The Little House restaurant will reopen as Fork Play with 30 additional seats and an enclosed porch.

Rendering provided

By Jane Smith

    The Little House will become Fork Play when the Boynton Beach eatery opens later this year.
    Its owners received commission approval to add an enclosed porch to increase the restaurant space by 525 square feet with 30 additional seats. The City Commission unanimously approved the request without discussion on June 21.
    The eatery already has 21 seats inside and plans to have 24 seats outside, which will need an outdoor café permit from the city.
    The restaurant will serve small plates called tapas and craft beers and wine.
    A company formed by Ocean Ridge Commissioner Richard Lucibella and his business partner Barbara Ceuleers, paid $335,000 for the 936-square-foot structure at 480 E. Ocean Ave. The city’s Community Redevelopment Agency had owned the building.
    Lucibella plans to lease the restaurant space to Lisa Mercado, who runs the Living Room restaurant on Congress Avenue. He left the naming to Mercado.
    She wants to rename the Little House as Fork Play. It was the original name for the Living Room, she said, because she wanted to serve tapas. She had to change the Living Room’s menu shortly after opening and Fork Play wouldn’t have described the restaurant’s offerings.
    “But now that people understand the concept, it will work out perfectly,” she said.
    Mercado asked Living Room customers about the name Fork Play and another she was considering. “Everyone said they loved Fork Play,” she said.
    In other action, the commission unanimously approved spending $28,100 to repair two picnic shelters at Oceanfront Park and make them wheelchair-accessible.

By Jane Smith

    With clear direction from the new City Commission to save the historic Boynton Beach High School, the Community Redevelopment Agency is seeking a $350,000 matching grant to remove mold, mildew and other environmental hazards inside the building.
    The CRA applied for the Environmental Protection Agency grant in late April through the county’s Economic Sustainability Department. CRA Executive Director Vivian Brooks found out about the matching grant while working with the county department on securing a similar grant for the AmeriGas property on North Federal Highway.
    “The new commission gave unequivocal direction to save the high school in April,” said the newly elected mayor, Steven Grant. He called the previous commission’s stance on saving the old high school “wishy washy.”
    Last fall, then-Mayor Jerry Taylor directed the CRA to add $200,000 to its budget for demolishing the nearly 90-year-old high school.
    Now, if the CRA receives the grant, it will use the demolition money toward its share of the matching grant, Brooks said. She said any extra money would go toward fixing the leaking roof.
    She expected to hear soon whether the CRA would receive the EPA grant. But the county department said the EPA does not have a deadline by which to alert grantees.
    Historic-minded residents are thrilled by the news.
    “It has good bones,” said Barbara Ready, who chairs the city’s Historic Resources Preservation Board. “This will help get it back on track.”
    Susan Oyer, a longtime resident who is a member of the board, said the grant was “a great idea. Anything that jump-starts the renovation is helpful.”
    In the likely event the high school has asbestos, a remediation plan would have to be approved by the Florida Department of Health, spokesman Tim O’Connor said.
    In April, the new commission tabled taking action on an unsolicited proposal from REG Architects and partners on how to repurpose the high school and surrounding land. The new date for reviewing that proposal is August.
    The city has a July 11 court date on its motion to dismiss the claim of an earlier architect who wanted to use the high school as an events center. The City Commission is concerned that using the $20,000 that REG and partners offered to review the soundness of their plan would compromise its position in the lawsuit.

By Dan Moffett

    After hearing complaints from council members about poor communication, South Palm Beach Town Attorney Brad Biggs is proposing a new arrangement that will change how he does his job.
    Biggs told the council to consider renewing his contract and paying him on a retainer basis, rather than with his current arrangement that is based on hourly rates. He said the change will enable him to spend more time at Town Hall and allow him more one-on-one meetings with council members.
    “With the retainer idea, you are kind of in-house but you’re not in-house,” Biggs said during the June 28 meeting. “I think it’s more predictable for the budget. A big benefit is better communication. I know there have been some issues.”
    Councilwoman Stella Gaddy Jordan told Biggs that she wanted to be better informed about the issues he raises at meetings.
    “My concern about communication is that if you’re going to bring something up at a meeting, we need to know about it,” Jordan said. “You owe your allegiance to the town. You are our attorney.”
    Councilman Woody Gorbach criticized Biggs for not attending town events — such as the car show at Plaza del Mar in February and the Memorial Day ceremony at Town Hall.
    “You could have put yourself out to attend them,” Gorbach told Biggs, “but you didn’t come.”
    Vice Mayor Joseph Flagello said he’s never had a problem communicating with Biggs, saying the attorney always returned phone calls promptly.
    “You’re doing a great job for us,” Flagello told him.
    Under the retainer proposal, the town would pay Biggs $4,500 a month. He currently receives $170 per hour and $195 per hour for litigation.
    Town Manager Bob Vitas likes the idea. “Having an in-house attorney one day a week is advantageous,” he said. “The face time is important.”
    Mayor Bonnie Fischer said the council will consider Biggs’ contract during the upcoming budget workshops.
    The relationship between Biggs and several council members appeared to fray in recent months as the town bumped heads with developer Gary Cohen over his construction plans for the old Palm Beach Oceanfront Inn site.
    Cohen wants the town to hold a referendum during the November election that would allow changes to the building code that would enable him to build his condominiums 5 feet above the existing height limits.
    Council members Jordan and Gorbach complained that Biggs hadn’t given them enough information about the legal consequences of Cohen’s request. At the May town meeting, Jordan brought up the idea of putting out requests for proposals from legal firms to take over Biggs’ job with the town.
    Fischer was the deciding vote to turn down Jordan’s motion to advertise the position, but the mayor said she wanted to discuss the matter further at the June meeting.
    Gorbach said Biggs has been difficult for him to reach, and the councilman has suggested that the town might be better off hiring a larger legal firm that has lawyers with special areas of practice, rather than staying with Biggs, who is a single practitioner.
Flagello has been Biggs’ most outspoken ally on the counsel, saying he “unequivocally” supports him and opposing Jordan’s motion.
    “If you have a problem with someone,” Flagello said, “you sit down and talk with them before you start talking about taking their job away. I don’t have a problem with Brad.”
    Biggs has been practicing law in Florida since 1998 and has been South Palm Beach’s attorney for six years.
    He also is the lead legal counsel for Royal Palm Beach and the Village of Golf, has served as assistant counsel for six other municipalities and also has worked for the Palm Beach County League of Cities.
    Biggs worked as an associate attorney with Corbett, White and Davis for 15 years.
    In other business:
    The council set workshop meetings for July 14 and July 19, both beginning at 6 p.m., to discuss budget plans for the 2016-2017 fiscal year.
    Property values are up 7.9 percent in South Palm Beach, increasing tax revenues and giving the council more flexibility to consider capital projects for the town.

By Jane Smith

    All Aboard Florida is continuing to add double tracks and quiet zone devices to south county coastal cities for its Brightline high-speed rail that will link Miami to Orlando along the FEC railroad tracks.
    While the double tracks are installed, the following streets in Delray Beach will be closed: SE 4th Street, 7 a.m. July 5 to 6 p.m. July 8, and East Atlantic Avenue, 7 a.m. July 17 to 6 p.m. July 21.
    The closings for Boca Raton are: Hidden Valley, 7 a.m. July 8 to 6 p.m. July 11; NW 28th Street, 7 a.m. July 19 to 6 p.m. July 21, and NE 2nd Street, 7 a.m. July 24 to 6 p.m. July 28.
    In addition, Hypoluxo Road in Hypoluxo will be closed from 7 a.m. July 15 to 6 p.m. July 20, and Gator Culvert in Lantana will be closed from 7 a.m. July 28 to 6 p.m. Aug. 1.
    Between Miami and West Palm Beach, crossings will be improved for the high-speed rail service with new steel rail, concrete ties, signals and crossing gates. Through a partnership with the county’s Metropolitan Planning Organization, quiet zones will be paid for and installed at the same time that crossing upgrades are made.

By Jane Smith
    
    Delray Beach’s Community Redevelopment Agency will have an additional $5.7 million to spend in the next budget year.
    The extra money comes from an estimated 14.6 percent increase in property tax income and $3.6 million from the long-delayed iPic land sale.
    As CRA board members discussed how to spend that money on June 22 and 23, the city of Delray Beach was there with its proverbial hat in hand. The board agreed to pay 8 percent more into the CRA’s Clean & Safe program, but the city’s request for a more than 260 percent increase for Tennis Center sponsorships was tabled to its July 14 meeting.
    “We do not see the CRA, if you will, as an endless bucket of resources for our operational needs,” City Manager Don Cooper told the board. “Our request for the Clean & Safe area is for use inside the CRA district.”
    The city is not broke, he said, but it has a lot of demands on its resources.
    On the Tennis Center sponsorships, Cooper said he was limited in what he could say because the city has sued the center’s operator, Match Point, to be released from a long-term, no-bid contract. “We appreciate any help you can give us,” he said.
    The 8 percent increase for Clean & Safe would pay for two additional police officers and allow the city to outsource its street-sweeping operation.
    The city has one street sweeper, which is a temperamental piece of equipment, said Michael Coleman, head of the Community Improvement Department. His department oversees Clean & Safe.
    “When the street sweeper breaks down, then it goes out for repair,” Coleman said. “But if we outsource that work, the company would have to provide the street sweeper.”
    City workers sweep the streets three times a week. Downtown is open nearly 24/7 and needs streets swept five days a week, he said. Doing so would cost the CRA $40,000 more.
    The cost of the two police officers for salaries and benefits is $188,625.
    The CRA already pays $2.3 million for the program. A manager oversees the schedule of police officers, code enforcement officers, sanitation and maintenance workers, electricians and the supplies needed to maintain the downtown and allow visitors to feel safe.
    “Feeling safe is a perception, it can’t be measured,” said Police Chief Jeff Goldman. “We can never have enough boots on the ground.”
    The extra officers would allow the program, now in its third year, to put another officer on day shift, Goldman said.
    Larcenies are on the rise in the Clean & Safe area, Goldman said. By May 31, the city recorded 223 thefts of bicycles, purses, cellphones and other items. For all of 2014, 315 larcenies were reported in the area.
    “A lot of our larcenies are due to the recovery industry when people relapse,” he said.
They steal merchandise that can be pawned to feed their drug habits.
    CRA board member Herman Stevens, a criminal lawyer, said he needed more crime data to justify the increase for what he called a “feel-good program.” Delray Beach’s overall crime rate dropped nearly 10 percent between 2015 and 2014.
    One board member asked when the program’s staffing goals would be reached. “The CRA can’t continue to pay for extra officers,” said Cathy Balestriere, CRA vice chairwoman.
    The Tennis Center sponsorships were deemed a city obligation that the CRA has been asked to cover.
    “I say we hold our nose and support our city,” said Bill Branning, on his last day on the CRA board.
    Others, though, want to see the Tennis Center’s financials and a list of the projects the CRA couldn’t do if it covered the sponsorships.
    “It’s pretty much a city function,” said CRA Chairman Reggie Cox. “Even if we agree to cover it, we’re still spending taxpayer dollars.”

Dick Schmidt drew heavily on his experiences in the Caribbean and as a sailor and pilot

when writing his book, The Boy and the Dolphin.

Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

    Accountant. Developer. Pilot. Sailor. Philanthropist.
    Dick Schmidt of Boca Raton wears many hats as CEO of Schmidt Companies and president of the Schmidt Family Foundation. The energetic 72-year-old decided one more was in order — author — and added it to his haberdashery.
    May 10 saw the debut of his first novel, The Boy and the Dolphin, a heartwarming tale that takes place in the Bahamas during the mid-1950s. The book has earned endorsements from esteemed writer Doris Kearns Goodwin and ocean advocate Philippe Cousteau.
    The story follows the life of little Toby Matthias, who is living with his grandparents on an out island near Nassau; his mother and father were killed in a plane crash. One day, Toby encounters a mother dolphin entangled in a fishing net and rescues her. The dolphin’s nearby calf immediately bonds with the young hero, and the two become friends.
    “I drew heavily on my own life for the experiences in the book,” Schmidt said.
    Like Schmidt, Toby grew up sailing the Caribbean. He then attended a preparatory school in Palm Beach.
    The plot thickens when Toby joins the Navy and flies fighter jets during the Vietnam War. Schmidt served in the Army.
    “I couldn’t wait to sit down at my computer and start writing again because I didn’t know what was going to happen next,” Schmidt said. “Or if I knew what was going to happen next, I didn’t know how it was going to happen.”
    In the end, Toby returns to the Bahamas as an adult who hasn’t seen his finned friend in eight years.
    “And, of course, the denouement is, ‘Will he be reunited with this dolphin, and if so, what will be the result?” Schmidt said. “You have to read the book to find out.”
    Schmidt is married to Barbara, founder of the nonprofit organization Peaceful Mind Peaceful Life, for which their daughter, Michelle, works. Son David is a playwright.
— Amy Woods

    Q. Where did you grow up and go to school? How do you think that has influenced you?
    A. I attended grammar school in suburban Chicago, prep school in Palm Beach, University of Florida, Florida Atlantic University. Varied school environments broadened my perspective on the world and gave me good background for the book.

    Q. In what professions have you worked, and which ones make you the proudest?
    A. I taught advanced accounting at Florida Atlantic, founded and managed the largest single-office accounting firm in South Florida, developed communities and real estate in Florida, owned and operated corporate-aviation facilities in South Florida and published a novel. I am proud of all of my ventures.
    Q. What advice do you have for young adults selecting a career today?
    A. Unless you envision a career in something requiring a specific education, such as medicine or law, don’t be in a hurry to pick one out. The probability that your life’s work will be doing something you choose for yourself today is remote. Broaden your education as much as possible so that you will be prepared for whatever comes along that turns out to be your true passion.

    Q. How did you choose to make your home in Boca Raton?
    A. I left Chicago with the intention of returning after getting a graduate degree. I chose Boca Raton because my parents lived here, and there was a university of higher education here. All I knew after graduating was that I didn’t want to go back to Chicago.

    Q. What is your favorite part about living in Boca Raton?
    A. My drive home each evening. I marvel at what an exceptional place this is and what an exciting time it is to live here.

    Q. What book are you reading now?
    A. Hidden Account of the Romanovs, by John Browne, a resident of Palm Beach County.

    Q. What music do you listen to when you need inspiration or want to relax?
    A. Some classical, some ’60s, ’70s pop. I like a wide variety of music.

    Q. Do you have a favorite quote that inspires you?
    A. Everything in moderation, including moderation.

    Q. Have you had mentors in your life — individuals who have inspired your decisions?
    A. Many. Not by coincidence, one at each turning point in my life. I think most of us will recall an individual of influence in our lives when we needed one.

    Q. If your life story were made into a movie, who would you want to play you?
    A. Harrison Ford.

The Boy and the Dolphin ($26.95, Landslide Publishing) is available through Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

By Dan Moffett

    MANALAPAN — Over the years, Manalapan’s Ronald Barsanti gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to help poor families, but he also helped them with his hammer and saw.
    “Ron was a skilled carpenter who knew a lot about woodworking,” said Bernard Godek, the executive director of Habitat for Humanity in Palm Beach County. “He liked to do a lot of the finish work and cabinetry.”
    When the house was built and the family took the keys, Mr. Barsanti was there to wish them well. Godek said those who knew Mr. Barsanti from his service on Habitat’s board of directors understood that the man with the native Chicago accent and sometimes crusty demeanor had a warm and compassionate nature within.
    “He couldn’t keep from tearing up when families got their new homes,” Godek said. “He had a rough exterior, but there was a big soft heart inside. What Ron loved even more than Habitat for Humanities was the families we served.”
    Ronald P. “Ronnie” Barsanti died on June 2 at Good Samaritan Medical Center in West Palm Beach after a short hospital stay. He was 73.
    Mr. Barsanti moved to Manalapan 11 years ago and served several terms on the town’s architectural board. Two years ago, he was appointed to an open seat on the Town Commission, representing Point Manalapan residents.
    Mayor David Cheifetz describes his “good friend and colleague” as a man for all seasons.
    “Ron was a Renaissance man of sorts — a successful businessman, a professional grade woodworker and a lover of life in general,” Cheifetz said. “Ron gave freely and generously of his time not just to Manalapan but to Habitat for Humanity and the Food Bank as well. I will sorely miss Ron, his friendship, and his contribution to our town will be very difficult to replace.”
    As a commissioner, Mr. Barsanti was a believer in consistent enforcement of building codes and protecting Manalapan’s small-town atmosphere. He worried that plans to overhaul the Plaza del Mar shopping center might go too far and uproot small businesses. Barsanti supported the town’s use of security cameras, believing they are a useful tool for deterring crime.
    “He was a straight-shooter who always said what he believed, regardless of any political fallout,” said Vice Mayor Peter Isaac. “He devoted a lot of his time to helping with various charities. His no-nonsense approach on the dais will be sorely missed.”
    Mr. Barsanti grew up in Chicago and built a successful career as a mechanical engineer, working as a tool-and-die designer and then starting his own plastic injection molding company. Over three decades, he built the company into an enterprise that employed 650 people and supplied products to numerous Fortune 500 corporations.
    Mr. Barsanti is survived by his daughter, Aimee (Dave) Tanking, his grandchildren, Morgan and Mackenzie; his nieces, Christine Schmid and Kathy (Dennis) Spahr, and nephew John Schmid.
    “Ron Barsanti gave of himself — his time and his talent — to an organization he really loved,” said Habitat’s Godek. “He donated more than a half-million dollars to us but, gosh, he gave so much more.”
    The family requests memorial donations go to the Barsanti Family Foundation, 1295 Lands End Road, Manalapan, FL 33462.

    DELRAY BEACH — Maryruth Price Pfeiffer, our beautiful mother and the heart of our family, went to heaven on June 9. She was born on the Fourth of July, 1928, in Dearborn, Mich. Maryruth was the daughter of the late Eleanore and Martin Price.
    She grew up in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, and graduated from the Beaumont School. She attended Ursuline College and Case Western Reserve University. She was an honor student, respected by her fellow classmates, and was elected president of her class all through her school years.
    She was an English major who instilled a love of the written and spoken word in her children, grandchildren, and students in the Great Books courses she taught.
    Maryruth lived many years in the Shaker Heights, Ohio, Washington, D.C., New York, and Connecticut areas. After her marriage to Ralph A. Pfeiffer Jr. who predeceased her, she moved to Florida in 1976.
    “Mere,” as she was known to all, gave the gift of unconditional love to her 11 children and their loved ones: Mary Ellen Pfeiffer, Karen Pfeiffer (Harold A. Schaitberger), Christine Pfeiffer, Jo Pfeiffer (Ken Heffner), Ralph A. Pfeiffer III (Donna), Elizabeth Pfeiffer (Charles J. Santos-Buch), John Pfeiffer (Peggy), William Pfeiffer (Julie Andersen), Mary Pfeiffer (deceased),  Nancy Pfeiffer and Thomas Pfeiffer (Julie).  
    She is survived by her 11 grandchildren, two step-grandchildren, one step-grandson-in-law, three grandsons-in-law and five great-grandchildren. She is also survived by her devoted sister, Nance Bernet, and her loving nieces and nephews.
    Mere brought joy and light into the hearts of all she met with her wit, style, grace and zest for life. She generously gave to many causes and charities and was most active in the advancement of research for a cure for diabetes. Maryruth was an accomplished piano player and poet who shared her passions for the fine arts, musical theater, film, comedy, New York Times crossword puzzles in ink, and mysteries with her loved ones.
    She was brilliant and hilarious.  She beat everyone in her favorite quiz show, Jeopardy. She was multi-talented and made everything look easy. Mere delighted in dancing to music and enjoyed walking the beach at sunset with her family. She loved anyone who was kind to her children and instantly they became part of the family.
    Mere’s generosity of spirit is exemplified by the phrase for which she will always be remembered: “I love you more.”  
    A memorial Mass will be at St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church in Delray Beach at 10 a.m. on Monday, July 4. Her interment will be at a later date.  
    In lieu of flowers the family suggests contributions may be made “In Loving Memory of Maryruth Price Pfeiffer” to: Diabetes Research Institute Foundation, 200 S. Park Road, Suite 100, Hollywood, FL 33021. www.diabetesresearch.org/tribute-gift.

— Obituary submitted by the family

Hurricane Alley owner Kim Kelly is celebrating the 20th anniversary of her Boynton Beach raw bar and restaurant.

Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Rich Pollack

    Grab a seat toward the end of the bar at Boynton Beach’s landmark Hurricane Alley Raw Bar and Restaurant and you might discover a small plaque, often obscured by ketchup and mustard bottles, honoring the memory of Harvey Oyer, a longtime and well-known real estate man with pioneer roots. (His great-uncle, Charlie Pierce, was one of the legendary Barefoot Mailmen.)
    “He helped me get started and he didn’t give up on me,” says owner Kim Kelly, who first opened the doors to the place in 1996, with Oyer as her landlord. “He’s one of the reasons we’re successful.”
    In exchange for giving Kelly an occasional pass on the rent, Oyer would daily commandeer his reserved seat at the bar and after lunch be handed a bill for just $4, no matter what he ordered.
    While Oyer’s generosity is one of the reasons Hurricane Alley is still here after 20 years, another has to be Kelly herself, a self-described gale force of action behind the hurricane in the restaurant’s name.
    On July 30, Kelly and Hurricane Alley — now a destination restaurant near where Ocean Avenue meets U.S. 1 — will be honoring the restaurant’s 20th anniversary with its “Summer Sizzle” celebration.
    Set to take Boynton by storm, the party from 3 to 11 p.m. will feature three bands, lots of food and a variety of vendors.
“It’s been 20 years and I’ve survived,” Kelly says. “There’s nothing better than surviving a hurricane.”
    It’s not only Kelly and the restaurant that have survived, it’s also the historic 1919 building housing Hurricane Alley that has survived.
    Over the years the space has been everything from a pharmacy to a restaurant and soda shop.
    But it had been vacant for more than a decade when Kelly, a bartender with a business degree, decided to become her own boss.
With lots of drive but little money, Kelly approached Oyer and asked if she could rent the vacant restaurant space.
    “We gutted the place,” she said, adding that she was doing a lot of the work herself, learning to use circular saws and drills.
To make ends meet, Kelly tended bar in West Palm Beach until 4 a.m., then after just a couple of hours of sleep, she got ready to open what was then Café Barista.
    Following six months of hammering and sawing, Kelly’s dream came to life when the cafe opened— but it wasn’t smooth sailing.
    “There were a lot of tears on the back steps,” she says.
    Back then, Kelly did just about everything herself, including working a tiny kitchen — a challenge since she had no idea how to cook.
    “I once called my mom and asked her how to bake a potato,” she said.
    Following four years of struggling, Kelly and two friends — both surfers — sat out back beside the alley and came up with a new name and a new concept.   
    After coming close to closing the doors of what had evolved into a renamed raw bar and seafood restaurant, Kelly landed a loan to expand the kitchen.
    Over the years Hurricane Alley has expanded twice, and last year Kelly added a food truck that she takes on the road. The restaurant, which started with two employees, now has 43.
    She was also part of an important merger of sorts — marrying steady customer Burt Garnsey, whose family has operated the Sea Mist drift-fishing boat for four generations. Now Hurricane Alley offers a “You hook ’em, we cook ’em” deal to folks who bring in their catches from the Sea Mist.
    Kelly says one reason the restaurant has lasted so long is that she is never far away. She works seven days a week and is known to duck into the kitchen and start cooking if orders back up.
    “You can’t own it and walk away,” says Kelly, 53. “That’s how the vision gets lost.”
    Another way to preserve a vision is to make sure the people who supported it through thick and thin are not forgotten.
    So there, at the top of Hurricane Alley’s sandwich menu, you’ll find the Hurricane Harvey, a rare roast beef sandwich that Harvey Oyer would order from his seat by the end of the bar.
    And no, you won’t get it for just $4 (it’s now $9.95), no matter who you are.

By Emily J. Minor

    MANALAPAN — John J. Murphy, a proud Catholic Irishman whose young parents emigrated to America when they were still teenagers, died May 24 with his beloved wife, Pamela, at his side. He was 81.
    A self-made businessman, Mr. Murphy started a school bus company with just one vehicle in his native New Jersey in the late 1960s. He continued to grow the business into the largest private school bus operation in his home state, and the 20th largest in the country.
    It was at a school bus office that he met his wife, Pamela, who was then managing the company’s Ocean County operations. “It just went from there,” she said.
    Soon after they married, the couple began visiting Manalapan on holidays and weekends. They bought a condo, and loved it, but the family dog was big and needed more space. About 12 years ago, they bought a home in Manalapan and have lived there full-time for several years, she said.
    “We just kept staying more and more and we’re Florida residents now,” she said.
    Throughout his successful business career, Mr. Murphy never forgot his two biggest loves: Catholicism and student education. Through their years in Florida, the couple sponsored children they knew personally, privately sending them to private parochial schools, his wife said.   
    They were supporters of Ave Maria University, about 20 miles east of Naples on the edge of the Florida Everglades, and were favored donors at Sacred Heart Catholic School in Lake Worth. In New Jersey, the Murphys gave generously to programs like the Barn for the Poorest of the Poor in Middletown; Trinity Hall, an independent Catholic college prep school for women in Middletown; and the Sisters of Charity of St. Elizabeth, in Convent Station.
    Mr. Murphy also served on the Manalapan Town Commission for two years, working to keep the Police Department under the town’s domain and not run by the county sheriff’s office. “That was his baby,” his wife said.
    But he didn’t run for re-election after his term ended in 2014, mostly because of emerging problems with his health. He had stents in his heart, then congestive heart failure, diabetes and then a bout with cancer. When he beat the cancer, the couple went on a cruise to celebrate, his wife said.
    Upon their return, Mr. Murphy developed pneumonia, and really never recovered, she said. His death was peaceful, and she was at his side.
    Mr. Murphy was widely known for his love of life. He enjoyed a good poker game, happy hour — often at their house — and a rousing Kentucky Derby party. He also enjoyed traveling, especially to the island of St. Martin and his parents’ homeland of Ireland, where he had many relatives.
    In his memory, Mrs. Murphy asks that donations be made to Sacred Heart Catholic School, 410 N. M Street, Lake Worth, FL 33460.

The George Snow Scholarship Fund awarded $687,483 to 72 students headed for college. (L-R) Frank Feiler,

Helen Babione, Janice Williams, scholarship recipients Chrismine Louis, Erica Hennessy

and Lauren Smith, Ingrid Fulmer, Bonnie Halperin and Jon Kaye.

Fund President Tim Snow and Spirit of Service honoree Ron Wells.

Photos provided

By Christine Davis

    At the George Snow Scholarship Fund’s annual awards reception in June, the fund made financial commitments of $687,483 in scholarships and scholar-support services to 72 students headed for college.
     Along with financial assistance, each Snow scholar received a gift bag with items that included a coffee maker and blender donated by Jarden Consumer Solutions of Boca Raton, a Microsoft Office Professional productivity suite donated by Microsoft Inc., first-aid kit donated by Boca Raton Regional Hospital, reference charts by Bar Charts, and oral hygiene kits donated by Dr. Douglas A. Rolfe.
    Members of the organization met the recipients and thanked supporters for making the 2015-16 season a successful one. “This night shows us the fruits of our labor, and our donors get to meet the young people who will benefit from their efforts,” President Tim Snow said.
    Also at this reception, Boca Raton resident Ron Wells received the Robert S. Howell Spirit of Service Award, acknowledging his volunteerism, generosity, commitment and unselfishness.
                                
    Florida Atlantic University’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine received initial accreditation from the national Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education for residency programs in general surgery and emergency medicine.
    The college’s six-year general-surgery training program is based at Boca Raton Regional Hospital, in collaboration with Bethesda Hospital East, Tenet HealthCare System’s Delray Medical Center, St. Mary’s Medical Center and West Boca Medical Center.
     Its three-year emergency-medicine training program is based at Bethesda Hospital East, with St. Mary’s Medical Center and Delray Medical Center.
                                
    In May, the Arthur R. Marshall Foundation for the Everglades forged an agreement with the Everglades Foundation to administer and continue two key programs in 2017: the summer intern program for undergraduate and post-graduate students and its Everglades Symposium.
                                
    Marco and Mara Pindo, owners of Ristorante Sapori, held a fundraising dinner and wine auction to raise awareness and funds to assist Cuban families in need. They served 40 guests, who each paid $100.
The Pindos have already sent helpful items to families in Cuba, but they also are forging ahead with their long-term goals: to open a restaurant in Havana and to teach Cubans how to grow the simple produce needed to sustain it, as well as to use to improve their own diets.
    Marco Pindo also plans to train young Cubans to cook, giving them a career option as tourism grows in Cuba. To donate, either bring items to Ristorante Sapori, 301 Via de Palmas, Boca Raton, or call 367-9779.
                                
    On June 1, marking Fleet Feet Sports’ one-year anniversary in Delray Beach, 55 area residents did a run along A1A in conjunction with Global Running Day. Afterward, participants attended a meet-and-greet with Olympic track and field trial qualifiers Lana Mims, Bryan Jasmin and Ron Similien, who live in South Florida. The Global Running Day celebration evolved from National Running Day in the United States, which was started in 2009 by running groups and race directors.

Aaron Hallyburton, new assistant manager at Caffe Luna Rosa, spent 13 years aboard U.S. Navy ships.

Photo provided

    Welcomed by his stepfather, Fran Marincola, Navy veteran Aaron Hallyburton has joined Caffe Luna Rosa as assistant manager. During Hallyburton’s two decades in the Navy, he spent 13 years at sea aboard three aircraft carriers and two amphibious assault ships, serving as machinist’s mate senior chief.
                                
    In June, the Palm Beach Area chapter of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society named its south county man and woman of the year at the conclusion of the candidates’ 10-week fundraising campaigns: Morgan Tannenbaum, a veterinarian at Regency Veterinary Clinic in Boca Raton, raised $65,237, and Ariel Enisman, an attorney at the Presser Law Firm in Boca Raton, raised $11,862.

The Cool Cars for Nicholas Car Show raised $20,000 for Nicholas McClary, who has Ewing’s sarcoma.

(L-R) Claudia McClary, Ted Vernon, Nicholas McClary and Andrew McClary.

Photo provided

                                
    On May 28, Art of Speed Auto Events and the local car community presented the Cool Cars for Nicholas Car Show at Club 66 in Boynton Beach. The event raised $20,000 for Nicholas McClary, who was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma ­— a bone cancer that affects mainly children — in December. Nicholas is the son of Car Show TV co-founder Andrew McClary.
                                
    The Greater Boynton Beach Chamber of Commerce offers summer series Lunch & Learn, “Closing the Skills Gap,” given by CareerSource Palm Beach County, at noon July 21. The free event, open to the public, will be held at the chamber board room, 1880 N. Congress Ave., Suite 214. To reserve a space, call 732-9501.
                                
    Delray Medical Center has earned the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s “Get With the Guidelines Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award.”
    To qualify, hospitals must meet measures developed to reduce the time between the patient’s arrival at the hospital and treatment with tPA, a drug to treat ischemic stroke. If given intravenously in the first three hours after the start of stroke symptoms, tPA reduces the effects of stroke and lessens the chance of permanent disability. The medical center is at 5352 Linton Blvd., Delray Beach.

INSET BELOW: McLaughlin (left); Milton (right)
                                
    Samantha McLaughlin and Candace Milton have joined the Leighton Design Group, a residential and commercial interior design firm founded by Chris Leighton in 1989.
    New to the interior design world, Milton was a production assistant and stylist in the television and fashion industries.
McLaughlin has worked in hospitality design in New Jersey for hotel developers.
    The Leighton Design Group specializes in “organic-minimalism styling.” Its Florida studio is at 1020 S. Federal Highway, Suite 104, Delray Beach.
                                

    Boynton Beach resident Carmen C. Howe, vice president of design at Deco One Interiors Group, was named a new member of Executive Women of the Palm Beaches.
                                

    Jayme Renshaw, formerly sales manager for Tiffany & Co. in Boca Raton, is now the group sales manager for Eau Spa at Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa, 100 S. Ocean Blvd., Manalapan.
                                

    The Buzz Agency, 104 W. Atlantic Ave., Delray Beach, has acquired Tradewinds Media Partners and hired Enid Atwater as its vice president of public relations. Atwater will manage the agency’s new Palm Beach office at 101 Bradley Place.
                                
     For its 33rd annual National Night Out crime and drug prevention event on Tuesday, Aug. 2, the Delray Beach Police Department will host a rally at the Delray Beach Tennis Center, 201 W. Atlantic Ave., Delray Beach, from 6 to 10 p.m.
    Lock your doors, turn on your outside lights to show support, and spend the evening outside with your neighbors and officials. The event will have free music, food, entertainment and activities for your children. It will also feature demonstrations from the Delray Beach Police’s SWAT, K-9 and motorcycle units and the Police Explorers.
                                
     BizBash, a resource for event organizers, released its South Florida Top 100 Events 2015. Among the events listed were the Delray Beach Garlic Fest, No. 2 in the best food-related events, and Delray Affair, No. 3 in best parades and festivals.

                                
     Try out Tryst’s new summer specials: fried chicken dinner with a glass of bubbly on Sundays; “Wine Not?” specials with charcuterie and cheese boards on Tuesdays; burgers and hot dogs on Wednesdays; live entertainment on Thursdays; and late dining Friday and Saturday nights (till 1:30 a.m.). Tryst is at 4 E. Atlantic Ave., Delray Beach.


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

Jennifer Medici carries her son James, 5, during the Cason Color 5K Fun Run

in Delray Beach. Runners and walkers took part in the fundraising event on A1A.

Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

A 5.4-acre parcel at the south end of Highland Beach is the future site of the county’s Milani Park.

The land won’t be developed as a park for at least four years, but trespassers are holding

parties there, building bonfires and perhaps disturbing turtle nests.

Photo Courtesy Highland Beach

By Rich Pollack

    Highland Beach town leaders are hoping Palm Beach County will help them in their efforts to end trespassing and illegal activity on a stretch of beachfront property the county has wanted to turn into a park since it purchased the site almost 30 years ago.
    The 5.4-acre parcel at the south end of the town — known as the future site of Milani Park — has been at the center of a long-standing dispute between the county and Highland Beach and its residents, who are opposed to opening the property to the public.
    In 2010, both sides reached an agreement that would delay any development of the park until at least 2020 and possibly for 10 more years after that.   
    Now, however, it seems that trespassers are building bonfires and drinking on the beach, disturbing turtle nests and painting graffiti on a seawall.
    And Highland Beach wants to put a stop to it.
    “Someone is going to get hurt,” said Commissioner Carl Feldman. “I want people to know it is off limits.”
    Town Manager Beverly Brown said the town’s police officers are patrolling the area, but for safety reasons are not traversing a narrow path through the wooded area from State Road A1A to the beach.
    “We don’t allow police officers to go down there alone,” Brown said. “We don’t have the staffing to patrol it on a daily basis.”  
    Brown said trespassers have cut down trees in the wooded area for bonfires and that alcohol and drug use is prevalent. She said a volunteer who works with sea turtle protection stepped on a needle and that stakes marking turtle nests were pulled up and used as firewood.
    “The neighbors are afraid to walk on the beach,” she said.
    Brown, in a letter to the county late last month, asked to have a fence put up to block trespassers.
    Palm Beach County Parks and Recreation Director Eric Call said his department is working with Highland Beach to resolve the issue.
    “‘No Trespassing’ signs were posted on the property and maintenance personnel and park rangers are working with town police to monitor access,” Call said.
    County maintenance crews are also visiting the property regularly, he said.
    “As an undeveloped parcel, it is not routinely maintained,” Call said. “However, rangers patrol it daily and maintenance personnel inspect it several times a week for any graffiti or unauthorized use.”
    Call said that the county also inspects the property once a year to determine if exotic plants need to be removed.
    Highland Beach police will continue to respond to calls to the area and work to remove trespassers, Brown said.
    In May, a sign that posted hours and indicated the county park was open appeared on the seawall on the property but it was removed two days later. Call said the sign was the result of an apparent miscommunication between the town and parks department staff and said that additional ‘No trespassing’ signs have been added.
    Late last month, county crews installed a fence blocking entrance to the property from A1A.
    Palm Beach County purchased the property from Cam D. Milani in 1987 for about $4 million, intending to use the site as a beachfront park with a boardwalk and small restaurant.
    Under terms of a 2010 agreement, the county will need to alert the town in 2019 if it plans to develop the property as a park or opt to defer development for another five years.
    Call said he is not aware of any discussion among county leaders regarding the parcel’s future.

By Steve Plunkett

    Along with choosing a new president of the United States, Boca Raton voters in November will be asked to decide the fate of the city-owned Wildflower property.
    The City Council decided to give voters the chance to choose “Yes” or “No” on Nov. 8 whether they agree with a statement: “City-owned land adjacent to the Intracoastal Waterway shall only be used for public recreation, public boating access, public streets and city stormwater uses only.”
    A petition drive to possibly overrule the City Council’s intentions to lease the property to the Hillstone Restaurant Group gathered 2,068 signatures, double the 1,030 required. However, their submission came too late to get the question on the Aug. 30 primary election ballot, City Attorney Diana Grub Frieser said.
    The City Council was scheduled to vote July 26 on a land-use change, rezoning the parcel, a conditional use and a 20-year lease to the restaurant group. But after the petition drive’s success, Hillstone requested at the council’s June 14 meeting that consideration of the lease be postponed until Nov. 22 and the conditional use until Dec. 13.
    Mayor Susan Haynie, at her State of the City speech a week earlier, said “the people get to speak” on the future of Wildflower.
    “I certainly don’t support the City Council going around and trying to quickly approve this and get it underway when the people have stood up and want to speak,” Haynie said.
    Boca Raton bought the 2.3-acre parcel on the north side of Palmetto Park Road in 2009 for $7.5 million so residents could have access to the Intracoastal waterfront. It then decided to lease the land, the former site of the Wildflower nightclub, to a restaurateur.
    The proposed lease would have Hillstone pay the city $600,000 a year for five years, with the payments rising every five years to nearly $700,000 annually in years 16 through 20. The city would pay all property taxes and could get added rent if gross sales exceed targets.
    Progress on the restaurant plan did not stop entirely. The city’s Planning and Zoning Board approved the site plan for Hillstone on June 9. And the council introduced ordinances to change the site’s land-use classification and zoning at its June 14 meeting.
    Jack Fox, president of the Beach Condominium Association of Boca Raton and Highland Beach, which has 9,000 residents in the city, said the group’s officers met earlier that day to take a stance.
    “The Beach Condominium Association supports having a waterfront restaurant with dockage for transient boats on the Wildflower location,” Fox said. “The $7.5 million property has sat dormant for nearly a decade … it needs to give us a return on our investment. We shouldn’t allow this kind of thing to happen.”
    A restaurant would also convert an eyesore into a spot with eye appeal and provide boaters a nearby destination, Fox said.
    Jackie Reeves, who sits on the board of directors of the Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce, also supported leasing the land to a restaurant.
    “As a resident and businesswoman, I am exasperated that it actually has not been turned into a revenue-producing property. It has been sidelined for so many years,” she said.
    Stephanie Dimartino, a graduate student, opposed the referendum.
    “I live at the Mark, and I want more walkable dining opportunities downtown,” she said. “This would be a gold mine for 120 new jobs, especially those at Lynn University and Florida Atlantic University majoring in hospitality and business.”
    But Andrea O’Rourke, president of the nearby Golden Triangle Homeowner Association, urged council members to consider the site as an opportunity for “place-making” rather than a site for a restaurant.
    “I have not been to any cities that have a downtown on the waterfront that isn’t utilized in some way as a place-making experience,” she said. “I don’t come back from Chicago or New York City with pictures of the restaurants that I’ve eaten at.”

By Sallie James
and Steve Plunkett

    It’s not over yet.
    Despite a court ruling that Boca Raton city officials erred in giving the Chabad of East Boca Raton permission to build a new synagogue and museum, Chabad officials aren’t giving up the fight.
    Spiritual leader Rabbi Ruvi New on June 27 said the synagogue will appeal.
    “We are going to appeal to the 4th District Court [of Appeal in West Palm Beach],” he said. “We have very strong grounds for an appeal and we are prayerfully optimistic for a positive outcome and for our appeal to be upheld and reverse the current ruling.”
    New acknowledged the setback, admitting that the route to building Chabad of East Boca Raton’s facility has been more challenging than expected.
    “It’s definitely … a more scenic route to our destination than we anticipated, but our resolve to build a center is as strong as ever,” New said. “We’re absolutely not discouraged as much as the opposition would like to delay and derail the project. That will not succeed.”
    He said the deadline to file an appeal is July 8, and he expected Chabad to file its appeal very soon.
    A three-judge panel of the county’s Circuit Court made the ruling on June 6 regarding the proposed building, set to be constructed on Palmetto Park Road east of the Intracoastal Waterway.
    City Council members should have disallowed the My Israel Center museum outright or followed a city code requirement for 239 parking spaces for the facility, the judges said.
    “The city may not pick and choose which sections of the City Code will apply to the ‘My Israel Center,’” they wrote.
    David Roberts, the owner/broker of Royal Palm Properties across the street from the proposed synagogue, at 770 E. Palmetto Park Road, asked the court in August to review the City Council’s approval of the site plan, saying its resolution “departed from the essential requirements of the law.”
    Roberts could not be reached for comment for his reaction to the ruling despite several phone calls.
    The council approved the Chabad’s plans in May 2015, despite the fact that zoning in the area does not permit a museum, Circuit Judges Meenu Sasser and Lisa Small and County Judge Ted Booras wrote in their opinion. Even granting the property owner’s contention that a museum in this case is a “place of public assembly,” they said, officials should have insisted that the .84-acre site have 239 parking spaces, not the 81 approved.
    New earlier had told neighbors that a Chabad providing 81 parking spaces would be “unprecedented” in coastal Florida. The downtown space his congregation leases at 120 NE First Ave. has just five parking spaces, he said. An 11,000-square-foot synagogue in Palm Beach has four and a 35,000-square-foot Chabad in Sunny Isles has 22.
    The Chabad has been trying to find a larger place to meet for years. This is the second time parking has tripped up its plans.
    In 2008 the congregation wanted to move into a 23,000-square-foot building near Mizner Park but was unable to meet parking requirements there.

By Dan Moffett

    Elected officials from six coastal communities will have some difficult decisions to make in evaluating the results of a study that examines the feasibility of creating a barrier island fire district.
    The revised 130-page report from Texas-based Matrix Consulting Group paints a complicated picture of how the six towns — Gulf Stream, Highland Beach, Briny Breezes, Ocean Ridge, Manalapan and South Palm Beach — might unite to provide their own fire-rescue services.
    Tradeoffs between cost and levels of protection permeate consultant Robert Finn’s analysis of what an independent district might look like and what is needed to create and run it.
    A key issue for officials is deciding how many stations are needed to effectively cover the proposed 20-mile district that runs along A1A.
    The plan envisions using existing stations in Manalapan and Highland Beach, with a new station to be built somewhere between Gulf Stream and Ocean Ridge.
    Some officials believe the district will need a fourth station, however, or at least the capability to deploy a fourth rescue unit — added expenses that could make the plan too costly.
    Gulf Stream Town Manager William Thrasher, who has led the exploratory group for the district proposal, says he expects the elected councils and commissions in the six towns to consider the findings this month and then decide whether to move forward.
    “For this to work, we need all six communities to stay involved,” Thrasher said. “That could be difficult considering some of the concerns about cost.”
    South Palm Beach Town Manager Bob Vitas has said his council is unlikely to approve any plan that raises costs.
    Highland Beach may be nearing an agreement for fire service with Delray Beach that could lead the town to pull out of the district group.
    Manalapan Town Manager Linda Stumpf says the town’s current long-term arrangement with Palm Beach County will be hard to beat. Manalapan has its own station and pays a relatively low rate for services that is linked to property values in neighboring South Palm Beach.
    “We have the Cadillac of all deals,” Stumpf said. “No one will ever see that deal again.”
    Still, Thrasher says he expects officials from all six towns to take a hard look at the study and formally support or reject the district plan.
    Among the study’s key findings:
    • The six towns currently pay a combined $6.93 million for their fire-rescue services. The estimated annual cost of operating an independent fire district with three rescue units is $6.15 million, suggesting a potential savings of about $781,000 per year. Adding a fourth rescue unit would cost about $800,000 more and amount to a $33,000 increase over current operating expenses.
    • It would take roughly $7.4 million in capital expenditures to get the district started. This includes about $3.6 million for trucks, vehicles and equipment, as well as another $3.8 million to renovate the Manalapan station and build a new station somewhere near the middle of the district.
    • Mutual aid agreements with mainland providers would be important to “ensure an effective response force can be assembled on structural fires.” Cooperation with mainland providers would help ensure coverage throughout the long, narrow district. The report says a close relationship between Delray Beach and Highland Beach would be necessary to cover the southern end.
    • The cost of buying services from the mainland continues to rise — up a combined 7 percent for the six towns over the past three years. Gulf Stream’s costs rose the most (10.25 percent) and Manalapan and South Palm Beach shared the lowest increase (5.15 percent).
    • Current response times vary significantly — from a high of nine minutes, 20 seconds in Gulf Stream to lows of roughly five minutes, 10 seconds in Manalapan and South Palm Beach.
    • The district would provide coverage to residents in the unincorporated county pocket and recover fees for service through an agreement with Palm Beach County.

By Steve Plunkett

    Boca Raton’s environmental advisory board supports moving quickly on getting money from the Florida Inland Navigation District and the county to restore Lake Wyman.
    Steve Alley, chairman of the panel, showed City Council members a map of the Intracoastal Waterway with the estuaries marked in red for areas lost to dredging of the ICW and to urbanization over the decades.
    Green marked the remaining estuaries; most of the map was red.
    “Right now we have an opportunity at Lake Wyman to put some green back on this map. This is really environmentally significant,” Alley said at the council’s June 13 workshop.
    The project, proposed in 2011, was derailed in 2012 by neighborhood concerns. The environmental advisory board said the concerns were largely answered before they were raised.
    The basic plan is to remove four spoil islands in Lake Wyman, clean out canoe trails in Rutherford and Lake Wyman parks, extend a boardwalk and add some amenities.
    Concern that the county’s Environmental Resources Management Department is not up to the task is unnecessary, Alley said. ERM has a long track record of turning spoil islands into seagrass and mangrove habitat, including projects at Fullerton Island in Jupiter and the Ocean Ridge Natural Area.
    “We’re not launching a space shuttle here. We just need to make a good habitat. That’s exactly what this is doing,” Alley said.
    The advisory panel also discounted worries that the end of the new boardwalk will be 1,700 feet from a restroom, noting that the fourth hole of the Red Reef Golf Course is 1,800 feet from the closest facility.
    Alley said the board supports having a launch area for nonmotorized boats but is against moving the proposed seagrass area north to create an upland hammock area.
    The council should embrace the Lake Wyman plan, Alley said, and not delay improvements by seeking more studies or making major changes to the proposal. Such tweaking would raise costs and allow the area’s mosquito and homeless populations to grow, he said.
    In 2011, the estimated cost of the restoration was just more than $3 million, with FIND contributing $2.1 million and the county and city $450,000 each. This time, a developer from Highland Beach has volunteered to pay for constructing of a mangrove ecosystem at the north end of the project as well as its continued maintenance. The developer needs mitigation credits for mangroves.
    To get the deal done, FIND would want all permits in hand by September 2017. Boca Raton needs to reapply for a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers, which will take a year if there are no big changes to the original plan, more time if new options are chosen.

By Steven J. Smith

    BOCA RATON — Jacqueline Becker led a remarkably active life, marked by a spirited determination to make a difference in the world, according to her grandson, Jon Becker.
    “She was a very driven person, independent and quite headstrong,” Becker said. “She was always in charge, trying to do the right thing and was very focused.”
    Mrs. Becker died on June 12 in hospice at the age of 90, but lived a life rich in accomplishments, he added.
    “Even in her later years in Boca, she sold real estate — but only the best properties between the ocean and the Intracoastal Waterway,” Becker said. “Work was her pastime and she was a very successful Realtor.”
    Born in New York City in 1926, Mrs. Becker attended prestigious Vassar College, where she majored in music and dramatic production. After graduation, she worked for Decca Records’ artist relations department, accompanying performers Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Ella Fitzgerald and Al Jolson on personal appearances around the U.S.
    “She acted as their liaison,” Becker said. “And during one of those trips, she met my grandfather, Herman, and married him in 1950.”
    The Beckers moved to her husband’s hometown of Terre Haute, Ind., where they raised their two children. It was there she developed a keen interest in community affairs.
    In 1960, however, her life changed at the behest of fellow Vassar alumna Jacqueline Kennedy, who solicited her aid for John F. Kennedy’s successful presidential bid.
    “That served as a springboard for her to found Housewives Effort for Local Progress,” Becker said. “That organization was formed in conjunction with the school system of Terre Haute and served as a predecessor of the PTA, raising money for important educational programs.”
    In 1972, the Beckers moved to Highland Beach and she got active in local government, serving as a member of the Community Appearance Board until they moved again in 1982, to Boca Raton.
    Tragedy struck in 1997, when Mrs. Becker’s son, Rick, died of a sudden heart attack at 44. That spurred the creation and funding of the Rick Becker Memorial CPR Award, which provides annual recognition to a local individual who promotes, saves a life with CPR or provides CPR education to the community.
    “Unfortunately, CPR would not have helped in Rick’s case, but they felt this was something they wanted to do in his memory,” Becker said. “She also funded the Jacqueline L. Becker Award in Political Science at FAU, which is given yearly to a deserving student there. She loved following politics and in her 80s she even helped President Obama’s campaigns, making cold calls to get the vote out for him.”
    In addition to her grandson, Jon Becker, Mrs. Becker is survived by her daughter, Susan M. Becker; a granddaughter, Traci Bartow; and a great-grandson, Max Becker.
    Instead of flowers, please send donations to the Rick Becker Memorial CPR Fund, c/o Boca Raton Firefighter and Paramedic Benevolent Fund, P.O. Box 565, Boca Raton, FL 33429 or the Jacqueline L. Becker Award in Political Science, FAU Foundation Inc., 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton, FL 33431.

By Steve Plunkett

    Two commissioners of the Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District each drew two challengers for the Aug. 30 election.
    Incumbent Dennis Frisch, a podiatrist, will face one-time City Council candidate Craig Ehrnst and medical physicist Shayla Enright.
    Commissioner Earl Starkoff, an information technology services executive, will face John Costello, an accountant, and Erin Wright, who co-owns a home inspection service.
    Steve Engel, the commission’s vice chair, was re-elected to his second four-year term without opposition when no one filed to run against him by noon June 24.
    Ehrnst, 52, is corporate treasurer at NCCI in Boca Raton and has a master’s in business administration from the University of Michigan. He is on the board of directors for the Boca Raton YMCA and the Boca Raton Children’s Museum and spent three years on the city’s Financial Advisory Board. He lost his only run for a City Council seat in 2014.
    “Put residents first! Protect and cherish our most valuable assets,” Ehrnst said.
    Enright, 26, earned dual bachelor’s degrees in physics and chemistry at Florida Atlantic University in 2011, then received a Professional Science Master’s degree in medical physics at FAU in 2014 followed last year by a master’s degree in biomedical engineering from the University of Miami.
    This is Enright’s first run for office, but elections are nothing new to her family. Her mother, Jean, is running for her fourth term on the partisan Port of Palm Beach Commission.
    “Unfortunately, there is a discord between the beach and park district and the city of Boca Raton, which prevents things from getting done. I would work to make the communication between the district and city more fluid, and make sure the voices of the residents are heard,” Enright said.
    Frisch, 61, is a graduate of Boca Raton High School and the University of Florida. He earned his medical degree from the Dr. William M. Scholl College of Podiatric Medicine in North Chicago. He has been a member of the city’s Parks and Recreation Advisory Board since 2007 and was first elected to the beach and park commission in 2008.
    “Any reported differences between the city and the district are really quite narrow in comparison to the achievements made together. We must seek continued opportunities to expand green space and facilities for our children and our grandchildren.” Frisch said.
    Costello, 47, who was born and raised in Boca Raton, has a degree from the University of Florida in forest resources and conservation. This is his first run for office.
    “I’d like to bring some fresh ideas and new blood to the commission,” Costello said.
    Starkoff, 67, has an MBA from the University of Miami and is finishing up his 12th year on the commission. He is also past president of the Soccer Association of Boca Raton.
    “I will continue to lead with sound, debt-free fiscal management as a grass-roots listener and voice to protect, preserve and provide all of our residents with the beautiful beaches, open green spaces and parks that define Boca Raton,” Starkoff said.
    Wright, 37, who moved to Boca Raton when she was 6, has a master’s degree in exercise science and health promotion from FAU. She was an environmental health and safety specialist at the university before opening her home inspection service with her husband, a city firefighter. Wright was also a member of the city’s Green Living Task Force/Green Living Advisory Board for almost two years.
    “This commission needs a breath of fresh air … someone who is extremely familiar with the beaches and parks and the needs of the young families and citizens of Boca. I am ready to improve the lines of communication between the commission and the city, which I believe is vital to making our beaches and parks the best they can be,” Wright said.
    Beach and park commissioners are paid $80 for each meeting they attend and usually meet twice a month. They oversee a $46 million budget. The elected term begins Jan. 1.
    Aug. 1 is the last day to register to vote in the Aug. 30 contest.

Runners hit the pavement along A1A on June 25 for Cason United Methodist Church’s

Cason Color 5K Fun Run in Delray Beach.

Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Janis Fontaine

    Cason United Methodist Church held its first Cason Color 5K Fun Run, a fundraiser for the church and three other charities, on June 25 at Anchor Park, 340 S. Ocean Blvd., Delray Beach.
    David Schmidt, the youth minister at Cason, spearheaded the planning of this event with the support of the 30 kids in his youth group.
    “We wanted to do something fun but a little bit athletic, but also spiritual,” Schmidt said.
    Schmidt got the idea from The Color Run organizations’ sanctioned events, which feature people throwing colored powder on the racers as they run by. In 2011, they held their first race. In 2015, The Color Run hosted more than 225 events in more than 35 countries. The original race was called “the Happiest 5K on the Planet,” because it “celebrates healthiness, happiness and individuality.”
    Schmidt combined the spirit of that race and a brainstorming session with the church’s congregation to come up with the Cason Color Fun Run.
    Runners and their families met at Anchor Park at 7 a.m. The children from Schmidt’s group ran the color stations. Some people, they found, didn’t want to get messy. Others couldn’t wait.
    But no one wanted to breathe (or have their little ones breathe) in the colored powder used at the official races, so organizers came up with a plan to have face painting and temporary hair dye or hair spray, and the older kids in the youth group manned super-soakers filled with washable paint. They were happy to take aim at any anyone who wanted to be colorful.
    The registration fee of $35 at this timed 5K event benefited Cason United Methodist Church and Habitat for Humanity, as well as two children’s service agencies, the Achievement Center and the Delray Beach Campaign for Grade Level Reading.
    For more information, call 276-5302 or visit www.casonumc.org.

Attendees at the Create a Jewish Legacy event May 23

included (l-r) Mark Schaum and Dale and Ed Filhaber.

Photo provided

Create a Jewish legacy
    $33 million. That’s the amount of money pledged by South Palm Beach County’s synagogues, Jewish agencies, schools and the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County in the first year of their “Create a Jewish Legacy” planned giving campaign.
    The $33.2 million in declarations of intent was the highest amount pledged of any of the 28 “Life & Legacy” participant communities around the country.
    Create a Jewish Legacy is a public awareness campaign designed to help individuals and families support Jewish causes and to build a strong, vibrant community with these future bequests for permanent endowments, according to the federation’s website.
    The 11 CJL organizations in South Palm Beach County secured 293 legacy commitments from 235 individuals.
    On May 23, representatives from the 11 CJL partner agencies celebrated the success of the program with a reception at Zinman Hall on the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County campus. The evening featured live music, gourmet bites and a photo booth.
    The 11 local Life & Legacy participants are the Adolph and Rose Levis JCC, B’nai Torah congregation, Boca Raton Synagogue, Congregation Shaarei Kodesh, Donna Klein Jewish Academy, Katz Hillel Day School of Boca Raton, Jewish Association for Residential Care, Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County, Ruth & Norman Rales Jewish Family Services, Temple Beth El of Boca Raton and Yeshiva High School.
    Four additional Create a Jewish Legacy partners assisted: Congregation B’nai Israel, Hillel of Broward and Palm Beach, Jewish Education Center of South Florida and Torah Academy of Boca Raton.
    For more information about CJL or the Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County, visit jewishboca.org.

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