to Lake Worth Historic Resources Preservation Board approvals.
    Amenities will include a champagne room and a rooftop bar. Restoring the hotel to its 1925 grandeur will result in 18 fewer rooms, for a total of 87.
    The approvals also included demolition of the two historic houses to make way for a 6,500-square-foot, one-story building on the southeast side to provide kitchen facilities for the Gulfstream Hotel.
 A 65-foot-tall, five-story hotel annex and a two-story parking garage with rooftop parking on the hotel’s west side are also in the plans.

By Jane Smith

    The Riverwalk Plaza owner now wants to reverse the order of how the 9.8-acre complex will be developed at Woolbright Road and Federal Highway.
    In late August, Isram Realty representatives met with Boynton Beach planning staff to outline how the complex would be developed: First, renovate the building containing the Walgreen’s drugstore and Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft store; next, build a 4,500-square-foot building along Federal Highway and then construct the 10-story, U-shaped apartment building.
    When first proposed two years ago, the phasing of Riverwalk was reversed.
    Isram representatives could not be reached for comment.
    Boynton Beach building staff has received two permit applications from Riverwalk. The façade improvement permit, submitted in late August, is on hold until Isram answers questions posed by city staff. The permit was not approved as of late October.
    The new retail building permit was submitted in mid-October. City staff has requested more information from Isram, which hasn’t responded. The permit was not approved as of late October.
    The land swap between the Prime Catch restaurant owner and Isram should be finished by the end of the year, said Luke Therien, whose family owns Prime Catch.
    “I just received a revised agreement from my attorney,” he said.
    Prime Catch owns a 0.25-acre strip of land along the Intracoastal Waterway that Isram would like to have to create a walkway along the waterfront. Isram is expected to give the restaurant parking spaces in return.
    Two Riverwalk Plaza restaurants, Sushi Simon and Bond and Smolders, have signed new leases to go into the renovated building.
    Lucy Chen, Sushi Simon’s owner, said she expects to be in the new location next spring. She declined to discuss the terms of her lease.
    Bond and Smolders also anticipates a spring opening, said Philip Van Egmond, co-owner of the coffee shop and bakery.
    “At the new location, we will be open for dinner,” he said. Bond and Smolders also will offer wines and craft beers during the dinner menu.
    The new space will be slightly smaller and will be L-shaped, providing a cozier feel for diners, Van Egmond said. Now, the eatery space is a long, open rectangle.
    The open kitchen plan will remain, he said, and the bakery will have coolers under the counters to keep cream pastries fresh.
    Primo Hoagies closed in October with a door notice, saying its new location was on Boynton Beach Boulevard, west of the interstate.
    Josie’s Ristorante and Pizzeria plans to stay in Riverwalk. The restaurant has 12 years remaining on its lease, said Steve Setticasi, Josie’s owner.
    “We like our location,” he said. “We are not moving. The owner will have to build around us.”

By Dan Moffett

    Nobody will confuse Manalapan with Hollywood when it comes to movie and video production.
    The town’s last brush with show biz came in 2014 when the reluctantly remembered rapper Vanilla Ice, aka Robert Van Winkle, announced plans to shoot a home renovation project for the DIY Network at a South Ocean Boulevard mansion.
    The plans fell through, and most Manalapanians didn’t lament the loss.
    Mayor Keith Waters is concerned that the town may not be as lucky the next time. He thinks Manalapan needs a new ordinance that puts some restrictions on how film and video companies can operate in the town.
    Naturally, Palm Beach is the model for how to handle this. Years ago, Manalapan’s neighbor implemented a law that requires commercial filmmakers and production companies to obtain a permit, pay a nominal fee and adhere to rules for operation — much like construction companies, landscapers and other businesses do.
    “The intent is just to have knowledge of what’s going on so we don’t get blindsided,” Waters said during the Oct. 24 town meeting.
    For constitutional reasons, the ordinance cannot control content. But it can place restrictions on noise, traffic issues and hours of activity — what Town Attorney Keith Davis calls “the physical impact” that the production work has on the town.
    Davis said the ordinance would not deal with the live coverage of news events. The attorney told Waters and commissioners he would draft a proposed ordinance based on the Palm Beach model and present it for consideration at their Nov. 28 meeting.
    In other business:
    • Town Manager Linda Stumpf said Palm Beach County environmental officials have postponed a briefing on a proposed beach stabilization project in South Palm Beach until Manalapan’s November meeting.
    The question-and-answer session with commissioners was scheduled for October. The county wants to install a system of seven concrete groins along the coastline north of Manalapan to deter erosion in South Palm Beach.
    Waters and the commissioners say they will vigorously oppose the project because of the possible damage to their town’s beaches.
The county hopes to change minds in Manalapan during the meeting with the commission and begin the groin construction a year from now.
    • Commissioners unanimously decided to move the starting time for their meetings to 10 a.m., beginning in November. Waters said the time change makes commission meetings consistent with other board and committee meetings in the town.

By Steve Plunkett

    Gulf Stream is holding weekly meetings with Florida Power & Light and the phone and cable companies to regain momentum on its project to bury the utility lines.
    Contractor Wilco Electric, which has been placing conduit underground for the utilities in phase 2 of the project, was pulled off the job after Hurricane Irma struck to help FPL restore power across the state.
    All of the underground conduit is now in place, and Town Manager Greg Dunham said Wilco is “on the verge” of finishing the electrical portion of the project.
    “It’s going to take a couple of months,” he said. “But you’ll still have AT&T and Comcast overhead.”
    Phase 2, which extends from Golfview Drive north, has approximately 200 customers subdivided into seven electrical “loops,” Dunham said. He expected FPL to issue “switching orders” allowing Wilco to switch customers from overhead to underground for at least two and possibly four loops by the end of October.
    Each residence takes two to four hours to convert.
    During Irma, the entire town lost power because of problems with substations or feeder lines outside of Gulf Stream, Dunham said. The storm blew a couple of power poles over on Polo Drive, where residents were the last to regain electricity almost a week later.
    In the not-too-distant future, “that kind of incident won’t be happening,” he said.
    After the electrical connections are made, Comcast or AT&T will transfer its overhead lines underground. Usually, one utility waits for the other to finish its segment, but Dunham was hopeful they would work simultaneously in different sections of phase 2. Then FPL will return.
    “That’s when all the old infrastructure — the wires and poles — will come down,” Dunham said.
    Town residents approved the plan to bury utility lines in 2011 and agreed to bear the $5.5 million cost through special assessments. Gulf Stream officials approved spending an additional $510,000 from the general budget last year.

The Ocean Ridge Police Department hosted a ‘Beach Sweep’ to help clean the town’s beaches of debris left behind following Hurricane Irma. Volunteers enjoyed hamburgers, hot dogs and refreshments following the cleanup. ABOVE: (l-r) Officer Bob Massimino, John Adamovich, Mark and Lynn Yaglowski, Officer Bob McAllister, Lynn and Korian Allison, Stella Kolb, Harvey Sovelove, Matthew Jones, Officer Phil Salm and Sgt. Rick Stang. BELOW: The police ATV loaded with debris. Photo provided

Lantana Town Manager Debbie Manzo gets a group hug Oct. 19 after reading the book Quackers by Liz Wong to kindergartners at Lantana Elementary School during the annual Read for the Record competition coordinated by The Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County. Manzo read to 188 children that day. Lantana was the 2016 winner in the smaller towns category. Photo provided

By Steve Plunkett

    Former Ocean Ridge Vice Mayor Richard Lucibella’s trial will start no sooner than February.
    His defense attorney, Marc Shiner, and Assistant State Attorney Danielle Grundt both agreed last month to the postponement — the trial’s third delay. Circuit Judge Charles Burton rescheduled the case for Feb. 19.
    Shiner also complained that Police Officer Nubia Plesnik’s lawyer, Richard Slinkman, was making it impossible for him to conduct a crucial deposition.
    Plesnik, one of the arresting officers, has filed a civil lawsuit against Lucibella claiming he intentionally pushed and injured her. That means Slinkman “is not a party” to the criminal case and can only make objections if a question infringes on attorney-client privilege, Shiner’s partner Heidi Perlet argued.
    “Slinkman repeatedly objected on numerous other grounds,” Perlet wrote. “He interrupted the proceedings to the point that it was not possible to proceed with the deposition.”
But the judge denied their request that he prohibit Slinkman from attending the deposition or order him to follow court rules on objections.
    Slinkman called Shiner’s depiction of his behavior “absurd and totally inaccurate.”
    “There was absolutely nothing wrong with the objections made,” Slinkman said. “It was simply another attempt for Lucibella and his attorneys to try to bully Officer Plesnik.”
    Lucibella, 64, is charged with battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest with violence — both felonies — and a misdemeanor count of using a firearm while under the influence of alcohol. He has pleaded not guilty.
    Plesnik, fellow Officer Richard Ermeri and Sgt. William Hallahan went to Lucibella’s home Oct. 22, 2016, after neighbors heard gunfire. They confiscated a .40-caliber handgun and found five spent shell casings on the backyard patio.
    They later determined the confiscated handgun belonged to Lt. Steven Wohlfiel, their supervisor, who was with Lucibella during the incident. Both men were “obviously intoxicated,” Ermeri said in his arrest report.
    Lucibella’s criminal trial was originally set to begin in April, then pushed back to June and then October to give Grundt and Shiner time to question all the witnesses.
    Shiner scheduled depositions of Hallahan and Lt. Richard Jones, who conducted the internal affairs investigation of the incident, for Nov. 7 and for Plesnik on Dec. 6.
    He also filed a list of 46 people he may ask to testify at the trial, including an expert witness on the use of force and another expert on police procedures.

Ocean Ridge police secure an area in the 6000 block of Old Ocean Boulevard on Oct. 20 after the body of Amantay Brown, 21, was found on the beach. The Coast Guard, sheriff’s office and other agencies had searched for Brown, who was reported missing shortly after 3 a.m. Oct. 19 after he and some friends went swimming near the Boynton Inlet. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

Karen Ronald says the library is ‘not just books and materials.’ Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Rich Pollack

    Karen Ronald brings everything you would expect to her new job as director of the Delray Beach Public Library.
    She has a master’s degree in library science. She has loads of experience, having led four libraries before arriving in Delray Beach in July, and she loves books and reading.
    Ronald also brings a passion for making a difference — and the library is her tool for doing just that.
    “The potential here to be even better at improving the lives of residents is enormous,” she says.
    Ronald is focused on ensuring the library has all the resources visitors expect. Yet she sees it as more than just a building with books and computers. To her, it’s a place that can serve the community and make it a better place to live for everyone.
    “It’s not just books and materials,” she said. “It’s the connections we make with people — and we do change lives.”
    To illustrate her point, she tells the story of a local homeless man who had a job offer but didn’t have required identification and a home address to put on the application.
    He found a friend in one of the Delray library’s reference librarians who became his coach, helping him navigate his way to receiving proper identification and an address.
    “We connected with that person and changed his life,” Ronald said. “It happens often.”
    Ronald believes a library should not just serve the community but should also be a part of it in many ways. “You have to be responsive to new demands and needs,” she said.
    That’s exactly what the library did soon after Hurricane Irma. Before most people had electricity, the library was open for anyone who needed to use a computer, charge a cellphone or just cool off in air conditioning. Many people used the library resources to reach family members to let them know they were OK.
    In addition, the library hosted organizations that served food in the parking lot.
    “It’s not what you normally think a library would do,” said Nancy Dockerty, who heads the Delray Beach Public Library’s board of directors. “Karen’s very big on community, and that’s what makes her a perfect fit for Delray, because that’s what this city is all about.”
    Ronald’s commitment to serving the city’s diverse community is one of the driving forces behind some new initiatives. She is working to increase the number of books available in Haitian Creole and Spanish. She also would like to have programs, such as story times, conducted in multiple languages.
    With financial support being sought from residents and charitable foundations, the library team also hopes to roll out a bookmobile.
    Instead of just stacks of books inside a bus-sized vehicle, though, the new bookmobile will have iPads, as well as books that can be taken into a community center or school, where staff members can conduct everything from story times to parenting classes.
    “She has a ton of experience,” Dockerty said, adding that Ronald not only ran municipal libraries but also another nonprofit library like Delray Beach’s, which is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit run by a board.
    Before coming to Delray Beach this summer, Ronald — who declined to give her age — spent more than seven years as director of the public library in Fairfield, Connecticut.
    She was one of 70 applicants from around the country for the Delray Beach library job, lured by the challenge and the freedom to innovate, as well as by the weather.
    “I don’t like snow,” she said.
    That might sound strange coming from someone who grew up in Canada and worked there as the political assistant to a member of Parliament. Later, she worked as a political assistant to the Ministry of External Affairs — the Canadian equivalent of the U.S. State Department.
    If that seems like a far different world from running a library, Ronald says both jobs are about finding solutions.
 “I was helping people solve problems all day long,” she says of her time in government.
    Seeking to move in a different direction after the world of politics, Ronald went back to school and earned a master of library and information science degree and a master’s degree in political science. She also worked toward a doctorate in computing science and technology with a concentration on information science.
    With a focus on listening to people in the community and finding ways to help them, Ronald is changing old stereotypes and perceptions.
    “People think librarians are very reserved,” she said. “They don’t always see us as people wanting to move a community forward.”

By Jane Smith

Major construction work at the municipal beach promenade was finished in late October. Smaller items, such as landscaping, remain to be finished by Thanksgiving.
The $3.1 million Delray Beach project includes solar-powered smart meters, a tricolor sidewalk, new beach furniture — benches, showers, water fountains, bike and surfboard racks — and trash containers.
In late October, the contractor replaced concrete sections that were too rough for city standards, said Isaac Kovner, city engineer. The new sections sit south of the Atlantic Avenue pavilion.
A date for the ribbon-cutting has not been chosen, Kovner said. He expects the official opening to take place after Thanksgiving.
Construction of the two gazebos is nearly finished, according to the city’s progress report.
Smart parking meters, already activated on the south end of the beach, will be usable the first full week of November for the northern portion.
Wheelchair users will have independent access to the beach in mid-November. That’s when the Mobi-Mats will arrive, said Suzanne Fisher, parks and recreation director. The mats sit on top of the sand, allowing wheelchair users the ability to roll themselves down to the beach. The mats will be placed at the Atlantic Avenue pavilion entrance.
For safety reasons, the city asks residents and visitors to enter the beach at the designated entrances: across from the Sandoway parking lot on the south end, at the main pavilion at Atlantic Avenue, at the Marriott Hotel crosswalk on the north end and at the Thomas Street crosswalk on the north end.
The city added a third Downtown Trolley route for those choosing to park in the city garages.
For questions about parking during the construction, call Jorge Alarcon at 243-7000, ext. 4112.
For the trolley service questions, call Xavier Falconi at 243-7000 ext. 4113.
The promenade contractor has removed all of the benches with plaques and the city is storing them for the original donors. They each will receive a free inscribed brick near the flagpole at Atlantic Avenue.
For questions about the benches and plaques, call 243-7000, ext. 4119.

Ocean Ridge resident Digby Bridges will become the newest member of the United States Croquet Hall of Fame this month. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Digby Bridges has been playing croquet since he was 16 and still enjoys the game.
    “It is a thinking game similar to snooker,” said Bridges, a well-known architect and former Ocean Ridge mayor. “All ages can play and women can compete as equals.”
    Bridges played croquet at the Hurlingham Club in England as a young man and won the U.S. Senior Men’s Amateur Championship about 15 years ago.
    On Nov. 17, Bridges will be inducted into the United States Croquet Hall of Fame during a gala at the National Croquet Center in West Palm Beach.
    “I am very pleased that I have been nominated,” said Bridges, 84. “I have always been devoted to the sport and building the croquet center was one of my favorite projects. The style is British Island architecture and the lawns are amazing.”
    Another of his favorite designs is the Ocean Ridge Town Hall. “The good Cape Dutch architecture fits in so well in Ocean Ridge,” he said.
    What didn’t fit so well, but plowed into the building before it was completed in 2008 anyway, was a twin-engine plane.
Bridges recalled that Karen Hancsak, then the town clerk, “called and said, ‘You’re not to believe this, but an airplane crashed into Town Hall.’ ”
    Bridges hurried over to see for himself. “How the pilot survived, I don’t know,” he said.
He said if the plane had hit 20 feet to the west, where the town staffers were headquartered in a trailer, “it would have killed them.”
    While he is no longer part of Bridges, Marsh & Associates, the firm he established in 1977, he remains in close contact with his former longtime partner Mark Marsh, also of Ocean Ridge.
    “We were together for 34 years,” Bridges said. “Usually partnerships don’t last that long.”
    Bridges says he still works on smaller projects and enjoys designing and working together with his wife of 20 years, Gay Bridges, a sales associate with The Corcoran Group and an interior designer.
    They have a second home he designed and she decorated in Cape Town, South Africa. “It’s really delightful,” he said.
    In his spare time, Bridges is working on his biography, one he had planned to write with his younger brother Campbell Bridges — a gemologist credited with discovering tsavorite, a brilliant dark green gemstone, in the 1960s. Tragically, Campbell Bridges was killed in a 2009 mob attack in Kenya in what authorities believed was a dispute over mining rights.
    “He was a hell of a character,” Bridges said, “one of the most influential gemologists in the world.”
 — Mary Thurwachter

    Q. Where did you grow up and go to school? How do you think that has influenced you?
    A. Johannesburg. I went to Hilton College, a private prep school that was a formative part of my life. Hiking into the hills among the wild animals, camping on the weekends, cooking for myself and the discipline required to live in such an atmosphere and still study and earn good grades served me well throughout my life. My father was a geologist.

    Q. What professions have you worked in? What professional accomplishments are you most proud of?
    A. I worked in the restaurant business with the Beatles in London (designed and had a share in a nightclub with George Harrison and designed a glass geodesic dome for Paul McCartney), landscape business for my father’s nursery in South Africa, real estate investment and as an architect after graduating from the Architectural Association in London, and jewelry designing as a hobby.

    Q. What advice do you have for a young person selecting a career today? 
    A. Go into law and then do architecture if you really love it, as it is the poorest paid profession … or be a builder-developer.

    Q. How did you choose to make your home in Ocean Ridge?
    A. I traveled throughout U.S. after leaving England and I liked the climate and the people in South Florida. I would come to visit good friends in Palm Beach and eventually founded my architectural firm in Delray. I have lived in Ocean Ridge since 1973. I’m living in my second home in Ocean Ridge. I built and designed both of them.

    Q. What is your favorite part about living in Ocean Ridge? 
    A. The diversity of the people and the friendliness.

    Q. What book are you reading now?
    A. Just finished Hero of the Empire: The Boer War, a Daring Escape, and the Making of Winston Churchill. Now I’m reading about the gold mines in South Africa as my father was a geologist who worked for Central Mining in South Africa.

    Q. What music do you listen to when you need inspiration? When you want to relax? 
    A. Most any kind of music can inspire me. I usually listen late at night if I am unable to sleep.

    Q. Have you had mentors in your life? Individuals who have inspired your life decisions?
    A. A teacher at Hilton and my father.

    Q. If your life story were made into a movie, who would you want to play you?
    A. I have quite a story to tell and am working on a book about my life. Hopefully, it will be movie material. Don’t know who would play me. Maybe someone like Sean Connery, only younger. Jeff Bridges might be OK, but he’s American and would have to do the accent well.

   Q. Is there something most people don’t know about you, but should?
   A. Love memories, very sensitive, but have a tough shell.

If You Go
What: The United States Croquet Hall of Fame Gala
Theme: Red Hot-Havana Night
Member to be inducted into the Croquet Hall of Fame: Digby Bridges
Where: Charles P. Steuber National Croquet Center, 700 Florida Mango Road, West Palm Beach
When: Nov. 17. Cocktails at 5 p.m.; ceremony at 6; dinner, dancing and silent auction at 7.
Tickets: $235; proceeds help support the National Croquet Center and the many Croquet Foundation of America charitable programs.
For tickets or information: Call 478-2300, ext. 3

By Mary Thurwachter

    Local greenmarket aficionados won’t have to wait for the weekend to shop for homegrown veggies, fruits and flowers. Beginning in November, Lantana’s Bicentennial Park will be home to the newest greenmarket in the county.
    The Lantana Town Council gave two big green thumbs up to the plan, bringing the event to the park each Wednesday from 2 p.m. to sunset. The market will have about 20 booths.
    “People will come shop and stroll and then likely head over to the Old Key Lime House or another restaurant on Ocean Avenue for dinner,” said Jason Hershin, a representative of Whoduz Inc., the company putting on the event. He said the company didn’t want to have the event on weekends because there would be too much competition.
    The company agreed to the town’s rules: No driving or parking on the grass; no smoking on site; no stakes in the ground; loading and unloading on concrete only, parking restrictions and setup times.
    Whoduz agreed to pay a $500 security deposit, make arrangements for event logistics such as vendor and customer parking and lighting at the park.
    “Will you pick up any garbage before you leave?” asked council member Ed Shropshire.”
    “We will leave it as we found it,” Hershin agreed.
    “This market goes hand-in-hand with our small-town approach to family and it gets thumbs up from me,” said resident Lyn Tate.  “I think we have a population that would enjoy a mid-week market and early dinner. It sounds like the company will take the necessary precautions as to not disturb our park’s grass and they seemed to be ready to fix anything that may be disturbed holding the market at Bicentennial Park.”

By Jane Smith

    A primary entrance to Boynton Beach will be more inviting after Boynton Beach Boulevard undergoes a makeover.
    City commissioners, sitting as the Community Redevelopment Agency, selected a plan that includes 9-foot-wide sidewalks between the interstate and Seacrest Boulevard. East of Seacrest to Federal Highway, they want the sidewalks to be 12 feet wide.
    They also agreed at their October meeting to have a blue wave pattern in the sidewalks.
    Conscious of the cost, the board members want to wait until December when Kimley-Horn and Associates, the project designer, has about 60 percent of the drawings complete to select the material used for the blue pattern.
    Landscape architect Jonathan Haigh, of Kimley-Horn, gave these per-square-foot choices to the CRA board members: bonded aggregate overlay on the sidewalks will cost $8; blue pavers with coquina shells and mirror pieces will cost $12; blue glass aggregate concrete will cost $12; colored concrete with blue tones will cost $15; and blue glass aggregate pavers will cost $20.
    Mayor Steven Grant said the city might be able to pay for the portion west of Seacrest. “I’m hoping the Town Square developer would pay for Seacrest to Federal,” he said.
    The Town Square development is planned to create a 16.5-acre downtown-like area with a hotel, apartments, condos, townhouses and shops, just south of Boynton Beach Boulevard and between Seacrest Boulevard and Northeast First Avenue.
    As to the streetlights, four liked a traditional lamppost similar to the ones on Ocean Avenue. Vice Chairman Justin Katz favored the nautical-looking ones. “To fit in with our marina theme,” he said.
    CRA board member Christina Romelus said, “We want to make sure our main street looks inviting.”

By Jane Smith

    Boat owners will have to pay about 6 percent extra each month to rent a slip at the Boynton Harbor Marina.
    Boynton Beach city commissioners, sitting as the Community Redevelopment Agency, approved the increase 4-1 at their October meeting. The new monthly rent is $19 per linear foot, up from $18.
    Vice Chairman Justin Katz voted no. He wanted to wait a year and allow boat captains to plan for the rate increase. He said the boat owners had just suffered through construction at the marina and boardwalk upgrades.
    Board member Joe Casello, who mentioned the increase in September, pointed out that boat owners received a free month of rent during the construction period. “We just spent millions of dollars on amenities,” he said.
    Board member Christina Romelus proposed keeping the $19 rate for two years, which the CRA board members approved for the municipal marina.
    Just off Ocean Avenue on the Intracoastal Waterway, the marina offers such water activities as deep-sea fishing, scuba diving charters, watercraft and boat rentals, and sightseeing cruises.
    Splashdown Divers Capt. Lynn Simmons objects to the rental increase.
    “We had one of the worst years in terms of weather where we had to cancel charters,” she said. “I’m not pleased about the increase. When the CRA bought the marina [in 2006], they promised to keep the rental rates low.”
    The Sea Mist III owns its two slips. Miller Time and Ham’r Time fishing charters pay rent to Two Georges, according to Capt. Carl Miller.
    With the increase to $19 a linear foot, the Boynton marina remains below the $22 monthly rate charged by the Riviera Beach and Lake Park marinas. Boynton’s rate is higher than the $11.50 charged by Fort Pierce marina and just above the $17 rate at the Palm Beach Yacht Center.
    The CRA also agreed to have boat owners collect a quarterly log of customers, detailing monthly use by visitors and residents. Failure to comply would result in the loss of the fuel discount at the marina. The CRA offers a cash discount of 20 cents a gallon of gasoline and 30 cents for a gallon of diesel fuel. When using a credit card, the discount is 10 cents a gallon for gasoline and 20 cents a gallon for diesel fuel. That program saves the boat owners about $6,000 per year in fuel costs, according to the CRA.

    DELRAY BEACH — William “Bill” Lawrence Sherman, 95, an American patriot, died of natural causes at his home in Delray Beach on Oct. 19.
    Mr. Sherman is survived by his loving wife of 73 years, Adlyn Foster Sherman, their four children, Lynda Sherman-Strand of Carmel, Calif., William L. Sherman Jr. of Las Vegas, James M. Sherman of Boynton Beach and John P. Sherman of Rye, N.Y., seven grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren, and his only sister, Ellen Van Auken, who resides in Cleveland Heights, Ohio.
    Born July 28, 1922, in Utica, N.Y., son of Ernest Alexander and Margaret McMahon Sherman, Mr. Sherman was raised in New Hartford. He attended New Hartford High, where he met his future wife.
    Mr. Sherman was the first high school student to enlist in the Navy V-12 program, a forerunner of ROTC. On July 1, 1943, he was called to duty and attended the Naval War College in Newport, R.I., then went on to Mare Island in California.  
    In 1944 he married his high school sweetheart in San Francisco before serving aboard Amphibious Group Command ships USS Eldorado, USS Panamint and USS Mount McKinley.  He was appointed to the staff of Adm. Lawrence Reifsnider, commander of the Amphibious Group Four Command.
    Mr. Sherman was on the admiral’s staff on board the flagship USS Panamint for the entire battle of Okinawa. For a short time he was with the war correspondent Ernie Pyle, of whom he had fond memories.
    When World War II ended, Mr. Sherman and his wife moved back to New York, where he attended college at St. Lawrence University and graduated in 1947. He was a member of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity.
    Upon graduation, Mr. Sherman returned to Utica and entered the insurance business. He was very active in civic affairs, serving as president of the Utica Life Underwriters and chairman of the Utica Chapter American Red Cross. While serving as chairman, he was instrumental in establishing the Red Cross blood donation program.  
    The Shermans moved to Philadelphia in 1953, then to Baltimore for 38 years. Mr. Sherman was the senior economic development officer reporting directly to the governor of Maryland. He also served his community as president of the Oriole Advocates Inc. and secretary of Oriole Advocates Charitable Foundation.
    Mr. Sherman was a visionary and organizer for the preservation of the Babe Ruth birthplace next to Camden Yards in Baltimore, and lector for 20 years at St. Pius Church in the same city.  
    After his retirement in 1998, the Shermans moved to Delray Beach. There, he served as a life member of the VFW of Delray Beach and member of St. Vincent Ferrer Church.
    Mr. Sherman’s great-great-grandfather Amos Plumb Sherman served on the Massachusetts Line during the Revolutionary War when he was 19 years old. At 53, he reenlisted and served during the War of 1812. Great-grandfather Nathan P. Sherman was born to Amos Plumb and Patience Sherman in 1819 and served in the Civil War, fighting at Gettysburg on July 2-3, 1863, with the Vermont Volunteers Company E, 14th Regiment, and was wounded during Pickett’s Charge on July 3, 1863.
    A memorial service was held at St. Vincent Ferrer Church, Delray Beach. A reception with an Honor Guard followed at Barr Terrace in Delray Beach. Burial was in Utica.
    Memorial contributions may be made to Wounded Warriors and/or The American Legion.

— Obituary submitted by the family

By Willie Howard

    Nearly six weeks after Hurricane Irma roared through Florida, Lantana residents said in late October that they were still grappling with an unsightly reminder of the storm: piles of vegetation and construction debris stacked in their neighborhoods.
    Joanne Stanley, municipal services manager for Republic Services, said at the Oct. 23 Lantana Town Council meeting that the company had fallen behind in collecting large bulk items in Lantana — partly because trucks were filling up too fast and partly because there was no place to take construction debris, such as blown-over fences and roof shingles.
    Republic started hauling hurricane vegetation debris on Sept. 14, four days after Irma swept across Palm Beach County. But the town didn’t give the waste hauler the authority to haul away hurricane-related construction debris until Oct. 25.
    The delay was caused by the need for town officials to verify that the Federal Emergency Management Agency would reimburse the town for the hauling and disposal of what is known as “construction and demolition” debris.
    Following hurricanes, the Palm Beach County Solid Waste Authority typically opens debris sites where municipalities can dispose of storm-related construction and demolition debris.
    But this year, town officials said, the county approved the use of two private recycling facilities, Aquarius Recycling and Waste Management, for construction and demolition debris created by Hurricane Irma.
    Town officials chose Waste Management because it has facilities to handle the debris within the town. FEMA approved the town’s agreement with Waste Management on Oct. 26, ensuring reimbursement. Republic began hauling construction and demolition debris on Oct. 27.
    Regarding tree limbs and other types of vegetation, Stanley of Republic Services said it kept piling up in neighborhoods after the first wave of Lantana’s fallen vegetation was collected following Irma.
     “All I can say is we’re doing the best we can,” said Stanley, who jotted down concerns from residents at the Oct. 23 council meeting. “Vegetation is everywhere. It keeps appearing at the curb.”
    Mary Lacorazza of West Ocean Avenue told council members that a large pile of vegetation had been on her property since just after Irma hit on Sept. 10.
    Mayor David Stewart, who lives on Hypoluxo Island, said residents were calling him in October to complain about uncollected piles of vegetation.
    “I get the calls,” Stewart said. “I mean 10, 20, 30 calls about landscape debris. I need to know what to tell residents.”
    Because Irma swept across the entire state, Stanley said, Republic could not bring in trucks from other parts of Florida to help with South Florida’s debris overload.
    Councilman Lynn Moorhouse said residents could help by making sure leaves and other loose vegetation are properly bagged.
    Piles of tree limbs should be kept separate from bagged leaves, town officials said.
    Construction-type debris, such as fence parts, should be stacked in a third pile, not mixed with vegetation.

Hannah Kostizen and Jamie Vermeersch are employees at Periwinkle, 339 E. Atlantic Ave., Delray Beach. Photo provided

By Christine Davis

    The Delray Beach Downtown Development Authority invites visitors and residents to “shop small” on Small Business Saturday, Nov. 25. Of the 350-plus downtown boutiques, salons, spas, galleries and restaurants, 93 percent are owned by small business owners. New retailers include The Lavender ­Your French Store, Delray Beach Gallery, Fly By Furnishings, Spice, Sunday State Style, Charleston Shoe Co., Brotzeit German Bakery & Café, Tommy Bahama and Whitewall Contemporary.
    These new retailers joined longtime local businesses Vince Canning Shoes, Avalon Gallery, Murder on the Beach Bookstore, Petite Connection, Hands, Delray Camera Shop, Huber’s Pharmacy, Richwagen’s Delray Bike & Sport and more.
    Participating businesses will distribute giveaways provided by American Express, and offer refreshments and special in-store promotions. Visit www.ShopSmall.com for a list of participating merchants and additional offers.
                                
    Also, the Delray Beach Marketing Cooperative announced the arrivals of some new businesses, noting that “this season, there will be a lot going on,” said Stephen Chrisanthus, the cooperative’s associate director. 
    For food or drinks, he named Avant, 25 NE Second Ave.; Batch Gastropub, 14813 Lyons Road; Capital One Café, for coffee while banking, at 330 E Atlantic Ave.; Lucille’s Bad to the Bone, 9173 Atlantic Ave., Suite 120; MIA Kitchen and Bar at 7901 W. Atlantic Ave.; Sardinia Enoteca, 3035 S. Federal Highway, No. 5; and Winemakers Table at 2875 S. Congress Ave.
    For culture, he suggested visiting The Heart of Delray Gallery, an evolution of Artists Alley, on 1440 N. Federal Highway, and Arts Warehouse in Pineapple Grove. Also, he noted, Cornell Museum has just undergone a $1 million renovation.
                                
    On Oct. 26, Delray Beach was one of three South Florida cities to host the first “Downtowns Go Pink” in support of Susan G. Komen South Florida and National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Pink lights, compliments of the Delray Beach Downtown Development Authority, adorned Atlantic Avenue and Pineapple Grove.
    This event kicked off registration for the Komen Race for the Cure, which will be Jan. 27 in West Palm Beach.  To register, go to www.Komensouthflorida.org.
    Komen also encourages a visit to the Spady Cultural Heritage Museum to see “Shades of Pink,” an exhibit by photographer Michiko Kurisu featuring the personal journeys of nine local African-American women who are breast cancer survivors. The exhibit runs through Nov. 11. The Spady Museum is at 170 NW Fifth Ave., Delray Beach.
                                
    The Delray Beach Downtown Development Authority has two new board members who were appointed by the City Commission. They are Mavis Benson and John Conde. Benson, who also will serve as secretary, owns Avalon Gallery and is the chairperson of the Downtown Merchant & Business Association. Conde, owner of the Conde Center for Chiropractic Neurology, is a board-certified chiropractic neurologist, as well as a Chairman’s Club member of the Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce.
                                
    The Delray Beach Marketing Cooperative and Greater Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce won gold medals from the International Festivals & Events Association during its annual Pinnacle Awards presentation in September in Tucson. The Marketing Cooperative won for the Best Newspaper Insert for its annual Christmas Tree. The chamber won for its Seek in the City Scavenger Hunt promotional video. The association also recognized the South Florida Garlic Fest, which is produced by Festival Management Group, with a gold award for its radio ad and a bronze award for its e-blast newsletter.
                                
    The city of Boynton Beach received 10 awards for its marketing and programming initiatives. They included a second-place Silver Circle Savvy Award from the City-County Communications & Marketing Association for the city’s annual report and calendar. The city also won six SUNsational Awards from the Florida Festivals and Events Association for its Yappy Happy Hour, K-9 Competition, and Recreation & Parks events.
    From its submissions to the Public Relations Society of America’s Palm Beach Chapter Palm Awards, the city received a first-place Excellence Award in the products category and a second-place Quality Award for its Yappy Happy Hour program.
                                
    The Greater Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce honored three award recipients at its Luminary celebration in October at the Delray Beach Marriott. The Lifetime Achievement Award went to Frances Bourque, founder of the Old School Square Center for the Arts. Its Business of the Year award went to the Conde Center for Chiropractic Neurology, which was founded in 2006 by Dr. John Conde. Its Business Person of the Year award went to Pedro Andrade, general manager of Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza Delray.
                                
    In October, the Realtors of the Palm Beaches and Greater Fort Lauderdale donated items, along with $10,000, to benefit the Florida Realtors Disaster Fund for Hurricane Irma relief efforts in the Keys.
    “We are very pleased to do what we can to help our Realtor community and many of those affected by the devastation left in the wake of Hurricane Irma,” said Dionna Hall, CEO of the organization.
                                
    Kaufman Lynn Construction, which has its corporate office in Boca Raton, held its annual back-to-school backpack drive, which benefited nearly 850 children at Florence Fuller Child Development Centers. Philanthropy and community involvement are important parts of the company’s culture, and this year marks 20 years of the company’s support to nonprofit organizations.
                                
    Marc Julien Homes’ annual food drive is underway, through Project Thanksgiving, a campaign hosted by the United Way of Palm Beach County, CBS12 News and the Palm Beach County Food Bank. To drop off canned fruit and vegetables, boxes of stuffing and macaroni and cheese, or bags of potatoes and onions, go to Marc Julien Homes’ office, 755 NW 17th Ave., Suite 107, Delray Beach, or call 954-200-7758 to arrange for a donation pickup.

Art in Public Places

‘Cavalcade’, a sculpture by Albert Paley, is installed in front of 500 Ocean, a residential and retail complex under construction along Federal Highway in Boynton Beach. Paley is an American modernist metal sculptor. The work was created specifically for the city. It is one of six Paley sculptures included in a yearlong exhibition. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

                               
    Douglas Elliman Real Estate’s reports for the third quarter note that in Boca Raton over the year, luxury condo median-sales prices moved higher, 12.5 percent to $800,000, as inventory declined 9.6 percent. Luxury single-family prices declined 11 percent to $1.55 million, while inventory expanded 7.1 percent.         Among luxury properties in Delray Beach, condo median-sales prices lost 4.5 percent to $590,000, while single-family median sales prices rose 15.6 percent to $1.535 million. The market east of Federal Highway showed a shift in the mix to smaller but more sales.
    Third-quarter declines in closings in Boca Raton and Delray Beach were a result of the disruption in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma.
                                
    New Jersey-based National Realty Investment Advisors bought two waterfront parcels in Gulf Stream for $13 million,    according to property records and news reports.
    The parcels are a 1-acre lot at 2929 N. Ocean Blvd., for $6.5 million, and a 0.77-acre lot at 3565 N. Ocean Blvd., for $6.5 million. Records also show that the company received an $11 million loan from Gamma Real Estate, a New York City commercial real estate firm.
    Corcoran Group agent Candace Friis represented both sides of the deals.
    In 2013, sellers bought the property at 2929 N. Ocean Blvd. for $5.8 million, and the property at 3565 N. Ocean Blvd. for $4.5 million. The property at 2929 N. Ocean Blvd. was listed for $12 million this August. The property at 3565 N. Ocean Blvd. was listed for $10.75 million in November 2015.
                                
    The League of Women Voters of Palm Beach County will host a luncheon with special guest Suzanne Cabrera, the president/CEO of the Housing Leadership Council of Palm Beach County, who will speak on the topic of the county’s workforce housing. The event will take place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Nov. 15 at the Atlantis Country Club, 190 Atlantis Blvd.
    Cabrera previously served as executive director of The Lord’s Place. An experienced grant writer and administrator, she has written grants resulting in more than $50 million in successful awards.
    Tickets are $25 per person until Nov. 8, and $35 after. RSVP at www.lwvpbc.org or by calling 968-4123.
                                
    The Palm Beach Poetry Festival launched its annual Palm Beach County High School Poetry Contest, in partnership with Old School Square in Delray Beach.         Through Dec. 1, Palm Beach County high school students can submit original poems for consideration.
    The winner will receive $200, and four runner-up high school poets will each receive $100. They also will receive tickets to the Poetry Festival’s Sizzling Spoken Word event in January, and they will read their poems at the festival’s award ceremony in January.
    For contest rules and more information, visit www.palmbeachpoetryfestival.org.
                                
    In response to a challenge from Gov. Rick Scott to provide bachelor’s degrees in high-demand fields, Palm Beach State College’s new incentive program will ease eligibility requirements for earning one of the college’s bachelor’s degrees.
    Effective Jan. 5, Florida students can opt into the $10,000 incentive program without needing to apply or fill out forms provided they: maintain Florida residency, complete associate’s in either arts or sciences at the college, maintain overall 2.5 grade-point averages, complete both associate’s and bachelor’s degrees within six years of enrolling at the college, and complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid each year.
    For more information, visit www.palmbeachstate.edu/Programs/Bachelor/10k-degree.aspx.
                                
    Representing the first endowed professorship in Florida Atlantic University’s School of Accounting, accounting and advisory firm Daszkal Bolton will reward faculty teaching and research excellence at the university’s College of Business by establishing a fund with a gift of $50,000.
The fund supports one faculty member each year, who can use $5,000 to support his or her work. Daszkal Bolton has an office in Boca Raton.
    
    Send business news to Christine Davis at cdavis9797@gmail.com.

By Jane Smith
    
    Settling to save taxpayers’ money, state Rep. Al Jacquet agreed to pay $300 in fines and receive a letter of reprimand over a $35 parking ticket he received while serving as vice mayor of Delray Beach.
    His attorney, J.C. Planas, represented Jacquet at the Oct. 12 meeting of the Palm Beach County Commission on Ethics.
    “It was the honorable thing to do,” Planas said about Jacquet’s settlement. “He admitted to the violations and wanted to save the taxpayers time and money of a public hearing.”
    Jacquet could not be reached for comment.
    At the ethics commission meeting, Planas argued for the word “unintentional” before the violation, saying the commission likely would get more settlements if elected officials could agree to accept letters of reprimand and pay fines for ethics code violations.
    Three ethics commissioners agreed. But the vice chair, Clevis Headley, did not.
Headley said elected officials receive ethics training and sign a form saying they know the rules.  
    The four commissioners unanimously agreed to accept the settlement.
    The ethics case against Jacquet, who represents parts of Boynton Beach and Delray Beach, stems from a parking ticket he received in April 2016.
    Jacquet initially claimed he forgot to put his city-issued parking pass on the car’s dashboard when he was on commission business and was able to have the ticket voided. An internal Police Department review later revealed that city commissioners don’t receive parking passes.
    Jacquet had broached the parking-pass subject at least twice while he served on the Delray Beach City Commission.
    At a January 2014 workshop, Jacquet floated the idea of a parking pass for commissioners.
    “Wouldn’t that be unethical?” said then-Commissioner Adam Frankel.
    Mayor Cary Glickstein said at the workshop he didn’t support the idea.
    “The Police Department doesn’t support it,” he said. “From the parking management perspective of what we are trying to do, the optics don’t look good.”

For a family-style Thanksgiving dinner, Ellie’s 50’s Diner offers the whole-turkey meal with all the fixings to make the holiday food prep and cooking more manageable. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Avoid the kitchen fuss,

but still enjoy Thanksgiving dinner

in your own home

By Mary Thurwachter

    Some of us aren’t afraid to admit we’re impatient cooks — not fond of long hours in the kitchen peeling spuds, basting turkeys, baking pies and doing dishes.
    When it comes to Thanksgiving dinner, our recipe for success involves making a phone call and placing an order for turkey and all the sides from somebody who excels in the culinary skills we lack.
    We love turkey takeout, and frankly, so do our guests. Sure, those mostly unflappable folks working the Butterball hotline will miss our calls.
    They chortled mercilessly when I called to complain that my turkey had no breast! (They suggested I had cooked the bird upside down!)
    Oh, well. Not to worry. There are several restaurants and stores ready to take my order and yours for the Nov. 23 holiday. But don’t wait too long. The sooner the better. And if you’re going to fake it, be sure to trash the takeout containers before your guests arrive.

Ellie’s 50’s Diner
    Bob and Ellie Smela have been selling turkey dinner for years, and this year will be no exception.
    The restaurant is open, too, but the turkey takeout business has grown every year, Bob Smela says. The meal, which serves 12-14, includes a slow-roasted turkey, country-style cornbread stuffing, Ellie’s famous mashed potatoes, homemade gravy, green bean casserole, cranberry and mandarin orange relish, bakery rolls and butter and homemade pies — pumpkin and apple.
    Cost: $190. Orders must be prepaid and need to be made no later than seven days in advance. Pickup is 9 a.m.-noon Thanksgiving Day.
    2410 N. Federal Highway, Delray Beach, 276-7716

Café Frankie’s
    Turkey takeout is an eight-year tradition at Café Frankie’s, says owner Anthony Calicchio. Dinners are cooked the night before and morning of Thanksgiving.
    The menu includes free-range turkey (Italian-style stuffing with 40 ingredients is from Calicchio’s mother), gravy, mixed green salad with roasted pepper dressing, tomato and red onion salad, garlic mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes with raspberries and pistachios, string beans with fennel and lemon, broccoli rabe with garlic and oil, three types of homemade bread sticks with roasted garlic, chickpea spread and pumpkin nutmeg butter, and mixed berry cobbler and pumpkin pie for dessert.
    Cost: $200 for 6-10 servings, $270 for 12-15. Cash only. 50 percent deposit required. Orders must be made no later than five days in advance. Additional items are available and, for $25, Calicchio will carve your turkey for you. Pickup is 12:30-2 p.m. Thanksgiving Day.
    640 E. Ocean Ave., Boynton Beach, 732-3834

Henry’s
    Thanksgiving dinner to go includes choice of baby spinach salad, butternut squash bisque, Henry’s salad or split-pea soup, slow-roasted turkey with green beans, glazed carrots, mashed sweet potatoes or mashed red bliss potatoes, herb stuffing, sage gravy, cranberry relish and choice of apple, pumpkin or pecan pie.
    Cost: $160 for 4-6 servings, $275 for 10-12. Orders must be placed by Nov. 20. Pickup 2-5 p.m. Nov. 22 or 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Thanksgiving Day.
    16850 Jog Road, Delray Beach, 826-1791

Pig-Sty BBQ
    This popular honky-tonk barbecue joint offers family-style Thanksgiving takeout prepared by pit master Bryan Tyrell. Whole smoked turkeys range from $54.95 for a 10- to 12-pound bird, $92.75 for 18-20 pounds and $122.95 for 24-26 pounds.
    Pig-Sty BBQ has a variety of Thanksgiving packages, including full meal options, or you can buy items separately. Besides turkey, proteins include glazed ham, brisket, sausage and pulled pork. An array of sides, as well as house-made pies, cobblers and homemade ice cream, are available.
    For prices, see www.pigstybbq.com. Orders must be placed 48 hours prior to pickup, which will be available until 6 p.m. Nov. 22.  The restaurant is closed Thanksgiving Day.
    706 W. Boynton Beach Blvd., 810-5801

Meating Place offers Thanksgiving dinners, including cranberry sauce and desserts. Photo provided

Meating Place of Boca Raton
    Jack Baitz, manager of the 50-year-old butcher shop, says takeout dinners include freshly cooked turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing, gravy and a choice of pumpkin, apple, pecan or peach pie. Extra side dishes or turkey breasts are available for added price.
    Cost: $129 for 6-8 servings, $179.95 for 10-12 and $219.95 for 12-14. Orders should be placed ASAP because the number of turkeys is limited. Pickup is 8-11 a.m. Thanksgiving Day.
    277 E. Palmetto Park Road, Boca Raton, 368-1191

Joseph’s Classic Market
    Family dinner includes turkey, appetizers, stuffing, sweet potatoes or regular potatoes, roasted vegetables, green beans and apple and pumpkin pies. Cost: $149 for 10-12 servings. Orders should be placed by Nov. 17 and picked up by noon on Thanksgiving.
    5250 Town Center Circle, Boca Raton, 347-2314

Whole Foods Market
    Holiday meals at Whole Foods come in a variety of sizes — from meals for four all the way up to feasts for 12. Organic and conventional selections are available, as are a vegan meal option, a meal with turkey breast meat and non-turkey options. Turkeys are animal welfare rated through the Global Animal Partnership and raised without antibiotics or added hormones. A turkey feast for 12 includes turkey, spiral cut ham, mashed potatoes, traditional herb stuffing, gravy, cranberry orange sauce, green beans with garlic and parsley, roasted butternut squash, creamed spinach and kale, pumpkin and apple pies. Cost: $249.99. Customers can order in any of three ways: in store, at shop.wfm.com; or by calling 844-936-2428. When you order, you set up a pickup date for the week of Thanksgiving, including Thanksgiving Day.
    1400 Glades Road, No. 110, Boca Raton, 447-0000; for other locations, see www.wfm.com

Publix
    Fully cooked turkeys come with dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, marshmallow delight dessert and cranberry relish. Cost: $44.99 for 7-10 people and $84.99 for 14-18. Orders should be placed at least a week in advance and picked up the day before Thanksgiving.
    Various locations. www.publix.com

Boston Market
    Thanksgiving dinner for 12 includes a roasted turkey, spinach artichoke dip and crackers, mashed potatoes, gravy, vegetable stuffing, cranberry walnut dressing, dinner rolls and two pies — pumpkin and apple. Cost: $119.99. A basic turkey dinner for 12 with no appetizers, relish or pies is $99.99.
    Place orders a week ahead of time. Pick up the day before or on Thanksgiving.
    799 N. Federal Highway, Boca Raton, 391-9262. For other locations, see www.bostonmarket.com

    * All turkey providers will give reheating instructions.