By Jane Smith
    
    Over the past 30 years, the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency has spent the most in the West Atlantic neighborhood, according to an analysis released in late March.
    In that area, its biggest expense, $24.1 million, went to buy land, according to the CRA draft expense list pulled from the Munilytics Inc. report. The firm was hired last fall to analyze the taxable values in the CRA’s eight subareas. The agency contains about 20 percent of the city’s land.  
    For much of 2015, the City Commission and CRA board members were at loggerheads over the perceived richness of the CRA coffers when the city didn’t have enough money to provide services outside of the district.
    Much of the dispute can be attributed to lack of communication, the Munilytics report said. The two groups met twice last year.
    “Here we again emphasize that everyone believed that meeting quarterly or monthly would help all parties work together and communicate better,” Chris Wallace, Munilytics president, wrote in the report.
    On April 12, the CRA board members and the city commissioners will have a joint workshop. The CRA wants to present the complete Munilytics report to the City Commission at that time.
    CRA board members agreed to extend Munilytics’ contract to April 14 to ensure they have all of the economic impact data.
    On March 24, Wallace told the CRA board members that the agency’s economic impact over 30 years was “substantial. … Thousands of permanent jobs were created.”
    He explained how his firm calculates economic impacts. First, debt service costs for principal and interest are subtracted from the total invested. For the CRA, the agency had invested $213.1 million over 30 years, less $39.5 million for debt service to arrive at an initial impact of $173.6 million. Using multipliers, his firm estimated that the direct impact was $374.3 million over 30 years and 3,600 jobs were created.
    He also gave impacts for select projects in the CRA area:
    • Atlantic Grove, mixed-use project on Atlantic Avenue and sitting just west of Swinton Avenue, is valued at $9.9 million, created an estimated 169 jobs during construction and will have 66 permanent, onsite jobs when fully occupied.
    • Pineapple Grove Village, just north of Atlantic Avenue with two condo buildings and six townhomes, is valued at $35.6 million and created 838 jobs during construction.
    • Hyatt Place Delray Beach, a hotel with 134 rooms on Northeast Second Avenue, is valued at $13.7 million, created 291 jobs during construction and provides an estimated 87 jobs.
    • Seagate Hotel and Spa, a full-service resort with 154 rooms at 1000 E. Atlantic Ave., is valued at $25.5 million, created 492 jobs during construction and provides an estimated 140 jobs.  
    “It is very important for the City Commission to respect the efforts of the (CRA) board and to consider their recommendations and interim decisions that are offered or executed,” Wallace wrote in the report. “It is also very important for the CRA board to be consistently in lock step with the policies of the City Commission.”
    In other action at the CRA meeting:
    • Board members agreed to allow staff to hire its own engineers for the first time in an effort to speed up the development process of CRA projects.
    • Executive Director Jeff Costello received a 5 percent raise over his current salary of $132,893, on a 4-2 vote. Herman Stevens had left the meeting.
    CRA Chairman Reggie Cox and board member Joseph Bernadel voted no. They wanted Costello to do a self-evaluation, submit it to the board in two weeks and then the board would determine the amount of the increase.
    Bill Branning persuaded fellow board members to agree to the 5 percent raise that was based on their evaluations of Costello. Five marked his performance as outstanding, while two said he met expectations.

Annie Davis, owner of Palm Beach Travel.

Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

    Some people count sheep at night, but Annie Davis, owner of Palm Beach Travel in Manalapan, goes to bed thinking about the logistics and routing of her clients’ trips.
    “It helps me sleep,” said Davis.
    Whether someone wants to rent out an entire private island in the Caribbean, visit Antarctica, take a private tour through Italy on a Harley-Davidson or organize a multi-generational family vacation, Davis can make it happen.
    “The majority of our business is luxury travel,” Davis said, “but we also book flights to New York on JetBlue.”
    Palm Beach Travel was recently named the “agent of record” for Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, which means it can make bookings on the airline’s new luxury airliner that flies out of New York.
    The upper deck of the wide-body Airbus A380 features eight private “apartments,” including The Residence, an exclusive three-room suite with a living area and shower. The cost of The Residence between New York and Abu Dhabi is $32,000 each way.
    “It’s not for everybody,” said Davis, “but it’s an exciting part of our business, because it’s unique.”
    There’s only one Residence per aircraft, and there are only three in the world.
    The destinations most requested by Palm Beach Travel clients lately are Iceland, New Zealand, Seychelles, Dubai and Hawaii, Davis said.
    Palm Beach Travel opened just three years ago, and Davis plans to expand its square footage in the Plaza del Mar shopping center by almost double early next year. The boutique agency, which is part of the Altour division of American Express and specializes in Platinum and Centurion travel, also has a new cruise department that has “taken off,” Davis said.
    Davis travels about 120 days a year doing research and looking for ways to improve the travel experience of her clientele.
    “I don’t think any other travel agency in this area can say that they’re on top of the travel trends like we are,” Davis said. “We can tell you the pitch level in a lie-flat seat of every airline.”
    When Emirates started its new nonstop flights from Orlando to Dubai, Davis asked for complimentary round-trip limousine transportation from Palm Beach County to Orlando for her clients flying in business class and first class. And she got it.
    Davis, 45, who resides with her husband and two sons in Hypoluxo Island, is the world’s only American Express Travel Insider for the British Virgin Islands, and one of two for Dubai. She was a finalist for the 2016 Women of Worth, Entrepreneur of the Year award, and was recently nominated for the 2016 Executive Women of the Palm Beaches Women in Leadership Award.
    She is a donor and volunteer of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the organization that sent her family on a trip to Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Isles—chosen as a destination by her brother after he was diagnosed with leukemia as a child.
    “It’s my favorite place in the world,” Davis said. “That was something that I always feel I need to give back to people so they can have that same experience.”
    Along with her coworkers, Davis is also a donor and volunteer of Give Kids the World, which created a hotel in Orlando with its own nursing care and amusement park, specifically for kids visiting Disney World through the Make-A-Wish program.
    When it comes to travel, Davis said, “I have what we call ‘jet fuel in the blood.’ This is not a job. It really is a way of life.”
    — Marie Puleo

    Q. Where did you grow up and go to school? How do you think that has influenced you?
    A. I was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and lived there until I was 12. I went to All Saints Catholic School. We lived in a great family neighborhood filled with kids. I was blessed to have had an early childhood spent playing with friends from the neighborhood, going to summer camp and our local amusement park.
    I had two younger brothers, Michael and David, with whom I was very close. Tragedy struck our family just after we moved to California when I was 12. My brother Michael was diagnosed with leukemia. My loving parents worked tirelessly to help my little brother. Sadly, he passed away at age 19, just after we moved to Michigan.
    Because of this, I grew up quickly. I had a lot of responsibility, as the oldest sibling. This has influenced my life greatly. I have an incredible amount of emotional strength, I hold my husband and children more closely and I live every day to its fullest.

    Q. What professions have you worked in? What professional accomplishments are you most proud of?
    A. I have always been in the travel industry. I was a founding member of two airlines, Jet U.S. in Detroit, Michigan, and Midway Airlines in Chicago. I was an inflight supervisor and oversaw our flight attendant division. As an inflight supervisor, I also had the opportunity to fly as a flight attendant. On one of these flights, I met my future husband.
    The tragic events of Sept. 11 changed my career path. Midways Airlines closed its doors on the very next day. I found myself six months pregnant, with no job and an uncertain career path. I took this opportunity to complete my college degree and start a vacation rental company in the Florida Keys.
    It was difficult to balance school, work and care for my family. I could not have done this without the support of my fabulous mom and supportive family.
    Once my children were established in school, I joined American Express as an exclusive Centurion travel agent. Our team planned travel and lifestyle experiences for the top 10 percent of the wealthiest Centurion cardholders.
    American Express announced in 2013 that it was closing its storefront travel agencies. I saw a need for a boutique storefront travel agency in Manalapan. With the blessing of American Express, I opened Palm Beach Travel, a division of Altour Travel, American Express in Plaza del Mar. I also brought with me the top agents from American Express.
    
    Q. What advice do you have for a young person selecting a career today?
    A. Don’t let failure stop you. Use it to inspire you to work harder. The first airline I started at lasted only a few days. From that experience, I had two choices. The first was to choose another career path, the second was to try again. I am very happy I tried again.
    When 9/11 happened, I didn’t let that stop me. I tried again. When American Express said they were closing their storefront travel agencies, I didn’t see that as failure but as an opportunity to open Palm Beach Travel.
    Failure is only an opportunity to do something you love over again, only better.

    Q. How did you choose to make your home in Hypoluxo Island? 
    A. Almost 20 years ago, I was filming a documentary for PBS about flight attendants on a flight from Palm Beach. There was a good-looking passenger on that flight who did everything he could to make me look good on camera and did a bit of flirting. That passenger ended up being my future husband, Brent.
    Brent, a lawyer, was a longtime resident of Hypoluxo Island. We married in 2000 and I moved from North Carolina to the island. We just celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary!

    Q. What is your favorite part about living in Hypoluxo Island?  
    A. I can walk or ride my bike to work. I also think it is a wonderful place to raise a family.

    Q. What book are you reading now?
    A. I am an avid reader. The book I am currently reading is The Path Between the Seas, by David McCullough. My family and I are traveling to the Panama Canal and we all are reading this book. I highly recommend it.

    Q. What music do you listen to when you need inspiration? When you want to relax?
    A. When I need inspiration, I listen to Jimmy Buffett. He is a great storyteller. When I need to relax, I listen to the music played at Hot Yoga of Delray during my yoga class. I have practiced hot yoga regularly for eight years.

    Q. Have you had mentors in your life? Individuals who have inspired your life decisions?
    A. My father, Mike Heglin. My dad is the humblest person I know. He was an early pioneer in the laser industry and is a published author. His career and family values have shaped my life.
    He began his career as an engineer working with lasers at University of Cincinnati developing laser eye surgery. He then went on to develop lasers for GE in their aircraft division. He also worked with NASA and many other notable companies. He still works in a small corner of his garage developing laser technology that shapes the future of our society.
    He and my beautiful mom, Suzanne, have been married for nearly half a century.

    Q. If your life story were made into a movie, who would you want to play you?
    A. Elizabeth Banks.  She is funny, charming and blonde.

    Q.  Is there something about you people don’t know, but should?
    A. I am a good matchmaker. One of my best friends is Emi Ebben from Jewelry Artisans. My husband’s best friend is a great guy named Tim. We set them up on a date many years ago. They just celebrated their 12th wedding anniversary!

By Willie Howard

    OCEAN RIDGE — Flip Traylor made a living on the water around Boynton Beach most of his life. The Ocean Ridge resident loved fishing, music and his two West Highland white terriers, Dobbie and Duff.
    The former pilot, boat captain, real estate broker and commercial fisherman died March 1 at the VA Medical Center in West Palm Beach following a long battle with skin cancer. He was 86.
    Philip Bryan Traylor was born in a bridge tender’s house in July 1929 — three months before the stock market crash that led to the Great Depression — in Deerfield Beach, where his father, Burt, was working.
    While growing up in Boynton Beach, Mr. Traylor fished for food and sold fish to help his family make ends meet. He fashioned a fishing rod from a piece of bamboo, its wire line stripped from the windings of an electric motor.
    He and other boys dug clams from a small island on the north side of the Boynton Inlet, now known as Audubon Island. During the winter, his father gathered oysters from the west side of the Lake Worth Lagoon where the Palm Beach Yacht Center is located today.
    “We had no money, but we had fish, oysters, clams and sea turtles,” Mr. Traylor said in a 2014 interview.
    Mr. Traylor attended high school in Key West, where he learned to play the drums and began to peddle his musical talents in bars. Seeing her son working in bars didn’t please his mother, who sent Mr. Traylor away to Brewton-Parker College in Georgia.
    He attended the University of Florida in the 1950s but ran out of money and returned home to work on the many charter fishing boats that ran out of the Boynton Inlet. He met his wife, Barbara, in the mid-1950s at the South Ocean Club, a live-music club near Lake Worth Beach. “He liked to jitterbug,” Barbara Traylor said, recalling the many nights they went dancing at the Boynton Woman’s Club.
    Fishing became a thread that connected many parts of Mr. Traylor’s life.
    After a wealthy man asked Mr. Traylor to run his boat one summer, he spent 20 years working as a private boat captain — a job that led him to billfish tournaments in the Bahamas and inspired him to become a pilot.
    After his employer’s death in the 1970s, Traylor became a real estate broker, selling resort property in the Turks and Caicos Islands.
    Mr. Traylor worked as a commercial fisherman. He headed out the Boynton Inlet before sunrise on his 24-foot boat, MLB (My Little Boat), in pursuit of kingfish as often as the weather permitted, even after his body had withered from the effects of skin cancer.
    “There’s a hell of a lot of kingfish off Boynton Inlet that are breathing a sigh of relief,” friend and fellow boat captain Dr. Charles “Buddy” Moore said following Mr. Traylor’s death.
    “People will remember him with his straw hat and his Levis and suspenders, as a fisherman,” Moore said. “He was a philosopher, a well-read, kind, intelligent man.”
    Friend Arnold Stroshein said he and Mr. Traylor were both in their early 20s when they served as escorts for women from Chicago who were visiting The Breakers hotel. They eventually learned the ladies were in a club for exceptionally tall women.
    “They were all a foot taller than we were,” Stroshein said.
    Friend and fellow commercial fisherman Kim Morrison said he was impressed with Mr. Traylor’s ability to keep fishing after treatments for skin cancer left him rail thin and nourished with a feeding tube.
    “He fought the best fight I’ve ever seen,” Morrison said. “He needed a rest.”
    Mr. Traylor’s fishing buddies planned to spread his ashes on the Atlantic — along with the remains of his two dogs — in March.
    Mr. Traylor is survived by his wife, Barbara; sister Mary Ann Wilson of Lakeland; daughter Pam Anwyll of McLean, Va.; son Greg of Boynton Beach; granddaughter Ashton Krauss of Ocean Ridge; a great-grandson; and several nieces and nephews.
    A memorial gathering for Mr. Traylor is scheduled for noon to 3 p.m. June 5 at the Boynton Woman’s Club, 1010 S. Federal Highway. Those planning to attend have been asked to RSVP by sending an email to panwyll@verizon.net.

By Emily J. Minor

    BOCA RATON — Dr. Herbert Leonard Wachtel, a military cardiologist who left the service in 1969 to join Bethesda Memorial Hospital’s burgeoning heart ward, died Feb. 12 in his sleep at home. He was 81.
    After joining Bethesda, Dr. Wachtel would eventually serve as both the hospital’s chief of cardiology and chief of staff. He was also instrumental in helping start Delray Medical Center, said his wife, Lenore.
    Dr. Wachtel was born in 1934 in the New York borough of Queens, son of the late Jacob and Sally Wachtel. He married Lenore Ackerman in 1958. A year later, Dr. Wachtel graduated from the State University of New York, Downstate Medical Center, and began serving in the U.S. Army.
    While in the service, he served as chief of cardiology at William Beaumont Hospital in El Paso, Texas. But when Dr. Wachtel was ready to leave the Army, he, his wife, and their four children wanted to live someplace close to the ocean, said Lenore Wachtel. They considered Southern California, but the need for medical doctors there wasn’t that great, she said.
    “Florida at the time was calling for doctors,” she remembered.
    When the family arrived in 1969, Lenore Wachtel said her husband, also a founding member of Temple Beth El in Boca Raton, was the only Jewish physician on staff at Bethesda.
    In those days, it created a bit of talk about town, she said.
    Dr. Wachtel’s intelligence and bedside manner quickly won over the hearts of patients and colleagues alike. The cardiology field was changing rapidly in those years, his wife remembers, and Dr. Wachtel was quick to absorb new procedures and studies.
    On many occasions, he visited nursing homes and recommended pacemakers for patients who seemed too ill to move about, she remembered.
    “He would put in pacemakers and they would get up, walk around, and go home,” she said.
    After helping establish Bethesda’s widely recognized cardiac program, Dr. Wachtel retired about 15 years ago. It was then that he and his wife were able to enjoy traveling, eventually visiting all the continents except Antarctica. The doctor also loved to play golf and bridge, and enjoyed both classical and operatic music.
    “He was dedicated to his work and his family,” said his wife, “and he was very well loved.”
    In addition to his wife, the couple’s four married children survive their father: Mitchell Wachtel, of Lubbock, Texas; Stacy Wachtel, of Tulsa, Okla.; Edward Wachtel, of New York City; and Janice Wachtel Walton, of Jacksonville. The children’s spouses and six grandchildren also survive him.
    Make memorial donations to the Florence Fuller Child Development Centers, 200 NE 14th St., Boca Raton, FL 33432, or the Herbert Wachtel Temple Beth El Memorial Fund, 333 SW Fourth Ave., Boca Raton, FL 33432

By Rich Pollack

    Efforts to educate motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians in parts of coastal Palm Beach County about the importance of sharing the road appear to be paying off.
    During a weeklong, stepped-up enforcement effort along State Road A1A in southern Palm Beach County last month, law enforcement officers from six agencies wrote only one moving-violation citation to a bicyclist and did not issue any warnings or citations to pedestrians.
    “We’re seeing a lot more compliance than we had in the past,” said Highland Beach police Lt. Eric Lundberg, who founded the South Florida Safe Roads Task Force two years ago and who helps lead the group of law enforcement officers and traffic safety advocates. “Motorists and bicyclists are actively working toward the goal of sharing the road.”
    During the most recent coordinated education and enforcement effort from March 7 to 13, law enforcement officers wrote motorists 38 citations and issued drivers 28 written warnings.
    Nine of the citations were for speeding, 12 were for red-light violations and seven were nonmoving violations, such as an expired tag or faulty equipment. There were also 10 moving violations for a variety of other traffic infractions.
    In addition to the one violation for the bicyclist, law enforcement officers issued 120 verbal warnings to bicyclists, with a large number of the them the result of officers pulling over groups of riders and reminding them of the law.
    “Our goal is education and it appears that we’re making progress,” said Lundberg, who thinks increased awareness played a role in reducing the number of citations issued.
    For at least one bicycle club, which hosts two weekend rides on State Road A1A, constant efforts to ensure riders remain safe and follow the law may be playing a role in the reduced citations.
    “We do everything we can to be as safe as possible and ride within the rules,” says Tony Whittaker, a ride leader with the zMotion Bicycle Club, which hosts group rides for club members on Saturday and Sunday mornings.
    Whittaker and another ride leader, Dean Budney, said before each ride the team leaders go over safety measures and laws.
    For each ride, which can have as many as 30 bicyclists, team leaders remind riders to stay as far to the right as possible.
    Budney said often there will be some riders who join the group and don’t always follow the law. Ride leaders encourage those bicyclists to leave the group.
    “I ask people to ride somewhere else fairly regularly,” Budney said. “Our role as team leaders is to bring everyone home safe and in one piece.”
    While law enforcement officers acknowledge there are other groups where rides on A1A can evolve into impromptu races, Budney and Whittaker say zMotion does not permit racing. The group rides about 20 to 22 miles per hour, they say.
    The team leaders say they usually let others in the group know when there is a car behind them, shouting out “car back,” so riders can move over even farther.
    Whittaker says he frequently signals to the car when it is safe to cross over the yellow line, passing the bicyclists by more than three feet, the legal requirement.
    While zMotion disagrees with a Highland Beach Police Department interpretation of the state law that officers say requires bicyclists to ride single file except when passing, club members comply and ride in a single line when going through the town. Lundberg has requested a clarification of the law from the state Attorney General’s Office.
    “Our goal is to represent the cycling community well,” Budney said.

    More than 200 bicyclists are expected in Delray Beach’s Ride of Silence, part of an annual event to honor cyclists killed or injured while riding.
    The worldwide event, scheduled for May 18 this year, will begin at 6 p.m. It will include a 10-mile ride starting and ending at Old School Square in Delray Beach.
    “This is a slow, casual ride not to exceed 9 miles per hour,” said Patrick Halliday, president of the Delray Beach Bicycle Club.
    There is no charge to participate, but it is limited to riders at least 16 years old. Riders should  arrive prior to 5:45 and must wear a helmet.
    For more information visit www.meetup.com/delraybeachbikeclub/ or contact Halliday at info@delraybeachbikeclub.com.

    Lantana Vice Mayor Malcolm Balfour won 69 percent of the votes on March 15 to defeat newcomer Anthony Arsali, with 31 percent. Balfour, who has served on the Town Council since 2013, received 1,116 votes to his opponent’s 512.
    Lynn Moorhouse, who has been a council member since 2004, retained his seat with no opposition.
    Balfour, 78, has been a Lantana resident for 44 years. Arsali, 29, an attorney, lives on Hypoluxo Island.
— Mary Thurwachter

By Mary Thurwachter

    Natasha Deonath, a former sales director at the Carlisle senior living community in Lantana, was sentenced on March 7 to 18 months in prison for charging the business more than $100,000 for phony resident referrals and taking kickbacks.
    The sentence was handed down by Circuit Judge Dina Keever after Deonath, 39, pleaded guilty to one count each of organized scheme to defraud and money laundering.
    According to an October 2014 Lantana police report, officials at the senior living facility at 450 E. Ocean Ave. noticed that one real estate agent was being paid for an unusually high number of referrals.
    Carlisle officials suspected Deonath of receiving kickbacks for referrals. Many referrals came from Realtor Glenn Gatti of Royal Palm Beach, according to the police report. Fourteen people listed as being referred by Gatti said they did not know him, according to the report.
    Investigators determined that Gatti would receive checks for referrals, but that some of the apartments were never rented and some were already occupied. Police said that Gatti would, in turn, send checks to Deonath. Some of them were endorsed by Deonath’s husband, Rodney Jagessar, a Lake Worth Realtor.
    Jagessar, 41, was sentenced to five years’ probation and Gatti, 64, was given two years’ probation.

By Mary Thurwachter

    The final vote on whether to dissolve the Lantana Nature Preserve Commission, which had been scheduled for the March 14 Town Council meeting, has been postponed until April 25.
    The town made its first vote to disband the commission at its Feb. 22 meeting.
    Town Attorney R. Max Lohman recommended the move, saying the commission, to which the town appoints members, and the Friends of the Lantana Nature Preserve, a nonprofit organization, frequently duplicate efforts and that only one of the groups was necessary. There are some common members to both groups and only one is covered by the Sunshine Laws regarding open meetings.
    Lohman said the town was trying to protect itself and members of the two groups from getting into trouble with the Sunshine Laws.
    But at the town’s March 14 meeting, past and present members of the Nature Preserve Commission, who opposed the move, said that insufficient notice was given to them about the plan to dissolve the group.
    “We only meet twice a year,” said Nature Preserve Commission Chairman Paul Arena. “Our next meeting is April 5. Let us meet to discuss this.”
    Former nature preserve commission member Richard Schlosberg said that “insufficient notice was given” and “the Lantana Nature Preserve Commission had stood in good service for protecting the Lantana Nature Preserve.”
    Schlosberg added the commission and the Friends were “not overlapping functions but dovetailing them.”
    Some residents worried that the preserve could one day disappear without proper vigilance. But council member Phil Aridas said that “the Nature Preserve will always be there.”
    Lohman agreed. “When the property (former home to a town dump) was sold, there was a deed restriction that it always has to be a passive park,” he said.
    “Early on, it wasn’t the same people on both so it wasn’t a problem, but as time went on, with fewer people interested (in serving on the committees), it became one,” Lohman said.
    A coastal hammock between the Carlisle senior living facility on East Ocean Avenue and the Intracoastal Waterway, the Lantana Nature Preserve was created by a 1997 ordinance and came out of a lawsuit. The Carlisle pays the town $40,000 a year to maintain the park. No money comes from the town’s general fund to pay for its maintenance.
    In other action, the council:
    • Voted 3-1 (with Lynn Moorhouse dissenting and Tom Deringer absent) to support an effort by the County Commission to put the 1-cent infrastructure surcharge proposal on the ballot in November. The sales tax increase would yield about $220 million annually countywide, of which Lantana would receive $650,000 a year for projects such as renovating the library or Town Hall and for paving roads.

    • Denied a request by Nicholas Arsali of 505 S. Atlantic Drive for a code variance to allow him to build a 6-foot-high wall along the front of his property.

Helen Bass puts the hammer into the project as soon-to-be-homeowner Gethro Phaitus

keeps watch during a roof-raising at 421 SW Fifth Ave. in Delray Beach.

Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

The Phaitus family — mom Yvescar; daughter Geica, 4; son Liam, 2; and dad Gethro —

stands at the homesite. It takes Habitat for Humanity four to six months to finish a house.

Photo provided

By Lucy Lazarony

    For 25 years, Habitat for Humanity of South Palm Beach County has been building homes for families and changing lives.
    “We’ve built 124 homes,” says Mike Campbell, executive director. “They are complete and have families living in them and we currently have three homes under construction. We’re bringing people together to build homes, community and hope.”
    A group of retired IBM executives hatched the idea for Habitat for Humanity in south Palm Beach County in 1989.
    They had traveled up to West Palm Beach to help Habitat build a home in the Westgate community, and when they found out there wasn’t a program for South County, they said, “We can fix that.”
    And they started the process to do just that, finishing on April 29, 1991, Habitat of Humanity of South Palm Beach County’s official anniversary date.  
    The first house was built at 164 NE 11th St. in Boca Raton. The gross cost of the house was $10,425 and the gross cost of a house today is $120,000.
    The house was started on Sept. 7, 1991, and completed on June 24, 1992.
     “We do much better than that now,” Campbell says.
    Now Habitat homes are completed in four to six months. Habitat does it with a staff of 42 and 1,700 volunteers.
    “Last year, we had just over 1,700 different individuals participate in 46,000 hours of service,” Campbell says. “Seventy percent of every Habitat house is built by volunteers and 30 percent is contracted labor.”  
    There’s no building experience required to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity.
    “You don’t need any experience at all. We have paid staff and volunteer crew leaders that will show you everything you need to know,” Campbell says.  
    To volunteer, visit the Habitat for South Palm Beach County website, www.habitatsouthpalmbeach.org, and click on the volunteer button.
    Volunteer John Shelly of Boynton Beach has helped to build 98 houses.  
    “It’s fun,” Shelly says. “It’s rewarding seeing a house go together and see the family move into the house, how excited they are. It’s just an American dream come true.”
    There was a roof-raising for the future home of the Phaitus family — Gethro and Yvescar Phaitus and their daughter, Geica, 4, and their son, Liam, 2 — in Delray Beach on March 19.    
    “It’s a good experience,” says Gethro Phaitus. “It’s like you are working with your family.”  
    Like every family helped by Habitat, Phaitus is pitching in to help build other Habitat houses as well as his own.  
    Jermain Fashaw and his wife, Meshell, and their two children, India, 14, and Jermain II, 12, having been living six years in a Habitat house that they helped to build in Boynton Beach.
    “I can’t say enough about Habitat. It was just a total blessing,” Fashaw says. “It was a step up for us.”  
    There is a fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity of South Palm Beach County celebrating its 25th anniversary planned for April 21 at the Arts Garage in Delray Beach.
    Swing for Habitat, featuring live music by The Garrison Elliott Band, includes dinner, dancing, an open bar, silent auction and raffle prizes. The event begins at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $75 per person. To purchase tickets, visit www.swingforhabitat.com.
    Habitat also is looking to raise money through a Women’s Build Week in May. Volunteers are required to make a minimum, tax-deductible donation of $50 to register.
    “We’re going to do a weeklong women’s build,” Campbell says. “They are going to put roofs on a couple of homes if we raise enough money. You’ve never seen a house straighter or more square than when women build.”
    Another way to support Habitat’s mission is with donations to and purchases from its three thrift stores. Habitat ReStores are at 1900 N. Federal Highway in Delray, 272 S. Dixie Highway in Boca Raton and 10055 Yamato Road in west Boca Raton.

By Dan Moffett

    Town Attorney Ken Spillias retired in March after 17 years on the job in Ocean Ridge and 41 years practicing law.
    “I’ve seen good government and I’ve seen very bad government,” Spillias told the commission. “I want you to know that from my perspective, working here has been an absolute pleasure.”
    Spillias’ last couple of years were stormy ones for the town, with the forced resignation of Police Chief Chris Yannuzzi, a failed recall attempt, personnel changes and no shortage of political infighting.
    “This is a small town and there are a lot of systemic changes that need to be made,” he said. “Small towns tend to resist that. They have their way of doing things and it works. And it has worked here, and it has worked very, very well.”
    Spillias suggested that recent disputes should be kept in perspective.
    “You are lucky people,” he said. “You live in a really nice town, and for the most part, people are nice to each other. You have your dust-ups and you have your battles. But I’m going to tell you something — compared to other cities, and you read about them right here in Palm Beach County — you have a great group of people, both citizens and commissioners and staff, who are all working, sometimes at odds with each other but with the right attitude, to make this stay a wonderful place to live.”
    Mayor Geoff Pugh said Spillias had been “almost like a mentor” to him. Pugh said he’d miss the sound from the end of the dais of Spillias’ clearing his throat when commissioners considered actions that might have legal risks.
    Spillias’ successor, Glen Torcivia, gave him Greek candy and vintage Pittsburgh Pirates baseball cards as parting gifts.
In other action:
    • Town Manager Jamie Titcomb told the commission that public records requests “are up exponentially” and his staff is overwhelmed. Titcomb won the commission’s approval for the extraordinary step of closing Town Hall for a day (on March 25) to allow staff to catch up with requests and purge unneeded documents.
    Titcomb said the town should make the transition to electronic record-keeping and a more modern archival system. Commissioners agreed and told Titcomb to investigate alternatives.
    • The commission gave unanimous approval to Police Chief Hal Hutchins’ plans for overhauling his department’s administrative structure and for updating its radio system.
    Under the restructuring, the department would add an administrative lieutenant position, at a cost of about $7,400 in salary and benefits. Hutchins also said he would promote two officers to fill vacant sergeant and investigator positions.
    The first phase of a two-part upgrade for the town’s 10-year-old radio system will cost about $84,000, with an additional $62,000 expected in next year’s budget to complete the overhaul. The new radios enable the town’s police to communicate more efficiently with neighboring agencies.

Albert Richwagen III and his mother, Bertha, in their shop in Delray Beach.

Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

55 years ago, Robert Richwagen posed at the entrance of their first store, and framed the first dollar they made (below).

Photos provided

By Ron Hayes

    On April 22, 1961, Robert and Bertha Richwagen put a dollar bill in a picture frame and hung it on the wall of their newly opened scooter shop in Delray Beach.
    Now, 55 years and five addresses later, that first dollar Richwagen’s Cycle Center earned is still on a wall in Delray Beach, and Richwagens still run the business.
    “In 1960, my dad was a tool and die maker at Pratt & Whitney,” his son Albert Richwagen III recalled. “My older brothers were GoKart racers and they needed a place to work on their GoKarts, so he opened a GoKart and Vespa scooter store at the corner of Southeast First Avenue and First Street.”
    The GoKarts and scooters took off, and after a couple of years Richwagen moved the business to 205 E. Atlantic Ave., where Starbucks stands today.
    “My mom would run the store during the day and Dad would come in at night to do repairs,” his son explained.
    Another few years and business was so good that Richwagen left Pratt & Whitney, able at last to make a living off the store. They moved again, to 217 E. Atlantic Ave., home to the Buddha Sky Bar now, and stayed for the next 25 years.
    Bob Richwagen’s success was not surprising. A native of Boston, he had learned machine work in high school, then labored as a welder in the Boston Shipyard during World War II. At Pratt & Whitney in Hartford, Conn., where he turned engineers’ designs into working models that could then be manufactured, he was part of the team that built a periscope used in America’s first nuclear submarine.
    Now he brought that same ingenuity to his bike shop.
    In the early 1960s, the Beach Boys sang “Let’s go surfing now, everybody’s learning how.” Delray’s teenagers were among those learning how, so Richwagen designed the “Richie,” a handmade surfboard he made at the shop and sold along with Raleigh bicycles. (You can see a rare surviving Richie at the Delray Beach Surfing Museum, 255 N. Federal Highway.)
    When the surfing fad faded, Richwagen noted the area’s growing number of retirees and designed a three-wheeled bicycle for adults.
    Bob Richwagen died of a heart attack on July 8, 1988, at 59. His widow, Bertha, took over the business with sons Paul and Albert, and Richwagen’s Cycle Center was renamed Richwagen’s Bike & Sport a year later.
    “When I took over, we were the only Raleigh dealer around,” Albert Richwagen says. “I still have my Raleigh Chopper from when I was a kid, hanging on my living room wall.”
    The business moved to 32 SE Second Ave. for a couple of years, then to 401 NE Second Ave., by the railroad tracks, for two more. In 2007, it came to the current location, 298 NE Sixth Ave., at the corner of Third Street.
    Addresses are not the only thing that’s changed in the 55 years since Bob Richwagen framed that first dollar.
    The GoKarts, Vespas and Raleighs are gone. Today, Richwagen’s sells mainly the Electra line, along with a few Schwinns, as well as powerboards.
    The cost of a good bike has gone way up, with prices ranging from $249 to $5,000.
    And the number of kids who ride bikes has gone way down.
    “To be honest,” Richwagen says, “bike riding for kids has been on the decline for several years.”
In August, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the good news that bicycle deaths among children 15 and under had plummeted 92 percent since 1975.
Safety helmets helped, of course, but more significant, the number of children who rode bikes to school dropped from 48 percent in 1969 to a mere 13 percent 40 years later, according to the National Center for Safe Routes to School.
    And those kids’ good old American bikes aren’t even American anymore.
    “Every bike under $1,000 is made in Japan, China or Taiwan,” Richwagen says.
    But some things remain.
    At 79, Bertha Richwagen still shows up for work on Saturdays and holidays, and the Richwagens take pride in giving back to the community that’s supported them for 55 years.
    The store participates in bike safety rodeos at Spady and Pine Grove elementary schools and the Bike Valet service at the city’s weekly green market.
    Working with Human Powered Delray, a local nonprofit, Richwagen’s rehabilitates bicycles confiscated by the Delray Beach Police Department, after which they’re given to needy and deserving students at Toussaint L’Ouverture High School for Arts and Social Justice.
    In addition, Sandoway House Nature Center, St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic School and Unity School have had Richwagen bikes donated for fundraising raffles.
    “It’s the give-back,” Albert Richwagen says, “the paying forward.”
    And now, the looking forward.
    “I don’t plan on moving,” he says. “I want to expand.”
    Even with a store boasting 3,000 square feet, Richwagen feels cramped.
    “The only way to get a good deal on bikes is to buy 75 or 100 at a time,” he says, “so I have off-site storage I’m paying for.” And about 100 rental bikes live in the fenced yard behind the store.
    “I’d like to build another building back there, with a mezzanine for storage, move the repair shop back in there and make this all one showroom,” he says.
    The bike business, and bikes themselves, have come a long way since a tool and die maker from Boston started selling GoKarts in 1961, and his son is pedaling right along with the changes.
    “Nowadays, the guys who are selling a lot of really high-priced road bikes, they have an espresso machine, a bar, leather couches and a computerized fit station to customize the bike to your body,” Richwagen reports. “I’d love to add that addition and then create a fit station and relaxing area for our customers.”
    But that’s not what he loves about the business.
    “Bikes are the breeze in your face,” he says. “When you’re in a car, you’re in a capsule. On a bike, you take it all in. You’re smelling it, hearing it, feeling it. It’s all green.
    “I could get to the beach faster on a bike than you can in your car.”

Correction

    A story in the April Coastal Star misstated the reason the town of Ocean Ridge paid $50,000 in legal fees to Commissioner Richard Lucibella’s attorney. The payment was reimbursement for Lucibella’s legal defense of a failed recall effort against him last year. The fees were not due to his lawsuit against the recall’s organizers, which also named the town clerk as a defendant because of her ministerial role in certifying elections.

By Dan Moffett

    Political newcomer Steve Coz pulled off an upset in the March 15 election when he ousted Ocean Ridge Vice Mayor Lynn Allison, who held a seat on the Town Commission since 2004.
    Coz, 58, a 31-year resident of Ocean Ridge who has served on town zoning and adjustment boards, captured 55 percent of the vote in defeating Allison, 445-358, a strong turnout of 54 percent of registered voters.
    “It’s disappointing. We worked very hard,” said Allison. “But I’m hopeful the new commissioner will keep some of the promises he’s made and work for the good of the town.”
    Coz, the president of a publishing company, won the endorsements of the four other commission members and campaigned on a commitment to work toward preparing the town for projected development and population growth across the bridge.
    “It’s not Ocean Ridge residents causing the trespass problems at McCormick Mile Beach Club,” he told voters. “It’s not Ocean Ridge residents robbing our children at gunpoint in the center of town. It’s not Ocean Ridge gangs breaking into cars at the south end of town. We have serious problems past our town limits. Outside population pressure will define our town in the years to come.”
    Allison was sympathetic last year toward the failed recall efforts against Commissioner Richard Lucibella, a movement that grew out of the forced resignation of Police Chief Chris Yannuzzi.
    Defending itself against Lucibella’s suit over the recall cost the town some $50,000 in legal fees and also a toll in political acrimony within the commission.
    Mayor Geoff Pugh believes neither the recall dispute nor the commissioners’ support for Coz dictated the outcome.
    “Those issues are relegated to a small volume of the population,” Pugh said. “The large volume of voters gets direction on who to vote for from their neighbors. Petty backbiting is relegated to just a very few. I think most people just believed that maybe, after 12 years, it was time for someone else.” Pugh credited Coz with running a forward-looking campaign that did not revisit the town’s political turmoil.
    “Mr. Coz got out there and was more upbeat than Lynn,” Pugh said. “Lynn Allison gave 12 years of her life to the town of Ocean Ridge and was an excellent commissioner. One reason she lost was that people want to see change.” Pugh said he’s hopeful that the newly formed commission will work for Ocean Ridge’s best interests.
    “We don’t have a lot of big issues. But in a small town, issues are created — especially in a paradise, they’re created,” he said. “My biggest concern is when people come (onto the commission) that they do it for the town and don’t do it for their ego.”

$39.95 million for this Delray Beach house.
Rendering of the $13.635 million house being built in Ocean Ridge.

Photos provided

By Christine Davis

    With another season winding down, home sales on Palm Beach County’s southern coast continue to break records.

    Listing in January with a price of $39.95 million, a 33,500-square-foot home on 1.7 acres at 921 S. Ocean Blvd., Delray Beach, closed Feb. 29, selling for $34 million. That was a record for the oceanfront area from Manalapan to Highland Beach, said Pascal Liguori of Pasqual Liguori & Son Premier Estate Properties, who represented the seller, 921 South Ocean Boulevard LLC.
    “The 21,000-square-foot ultramodern home, which was built in 2013, is on a very deep gorgeous lot with 155 feet on the ocean,” he said.
    The buyer, Chicago investor Richard A. Chaifetz, was represented by Michael O’Rourke of Estates Registry Realty.
    Holding the record previously in Delray Beach was a property at 901 S. Ocean, which sold in February 2015 for $19 million. For the area, the record holder was 800 S. Ocean, Manalapan, which sold in September 2015 for $33 million.
                                
    In February, a pre-construction oceanfront spec mansion, on a little over an acre at 6125 N. Ocean Blvd., sold for $13.635 million, a record-breaking price for Ocean Ridge. Agents representing the seller, 6125 North Ocean Boulevard LLC, which is linked to Boca Raton builder Mark Timothy Inc., were Nicholas Malinosky and Randy Ely with the Corcoran Group.
    It was purchased by Watersedge 21 Properties LLC, a company with a New York City address, which was represented by Russell Newman, an agent with Lang Realty.
    Slated for delivery next year, the 12,700-square-foot home will have five bedrooms, eight full bathrooms, a four-car garage, guest quarters and a pool. Previously, an estate at 6017 Old Ocean Blvd. sold for a record $9 million in 2009.
                                
    Going from news to brews, the Lake Worth Herald building, at 130 S. H St., Lake Worth, has sold through Carmel Commercial Real Estate & Management of Delray Beach. And thanks to recent zoning changes, the property will be transformed into Lake Worth’s first micro-brewery by Mathews Brewing Company. On site, beer will be brewed and distributed, and a tasting room will be open to the public. The Lake Worth Herald’s offices are now at 1313 Central Terrace, Lake Worth.  
                                
    On Jan. 19, Mitchell Millowitz and Ryan Rosalsky, of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank, brokered an $18.5 million acquisition for PetMed Express Inc. with 420 South Congress Inc., an affiliate of the Atlanta-based Stockbridge Real Fund, for the Delray Distribution Center complex, at 420 S. Congress Ave., Delray Beach. The complex’s two buildings comprise about 185,000 square feet, with one building fully leased to shipper DHL Express.
    PetMed Express Inc. will take over the first floor of the second building, and Levenger Co. will continue to lease the second floor.
                                
    Changes are completed at Crane’s Beach House Boutique Hotel & Luxury Villas: its top-to-bottom  $1.2 million renovation, a new website at www.cranesbeachhouse.com, and also, Bill Kinsloe was promoted to front office supervisor. Crane’s Beach House Boutique Hotel & Luxury Villas is at 82 Gleason St., Delray Beach.
                                
    The Greater Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce’s Delray Affair, April 8-10, which celebrates its 54th anniversary this year, traces its roots back to the late 1940s as the annual Delray Beach Gladiola Festival, which featured a gladiola parade and Miss Gladiola beauty pageant.
    While free to eventgoers, it has an economic impact of an estimated $40 million to Delray Beach over its history. The Delray Affair, in downtown Delray Beach, features more than 500 exhibits by artists and crafters as well as an array of food vendors.
    Highlights this year include a poster by Dr. Ella Remenson, a bus showcasing the GEICO Traveling Tour, the Delray Honda Family Fun Zone, the Games on the Go Mobile Arcade, Solid Waste Authority and Boy Scout Troop 301’s “An Affair to Recycle” (by the way, they recovered 5,780 pounds of recyclables at the Garlic Fest), the town merchants’ Behind the Booths, and more.
                                
    In honor of Rotary International’s Feb. 10, 1905, founding, the Delray Beach Rotary Club gave itself a birthday party in celebration of the Rotary’s 111 years. While not quite as old, the Rotary Club of Delray Beach was chartered 68 years ago on Feb. 10, 1948, at the Colony Hotel under the sponsorship of the Rotary Club of Boynton Beach.
    It was established with 27 charter members and guided by its first president, Lauren C. Hand. Since then, the club, together with its charitable, tax-exempt corporation, Delray Beach Rotary Fund Inc., has been involved in many local and international projects, including contributing more than $100,000 for scholarships to local high school students and more than $65,000 for Polio Plus, a Rotary International project to eradicate polio throughout the world.
    The money to finance these projects was raised through golf tournaments, bingo and the club’s annual hot dog and soft drink sale at the Delray Affair. The club has a lunch meeting at 12:15 p.m. Tuesdays at the Delray Beach Public Library, 100 W. Atlantic Ave.,  Delray Beach.
                                
    At its May 20 annual Business Awards Luncheon at the Boca Raton Resort and Club, the Boca Chamber will recognize Jim Dunn, vice president and general manager of JM Lexus, as the Business Leader of the Year, Joe and Rosie Martin, owners of Allegiance Home Health, as the Small Business Leaders of the Year and 3Cinteractive as the Business of the Year.
                                
    At the Boca Chamber’s 10th annual Diamond Award Luncheon in February, nine previous recipients were honored, a new mentor program was unveiled and its inaugural “Diamond in the Rough” recipient, Rachel Zietz of Gladiator Lacrosse, was announced. Zietz was a participant in the Chamber’s Young Entrepreneurs Academy in 2012 and in two years grew her business to sell more than $1 million of lacrosse equipment. At 9 p.m. May 13, Zietz will appear on ABC’s Shark Tank.
    Through the chamber’s new mentoring program, the previous Diamond Award recipients Mary Wong, Rocki Rockingham, Victoria Rixon, Cheryl Budd, Margaret Mary Shuff, Dr. Marta Rendon, Jackie Reeves, Yvonne Boice and Mary Sol Gonzalez will mentor students from the Young Entrepreneurs Academy program.
                                
    In conjunction with other chambers and advocacy organizations, the Boca Chamber is part of the Business Rent Tax Coalition, which is working to remove Florida’s 6 percent sales tax on commercial leases.
    “As a pro-business advocate, the Boca Chamber strives to maintain an environment where organizations provide opportunities for employees and Boca Raton families. Eliminating the business rent tax would entice more businesses to our great state, thus contributing to the cycle of commerce,” said Troy McLellan, Boca Chamber’s president and CEO.  For information about the Business Rent Tax Coalition, visit www.cutmybizrent.tax.
                                
    Also, in their search for funding, Boca Chamber’s Golden Bell Education Foundation’s Young Entrepreneurs Academy students will present their business plans to local investors April 6 at FAU Tech Runway. The investor panel will include Palm Beach executives Beth Johnston, Florida Blue; Angela Mastrofrancesco, Comerica Bank; Sam Zietz, TouchSuite; and Andrew Duffell, the Research Park at FAU. To RSVP to this free and open-to-the-public event, for directions, or to join the panel, contact Jenna Reed at jreed@bocachamber.com.

Posh Properties of Delray Beach celebrated its fourth anniversary on Feb. 27.

Above: (l-r) Niki Pepper, Donna Benson, Michelle Yales, Jerilyn Walter, owner/broker, Jacie Paulson and Susie Fernandes.

Photo provided

                                
    In February, at the fourth annual Barrier Free 5K races, which benefited the Congress Avenue Barrier Free Park in Boynton Beach, Bella Natale, the honorary starter, received a very special send-off: a Cinderella-inspired carriage from Magical Wheelchair Inc.
    Among the 140 participants, overall winners were Matt Triggs and Cori Gauff. At age 11, Gauff is now the youngest overall winner in the race’s history. Master winners were Richard Bowers and Erika Williams, and grand master winners were Mike Schengber and Amy Triggs.
    Barrier Free Park offers opportunities and a support network for children of all abilities to play, and the annual race has raised more than $17,000 for the park since 2013. The park is at 3111 S. Congress Ave., Boynton Beach.
                                
    From 8 a.m. to noon April 30, the Delray Beach-based Institute for Regional Conservation will hold a volunteer day at Atlantic Dunes Park in Delray Beach, focusing on restoring biodiversity by removing invasive plant species and planting species native to Palm Beach County’s dune systems.
    The cost of supplies was  covered through a mini-grant awarded to the Institute for Regional Conservation by Keep Palm Beach County Beautiful, Inc. Volunteers are invited to bring lunch and stay afterward for a picnic. Atlantic Dunes Park is at 1605 S. Ocean Blvd., Delray Beach.
                                
    The Community Foundation of Palm Beach and Martin Counties chose Sandoway House Nature Center as one of 10 winners of the Forever Arts & Culture Endowment Challenge, which provides $250,000 in grants from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fund. The center will receive a dollar-for-dollar matching grant of $25,000 to establish a permanent endowment fund at the Community Foundation.
    Located at 142 S. Ocean Blvd. in Delray Beach, the Sandoway House Nature Center offers a variety of programs, experiences and opportunities, including shark and alligator feedings in its coral reef pool, guided historic tours, nature walks and astronomy nights.
                                
    In March, the Boys & Girls Club of Delray Beach’s “Be Great Celebration Dinner,” at the Delray Beach Marriott, raised more than $132,000 for the club and honored Tony Wilson, chairman, president and CEO of Seagate Hospitality Group, as well as the Youth of the Year of Delray Beach Karah Pierre.
    At the event, Seagate Hospitality Group made a gift of $25,000 as an endowment fund toward the Youth of the Year program. From this gift, every year for 25 years, the Youth of the Year will receive a $1,000 scholarship to help cover his or her educational expenses. Pierre, 15, a member of the Delray Beach Boys and Girls Club for 10 years, was the first scholarship recipient.
                                
    In March, Hypoloxo Island resident James DeGerome, a retired gastroenterologist who practiced in Palm Beach County for 31 years, was awarded the Digestive Disease National Coalition’s Lifetime Service Award at its 28th Annual Public Policy Forum in Washington, D.C.
                                
    Women’s clothier Evelyn & Arthur will donate the rounded-up amount of each sale May 3 during the third annual Great Give, run by Palm Beach County and the Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties.
    Evelyn & Arthur also will sell orange pashminas for $28 with 100 percent of the proceeds supporting the Great Give. It will donate a prize to the nonprofit that raises the most funds during one of the drive’s hourly contests. Evelyn & Arthur’s Manapalan store is at 277 S. Ocean Blvd. in Plaza del Mar. Hours are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.

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

Susan Duane (left) and Suzy Laniga

By Amy Woods

    A half-million donated dollars will flow into South Palm Beach County’s philanthropic community following a membership meeting of the women of Impact 100.
    The nonprofit, which supports local organizations by helping them achieve their goals, will gather April 19 for its fifth annual Grand Awards Ceremony, where money will be granted to five charities.
    “We hope to give away $500,000-plus,” said Susan Duane, co-president of Impact 100. “We’re very, very close. We’re excited.”
    Each member who joins agrees to contribute $1,000. Those checks are pooled to generate $100,000 grants that are “truly transformational for the organizations that receive them,” Duane said.
    In 2014, the Achievement Centers for Children & Families applied for a grant to start after-school and summer programs at Pine Grove Elementary School in Delray Beach. The organization received the money in the spring and was able to get the programs up and running immediately.
    “By the end of the first school year, they went from being almost an F school to being almost an A school — in one school year — and that would not have been without us,” Duane said. “We’ve got lots of stories like that.”
    Impact 100 awards grants in five focus areas: arts and culture, education, environment, family and health and wellness. Letters of inquiry are sent out in the fall and must be returned in October. This year, nearly 80 organizations submitted applications.
    “The need is great and we of course would like to fulfill every need,” Duane said.
    The members whittle down the list to a handful of semifinalists who are invited to the ceremony to present their projects. After the presentation, a vote takes place behind closed doors while guests enjoy drinks and hors d’oeuvres. When the meeting reconvenes, the recipients are announced.
    “There’s something about it that each member somehow feels they have given $100,000 personally,” Duane said. “You feel such a sense of accomplishment.”
    Suzy Lanigan, chairwoman of the event, agreed.
    “It’s heartwarming because the grant is given out that night,” Lanigan said. “It is very emotional and awesome to see the faces and how happy they are to receive their award.”

If You Go
What: Grand Awards Ceremony
When: 6 p.m. April 19
Where: Lynn University, 3601 N. Military Trail, Boca Raton
Cost: Free for members
Info: Call 336-4623 or visit www.impact100pbc.com.

By Cheryl Blackerby

    Timolin Cole and Casey Cole, sisters of the late Natalie Cole and twin daughters of legendary singer Nat King Cole, were excited to hear that family friend Patti LaBelle would be performing at the Boca West Community Charitable Foundation’s annual Concert for the Children on April 5.
    A tribute to Grammy Award-winner Natalie Cole, who was originally scheduled to perform at the event, will be included in the concert.
    Diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension after a kidney transplant in 2009, Natalie Cole died Dec. 31 after struggling with multiple health problems, said Timolin Cole.
    “I think it’s so wonderful that Patti LaBelle has stepped up to do this event,” Timolin Cole said. “Boca West is known for putting on such great concerts at their outdoor venues. And the fact that it’s a tribute to our sister, I think it’s a great combination.”
    The concert at Boca West Country Club and a Golf Challenge on April 4 will benefit 21 charities for at-risk children and their families in Boca Raton and south Palm Beach County.
    The Cole sisters’ music foundation, Nat King Cole Generation Hope, is one of those charities. Generation Hope has helped more than 40 schools and music programs, supporting mentoring and teaching, collecting and refurbishing used instruments and supplying new instruments.
    Patti LaBelle replaced Aretha Franklin, who was scheduled to stand in for Natalie Cole but had to cancel because of health problems.
    “Patti was, needless to say, devastated when she heard of Natalie’s passing, and she just really feels honored to be able to give a tribute to her in this way,” said Casey Cole. “We  all are very pleased and very happy that Patti will be doing this.”
    The Cole sisters, both Boca Raton residents, started Nat King Cole Generation Hope in 2008 to provide music education to children with the greatest need and fewest resources in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties. When budget cuts hit South Florida schools, music programs were among the first to go. That’s when they sprang into action.
    Their pet project is the Summer Strings Concert at Lynn University, the exciting finale of a strings camp for 80 to 100 students.
    “We will be extending it from one week to a two-week program this summer, and that’s because the Boca Foundation increased their support and funding for us.
    “We are thrilled about that,” said Timolin Cole.
    One of the sisters’ projects is providing guitars for Guitars Over Guns, headed by Chad Bernstein, who founded the program at two middle schools in North Miami. Bernstein was named a CNN Hero in 2015 because of his program.
    The sisters said Natalie Cole was a big supporter of their foundation, and they know their father would have been, too.
     “Our father stressed patience, perseverance and passion. And you can add goodwill and humility. That’s what resonated with their fans,” said Timolin Cole.

If You Go
What: Golf Challenge
When: 11 a.m. April 4 (1 p.m. tee time; 5:30 p.m. cocktail party and awards)
Where: Boca West Country Club, Boca Raton
Cost: Player spots are $600 and include a ticket for the concert. Additional cocktail party tickets are $150.

What: Concert for the Children, with the Atlantic City Boys and Patti LaBelle
When: 8 p.m. April 5 (doors open at 6 p.m.)
Where: Akoya Amphitheatre, Great Lawn of the Boca West Country Club, Boca Raton
Cost: $175; seats will be assigned by lottery

Information for both events: 488-6980 or foundation@bocawestcc.org
    
The Nat King Cole foundation needs volunteers, old and new musical instruments and donations. 213-8209; www.natkingcolegenhope.org.

By Thom Smith

    No big football game at West Boca High … no free golf at Osprey Point … yet traffic on Glades Road west of 441, on Sunday evening, March 13, was at a virtual standstill a mile from the entrance to South County Regional Park.
    The attraction: a rally for America’s newest political phenomenon — Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump. A few protesters were escorted away, because the amphitheater, although in a public park, had been rented by Trump. He could exclude whom he chose.
                                
    In contrast to the art of the deal out west, a crowd back east at the Mizner Park Amphitheater on March 6 soaked up the art of music, courtesy of the 10th annual Festival of the Arts Boca — a FAB fortnight of stunning entertainment and critical thought from A to Z.
    Sunday’s A-plus show featured Herb Alpert, who turned 81 March 31, and wife Lani Hall, her voice still magical at 70. With teenage zeal, they raced through hit after hit, new compositions and a stunning encore tribute to Brazilian genius Antonio Carlos Jobim.
    The high grades continued March 11 with another A-show. Joey Alexander, 12-year-old piano prodigy from Bali, made his first appearance ever with a full orchestra, mixing his own compositions with those of Thelonious Monk.
    For much of the show, music director Constantine Kitsopoulos stood, arms folded, and nodded in amazement. Chairman and producer Charlie Siemon couldn’t contain a broad smile when asked how the festival landed Alexander: A year ago co-producer Wendy Larsen saw a video of Alexander and immediately made contact through Lincoln Center. “His father is his manager,” Siemon said. “Joey was just settling in, but he said yes. I still can’t believe what we got him for. Today we couldn’t afford him.”
    FAB’s program, of course, intersperses music and intellect, which takes us to Z, as in Fareed Zakaria. The globe and the United States may be in turmoil, the CNN host, journalist, author and economist conceded, but times are not as bad as many claim.
    Addressing early on Marco Rubio’s surprising debate reference to Trump’s “small hands” and Trump’s retort that Rubio was “not factually accurate,” Zakaria observed: “It doesn’t really measure up to ‘Ask not what your country can do for you …’ ”
    Educated at Harvard and Yale, Zakaria was born in India, where I Love Lucy reruns and the opening credits to Dallas shaped his first impressions of the United States as a land of tomorrow, the shining city on the hill. Despite what Trump and others claim, he still considers it the best nation on Earth.
    But he cautions that many problems created by centuries of failed policies and mistakes will not be solved overnight. Radical Islam, for example, was spawned by Western meddling after World War I, oil production and despotic regimes. Protest, driven from the streets, coalesced into the one place the government couldn’t interfere — the mosque.
    As the Husseins and Gadhafis were toppled, the nations had no supporting civil structure and ultimately no country. The radicals filled the vacuum. But now ISIS must contend with opposition from all directions — the United States, Lebanon, Turkey, the Kurds, Russia and Iran. Its ability to spread terror is limited.
    Problems exist, Zakaria said, but Americans have to be realistic: Fears must be reasonable. Since 9/11, 45 people have been killed in this country by Islamic terrorists; 150,000 have died from gunshots.
    The United States remains the strongest nation on Earth economically, growing twice as fast as Europe and four times faster than Japan. It has recovered from the worldwide recession faster than any other nation. It is the world’s largest producer of oil. For three years, net immigration from Mexico has been zero.  
    “The living, breathing reality of America remains that it is an extraordinary place where people can be themselves and live out their dreams.  But it’s hard work,” Zakaria said.

                                 
    Leave it to Bill O’Reilly. Taking a break in Delray Beach, the Fox News TV host spent at least part of St. Patrick’s Day… in an English pub.
    “I think he had fish ’n’ chips,” Blue Anchor owner Lee Harrison said.
    Shamrocks and pigs aside, England is loaded with similarly named pubs, Harrison explained, particularly in port cities where the blue anchor symbolizes good luck.
    Perhaps O’Reilly was looking for some luck, given the turmoil in his “No Spin Zone” in recent weeks. Fellow conservative Charles Krauthammer even rebuked Battling Bill on-air for using “weaselly words” to condemn Donald Trump’s incendiary rhetoric at campaign rallies.   
                                
    Before becoming a pub owner, Harrison was in the news business. In 1973, he was writing for the Hemel Hempstead Evening Post-Echo (that’s a mouthful) just outside of London, when National Enquirer publisher Generoso Pope offered an outrageous salary. Harrison and dozens of fellow Brits moved to Lantana.
    Harrison later became editor of The National Examiner, but as often happens in the tabloids, he was fired. Done with ink, he and a partner latched onto the Blue Anchor, then a London pub about to give way to a parking lot. In 1996 they salvaged its oak doors, paneling and stained glass and had them shipped to and re-erected in Delray Beach.
                                
    Harrison isn’t the only Enquirer staffer to pursue new paths. At least two now hold public office.  
    Steve Coz, who served as editor at The Enquirer, formed Coz Media in 2005, became editorial director at Newsmax, then took over media affairs and communications for Uta Pippig and Take The Magic Step fitness programs. In his first run for public office, the Harvard-educated Coz, 58, unseated veteran Ocean Ridge Town Commissioner Lynn Allison.
    Incidentally, Coz loves paddleboards, but they don’t work too well on land, so he may head to commission meetings on his bike.
    Malcolm Balfour was just re-elected to the Lantana Town Council. He first came to the States on a track scholarship to Mississippi State, where he took a controversial stand against segregation. He returned to his native South Africa, where he reported on civil unrest, then joined The Enquirer and covered such juicy subjects as the Kennedys and the Pulitzers. Malcolm stayed on seven years before returning to freelancing in print and TV.
    Active in programs to save town parks for boaters and fishermen and a longtime member of the Lantana Nature Preserve, he was elected to the Town Council in 2013 and currently serves as vice mayor.
                                
    The hot spring continues in Boca with the 14th annual Boca Bacchanal Wine and Food Fest. On April 8 at the amphitheater at Mizner Park, guests will sample dishes from 30 area restaurants, fine wines and craft beers. Action moves April 9 to local homes for dinners pairing top international chefs and vintners. Tickets for the Bacchanalia ($125), vintner dinners ($325) and the new pre-party for Bacchanalia ticket holders ($50) are available at bocabacchanal.com. Proceeds benefit the Boca Raton Historical Society & Museum.
                                
    A week later, the popular Taste of the Nation returns to the Kravis Center for the sixth year.  More than 50 restaurants, vintners, brewers and purveyors will join co-chairs and top chefs Lindsay Autry, Zach Bell, Clay Conley and Tim Lipman. Proceeds go to local programs that fight childhood hunger. Tickets: VIP with early admission (6 p.m.) and special perks, $200; general admission (7 p.m.) $125. (ce.nokidhungry.org/palmbeach)
                                
    Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday. Hello, Juniors.
    As many restaurants seem to fail as succeed in Mizner Park, but two properties from up the coast are taking a shot. Brooklyn legend Juniors was looking for another borough where it could hawk its $50 cheesecake, and the empty Ruby Tuesday fits the bill. Third-generation owner Alan Rosen hopes to open by September.
    Also, Jazziz will give way to Zorba. Two Baltimore restaurateurs, Alexander Smith and George Aligeorgas, are bringing their popular Ouzo Bay concept to Mizner with seating for 325, a patio, “chic bar atmosphere,” and one unique Jazziz holdover — the 30-seat cigar room. Matthew Oetting, previously at The Continental Miami Beach before heading to New York, will run the kitchen. They are hoping for a late summer opening.  
                                          
    The new Hyatt Place, rising at the southeast corner of Federal Highway and Palmetto Park Road, has landed a restaurant client. The name is new but the operators are area vets. Louie Bossi’s Ristorante Bar Pizzeria (named for the chef) is the latest offering from Big Time Restaurant Group. The prototype Louie’s opened last summer on Las Olas Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale. Special touch: a bocce court.
                                
    Nick Lioce lived large and had a big heart, but in the end, it was his heart that gave out. He died March 10 from heart surgery complications. He was 65. A respected lawyer and accountant, Nick was best known outside legal circles as a rock ’n’ roller, leading one of the most popular and most cleverly named groups anywhere — Nick-O-Rockwa and the Contra Band.
    A graduate of Riviera Beach High School, Lioce earned accounting and law degrees at Florida State, then returned home to open his practice and practice his music.
    He took inspiration for the band’s name from the Iran-Contra crisis of the early ’80s. Lioce handled lead vocals on a huge catalog of rock and R&B hits as the band played just about every local live music venue in the county plus private parties and fundraisers.
                                
    Lynn University’s music program continues to grow, and Dean Jon Robertson wants to show off his students to the public with seven concerts in April and May. Two master classes featuring outstanding international performers will be free.
    Avery Fisher Prize-winner Elmar Oliveira opens the series with a violin master class at 7 p.m. Friday, April 8 in the Amarnick-Goldstein Concert Hall. Saturday night, same time, same station, flutist Nestor Torres will follow suit. For ticket information for all performances, go to lynn.edu/events.
                                
    The 21st annual Palm Beach International Film Festival opens a nine-day run April 6 with Money. That’s the movie’s title.
The festival, however, may save a little by staging opening night festivities at The Palm Beaches Theatre in Manalapan. It happens to be owned by the festival’s new president and CEO, Jeff Davis.
    As with previous incarnations, this festival won’t present many big stars, onscreen or in person. Very little information about personal appearances has been released, but chances are slim that the likes of Christian Slater and Ed Harris (The Adderall Diaries), David Arquette (Evan’s Crime) or Eric Roberts, Sean Young or Armand Assante (Leaves of the Tree) will show for their screenings.
    Odds are better for Money’s Spanish-born director, Martin Rosete, since his film is the festival opener. The closing night film at Cinemark Palace in Boca offers a huge hook: Silver Skies stars somewhat-local hero George Hamilton, as well as Valerie Perrine, Alex Rocco, Mariette Hartley, Barbara Bain and Howard Hesseman as condo residents whose homes are sold out from under them.
    Features include entries from Holland, Bulgaria, South Korea and Iran, and the festival offers loads of shorts, student films and several promising documentaries.
    In addition to The Palm Beaches Theatre and Cinemark Palace, films will be shown at Muvico Parisian and G-Star School of the Arts in West Palm Beach. (pbifilmfest.org)

                                
    Luck on the links… Leave it to two lucky Irish men to beat the odds. Palm Beach Kennel Club owner Patrick Rooney Sr. and his buddy Dan Boyle both scored holes-in-one on March 19, two days after St. Patrick’s Day. The men, part of a foursome, hit their lucky shots on the 135-yard fourth hole at Trump National in Jupiter.
    Boyle, of Philadelphia, played first, hitting an 8-iron that appeared to be on a good line, but a large bunker obstructed the hole.
“I saw the ball roll right off the hole and then it disappeared,” the salesman said.
    Rooney, of Palm Beach Gardens, used a 6-iron to hit his shot on the same line as Boyle’s.
    The hole-in-one was Boyle’s first, but Rooney had scored four previously.
    The odds of two amateurs scoring a hole-in-one in the same foursome are 1 in 26 million, according to The National Hole In One Association.
    Call it the luck of the Irish.

Contact Thom Smith at thomsmith@ymail.com.

April 21: Place of Hope will bring together supporters of the agency’s Leighan and David Rinker Campus for an event featuring a festive brunch and spring blooms. Time is 11 a.m. Cost is $125. Call 483-0962 or visit placeofhoperinker.org. ABOVE: (front, l-r) Committee members Melissa Bonaros, Veronica Parzygnat, Martha Yacoub, Bonnie Judson, Sung Knowles, Trisha Saffer, (back) Karyn Turk, Jennifer Gene, Joy Dolgon, Suzette Hernandez, Jeannine Morris, Lisa McDulin, Deborah Gaslow, Bonnie Wintz Boroian and Neil Saffer.

Photo provided by Carla Azzata Photography

The crowd cheers and records the proceedings at Brogues Downunder in support of the St. Baldrick’s

Foundation, which raises money for childhood cancer research.

Lake Worth resident Brian Lasure, 25, gets his head shaved during the fundraiser.

He had been growing his dreadlocks  for more than eight years.

Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Scott Simmons/The Coastal Star

The Plate: Broccoli e Salsiccia
The Place: Caffe Luna Rosa, 34 S. Ocean Blvd., Delray Beach; 274-9404 or www.caffelunarosa.com.
The Price: $10
The Skinny: Broccoli rabe is one of life’s simple pleasures.
    At Caffe Luna Rosa, the broccoli makes a delightful starter, with the bitter greens pairing perfectly with the slightly sweet house-made sausage that fairly sings with notes of fennel.
    You could just about make a meal of the broccoli, but then you’d be missing the beautiful pasta, meat and seafood dishes chef Ernesto DeBlasi prepares.
    We also enjoyed the Rigatoni Pomodoro, whose San Marzano tomato sauce had the right blend of spice and sweetness, and the Insalata Luna Rosa, which combined arugula, chopped tomatoes and a tangy lemon/olive oil dressing.
Mangia!
— Scott Simmons