Ryan Heavyside builds custom surfboards and sells Nomad brand clothing at the shop that has been in his family for 55 years. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

When Nomad Surf Shop owner Ryan Heavyside was approached about being the subject of a Meet Your Neighbor feature as a means of getting him better acquainted with his neighbors along A1A, his response was, “There aren’t many people in this neighborhood I don’t know.”

Ever since his grandfather Richard Heavyside bought the building at the corner of Briny Breezes and Ocean boulevards in the early 1960s and leased a 75-square-foot space to Ryan’s father, Ron, to craft and sell surfboards, Nomad has served both surfers and hundreds of thousands of others who have sought to sample a touch of their carefree lifestyle.

Few have embodied that lifestyle more than Ryan, 39. From a modeling career that stretched from his mid-teens to just a few years ago, to a long stretch as a pro surfer, to growing the Nomad brand into an international success, Heavyside embodies the images made famous in Beach Boys songs.

“South Florida is a special kind of place for all of it,” he said.

Heavyside recently picked up a vintage T-shirt that dates to the three businesses that operated on this County Pocket property just south of Briny Breezes some 55 years ago.

“There was Heavyside TV repair, a Pure Oil gas station and in the back Dante’s Den, which was a rock ’n’ roll joint that blasted live music until 5 a.m. My grandmother, who lived upstairs, used to sleep with cotton in her ears. That was a crazy time on this corner.”

The TV repair shop and nightclub eventually were swallowed up by Nomad, and Ryan’s mother, Beth, helped turn the business into a success.

“She passed when I was 12 but she was the reason that our retail business grew,” Ryan said. “My dad (who died in 2018) started building surfboards, but the retail side came from my mom. The way we survive in this business is the clothing side. Surfboards don’t have much of a profit margin. She kept up with the trends.”

While other retail businesses have succumbed to rent increases and the quest to turn every inch of coastal real estate into housing, Nomad carries on.

“The blessing is we own the building and we’ve been in this location for so long,” Heavyside said. “With the inflation in rents since COVID, you’re in business awhile and the landlord says, ‘Sorry, I’m adding a couple zeros.’ It changes the perspective.”

Nomad’s busy season begins in November and typically runs through Easter. Because Nomad is the only bona fide surf shop between Delray Beach and Stuart, its handful of parking spaces likely will be full for a while.

“There’s not many surf shops who build their own custom label through the shop,” Ryan said. “You can walk in and order a board for your own height, weight, color. Now we’re collaborating with people with art and color. That’s kind of a specialty thing. We’re in a kind of specialty retail spot.”

— Brian Biggane

Q: Where did you grow up and go to school? How do you think that has influenced you?
A: I’m straight from the Boynton Beach area, born at Bethesda Hospital, so I’m as native as it gets. I went to St. Joseph’s School up through eighth grade, then Atlantic High School for a couple years and then got home-schooled, which brought me into the business. The home-schooling gave me more freedom timewise and that’s when I started getting into modeling, which gave me a lot of opportunities to travel.

Q: What professions have you worked in? What professional accomplishments are you most proud of?
A: I started modeling at 15 and went into my mid-30s, so that was 20 years of that lifestyle. When I was very young my mom wanted me to get into it and I laughed it off, but later on I saw it as an opportunity to build up my savings. The magazines were everything then but now everybody just flips through their phones.
I was also a professional surfer, was on the U.S. Surf Team for one year and otherwise just did it on my own schedule. Competing is kind of a rough go; you’ve got to really be into it, and I look at it more from the enjoyment end.
Every day in this profession, running the shop, is a proud moment to carry on our legacy, being here 55 years — that’s pretty special to keep going. We still build our own surfboard labels. I actually shape all those. I manufacture those boards. It’s cool to do that custom. And we’ve gotten big on making our own brand of clothing. This is the only place you can get the Nomad brand. We do our own artwork.

Q: What advice do you have for a young person seeking a career today?
A: What you put in is what you get back. The work ethic these days has changed. You get the kid who’s really after it, you see that, and then there’s one who kind of lags. We’re blessed here, we have a good crew.

Q: How did you choose to make your home in the County Pocket?
A: We’ve always had a house in the pocket, the old-school wood house where my mom and dad lived. My brother lives in that house and I live in another house on the beach. We also have a Nomad rental beach house where people can book it, have surf lessons and enjoy the lifestyle.

Q: What is your favorite part about living in the County Pocket?
A: The commute to work is good. It’s pretty laid back, one of the last old Florida neighborhoods. There used to be a couple in Deerfield Beach, but they’re gone, so the next one is probably up in Stuart or even further north. It’s got that old Florida feel, which is hard to come by these days. It’s kind of got that island kind of style.

Q: What book are you reading now?
A: I read more The Surfer’s Journal, which is one of the last print magazines that deals with surfing. It’s got short stories but a lot of old ones from the ’70s to newer ones. It’s a bimonthly, glossy cover, a specialty magazine out of California.

Q: What music do you listen to when you want to relax? When you want to be inspired?
A: I listen to a lot of reggae when I’m chillin’, that’s always been kind of a go-to being from Florida. But inspired, when I’m in the shaping room shaping boards, a lot of old school like Jimi Hendrix, stuff like that. It puts you in that zone. Those big old-school tunes kick in, you get kind of a level of energy kick in. Also, the Rolling Stones, the Zombies, all those classic rock bands with the big tunes.

Q: Have you had mentors in your life? Individuals who have inspired your life decisions?
A: The biggest has been my father. Him creating this place, he was always so crafty on building boards, old-school cars. Very big-hearted. He always knew the lady from baseball, or the lady from the bank, and anything to do with surf, he’d remember these people. It was programmed in him to be that guy. Especially since he passed the business down to me.

Q: If your life story were to be made into a movie, who would play you?
A: At Nomad every day is like a movie, so I’d probably play myself. But if it was an actor, I’d say Johnny Depp. That whole pirate thing kind of blends with the surf theme.

Q: Who/what makes you laugh?
A: My wife, Taylor. She knows how to turn something serious into a better situation. We’ve laughed a lot over the years. Especially with my dad around, there was always a joke. We’ve been married three years but been together like 12. We’re hoping to become first-time parents next year.

ABOVE: Open tennis champion Coco Gauff leads her hometown parade as grand marshal of the annual holiday parade down Atlantic Avenue in Delray Beach. For her next big event, Gauff, 19, is entered in the Australian Open, which starts Jan. 14 in Melbourne. She is ranked third in the world as she tries to earn a second Grand Slam title to go with her U.S. Open victory in September. Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

BELOW: Girl Scouts from Troop 24313 ride in their float as part of the parade, which featured more than 70 floats, marching bands, walking groups and dance teams.

By Mary Thurwachter

Lantana is the 2023 Small Municipality winner in Palm Beach County’s Read for the Record event on Oct. 26. A certificate proclaiming the victory was presented during the Town Council’s Dec. 11 meeting.

To achieve the distinction, the town sent 37 volunteers — including the mayor, town manager, four firefighters, business owners, residents, and even former residents whose alma mater was Lantana Elementary School — to read With Lots of Love by Jenny Torres Sanchez to six local public schools and daycare centers on Read for the Record Day.

Library Director Kristine Kreidler created a video that included multiple town staff members and officials reading the book aloud — in English and Spanish — at the town’s newly renovated library, which was sent to the schools that requested a virtual reader. The video was also posted on the town’s social media page.

Kreidler and her team created a storywalk with pages from the book in the Town Hall breezeway to promote the day and let kids read the book while exploring Town Hall and its history.

“We posted our RFTR event flyers on the library’s and town’s Facebook pages, on the library’s Instagram and other platforms to demonstrate the town’s commitment to early literacy,” said Town Clerk Kathleen Dominguez.

“We held two story times at our library to guarantee that everyone, including toddlers and home-schooled children, could participate in the event,” Dominguez said. “The library guests ate free churros from the BunnBoh Churros Truck and made piñatas and other crafts inspired by the book.”

The annual Read for the Record was launched 18 years ago by the Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County to highlight the importance of building early literacy and language skills so all children have the chance to enter school prepared to succeed.

“We had this distinction in the past and were finally able to recapture it,” Mayor Karen Lythgoe said of the honor.

Lifesaving award — Police Chief Sean Scheller presented a Life Saving Award to Officer Arianna Morris during the Dec. 11 Town Council meeting. The July 29 rescue involved a non-verbal 7-year-old boy who had lacerated his wrist in an accident at home. He had been trying to get his aunt’s attention and punched through a window. Morris was first on the scene and was able to calm the boy and apply a tourniquet before paramedics arrived. Palm Beach Fire Rescue also honored Morris, saying the boy might have bled to death.

Employee of the Year — Lantana’s Employee Committee presented a plaque to accounting technician Adam Ganz as the town’s Employee of the Year for 2023. Ganz was chosen for his exceptional work in various roles and willingness to take on new responsibilities.

Town honored — Lantana officials were informed by the Government Finance Officers Association that the town’s annual comprehensive financial report, for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 2022, won the GFOA’s Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting. Finance director Stephen Kaplan and his staff were recognized for their outstanding work. This was the 25th consecutive year that the town received this award.

Assistant chief gets new SUV — The council authorized buying a 2024 Nissan Pathfinder from Alan Jay Fleet Sales for $40,338 for the new assistant police chief.

— Mary Thurwachter

By Steve Plunkett                                                                                                

The year 2023 was not a good one for the nonprofit group originally founded to support the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center in Boca Raton.

Through November, the Gumbo Limbo Coastal Stewards said it lost $481,000 in donations and gift shop sales that the organization has routinely counted on.

“We are not doing very well. … Our nonprofit is struggling right now,” said John Holloway, its president and CEO.

Visits to the center on State Road A1A are down more than 30%, he told Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District commissioners on Dec. 18, though the city later said it has vastly different numbers.

“We are barely seeing one or two people coming through the door in a day,” Holloway said of the gift shop. “So we are facing some tough choices in the feasibility of operating a gift store there anymore.”

And veterinary care of Gumbo Limbo’s sea turtles, which the state halted last March, will resume no sooner than this coming April, he said.

But Holloway was upbeat, noting that 200 guests had signed up to attend a fundraiser that week in West Palm Beach when at first he had hoped to get 50.

“The West Palm community, the community of Boynton Beach, the community of Delray has all stepped up tremendously and are all excited about the work that we’re going to be doing,” he said. “So things are going well for us, unfortunately not all so well at our original home.”

That future work includes a new focus on helping manatees, dolphins and whales along with sea turtles; a new name — the group is dropping “Gumbo Limbo” and will be known simply as the Coastal Stewards; and a new office. The group is moving from Federal Highway in Boca Raton to a commercial building on State Road A1A between Ocean Ridge and Briny Breezes that is next to The Coastal Star, landlord Southdale Properties Inc. said.

“The Coastal Stewards are now going to be focusing on manatees, sea turtles, and dolphins and beaked whales,” Holloway said. “Those are three megafauna in our community that are in peril. They are all in crisis.”

Despite the change in location, Holloway said the Coastal Stewards will continue to rehabilitate sea turtles in Boca Raton once it gets a permit from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

“It’s never been our intention to leave. We know and we value taking care of injured sea turtles in South County at the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center. It’s been our commitment for more than 15 years,” he said of his group, which began with the name Friends of Gumbo Limbo. “But there are a number of challenges.”

Holloway broke down the group’s lost revenue in three areas: donations at Gumbo Limbo’s door, donations in the turtle rehabilitation ward and purchases at the nature center’s gift shop.

Until 2023 all door donations went to the nonprofit. That stopped Jan. 1, 2023, when the city decided to keep the money itself to defray expenses at Gumbo Limbo. That was part of an evolving plan to have the Coastal Stewards take over operational and financial responsibility for the turtle rehab program.

Holloway had planned on collecting $253,000 at the door.

“I will tell you in a high year … in 2019 we had about $350,000 in door donations,” he said.

The Stewards also forfeited donations “from folks coming to see the patients and wanting to give money to help with their recovery. We’re down $50,000 because there’s no patients,” Holloway said.

And because fewer people are visiting, the group’s gift shop inside the nature center is selling fewer items.

“Our gift store sales this year, year-to-date for November, we’re down $177,000. So in total this year just to get us to November we are down $481,000 in what was typical revenue generated at the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center,” he said.

Tiffany Lucia, the city’s deputy recreation services director, had a different take on visitation numbers.

“2023 was the second-highest recorded in recent history,” she said, even though the sea turtles were absent much of the year.

Her numbers show 209,412 people visited the center through Dec. 29, down 14.8% from 2022’s record-setting 245,806 visitors, but up almost 4% from 2019’s pre-COVID total of 201,878.

However, Lucia said door donations through Dec. 29 were only $162,448, well below Holloway’s projection.

At the beach and park district meeting, Holloway said the salaries that the nonprofit is paying its veterinarian, Dr. Shelby Loos, and its rescue and rehabilitation coordinator, Kara Portocarrero, are also straining its budget.

“Keep in mind, you have to have them on staff before you can solicit the state to get a permit. So whether we had sea turtle patients or not I’ve had to have that full complement of staff ready to go,” Holloway said.

Loos, he said, spends 24 hours a week tending to sea turtles at the Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach. Portocarrero is adding to her résumé through work in Miami-Dade County, all at Coastal Stewards expense.

The city applied for an FWC permit to hold in captivity Cane and Morgan, its two sea turtles that cannot be released into the wild, on Aug. 4. That application is pending and the two are currently at other facilities.

The Coastal Stewards applied for a permit to provide veterinary care on Aug. 2, were asked for more information about Loos’ and Portocarrero’s qualifications, then resubmitted the application on Dec. 18, setting off a new 90-day clock for the FWC to respond.

Nicole Von Paris looks inside the sailboat Tayana that washed ashore in Delray Beach. Police spokesman Ted White said the 41-foot sailboat, first spotted on Dec. 15, is thought to have lost its mooring in the multiday storm that hit the area with heavy rain and high winds starting on Dec. 14. As of Jan. 2, the boat was still trapped in the sand, according to Delray Beach Ocean Rescue. White referred questions about the situation to the U.S. Coast Guard, but officials there and at the state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said they had not received any calls about a sailboat run aground in the corresponding area in the last two weeks of December. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

The Subculture Group is seeking approval to paint murals on the east and south sides of its future coffee shop on northbound Federal Highway in Delray Beach. Rendering provided

A place for art? — The City Commission has agreed to review the Public Arts Advisory Board’s approval of murals on two sides of the Subculture coffee shop that will open at 302 NE Sixth Ave. The Downtown Development Authority had recommended against the murals, voting that the proposal did not encourage economic development and did not promote “the downtown as a prosperous downtown area.”

Several commissioners were concerned about the murals in an area that is not an arts district. They were also upset that the owners had begun work on the murals before the commission rendered its final decision. Commissioners voted 3-2 to review the decision, with Commissioners Adam Frankel and Rob Long voting to let the approval stand.

A place for lawn bowlers and shuffleboarders? — The Delray Beach Preservation Trust is opposed to plans to pave over the lawn-bowling and shuffleboard courts at Veterans Park to relocate parking at the park. The existing parking spaces on the west side of the park are to be turned into additional park space that will link the existing park to the Atlantic Crossing project now under construction.

The trust said the courts are part of the historic character of the park. Vice Mayor Ryan Boylston said there are options for the future. “If there is a huge demand to bring back any bocce or lawn-bowling, two different things I’ve learned, we’re going to have all this extra new park space. If we want to put in a few courts because demand is just through the roof, we can do that,” Boylston said.

Town halls start in January — City Manager Terrence Moore is planning quarterly town hall gatherings to discuss topics of interest with residents. The first is scheduled for 5 p.m. Jan. 25 at the Delray Beach Golf Club, 2200 Highland Ave. The topics for the town hall are still to be determined.

Let there be light — Delray Beach has been experiencing delays in getting street lights replaced because a Florida Power & Light subcontractor has fallen behind on reported problems, Public Works Director Missie Barletto said in a Dec. 6 email to the city manager.

“The largest issue was on Ocean Boulevard across from the Municipal Beach, where an issue with a transformer had cut power to both the street lights south of Atlantic Avenue and to the meter on the east side of A1A, affecting both the pedestrian lighting and irrigation along the Beach Promenade. Issues to the north of Atlantic Avenue also were reported,” Barletto wrote.

She said all the problems have been fixed, but five turtle-friendly street lights on A1A “were inadvertently replaced with bright white LED lighting between Thomas Street and the Orange Grove parking lot.”

FPL promises to have those corrected by the start of turtle nesting season March 1, she said.

Parks project gets no takers — No one bid on the city’s Pompey Park construction project, which went out to bid in August. That’s “likely due to the scale and complexity of the project,” a city spokeswoman said, so officials have regrouped.

“Since that time, we have adjusted the methodology to a construction manager at risk approach, which will allow for much more collaboration between the owner’s representative, architect on record, and contractors,” said Gina Carter, the city’s communications director.

The city will now select an owner’s representative from among several submitted proposals with the goal of rebidding the project by mid-2024, Carter said.

The project is being paid for by the Community Redevelopment Agency, not the parks bond approved by voters in March. The CRA’s $40 million budget for the project this year is double the size of the $20 million parks bond.

— Larry Barszewski

By Steve Plunkett

Paul Lyons Jr., a seven-year veteran of the Gulf Stream Town Commission, vacated his seat on Dec. 8 with a simple “I resign, effective tomorrow” followed by a round of emotional thank-you’s to his colleagues on the dais, the town’s staff and its police officers.

“It’s been very rewarding,” Lyons said, offering no reason at the commission meeting for quitting and pausing frequently to compose himself. “Sorry for being emotional. I didn’t want to be.”

Commissioners did not say when they would fill Lyons’ seat, but historically they have quickly appointed someone from the town’s Architectural Review and Planning Board.

That’s what happened when, at the same meeting Lyons resigned, commissioners elevated ARPB member Robert Canfield of Place Au Soleil to fill ex-Commissioner Thom Smith’s seat until the 2026 election. Smith resigned a month earlier.

Lyons and his wife, Susan, bought their home on Polo Drive in April 2007. When an opening popped up on the ARPB four years later, he submitted a letter of interest and got the seat.

After not quite five years on the ARPB, he was appointed to the commission on Mayor Scott Morgan’s recommendation. Morgan at the time noted as an asset Lyons’ background in finance and business.

The mayor said the town had delegated several projects to Lyons, which included plotting a path to pay for Gulf Stream’s ambitious 10-year capital improvement plan without raising taxes or borrowing money. The town is now considering taking a loan to finish the project, another balancing act that Lyons helped devise.

“Your financial acumen has been very helpful to the town,” Morgan said. “The town owes you a debt of gratitude.”

Lyons is also the treasurer on the board of directors of the prestigious Gulf Stream Golf Club. He and his wife also have homes in Southampton, New York, and Vail, Colorado.

Their daughter, Olivia, and her husband, David Endres, are building a new home on North County Road.

The mayor said he hoped to keep Lyons involved with the community. The commission did something similar for Smith at the meeting, elevating Canfield to Smith’s former seat and returning Smith to the ARPB that he previously chaired.

In selecting Canfield, commissioners ended Place Au Soleil’s absence from the dais.

“I feel that we should have somebody from Place Au Soleil with that opening. I spoke to Malcolm, who is uncertain what his plans are going to be,” Morgan said, referring to Malcolm Murphy, the ARPB chairman.

Murphy in turn recommended Canfield.

“He’s steady, he’s young, I think he’d be a good member of our commission,” Morgan said.

“I think it’s important to have someone from Place Au Soleil. Last time we couldn’t,” Commissioner Joan Orthwein said.
Canfield, who bought a home in Place Au Soleil in 2015, joined the ARPB as an alternate in May 2021 and became a regular member in April 2022.

“I … would welcome the opportunity to work with the group (ARPB) to have a say in the exciting, yet controlled growth within the town,” Canfield wrote in his 2021 letter of interest in being appointed to the board.

By Larry Barszewski

A broken valve has blocked the flow of water to the fire suppression system at the Villas of Ocean Ridge, which is now relying on human eyes to look out for potential fires until the town is able to repair the valve.

Town commissioners approved an emergency expenditure Dec. 21, estimated between $65,000 and $75,000. It covers the cost of the replacement valves needed to restore full water flow to the fire sprinkler system at 5900 Old Ocean Blvd., with its 26 condominium units in three buildings between State Road A1A and Old Ocean Boulevard.

While the individual units don’t have sprinklers, the three common parking areas under the buildings do. The sprinkler piping was replaced in the parking areas of two of the buildings in October, Boynton Beach Deputy Fire Chief Jake Brant, whose city provides fire rescue services to Ocean Ridge, said in an email to The Coastal Star.

Ocean Ridge plans to make the repairs by installing three valves, instead of just replacing the broken one. The extra valves will prevent a water outage during the repairs that would affect a larger group of residents along a half-mile stretch of A1A between Corrine Street and Woolbright Road, Public Works Director Billy Armstrong told commissioners.

Without the extra valves, “it could be a period of eight to 10 hours that every resident — which would probably affect a couple hundred residents — are going to be without water,” Armstrong said.

Town Manager Lynne Ladner said the problem was discovered during flow testing for the villas.

“It was discovered that the valve on our main that goes to their fire line had dropped its slug,” Ladner said. “The slug [the internal parts of a valve] is dropped and therefore the valve is in a frozen closed position, not allowing ample water through for fire protection. They are not able to get it to reopen and thus we are needing to go in and make a replacement in that area.”

Officials do not know how long the valve has been broken, but Boynton officials said they had received test results as recently as October showing the pressure to be fine. At the time of the meeting, the town was in the process of seeking bids for the valve repair work, which would be approved by Ladner on an emergency basis and brought to the commission’s Jan. 8 meeting for ratification.

Commissioner Carolyn Cassidy asked if the work would be covered by a water main replacement project that the town plans to fund with American Rescue Plan Act grant monies.

Ladner said it could, but it is not in the northern area of town where those funds are expected to be used to replace aging water mains. Also, the town can’t wait on the grant, she said.

“We’re not going to be able to hold off because with this valve in the condition it is in now, that development has been put on what is called Fire Watch … because they don’t have ample water if something happens,” Ladner said.

Brant said “a Fire Watch is a temporary measure intended to ensure continuous and systematic surveillance of a building, or portion of the building, by one or more qualified individuals for the purpose of identifying and controlling fire hazards, detecting early signs of fire, activating an alarm and notifying the fire department in the event of a fire.”

A Fire Watch is common, officials said, taking place whenever a fire alarm or sprinkler system is not operational in an occupied building. The villas were under a Fire Watch for two days in October when the previous sprinkler work was done, Brant said. The expense of the Fire Watch is covered by the development.

In a related matter, the town is in the process of seeking a state grant to find, fix or replace buried water valves in town. The grant would cover half the estimated $500,000 cost of the work.

At a July meeting, Ladner told commissioners the town had neglected maintenance on the hundreds of water valves in town and has difficulty finding the buried valves when needed. The town plans to pinpoint the location of the valves, exercise the valves so they don’t lock in the open or closed position, and install concrete collars around the valves that extend to ground level so the valves can be easily found.

By Steve Plunkett

Briny Breezes has a new mayor, Ted Gross, and for the second time, some controversy — at least from Gross’ would-be challenger — about how residents qualify to run for office.

It also has a new Town Council president, Liz Loper; a new alderman, Jeffrey Duncan; and another vacancy on the dais because Sue Thaler resigned her seat Dec. 28, effective Dec. 31.

Gross took his new seat on Dec. 7 after Loper shifted into the council president’s chair. Duncan was unable to attend the meeting because of a death in his family. The council elected Loper as president.

“My family has been part of Briny Breezes since the beginning. I have been coming to Briny Breezes since I was born,” Gross said in his letter of interest in being appointed mayor. “My wife and I became full-time residents of Briny Breezes in 2014 and we love it here.”

Before Gross, the husband of Alderwoman Kathy Gross, was appointed, would-be candidate Keith Black detailed how he was disqualified from running for the position in the upcoming March election.

“I got a report from the (supervisor) of elections stating that five of my petitions were turned down,” Black said.

Briny Breezes requires a potential mayoral candidate to submit 20 petition forms signed by registered town voters. Black, who sits on the Planning & Zoning Board, submitted 23, thinking that was a sufficient cushion, but five were not accepted.

“They were telling me we had an address wrong,” Black said. “One person was not eligible to vote. One signature was not authenticated, and there was one with an invalid date.

“The individual with the signature that was not authenticated, that gentleman had an accident and his signature before and after his accident do not match,” Black said.

He tried to get the Supervisor of Elections Office to cure the problems but was told it only authenticates or rejects petitions and to seek help from the town. But Town Attorney Keith Davis told him neither he nor the town clerk could overrule the supervisor’s office.

Attorney Trey Nazzaro, standing in for Davis at the December meeting, said their office did not help Mayor Gene Adams with a petition problem in 2021.

“The town or the city attorney’s office did not get involved then so, you know, we’re going to continue with the way that we’ve done that,” Nazzaro said.

Black appealed again to the elections office, sending copies of three petitions with notarized statements from the signees that these were their signatures. Elections officials accepted one, leaving Black one short of the 20 he needed.

Gross and Duncan both were appointed to fill vacancies created by the resignations of Adams and Council President Christina Adams, the council’s previous husband-and-wife team. They announced in October their intentions to resign.

Because no one besides Gross qualified to run for mayor, he was automatically elected and will take the post for a full two-year term in March. The mayor is a non-voting position on the council.

Duncan will have to be reappointed if he is to serve beyond March. He did not file to run for the seat, which is up for election then, and neither did anyone else.

Kathy Gross was reelected automatically when no one challenged her. That means no town offices will be on the ballot during the presidential primary in March.

A notice posted in the town’s post office said the council would fill Thaler’s seat at its Jan. 25 meeting and encouraged people to send letters of interest in being appointed by Jan. 18.

“There will not be an election,” Davis said, adding that the Town Charter dictates that the council fill what he called Thaler’s “mid-term” resignation. Thaler would not have been up for election again until 2025.

Black said he planned to submit a letter of interest.

Thaler and the Adamses did not say why they resigned, but Town Manager Bill Thrasher blamed Form 6, the state’s new requirement that municipal officials detail their personal finances online.

“The effect of Form 6, with respect to all our newly appointed council members, in essence the effect of Form 6, the Town of Briny Breezes lost 23 years of experience or will lose 23 years of experience with people that sat on this board,” he said.

Thaler joined the council in 2012, Christina Adams in 2015 and Gene Adams in 2019.

Town manager’s report
Thrasher noted that he starts the fifth year in his position on Jan. 8.

“It’s my intent to continue serving as your town manager as long as I can,” he said.

But there will be changes, he said, including more face-to-face interaction with county commissioners, the League of Cities and state officials as he tries to find money for sea wall and stormwater upgrades.

“My emphasis going forward next year hopefully will be outreach,” Thrasher said. “Not concentrate so much on working within the Town Hall. I’m working outside Town Hall.”

Thrasher is contracted to work an average 25 hours a week, and he works remotely in the summer. Council members, who will evaluate his job performance at their Jan. 25 meeting, praised his output.

“I also think that when you do go to North Carolina we don’t even know you’re not here. So that’s a compliment,” Alderman Bill Birch said.

Thrasher also reported that the town has completed the rehabilitation of all seven of its sewage lift stations.

By Tao Woolfe

A developer from Greensburg, Kentucky, has been selected to design a new U.S. post office for downtown Boynton Beach.

Maple Tree Investments — one of two developers seeking to design and build a 3,490-square- foot retail post office at 401-411 E. Boynton Beach Blvd. — was approved by the Community Redevelopment Agency board on Dec. 12.

“I have experience in property acquisition, design and construction of postal properties in Kentucky, North Carolina, West Virginia and Oklahoma,” Todd R. Conley, owner/manager of Maple Tree Investments LLC, told the CRA board.

“These properties range in size from 3,200 square feet to 20,000 square feet. They encompass sorting, delivery and also retail.”

Maple Tree was competing with DMR Construction Services Inc., which has offices in Delray Beach and Waldwick, New Jersey, and has completed residential and commercial projects in Boynton Beach and surrounding communities.

Although the city commissioners, in their role as the CRA board, said they were familiar with DMR, they seemed impressed that Maple Tree has already built post offices in Kentucky, North Carolina and West Virginia.

“Postal construction is different from regular commercial construction and we’ve been down that road multiple times,” Conley said.

“If I had to make a choice tonight, it would be Maple Tree,” said Commissioner Aimee Kelley.

As it turned out, she did have to vote that night, and her colleagues agreed unanimously that Maple Tree should get the job.

The downtown post office was asked by the CRA to vacate its current home — at 217 N. Seacrest Blvd. — because the CRA wanted to sell the building to a mixed-use or commercial property developer. The CRA then solicited proposals for a new post office to be created for a building the agency owns on Boynton Beach Boulevard.

The agency received two proposals, but neither one fit the post office’s specifications, former CRA Executive Director Thuy Shutt told city commissioners at the time.

In May, city commissioners, acting as CRA board members, rejected all bids and asked the agency’s staff to bring back all the development options available.

The CRA re-advertised the bids and received the latest two responses in September.

The CRA had hoped that developers would come up with a mixed-use concept for vacant CRA parcels on East Boynton Beach Boulevard that would accommodate the post office’s requirements of 3,474 square feet for a retail post office, a loading dock and 22 parking spaces.

The proposal selected by the CRA board calls for a single-story, stand-alone building.

The post office, represented by U.S. Postal Service real estate specialist Richard Hancock, has said all along it wants to stay downtown and, with the right concept, would lease that space on a long-term basis.

Under the new proposal, the post office would be offered a 10-year initial lease with two five-year renewal options. The CRA board voted unanimously to extend USPS’s lease for its current home on North Seacrest to Jan. 31, 2025, but raised the annual rental rate 5% to $189,000.

CRA and city officials have said there may be few people willing to build to suit — and to serve as landlord — for a government entity.

Conley said Maple Tree’s role will be like that of a general contractor, and that the financing for the $1.3 million project has already been secured. He estimated that the total cost for the new building would be about $2.9 million, which includes construction, permitting and design. No estimate for a completion date was given.

Conley also said he personally monitors all his company’s projects. “You call, you get me,” he said.

LEFT: Jakob Thompson, a 17-year-old student at Santaluces High School, leaps into the water flowing out the Boynton Inlet to rescue a woman who was being swept out to sea in November. Video and photo provided

VIDEO: https://thecoastalstar.com/videos/boynton-beach-hero

BELOW: In recognition of his heroics, Thompson was invited by Boynton Beach’s fire rescue team to tour the station, where he was met with a surprise: Sarah Perry awarded him the Aden Perry Good Samaritan Scholarship. Perry started the foundation after her son (also 17) died while attempting to rescue someone from a lake. Thompson will receive a scholarship for him to become a firefighter EMT. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Utilities Director Poonam Kalkat praised the quick work to fix and clean up the leak at the east end of Boynton Beach Boulevard. But the state is investigating the leak and could penalize the city. Tao Woolfe/The Coastal Star

By Tao Woolfe

The corrosive power of saltwater seeping into a junction box caused a sewer pipe spill last summer that dumped millions of gallons of sewage into the Intracoastal Waterway.

The incident has cost Boynton Beach about $1.6 million so far, and could cost much more, as the city investigates other potential infrastructure problems in a system whose oldest pipes date back to the 1970s and ’80s.

Those were the conclusions of Poonam Kalkat, utilities director for Boynton Beach, who delivered the report to city commissioners on Dec. 19.

Then on Dec. 21, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection sent a “warning letter” to the city, adding another potentially expensive layer to the repair process.

The letter states that due to a broken city meter, approximately 22 million gallons of untreated wastewater discharged “into the waters of the state affecting water quality,” and that the city could be liable for damages and restoration. The breach occurred July 3 and the leak was stopped July 6.

The warning is part of a DEP investigation and is preliminary to the department’s taking action in accordance with state statutes, the letter says.

Earlier, a department spokesman said the DEP was “pursuing formal enforcement in this matter, in the form of a consent order, which may include civil penalties.”

“The consent order will also include corrective actions and solutions to avoid future discharges, with timelines for completion.”

At the Dec. 19 City Commission meeting, Kalkat gave a dramatic accounting of how Boynton Beach utilities staff, as well as emergency contractors called in to help, spent days and nights at the spill site — at the far eastern end of Boynton Beach Boulevard.

Divers worked hours against unusually high tides to access a so-called conflict box designed by the Florida Department of Transportation. The box enabled an 84-inch DOT stormwater pipe to intersect with a city force main pipe bearing sewage from a lift station.

“Divers arrived on site to do repairs as this was considered the fastest way to stop the spill,” Kalkat said. “A team of divers attempted to repair the damaged pipe, using a repair clamp; however, after trying for over 10 hours the divers were unsuccessful as the back pressure in the pipe, and the tidal water, did not allow the repair clamp saddle to be tightened completely.”

While divers worked to repair the pipe, city staff contacted other municipalities asking for help and parts — scarce with the July 4 holiday approaching, Kalkat said.

The conflict box was filled up with water twice a day, Kalkat said. The brackish water running in and around the storm pipe corroded the pipe bearing wastewater and caused sewage to leach into the ICW.

City officials originally estimated that some 12 million gallons of wastewater emptied into the Intracoastal following the breach, a lesser estimate than that of the Florida DEP.

Kalkat said at the time that the 50-year-old clay piping that ran beneath Boynton Beach Boulevard was on the books to be replaced, but had not been.

To reduce back pressure, the emergency contractor’s crews decided to install a 20-inch line stop downstream of the break. The action alleviated pressure, which would theoretically allow the dive team to repair the leak during low tide, Kalkat said. But divers failed at that attempt, too.

City staff removed 38 truckloads of water and material. Meanwhile, the DEP and the state Health Department monitored the situation and sampled the water every day. Clean Harbors, a Boynton-based waste removal service, placed booms and turbidity barriers around the spill and removed another 37 drums of waste, Kalkat said.

“Over 900 linear feet of above-ground bypass hose, along with a 20-inch by 12-inch wet tap, was installed by the contractor, successfully stopping the spill,” Kalkat said.

Department of Health signs posted near entrances to Mangrove Park warned visitors to avoid contact with canal and lake water “due to high amounts of bacteria.” The city report said water was sampled until Aug. 10 at the point of entry, upstream and downstream of that point, at the city boat ramps to the north and the Woolbright Road bridge to the south.

Kalkat said she was pleased with how the city staff — and contractors — worked steadily until the repairs were made.

“I’m so proud of how our staff responded,” Kalkat told the commissioners. “It took two weeks to clean up completely.

“The city’s quick response prevented further damage.”

But Mayor Ty Penserga said the city had received many complaints from people who live near the spill. The city was slow to let residents know what was happening, and whether their water was safe to drink, he said.

Better communication and response times are needed, he said, because lack of communication sows distrust.

Four work permit extensions have been granted for the 1.5-acre spec estate at 1460 S. Ocean Blvd. Anne Geggis/The Coastal Star

By Christine Davis

The long-running saga of a construction eyesore in Manalapan has another chapter: The Nigerian oil mogul who sank millions into the property gave it up to his lender who had filed to foreclose on it.

A week after the deed was recorded in December, the new owner of 1460 S. Ocean Blvd. took his turn in front of the Manalapan Town Commission, seeking a fourth permit extension for the work that started in 2018 on the 1.5-acre, lake-to-ocean property.

Commissioners agreed to move the Dec. 26 construction deadline back another half year, until July 1.

But it didn’t happen without some grousing first.

“It looks like you’ve got a lot of site work left to do,” Mayor Stewart Satter observed, addressing the new owner, Ed London of London Financial South Ocean LLC, Key Biscayne, who acquired the property for $21.5 million, court records show.

Many of the twists and turns — and delays — have been due to former owner Onajite Okoloko’s financial state. “Domestic problems,” London told commissioners.

Later he clarified: That means “divorce.”

Okoloko purchased the property in 2017 for $12.4 million. Over the years, he borrowed $48.5 million (and paid off $20 million of that) to build the house, official records show.

London Financial’s foreclosure case against Okoloko, chairman and CEO of Nigerian-based oil and natural gas producing and exploring companies, was still open at the end of December, court records show.

But London said the project’s completion is on the horizon — it really is.

“Structurally, the house is done,” London said.

The latest $37,877 fee for the permit extension brings the total Manalapan has collected for permit fees on the project to $583,038.

“In a spirit of cooperation, the commission extended the permit request until July 1st,” Satter said. “If the project is not completed by July 1st, they will be required to apply for another permit extension.”

The first permit was pulled in 2018 and construction began in 2019. The unfinished home is now on the market for $87.5 million, bumped up from Okoloko’s asking price last summer of $79.5 million. An online description of the property shows it will be nearly 20,000 square feet, with six bedrooms and 11 baths.

At the last request for an extension on the construction permit, the project’s representatives blamed Florida Power & Light for the delays. London said the electric company’s work on the property still could prove a wild card that prevents the project’s completion before the new permit’s expiration.

Whatever he and the construction company can control, they’ll be striving to meet the deadline, he said.

“We don’t want to be back here,” London said.

-- Anne Geggis

***

Kenneth A. Himmel, president and CEO of Related Urban, a company that develops mixed-use properties nationally, was the keynote speaker during Palm Beach State College’s 2023 fall commencement ceremony in December, which was held at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches, West Palm Beach.

Degrees and certificates were given to more than 2,000 graduates. George T. Elmore was presented with an honorary degree. Elmore founded and is president of Delray Beach-based Hardrives Inc., a paving construction company. Elmore has been a longtime donor and a board member of the college’s foundation since 2011.

Among properties developed by Related Urban are The Square in West Palm Beach; Time Warner Center and Hudson Yards in New York; the Grand Avenue redevelopment project in downtown Los Angeles; and Related Santa Clara in California.

***

Real estate agent Shelly Newman has joined The Corcoran Group and is now affiliated with the company’s Palm Beach office. Newman, one of RealTrends Top 1.5% producers nationwide, was previously with William Raveis Real Estate. Her expertise covers land sales to oceanfront, waterfront and Intracoastal properties.

***

Following the Boynton Beach Chamber of Commerce’s merger with the Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce in 2019, Rick Maharajh, chairman and CEO of RM Logitech, co-founded the Boynton Beach Professionals networking group. Along with 35 other members, the group has since driven more than $900,000 in business sales among its members. 

Recently, Maharajh founded the Boynton Beach Online Chamber of Commerce.

“The BBOC’s mission is to drive business and promote a ‘Downtown Destination’ while preserving the historic fishing village vibe. To stimulate economic development, work with our city to promote, educate and engage our businesses and residents, we will connect our business network to the Boynton Beach community,” Maharajh said. “By fueling our chamber members with a powerful internet platform, social media and online exposure, our reach will develop a more interconnected environment, as far as the internet goes.”

For more information, visit www.bbocflorida.com.

***

Airline passengers have returned following the pandemic, and Aerospace Technologies Group, an aviation industry supplier headquartered at Florida Atlantic University Research Park, can attest to that.

The company recently secured Emirates international airline as the launch customer for its aerBlade window shades, which are to be installed in the airline’s Airbus A350 and Boeing 777X fleet.

The aerBlade is an electronically operated window shade system that passengers can control from clear to sun-blocking to full blackout with the touch of a button. Crew members can automatically lower and raise all window shades on the aircraft from their own panels. 

Emirates had already introduced electric window shades when it launched its A380 fleet. With its A350 and B777X fleet, it will expand the shades to new cabins. 

“Commercial air travel is through the roof and many carriers are taking old airplanes they would have retired and refurbishing them to bring them back into service,” said

Aerospace Technologies Group CEO Mario Ceste. “One of the things they need is new window shades.”

Over the past year, the 25-year-old company has nearly doubled its employee count to 190 to fill orders from new and existing customers in the charter and commercial airline industries.

***

John Elder, a longtime volunteer and board member of Adopt-A-Family of the Palm Beaches, has assumed the position of board chair, with Elizabeth Morales serving as first vice chair, Heather Ferguson as secretary, and Jonathan Bain as treasurer. Joining the board of directors are Stephanie Gitlin and Takelia Hay. 

Also, Chris Oberlink was unanimously elected as the board’s first lifetime emeritus director, honoring her nearly 30 years of service to Adopt-A-Family.

***

Erin L. Deady P.A., a Delray Beach legal and consulting firm that focuses on solving environmental and land-use challenges, is celebrating its 12th anniversary. President Erin Deady, a licensed Florida attorney and certified land planner, primarily focuses her practice on public-sector government representation, but she also has private sector clients. The practice includes resiliency, adaptation, environmental restoration initiatives, water management, energy, climate, local government, administrative law and land-use issues.

***

The YMCA of South Palm Beach County recently announced that it had raised a record-breaking $1,076,571 at its annual Giving Campaign victory celebration, held at FAU Stadium’s Acura Club. The donations will support the YMCA’s programs and resources for youth and families.

***

The League of Women Voters of Palm Beach County will host a Hot Topic Luncheon on Jan. 17 at Mounts Botanical Garden, 559 N. Military Trail, West Palm Beach. Three co-founders of Stet Media Group, an online newsletter, will discuss the crisis in local journalism and the ongoing erosion of fact-based civic engagement.

They are Carolyn DiPaolo, a Palm Beach Post editor and manager of the news operation for 20 years; Joel Engelhardt, investigative reporter, editorial page writer and columnist at The Palm Beach Post for 28 years; and award-winning journalist Pat Beall.

Cost to attend is $25. The deadline to register is Jan. 10, and registrations, lunch choice and payment must be made online at https://lwvpbc.org/event/january-hot-topic-2024/.

Anne Geggis contributed to this column.

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

The community-based nonprofit that provides food and financial and medical assistance to people in need welcomed more than 60 guests to the Heart & Spirit Society Open House. The Heart & Spirit Society is a group of Boca Helping Hands ambassadors dedicated to spreading the word about the organization’s work and recruiting new supporters.
ABOVE: (l-r) Bonnie and Gary Hildebrand, Suzan Javizian and David Dweck hold donation checks for Boca Helping Hands. Photos provided

Mary Donnell (l-r), Kathy Adkins, Tandy Robinson, Victoria Matthews and Robin Deyo.

Susan Brockway (l-r), Leslie Klion and Patricia Damron.

Zoe Lanham and Rochelle LeCavalier.

Artists group finds inspiration, enjoyment in ever-changing hues of South Florida outdoors

TOP: Resting on the grass at Mizner Park, the palette of plein air painter June Knopf awaits another brushstroke.
MIDDLE: Susan McKenna List, another member of the Palm Beach Plein Air group, paints a table umbrella from Max’s Grille.
BELOW: Delray Beach Public Library visitors walk through the Plein Air Palm Beach show in the second-floor gallery.

Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

True nature shines through in exhibit at Delray Beach library

By Tao Woolfe

It seems counterintuitive to go indoors to see an exhibit of light-filled outdoor art, but given the soggy start to winter, it may be a blessing.

Another blessing: The plein air exhibit is on the second floor of Delray Beach’s cool public library at 100 W. Atlantic Ave., which boasts a forest in its children’s department and is a treat in itself.

The formal name of the exhibit is Plein Air Palm Beach Fine Art Show and Sale. It runs until Jan. 31.

This year the exhibit has more than 65 pieces of plein air — or impressionistic studies of outdoor scenes — painted by members of the Palm Beach Plein Air group, which formed about 13 years ago.

This is the second year the group has exhibited in the Delray Beach library’s gallery.

“Everything is done on location around South Florida,” said Donna Walsh, one of the group’s founders. “It’s a lot of fun. Our members get to paint outdoors with their friends.”

The en plein air movement originated in France’s famed Barbizon School in the 1830s, when students — including Theodore Rousseau — strove to capture the rapidly changing outdoor light in their work, according to published histories.

At the time, artists often mixed their own paints from natural substances. It wasn’t until 1841 that the collapsible paint tube was invented by American painter

John G. Rand, who freed himself and his colleagues from studio confinement.

By the 1860s renowned artists such Claude Monet and Pierre-Auguste Renoir had joined the movement. They enjoyed painting in the countryside with colleagues.

The movement expanded to Italy, England and eventually to the United States, where the Hudson River school of artists used the technique to paint scenes depicting the Hudson River Valley, and the Catskill, Adirondack and White mountains.

Marcia Riopel and Harolyn Larsen enjoy the camaraderie of the Palm Beach Plein Air group.

In South Florida, plein air artists have the ocean and flat land as endless outdoor backdrops, said artist June Knopf, of Delray Beach.

“Painting outside is a huge challenge because everything changes. … Cars, boats and, of course, people come and go. Lighting conditions and shadows change continually. You learn how to paint very quickly when you’re painting outside,” Knopf said.

“Plein air paintings have a vibrancy and spontaneity that makes you feel that you are there.”

Members of Palm Beach Plein Air say they prefer to make quick, impressionistic sketches of an outdoor scene and then bring their paintings back to their respective studios to add finishing touches.

Several members of the group were in Mizner Park on a recent Sunday, sketching people and cafés in the rapidly changing afternoon light.

The palette of Susan McKenna List, from Boca Raton, who says plein air painting ’gives you a heightened sensitivity, like meditation.’

Among them was Susan McKenna List, of Boca Raton, who was dabbing a red table umbrella onto a small canvas.

“Plein air painting is fast and intuitive,” List said. She described herself as an English major who discovered plein air art while in California and never looked back.

Painting in nature, she said, has given her a new way of looking at the world.

“It gives you a heightened sensitivity, like meditation,” List said. “It’s a great gift.”

Walsh and co-founder Ralph Papa had been organizing outings for separate entities — the Palm Beach Watercolor Society and a Delray Beach plein air group. They decided to merge and call the group Palm Beach Plein Air, according to the group’s website.

Its members say the group is very friendly and welcomes all artists, no matter what stage of expertise they have reached.

“We welcome resident artists and visiting artists at all levels to come out with us to paint and document today’s landscapes that contribute to tomorrow’s history,” the Palm Beach Plein Air website says.

If You Go
What: Plein Air Palm Beach Fine Art Show and Sale
Where: Delray Beach Public Library second-floor gallery, 100 W. Atlantic Ave.
When: The show runs until Jan. 31. Library hours are 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday‑Wednesday; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday-Saturday; and 1-5 p.m. Sunday.
Cost: Free

Co-chairwoman Natalie Beck (in pink) with (l-r) her husband, Connor Beck; mother, Loretta Parker; and Arlene Herson at the 2023 gala. Photo provided

By Amy Woods

Boca Ballet Theatre will open the curtain on its 33rd season during the signature “A Starry Night” Gala Dinner on Jan. 7.

In the company’s three-plus decades of dance, it has grown from a grassroots group started by local parents for a corps of fewer than 20 to a powerhouse of more than 500 enrollees.

One of the early students was Natalie Beck, who trained with the troupe while attending Dreyfoos School of the Arts in West Palm Beach. After studying dance at Butler University in Indianapolis, Beck returned to South Florida and became an instructor at the theater. This year, she is co-chairing the Jan. 7 fundraiser.

“The most important thing about this event is that it is a unique opportunity to see stars of dance come together from around the country while supporting your local dance school,” she said.

The event will begin at 3 p.m. at University Theatre at FAU with a show featuring former New York City Ballet principal dancer Daniel Ulbricht’s touring Stars of American Ballet. The stage will come alive with professionals from New York City Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Ballet Hispánico and Broadway.

Following the dance spectacular is a dinner at The Boca Raton, where the recipient of the Steven Caras Achievement Award will be announced. The award recognizes exceptional service in promoting, preserving and perpetuating the art of dance in the 21st century.

“Boca Ballet Theatre does a world of good in educating young dancers in classical ballet as well as provides excellent outreach programs for youths in need,” Beck said. “Come out and support the stars of tomorrow.”

If You Go
What: Stars of American Ballet and ‘A Starry Night’ Gala Dinner
When: Jan. 7 (3 p.m. show; 5:30 p.m. dinner)
Where: Show at FAU's University Theatre, 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton; dinner at The Boca Raton, 501 E. Camino Real
Cost: $75 for the performance, $400 for the performance and dinner
Information: 561-995-0709, ext. 225 or bocaballet.org

Among those attending the American Humane fundraiser televised on Thanksgiving Day were (l-r) Gail Worth, Frank Orenstein and Christine Lynn. Photo provided by Capehart

Philanthropist Marc Leder’s $2 million pledge to “Keeping the Promise — The Campaign for Boca Raton Regional Hospital” has pushed the near-concluded effort further past its $250 million goal. The gift will be recognized with a naming opportunity within the Toby and Leon Cooperman Medical Arts Pavilion.

“It is a measure of the power of our vision for the future when one of our family of donors returns to make a subsequent substantive gift,” said Boca Raton Regional Hospital CEO Lincoln Mendez, referring to a prior $1 million gift Leder and Rodger Krouse pledged to the campaign. “Marc’s belief in our campus initiative is matched only by our gratitude for this overwhelming demonstration of generosity.”

For more information, call 561-955-4142 or visit donate.brrh.com.

American Humane gives Hero Dog Awards
Christie Brinkley headlined American Humane’s 13th annual fundraiser that later was nationally televised on Thanksgiving Day.

The Hero Dog Awards Gala, known as the “Oscars for Canines,” also starred TV personality Carson Kressley and was presented by Lois Pope.

“Christie has spent her entire life advocating for animal welfare, and that’s exactly what we do here at American Humane,” President and CEO Robin Ganzert said. “It was an honor to have her join us as we celebrated these heroes on both ends of the leash.”

For more information, call 800-227-4645 or visit www.americanhumane.org.

Gift establishes legacy for Pops, Maestro Lappin
Florida Atlantic University has received a gift worth more than $5 million to enhance its music programs and establish a legacy for the Palm Beach Pops and Bob Lappin, its founder and director.

The funds were donated by the Legacy Foundation of Palm Beach County, an extension of the Palm Beach Pops, and include an extensive library consisting of more than 1,600 titles and scores.

“For the past three decades, the Palm Beach Pops was an integral part of the performing cultural-arts and music education in South Florida,” said Jon Lappin, president and executive director of the Legacy Foundation of Palm Beach County. “This donation preserves the legacy and extraordinary accomplishments of the maestro — my father, the late Bob Lappin — and the Palm Beach Pops.”

Send news and notes to Amy Woods at flamywoods@bellsouth.net.

Men Giving Back of South Palm Beach County distributed $530,000 to two dozen local nonprofits during its third annual event. Nearly 250 members, nominees and guests enjoyed cocktails, music, a raffle and dinner as they honored representatives of the charities selected for the grants. ‘It’s hard to describe the joy we all feel as a group to have an opportunity to help so many impactful charities,’ founding member Dr. Nathan Nachlas said. ABOVE: (l-r) Alan Ferber, Robert Snyder, Jon Sahn, Evan Farrell, William Marino, Nachlas, Marc Malaga, Eddie Ventrice, Derek Witte and Bill Donnell. Photo provided by Carla Azzata

More than 275 attendees celebrated Impact 100 Palm Beach County’s annual event, highlighted by an engaging interview with the co-chairwomen of the Grant Review Committee. Ingrid Kennemer, Noreen Payne and Shannon Moriarity delved into a discussion about the review process undertaken by members who carefully assess each grant-making decision. ABOVE: (l-r) Linda Gunn Paton, Anita Colombo, Nicole Grimes, Tonya Notaro and Mimi Meister. Photo provided by Warner-Prokos Photography