Hurricane Nicole produced days of turbulent waves along the coast in advance of and after landfall. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Larry Barszewski and staff reports

Hurricane Nicole delivered only a glancing blow to Palm Beach County, but the rare November hurricane still eroded county beaches, gouged out large sections of dunes and combined with king tides to flood barrier island communities.
South Palm Beach County coastal communities were spared the severe pounding that undermined beachfront condos and homes to the north in Volusia County around Daytona Beach. The Category 1 storm made landfall at about 3 a.m. Nov. 10 just south of Vero Beach on North Hutchinson Island, some 100 miles to the north of Delray Beach.
While the strong surf took a toll washing away beaches and dune staircases locally, many South County beaches were recovering nicely just a few weeks later.
Residents at The Addison on the Ocean condominium in Boca Raton were initially concerned about the beach loss there, General Manager Scott Bragg said, but the sand had built back substantially before residents celebrated Thanksgiving.
“The beach settled itself back. Now our beach is almost even bigger,” Bragg said. “Mother Nature has her own strange ways.”

Briny sees worst of it
Unfortunately, her ways brought king tides together with strong hurricane storm surge and surf, producing areas of heavy flooding in South County, especially in Briny Breezes.
“There were homes down there that were entirely flooded,’’ said Ocean Ridge Police Chief Richard Jones, whose department provides public safety services for Briny Breezes.

Related: Briny Breezes: Tough decisions ahead on costly plan to keep town dry

Exacerbating the flood problems was a malfunctioning transformer that cut off power to 255 homes on the west side of town north of the marina. That also meant water pumps that the town usually relies on were not working.
“But even if the pumps had worked,” Jones said, “I mean, water was overtopping the sea walls. There is literally no way it would have mattered.”
In Manalapan, waves crashed over dunes and got into homeowner tunnels that run under State Road A1A and link homes on the west side of A1A to the beachfront, Vice Mayor Stewart Satter said.
“At 1660 [S. Ocean Blvd.], when I was on the beach, the tunnel we put in, the water came up over the dune — the first time I ever saw it do that,” Satter said, including even during Superstorm Sandy in 2012. “It filled the tunnel in 4 feet of water. The head wall and tunnel had a waterline at about 5 feet off of the beach. It brought all the debris over the dune against the wall [there].”
In Lantana, safe public access to the beach wasn’t restored until the end of November, due to damage to the stairs there. Town Manager Brian Raducci said a temporary fix — metal stairs with railings — opened Nov. 29. Public Works Director Eddie Crockett said lifeguards were on duty and the boardwalk and Dune Deck restaurant had remained open while the temporary stairs were installed.

Ocean Ridge’s water woes
Ocean Ridge received the most rain in the county from Hurricane Nicole, according to the National Weather Service. Nicole dumped 4.87 inches over a two-day period on the island community, which has historically battled drainage issues. One monitoring station in Boca Raton measured 4.17 inches, while Delray Beach got deluged by 3.89 inches at another.
The storm struck just days after the Nov. 8 full moon, which meant tides were already at their highest even before the storm roiled the waters.
Ocean Avenue from Ocean Ridge to Boynton Beach had flooding problems both east and west of the bridge. At the height of the storm, many Ocean Ridge streets — including Hudson Avenue, Ocean Avenue, Coconut Lane, Inlet Cay Drive and Island Drive — were underwater and impassable by police vehicles, Jones said.
“We were using maintenance trucks to access areas to check on people, and at one point, Coconut and Hudson became impassable even with the maintenance trucks,” Jones said. He was drafting an “after-action” report to the Town Commission “showing what we experienced with a 2-foot storm surge.”
He said he and Public Works Director Billy Armstrong will recommend the town invest in equipment such as a high-water rescue vehicle or a large tractor to be better prepared in case Ocean Ridge ever takes a direct hit from a hurricane.
“If this would have been a storm of any significance beyond what this was and people did not evacuate, there would have been absolutely no way we could have gotten to some of these people’s houses,” Jones said. “We are going to have to do something. In all the years I’ve worked here and the years Billy has worked here, neither one of us has ever seen this level of flooding.”

Dune crossover stairs like these in Highland Beach were broken by Nicole. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Beaches take a beating
Down the coast in Highland Beach, high waves fueled by Nicole’s winds ate huge chunks of the dune line, creating deep sand cliffs and washing out beach stairways. The pounding came perilously close to some of the town’s luxury beachfront homes, leaving some with less than half of their backyards.
“In a number of homes there’s just a few feet before you fall straight down a vertical wall of about 10 feet,” said John Shoemaker, a town commissioner who surveyed the damage left by the storm. “Several homes lost between 10 and 20 feet of their backyards and in some cases lost staircases.”
Boca Raton municipal services and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers employees found erosion at all of Boca’s beaches when they inspected them on Nov. 15. They found no obvious indication of infrastructure impacts from the erosion, but Municipal Services Director Zachary Bihr said the Army Corps will complete its analysis in the coming weeks. The Army Corps also inspected beaches in Delray Beach, Ocean Ridge and Jupiter and planned to survey beaches in other cities, a Corps spokesman said. The Corps then will complete an inspection report which will be sent to the county. Depending on what the report shows, the county may be able to seek federal funding to rehabilitate beaches, he said.

Waves undermined a lifeguard station on Delray’s public beach, but the sea oats prevented more erosion. Photo provided by Kari Shipley

In Delray Beach, the north end of the municipal beach suffered the most with 4-foot drop-offs, according to an assessment by Chris Bell, Delray Beach’s emergency manager.
The Ocean Rescue North 2 lifeguard stand was displaced by the high waves that washed out sand from underneath it during Nicole. “It is not damaged, and Public Works staff is soliciting bids from a crane operator to reposition the tower,” Bell wrote in a Nov. 17 email to City Manager Terrence Moore.
Palm Beach County was still compiling information on beach erosion on Nov. 18, finalizing the assessment for storm damage losses.
Andy Studt, environmental program supervisor for the county’s coastal resources program, said dune and berm erosion occurred, but the significance varied on whether it was on an unmanaged beach or one which had previous renourishment. Studt said the good news was that previous big projects completed after Hurricanes Irma and Dorian protected infrastructure and property.
“So those projects did their job,” he said.

Ocean Avenue flooded so badly in Ocean Ridge that the road had to be closed after several cars stalled out. Rachel S. O’Hara/The Coastal Star

Floods were widespread
Flooding problems popped up almost everywhere. In Delray Beach, low-lying roads along the Intracoastal Waterway flooded during king tides Nov. 9 even before the storm arrived, Moore said.
In Manalapan, the intersection of Ocean Avenue and A1A — in front of the Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa and Plaza del Mar — remained flooded and impassable hours after the storm pushed through the area.
“I thought I could walk to Publix but it’s a lake. You can’t get through it,’’ South Palm Beach Mayor Bonnie Fischer, who lives north of the plaza, said late in the morning following the storm.
Manalapan Mayor Keith Waters told town commissioners at their Nov. 17 meeting that the Florida Department of Transportation is responsible for the road and needs to fix Ocean Avenue’s perpetual flooding issues that were at their worst after Nicole.
“We’re too nice of a town to have one of our three ways off the island blocked. That’s a health issue. That’s a safety issue,” Waters said.
Manalapan Police Chief Carmen Mattox said: “The electric cars didn’t do very well in that at all. We had one tow truck that was pulling them out and the other two trucks were loading them up and moving them out of there.”
Traffic on Ocean Avenue at times was down to one lane because of flooding after the storm, Lantana’s Crockett said. At Bicentennial Park and Sportsman’s Park, the sea walls were breached and the parking lots were flooded.

Wet and windy
Many Briny Breezes residents had heeded Palm Beach County’s mandatory evacuation order for people living in mobile homes and returned Nov. 10 to flooded streets.
Greg “Doc” Trudell chose to ride out the storm in his double-wide mobile home on the west side of town. He did not lose electricity and he said water never breached the top steps to his home.
“It wasn’t too bad at all, to be honest,” he said. “The worst it got was maybe 50 miles per hour. I sat on my porch and watched it.”
Nicole’s strongest winds in the county were recorded at the Juno Pier, with a gust of 62 mph. Wind gusts reached 54 mph in Boca Raton and 44 mph in Boynton Beach, the weather service reported.
Nicole was only the fourth recorded hurricane to strike the United States after October. The official hurricane season ended Nov. 30.

Lantana town employees Goly Rivera and Erik Canapa work to secure benches displaced by flooding at Bicentennial Park ahead of Hurricane Nicole. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Impact on businesses
Restaurants did their best to clean up and reopen quickly after Nicole moved away.
At the Old Key Lime House in Lantana, the hurricane party got a bit soggy before its hurricane-induced 7 p.m. last call Nov. 9, with ankle-deep flooding on the restaurant’s outside deck and bar.
“It never got in the restaurant dining room. It’s a foot higher than the deck and bar area,” owner Ryan Cordero said. “Cleanup was minimal.”
The parking lot flooded up to the foundation of the restaurant, but before the biggest surge, staff had moved the outside furniture indoors.
Cordero’s neighbors at Sushi Bon Express were busy Nov. 10 cleaning up the water that came into their main space and dining room. There was also flooding reported in the dining room at Two Georges in Boynton Beach, and Kylie Mulhall at the neighboring Banana Boat said the parking lot flooded.
To the north, on the Lake Worth Beach Pier, Benny’s on the Beach had “a lot of damage,” according to chef-owner Jeremy Hanlon.
“They closed the beach on Tuesday,” Hanlon said, “so we boarded up after 7 p.m., pulled in all the furniture, umbrellas and canopies.”
The next morning, Nov. 9, Hanlon and crew continued to secure both restaurants — he also owns Viva la Playa in the plaza on the beach nearby. When they came back the morning after the storm, high seas were still pounding the pier.
“King tides, big waves — it was something,” Hanlon said.
Although surf came over top of the east end of the pier, the water was not able to reach the dining room, as it sits almost as high as the pier entrance.
However, winds had taken out a few beer signs, damaged part of the electrical system, and caused damage to the conduit, Hanlon said. “There were other minor things, but we worked all day and got it all put back together.”
Fischer, the South Palm Beach mayor, had a front-row view of the storm’s aftermath from her oceanfront condo just north of Lantana Beach.
“The spray went so high it went to my sliding glass door. One came over and hit the door,” she said.
“We got lucky for sure.”

Mary Thurwachter, John Pacenti, Jane Smith, Rich Pollack, Joe Capozzi, Mary Hladky and Jan Norris contributed to this story.

By Joe Capozzi

Launching a do-over in their search for a full-time town manager, town commissioners have agreed to retain the national recruiting firm Colin Baenziger & Associates. 
The firm, based in Daytona Beach, offered to conduct the search for $29,500, the highest fee quoted among three recruiting companies that responded to a request for proposals. 
“It’s a lot of money. I’m not sure there is a way around that,’’ Vice Mayor Kristine de Haseth said at the Nov. 7 commission meeting.
But de Haseth and other commissioners were impressed by CBA’s track record in Florida. Commissioner Steve Coz pointed out how the firm was responsible for filling 127 of 161 openings for town manager or town clerk in Florida over the past four years. 
“They also talked a lot about proactive recruiting and I think that that was probably our downfall in our last search,’’ de Haseth said before the commission voted to retain CBA. 
Town attorney Christy Goddeau agreed to draft a professional services agreement with CBA for commissioners to consider in December. 
CBA was chosen over GovHR USA, based in Northbrook, Illinois, and Strategic Government Resources, based in Keller, Texas. Those firms offered to conduct the search for $23,500 and $24,900, respectively. 
Commissioners hope to find a new town manager by Feb. 28, when interim manager Lynne Ladner’s contract expires. Ladner took over after Tracey Stevens resigned Sept. 11 to accept the manager’s job in the town of Haverhill. 
When commissioners started the search process in July, days after Stevens announced her plan to resign, they opted to save money and rejected hiring a recruiting firm.
Commissioners relied on guidance from the Florida City and County Management Association’s senior advisers program, which provided free recruiting services and advertised the job on trade websites and local newspapers. 
Just 15 candidates applied. After a series of meetings with the commission, all but two of the finalists withdrew, prompting town officials in October to start over with a recruiting firm.

Tree ordinance creates knotty situation
Plans for Ocean Ridge to become a Tree City USA member have been uprooted because of concerns about excessive language in a proposed ordinance creating a tree advisory board. 
The ordinance, a requirement for the designation, went beyond the narrow intent for Ocean Ridge to partner with the Arbor Day Foundation and join more than 4,000 other municipalities across the country as a Tree City USA member, Mayor Susan Hurlburt said Nov. 7. 
Referring to the purpose of the advisory board, Hurlburt said, “It was never the intention to oversee anything more than a singular Arbor Day celebration.’’
Among the stipulations in the proposed ordinance, which commissioners withdrew from the agenda Nov. 7, was for the board to offer advice on “the care of all trees on town-owned property” consistent with the town’s land development code and to “assist the town in enhancing its existing tree canopy, and raise the standards for better tree care throughout the town.”
“It kind of went down a rabbit hole,’’ Hurlburt said before asking staff to rewrite the proposed ordinance. 
Commissioner Martin Wiescholek said he wants the commission to consider a new draft as soon as possible. 
“I don’t want to table this and just forget about it,’’ he said. “I think it’s important. I would like to have Ocean Ridge as a Tree City. I was hoping we could just discuss the flaws and straighten up this ordinance and get it done.’’ 
In other business:
• The Starbright Civic Collective, a nonprofit formed by Ocean Ridge residents, presented the Police Department with a painting by artist Pati Maguire. The painting, called The Weight of the Flag, was donated as a gesture of “our gratitude and respect” to the Police Department, said Carol Besler, the group’s chairwoman.
 The collective also has offered to help pay for emergency medical technician training for residents and officers. Chief Richard Jones said the EMT proposal, including cost estimates, could be presented to the Town Commission as early as December.
• City officials are considering requests by the Garden Club and the Book Club to waive rental fees at Town Hall, where the clubs meet. The requests were scheduled to be considered Nov. 7 but were pulled from the agenda.
• The annual “Light the Lights” holiday event will be held from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Dec. 2 at Town Hall. But the Santa golf cart parade, first held in 2020 as a safe pandemic celebration, will not be held.
• Unwrapped toys for the annual Christmas toy drive can be dropped at the Police Department through Dec. 5. The toys will be distributed to needy children.  
• The first Town Commission meeting in 2023 will be Jan. 9, a week later than the usual meeting date on the first Monday of the month. Jan. 2 marks the observance of the New Year’s holiday. 
• The Town Commission will hold a joint workshop with the planning and zoning board on Jan. 11. An agenda will be set in December.

MANALAPAN — Dr. Gerald K. Shortz of Manalapan died Oct. 11. He was 86.
He was born in Indianapolis on Oct. 6, 1936, and received his bachelor’s degree from Wabash College in 1958 and his doctor of medicine from Northwestern University in 1962.
He was an Air Force medical officer (captain) and flight surgeon from 1963-1965. Dr. Shortz was in private practice in Delray Beach as a board certified orthopedic surgeon.
Dr. Shortz was heavily involved in the Manalapan community. He served as a town commissioner from 1978-1982, vice mayor from 1982-1988, mayor from 1988-2002, chair of the Zoning Commission from 2003-2007 and served as vice chair from 2010-2014.
During his free time and into retirement he enjoyed playing tennis, going scuba diving and fishing, road racing cars in endurance events throughout the Southeast and Skip Barber racing, while winning many races. He was also an avid downhill skier.
Dr. Shortz is survived by his son Steven, daughter Bretton (Jeff), granddaughters Lauren and Audrey, sister Gretchen (Walton) of Vero Beach, girlfriend Kathleen Poole and fur babies Sweet Pea and Rusty.
In lieu of flowers, the family requested that contributions be made to the Peggy Adams Animal Rescue League and/or the Nature Conservancy.

— Obituary submitted by the family

DELRAY BEACH — Francis Xavier Foster of Delray Beach and West Harwich, Massachusetts, died Nov. 19 in Boca Raton. He was 95.
He was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to parents Anthony and Martha Foster on May 20, 1927.
In his youth he was soloist in the choir of St. Paul Church in Cambridge, as well as other local Christian churches. He thoroughly enjoyed music and entertainment throughout his life.
Mr. Foster was an entrepreneur who started many businesses, which he later sold. His pride was in the education business, when he founded New England Building Specialties, which provided design and complete furnishings of school interiors, particularly parochial schools in the Northeast. He sold his business at a young age, retiring to Cape Cod.
There he started his commercial real estate career as owner of F.X. Foster Real Estate in Hyannis. He was an active member in both Needham and Yarmouth town governments. His last position was serving as chairman of the Yarmouth finance committee.
Mr. Foster lived his life to the fullest, traveling the world on 150-plus cruises, golfing, and dining with family or friends. When you were Frank’s friend, you were his friend for life — whether or not you wished to be.
Mr. Foster was a unique, kind and generous man who unquestionably loved his family and friends, including the family of his wife, Pat. He treated her brothers as his own siblings. His sense of humor and fun-but-realistic outlook will be sorely missed by the many friends he collected over the years.
He was a longtime member of the Hyannis Yacht Club, The Little Club in Gulf Stream and the Delray Beach Club, where he served as president as well as on many committees.
He was predeceased by his parents, first wife, Frances, and five siblings. He leaves behind his wife, Patricia; son Francis X. Foster II (Theresa) of West Harwich; granddaughter Patricia Lurvey (Matthew) of Dover, Massachusetts; and two great-granddaughters, Penelope Lurvey and Lillian Lurvey.
Funeral Mass was held on Nov. 26 at St. Lucy Catholic Church in Highland Beach. Entombment followed at the Boca Raton Mausoleum. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to St. Lucy Catholic Church, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital or to the charity of your choice in his memory.

— Obituary submitted by the family

Auto dealership rezoning denied for second time near Place Au Soleil

By Jane Smith

The Delray Beach Downtown Development Authority moved closer to its takeover of the Old School Square campus in November when city commissioners gave the DDA $25,000 to run the Cornell Art Museum.
“It’s a short-term agreement,” City Attorney Lynn Gelin said at the Nov. 15 City Commission meeting. It will terminate when the overall deal, called an interlocal agreement, between the city and the DDA is signed. The larger deal will cover the entire campus with its five venues: the Pavilion stage, the Fieldhouse, the Cornell, the Crest Theatre and the Creative Arts School.
Known as the heart and soul of the city, the Old School Square campus is mired in a lawsuit filed in November 2021 by the former operators.
The new overall agreement with the DDA is expected to be ready in December.
The Cornell deal began on Nov. 16 and calls for free admission to the museum.
Exhibits will be a collection consisting of a Surfing Florida display, a historical retrospective of the campus and Delray Beach, and a Love Delray art exposition by local artists, DDA Executive Director Laura Simon wrote in a Nov. 21 email to The Coastal Star.
The prior tenants criticized the Cornell deal in a Nov. 16 email blast, saying the DDA was a taxing authority, “which means that you as a taxpayer will be paying 100% of this cost.”
Simon said she had not heard that criticism.
“We have a big job to do and are staying focused on moving forward,” she wrote. “We are also moving forward with establishing a [nonprofit] arts foundation to collect donations from those who want to contribute to the campus directly, just as it was originally intended back in 1987.”
The former tenant, the Old School Square Center for the Arts, continues to hold events that raise money for scholarships and mentoring, but not for the buildings because the city owns them. Its lease ended in February.
In October, the organization held LunaFest, featuring films for and about women, at the iPic Theater in downtown Delray. Nearly 400 people attended the event, which raised about “$50,000 for arts and cultural programming for local youth in our community,” according to an Oct. 19 Old School Square Facebook post by the organization.
“We are NOT back in the buildings, but we are continuing our mission to bring arts to Delray by supporting one of our partners,” the organization’s board wrote in a Nov. 5 email blast.
The city’s Community Redevelopment Agency board agreed on Nov. 17 to enhance the Old School Square campus lighting by spending up to $10,000 on lights.
In other news from the Nov. 15 commission meeting, commissioners:
• Denied for a second time the rezoning of property on the east side of North Federal Highway next to Gulf Stream’s Place Au Soleil neighborhood. Property owner John Staluppi Jr. wanted to put a Hyundai car dealership there.
The 11 people who spoke during the quasi-judicial public hearing opposed the rezoning, including former City Commissioner Gary Eliopoulos, who said the 8-foot wall separating the dealership and the Gulf Stream residents would limit air circulation. The other 10 live in or represented the town of Gulf Stream.
When land use attorney Bonnie Miskel gave the presentation for Staluppi, she stressed that North Federal was the preferred location for auto dealerships in the 2020 update of the city’s comprehensive plan. That point was hammered home during witness cross-examinations by Beth-Ann Krimsky, a partner in the Greenspoon Marder law firm in Fort Lauderdale.
The commission vote again was 3-2 against the rezoning, with Commissioners Adam Frankel and Shirley Johnson supporting the rezoning.
• Approved a nearly $1 million budget amendment to cover increased payroll costs to police after new collective bargaining agreements were signed at the Oct. 25 City Commission meeting. The expenses will be offset by an unexpected $990,000 increase in the state sales tax revenue.
• Approved a fee increase for the first time in six years at the recently renovated city marina on the west side of the Intracoastal Waterway south of Atlantic Avenue. The fees for people who want to live aboard their boats at the marina increase from $23 a linear foot to $29 a foot for city residents and to $33 a foot for non-residents. For people who want only to dock at the marina, the fees rise from $22 a linear foot to $26 a foot for city residents and to $30 a foot for non-residents.
The day rate stayed the same for city residents at $60, but it increased 25% for non-residents, who will pay $85.
The marina makeover cost about $4.6 million, including consultants’ fees. The work included 23 new floating docks, a raised sea wall, drainage and lighting improvements and installing Wi-Fi.

By Jane Smith

In a battle for control of the “Old School Square” name, Delray Beach says it is more entitled to use the moniker than the cultural center’s ousted operators who want to make it their trademark.
The city has owned the property for more than 33 years; Old School Square has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1988; and the city continues to hold cultural and community events there, its outside counsel wrote in an objection filed Nov. 21 with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Old School Square’s longtime former tenant, the Old School Square Center for the Arts, Inc., applied to trademark the Old School Square name in November 2021, three months after the City Commission voted to terminate the nonprofit organization’s lease effective Feb. 9 of this year.
“The [former tenant] has no substantiated intent to resume use of the applied-for services in connection with the [trademark],” wrote outside counsel Anne Flanigan of the Fort Lauderdale office of Weiss, Serota, Helfman, Cole & Bierman law firm.
A spokesperson for the nonprofit organization did not respond to an email request for comment from The Coastal Star. The organization has until Dec. 31 to file a response with the Patent and Trademark Office to the city’s trademark challenge.
The nonprofit sued the city over its termination about the same time as the trademark application was filed. The organization has continued to raise funds for cultural and arts programs, though not specifically for ones at the Old School Square campus.
The nonprofit canceled all its events and classes on the campus as of Oct. 1, 2021, according to the city’s filing.
The nonprofit listed its address in the trademark application as 51 N. Swinton Ave. — Old School Square’s address — even though the organization had been told it would have to leave the campus in February 2022.
The Old School Square campus is no longer the nonprofit’s physical address, according to the filing.

The five-bedroom spec home in Royal Palm Yacht & Country Club was developed by SRD Building Corp. Photos provided

By Christine Davis

A new 8,300-square-foot residence at 500 E. Alexander Palm Road, Boca Raton, was sold to Arty Langhaus from the 500 East Alexander Palm Road Trust in a $25.75 million transaction. The sale was recorded in September.
Langhaus is the co-founder of Silicon Valley Bank’s private wealth advisory arm.
The five-bedroom spec home in Royal Palm Yacht & Country Club — fronting the Intracoastal Waterway and developed by SRD Building Corp. — was completed this year. Amenities include a club room, wine cellar and billiards room.
Steven M. Scott, an obstetrician/gynecologist and entrepreneur, owned the property.
Scott founded national health-care companies Vista HealthPlan and Phoenix Physicians. Records show that he bought the property for $5.8 million in 2017, and in June 2021 transferred it to the trust managed by attorney Jeffrey Baskies.
David Roberts of Royal Palm Properties represented both sides of the latest deal.

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Leland Ackerley, one of the owners of the second-largest independent distributor of semiconductors in the world, has new digs in Highland Beach and paid a handsome price for it: $8.25 million.
He acquired the 5,425-square-foot, five-story, four-bedroom townhome, built in 2018, on Oct. 22 from Stuart Siegel. Among the amenities are a private elevator and plunge pool.
Ackerley co-founded the Houston-based semiconductor distributor Smith & Associates in 1984.
Siegel, who was the owner and CEO of the National Hockey League’s Florida Panthers from 2008 to 2012, turned a nice profit on the sale. He had purchased the townhome for just $5.995 million two years ago.
Ackerley’s new residence, Unit 2 at 3621 S. Ocean Blvd., was sold by Catherine McGlennon of Engel & Völkers. Corcoran agent Suzanne Petrizzi represented the buyer.

Premier Estate Properties recently made the T3 Sixty Almanac Top Rankings. The company, with 42 agents, ranked No. 126 nationally of the Mega 1000 Brokerages, garnering 573 sales transactions, totaling $3.116 million.
Premier ranked No. 1 nationally for the highest sales volume per agent and No. 2 for the highest sales price.
The T3 Sixty Almanac, an independent, data-driven report, analyzes and quantifies the national rankings of top real estate companies annually.

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Joe Fagan is replacing Florida Peninsula Insurance’s vice president of underwriting, Michael Koscielny, who is retiring. Fagan spent 16 years in leadership roles with Travelers Insurance in Hartford, Connecticut, with his last six years as senior managing director of national underwriting.
Most recently, he served as underwriting governance leader with AIG Private Client Group/Lexington Insurance.

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The Old Inlet Bridge holiday ornament is available for sale.

The Boca Raton Historical Society and the Schmidt Boca Raton History Museum are now offering their annual commemorative holiday ornament, which highlights the Old Inlet Bridge. The first bridge over the Boca Raton Inlet was built in the late 1910s with a fixed span that ran south of the present bridge, which is at the inlet near The Boca Raton resort. In 1920, it was replaced with a wood one-lane “bascule bridge,” as ordered by the resort owner, Clarence Geist. In 1963, it was replaced with the current span. 
This holiday collectible, based on the bascule bridge, was created by Boca Raton artist Barbara Montgomery O’Connell. It is the 21st of the holiday series.
All of O’Connell’s depictions for the ornaments over the years are based on information and photographs from the Boca Raton Historical Society. This ornament can be purchased for $22.50 at the museum’s gift shop, 71 N. Federal Highway, or at BocaHistory.org. Click on “museum store.”
 Some of the previous ornaments are also available. The gift shop hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Friday. For more information, call 561-395-6766.

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The Palm Beach 2022 Solar Co-op selected Sprightful to install solar panels through a competitive bidding process over four other firms, because of its equipment, price, warranty offerings and experience. The co-op is free to join and open to new members until Jan. 17. Palm Beach County residents and businesses interested in joining the co-op can sign up at www.solarunitedneighbors.org/palmbeach.

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

Former Monkee Micky Dolenz and his band to appear in Beatles fest at Old School Square

By Ron Hayes

When the last surviving Monkee was told he’d have to play a Beatles song or two if he wanted to headline the International Beatles on the Beach Festival in Delray Beach, he was happy to oblige.
“I like to try and support the old bands nobody hears about anymore,” Micky Dolenz says. “My mother and grandmother were big fans of the Beatles, and you never hear about them anymore. I like to support those bands from the distant past.”
He’s joking, of course. The Monkees always got the joke, even when their harshest critics didn’t.
When Dolenz and his five-piece band take the stage Dec. 16 at the Old School Square Pavilion, he’ll sing Last Train to Clarksville, Daydream Believer and all the Monkees’ greatest hits, but you’ll hear some Beatles, too.

Micky Dolenz, now 77, says he will play a few Beatles songs when he performs at the International Beatles on the Beach Festival, on Dec. 16 in Delray Beach.

“I do a bit of ‘Sgt. Pepper’ and ‘Oh! Darling,’” he says. “I’ve done them over the years. I was an enormous fan, a huge, huge fan.”
But a Monkee? At a Beatles festival?
Imagine.
Back in 1966, both the Monkees’ TV show and their records were big hits, but to rock snobs they were the Rodney Dangerfield of pop. They got no respect.
The Beatles were the Fab Four, the Monkees were the Pre-Fab Four.
The Beatles had played together for years. The Monkees were actors, hired by men in suits for an NBC sitcom.
The Beatles had John Lennon and Paul McCartney writing their own songs. The Monkees had veteran tunesmiths like Tommy Boyce, Bobby Hart and Neil Diamond writing theirs.
The Beatles played their own instruments. The Monkees’ early albums were backed by studio musicians.
The Beatles were gods, the Monkees were frauds.
But that was 56 years ago. Davy Jones, Mike Nesmith and Peter Tork are dead now, leaving only Micky Dolenz to say again what they’d all said all along.
“The Monkees was not a band,” he explains. “We were a TV show about an imaginary band that lived in this beach house in Malibu. It was a show about a band that wanted to be the Beatles.”
A good comparison, he suggests, is Glee.
“That was a show about an imaginary glee club at a high school, but the actors were singers and dancers. You wouldn’t call them a manufactured glee club.”

Micky Dolenz, then known as Mickey Braddock, starred in the ’50s TV show Circus Boy.

From Circus Boy to Monkee
Dolenz was already an established actor when he auditioned to be a Monkee. In the mid-1950s, he starred in Circus Boy, a TV series about an orphan traveling with a turn-of-the-century show. He called himself Mickey Braddock then, because his father, George Dolenz, was already starring in The Count of Monte Cristo series.
“To get an audition for the Monkees, you had to be able to read lines and act,” he remembers, “but you also had to be able to play an instrument. I played ‘Johnny B. Goode’ on guitar.”
Tork and Nesmith played guitar, too, so Dolenz, who didn’t play drums, was ordained the drummer. He took lessons, learned to mime along with the prerecorded tracks, and then to really play when the band began touring.
“We were not America’s answer to the Beatles,” he says. “Our fans were the younger brothers and sisters of the Beatle fans.”
On Feb. 9, 1964, when the Beatles made their American debut on The Ed Sullivan Show, Dolenz was sitting in his black 1962 Grand Prix at a Bob’s Big Boy in Van Nuys, California.
“A friend of mine had a little portable, black and white TV with rabbit ears that you plugged into the cigarette lighter,” he remembers, “so we watched them while having burgers.”
On that same show, Dolenz might well have heard a young actor sing a song from the hit Broadway musical Oliver. His name was Davy Jones and a year later they would be Monkees together.
“I was the first Monkee to meet a Beatle,” Dolenz says, “at Paul’s house. We had a lovely dinner and Paul was very gracious. We just sat and chatted and he invited me to a recording session at Abbey Road Studios.”
Dolenz arrived expecting a Beatlemania love-in funfest.
“So, I dressed accordingly in my paisley bell-bottoms and tie-dye underwear, glasses and beads. Limo picked me up. I walk in and there’s nobody there except four guys in folding chairs. It looked like my high school gym, and I looked like a cross between Ronald McDonald and Charlie Manson.”
John Lennon glanced up at him and said, “Hey, Monkee man, want to hear what we’re working on?”
They were working on a Lennon tune called Good Morning Good Morning, which wound up on their masterpiece, the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album.
Years later, the two partied together in Los Angeles during Lennon’s infamous drug- and alcohol-addled “lost weekend.”
“I’m told I enjoyed myself,” Dolenz says dryly.

The Monkees, clockwise from upper left: Peter Tork, Micky Dolenz, Mike Nesmith and Davy Jones.

The Beatles got the joke
If Beatle snobs snubbed the Monkees, the Beatles clearly didn’t. In March 1968, viewers saw an episode, written and directed by Dolenz, that began with the four Monkees being awakened by a Rube Goldberg alarm clock that played a tune.
It was the Beatles, singing Good Morning Good Morning.
“It was the first time the Beatles gave anyone permission to use any of their songs, and for no money,” Dolenz says proudly.
No, the Monkees were not the Beatles. Who was? But when the last surviving Monkee sings Last Train to Clarksville at this year’s Beatles on the Beach, he will know that 56 years later, the group has earned an enviable amount of respect and, what’s more, affection.
“The Beatles got what the Monkees was,” Dolenz says. “A TV show about this group.”
The TV show won an Emmy. The band had four No. 1 albums on the charts and sold 75 million records.
In May 1967, the Monkees released Headquarters, on which they played their own instruments.
Headquarters debuted at No. 1, for a single week. Then another album knocked it from the top spot.
That album was Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
The Monkees stayed at No. 2, right behind the Beatles, for the next 11 weeks.

If You Go
What: International Beatles on the Beach Festival, a four-day event featuring bands from around the world playing tribute to the Beatles, artwork displays and a performance by Micky Dolenz of the Monkees
When: Dec. 15-18
Where: Old School Square Pavilion and clubs throughout Delray Beach
Information: beatlesonthebeach.com for a list of venues, events and ticket sales.

Dec. 6: The affair organized by the Boys & Girls Club of Delray Beach will kick off the holiday season with a social featuring entertainment, gourmet food stations, signature cocktails and a silent auction to support club activities. Time is 6 to 9 p.m. Cost is $175. Call 561-676-5472 or visit bgcpbc.org/events/4th-annual-cocktails-for-the-club. ABOVE: (l-r) Co-chairwomen Jorgette Smith, Jennifer Coulter and Virginia Costa. Photo provided

The basketball and volleyball arena at FAU will now be named for Eleanor Baldwin of Boca Raton. Photo provided

By Amy Woods

Eleanor Baldwin of Boca Raton has made a $7.5 million pledge to Florida Atlantic University’s athletics program, and in recognition of the gift, the basketball and volleyball facility will now be known as the Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena.
Baldwin’s name is well-known at the university: It graces the Eleanor R. Baldwin House — the campus residence for the president — the Eleanor R. Baldwin History and Tradition Hall in the athletics complex, and the Eleanor R. Baldwin President’s Suite at the stadium.
“Eleanor has generously supported so many projects and initiatives at FAU and throughout the community, and we are so incredibly grateful to her for this gift,” said Brian White, director of athletics. “We cannot thank her enough for this support, which will impact the lives of so many Owl student-athletes, coaches, staff and community members who will utilize Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena.”
Added FAU President John Kelly, “Elly has been a true champion of Florida Atlantic and its students over the years, from mentoring future educators to cheering on our sports teams to donating crucial funds to support the university’s growth. The Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena will be one more shining example of her generosity at FAU.”

Urban League’s $5.1 million grant to help minorities
The Urban League of Palm Beach County hauled in the largest grant in the 49-year history of the organization when philanthropist MacKenzie Scott announced a $5.1 million donation.
The gift will enable the nonprofit to elevate its assistance to the Black community and other minorities with the mission of achieving social and economic equality.
“We are so excited that Ms. Scott has recognized the work and contributions that the Urban League of Palm Beach County has made in the communities we serve across South Florida,” President and CEO Patrick Franklin said. “The board of directors and staff of ULPBC thank Ms. Scott for entrusting us with the awesome responsibility of ensuring that this generous gift will have a long-lasting and positive impact in our community.”
In 2019, Scott pledged — along with some of the world’s richest individuals and families — to dedicate the majority of her wealth to charity.
“When our giving team focuses on any system in which people are struggling, we don’t assume that we, or any other single group, can know how to fix it,” Scott said. “Instead, we seek a portfolio of organizations that supports the ability of all people to participate in solutions.”
For more information, call 561-833-1461 or visit https://ulpbc.org.

Boca West foundation has record year for giving
The Boca West Children’s Foundation distributed an all-time high of $2.2 million to local children’s charities this year.
Buoyed by proceeds from the annual golf tournament, which broke attendance numbers, grants were given to the foundation’s 30-plus partner organizations.
“This is truly historic and remarkable,” Executive Director Pamela Weinroth said. “This is a reflection of the hard work and dedication of our board, Boca West members and supporters in the community that we were able to raise record dollars in a year with an array of obstacles.”
In addition to the grants, the foundation donated 45,000 volunteer hours as well as 180,000 diapers, along with cribs and other essential items for families in need.
“Despite some challenges over the last couple of years, so many good and caring people came together and kept our focus on helping the children,” board Chairman Richard Zenker said.
For more information, call 561-488-6980 or visit www.bocawestfoundation.org.

$100,000 donation to boost reading skills
The New York-based Soloviev Foundation has made a $100,000 donation to Roots and Wings to support early student reading for needy families as well as teachers to support the effort.
Delray Beach-based Roots and Wings provides services to economically disadvantaged public school students in South County — more than 500 boys and girls.
“All the research has shown that the pandemic has severely damaged educational advancement for our children, particularly those in disadvantaged communities,” Soloviev Group Chairman Stefan Soloviev said. “It’s all our responsibility to help all our students receive a strong education.”
For more information on Roots and Wings, call 561-404-0455 or visit https://rootsandwingsinc.org.

Gift drive underway for Boys & Girls Clubs
The Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County has launched its Holiday Gift Drive to collect toys and teen-appropriate gifts for thousands of local youths.
This year, families are facing challenges as a result of inflation and the organization is counting on the community for lots of support. The goal is to ensure less-than-fortunate children receive presents under the tree.
“The holidays are right around the corner, and we need to act quickly to collect enough toys and gifts for these deserving children and teens,” said Sarah Alsofrom, senior director of community relations at GL Homes, the drive’s sponsor. “Inflation is eating into every dollar families try to save, and unfortunately, holiday stockings stuffed with toys may not fit into the family budget.”
The drive runs through Dec. 11. Items can be dropped off at select local businesses — the list of locations can be found at the link below — and at the nonprofit’s corporate offices, 800 Northpoint Parkway in West Palm Beach.
“Our annual Holiday Gift Drive is important because we believe in making sure that our club members are happy,” said Jaene Miranda, president and CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County. “For most members, this will be their only chance to receive a gift this season.”
For more information, call 561-683-3287 or visit bgcpbc.org/2022/10/31/support-our-holiday-gift-drive.

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

Barbara Stark, president and CEO of the Milagro Center, sits among some of the children involved in the center’s programs. Photo provided

By Amy Woods

The Milagro Center’s popular annual fundraiser will take on a holiday twist this year and include an urgent appeal to help the 150 at-risk children it serves.
The Ho Ho Holiday Hoedown on Dec. 10 will be a country-Western shindig combining cowboys with Christmas and line dancing with the lighting of the menorah. The event will direct proceeds to the center’s “Last C.A.L.L.” emergency campaign, designed to rally the “Community Against Learning Losses” stemming from the pandemic.
“We are specifically raising money to increase the academic support so that these kids can make up what they have lost and start to succeed in school again,” President and CEO Barbara Stark said. “COVID really put a monkey wrench into things, if you will.”
The emergency campaign comes on the heels of “The Nation’s Report Card” published in October by the National Center for Education Statistics, a branch of the U.S. Department of Education. The data shows that fourth- and eighth-graders fell behind in reading and had the largest-ever decline in math.
“The saddest part is that COVID has had a disproportionate impact on the country’s most vulnerable children and teens, like the students in our program,” Stark said, noting that poor families often do not have equipment such as laptops, much less high-speed internet service.
“The additional funding will go a long way in making sure each and every student gets the attention they need and deserve so that they have a fighting chance to achieve success in school and in life.”
Funds will enable the center to hire more tutors who can work with children in small groups or, better, in one-on-one settings.
“The fact is these kids have an increased chance of school failure because of their economic status,” Stark said. “Our goal is to help them graduate and pursue a career so they do not repeat the cycle of poverty.”
Guests are asked to bring gift cards to hang on the gift-card tree. The cards will be distributed to middle school and high school students. There will be a live band, a barbecue dinner, a silent auction, a raffle and more.
“It will be a fun night to enjoy,” Stark said.

If You Go
What: Milagro Center’s Ho Ho Holiday Hoedown
When: 7 to 10 p.m. Dec. 10
Where: Delray Beach Elks Lodge, 265 NE Fourth Ave.
Cost: $45
Information: 561-279-2970, ext. 107 or www.milagrocenter.org

The Achievement Centers for Children & Families’ 11th annual Witches of Delray fundraiser took flight to benefit the community-based organization. More than 300 women wearing their best witch apparel atop extravagantly decorated bicycles rode through the downtown area, turning many heads. At the conclusion of the ride, the party continued at Old School Square with activities and awards. A total of $28,000 was raised. ABOVE: (l-r) Achievement Centers CEO Stephanie Seibel, Andria DeVoe and Tricia McFadden. Photo provided by Ethan Dangerwing

More than 150 guests attended Florida Atlantic University’s Arthur and Emalie Gutterman Center for Holocaust and Human Rights Education’s annual gathering. During the event, the exceptional work of teachers supported by the center was celebrated. In addition, the 2021 Gutterman Family Outstanding Holocaust Educators were honored. ABOVE: Arthur Gutterman with Outstanding Educators (l-r) Tracy Sachs, Chelsea Dittrich and Maureen Carter. Photo provided

The Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County’s fourth annual fundraiser raised a record-breaking $250,000 for the agency’s hunger relief program — of critical concern in light of inflation. The Great Masquerade-themed event offered guests a night of surprises including live performances. ‘Boys & Girls Club of Boca Raton is the smallest and most underfunded club in the county,” advisory board Chairwoman Mandy Bohlman said. ‘With all of our donors’ support, we can move the needle and continue to make a difference.’
ABOVE (l-r): Bohlman, Katie and Abraham Ovadia, and Jaene Miranda.
RIGHT: Dana and Sebastian Ocampo
BOTTOM RIGHT: Morgan Green and Paige Kornblue. Photos provided by Tracey Benson Photography

Olivia Hollaus, board chairwoman of the Boca Raton Historical Society, joined Mary Csar, executive director of the Schmidt Boca Raton History Museum, in welcoming 300 friends and supporters to the 50th-anniversary celebration. The memorable affair featured decade-inspired passed hors d’oeuvres, live-action food stations, a full open bar and dancing to live music. ABOVE (l-r): Russ and LeAnn Berman, Lynn-Marie Whitefall and Anthony Crupi. BELOW: Dick Schmidt prepares to cut the anniversary cake. Photos provided by Munoz Photography

The Creative Waves Foundation, which provides funding for underserved children and programs that emphasize the arts and the environment, honored Frankie Stevens for a lifetime of service to children’s causes. One of those causes is building a library collection for youths at the First Haitian Baptist Church in Belle Glade. The event raised more than $50,000 and was attended by 160-plus guests, including Grammy Award-nominated singer Cassadee Pope, who hails from Wellington. Pope serves on the foundation’s board and recently donated $88,000 to the nonprofit. ABOVE: Stevens and Pope sing ‘Let’s Stay Together.’ Photo provided

Elisabetta’s Ristorante in Delray Beach has a private room that accommodates up to 20 customers. Photo provided

By Jan Norris

It’s party season, and party checklists usually start with a room to rent. Many restaurants and hotels rent spaces for hosting various-sized groups, with food provided or allowing food to be catered.
Some smaller restaurants allow for a “buyout” — rent out the whole dining room for a party.
Some tips as you plan:
• Have alternate dates in mind, especially around the holidays. Think outside the dinner hour as well: Brunches and even “holiday PJ” breakfasts are ideas.
• Don’t assume anything. Get your event spelled out in writing.
Here are some worth a look.
Kapow! expanded and rebuilt across the street in Boca Raton’s Mizner Park and now has a few party options, including an outdoor “opium garden” and three private karaoke rooms with automated AV systems. These rooms can connect to make larger spaces as well as open onto the patio. Food is modern and traditional Asian cuisine, with sushi a favorite. Contact the restaurant via www.kapownoodlebar.com.
Farmer’s Table in Boca Raton has several rooms for rent, including the newly renovated Oak Room that accommodates 100 for a sit-down dinner, or 150 for cocktails. Other rooms and spaces indoors and out, including a pavilion overlooking the pool, seat from 30 to 140. Contact www.dinefarmerstable.com.
Max’s Grille, a staple in Mizner Park, has a room suitable for a 12-person sit-down. Noted wine list and contemporary American grill fare are offered. Contact www.maxsgrille.com.
History, architecture and signature menu items come together at The Addison in Boca Raton. The 1920s landmark building named for its architect Addison Mizner has 10-plus rooms that accommodate intimate dinners for 12, up to 300 for a large party. It is frequently a site for weddings (and proposals) and has indoor and outdoor spaces available. Contact www.theaddisonofbocaraton.com.
The Pavilion Grille in Boca Raton has a large, open atrium for big parties — up to 300 for sit-downs, and a smaller room for up to 60. A variety of menu choices catering to each party is provided. Contact paviliongrille.com.
At Eclectic Eats in Delray Beach, indoor space accommodating 35 is available, and a lush garden setting can handle up to 125 people. Catered menus for a variety of parties and gatherings are available, or guests can arrange to bring their own foods. Contact www.eclecticeats.com.
The Wine Room Kitchen and Bar on Atlantic Avenue has a private room that seats up to 14. It is especially good for oenophiles, with wine and food pairings a natural here. Contact www.thewineroomonline.com/delray-beach.
Elisabetta’s Ristorante, also on the avenue, has a private area with a fireplace, great for those chilly evenings. It holds up to 20 people; the menu is modern Italian. House specialty is house-made pasta. Contact www.elisabettas.com.
Salt7 in Delray Beach has a private room opening to a patio suitable for up to 50 people for a sit-down affair, or 100 for cocktails. It has a trendy vibe and award-winning chef. Contact salt7.com.
La Cigale in Delray Beach has several private rooms that can accommodate from 10 to 100 diners. Rooms are available from 8 a.m. daily, so breakfast, brunch and luncheons are possible, along with cocktail parties or dinners. Contact www.lacigaledelray.com.
At the Ray Hotel Delray Beach, in Pineapple Grove, the Ember Grill has a private room to seat up to 40. Also available are the Rosewater Rooftop and the Garden at Rosewater, both outdoor venues with variable seating. Contact www.therayhotel.com.
The Opal Grand Resort, oceanside in Delray Beach, has several venues, including a ballroom as well as the main dining room area, Drift. Seafood is Drift’s focus.
Contact www.opalcollection.com/opal-grand.
Benvenuto Restaurant & Banquet Facility is a European-themed event space in Boynton Beach, with several rooms and a large courtyard that accommodate from 30 to 250. Numerous rooms and configurations with courtyards or lounges adjoining are available. Foods are upscale American and Italian. It’s one of the oldest event spaces in the area. Contact www.benvenutorestaurant.com.
Baciami Italiano & Prime Steakhouse on South Federal Highway in Boynton Beach has a private room with capacity of 30 for dinner. Contact www.baciamiitaliano.com.

Amar Bakery & Market is open on Atlantic. Photo provided

Another Amar bakery opens in Delray Beach
A new bakery and market is on Atlantic Avenue, created by the owners of Amar Mediterranean Bistro. It’s just a few doors down, and carries house-made European and Middle Eastern pastries, custom cakes, breads and more.
At Amar Bakery & Market, patrons will find a mix of croissants, falafel and baklava. Owners Nicolas and Susanna Kurban bring modern twists to their native Lebanese sweets and European pastries and breads.
This is their second location; their main bakery is in Boynton Beach.
“We planned the Delray one first, before COVID,” Nicolas said. They soon realized there was not enough space in the bistro to handle the bakery production.
“We looked around, and found an existing bakery for sale in Boynton, and we took it over,” he said. They’ve now doubled their space there to 2,000 square feet.
All the baking is done there, and delivered by 6 a.m. to the Atlantic Avenue location. They also deliver to restaurants and caterers who buy from them.
Susanna uses spices and flavor profiles that set these goods apart: Za’atar, an earthy, savory spice combination, and haloumi, a tangy goat-sheep milk’s cheese, are baked into croissants.
Brownies also get the Middle Eastern treatment. Halva, a sweet candy treat similar to nut butter, pairs with chocolate to create American-style brownies.
Vegan muffins and cakes and gluten-free items are available.
Grab-and-go items from the bistro are in the bakery for takeout, Nicolas said, including baba ganouj, tabbouleh and sandwiches.
“We plan on opening more bakeries like the Delray cafe, one in Boca, one in Palm Beach, and other places,” he said. “We’ll continue production in Boynton, and deliver to them, like a Starbucks — they can go in small spaces.”
Amar Bakery & Market is at 526 E. Atlantic Ave, Delray Beach. Phone 561-819-9020 or visit www.amar-bakery.com.

Lake Worth bakery is a swift start-up
Lake Worth Beach also has a new bakery: Azra Nahic opened Una Pastries and Desserts on Lake Avenue the first week in November. She called it a whirlwind start-up.
“When we got the place, it was all within a month,” she said. “We got the store and put everything in and I started baking right away.”
She’s had no formal training and never baked in a production kitchen before. She was working in the medical field but got tired of doing only paperwork.
“I started baking cookies and cakes, and people started ordering them,” said Nahic, who has Bosnian roots. Finally, she decided to open her own bakery at age 51.
Meanwhile, her children in Fort Myers were dealing with Hurricane Ian and wound up moving in with her and her husband, Armin Becirevic. “They were stuck here for two weeks while their power and water were out.”
Nahic is working long days at the bakery, along with a visiting cousin, doing everything by hand — even kneading dough for heavy bread loaves. “We have mixers for our cakes only. Everything else is done by hand,” she said.
Nahic bakes specialty desserts for a restaurant in Palm Beach, but they are pricey for the average buyer.
“I felt bad, nobody can afford the high-end, fancy desserts. Chocolate is so expensive now. Everything is so expensive. I wanted to make desserts and bake things people can buy and enjoy,” she said.
Her cases feature colorful macarons, cupcakes, cookies, muffins, brownies, breads, baguettes, tarts and Balkan favorites like kifli rolls.
One of the sold-out items each day is a flaky spinach and cheese turnover, borek, that’s a staple in the Balkan countries. It’s also made with meat and onion — the crowd favorite.
“Everybody has their own. But people come here for mine — I didn’t know there were so many people from our country here. I had a store full of people. I made 60 borek in three hours and was sold out. I love it — it makes me happy.”
But she can barely keep up.
“Every day, we’re sold out of some things by 3 p.m. Everything is made fresh, so anything left over, we give away to the homeless. I know what it’s like to be hungry,” she said.
She has plans to open other bakeries. But with such an exhausting pace, first she’s looking for professional help at the Lake Worth Beach store.
Nahic says her daughter Amela Agic does all of the bakery’s marketing and credits her for its success.
How do they plan to handle a second bakery?
“I can do anything,” Nahic says. “I survived war. I was in Bosnia for four years. You just have to be positive, happy, and don’t take things for granted.
“I’m tired. But it makes me feel good. I’m happy that we’re here. Food connects us.”
In mid-November she was awaiting permits for indoor and outdoor seating; the bakery is takeout only with no coffee available yet. “Soon,” she says.
Una Pastries and Desserts is at 513 Lake Ave., Lake Worth Beach. Open daily except Monday, 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Phone 727-330-0401. On Facebook under UNA Bakery.

Rappy is a service dog in training with Vets Helping Heroes. Photo provided

The restaurateur and the service dog
Dogs are so welcome at Burt Rapoport’s Deck 84 in Delray Beach they have their own pup menu. The owner is a dog lover and has supported pet charities with 20% of the money the pup menu earns at all three of his restaurants. The others are Max’s Grille and Burt and Max’s.
The Boca Raton-based charity Vets Helping Heroes, which supplies service dogs to veterans, approached the restaurateur to ask for support, and Rapoport readily agreed.
Overall, Vets Helping Heroes has received around $5,000 from the pup menus.
“They called one day, and said, ‘We appreciate what you’re doing. We have a new dog coming along, and we’d like to know if you’d like to name him in someone’s honor.’”
For Rapoport, the name was a “no-brainer.”
“My dad was a vet — and he loved dogs.”
So the new golden retriever being trained at Vets Helping Heroes has been dubbed Rappy.
“My dad’s nickname,” Rapoport said.

 Jan Norris is a food writer who can be reached at nativefla@gmail.com

A ghost orchid in bloom. Photo provided by Tony Pernas

By Christine Davis

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced in October that it may grant Endangered Species Act protection to the ghost orchid, following a January 2022 petition submitted by the Delray Beach-based Institute for Regional Conservation, along with the Center for Biological Diversity and the National Parks Conservation Association.
A decision is expected in January. 
The rare leafless flower with long delicate petals and a spur of nectar was featured in Susan Orlean’s book The Orchid Thief and the movie Adaptation, starring Meryl Streep and Nicolas Cage. 
“I still remember the first time I saw a ghost orchid,” said Melissa Abdo, Ph.D., the National Parks Conservation Association’s Sun Coast regional director. “I was waist-deep in a swamp in the heart of the Everglades and spotted one woven around a tree trunk. I had spent six months searching, while researching the plant life throughout the ’Glades. It was a moment I will never forget.
“I understand the pull this beautiful, rare plant species has on people, but its popularity comes at a steep price,” Abdo said. “Recent upticks in ghost orchid poaching have left the species in serious peril, with fewer than 750 mature orchids left in the wild.”
Other factors in the ghost orchid’s population decline include climate change, the draining of wetlands, and development, she said. “The ghost orchid deserves nothing less than the full federal protections necessary to keep this species alive and thriving.”
The ghost orchid population has declined by more than 90% globally. Its range in Florida includes the Big Cypress National Preserve, Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge, Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park, Audubon’s Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary and other conservation and tribal areas in Collier, Hendry and possibly Lee counties.
George Gann, executive director at the Institute for Regional Conservation, said he was grateful the government saw the merit in the petition. “Federal protection will help us not only to save this icon of beauty from extinction, but allow for recovery work to commence. Preventing extinction is the lowest conservation bar; our goal must be full recovery.”

Brice Makris, shown near the Colosseum in Rome in 2019, died of a fentanyl overdose at age 23. Photo provided

By Jan Enogren

On March 12, 2020, Boca Raton resident Brice Makris became one of the more than 100,000 people in the U.S. that year — many of them between the ages of 18 and 45 — to die from a drug overdose. He was 23.
This number was an increase of nearly 15% over 2019, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Many overdoses, including his, were due to the synthetic opioid fentanyl, which is more than 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. It is linked to illicit drugs manufactured overseas and distributed through illegal drug channels.
For John and Michelle Makris, the loss of their son was devastating.
“He was a great kid — an excellent student and very bright,” remembers his dad, John Makris, 68, a retired CPA and investment adviser. “He had a great upbringing, was close to us and his older brother, Alec.”
Michelle Makris, 61, says the family “ate dinner together every night and talked about everything — sex, drugs and rock and roll.”
“Brice went to Spanish River High School and the early college program at FAU,” his father says. “He loved his summer camp in the Berkshires, practicing martial arts, being social and hanging out with friends.”
At 6-feet-5, Brice resembled his dad, with a head full of curly brown hair.
“He was athletic, and everyone considered him their friend,” his mother says. “He was fun-loving, enjoyed philosophy and intellectual discussions.”
He graduated from Florida State in August 2019 with a degree in biology and a minor in psychology, hoping to become either a physician or earn a Ph.D. in epidemiology.
That dream was cut short by one fentanyl pill.
He hurt his back and turned to unprescribed drugs.
Michelle Makris, a former marketing director for MDVIP in Boca Raton, says Brice knew he needed treatment and came to his parents for help.
“We knew he was doing OxyContin,” says his mother, who, along with her husband, retired to devote themselves to raising awareness about substance use disorder. “He was in chronic pain due to a fractured back. While his doctors never prescribed opioids for him, he got them from a friend and felt relief.”
Michelle Makris says that “substance use disorder is a disease that develops over time.”
“Brice was trying to detox on his own, but we got him into treatment.”
He had been doing well in recovery, and when he got out, took a job as a behavioral therapist working with autistic kids. He aspired to counsel people in the recovery community.
It was during a relapse that he overdosed and was poisoned with fentanyl.
His mother doesn’t blame him for relapsing, saying she understands relapse is part of the recovery process.
“We have to understand this disease is not the effect of a bad decision, bad parenting or bad kids,” she says. “Brice had a disease and could have survived the overdose if the pill hadn’t been laced with fentanyl.”
Since his death, the Makrises have made it their mission to fulfill their son’s commitment to the recovery community. They have partnered with the Hanley Foundation of West Palm Beach in establishing the Brice Makris Endowment Fund for lifesaving treatment scholarships and addiction prevention programs.
On Dec. 11 the couple will host the second annual Brice Makris Brunch at Boca West Country Club to raise money to support substance abuse prevention programming in Boca Raton schools. They also are working with Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg to advocate for local policy changes and lay the groundwork for strong and successful recovery communities.
Aronberg and Louie Bossi, executive chef of Louie Bossi’s Ristorante and founder of Delray Beach’s “Taste of Recovery,” will serve as honorary chairs of the event.
“There are thousands of smart and talented individuals, like Brice, right here in our community who suffer from substance use disorders,” said Jan Cairnes, CEO of the Hanley Foundation. “Events like this are critical to spread the message of hope and raise funds that allow us to expand our substance use prevention and recovery programs.”
Experts say removing the stigma of substance abuse and recognizing it as a disease that deserves the same attention as other medical conditions are crucial to people seeking help.
“It requires research, early detection, treatment plans and follow-up,” says John Makris. “Most importantly, the stigma needs to be converted to empathy so we can erase the shame our loved ones experience.”
People with the disease “need love, kindness, treatment and supportive recovery.”
With almost three years since their loss, the Makrises have found perspective by knowing they’re doing good for others.
“The grieving process is forever,” says Michelle Makris. “After a lot of therapy and allowing myself to grieve, I find I can live with joy and grief in the same place.”
“We wake up with this pain and go to sleep with it,” says John Makris. “But Brice would want our lives to go on. We do this to honor him. It’s the least he deserves.”

Jan Enogren writes about health and healthy living. Send column ideas to jenogren@hotmail.com

If You Go
What: Brice Makris Brunch fundraiser with the Hanley Foundation
When: 11 a.m. Dec. 11
Where: Boca West Country Club
Tickets: $150 at hanleyfoundation.org/events/brice-makris-brunch
Honorees: Max Weinberg of Delray Beach will receive the first Brice Makris Community Spirit Award. Other honorary guests are Troy McLellan, Tina Polsky, Andrea Virgin, Spencer Siegel and Andrea O'Rourke.

Preparing to start the Heart Walk are (l-r) Brian Maciak, Lanelle Meidan, Patti Patrick, Troy Rice, Ava Parker, Darcy Davis, Gina Melby, Michele Jacobs and Hilda Gonzalez. Photo provided by Daniel Decius

By Christine Davis

The Palm Beach County Heart Walk last month at the Meyer Amphitheatre — which attracted more than 4,500 participants, including heart disease survivors and stroke survivors — raised more than $900,000 for research for the American Heart Association.
Michele Jacobs, from the Economic Council of Palm Beach County, was the top fundraising individual, and the Health Care District of Palm Beach County was the top fundraising company, said Heart Walk chair Gina Melby, the CEO of HCA Florida JFK Hospital.
Melby also announced the 2023 Heart Walk chair, Brian Maciak, president and chief operating officer of Big O Tires, and executive vice president and general counsel of TBC Corp.
Donations are still accepted at www.PalmBeachHeartWalk.org through Dec. 31.

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The prototype prosthetic hand being developed at Florida Atlantic University’s College of Engineering and Computer Science. Photo provided

People with prosthetic hands may find it difficult to perform tasks like using a screwdriver or can opener. That’s because prosthetic hands have five individually actuated digits, but only one grasp function can be controlled at a time.
Aiming to empower amputees to fully control the dexterity of their artificial hands, researchers at Florida Atlantic University’s College of Engineering and Computer Science have received a four-year, $1.2 million grant from the National Science Foundation.
In the prototype they are developing, individual fingers can be controlled to accomplish more complicated tasks like the motion needed to turn a screwdriver. The technology includes a special skin sensor — an analytical device that measures biological or chemical reactions by generating signals — that can be trained by algorithms to sense the signals to control the hand.
Clinicians will interact with 10 study participants over the course of one year for muscle training via smartphone.

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Randy D. Blakely, Ph.D., Florida Atlantic University’s Stiles-Nicholson Brain Institute executive director, received $5,000 from the Society for Neuroscience in a 2022 Science Educator Award at the organization’s annual meeting in San Diego. An internationally renowned neuroscientist and leading expert in brain neurochemistry, pharmacology and molecular neuroscience, Blakely came to FAU in 2016 as the founding executive director for the university’s Neuroscience Research Institute.
Blakely is credited with launching the institute’s Ascend program (Advancing STEM: Community Engagement Through Neuroscience Discovery). Ascend at FAU addresses the shortage of middle and high school students studying science, technology, engineering and math in Palm Beach County.
Blakely is also credited for developing “Brainy Days,” FAU’s celebration of the neuroscience initiative, which supplements the recognition of national Brain Awareness Week during March.

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Lincoln Mendez has been appointed to the newly created role of north region executive of Baptist Health South Florida to go with his job as Boca Raton Regional Hospital CEO. He will be responsible for driving Boca Regional and Bethesda hospitals’ growth across Palm Beach County, with a focus on expanding access to orthopedics, cardiac and vascular, cancer and neuroscience services.
Additionally, a search is underway for a new CEO for Baptist Health’s Bethesda Hospitals, who will succeed Nelson Lazo upon his retirement.

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Healthgrades placed Delray Medical Center within the top 10% of hospitals nationally, giving it a “Stroke Care Excellence Award” for the 14th year in a row.
“Consumers can feel confident that recipients of the 2023 award have demonstrated their ability to deliver consistently exceptional outcomes,” said Dr. Brad Bowman, chief medical officer and head of data science at Healthgrades.
Delray Medical Center also achieved five-star ratings for its treatments of heart failure, cranial neurosurgery, upper gastrointestinal surgeries, colorectal surgeries, sepsis and respiratory failure.

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Caron Treatment Centers is expanding its services for substance-use-disorder treatment and recovery in Florida with a new medical facility and additional programming.
Caron Florida, which offers the programs at Caron Renaissance in Boca Raton and Ocean Drive in Delray Beach, recently added a stand-alone mental health program.
In early 2023, Caron Florida will add detox services and an older adult program when it opens its new 10,000-square-foot medical facility, the Keele Medical Center, at 4575 Linton Blvd., Delray Beach.
The center is slated to open to patients in mid-January. For more information, visit www.caron.org.

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From left, Carrie Browne, Dr. Christine Koehn and Lauren Zuchman at the Palm Health Foundation panel discussion. Photo provided by Coastal Click Photography

The Palm Health Foundation hosted a “Celebrating Human Flourishing Through the NeuroArts” panel discussion in October at the Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience, in Jupiter.
Speakers focused on the scientific study of neuro-arts, showing how artistic experiences lead to improved physical and mental health, disease prevention and enhanced brain development in children.
The discussion was moderated by Palm Health Foundation’s director of stewardship and strategic partnerships, Carrie Browne.
Panelists included: Nicole Baganz, Ph.D., director of community engagement and programming, FAU Stiles-Nicholson Brain Institute; Cindy Surman, program director of BBT4PD (dance for those living with Parkinson’s) at Boca Ballet Theatre; McLean Bolton, Ph.D., research group leader, Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience; and Kenya Madison, Ed.S., senior director for Healthier Delray Beach, a Palm Health Foundation Healthier Together initiative. 

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