By Joe Capozzi 

The latest renderings of a new or expanded South Palm Beach Town Hall received mostly positive reviews April 29. Architects offered rough estimates of $5.6 million to build a new two-story structure and nearly $4.2 million to renovate and add to the existing building.
In renderings shown at a Town Council workshop attended by 20 residents, the renovated version calls for a new interior with the main lobby at the side of the building facing South Ocean Boulevard instead of on the west side as it is now.  
The version showing a new Town Hall calls for putting the building farther to the west, with council chambers on the second floor overlooking the Intracoastal Waterway. The east half of the property would be devoted to parking. The main entrance would be on the east side of the new building, with a covered drop-off area.
The architectural firm of Synalovski Romanik Saye will return to the council by summer with new renderings reflecting April 29 suggestions from residents and council members. One popular suggestion was to put the council chambers on the first floor, since many residents in town are over the age of 65. 
Town Manager Robert Kellogg said he’d offer the council detailed financing options for the project in late May. He said he was confident the town could pay for either a renovated or new Town Hall without raising property taxes. 
That’s because the town has over $1 million now in Building Department revenue and $732,000 from the federal American Rescue Plan Act. On top of that, the town has over $500,000 from its share of a half-cent sales tax, levied by Palm Beach County, and is expected to collect at least $500,000 a year from that tax over the next five years. 
In addition, the town has applied to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for a $1.5 million grant.
Mayor Bonnie Fischer asked the architects to try to include in the next round of renderings an option with commercial space that the town could lease for the operation of a restaurant or cafe, which would emphasize the new building’s focus as a community center. 
In other business:
• West Palm Beach’s utility director is scheduled to attend the May 10 council meeting to review the latest water quality testing results. West Palm Beach supplies water to the town. 
The review comes about a year after the city reported that its water had an unacceptably high level of the blue-green algae contaminant cylindrospermopsin and posed a risk to physically vulnerable customers. It took the city eight days to alert customers about the problem. 
A recent letter about the latest test results, from Feb. 8, indicates “things are improving significantly,’’ Kellogg said. 
• Councilman Robert Gottlieb said Palm Tran, the Palm Beach County transportation service, is looking into the possibility of establishing “bus to the bus” service in South Palm Beach. “From your house to a bus for $2 then $2 to get on the bus,’’ he said, adding that Palm Tran is doing a similar plan in the Glades communities.
• A new ordinance, passed by unanimous vote April 12, will require owners of commercial vehicles blocking sidewalks to provide flagmen or hire off-duty police officers to direct pedestrians safely around obstructions. The town emailed a copy of the ordinance, proposed by Vice Mayor Bill LeRoy, to condo managers.
• The town is seeking volunteers to study the town code and make recommendations for changes. Residents interested in serving on the Code Review Committee should contact Town Clerk Yude Davenport at ydavenport@southpalmbeach.com no later than 4 p.m. June 30.
• Gottlieb was named South Palm Beach voting delegate for the Palm Beach County League of Cities.
• The family of Lenny and Florence Cohen has pledged to pay for the annual ice cream socials for the next 10 years, Fischer said. Florence Cohen died April 3, two weeks after a Town Hall ice cream social held in honor of her husband of 73 years. Lenny Cohen, a longtime resident who started the ice cream socials, died Dec. 7. 
• A wine and sliders event at Town Hall is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. May 6.

OCEAN RIDGE — Theodore “Ted” Charles Ritota of Ocean Ridge died April 24 at Bethesda Hospital East in Boynton Beach, where he was in hospice care after suffering an intracerebral hemorrhage. He was 67.
Ted Ritota was born Oct. 18, 1954, at Columbia Hospital in South Orange, New Jersey, to John Patrick and Dolores Anita (Cirillo) Ritota Sr.
Growing up, Ted attended Our Lady of Sorrows and Newark Academy schools, graduating from Columbia High School in South Orange. Attending the University of Colorado in Boulder, he developed a lifelong connection to the snow-covered mountains and love of skiing. His senior year of college had him and his best friend, John Kimmel, with a pretty empty schedule, which in turn made it possible for them to go skiing for days on end. These were to be some of the best years of his youth.
His next step was attending Fairleigh Dickinson Dental School in New Jersey.
His love of sailing led him — and his brother, John Ritota Jr. — to South Florida to set up a dental practice, Delray Dental. They were in their 43rd year of practice.
The brothers were best friends — not only as partners in Delray Dental, but also enjoying fishing, golfing, vacationing and sporting events together.
In 1987, Ted bought his home in Ocean Ridge where he and his wife, Lisa, raised three daughters who always made him proud. Along with his other passions, Dr. Ritota loved the town of Ocean Ridge and Ocean Ridge loved him.
Growing up, Ted’s family had a vacation home on the Jersey Shore in Deal where he spent all of his summers. This is where he would make some lifelong friends and memories. He was an avid sailor of Hobie Cats from a young age and continued with this when he moved to Florida, spending most weekends taking his children and wife out for joyrides up and down the coast, snorkeling off the boat or just cruising. It was truly his happy place.
If the conditions weren’t right for sailing, you could find him sitting at the beach reading the latest Stuart Woods book while listening to the Beatles, Grateful Dead or Springsteen.
Dr. Ritota’s other passion of snow skiing, in particular helicopter skiing in British Columbia, Canada, led him to meet the love of his life, Australia native Lisa Marshall.
He would propose to her in 14 days, marry in 11 months in Australia and, for the next 31 years, build his life with her in Ocean Ridge.
Lisa always said that when she first laid eyes on her “Teddy” all those years ago, it was his beautiful smile and dark brown eyes that caught her eye. His deep American accent helped a little bit, too.
Heli-skiing remained a big part of the couple’s life. Dr. Ritota would go on to become an integral part of Canadian Mountain Holidays. Annually Dr. Ritota took 100 or more physicians and dentists to Canada for continuing education while enjoying the great outdoors. He made these trips for over 30 years. He was also working on his next CMH million-foot suit, having already earned eight — a huge accomplishment.
To those who knew Ted, his sense of humor was infectious. A life-of-the-party guy, with a big smile, he was a lover of good food — his favorite being Italian. He treated others to his special homemade red sauce and hot pepper sauce, which were fabulous. People couldn’t help but love him.
The couple celebrated their 31st wedding anniversary in February. They had just returned from an “empty nest” ski trip to Steamboat Springs, Colorado, a week before his passing. It was one of the best trips they’d ever had.
Dr. Ritota is survived by his wife, Lisa; daughters Brianna (partner, Ivan) of Australia, and Vanessa and Giorgina of Ocean Ridge; mother, Dolores Ritota of Boynton Beach; brother, John (June) Ritota of Delray Beach; sister, Dee Ritota of Myrtle Beach, S.C.; and nieces Olivia Ritota, Kaylah Gittleman and Shayna Gittleman. He was preceded in death by his father, John Ritota Sr.
Ted was a wonderful son, husband, father, brother, brother-in-law and uncle to all his family and a friend to many. He will be missed by all who knew and loved him.
A celebration of Dr. Ritota’s life will be held at the Ritota home on Sunday, May 15 at 5 p.m.

— Obituary submitted by the family

By Eliot Kleinberg
 
OCEAN RIDGE — In small towns, leaders wear more than one hat. Gail Adams Aaskov was a condominium manager, a real estate broker, a longtime commissioner and mayor, and a newspaper publisher. Often at the same time.
Mrs. Aaskov, who died March 30 at age 86, also published The History of Ocean Ridge in 1995, the year she first joined the commission in the barrier island municipality of about 1,600.
“This book may be small, but so is our town,” she wrote in the foreword.
“When I moved here, I could not find anything on Ocean Ridge,’’ Aaskov told the South Florida Sun Sentinel in 1998.
The book, just 80 pages, had an initial run of 500 copies, which sold out. A second edition was published in 2000 and an updated reissue came out in 2015.
“Gail was our resident historian. She was committed to the town in terms of its history and in terms of its future,” former Mayor Ken Kaleel said April 11.
And Betty Bingham, a longtime friend and herself a former elected official, said, “When she saw a need, she would do what she could do to fill a need. But she did it quietly.”
Gail Adams, born in June 1935 in Connecticut, graduated from Aurora College — now Aurora University — near Chicago. Living in Illinois and Connecticut, she worked and raised two daughters. In 1975, after a divorce, she moved to the town of Palm Beach.
She became a counselor at the Broward Correctional Institution, a maximum-security facility for women. There, she once witnessed two male guards beating an inmate, her daughter Cheryl Adams said from New York.
“She reported them,” Adams said, “and it pretty much ended her career.”
She later transferred to the Lantana Community Correctional Center, where she met center manager Walter “Bud” Aaskov Jr., who would become her second husband.
Gail Aaskov got her real estate license in 1980. In ensuing years, she lived in the Boca Raton, West Palm Beach and Delray Beach areas.
“She was in real estate. I think she was into buying things and moving in,” daughter Sharon Adams Poore said from Massachusetts.
The last stop: Ocean Ridge.
“She liked that it was a smaller town,” Poore said.
In 1993, the Aaskovs built a three-bedroom home on a canal off the Intracoastal Waterway. Around the same time, Gail Aaskov opened her own company, Ocean Ridge Realty. She also began a 25-year tenure as manager of the Crown Colony Club condominium complex nearby.
“She was one very determined lady,” said Denise Medina, who worked at the real estate office for about 15 years. “She ran a tight ship. She had a heart of gold.”
Aaskov was elected to the Town Commission in 1995 and reelected in 1998 and 2001. Three times, her colleagues designated her as mayor. She also served as president of the Ocean Ridge Garden Club.
She lost a re-election bid in 2004. She served on the town’s Board of Adjustment until she was returned to the commission in 2012. She was re-elected in 2015 but was voted out in 2018.
Over the years, one big campaign issue would be Aaskov’s role as publisher of a newspaper that at times featured stories about her and her campaign. From 1996 to 2008, she operated the Ocean Ridge Reporter, a free monthly whose profits were donated to the Public Safety Department.
Aaskov had to recuse herself any time the town discussed the strip on the 5100 block of North Ocean Boulevard that held just five units, including her real estate office. The five tenants — which at that time included The Coastal Star — were the town’s only commercial entities. The strip was converted to apartments and Aaskov moved across the street and later to a spot on Boynton Beach Boulevard.
In 2013, Aaskov self-published Signal 5. The book — the title is police code for murder — detailed the 2006 slayings of Serena Gomez, a popular former deputy town clerk and police dispatcher, and her husband, former town police officer Joe Gomez. Police in Eustis, about 25 miles north of Orlando in Lake County, said Serena was killed along with Joe, then a Eustis officer, by another Eustis officer who also killed his own wife and finally himself.
In August 2019, Bud died. Around the same time, Gail closed down her real estate business. By then, Gail’s daughters said, her health was failing, and the family moved her to Massachusetts. She was at an assisted living facility at the time of her death.
Mrs. Aaskov is survived by her two daughters and five grandchildren. Services were private.

OCEAN RIDGE — Harold  E. Hollnagel, devoted family man and company founder, died April 17. He was 84.
Mr. Hollnagel was born to Harold and Esther Hollnagel on Dec. 22, 1937, in Milwaukee, and went on to become founder and CEO of Mechanical Industries Inc. in Brown Deer, Wisconsin, where he put to use his inventiveness and love of mechanics.
His hobbies included downhill skiing, fishing, Indy car racing, celebrating his German heritage, and spending time with his family and friends at the Milwaukee Country Club and the Milwaukee Yacht Club.
He was an active member of Saint John Lutheran Church in Glendale, Wisconsin, and supporter of the Milwaukee School of Engineering.
Six years ago, he and his wife, Judy, made Ocean Ridge their permanent home.   
Mr. Hollnagel is survived by his wife of 62 years, Judith “Judy” Hollnagel of Ocean Ridge, and their son David, daughter-in-law Christine and granddaughters Julia and Elizabeth Hollnagel of Ocala.
Visitation will be held on May 21 from 9:30-11:30 a.m. at Wisconsin Memorial Park Chapel of the Chimes, 13235 W. Capitol Drive in Brookfield, with a funeral service at 11:30 a.m. and the entombment to follow the service.
The Bruskiewitz Funeral Home in Milwaukee is assisting the family with the arrangements. Obituaries and condolences can be found on its website, ForestHomeFunerals.com. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, 1801 N. Ocean Blvd., Boca Raton, Florida 33432.

— Obituary submitted by the family

The Kolter Group, a Delray Beach-based real estate development firm, partnered with the End Ocean Plastic Foundation to clear plastic and other trash from the beach. ABOVE: Some of the nearly 100 corporate employees gather behind the foundation founders, Miles Julien (far left) and Jake Julien (far right), and their father, Bobby Julien, CEO of Kolter. BELOW: Kolter employees bag trash from the dune. Photos provided

ABOVE: Lake Worth Beach resident Aaron Barnes, one of the founders of the local branch of the Surfrider Foundation, sorts through trash collected by volunteers at the cleanup and education event hosted by the Ocean Ridge Garden Club and the Town of Ocean Ridge. More than 100 people attended, including the 30-plus who spent a good share of the morning picking up trash on the beach. Volunteers representing 11 environmental organizations put up educational exhibits.
LEFT: David Anderson and his 4-year-old son, Thomas, act like surfers in an exhibit the Surfrider Foundation created out of recycled plastic bottles. Anderson is the sea turtle conservation coordinator at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center in Boca Raton.
Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Joe Capozzi 

As Briny Breezes Council President Sue Thaler sees it, there was nothing nefarious about her efforts to gather feedback from residents about a hot topic around town — proposed code changes that would help homes adapt to rising sea levels.
The way she did it, though — taking it upon herself to write and distribute a questionnaire without the rest of the council’s knowledge — prompted sharp rebukes from her colleagues and an apology from Thaler. 
The drama unfolded April 28 when Town Manager William Thrasher asked the council what he should do with completed questionnaires that people were dropping off at Town Hall.
“To my knowledge, we have not discussed this,’’ Thrasher said, holding a stack in his hands. “I’m not even sure if this is town business, either.’’
Thaler explained that she wrote the seven-question survey and asked Briny Breezes Corp. to insert copies in the mailboxes of residents. 
A summary at the top of the questionnaire read, “The Town invites your comments and questions’’ about proposed code changes discussed earlier that month at two Planning and Zoning Board meetings. 
“It was at the request of several residents, a handful, who did not know how to give us feedback to the Planning and Zoning Board meetings that have been held,’’ Thaler told Thrasher.
Thaler said she thought it was important for the council to hear directly from residents about the issue, “rather than having people talk about them at happy hour, talk about them at the pool, and we don’t get that feedback.’’
The other council members said she should have at least brought the questionnaire idea to the council for discussion first and then distributed the flyers only if the council approved. Some members said they learned about the questionnaire only in passing from residents.   
“I knew nothing about this,’’ said Alderwoman Kathy Gross. “I feel like I was kind of blindsided.’’ 
“This should not have been put out unless it was from all of us, not just you,’’ Alderman Bill Birch said.
“This being represented as council when it wasn’t (discussed) on this dais is not appreciated at all,’’ said Alderwoman Christina Adams. “We never even voted on it.’’ 
“I am new,’’ Alderwoman Liz Loper said, “but I thought we always discussed things among ourselves before something was put out. I would never go and assume I should put something out without talking to everybody else. I was as shocked as everybody else and I don’t think it was right for us not to have discussed this.’’
Thaler apologized and said she would seek the entire council’s input “if I were to do it again.”  Thaler, who said she notified the town manager and clerk in advance about the questionnaire, attended the two advisory board meetings. She said she was left with the impression that “very few people … understood what was going on and there was a lot of street talk about it.”
She said she wanted the replies to come to the council and Town Hall rather than her personally. “I wanted to be sure we got feedback directly from people ... because I think it is important for all of us as municipal representatives to hear what our constituencies are thinking,’’ she said. 
Here are the questions, some of which Thrasher and council members characterized as leading and biased: 
• “Should the town address current and future flood risk to keep the community safe?” 
• “Should the town allow 3-story structures in Briny Breezes?”
• “Should the town allow underlying support columns at a height more than that required by FEMA to allow storage and parking underneath residential units in space that is restricted and uninhabitable?’’
• “Should the town allow roof heights up to 35 feet?”
• “Should the town allow bricks-and-mortar homes in Briny Breezes rather than modular or mobile homes?”
• “Should the town allow buildup of the ‘dirt’ under a home which could create a ‘bowl effect,’ causing unintended flooding on adjacent lots?”
• “Should the town hold hearings on these major decisions during summer/fall when 75% of owners and residents are gone?”
Thrasher said he was concerned the questionnaire gave the appearance that the Town Council was trying to circumvent the Planning and Zoning Board.
‘’The Planning and Zoning Board would have eventually sifted all this out. They would have had no need for a survey. They are gathering information. They are sensing from the community,’’ he said. “I trust Planning and Zoning to come up with an applicable recommendation to this council when they are ready to do so.’’
Town Attorney Keith Davis said he understood a council member’s urge to act alone, but “there’s still an opportunity for a misunderstanding if something is done unilaterally and your colleagues are not aware of it.’’
“Anything coming from council should come from action of council at a public meeting.’’

By Jane Smith

Real estate developer Michael Marco is pouring millions of dollars into reconstructing a historic home on the barrier island in Delray Beach — a project that was delayed after he ran afoul of city regulations.
“I’m trying not to think about the lost time and increased cost,” he said in April at the historic house site at 212 Seabreeze Avenue that he plans to make his family home. The city shut down the renovation in August 2020 for not having a needed demolition permit and did not allow the work to restart until December 2021.
While the actual construction costs have more than doubled over earlier estimates, some preservationists say the city’s history is incurring a much dearer price. They say Marco — no matter how well-intentioned — is not so much preserving history as he is building a close replica of it.
For them, the history was lost in less than 24 hours in July 2020, when workers removed the glass panels and louvers of the mid-century modern house, leaving only a steel skeleton on the site. Marco did not get a demolition permit, which is required if more than 25% of a home is going to be removed.
The city shut down the construction site for almost 1½ years. In December, the Historic Preservation Board and the City Commission unanimously approved allowing Marco to proceed with his reconstruction of the Paul Rudolph-designed home, while also allowing it to stay on the city’s register of historic homes.
Marco apologized to the board for stripping the house to its skeleton without contacting the city. “We should have reviewed everything with the historic staff before it was done. That was our mistake, a huge mistake on my part,” he said.

Why it could be historic
Rudolph, a pioneer of the Sarasota School of Architecture, was acclaimed for his modernism and later became chairman of the Yale School of Architecture. Marco’s house was one of the few Rudolph designs built on Florida’s East Coast, with most being in the Sarasota and Bradenton area on the Gulf Coast.
The predominantly glass Delray Beach house — built in 1955 before air-conditioning was widely available — was done for Sewell C. Biggs, a Delaware native who collected American art.
Richard Heisenbottle, a historic preservation architect hired by the city to review the Biggs house situation, said it’s still possible for the house to be historic.
If the reconstruction follows the U.S. Secretary of Interior’s guidelines that call for photos and plans of the original design to be used in the redesign, then the reconstructed house can be considered historic, he told the board members.
“We have the documentation that is required by that standard,” Heisenbottle, from Coral Gables, said at the December meeting.
The city originally approved listing the house in its historic inventory in 2005 at the request of the owners at the time, Virginia and Erskine Courtenay. She loved the house because it gave her a feeling of being up in the trees, according to the documents prepared for that designation.
The historic-designation report described the Biggs house as “a significant example of the modernism which swept through the state in the years after World War II. It is an example of the work of a leading American architect, Paul Rudolph, whose testing ground was Florida.” 

Why others say it can’t be
Not everyone agrees the Rudolph-designed home should remain on the city’s inventory of historic homes without an explanation.
“Things can be rebuilt, but it’s not a historic structure,” said John Miller, who has twice chaired the Historic Preservation Board. “Personally, I don’t think it can stay on the city’s list of historic places without an asterisk saying it was a historic structure and rebuilt in the Paul Rudolph style, with the mass of the home not the same.”
Miller, a Delray Beach native, is president of the Delray Beach Historical Society. He became a local history buff because his great-grandfather and grandfather were Delray Beach mayors.
The Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation no longer lists the Delray Beach house on its website. Its chief executive has said the new homeowners are assuming they know how Rudolph would react to today’s construction issues — something that’s not possible.
For that reason, the foundation’s website states: “The Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation will not support such a rebuilding as an authentic Rudolph design. …The original residence will remain ‘demolished’ in our project list.”

‘Labor of love’ for owner
Historic Preservation Board Chairman Ben Baffer asked Heisenbottle to write a letter to the Rudolph Foundation after the Biggs house is reconstructed, explaining why it should still be considered an authentic Rudolph-designed home. Heisenbottle agreed.
Construction workers have been able to reuse most of the steel beams by sanding them and painting them, a process that took months, Marco said.
His wife, Nina, found the original Rudolph house plans that called for the ground floor to be enclosed in glass.
They will add air-conditioning, but they will not tint the glass to reduce the heat from the Florida sun. Tinted glass was not part of the Rudolph design. The reconstructed house will be about 60% glass.
After the house is rebuilt to look like the original Rudolph design, Marco will apply to the city for property tax abatements for his historic property improvements for 10 years. Marco expects reconstructing the home will take another 12 to 18 months.
His hard costs for the reconstruction now exceed $2 million. In January 2021, GLM Builders estimated the reconstruction cost to be about $920,000.
His soft costs for attorneys, engineers, architects and other consultants are mounting. He even gave up his day job as a residential real estate developer to oversee the daily work at his Seabreeze property.
“It’s a labor of love,” Marco said. “That’s how it makes sense to me.”

By Jane Smith

A former Delray Beach water quality inspector filed a federal complaint against the city on April 18, claiming she was wrongfully dismissed for pointing out problems with the city’s beleaguered reclaimed water program.
Christine Ferrigan, who earlier received Florida whistleblower protection from Palm Beach County’s inspector general, said she was let go in January, five days after she filed a written retaliation complaint against two of her Utilities Department supervisors.
City Manager Terrence Moore said then that Ferrigan’s position was eliminated in a reorganization “done for efficiency and austerity reasons.” However, Ferrigan’s position was the only one eliminated in the reorganization of the Utilities Department, according to her complaint.
Moore sent Ferrigan a Jan. 26 email saying her services were no longer needed, effective immediately. Ferrigan turned in her badge and was escorted out of the building, she said in an April 25 conference call interview that her attorneys also attended.
Her son also was let go from his job in the city’s Public Works Department on March 2. His job loss was described in the complaint as “the City’s continuing agenda to retaliate against” Ferrigan.
The city does not comment on pending legal action, but spokeswoman Gina Carter said in an email to The Coastal Star:
“The City has the unfettered right to organize (and reorganize) its departments in ways that are efficient and fiscally responsible. In the case of Utilities, Director Hassan Hadjimiry chose to streamline efficiencies within his department. The position Ferrigan held was not related to reclaimed water but rather to the City’s Industrial Pretreatment Program.”
Ferrigan, though, said she received approval in the summer of 2018 from her now-retired supervisor, Scott Solomon, to set up the city’s reclaimed water program. Reclaimed water is highly treated wastewater suitable only for lawn irrigation, not for human or pet consumption.

OSHA to probe complaint
Ferrigan’s complaint is filed with the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. One of her attorneys, Richard Condit, called it the “first step” in her legal fight with the city.
She is seeking 11 remedies, including back pay, a different position because hers no longer exists, training for staff and managers about whistleblower rights, and attorneys’ fees.
OSHA will conduct its own investigation, including interviewing witnesses and reviewing reports, Erika Ruthman, U.S. Department of Labor spokeswoman, said in an April 26 email to The Coastal Star. The Labor Department oversees OSHA.
Ruthman said whistleblower investigations vary in the length of time. Ferrigan’s attorney, who specializes in such cases, said most last between six months to a year. If either side does not agree with the results, then it can appeal to an administrative law judge, Ruthman said.
Ferrigan, hired in June 2017, often sided with barrier island residents and provided information to the Florida Department of Health after it began investigating the city’s reclaimed water program.
In late 2018, Ferrigan inspected South Ocean Boulevard locations and interviewed residents who were reporting being sickened after the reclaimed water was connected in the area. The city issued a boil-water order for the area in December 2018.
According to Ferrigan’s complaint, the city should have reported the illnesses to the Health Department and let the department investigate whether the water was responsible.
The Health Department investigation began after it received a January 2020 complaint from one of the South Ocean Boulevard residents, who said she did not understand the cross connection that occurred at her house in December 2018.
Cross connections happen when the drinking water pipes are mistakenly connected to the reclaimed water lines.
In February 2020, triggered by the resident’s complaint, the city shut down its entire reclaimed water system to avoid a citywide boil-water order.

Whistleblower status

When giving Ferrigan whistleblower protection in September 2020, the county inspector general wrote that the city’s staff and elected officials “potentially still are being less than truthful in documenting and describing the city’s water problems.”
However, in a May 2021 report, the inspector general was not able to link the illnesses of the South Ocean Boulevard residents to the reclaimed water.
The Health Department’s investigation led the city to sign a five-year consent order Nov. 9 with the department, agreeing to pay $1 million in civil fines to settle issues in the reclaimed water program.
But the same month the consent order was signed, Ferrigan reported to the Health Department concerns of fellow staffers who feared retaliation, according to her complaint. They had been ordered by Hadjimiry to remove information that was required from the city’s database of backflow preventers, the complaint reads. Backflow preventers stop reclaimed water from flowing back into the drinking water supply.
This is Ferrigan’s second whistleblower battle with a South County coastal city.
She claimed whistleblower status in 2008 after she was fired from Boca Raton’s water department. She sued the city, claiming she was let go because of information she provided to state environmental officials about the city’s backflow and cross connection programs.
Ferrigan and her attorneys received a $537,500 settlement in 2014 from the city’s insurance company, published reports said. The city did not admit any wrongdoing.

By Jane Smith

Delray Beach residents could see average water and sewer bills jump more than 30% over the next five years, while the cost for those who regularly use much more city drinking water could double.
City commissioners unanimously approved the increases in a preliminary vote at their May 3 meeting, with the largest increases in the potable water rates. A final vote is expected May 17, when the public will have a chance to comment on the proposed rates.
The average residential water user, who consumes 6,000 gallons a month, would see a combined monthly bill of $75.66 in five years, up from the current $57.85.
Officials say the added income is needed to pay for a new water treatment plant. That plant will cost about $125 million, Daryll Parker of Willdan Financial Services, the city’s water rate study consultant, said at the March 8 commission meeting. The current plant is one of the oldest in the state.
Delray Beach has not raised its potable water rates since 2009, said retired City Manager David Harden, who discussed his concerns with The Coastal Star.
“The rates need to be modified,” Harden said, but the ones proposed “are too high, too fast.”
In January, he and his wife, Andrea, sold their historic home on Swinton Avenue. They used 29,500 gallons a month, mostly for the lawn, he said, because the city’s cheaper, reclaimed water isn’t available for irrigation there.
Their water consumption put them in one of the highest-use residential categories.
Their average monthly water bill was $72.01, Harden said. If they had stayed in that house, their monthly water bill would increase to $164.35 under the proposed rates, he said, raising the water portion of the bill more than $1,100 a year.

By Mary Thurwachter

Just when it looked like construction on Lantana’s library was about to resume, a canceled Town Council meeting on April 25 further slowed the progress.
On the agenda was a $734,227 contract with West Construction, Inc., to complete the library renovation. Work has been at a standstill since late December when it was discovered that the general contractor, Sierra Construction Management & Remodeling of Weston, was operating without a license.
But no vote was taken April 25, of course, since there was no meeting.
A notice on the door of the council chambers, written on the letterhead of Mayor Robert Hagerty, said the meeting was canceled “due to circumstances beyond our control.”
Vice Mayor Karen Lythgoe offered insight on the circumstances, saying in a telephone interview that the entire five-member council, town manager and town attorney had been exposed to COVID-19 during a visioning retreat with department heads on April 22.
“One of the people at the retreat came down with COVID,” Lythgoe said. “We’ve all been exposed, and two other people are showing symptoms of COVID, but negative so far. It was decided we should just call it off.”
Town Manager Brian Raducci said it hadn’t been determined if a special meeting would be called regarding the library contract.
After the town shut down Sierra’s work at the library, at 205 W. Ocean Ave., in December, it sought to turn the work over to a subcontractor, Multitech Corp. However, Multitech was unable to obtain the bonds required to restart the work.
The town then negotiated with West, which had been the second-lowest bidder when the contract was awarded in July. West bid $883,932 then, compared to Sierra’s $723,200.
According to the agenda report for the April 25 meeting, West has agreed to complete the work within 120 days from the date it receives a notice to proceed from the town. Failure to do so would cost the contractor $500 a day.
The total cost of the library is about $277,000 more than originally anticipated. Any funding shortfall will be paid for through the infrastructure surtax funds, other revenue sources or from the town’s reserve funds, according to the agenda report.
The library is temporarily housed in the Recreation Center at 418 S. Dixie Highway.

Visioning retreat
No one from the public attended the morning-long visioning retreat, which was held at the Finlandia House, just steps from Town Hall. The meeting wasn’t recorded, but minutes were taken, Town Clerk Kathleen Dominguez said.
Lythgoe said the retreat was “excellent,” but that the public notifications for events like that could be better. The meeting was noticed on the town’s website with an agenda, Dominguez said.
“I’m thinking email blasts or robo-texting,” Lythgoe said.
“We’ve got to drive traffic” to the website, she said. “We’ve got to get a better website. The website sucks. We’ve been talking about this for two years.”
The retreat allowed the council to hear from directors about their departments, what shortcomings they see and what they plan in the future — and for council members to submit their own priorities, including direction for the upcoming budget, Lythgoe said.
“We were all pretty much in alignment,” she said.

The 23,625-square-foot estate was built in 2014 on nearly two acres. Photo provided by Robert Stevens

By Christine Davis

Omaha businessman Steve Buchanan and his wife, Samantha, paid $40 million for the mansion at 2455 S. Ocean Blvd., Highland Beach, in a sale that was recorded in public records on April 6. This sale marks a record for the town, surpassing the $34.7 million sale in February of the home next door at 2445 S. Ocean Blvd.
The Buchanans made their purchase with a $30 million mortgage from JPMorgan Chase. Buchanan founded Buchanan Energy and Bucky’s Convenience Stores, which he sold last year to the convenience store chain Casey’s General Stores for $580 million, according to a news release.
The sellers were Bruce Leeds and Marina Rubio Ruiz. The property was purchased for an undisclosed amount in 2011 and the 23,625-square-foot estate was built in 2014 on the 1.88-acre lot with 150 feet of beachfront. The estate was designed by Madey Architects NY, and was built by Mark Timothy Luxury Homes, with interiors by Marc-Michaels.
Jonathan Postma of the Jonathan Postma Group represented the buyers. Ocean Estate Properties’ Bev Aluise Knight represented the sellers.

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The 1.43-acre ocean to-Intracoastal parcel at 1260 S. Ocean Blvd. in Manalapan was sold for $40 million by 1260 S. Ocean LLC, managed by Stewart A. Satter, through his real estate company, Carnegie Hill Development. The sale, at a record price for a vacant lot of its size in Manalapan, was recorded March 31.
Buyers were Saltbox LLC and Artemis Realty, both managed by attorney Carolyn S. Nachmias in Burlington, New Jersey. Robert Preston with Carnegie Hill Realty represented Satter. Jack Elkins and Bunny Hiatt with William Raveis Real Estate represented the buyer.
Satter, Manalapan’s vice mayor, purchased the lot in March 2021 for $15.45 million from 1260 Manalapan Properties LLC, managed by Tonio Arcaini. Satter offered the property for sale two ways: vacant, with town-approved house plans and building permits for a 27,000-square-foot estate, which he listed for $42.5 million. He also had it listed for $125 million, with the furnished estate to be executed by the team he often uses for his projects: RWB Construction, Marc-Michaels Interior Design and the Benedict Bullock architecture group.
“Frankly, I would have sold it either way,” he said, adding that the buyer plans to build with his team using his plans with minor changes. “It’s an unusual lot, ocean to Intracoastal in Manalapan, and the buyer saw the value. She will save time with having the permitting in hand and she’ll also save money versus me finishing it and buying a finished project.”
The property drew considerable interest even after this deal went hard, Satter said.
“A couple Realtors said, ‘Hey, I have a buyer who will pay the full price of $42.5 million.’ You never know if those deals would have gone to fruition, but those buyers couldn’t find what they wanted,” he said.  
A previous comparable sale price for vacant land in Manalapan occurred in July 2005 when developer Frank McKinney paid a recorded $42.5 million for 8.6 acres with 820 feet of ocean and lake frontage at 700 S. Ocean Blvd. McKinney divided the parcel into five lots for redevelopment.

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The estate at 2929 N. Ocean Blvd., Gulf Stream, sold in March for $26,694,444 to the David J. Miller Trust. The seller was 2929 Ocean Trust, which bought the property for $15,900,338 in May 2021.
The six-bedroom, 9,269-total-square-foot estate has 121 feet on the ocean. Corcoran Group agents Candace Friis and Phill Friis represented both the buyer and seller, according to Zillow.

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Dermatologist and health book author Dr. Nicholas Perricone paid $6.8 million for an oceanfront five-bedroom, 5,480-square-foot townhouse, Unit 2, at Ocean Place Villas, 4211 S. Ocean Blvd., Highland Beach, in a sale that was recorded March 29. The seller was Marton Anka, who bought the property in 2014 for $4.6 million. Emily Roberts with Douglas Elliman represented the seller. Mariela Stochetti with Douglas Elliman and Suzanne Petrizzi with Corcoran represented the buyer.

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Daniel Shooster and his wife, Leslee, paid $5.6 million for Unit 601 in the first completed phase of the Alina Residences development at 200 SE Mizner Blvd. in downtown Boca Raton. The sale was recorded March 28.
The developer, El-Ad National Properties, sold the four-bedroom, 4,836-square-foot condo. Alejandro Salazar and Rochelle LeCavalier of Douglas Elliman represented the seller. Alex Platt of Compass represented the buyer.  
The nine-story building has 102 condo units, 12 penthouses and seven villas.
Daniel Shooster is a former owner of the Festival Flea Market in Pompano Beach.

***

El-Ad has broken ground on the second phase of the Alina Residences. It will have two nine-story residential buildings and complete the project. The company said Phase 2 was 40% sold and that construction is scheduled to be completed by the third quarter of 2024.
The Alina 210 building will consist of 30 corner residences, with floor plans that include three or four bedrooms plus a den, ranging in size from 3,300 to 5,400 square feet. Pricing starts at $3.5 million.  
Alina 220 will have 152 residences of one to four bedrooms with den. These range from 1,400 to 5,400 square feet, priced from $1.7 million to more than $8 million. Douglas Elliman Development Marketing is the exclusive sales team. For more information, visit eladnational.com.

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The official groundbreaking of 1625 Ocean — a U.S. Construction development with 10 condominiums and four penthouses on 120 feet of oceanfront in Delray Beach — took place in April. Architect Randall Stofft is the designer.
Of the 14 residences at 1625 S. Ocean Blvd., only one was still available for sale in April. “Our near sellout prior to groundbreaking is more evidence that the South Florida market is still hot, and still very attractive to those from the Northeast, California and residents who already live locally,” said John Farina, CEO of U.S. Construction.
Each unit is named after a musician. The final penthouse, The Sting, offered at $6.495 million, features four bedrooms, 5,000 square feet, terraces, a plunge pool, and summer kitchen. IMI Living is handling the sale. For more information visit www.1625Ocean.com or call 800-755-0358.

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After receiving a $100,000 grant from the American Rescue Plan, the Delray Beach Public Library, partnering with the city’s Housing Authority, is distributing 54 GrandPad tablets to seniors at Lake Delray Apartments. A GrandPad is a computer tablet designed for people who have little to no experience with technology. 
“The GrandPad project, brought to me by Isabella Rowan, our program coordinator and volunteer manager, has reconnected seniors on fixed incomes with the world” after some lived in isolation during the pandemic, said Karen Ronald, the library’s executive director.  “I haven’t seen my grandson in person and this device lets me laugh and talk with him,” said Phyllis Martin, one recipient. “I have become more comfortable with the technology and I want to thank the library and hope we can continue to use them.”
The grant expires Sept. 30 and the library will need to set up a fundraising program to keep the program going. For information, contact Rowan at 561-266-9490 or isabella.rowan@delraylibrary.org 

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Ethan Shapiro, head of school at Saint Andrew’s School, was named the Business Leader of the Year during the Boca Chamber’s annual business awards luncheon in March at Boca West Country Club.
Boca Raton Innovation Campus was recognized as the Business of the Year. The Small Business Leader of the Year Award recipient was Erick Solms, president of Simplitfy.
The awards honor entrepreneurs and businesspeople who generate economic prosperity and have strong philanthropic involvement in the community.

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Gina Pierre of Amazon Hub Delray received a President Joseph R. Biden Lifetime Achievement Award for being part of the first minority mother/daughter duo to own and operate an Amazon Hub and Amazon counter location in the United States. 
“I don’t set out to win awards. But when you receive an award it’s an affirmation. It means that people appreciate what you do. Every award I have received is a confirmation of something I have done, and that motivates me to push a little harder,” Pierre said. 
Amazon Hub Delray is at 401 W. Atlantic Ave.

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Florida Peninsula Insurance announced that litigation manager Paige Crider received the Emerging Leader Award at the inaugural Florida Women in Insurance Leadership Awards, presented in Tallahassee by the Gunster law firm. The luncheon served as part of Gunster’s Leading Florida Forward initiative.
Florida Peninsula’s director of special investigations, Virginia Austin, and the underwriting analytics manager, Tamie Moran, received recognition as nominees. 

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In an annual Mother’s Day promotion, shoppers can receive a phalaenopsis orchid plant with every $200 they spend at downtown Delray Beach’s stores, gift shops, art galleries, spas, salons and fitness studios through May 7. To claim an orchid, bring a receipt dated May 2 through 7 to the front of Global Pursuit at 400 E. Atlantic Ave. or Sara Campbell at 1051 E. Atlantic from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 5-7. Restaurant, green market, hotel stay, food and beverage receipts are not valid.

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

Sharon Goldstein, 89, on the pool steps at Berkshire by the Sea in Delray Beach. Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Almost-90 fitness fan makes big splash with her seaside water aerobics classes

By Mary Thurwachter

Sharon Goldstein’s students wear caps with substantial visors and dark sunglasses to partake in her morning water aerobics sessions at Berkshire by the Sea. After all, the sun can be brutal as it rises over the Atlantic.
Goldstein’s class isn’t brutal, but it’s no walk in the park either.
“It’s a place to get some healthy exercise,” the soon-to-be nonagenarian says. (She’ll turn 90 in September.) “I work them very hard. It is work, but something you get used to.”
The classes are free and offered Monday through Friday from mid-March to the end of April, when Goldstein lives at her Delray Beach timeshare.
Her students are “quite a bionic group,” she says. “I have so many people in the pool with me that have had hip replacements, knee replacements and shoulder replacements. It’s been great for them because most doctors, after they’ve had that kind of surgery, will recommend exercise after they’ve gone to rehab. They tell them to get to a pool and walk. I expand on that theme.”
The water workouts have helped Goldstein stay fit. “I don’t have any bionic parts,” she laughs.
Her daughter Jane Kapusta says: “Mom has always been into exercise and eating healthy. She is not an extremist. Desserts are usually included after dinner.”

People in the seasonal classes are ’quite a bionic group,’ Goldstein says, with various joint replacements. She took up water aerobics at age 75 after injuring her foot while playing tennis.

Commanding attention
Sometimes, the morning workouts become a little too social.
“At the beginning of each class, I announce that the only voice I want to hear is mine, otherwise I kind of lose control when everybody starts talking,” Goldstein says.
The suntanned fitness guru has been coming to the Berkshire, a 51-unit timeshare resort on North Ocean Boulevard in Delray Beach, for more than 40 years, but didn’t start teaching water aerobics there until 15 years ago.
The mother of five from Milwaukee took up tennis when she was 40, loved it and excelled at it until a foot injury sidelined her at age 75. That’s when she took the plunge into water aerobics.
“It was such a wonderful outlet because when I couldn’t play tennis anymore, I thought, oh, what am I going to do?” she says. “My life is at an end. But then one of my dear friends said ‘you would really enjoy water aerobics. Try it.’ I did — and I got hooked.”
The following winter, when she arrived at the Berkshire, she marched down to the pool first thing in the morning and began to do water exercises. Another woman asked to join her and, before long, a class was born.
“We put up notices right in front of the elevator that there was a water aerobics class from 9 to 10 every day Monday through Friday, and no charge. Come and exercise and get some healthy workouts,” Goldstein recalls. “That’s kind of how it evolved.”
Music was part of the program from the start but as time went on, she got help with that.
“One of the guys comes with his iPad or pod and plays music,” she says. “I’m so not tech; all I know is he has this small thing, and he connects it to that, and it makes wonderful music.”
Most any kind of music will do, she says: “Disco, songs from musicals, all kinds of stuff just as long as it has a decent beat.”
She learned many of the exercises during classes she takes four days a week back in Wisconsin, although she does improvise. Exercise balls and pool noodles used in her classes are provided by the resort, for which she is most grateful. Early on, she bought those items herself.
She’s also grateful for “Sergio and Heron,” two resort employees who faithfully clean the pool before each class. “The pool sparkles every morning,” Goldstein says.

The Berkshire provides pool noodles and someone else brings a music player to spice up the class.

Positive feedback
Reviews of her work can be collected by talking to the folks around the pool or in the hot tub where arthritic exercisers go to unwind after the vigorous sessions conclude.
“I’ve been with her since the first year,” says 79-year-old Bonnie Arnold from Prince Edward Island province in Canada. “I have a lot of arthritis. It has certainly helped me.”
When the group gets chatty, Goldstein “gets us to settle down. We laugh and carry on. We have a good time. The feeling is just wonderful.”
Another student is Goldstein’s daughter from Mazomanie, Wisconsin. Kapusta says her mom is “not a drill sergeant, but wants everyone to get a great hour of water aerobic exercise, but at each person’s physical ability and to stay focused during class.”
Kapusta, 62, has a bad back and goes at her own pace but says she still gets a great workout.
One of Goldstein’s students discovered she and Goldstein were neighbors back in Milwaukee.
“We both live on Lake Michigan about two blocks apart,” says Mary Dengel, 83. While most in the class stay at the Berkshire, Dengel has an apartment at the East Wind Beach Club co-op next door. “We’ve become very good friends,” says Dengel, who like Goldstein is a widow.
Goldstein’s husband, Bob, died a year and a half ago at 92 from complications of COVID-19. He had been an enthusiastic participant in his wife’s aqua exercise classes.
“Sharon’s just amazing how she does these water aerobics,” Dengel says. “We do a lot of stretching and we jog in place and get our heart going.”
Certain weeks have bigger groups, Goldstein says. “We have the turnover people that are only here for a week or two or three, and then I get a new group. But most of them are repeaters.
“My biggest thrill is when they come back and say ‘oh, I continued this when I went home.’ That’s always a good feeling for me.” 

By Amy Woods

The Martin F. Greenberg Family Foundation contributed $1 million to a health care cause that will result in the naming of the post-anesthesia care unit.
On the second floor of Boca Raton Regional Hospital’s Center for Surgical Services, the state-of-the-art Martin F. Greenberg and Family PACU will have 26 bays, isolation rooms and two nurses stations.
“When I decide to support an organization, it’s really because it tickles my fancy,” Greenberg said of the hospital and its foundation. “Its mission and goals need to be sound and impactful. And, just as importantly, its people need to be worthy. The hospital and the foundation ... they are made up of special people.”
The donation, announced in March, brought to $224 million the total raised for “Keeping the Promise — the Campaign for Boca Raton Regional Hospital.”
The goal is $250 million for the largest fundraising initiative in the hospital’s history. The money is supporting its most ambitious period of expansion.
“This leadership gift to Boca Regional is especially meaningful to me and Tali because it benefits our friends and neighbors,” Greenberg said, referring to his wife. “Boca Raton Regional Hospital has a great impact on our community, and we want to do everything we can to support it.”
For more information, call 561-955-4142 or visit https://donate.brrh.com.

Boynton Woman’s Club awards scholarships
The Boynton Woman’s Club, which has been awarding scholarships to local high schoolers for nearly 50 years, continued the tradition by giving out five more to students who plan to attend Florida colleges in the fall.
The recipients were honored at a luncheon at Quail Ridge Country Club.
“All applicants were so talented, and it was very difficult to make decisions,” club president Christy Hintz said. “Our winners stood out though because they were all so accomplished and articulate, and each one had made a special effort to help other people.”
The recipients are:
• Jake Palmer, Park Vista Community High School
• Daniela Rivera, Boynton Beach Community High School
• Ryan “RJ” Rudnet, Park Vista
• Ryan Sohn, Park Vista
• Christian Tomas, Park Vista
A separate scholarship intended for a woman who is returning to continue her education, was awarded to Nilza Madden.
“This has made such a difference in my life,” Madden said. “When I graduate, I will be able to contribute to the health of our communities and also fulfill a longtime goal of making a difference to the well-being of everyone in the whole community.”
For more information, call 561-369-2300 or visit www.boyntonwomansclub.com.

Impact 100 announces winners of $100,000 grants
Impact 100 Palm Beach County announced winners of its $100,000 grants for 2021-2022.
Recipients are: Young Singers of the Palm Beaches — South County Sings for Healing in the Arts, culture & historic preservation category; Friends of Foster Children — Kinship Care & Connections, in the family category; Marine Education Initiative — Sustainable Agriculture Education Initiative, in the environment & animal welfare category; Xcel Mentoring Network — Youth Training & Wellness Project that addresses career training and health, in the education category; the Soup Kitchen — Lift Up, in the health & wellness category.
Additional grant winners are Unicorn Children’s Foundation — Family Navigator Program; and Love Serving Autism — Serving with Heart in South Palm Beach County.
Impact 100 PBC is a group of philanthropic women who award grants to 501(c)(3) nonprofits to allow them to launch or expand high-impact initiatives or programs.

For more information, call 561-336-4623 or visit www.impact100pbc.org/contact-us

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

Some of Les Girls are (front, l-r)Maureen Hamilton, Neide Duran, Roshan Massoumi, Laila Sedfaoui, Monika Erikson; (second row) Cobie Bill, Sophia Isaac, Monique Sheft, Poonsri Pierce, Rita Sullivan; (back) Nelly Mellander, Mignon Gardner, Stephanie Lefes, Margarita Abrishami, Margaret Kallman and Carlene Kolbe. Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Tao Woolfe

The women lined up along the eastern wall of the tiny, posh Palm Beach restaurant, looking more like rows of flowers than members of a private diplomatic corps.
They were dressed in bright spring dresses and hats, trying their best to squeeze together for a group photo without losing their composure — or bumping their neighbors’ brims.
The occasion was the 50th anniversary of Les Girls of Palm Beach, a social club for women born outside the United States. Represented in the photo — and the club — are some 30 nationalities among its 45 members.
Although the luncheon at Cafe L’Europe in late March was a special event, the club holds similar events throughout the year at various Palm Beach venues to celebrate the international network members have created.
“Many of the women come to this country and may not have a community they can turn to,” said Rita Sullivan, who moved from Spain, lives in Palm Beach and serves as the group’s media liaison. “The club provides that support.”

Les Girls (l-r) Carlene Kolbe, Maureen Hamilton and Laila Sedfaoui.

The club also provides support to charities in the West Palm Beach area, donating funds to a different cause each year. Among the recent recipients are the Lighthouse for the Blind of the Palm Beaches, The Lord’s Place, St. Ann Place, Holy Ground homeless shelter and Hope House.
The charities are chosen by the club’s board of directors, which also decides who will be allowed into the club. Members sponsor new potential members, but everyone is interviewed and carefully vetted before joining the ranks, Sullivan said at a recent meeting of the board.
“We don’t advertise at all,” said Marcella De Muth Gintowt, the board chair, who lives in West Palm Beach. “We do screen.”
A few exceptions are made for candidates who are not foreign-born, but they must have strong ties to another country — either through language or culture, or both.
Using her background as an example, Sullivan, who has lived in the United States for nearly 50 years, says that “I am American, but I am Spanish in my heart.”

Les Girls (l-r) Estela Fanjul, Martina Covarrubias, Andree Dowling, Henya Betras, Sophia Isaac and Rita Sullivan with seated Marcella De Muth Gintowt. 

Although the current members would not reveal names, they said celebrities had graced the ranks: an opera singer from Finland, a Vogue model, the wife of a Coca-Cola mogul.
Asked whether they had an opinion on this nation’s controversies about immigration, the board of directors seemed to physically draw back from the conversation.
“We don’t talk about politics,” said De Muth Gintowt. “We are diplomatically very neutral. We don’t let that divide us.”
But at least two of the members at the anniversary luncheon silently expressed solidarity with a nation in distress. They were dressed in yellow dresses and wore bright blue hats: the colors of Ukraine.
“From Finland to Venezuela, from Scotland to Iran. … We have come in all ages, different backgrounds and faiths,” club president Martina Covarrubias said in her speech opening the luncheon festivities.
She was quoting from a speech given by founding member Giovanna Phillips at the club’s 25th anniversary.
Phillips, who taught Spanish, English and French at the Palm Beach Recreation Center, formed Les Girls of Palm Beach at the request of her students, who wanted to get together to practice their new language skills.
According to club history, the growing membership met monthly for lunch, and later, dinner at members’ homes. An early qualification for inclusion was a home large enough to entertain the ranks — including, at times, the husbands.
Members would bring typical dishes from their native countries to share with the group. The tradition, however, grew unwieldy as the ranks swelled to more than 50, Sullivan said.
Through the years of events and charity work, great friendships have formed. There has even been one successful matchmaking effort, said Henya Betras of Hypoluxo Island in Lantana.
“We had a party and they met and were married,” Betras said. “These things happen.”
The members say that such networking, here and abroad, remains the key to the club’s longevity.
Or, as founder Phillips said more eloquently, “We all have in common a great secret: It is the gold of friendship.”

Members of St. Lucy Catholic Church’s Palm Beach Diocesan Council of Catholic Women donned their favorite Easter toppers to attend a festive celebration that not only recognized the holiday but also signaled the end of season. The council’s charitable activities and fundraisers include food and clothing donations for underserved people in Pahokee, helping needy mothers and children through the Birthline / Lifeline program and organizing collections for Ukraine. ABOVE: (l-r) The Rev. D. Brian Horgan, council Vice President Susan Hiles, co-President Anne Dunn, Recording Secretary Eleanor Hoffman and co-President Mary Lou Goldberg. Photo provided

Hundreds of guests enjoyed ’80s-era entertainment in support of South Florida’s most vulnerable residents. HomeSafe’s 19th annual fundraiser featured celebrity host Nicko McBrain — Iron Maiden’s drummer — and generated proceeds that will go toward the nonprofit’s mission of creating safer, more productive lives for children and families. ‘This moment in HomeSafe’s history is a huge undertaking, and we are so grateful that so many have supported our efforts during the initial fundraising phase of our Healing the Hurt campaign,’ CEO Matt Ladika said.
ABOVE: (l-r) Lori Keezer with sponsors Maggie and Ken Rosenberg and Steve Bernstein. INSET: Sponsors Debbie Lindstrom and Bob Sheetz.
Photos provided by Tracey Benson Photography

Marking its first in-person event since the onset of the pandemic, the Lion of Judah welcomed more than 300 guests to a special conversation with noted author and journalist Bari Weiss. The gathering rang in the 50th anniversary of the organization’s founding and issued a call to action for the local Jewish community. ‘Our south Palm Beach community Lions have always had a huge heart for our beloved Holocaust survivors, our special-needs community, those battling food insecurities and mental and physical illnesses,’ member Karen Dern said. ‘This work never stopped.‘ ABOVE: (l-r, seated) Michele Meisner, Robynn Ginsberg, Jill Deutch, Randi Winter, (standing) Amy Zamore, Naomi Steinberg, Wendi Lipsich, Kathy Green, Laura Beinner and Gail Greenspoon. Photo provided by Jeffrey Tholl Photography

The King David Society of the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County welcomed former Israeli President Reuven Rivlin and Israel Democracy Institute President Yohanan Plesner to a conversation that touched on current events. Topics included challenges to Israel’s democracy and future opportunities in the Jewish state. ‘The discussion was ‘insightful, stimulating and relevant to the world today,’ federation Chairman Larry Feldman said. ABOVE: Judy and Sid Swartz. Photo provided by Jeffrey Tholl Photography

The signature benefit for the Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County raised $175,000 to aid children and adults struggling with reading skills. Bestselling author Elizabeth Berg was a huge hit with attendees. Berg penned the 2021-22 Read Together Palm Beach County book The Story of Arthur Truluv. Coalition board members Bernadette O’Grady and Debra Ghostine co-chaired. ‘The luncheon was an inspiring celebration and tribute to the love of literacy and our significant efforts in the community,’ CEO Kristin Calder said. ‘We are grateful to the sponsors, volunteers and attendees for their generous support to help us increase our impact to transform lives through literacy.’ ABOVE: (l-r) Louise Glover, Christine Olson, Tandy Robinson, Berg, Deborah Dowd and Susie Roegiers. Photo provided by Tracey Benson Photography