By Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley
The Sandoway House Nature Center is the starting point for the first Sandoway House Blue Water 5K Run and 1K Doggie Walk on Nov. 12 in Delray Beach.
“We couldn’t think of a better way to have people see the center and be exposed to all it has to offer,” says Michael Kravit of Boca Raton, president of the center’s board and the organizer of this event.
All the proceeds will benefit the not-for-profit nature center that is home to live sharks, lizards, snakes, turtles, tortoises and tarantulas, as well as a collection of 10,000 shells (only about 20 percent are on display at one time) and a butterfly garden of native plants.
And through Jan. 15, there’s an exhibit of Ice Age fossils from animals that roamed Florida from 10,000 to 1.8 million years ago.
“We need to preserve our natural history and the natural beauty of Florida’s ecosystems,” says executive director Patrick Morehouse.
There’s human history here, too. The center’s home was built in 1936 and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.
You can enter the nature center through its screened front porch where you’ll be greeted by Crystal, a talking macaw with vibrant blue, green and yellow plumage — one of several orphan animals that have been adopted by the center.
Here, you can also find Gigi, a Florida box turtle, eating a plate of scrambled eggs. Volunteer Marilyn Toftsted discovered the animal likes the eggs one day when she was eating breakfast. So now she makes them especially for Gigi.
You’ll also meet Speedy, a gopher tortoise. On our visit, we found him sitting on his plate, having devoured corn on the cob, strawberries, spinach, sweet potatoes and yellow squash topped with an orange hibiscus bloom. “It looks like garnish, but he really eats it,” says Toftsted, who has volunteered at the center for more than five years.
In a small plastic pool here on the porch, you’ll find Sam the box turtle and Custard, a soft-shell turtle. Morehouse hopes to release Sam back into the wild in the next few months.
And don’t miss the sharks. You’ll find them swimming with other fish in a 15,000-gallon coral reef tank that started life as the house’s in-ground swimming pool. Morehouse explains that it was altered to stand up to the stresses of salt water and wildlife.
Today it’s home to a spotfin burrfish or puffer fish; blue runners that are quick-swimming members of the jack family and grunt fish. These look bright with their yellow and blue horizontal stripes and black vertical accents.
But the biggest attraction is the three small nurse sharks.
As Morehead tosses chunks of Spanish sardines, shelled clams and squid, the fish gather at one end of the pool. Each shark gets about two pounds of food a day, he says.
While the other fish are quiet and polite, the sharks grab for their food. Their mouths form a vacuum that results in a sucking noise, explains Morehouse. It’s this sound — like a nursing child — that got them their name.
The largest shark is Miss Barbie, a teenager that’s about four feet long. She’s also the favorite of Kate Graham, 10, who is visiting with her mother and two brothers from Switzerland.
Morehouse tells the group that if you have been swimming off the beach in South Florida, you’ve probably been near a shark.
Tom Delfer, a student at FAU who is here as part of his classwork, takes great interest in Morehouse’s shark talk.
“I’ve have been swimming around sharks for a long time. And now I learn they aren’t threatening. It’s nice to hear,” he says.
It’s also nice to get to tour this building that was built as a home for J.B. Evans, a produce broker who spent winters in the sunny south. Constructed during the Great Depression, it was designed by Samuel Ogren Sr., the city’s first registered architect.
“He set the style for Delray Beach. He was a trailblazer,” says Roger Cope, a local architect involved with historic preservation and a member of the Delray Beach Historical Society. “Boca Raton and Palm Beach had [architect Addison] Mizner, but thank goodness we had Ogren,” he adds.
In the formal dining room of the house, you’ll find copies of historic drawings and old photos dating from when the house was built. It included four bedrooms, three bathrooms, a living room, dining room and two sun decks.
It is one of the last resort colonial revival houses left in Delray Beach. It features board and batten siding, double-hung windows and a second-story porch from which you can see the ocean and feel the refreshing breezes. It still has its original Dade County pine floors and ceilings.
“Ogren brought sophistication to a relatively simple community,” says Cope. “He gave us our first taste of affluence and style.”
When the county took over this property, it was one of the last resort colonial revival style houses in the area. “People wanted to save it,” says Tofsted.
Those people formed The Friends of Sandoway House Nature Center and raised $1 million to purchase the house and pay for renovations and operating expenses.
The Friends asked Kravit, of Kravit Architectural Associates in Boca Raton, to help with the restoration, which began in 1996. “When we started, the place was a mess,” says Kravit, who volunteered his services. But after removing lead paint, rotten wood and the additions people had made over time, it was returned it to its historic best.
Then the county leased the property to the nature center, which opened in 1998.
“Here you not only get an education about nature but also get to see a historic home,” says Suzanne Mjolsness, who was visiting the center from Iowa with her husband and parents. “I’m glad we came.”
IF YOU GO
The Sandoway House Blue Water Run takes off from the Sandoway House Nature Center, 142 S. Ocean Blvd., Delray Beach, at 7 a.m. Nov. 12. The 1K Doggie Dash begins at 7:30 a.m. They will be followed by a healthful breakfast at nearby Caffe Luna Rosa and complimentary admission to the nature center.
The run is $35; the Doggie Dash, $25. All proceeds benefit the nature center. To register, visit www.AccuChip Timing.com (click on the Event Calendar and then the date). For information, call 274-7263.
The Sandoway House (www.sandowayhouse.org) is open Tuesday through Sunday. Shark feedings are at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 1:30 Sunday. There’s a fossil talk at 2 p.m. Friday. There’s a $4 entry donation requested.
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