The Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County’s campaign finale took place in front of an audience of 300 supporters watching while author Shelby Van Pelt was being interviewed about ‘Remarkably Bright Creatures’. Van Pelt’s debut novel — about a widow’s unlikely friendship with a giant octopus reluctantly residing at an aquarium — was an instant New York Times bestseller. ’This Read Together campaign was one of the most exciting and engaging campaigns, from scientific presentations about octopuses, to art class-style paint-and-sip parties, to virtual and in-person book discussions,’ said Kristin Calder, the coalition’s CEO. ’The community loved reading this book together.’   

TOP: (l-r) Leanne Adair, Calder, Brenda Medore and Debra Ghostine. RIGHT: (l-r) Suzy Lanigan, Van Pelt and Becky Walsh. Photos provided

The new Oceano Kitchen on Lucerne Avenue in Lake Worth Beach will include a wood-fired pizza oven, fuller menu and bar, credit-card acceptance and a light, open interior. Rendering provided 

By Jan Norris 

Mid-month is the targeted reopening date for the newly designed Oceano Kitchen.

The popular Lantana restaurant moved in 2023 to the former Social House in downtown Lake Worth Beach. It’s been closed since June for the renovation.

Chef/owner Jeremy Bearman said the former restaurant and bar is transformed. “We gutted the entire thing.”

Bearman got through last season with a limited menu. “We went into the contract on the building a year and a half ago. After we were kicked out of our old space, we moved in in nine days in Lake Worth,” Bearman said.

“When we moved over from the old space, we left a kitchen with a wood-burning oven. We had used it for everything. So we ran without pizza.

“Now, we have a new wood-fire oven — no gas. And a pretty big smoker outside. We’ll be doing pizzas and all the wood-fired dishes as we did in the past.”

Bearman co-owns the restaurant with his spouse, Cindy Bearman, and they planned the layout. “We did all the architecture,” he said.

The interior spaces are their vision that a New York designer fulfilled, he said. 

“We hired this designer, Sarah Carpenter, from Brooklyn. We love her work,” Bearman said.

Carpenter’s designs incorporate a modern feel, with light woods and open spaces, and not what Bearman calls the cliché of dark, industrial interiors he dubs as overdone. 

“You don’t see too many like these in South Florida,” he said.

He’s excited about having expanded seating, patio dining, and a practical kitchen. It’s a big step up from his former restaurant, a tiny house on Ocean Avenue in Lantana.

“For 6½ years we were working from a 500-square-foot kitchen. We were limited in how much we could do. Guests didn’t like the 2½-hour wait,” Bearman said.

That, combined with a lease disagreement with the landlord, and the Bearmans were ready to move. “So when we found this place in Lake Worth Beach, we jumped,” Jeremy said.

The Social House was used for co-working and as a private event space at the time.

“One good thing was a functional commercial kitchen. We were able to run out of there for six months. If it hadn’t been there, we would be closed,” Bearman said.

Also new is the full bar. “We’re super excited. We brought on a gentleman, Patrick Wert, who does a lot of work in New York and Miami. He’s consulting with us on our cocktails. He does amazing work.”

A change in menu format is underway as well.

“We used to do a menu that changed every night. But we limited it when we moved here. Now we’ll have a few things that remain on it weekly — pizzas, pastas, fish every night. But we’ll change a couple items every week. By the time we get into a couple months, a lot of the menu will change,” Bearman said.

He will continue to source locally when viable, and change the menu with ingredient availability. 

Cindy Bearman will continue as pastry chef and add a few more desserts each night, Jeremy said.

“We have new wait staff and, the great thing, a new general manager.” 

Eric Abney is from Dallas where he worked at Loro, a well-known Asian smokehouse.

“All of our employees are coming back, too,” Bearman said. “Eric Sheremeta heads up our kitchen as chef d’cuisine, the former general manager wants to stay on as maitre d’. Even all our dishwashers are coming back. It’s pretty amazing.

“A lot of our guests have been clamoring for us to reopen.”

The new restaurant seats 140 — 80 indoors and 60 outside. “We’re taking reservations for all size parties. We can accommodate 40 to 50 people in our back dining space. We’re already sold out for two weddings,” Bearman said.

Diners will also be in for a pleasant payment surprise.

“Oh yeah — we’re now taking credit cards. Gotta move forward,” he said.

512 Lucerne Ave., Lake Worth Beach. Online at oceanolwb.com. 

Max’s Grille changes hands

Max’s Grille in Mizner Park is under new ownership as of mid-December and is open during the transition.

David Baldwin, owner of Arka Restaurant Group, says the group will keep the Max’s name but tweak the concept to Arka’s specifications.

Baldwin is behind the trio of Kaluz restaurants, in Wellington, Plantation and Fort Lauderdale.

Max’s Grille was created by local restaurant gurus Burt Rapoport and Dennis Max in 1991, and considered a new concept at the time: a chef-driven, modern American grill. It has been a draw to the plaza from the start.

“It’s got a long and successful history,” Baldwin said. That’s one of the reasons it will remain under the same name, he said.

It will pick up the best features from Kaluz, but still retain the Max’s Grille feel, he said. Changes will be subtle and not immediate.

“I’m happy with the general manager and chef and others that are there,” Baldwin said. “We are trying to integrate their opinion and at the same time, make sure to move the concept forward.”

Baldwin says dining at an upscale-casual restaurant has changed since Max’s opened. 

Looking at other recently opened restaurants in the plaza, he said, “We want to be relevant, and continue to stay relevant. We’ll improve what you touch and feel in the restaurant and the food.”

Adapting to trends and shifts in diner perception is important.

“People who want to go out to dinner want a good meal and good service — and an experience,” Baldwin said. “We get birthdays and celebrations, the special occasion diners. We’re selling an experience. But people have to see the value in it.”

Baldwin is hoping to expand Max’s Grille concepts elsewhere, while he continues to add more Kaluz locations. 

404 Plaza Real, Boca Raton. Phone 561-368-0080; maxsgrille.com.

In brief

The Falcon House in Delray Beach is now Novecento, with  a soft opening late last month and grand opening set for Jan. 16.

The upscale-casual Argentinian steakhouse has roots in the Soho area of New York and in South America. Currently there are four in Miami-Dade County.

Expect a large selection of grass-fed Argentinian steak cuts, a raw bar with dishes such as wagyu carpaccio and salmon crudo, plus pasta and chicken items. Brunch, lunch and dinner;  weekly tango shows. More info at novecento.com.

The Boca Raton resort is bringing back the Napa Valley-partnered winter wine and food event that focuses on top chefs and winemakers.

The Artisans of Wine and Food event is Jan. 17-19 at the resort and includes the popular gala with wine auction. Tickets and more information are available at artisansofwineandfood.com.

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

Darren Miller’s Explorations of the Dance will be displayed on Ocean Avenue in Boynton Beach. Photo provided

By Tao Woolfe

Boynton Beach is promoting this year’s kinetic art exhibition as one that kids will especially enjoy. But because many of the huge, outdoor sculptures sport bright colors and parts that move with the wind, they bring out the child in everyone.

The exhibit, formally known as the International Kinetic Art Experience in Boynton Beach, will be held Feb. 1-2 at two venues — one inside at the Boynton Beach Arts & Cultural Center and one outside.

The outdoor installations will be placed in downtown areas from Seacrest Boulevard to Federal Highway, said Craig Clark, the city’s director of recreation and cultural services, who is organizing the event.

The indoor pieces will be on display for only two days, but the outdoor sculptures will remain for 18 months, Clark said. 

“Kinetic art is art that really moves, or gives the illusion of motion,” Clark said, adding that the art form — which requires engineering expertise as well as artistic talent — is popular and brings artists and visitors from around the world.

He said he is especially excited about some of the local artists who will be among the 30 exhibiting this year. Among them is Harold Caudio, a Haitian mixed-media artist who lives in West Palm Beach.

Caudio’s work, which has been featured at Art Basel in Miami and on television’s “Good Morning America,” uses unconventional materials such as Skittles candies for  pop art pieces.

His “Colored Collextion” will feature portraits of Black celebrities constructed from hundreds of Skittles.

He has sweetly remembered Michael Jackson, Beyoncé, and Michelle Obama, to name a few. 

“The idea of the collection is to bring people together, no matter what color or background while spreading unity and peace,” says a blurb on the website of the Trap Music Museum in Atlanta, which has exhibited Caudio’s work.

Other artists Clark plans to showcase include Darren Miller, of Decatur, Ill., and Laurence Gartel, of New York, who is considered a pioneer in digital art.

Miller’s Explorations of the Dance is 7 feet tall and will be on exhibit along Ocean Avenue.

“It moves and turns and plays musical notes,” Clark said.

A little further down Ocean Avenue, Gartel’s playful murals of underwater flowers and fish will grace the Boynton Beach Amphitheater in Centennial Park.

“It’s an underwater colorful theme that looks like it’s moving,” Clark said.

Boynton Beach has been featuring kinetic art exhibits since 2013 and has established itself as an annual destination for the big, moveable pieces.

Last year’s show brought in some 6,000 visitors, Clark said. 

“This is our seventh one,” Clark said, explaining that although setting up such exhibits is not usually his job, he has enjoyed the task. 

“I’m excited and proud to be putting in this show. I do love art!”

The exhibition weekend will include artist and designer talks, student displays, turbine demonstrations, light projections and choreographed motion performances with community volunteers. There will also be live music, food trucks, artist booths and other activities.

The indoor exhibit will be held Feb. 1-2 at the Boynton Beach Arts & Cultural Center, 125 E. Ocean Ave. Hours for the Feb. 1 indoor exhibition are noon to 4 p.m., and for Feb. 2, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The outdoor weekend events will be held from noon to 6 p.m. on Feb. 1 and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Feb. 2. The outdoor exhibits are self-guided. Admission is free.

The Beast Mode Trio consists of keyboardist Tal Cohen, bassist Armando Gola and drummer Jonathan Joseph. Photos provided

By Bill Meredith 

Mamas, don’t let your babies grow up to be drummers in South Florida.

Miami-born Jonathan Joseph has toured and recorded with vocalists Ricky Martin and Joss Stone — two pop artists with oversized name recognition — but even that hasn’t made him a comparable star despite his own oversized technique, taste, and speed around the drum kit.

The 58-year-old Port St. Lucie resident has also worked with rock, jazz and fusion names like Jeff Beck, Pat Metheny, Joe Zawinul, Al Jarreau, David Sanborn, Richard Bona, Martin Barre, Randy Brecker, Mike Stern, Betty Wright, Nestor Torres, and the Yellowjackets.

Trained by the incomparable Steve Rucker at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music, the drummer has talent comparable to that of current percussive icons such as Vinnie Colaiuta, Dennis Chambers, Dave Weckl, and Omar Hakim.

And although his home base being in South Florida means he’s seen and heard less than his peers, Joseph’s every new project could shine more light on his world-class dexterity — like his latest venture, the Beast Mode Trio (beastmodetrio.com), with keyboardist Tal Cohen and bassist Armando Gola.

The group has a forthcoming self-titled debut album that’s being mixed and mastered by Gola, and appears at Crazy Uncle Mike’s in Boca Raton on Jan. 12.

“It’s mostly originals, written by all of us, with a few cover songs,” Joseph says. “Like ‘My Favorite Things’ by Rodgers and Hammerstein; ‘Lonnie’s Lament’ by John Coltrane, and ‘Yesterdays’ by Jerome Kern, which we play in a 7/8 time signature. They all have our unique rhythmic approach.”

Grammy Award winners all, the members of the Beast Mode Trio are also akin to a musical United Nations (fittingly touring to play the Thailand International Jazz Conference on Jan. 24). The Australia-born Cohen’s credits include Terence Blanchard, Joe Lovano, and Greg Osby; the Cuban Gola’s include Arturo Sandoval, Gonzalo Rubalcaba and Eldar Djangirov, plus his own celebrity vocalist association in Jennifer Lopez. But the trio’s chemistry stems from years of previous instrumental gigs, jams, and recording sessions.

“The first time I played with Tal was a jam session at Churchill’s Pub,” Gola says, “the oldest bar in Miami. We also used to play at a jazz club there called Le Chat Noir. And Jonathan and I have done many years of recordings and concerts with different bands, including Weather Underground.”

Joseph’s drumming is in the league of hummingbird-like speed kings who attract eyes and ears by nature.  

Yet Joseph, Cohen and Gola all understand that surplus technique and beastly chops are necessary only when they suit particular pieces of music.

Drummer Jonathan Joseph has had a varied and impressive career. His newest venture is a jazz-fusion trio.

The drummer’s work with the Zawinul Syndicate, Austrian keyboard legend Joe Zawinul’s offshoot group from Weather Report, taught him lessons in non-clave-based rhythms and world music. And Joseph’s 2015 instructional book, Exercises in African-American Funk (Hudson Music), written with the Frost’s Rucker, illustrates the fusing of Cameroonian rhythms into contemporary music that his playing with the gifted Cameroon-born bassist Richard Bona inspired.

“Richard probably had more impact on me than any other artist I’ve worked with,” Joseph says, “and Armando is probably one of the only other musicians I know who could help create the rhythms we come up with. Tal, who’s a tremendous up-and-coming talent, has been fascinated with those rhythms since we first crossed paths. He plays mostly acoustic piano, with occasional Fender Rhodes electric piano figures.”

The Beast Mode Trio features the perfect foils for Joseph, and not just because all are deserving of wider recognition. Cohen seamlessly blends his knack for Middle Eastern melody with traditional jazz harmony, and his rhythmic prowess perfectly suits the propulsive rhythm section. Gola sports a deep, massive tone on electric bass, and an ability to match Joseph on everything from stately ballads and jazz standards to complex shell-game rhythmic patterns on original fusion compositions.

Both Cohen and Gola reside in Joseph’s hometown of Miami, and the drummer has indeed ventured elsewhere during his career of star associations.

Many of the jazz/fusion artists he worked with came during the late 1990s, when he lived in and around New York City. Joseph met British singer Joss Stone in the early 2000s; married her mother, and started splitting time between the United States and England.

Joseph’s move to Port St. Lucie was for reasons non-musical.   

“In 2016, I was diagnosed with prostate cancer,” he says. “The surgeon that my urologist recommended was based in Celebration, near Orlando. So I sold my townhouse in Boca Raton and moved further north. I had surgery in 2017 after my last tour with Jeff (Beck), plus a tour with Jethro Tull’s former guitarist, Martin Barre. Those were both great distractions, and I’ve been cancer-free for more than seven years since.”   

The Beast Mode Trio took shape after he recovered, providing incentive for the seemingly ageless drummer to break new ground with Cohen and Gola, musicians a generation or more younger.   

On the trio’s album and at its upcoming performance, listeners can expect the unexpected in cuts like Joseph’s composition “Binda.”

Few other than Weather Report have ever created a jazz/fusion beast this heavy — especially, and similarly, with no guitarist required.

If You Go

The Beast Mode Trio performs at Crazy Uncle Mike’s, 6450 N. Federal Highway, Boca Raton.

When: 7 p.m. Jan. 12

Tickets: $25-$245

Info: 561-931-2889; crazyunclemikes.com

An ionic capital manufactured by Mizner Industries. Photo provided

By Jan Engoren

A new exhibit at the Schmidt Boca Raton History Museum coincides with the city of Boca Raton’s centennial and looks back on the continuing impact of city planner, industrialist and architect Addison Mizner.

The multimedia exhibit, Boca Raton 1925-2025: Addison Mizner’s Legacy, features artifacts, photographs, drawings, maps and videos, and runs through May 30. 

It highlights the city’s past century of development — from its beginnings as a rural  agriculture stop on Henry Flagler’s East Coast Railroad, to a wealthy enclave and resort destination, due in large part to the architectural philosophy and vision of Mizner. 

“Contemplating the previous decades of progress gives us the foundation, perspective, and inspiration to make the next century even greater than Addison Mizner could have ever imagined,” says Mary Csar, executive director of the Boca Raton Historical Society.

Along with the museum’s curator, Susan Gillis, the exhibit was guest curated by architectural historian and photographer Augustus Mayhew, author of Addison Mizner: A Palm Beach Memoir.  

As a young man, Mizner traveled extensively in Spain, Mexico and Central America, visiting Guatemala, Costa Rica and Nicaragua, and was influenced by the architectural styles he saw there.

“I have based my design largely on the old architecture of Spain — with important modifications and to meet Florida conditions,” he said at the time.

His vision for both Palm Beach and Boca Raton included a city inspired by the style of Old World Spanish or Italian towns — Mediterranean Revival and Spanish Colonial Revival  styles — but with modern conveniences such as plumbing, roads and electricity.  

According to Gillis, Mizner would fly potential investors down from Palm Beach to Boca Raton in a seaplane.

The Historical Society archives contain hundreds of Mizner’s full-page newspaper ads from all over the country proclaiming of Boca, “Where promises are as good as the God-given soil.”

“Nobody did PR better than Addison Mizner,” says Gillis, noting that Mizner, the best-known American architect of his era, was “incredibly ambitious.”

Mizner’s first Florida building in 1918 — now the Everglades Club — revolutionized Palm Beach, which had wooden homes mostly in the style of the Northeast.

The club had a signature pink stucco, arched arcades, ornate wrought-iron balconies and terra-cotta tile roofs, which he himself manufactured at Mizner Industries on Bunker Road in West Palm Beach.

The company also manufactured pottery, furniture, wicker, millwork, hardware and stained glass windows and doors.  

From 1919 to 1924, Mizner designed about 38 houses in Palm Beach, as well as homes in Boca in the Old Floresta and Spanish Village neighborhoods and even the City Hall building, which now houses the Boca Raton History Museum.   

The Addison, built in 1925, and now an event space on East Camino Real, was Mizner’s headquarters. According to Gillis, Mizner had an apartment on the second floor, a space now used for storage.

“I never begin to design a home without first imagining some sort of romance about it. Once I have my story, then the plans take place easily,” he said.  

The centerpiece of the Boca exhibit is Mizner’s famed 1925 Mediterranean Revival-style Cloister Inn, now The Boca Raton.

His signature details are evident in the resort’s red tile roofs, stucco exterior, lush, tropical landscaping, ornate lobbies and open air spaces as well as its opulent décor, some of which he manufactured himself.

On display at the museum are interior décor and vases and Ali Baba jars with his signature “Mizner blue” glaze and samples of tiles fabricated in his Las Manos Pottery company.

Also showcased are Mizner-designed architectural elements such as Corinthian column artifacts, cast-stone elements, mantels, decorative accessories and furnishings on loan from the Frederick Herpel Collection.

What does Gillis think Mizner would think of Boca Raton now?

“He’d absolutely love it,” she says. “His architectural style still has influence today and, not just the style, but his glorious dream.”   

If You Go

Boca Raton 1925-2025: Addison Mizner’s Legacy is on view at the Schmidt Boca Raton History Museum, 71 N. Federal Highway, through May 30.

Admission: $12 adults, $8 seniors and students

Info: 561-395-6766; BocaHistory.org

From left: Dennis Creaghan, William Hayes, Denise Cormier, David Hyland, Kelly Gibson and Collin McPhillamy in ‘The Dresser.’ Photo by Curtis Brown Photography

By Hap Erstein

Theater audiences are often intrigued by the intricacies of backstage life, and particularly the larger-than-life personalities who have devoted their careers to an unglamorous existence on the road.

So there is little wonder that Ronald Harwood’s 1980 drama The Dresser has been met with success on both sides of the pond, with several major revivals and a couple of filmed adaptations of the story of a symbiotic relationship between a once-great, now gone-to-seed Shakespearean actor-manager known only as Sir and his slavishly devoted companion and factotum, Norman.

The play has long been a favorite of Palm Beach Dramaworks’ producing artistic director William Hayes, so much so that he took on the role of Norman in the company’s fourth season and revives it now, returning in the title role.

While Sir and Norman are fictional characters, they are recognizably based on Sir Donald Wolfit, an incorrigibly difficult stage actor who headed a classical touring troupe in England during the 1940s and ’50s, and Harwood himself, who served as Wolfit’s dresser during that latter decade.

The Dresser is set somewhere in the English provinces in war-torn 1942 and, indeed, the first sound we hear in director J. Barry Lewis’s meticulously detailed production is an air raid siren that threatens to cancel Sir’s 227th rendering of King Lear.

You would think he would have the role down cold by now, but perhaps struggling with dementia, panicky Sir is trying to recall his opening lines — much to Norman’s chagrin — and is virtually catatonic, unable to make his first entrance.

In many ways, The Dresser is a valentine to the theater and to those who trod the boards many years ago, but Harwood is also after something deeper and more personal. For in addition to the history lesson, it is a touching tale of unrequited love.

Despite his name, Sir is as far away from knighthood as his seedy troupe is from London’s West End. Nevertheless, there is greatness in Colin McPhillamy’s performance as the mountainous, egotistical tragedian facing life’s endgame.

As befits the character, most of his lines are bellowed in capital letters, for Sir is always consciously acting, offstage as well as on. The actors and crew in his orbit have both fear and affection for him, dependent as they are on his ability to keep the company intact and solvent.

No one is more aware and on the receiving end of Sir’s mood swings than Norman, his devoted assistant who has accepted his lot in life, living in Sir’s shadow.

In a similar way, Hayes spends much of the evening deferring to McPhillamy, but he comes on strong late in the play as Norman is forced to face how little his love and respect for Sir are reciprocated.

Hayes low-keys the prissy mannerisms that are often used to convey the character’s sexual orientation while leaving no doubt that he is gay. 

The Dresser is essentially a two-hander, though Harwood gave himself the luxury of a 10-member cast, some of whom are mere background extras. Standouts include Denise Cormier as Sir’s long-suffering wife, Her Ladyship, and Elizabeth Dimon as Madge, the company’s stage manager.

Among the indignities Cormier has to suffer are being assigned to play Lear’s daughter Cordelia. Dimon, reprising a character she played 21 years ago, aptly projects a scolding admiration for Sir.

Dramaworks’ earlier production was in a more intimate — as in cramped — venue. While that sense of claustrophobia had its advantages, money and space now allow the company the breathing room of Anne Mundell’s scenic design, a well-appointed if shabby dressing space and a cleverly placed side area representing the stage wing.

There, the actors huddle and double as the sound crew,. Veteran costumer Brian O’Keefe must have had fun assembling the theatrical wardrobe for the cast, as well as Sir’s dingy gray union suit underwear.

In recent years, Dramaworks has been placing an emphasis on producing new works. While that is an admirable goal, it is currently demonstrating the value of also reaching back in this 25th anniversary season and reviving cherished productions from its past.

Whether you saw PBD’s The Dresser 21 years ago or not, see it now.

By Janis Fontaine

Some people call it Drunk Church. Or Addiction Church. 

Whatever the name, the Recovery Church Movement is saving the lives of addicts and alcoholics one soul at a time. Recovery churches hold worship services that incorporate Jesus Christ into the familiar 12-step recovery program with great success. 

Recovery Church was imagined in Lake Worth in 2010 by Philip Dvorak, a Palm Beach Atlantic University graduate, and a few other men and women who recognized the need for a church where alcoholics and addicts in any stage of recovery could continue their walk with Christ without fear of being judged.

Its tagline explains it: “A Church Created BY the Recovery Community FOR the Recovery Community.” And as Dvorak has said, “They can belong before they believe and before they behave.” 

Delray Beach’s first Recovery Church, which meets on Mondays at Trinity Lutheran Church on North Swinton Avenue, maxed out with more than 300 people showing up some weeks for Christian worship. So Pastor David Schmidt at Cason United Methodist Church, just across the road from Trinity, opened his church to the movement on Thursday nights at 7.

Mitch Thompson from the Recovery Church Movement has overseen the opening of Recovery Church Delray 2. 

Thompson’s official title is “Discipleship and Operations Pastor,” which means he’s active in all aspects of running a Recovery Church and spends his time fine-tuning the churches and the 20-step process for opening a new church.

The system provides all the support a new church could want. Over several months, church leaders like Thompson, Jeff Waycott and Dave Wise travel to the sites to train new worship leaders in the ways of the RCM. 

In December, the RCM opened its 85th church with plans to open at least five more in the coming months. 

As anyone familiar with the 12-step method of treating alcoholism knows, the first step is for addicts to acknowledge their lives are broken. (“I admitted I was powerless over alcohol — that my life had become unmanageable.”)

But the second step delivers hope. (“I came to believe that a Power greater than myself could restore me to sanity.”) And the third step is to surrender to that power. (“I made a decision to turn my will and my life over to the care of God as I understood him.”)

Many people find comfort in the ambiguity of a “higher power” and one that accepts “God as I understood him.”

This opens the door for people of all faiths — and those without any faith at all — to work the 12 steps. For those with a Christian background, the unaffiliated Recovery Church provides a way to ease back into building a more intimate relationship with God.  

But Recovery Church doesn’t just minister to addicts living in sober houses or on the street.

The leaders do what Thompson calls “the H&I tour” — the hospitals and institutions tour — where they bring church into the facilities where the sickest are suffering. “We’re very much connected to the recovery community,” Thompson said. And RCM has certain expectations. 

“One of the key components or requirements is that the individual be of service to others. It’s fundamental to us,” Thompson said. Parishioners are expected to volunteer to help in any way they can. It may be something small at first, but in most cases, they want to give back, Thompson said. “Addicts tend to be selfish people and it’s important that they grow and look outside themselves. The root of service is spiritual.”

It’s a way of saying thank you for the grace that they’ve been given, because it’s by the grace of others that Recovery Churches exist. Most of their money comes from donors and fundraisers.

It takes from three to six months and $10,000 minimum to open a new church, Thompson said. “In every location, we take care of all the set-up costs and training of the people.” 

Thompson said that the demand for Recovery Churches keeps growing, so 2025 shows no sign of slowing down. It’s a lot of work, but it’s a testament to the success of the church.

The attendance, which sometimes tops that of “normal” church, is proof there’s a need. 

It’s easy to get burned out, and even with God’s support, Thompson, a married father of two kids ages 3 and 8, said he’s careful to take time out for self-care. “I have a mentor I meet with who helps me, and I guard my evenings and weekends closely. Family and balance come first,” he said.

Inside a church service

The service at the new church in Delray Beach kicked off on time, right at 7 p.m., with about 50 people scattered on hard, slippery wooden seats. But right from the start you knew the acoustics were first-class. 

Worship leader Kermit Kruger welcomed everyone. He called out his team of prayer warriors and invited anyone present to come up to receive a “surrender cross.”

These crosses represent the start of one’s journey walking and working the steps at Recovery Church. They are a bit like the AA chips that people in recovery receive.

Parishioners earn crosses of different colors for the time they’ve spent on the path. 

The music portion was first. Singers Stacy Hinz and Bobby Cumming took the stage to perform Brandon Lake’s “Hard Fought Hallelujah,” a heartbreaker of a song.

The words to the songs are displayed on a huge video screen, karaoke style, so that you can sing along and don’t need to remember all the words. 

The duo followed that with the stirring song “I Speak Jesus,” written by Jesse Reeves, Abby Benton, Carlene Prince, Dustin Smith, Raina Pratt and Kristen Dutton. 

With lyrics like “I just want to speak the name of Jesus/ ’Til every dark addiction starts to break/ Declaring there is hope and there is freedom/ I speak Jesus,” the song touches many hearts.

Hands go up in praise all over the venue as people at various points in their sobriety journeys pass healing energy back and forth. The duo finished with a lovely rendition of the classic Christmas hymn “O Holy Night.” 

Kruger returned to the stage with a few messages of his own before introducing the guest speakers. He impressed upon the audience that when we don’t want to do something (like go to church), that’s the time to do it.

He said that what spinach is to Popeye, Jesus is to him. And most touching, he admitted, “I finally found the high I’ve been searching for my whole life.” Then he turned the stage over to Will and Jose, the guest preachers for the night. 

The duo testified about their recent experiences spreading the Recovery Church message. Pastor Will told a story about a woman with a withered hand and asked the congregants, “Without Jesus, where is your hope?” 

Then speaker Jose turned up the volume and told his story, which had themes including “God loves a grateful heart,” “keep on praising” and “God doesn’t change.” He reminded his audience that we have “a big God for our little problems.”

As the show ended, audience members were invited forward for a meet-and-greet and prayer session, and when they began putting chairs up on tables an hour later, prayers were still going on. 

Janis Fontaine writes about people of faith, their congregations, causes and community events. Contact her at fontaine423@outlook.com

Architect Stephen Schwartz, set to appear Jan. 25 in Delray Beach, uses Legos to build a symbolic version of old Jerusalem as a teaching tool to reach children. Photo provided

You can’t build Rome in a day, but you can build the Old City of Jerusalem, if you have help and you use Legos. 

Architect Stephen Schwartz brings one of his projects — using Legos to build a 20-foot-by-20-foot depiction of the Old City of Jerusalem — to Cason United Methodist Church on Jan. 25, and you are invited to help. 

“This program is not just for kids,” said Emily Popolizio, the church’s director of family ministries. “It’s meant to be interfaith and intergenerational.” 

The display is part of a learning module for Cason Kids Care, a group that Popolizio started three years ago to teach Christian principles of kindness and service to kids aged 5-11.

The group meets on two Saturdays a month, and the project for this month is centered on learning more about Jerusalem as the home of four religions and in light of the war. 

“If we cannot learn to respect each other, it’s not a world I want my granddaughter to grow up in,” she said. “That’s the whole point of Cason Kids Care — raising caring kids.” 

The depiction, which is laid out on a large drawing that re-creates the ancient city, has a Lego wall and Lego structures, from the eight gates of the city to the Kotel, Tower of David and Beit Hamikdosh. Many other landmark elements are included. 

Schwartz is the founder of Building Blocks Workshops LLC based in Livingston, New Jersey. He is a graduate of the School of Architecture at Washington University in St. Louis.

He has years of experience as a licensed architect in more than five states and a CV full of civic and educational volunteer work, but now he reconstructs cities and notable places out of Legos. 

Schwartz will lead the activity from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Jan. 25, at 342 N. Swinton Ave., Delray Beach. Free. Info: 561-276-5302 or casonumc.org. 

The city will be on display until the afternoon of Jan. 26. 

Note: LEGO is a trademark of the LEGO Group of Companies, which does not sponsor, authorize or endorse these programs.

Unity of Delray to host traditional new year rites

Unity of Delray Beach, at 101 NW 22nd St., hosts two popular new year ceremonies in January. Both are free and open to the public. 

The ceremonies are:

The Burning Bowl Ceremony takes place at 7 p.m. Jan. 8. The Burning Bowl is a satisfying way of releasing old hurts and anger into the universe by writing the hurt on a piece of parchment and burning it in a special bowl blessed for the occasion.

This makes room for divine love, healing and acceptance. This is usually followed by a prayer for prosperity and success in the new year.   

The White Stone Ceremony is at 7 p.m. Jan. 15. This is a special evening of self-awareness that has its roots in an ancient practice of selecting a new name, which was written on a white stone tablet and signified one’s freedom from the past.

As they begin a new year, participants make a commitment and declare what their focus will be by calling forth a new name. Some people write on the stone what they want to achieve: Peace, Perspective, Balance, Forgiveness, Hope. 

For more information, call 561-276-5796 or visit unityofdelraybeach.org.

Guest theologian coming to First Presbyterian 

First Presbyterian Church of Delray Beach welcomes its first Distinguished Preacher of the new year when the Rev. Dr. Jonathan Walton comes to the pulpit at 9 and 11 a.m. Jan. 12.

Walton is an accomplished author, ethicist and religious scholar and is the president of Princeton Theological Seminary. He has taught at several universities and colleges, including Princeton University, the University of California, and Harvard.

He formerly served as dean of Wake Forest University School of Divinity. 

First Presbyterian Church of Delray is at 33 Gleason St.; 561-276-6338 or firstdelray.com

B’nai Torah Congregation’s 2025 Concert Series begins

Tickets for B’nai Torah Congregation’s 2025 Concert Series are on sale. The four performances take place in the sanctuary at 6261 SW 18th St., Boca Raton. A virtual option is offered. Performances are: 

• Jazz pianist and composer Leonid Ptashka at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 15.

• ABBAFAB, The Music of ABBA at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 12.

• Cantor Shai Abramson at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 26.

• Cantor Magda Fishman, Maestro Tomer Adaddi and Friends at 7:30 p.m. March 11.

Tickets range from $30 to $80 for members and $40 to $105 for guests at www.btcboca.org/cs. For more information, call 561-392-8566 or visit btcboca.org.

Martin Luther King Day celebrations in Boca 

The City of Boca Raton joins with Temple Beth El and Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church for a tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. Day from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Jan. 20. 

A community breakfast takes place at 8-10 a.m. at Ebenezer, 200 Ruby St. Sponsored by Developing Interracial Social Change, the breakfast has the theme “Don’t Give Up on the Dream.” 

A Unity March takes place at 10 a.m. from the MLK Jr. Monument at 200 Ruby St. to Mizner Park Amphitheater. The march will feature the Boca Raton Community High School Band & Color Guard. Trolley service is available for people requiring assistance.

At 10:30 a.m., the ceremony begins at the amphitheater with keynote speaker Dr. Alisha Winn. A mayoral proclamation, speeches by community leaders, poetry, music and the presentation of the humanitarian award are also planned. 

The Unity Celebration from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. features rides and games, a craft station, community booths, performances, and food and drink for purchase. tbeboca.org/event/the-city-of-boca-raton-hosts-mlk-jr-day.

Afternoon with Gershwin set for First Presbyterian

First Presbyterian Church of Delray Beach invites you to spend the afternoon with George Gershwin’s music performed on piano and by a chamber orchestra and some of South Florida’s best singers.

At 4 p.m. Jan. 26, you’ll be transported by the “Fascinating Rhythm of George Gershwin,” featuring the most popular selections from the Gershwin repertoire. Tickets are $30 each at firstdelray.com/concerts/reserve-concert-tickets.

The church is at 33 Gleason St.; 561-276-6338 or firstdelray.com

Annual Grace Race taking registrations 

Registration is open for the annual Grace Race 5K and 1-mile fun run/walk at 8 a.m. Feb. 15. One hundred percent of the race proceeds benefit 4KIDS of South Florida’s work in helping families in crisis; Trail Life Troop FL 0633, a father-son program; and the outreach efforts of Amped Student Ministries.

Hosted by Grace Community Church Boca, the race is for all ages and fitness levels. The event features food, refreshments, a bounce house and music by a DJ.

The race begins and ends at the church, 600 W. Camino Real, Boca Raton. For more information, call 561-395-2811 or visit graceboca.org.

Register for the Grace Race ($30 for the 5K) at runsignup.com/Race/FL/BocaRaton/GraceRace5KRunWalk

Boca church seeks helpers in hosting world summit  

The annual summit for WorldLead will be held Feb. 13-21 at Boca Raton Community Church, 470 NW Fourth Ave.

Pastor Bill Mitchell started WorldLead with BRCC in 2011. Today, WorldLead works with more than 100 leaders in 39 nations on six continents to develop Christian leaders. “WorldLead is a leadership process, not a leadership program,” its website says. 

As part of BRCC’s international ministry, the church hosts the annual summit, which brings leaders to Boca for special training.

WorldLead and the church need your help. Volunteers are needed to host international guests, provide transportation to and from the airport, purchase snacks from Costco, provide baked goods, and set up and tear down for various events. If you can help, contact the church at 561-395-2400 or bocacommunity.org/this-week.

— Christine Davis

Larissa Cerant, of Delray Beach, plans to study at the University of Florida. Her work at Atlantic High has earned her special recognition from the Rotary Club of Delray Beach. Photo provided

By Faran Fagen

When Larissa Cerant imagines the foster kids staring at their reflections in the mirror and spraying perfume onto their necks as they face the day, she smiles.

“One volunteer experience that shaped my life was when I donated items like perfume and lotion to foster kids,” said Cerant, a senior at Atlantic High School in Delray Beach. “It taught me the importance of giving and how small gestures can bring happiness to others. Volunteering is important to me because it allows me to help others in my community and make a positive impact.”

Cerant, 17, has been an honors student at Atlantic since the start of her high school career.

She has devoted 600 hours of volunteering through club and outreach programs and was recently named Student of the Month by the Rotary Club of Delray Beach for the fall of 2024.

She plans to attend the University of Florida to study nutrition science and/or business management, aiming to have her own business.

“I want to inspire others to pursue their dreams and lead healthier lives by providing them with the tools and knowledge they need to succeed,” Cerant said.

Her most impactful volunteering experience came on Halloween. She set up games for little kids during the spooky holiday and assisted with cleanup afterward.

“Seeing the children enjoy themselves and knowing I contributed to a memorable event for them made it a meaningful experience,” Cerant said. “Helping those in need brings me a sense of purpose and fulfillment.”

Cerant, who boasts a high school grade point average of 3.75 (3.96 weighted), encountered her own share of obstacles on her journey to achieving her goals.

They included bullying, the loss of her grandpa this past year, navigating an individualized education plan, and struggling with self-confidence.

“To overcome these challenges, I sought therapy at my school and practiced daily affirmations to build my self-esteem,” Cerant said. “These steps helped me grow stronger and more resilient.”

Cerant also received accolades outside of Atlantic High.

At McDonald’s, where she has worked since the summer of 2023, she was awarded Employee of the Month for exceptional drive-thru cashier service, and processing orders efficiently and accurately.

She was recognized for academic excellence by the National Achievers Society, was named senior point recording secretary for the National Honor Society, and has been a multiyear runner for the Eagles’ cross-country and track teams.

As a Safe Schools ambassador, Cerant intervened in incidents of bullying and cyberbullying, and in promoting a safe and respectful school environment.

She also educated peers on the importance of kindness and inclusivity, reducing instances of mistreatment.

In addition to her 600 volunteer hours — the equivalent of 25 full days — she’s proud of being named Student of the Month, earning No Tardy of the Month, and achieving perfect attendance.

“These accomplishments reflect my dedication and consistency throughout my high school journey,” Cerant said. “I believe I earned Student of the Month because I made an effort to get along with my teachers, stay consistent with my work, and always be open to trying new things.”

As far as advice for underclassmen, Cerant said to “be yourself and don’t be afraid to try new things. Stepping out of your comfort zone will help you discover your strengths and passions.”

Cerant lives near downtown Delray Beach with her family, which includes mom Lifaite Boulin, dad Michelet Cerant, and brothers Rony Jean and Michael Cerant.

On her résumé, she lists these skills: leadership, collaboration, customer service, time management, problem solver, communication, Google C-Suite, Canva, Instagram Reels and Video Editing.

Above all, if you look at all she’s accomplished as a student, Cerant is a volunteer who wants to help others. 

Jeera Shenoy enjoys the mind-calming effects of working in a Boca Raton community garden. Photo provided

By Jan Engoren

From Norman Vincent Peale’s The Power of Positive Thinking to the Dalai Lama’s The Art of Happiness, and songs such as Annie’s (The Sun’ll Come Out) Tomorrow, or Monty Python’s Always Look at the Bright Side of Life, much has been written about the power of optimism. 

The Harvard Health newsletter reports that people with an optimistic outlook enjoy healthier and longer lives. 

A study published in 2019, in the journal PNAS involving more than 70,000 people, found that those who rated themselves as having high optimism were more likely to live to age 85 or older compared with less optimistic individuals.  

And, while an optimistic or pessimistic outlook may be partially genetic, researchers believe that it doesn’t have to be a life sentence — people can learn to improve their outlooks  and thus their health outcomes.

Dr. Raphael Wald, a neuro-psychologist with Marcus Neuroscience Institute, part of Baptist Health in Boca Raton, notes that if our minds didn’t play a role in our well-being there would be no such thing as the placebo effect.

“If I get the flu, instead of dwelling on how sick I feel, I think, OK, this is an opportunity for me to rest for a couple of days,” Wald says. 

“There’s no other time when I can sit in bed. If I have a positive approach, I feel better faster.”

To improve your cognitive, physical and psychological outlooks, Wald recommends walking at least 30 minutes a day, five days a week.

“Walking is also one of the greatest ways we have to combat, delay or prevent dementia, depression and anxiety and improve heart and overall health,” he says.

For Boca Raton resident Jeera Shenoy, 43, a mother of seven, it wasn’t walking, but gardening that helped her through a difficult period.

Suffering from domestic violence abuse for seven years, she separated from her partner this past year and found healing in gardening.

Due to the abuse and stress, she developed panic attacks, wasn’t able to drive on Interstate 95, couldn’t venture more than a mile from home, would cry, and developed ulcers and gastrointestinal distress.

“Gardening saved me,” Shenoy says. “I turned to gardening and community service to keep me grounded.”

She has a garden plot at the Pearl City Community Garden in Boca Raton and hopes to volunteer along with her oldest daughter at the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center butterfly garden. 

A student of biology, Shenoy collects rare herbs and carnivorous plants such as Venus flytraps, pitcher plants and sundews. 

She helps homeless people she has met near her garden find low-cost hotels, medication, shoes and electric scooters to use. Under the name “iAmSomebody” on TikTok, she calls herself, “Mom supporting Boca’s homeless with hope.”

And while it can be hard to let go of negativity, Shenoy says, “Go outside. Ground yourself.  Look at the sky.  Look beyond yourself.”

She recommends tuning out extraneous noise and distractions.

“Turn off the TV and radio, turn off your phone and focus on you and your potential,” she says. “Be thankful, count your blessings and realize what you do have.” 

Also counting her blessings is neonatal ICU nurse Kaitlyn Nasto, 22, originally from Boynton Beach and now working at a hospital in Orlando.

Nasto, who knew she wanted to be a nurse since ninth grade at Santaluces High School, works the overnight shift from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. three times a week and sees many sad moments, but also joyful times.

“I fell in love with the NICU,” she says. “I found my calling; I was meant to be here.”

Now, after graduating from UCF College of Nursing and working for a year, Nasto still has the same excitement and passion for her work.

“I feel so grateful to have this job,” she says, while home in Boynton Beach for the holidays.

She’s a firm believer in holistic nursing — incorporating both the mind and body in healing — and believes in staying positive when working with patients and families.

“A positive attitude creates a more positive environment and a better space for healing,” she says. Noting that babies, even premature ones, can pick up on your stress, Nasto believes in “being a light in a time of darkness.”

A spiritual person, Nasto prays to stay grounded, does affirmations, keeps a positive mindset and celebrates the little milestones of her charges.

She remembers a preemie under her care who wasn’t taking a bottle and was in poor health. She wasn’t sure whether the baby would be able to go home without a feeding tube.

She and the parents talked to the baby and encouraged him, stayed positive and celebrated small victories. Over a course of weeks, the baby was able to finish a bottle and go home sans feeding tube.

Nasto, who likes to spend time with family and friends when not working, has this advice for staying positive: “Focus on the things that are meaningful to you and make you happy.”

“We only have one life,” she says. “It’s so much better to have a positive mindset and focus on the joy.  It can reduce stress and improve your health.”    

Tips to become more positive: Focus on the good; practice gratitude; laugh; spend time with positive people; practice positive self-talk; smile; start each day on a positive note. Your outlook may not change overnight, but with practice and mindfulness, you can learn how to improve it.

Jan Engoren writes about health and healthy living. Send column ideas to jengoren@hotmail.com.

Dr. Yoel Vivas (fourth from left) with assistants at Delray Medical Center’s Electrophysiology Department. Vivas performed an atrial fibrillation operation that destroyed problem areas in the heart and implanted a device to block clots. From left are Jeanna Goudey, Dora Jean-Charles, Darcy Nikes, Vivas, Abigail Catalano, Jorge Molina, Sima Ramsi, Juanita Walker, Antonia Stypelkoski and Brianna Mezter. Photo provided

Delray Medical Center now offers a procedure to treat patients with atrial fibrillation — a condition that causes irregular heartbeats — by combining two treatments in one surgery. 

A-fib causes the upper chambers of the heart to beat in an irregular fashion, preventing blood from freely flowing to the lower chambers of the heart.

This can cause a blood clot to form in the heart’s top left chamber. If a clot forms and breaks off in the bloodstream, it can travel to the brain and cause a stroke. 

The first procedure of this kind at the hospital was performed by Dr. Yoel Vivas, a cardiologist and heart rhythm specialist who serves as the director of Delray Medical Center’s Electrophysiology Department.

He used the hospital’s Farapulse pulsed field ablation system to target and destroy the problem areas in the heart without damaging nearby tissues. 

The system, which received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in January 2024, uses electric fields, not heat. 

In the same procedure, Vivas placed a Watchman implant in the patient’s left atrial appendage.

This device helps block blood clots from forming and may reduce the need for blood thinners. Over time, new heart tissue grows over the implant, permanently sealing off the area and lowering the risk of stroke.

JFK Hospital receives specialty treatment honors  

HCA Florida JFK Hospital has received several specialty excellence awards from Healthgrades. The hospital placed among the top 5% nationally for surgical care, spine surgery and overall orthopedic services.

It placed among the nation’s top 10% for cardiac surgery, vascular surgery, cardiac services, pulmonary services, coronary intervention and treatment of stroke. 

The hospital was also rated five stars for 18 services including colorectal surgeries, gallbladder removal, treatment of sepsis, respiratory failure and diabetic emergencies. 

Additionally, JFK Hospital was ranked No. 4 in Florida for orthopedic and spine surgery. 

Delray Medical lauded for  vascular care 

In December, Delray Medical Center was identified as a Carotid Care Quality Champion by the Society of Vascular Surgery’s clinical registry recognition program. 

“This recognition is only awarded to facilities that are demonstrating their commitment to quality through use of our carotid registries and leveraging real-world data to inform needed adjustments in care delivery,” said Dr. Jens Eldrup-Jorgensen, the registry’s medical director. 

In 2018, Delray Medical Center completed a trans carotid artery revascularization, performed by Dr. Joseph Ricotta. Since then, the hospital has been designated a TCAR Center of Excellence every year by Silk Road Medical, the manufacturer of the TCAR. 

In 2020, Ricotta received the national TCAR Clinical Operator of Excellence distinction, also awarded by Silk Road Medical. He has been named a Castle Connolly “America’s Top Doctor” 13 years in a row and earned a position on Newsweek’s “America’s Best Vascular Surgeons 2024” list.

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

— Christine Davis

By Steve Waters

Whether you’re looking to catch multiple sailfish in a tournament or want to catch only one of South Florida’s iconic sport fish, there are many little things you can do to put the odds in your favor.

Sailfish typically migrate to the region in late fall and early winter, with January through April a prime time to catch them.

Although the fish will bite trolled lures and chunks of dead bait, no serious sailfish angler would leave the dock without live bait.

Many of the 50 boats competing in the West Palm Beach Fishing Club’s Silver Sailfish Derby, which is Jan. 9-10, will go out on Lake Worth Inlet each day with several dozen live baits. 

And they might need them all. 

Over the years, the tournament has had some incredible catches, with a one-day record of 36 sailfish releases and a one-day average of 14 fish per boat.

Capt. Skip Dana of Deerfield Beach, who has numerous tournament victories to his credit, likes to use a variety of live baits such as goggle-eyes, threadfin herring and sardines.

If there’s enough wind, he’ll fly a fishing kite, which has fishing lines attached to get them far away from the boat. Dana likes to put out two kites with three lines on each. 

The goggle-eyes, which are bigger, will go on the far kite lines because they stay in the water better. The herring might be on the middle kite lines or short lines, and the smaller sardines will be on the short lines.

Most anglers want their kite baits splashing on the surface because that attracts sailfish, but some say they get more bites with their baits several feet under the surface. 

Capt. John Louie Dudas of Miami, who has won countless sailfish tournaments, has a sensible reason why he fishes his kite baits on top or just below the surface.

“If a bait is 6 feet down,” Dudas said, “a fish can get tangled in the leader.”

Standard sailfish tackle is a conventional outfit with 20-pound monofilament line and a 30-pound fluorocarbon leader. 

Most anglers put a foam float or tie a ribbon on the main line above the swivel that is connected to the leader so they can keep track of the kite baits, but Capt. David Doll of Lighthouse Point does not. 

That’s because he once hooked a big kingfish on a kite line marked with a chartreuse ribbon. As the fish swam away, taking the ribbon under the water, a second kingfish came along and bit the ribbon, cutting the line.

Hooking sailfish is fairly easy with circle hooks. Instead of yanking back on the fishing rod when a sailfish grabs a bait, you only need to reel to set a circle hook. Just don’t start reeling too soon, because that can take the bait out of the fish’s mouth. 

Dudas said to make sure the fish is swimming away from you before you reel. “You want some type of angle,” Dudas said, “so if the fish is coming to you, don’t reel.”

All sailfish anglers agree that you want your live baits to be lively. If you’re kite fishing, you can reel the baits into the air to make sure they’re wiggling.

If they look tired, replace them, because fresh baits react naturally to sailfish. If a sailfish approaches a lethargic bait that doesn’t try to get away, the sail instinctively knows that something isn’t right and won’t bite.

To make his baits act as natural as possible, Doll uses small 3/0 and 4/0 circle hooks instead of the more typical 5/0 to 7/0 sizes.

“The idea is to have baits as lively and unencumbered as can be, so when a sailfish comes up, the bait reacts and triggers a strike,” he said. “When they’re biting like crazy, it doesn’t matter, but when fishing is tough, it does.” 

Outdoors writer Steve Waters can be reached at steve33324@aol.com.

Built by Dan Swanson, this property offers a formal stone-floor foyer with a spiral staircase and traditional stained-glass windows and lighting that merge timeless elegance with modern sophistication. There is also an elevator available for access to the second floor.

Spanning more than 12,400 square feet of living space and offering more than 18,000 total square feet, the main residence of this estate has a new roof and offers five luxurious ensuite bedrooms.

A separate guest house has three bedrooms, three baths and a living area with kitchen and dual entrances. The combination provides the ultimate flexibility for today’s contemporary lifestyle. 

The first floor showcases breathtaking ocean views through all major rooms. The ocean-facing living room is anchored by a beautifully crafted fireplace with detailed millwork. 

The chef’s kitchen is equipped with custom cabinetry, two large islands, and top-tier appliances. Adjacent to the kitchen, the spacious loggia with summer kitchen and bar is framed by French doors, allowing an effortless transition between indoor and outdoor spaces, while providing an uninterrupted connection to the outdoors for entertaining.

Upstairs, the primary suite serves as a private retreat with his-and-her, spa-like bathrooms, spacious walk-in closets, a sitting area with a fireplace, and a private balcony with stunning ocean views.

The second floor also includes four additional ensuite bedrooms and a cozy sitting area. Additional estate amenities include impact windows, a five-car garage, motor court, elevator, and a full-house generator. Offered at $32,995,000. 

Contact Candace Friis at the Corcoran Group, 561-573-9966; 400 Royal Palm Way, Suite 110, Palm Beach, FL 33480. candace.friis@corcoran.com; or visit candacefriis.com

A Delray Beach Fire Rescue ladder truck sits demolished along the Florida East Coast Railway tracks downtown after being struck by a Brightline passenger train on Saturday morning. Three firefighters and a dozen train passengers were taken to the hospital. Fire hoses litter the the tracks alongside the hard-to recognize body of the fire truck. Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

A northbound Brightline train crashed into a Delray Beach Fire Rescue ladder truck Saturday morning, sending three firefighters and a dozen train passengers to the hospital, officials said.

The crash occurred at the Florida East Coast Railway crossing at Southeast First Street, a block south of busy East Atlantic Avenue in downtown Delray Beach, at about 10:45 a.m., according to a city news release.

“Three Delray Beach firefighters were transported to a local hospital, where they remain in stable condition,” according to the official release. “Palm Beach County Fire Rescue provided assistance, transporting 12 individuals from the train to the hospital with minor injuries.”

Two Delray Beach firefighters walk past a portion of the fire truck's ladder, which was broken in two and knocked off the top of the truck.

The accident and investigation have led to traffic back-ups downtown. Both Southeast First Street and Atlantic Avenue near the FEC tracks were blocked to traffic as of early Saturday afternoon and police are advising downtown motorists to use Southeast Second Street or Northeast First Street to cross the FEC tracks.

Officials said an active investigation is underway involving the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), Delray Beach police and officials from Brightline.

The roads are expected to reopen to traffic once the investigation and any necessary cleanup are complete, officials said.

--Staff report

A Brightline train came to rest blocking Atlantic Avenue after striking a Delray Beach fire truck. The train's cracked windshield and pushed-in front showed the power of the impact.

 Correction: An earlier version of this story had incorrect street listings due to misinformation on city social media accounts.

An assortment of businesses, including beauty salons, jewelry and clothing stores, and restaurants offer a variety of goods and services at the Plaza del Mar shopping plaza, 201 S. Ocean Blvd. in Manalapan. Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By John Pacenti

Tenants say they have been informed that Manalpan’s shopping center, Plaza del Mar, is being sold.

Rumors had been rampant for weeks of the sale of the 102,000-square-foot property across from the Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa. Opened in 1982, the plaza is known for its upscale shops, unique dining and the closest Publix for residents along the coast.

An owner of a restaurant and an owner of a boutique said they have been told the buyers are K&K Developers. No official record of the sale has been recorded with the Palm Beach County Clerk & Comptroller’s Office as of Wednesday, and no additional information was known about the buyer.

The property is owned by the investment entity MSKP Plaza del Mar and managed by Kitson & Partners. Kitson did not return phone calls for comment. MSKP Plaza del Mar bought the property in 2006 for $37.7 million, according to property records.

The Palm Beach Property Appraiser's Office lists its 2024 market value at $20.4 million.

Plaza del Mar with the Atlantic Ocean and the Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa at top, and Ocean Avenue on the left. Photo provided by Katz and Associates

Jeannie Drummond, owner of Jeannie's Ocean Boutique, said she had been asked to sign documents on Dec. 17 “just confirming how many years our lease is, etc., etc. Just insignificant questions.”

A veteran retailer, Drummond has been in the plaza for a decade.

She had also heard the rumor last month that billionaire Larry Ellison, who bought the Eau in August for $277 million and an estate in town in June 2022 for a state-record $173 million, was looking to purchase the plaza. However, the tenants — who spoke on and off the record — say they don’t believe K&K Developers is tied to Ellison.

There is a lot of uncertainty among tenants. “I think they are probably going to tear it down,” Drummond speculated. “I don't know what's going to happen. No idea. We'll just sit tight and they’ll let us know eventually, I guess.”

Publix, the large anchor store in the Plaza del Mar shopping plaza, opened in 2018.

The plaza is an integral part of the surrounding community. Without the Publix, nearby residents along the coast would need to go over the bridge to Lantana Road for groceries. There is a Chabbad. Evelyn & Arthur, a women's clothing retailer, holds charity events in the store as well as a fashion event across Ocean Avenue for residents in memory care at The Carlisle.

Fran and Ed Guzile were enjoying eggs at John G’s Restaurant at the plaza on Wednesday.  “There is a lot of nice retail here,” Fran Guzile said. “People can walk here for their groceries.”

“The Jewish community, because they have to walk to the shul, you see them walking through here,” Ed Guzile added.

On the other side of the plaza sits Hedy McDonald’s Art Basil Restaurant. She also heard the buyers are K&K Developers and is an optimist.

“The idea of somebody that buys the plaza and wants to be a little more involved is extremely exciting. We'd be building for the next thing,” she said.

There are currently two retail locations being offered for rent at Plaza del Mar.

The plaza was built on submerged lands and has tension cables in its foundation, she said. McDonald learned this when a plumber refused to do work in her restaurant out of fear of snapping one of the cables.

She noted that there is also easy access to Manalpan, South Palm Beach, Ocean Ridge and Boynton Beach from the plaza.

A friend of McDonald in Palm Beach was considering buying the property but said it was out of his price range. 

“He's like, it’s because that piece of dirt is awesome. There's nothing like it around,” McDonald said. “It’s basically a plaza on the beach.”

By Steve Plunkett

Two men are dead and two others are hospitalized after an early-morning shooting Dec. 10 in Lake Worth Beach following a holiday party.

All four men worked at the Old Key Lime House restaurant in Lantana.

Restaurant owner Ryan Cordero could not be reached for comment. But he told television station WPTV-Channel 5 that his employees went to The Rock Irish Pub at 614 Lake Ave. after a company party at nearby Lilo’s Streetfood & Bar.

Deputies were sent to the scene at 1 a.m., the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office said.

“The preliminary investigation is believed that an altercation occurred inside the establishment resulting in the shooting,” PBSO said in a news release.

Cordero told the TV station that the hospitalized workers were his kitchen manager and one of his line cooks. The dead men were a young military veteran and a barback, he said.

PBSO is asking anyone with information related to the case to contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-458-TIPS (8477).

Mary Thurwachter contributed to this story.

Diver Shane Cooper was one of many volunteers and first responders who tried to rescue 15-year-old Prestyn Smith at Gulfstream Park. Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

Family beach outing turns deadly for teen; unpredictable surf kills five in county

By John Pacenti

Sherry and Glen Smith exchanged vows at the beach at sunrise and for the last eight years took their children to greet the day at Gulfstream Park. It was a weekly tradition for the Lake Worth Beach family.

So Sherry Smith took the four children to the beach as usual on Sunday, Nov. 10, with her husband to join the family a bit later in the morning. Then everything inexplicably changed.

“It happened so fast,” Sherry Smith said.

The eldest of the children, Prestyn, disappeared in the surf. The 15-year-old who liked to build computers, who easily picked up his dad’s carpentry skills, a budding artist, a young man who never complained about doing his chores — he was one of five drowning victims in Palm Beach County’s coastal waters in November.

As her two oldest boys played in the surf, Sherry Smith sat with her 13-year-old daughter around 7 a.m.

“My daughter says to look, there’s some jellyfish or something. And so I turn around to take a picture of it. I looked back at my sons and I didn’t see Prestyn’s head. So I run and I jump to go get him. And that was pretty much how it happened.”

The ocean, which for so many is such a blessing in South Florida, takes lives every year through rip currents. It takes and it takes.

About 100 people drown from rip currents along U.S. beaches each year, according to the United States Lifesaving Association. More than 80% of beach rescues annually involve rip currents.

The deadly month started at a Singer Island beach on Nov. 2 when a 64-year-old man drowned.

The next day Maximilian Sadowski, 34, of Lake Worth Beach drowned near the Boynton Inlet. Experts say inlets, piers, jetties, and even rock croppings are notorious for rip currents.

The third was Gerald W. Julian, 50, a Canadian resident of Niagara Falls, Ontario. He took a swim on Nov. 6 in Ocean Ridge near the Colonial Ridge Club with a friend.

“The wives were at the pool, and I guess the two men decided to go down to the ocean.

“It was as rough as can be,” Ocean Ridge Police Chief Scott McClure said. “The rip current got to one and his friend lost him.”

Another drowning occurred the very same day that Prestyn perished — a 55-year-old New York man vacationing with his fiancée at Tideline Palm Beach Ocean Resort. Rip current warnings were posted for the Palm Beach County coast later that day.

Two volunteer divers, Ocean Ridge police and Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputies convene on the beach at Gulfstream Park, where a teenager drowned Nov. 10. Gulf Stream police and Boynton Beach fire rescue personnel also were involved in the search and rescue.

Exhaustion and panic
Sherry Smith dove into the water where she last saw her son next to his 11-year-old brother. Soon she found herself in the same predicament.

“At this point, even though they’re rescuing me, I’m screaming, ‘Get my son. Get my son.’ And they’re trying to calm me down,” she said. “I’ve never been in any water like that. That’s my first time dealing with that.”

Gulf Stream Police Sgt. Bernard O’Donnell, searching for Prestyn, broke the news to the family.

“The officer that pulled me out, they got him out, and he’s out and he’s sitting on the sand, and he’s like losing it. He’s crying, and he’s saying, ‘I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry,’” Sherry Smith recalled. “And I’m like, ‘Did you see my son?’ And he’s like, ‘Yes, I saw your son, and I’m so sorry.’”

Related: What it’s like being caught by a panic-inducing rip current

 Rip currents are exactly what they sound like — a tear in the continual wave action coming ashore. Waves create a sandbar that eventually gives way — often no wider than 10 feet. This creates a river flowing out to the sea, like uncorking the ocean, said Robert Molleda, meteorologist-in-charge of the National Weather Service’s Miami office.

You don’t need to be a lifeguard to spot a rip current. It’s where there suddenly are no waves. You could spill dye on shore and it would simply be sucked out up to eight feet per second.

For the swimmer, often exhaustion sets in, then panic. The solution is to swim parallel to the shore until you’re out of the rip current — but that needs to happen before exhaustion and panic.

“We have rip currents that are usually on breezy to windy days,” Molleda said. “It doesn’t have to be extremely windy. Even a moderate onshore wind like a 15-mile-an-hour could be enough to cause rip currents.”

On Nov. 10 the wind was gusting in Gulf Stream at 20 mph. Yet even as a helicopter searched for Prestyn above the surf, the beaches were packed and people were in the water.

In Florida, rip currents can occur year-round. “Especially on the east coast of Florida where we have that easterly wind,” Molleda said.

In June, six people drowned in rip currents in two days, including a couple vacationing on Hutchinson Island from Pennsylvania with their six children, and three young men on a Panhandle holiday from Alabama.

Surfers know about rip currents. They are often out on windy days when the surf is rough. But even experienced swimmers can be caught unaware.

“My 15-year-old, his favorite thing is to build sand castles, that’s his thing. He grew up on the beach. I mean, we’ve been going to the beach since I was pregnant with him,” said Sherry Smith.

The question remains with rip current deaths going unabated, can something more be done?

“I’ve beat myself up over the last 10 to 12 years that I’ve worked on the coast, trying to figure out how we could potentially warn people of these dangers,” Gulf Stream Police Chief Richard Jones said.

“Unfortunately I think some people don’t take the conditions of the ocean seriously and they don’t realize the dangers that lurk beneath the surface of the water.”

Billy Blackman, an avid surfer who lives near Gulfstream Park, spent hours on his paddleboard looking for and eventually helping to recover the 15-year-old who had drowned. He was one of many volunteers who helped in the effort.

Look for lifeguards
He said the solution is always to swim at a beach where there is a lifeguard and keep abreast of public warnings. Sound advice, but why has it proved so impractical?

One reason could be that invincibility is hard-wired into the human psyche. No other animal finds a way to put itself intentionally in harm’s way.

Ocean Ridge Mayor Geoff Pugh said when he was a teenager he and his friends would snorkel the Boynton Inlet, where the spearfishing was unparalleled back then. Yet, the sheriff’s deputy not once but twice had to run them out of the dangerous inlet water — the second time he went out in his boat to get them.

“He takes the boat all the way down to the Lake Worth Pier, and he drops us off and just goes, ‘Now walk back and if I catch you again I’m going to throw you in jail,’’’ Pugh said.

Another reason that the messaging could be failing is that a lot of beaches — emphasis on a lot — do not have lifeguards.

“There’s hundreds of miles of beach in Florida and there’s a lot of condos and what, and they’re basically private accesses to the beach,” said Tom Mahady, ocean rescue chief for the city of Boynton Beach.

It is not unusual for a sunbather to start at a guarded beach only to walk down to one in front of a condo and find trouble where there is no lifeguard within a football field, he said.

The signs at the main entrance to the beach at Gulfstream Park offer a barrage of information for visitors.

Palm Beach County’s beach lifeguards arrive at 7:30 a.m. and do training and daily preparations before manning their towers at 9 a.m. It’s during those preparations that they will post if necessary a red-flag warning, meaning dangerous conditions.

“I came to understand this was the third incident in one week that we had no knowledge of,” Sherry Smith said. “If they would put out flags before they open the gate that would be the easiest and quickest fix.”

Glen Smith said he thinks the park shouldn’t have been open with conditions persistent the previous week.

“We’re thinking the gates are open, it’s safe, you know. And there’s no flags, there’s no signs that said don’t go in the water,” he said. “You’re assuming that it is safe to go in. So my thing is, if the water is not safe, just don’t open the gate and let people in.”

The guru of rip currents is Dr. Gregory Dusek, a senior scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Ocean Service in Washington. He said technology may be key to finally putting a dent in the rip current fatalities.

The idea is to use artificial intelligence to detect rip currents by either their visual appearance — dark gaps in the breaking waves — or by tracking how water moves in videos on the surface.

“We can use these detections to potentially help monitor hazardous conditions in real time, as well as improve our NOAA rip current model to provide even better rip current predictions,” Dusek said.

Sherry Smith wants the public to take heed but also wants them to know her son was so much more than another drowning fatality.

“He was the kind of soul you’d call too good to be true,” Sherry Smith said at her son’s Celebration of Life in Lake Worth Beach on Nov. 18. “Such souls often don’t stay with us for long.”

Steve Plunkett contributed to this story.

The ocean’s pull

Rip currents, rip tides and undertow may be used interchangeably, but they are different phenomena. They can all be deadly.

Undertow — Especially dangerous to small children, the undertow is created by big waves breaking on the beach, generating a large uprush and backwash of water and sand. Waders can feel like they are being sucked underwater when the wave breaks overhead. The pull, however, goes only as far as the next breaking wave. Time your escape between waves.

Rip tide — A powerful current caused by low tide pulling water through an inlet along a barrier beach. Rip tides can also occur in bays and lagoons. Swimmers should avoid inlets and the waters around them as these powerful tidal jets carry large amounts of sand. A bather’s best bet is to wave for help from boaters.

Rip currents — Powerful, concentrated channels of water moving quickly from shore. They are prevalent around inlets and other structures that jut out into the water, such as piers and rock croppings. Generally 10 feet wide, they can be difficult to escape as the ocean runs through the channel. Don’t fight the current; swim parallel until you are out of the ocean’s pull.

Source: State University of New York

Related: Family beach outing turns deadly for teen; unpredictable surf kills five in county

By John Pacenti

Author John Irving called it the “Under Toad” in his classic novel, The World According to Garp, a monster who dwells under the surface to grab unsuspecting children swimming in the ocean and pull them to its Neptunian netherworld.

Call it the undertow, a rip current or a rip tide — all different depending on the water’s dynamic — the ocean’s grip can be terrifying.

Being caught in a rip current in South Florida is to know pure helplessness. I know because nearly 20 years ago, I experienced that desperation. There’s a fish out of water and there is the opposite — we humans flailing in the water against a force so much larger than us.

It happened when I joined my wife, my in-laws, and my daughters at Boca Raton’s Red Reef Park, which is known for its rocky outcropping that depending on the tide and ocean conditions can be teeming with fish.

I was snorkeling around the rocks and then ventured about 30 yards off the wedge-shaped rock cropping near the shore. Watching my children play on the beach — about ages 4 and 8 at the time — I decided to head back and join in the fun.

But I wasn’t heading back to shore. I was going the other way.

The realization that you are helpless against the ocean leads to panic. I didn’t know what was happening, even though I had been schooled on rip currents as a reporter covering tragic drownings. Being caught in one myself was a different story.

What snapped me out of my growing anxiety was the whistle. Now on the beach a lifeguard was waving his arms and tooting away. Certainly, it couldn’t be me that he was trying to signal, was it?

Oh yes, it’s me. I’m the problem. It’s me.

He motioned me to swim parallel to the shore, around the rocks, and then to swim in. I remember the lifeguard telling me as I thanked him that it was not unusual for snorkelers to get caught in that particular rip current.

I am no Olympic swimmer but I was in my 30s and knew the fundamentals of freestyle, butterfly and backstroke.

Yet, I didn’t even know I was in a rip current. I just knew I was going nowhere fast.

Tom Mahady, ocean rescue chief for the city of Boynton Beach, told me recently that it’s the exhaustion and panic that lead to tragedy. He said the swimmer “gets out of rhythm” and becomes so confused that breaths for fresh air are taken underwater.

Not surprisingly, the day I was whistled to safety I was doing one of the top no-no’s in Mahady’s book. With my children watching, I ventured too far from shore. Kids are apt to ape their parents’ actions, Mahady said. “Monkey see monkey do” can be deadly when it comes to rip currents.

“Parents, sure, some of them are great swimmers, ex-lifeguards. But don’t create the herd effect by diving under the water, body surfing, that type of thing,” Mahady said.

Of course, it was all drama for the children and the in-laws — the wife just rolled her eyes. Yet, I don’t know what I would have done if the lifeguard hadn’t been doing his job and whistled me to safety.

It’s not surprising that a lot of drownings occur when there is no lifeguard on duty. So that is the first rule: swim in the presence of a professional. If rip currents are present, the lifeguard will hoist a red warning flag.

If you realize you are in a rip current — raise your hand or wave — but don’t fight the current. Float on your back. The National Weather Service says a rip current will take a swimmer out between 50 and 100 yards — then you can paddle parallel to the beach and then come to shore.

And be prepared. Before even heading to the beach, check the NWS forecast, which can be accessed at https://www.weather.gov/tae/ghwo_ripcurrent.

Reports are first step toward recertification

By Rich Pollack

Time is running out for several dozen remaining area condo associations that are required to file state-mandated inspection reports by the end of the year.

Under a state law passed in the aftermath of the 2021 collapse of Surfside’s Champlain Towers South, condominium buildings that are over three stories in height and more than 30 years old must submit a Milestone Inspection Report prior to Dec. 31.

The requirement affects more than 200 coastal associations from Boca Raton to South Palm Beach.

Those that miss the deadline could — in most cases — face penalties imposed by the municipality they are in, which is responsible for collecting and reviewing the reports.

A survey of south Palm Beach County coastal communities shows that Boca Raton and Highland Beach — both of which passed their own ordinances that are more detailed than the state law — have had the most success in getting reports from condo communities filed on time.

In Highland Beach, for example, Building Official Jeff Remas says that all 49 of the condos that needed to file reports have done so.

El Cortijo Condominium in Gulf Stream had yet to provide its milestone report this year as of late November, according to the Highland Beach building officials who handle inspections for Gulf Stream. Work was being done on El Cortijo last month (above). Larry Barszewski/The Coastal Star

Still needing to file
In Boca Raton, city officials say that 52 of 55 buildings in one coastal area had filed their milestone reports by late November with three asking for extensions. In the second coastal zone, 37 of 42 buildings filed their reports, with five asking for extensions.

In Highland Beach 14 buildings have become recertified, meaning they have completed all repairs identified in the milestone report as well as in a Phase 2 report that identifies structural deficiency.

In Boca Raton, six buildings had been recertified as of late November.

In Delray Beach, 15 of 25 buildings submitted milestone reports as of mid-November with three of those buildings required to complete Phase 2 reports.

Under the state law, which is not as strict as the ordinances in Boca Raton and Highland Beach, those buildings that have completed their Phase 1 reports without major structural issues being identified will not need to be reinspected for another 10 years.

While the bigger communities have been successful in collecting Milestone Inspection Reports, some of the smaller communities are awaiting reports.

In South Palm Beach, 14 of the 24 buildings that need to be certified had completed the process through the end of November. In Ocean Ridge, only one of the seven buildings required to file milestone reports had completed the process by late November.

South Palm Beach Town Manager Jamie Titcomb said the town will wait until after the deadline to pursue outstanding reports unless state criteria require specific follow-up.

In Gulf Stream, which contracts building inspection services to Highland Beach, two of nine buildings had filed their milestone reports as of late November, according to town reports.

Associations that do not file on time could face fines through the local municipalities’ code enforcement process, according to the state law.

Reports have benefits
Highland Beach’s Remas says that many of the buildings that were recertified are receiving benefits as a result of the work that was done.

“We’re seeing that some of these buildings are benefiting with their insurance,” he said.

Another advantage, he says, is that many of the buildings will not need extensive repairs the next time they’re inspected — every seven years for those over 40 years old in Highland Beach and 10 years for those less than 40 years old — because much of the work will have been done already.

To remove some of the burden from condo owners, state Rep. Peggy Gossett-Seidman, R- Highland Beach, has been pushing for changes to the state laws requiring condos to do inspections and collect additional reserves for anticipated repairs. She and other South Florida lawmakers, along with Gov. Ron DeSantis, have focused on extending deadlines for inspection reports and reserve studies — that spell out when and how money to do the repairs must be raised — as well as related requirements.

She sees another advantage to having the inspections done.

“There were a lot of buildings with unknown issues that were discovered in this process,” she said. “Who wouldn’t want to make sure their building isn’t going to fall down in a few years.”

Down year for nests hints at another surge in 2025

By Steve Plunkett

Following a record-breaking 2023, people who monitor sea turtle nests up and down south Palm Beach County’s coast faced an easier workload this season. And the season, which officially ended Oct. 31, isn’t over yet.

While South County sea turtle nests were down almost 40% this year from the year before — from 4,851 to 2,995 nests for the 14 miles from Boca Raton into Ocean Ridge — those who monitor the marine mamas were not surprised.

Instead of focusing on the decline, “one could also ask: Why such a big year last year?” said David Anderson, who leads Boca Raton’s sea turtle conservation team at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center.

Green sea turtles kept to their usual roller-coaster pattern in digging far fewer nests than the year before.

Boca Raton, for example, had 328 nests by greens in 2023 and only 72 this year, said Anderson.

“They broke their high year/low year pattern the last few years, but since this year was so low, we expect nesting numbers for greens to be high again next year,” Anderson said, referring to their tendency to nest every other year.

Nearby monitors reported similar declines, with greens dropping from 283 to 84 in the southern part of Ocean Ridge, Briny Breezes and Gulf Stream, from 96 to 14 in Delray Beach, and from 530 to 127 in Highland Beach.

“But the very exciting news for us is that we had a very late nester,” Highland Beach monitor Joanne Ryan said.

Volunteers (l-r) Suzie Hiles, Joanne Ryan and Jayne Elder on Nov. 22 monitor and straighten the stakes of the last remaining turtle nest in Highland Beach from the 2024 season. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

“After no new nesting since Sept. 3, we thought we were done. But a green turtle decided to come up and nest on Oct. 12, so we will be checking on that nest right into the beginning of December,” she said.

“And funny, but Ocean Ridge had one about a week after us.”

Delray Beach’s season had a more customary finish.

“We documented our last nest on Aug. 23, the last crawl on Sept. 17 and removed the last marked nest from our area on Oct. 16, just in time for the end of daily monitoring on Oct. 31,” said Grace Botson of Ecological Associates Inc., which monitors turtle nests for the city.

A portion of the turtle stakes that Gumbo Limbo Nature Center in Boca Raton uses to mark the nests it monitors. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

As for loggerhead turtles, it was “an average year,” Anderson said.

“We finished 2024 with 824 nests, which is about average considering the last five to 10 years of data,” he said. His five miles of beach had 1,038 loggerhead nests in 2023 and 898 nests in 2022.

“Loggerhead nest numbers were declining for decades, bottoming out in 2009 for a lot of beaches. Since 2010, there has been a steady increase (overall) in loggerhead nest numbers,” Anderson said.

Still, as in Boca Raton, the loggerhead totals this year were down from last year’s stellar numbers: from 989 nests to 795 in Highland Beach, from 406 to 292 in Delray Beach, and from 1,051 to 724 in Gulf Stream, Briny Breezes and the south of Ocean Ridge.

Anderson said each year is unpredictable, primarily because loggerheads take 20-plus years to reach sexual maturity, an individual female typically nests every two or three years, and each female deposits anywhere between four and eight nests during the season.

For leatherback sea turtles, the nesting totals were mixed.

“The leatherbacks had a great season,” said Emilie Woodrich, data manager for Sea Turtle Adventures, which monitors the three miles of beach from Gulf Stream into Ocean Ridge. Her group found 19 leatherback nests, up from 15 the year before.

While Highland Beach also saw more, with 13 leatherback nests (up from seven last year), Delray Beach had only 12 leatherback nests (down from 30 last year), and Boca Raton had 19 (down from 28 last year).

“Leatherbacks are critically endangered, so it’s nice to see their nest numbers gradually increasing statewide over the last several decades,” Anderson said.

Overall, this year’s sea turtle nest totals were 827 in Ocean Ridge, Briny Breezes and Gulf Stream, down from 1,377 the year before; 318 in Delray Beach, down from 532 last year; 935 in Highland Beach, down from 1,548; and 915 in Boca Raton, down from 1,394.

The bulldozer-like tracks that a female green sea turtle leaves in the sand will be seen again after the 2025 nesting season begins. Joan Lorne

Declining hatch success
Nest numbers are only part of the story of the survival of these threatened and endangered animals, Anderson noted.

“Not all eggs in sea turtle nests hatch,” Anderson said. “This year, out of over 700 nests inventoried post-hatch, we discovered only 56% of eggs hatched.”

On average, he said, hatch success has declined over the years.

“This can most likely be attributed to climate change. Sand temperature during the two-month incubation period often exceeds the thermal tolerance level of developing embryo.

The eggs cease from developing, resulting in an unhatched egg with a dead embryo inside,” Anderson said.

“In addition to 44% of all eggs not hatching, we lost 49 nests due to storms and high tide events, had 170 nests dug into by predators (most with no damage to eggs), and 88 nests that experienced hatchling disorientation events during hatch-out due to artificial light pollution,” he said.

The moral of the story, Anderson said, “is that total nest numbers can be deceiving.”

“A high number of nests doesn’t mean much when a small percentage of eggs hatch, nests are lost to predators and storms, and hatchlings never make it to the ocean because of light pollution.”