harbour's edge - News - The Coastal Star2024-03-28T18:45:03Zhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/harbour%27s+edgeDelray Beach: Suited for the job: Stylish valet brightens seniors’ dinner hourhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/delray-beach-suited-for-the-job-stylish-valet-brightens-seniors-d2023-03-29T16:36:03.000Z2023-03-29T16:36:03.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p style="text-align:center;"><em><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}11009448458,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}11009448458,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="710" alt="11009448458?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a>John Jackson helps Birgit Grove settle in for dinner at Harbour’s Edge. He wears diff-erent colors each day. </em><br /><strong><em>Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star</em> </strong></p>
<p><strong>By Ron Hayes</strong></p>
<p>All the men and women who serve the 340 elderly diners at Harbour’s Edge, a luxury senior living community in Delray Beach, dress with the utmost professionalism.<br /> All their collared shirts are light blue and crisp, their slacks are black, their shoes and socks are black.<br /> All except one.<br /> “When I started here, they gave me a uniform,” John Jackson concedes. “But I said, I can’t do the uniform, so I started wearing my street clothes. I had to give back something.”<br /> Street clothes does not begin to describe what Jackson has worn to work this Thursday afternoon in March.<br /> Relaxing at a table outside the Edgewater dining room before his 5 p.m. shift, he sports a suit so red it almost could make Santa jealous, a black dress shirt, red-and-black plaid socks, a white necktie and white boutonniere.<br /> “I’ve upgraded the job,” he explains. “Not the work, but the dressing. That’s what the residents love. They come down every day just to see what I’ve got on. And after they see my suit, they want to see my shoes.”<br /> How to describe those shoes?<br /> They are red, of course, to match the suit, and they sparkle. Imagine for a moment that the same designer who created Judy Garland’s ruby red slippers had also conjured a pair of manly dress shoes for John Jackson.<br /> “I have 35 or 40 pairs of shoes,” he adds. <br /> Jackson wore a different outfit to work yesterday, and he will wear a different one tomorrow.<br /> “I know how to mix and match,” he says. “Most people, black or white, don’t know how to do that.”<br /> He spots a little woman in a canary yellow blouse maneuvering her walker across the lobby.<br /> “Oh, I like that blouse!” he calls. “It’s very pretty. And you’re walking better!”<br /> She returns his greeting with a “Thank you” and a smile.<br /> “You go to anybody over 65, there’s always something wrong with them,” Jackson says, watching her go. “Your body starts breaking down. I got problems, but when I come here I don’t think about what’s wrong with me. I keep it moving. I’m 81 and I’m enjoying my ride. A kind word and a smile changes everything.” At work in the dining room overlooking the Intracoastal Waterway, Jackson does not take orders or deliver meals. Anthony Cammarano, the director of culinary services, calls him a “valet.” The ID badge around his neck calls him a “scooter valet.” Residents call him the “walker valet.”<br /> Once the diners have reached their tables, their walkers and wheelchairs are a hazard, blocking aisles and hindering the servers. Jackson’s job is to valet the walkers and wheelchairs to a small area off the maitre d’s stand, and retrieve them when the residents are ready to leave.<br /> “I remember their names and the color of their walker,” he says. “I’ve got a system. The ones that come early, I put the walkers in a certain place, and the ones that come later I put in a different place.”</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}11009449668,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}11009449668,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="710" alt="11009449668?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a>John Jackson’s job as valet is to move residents’ walkers and wheelchairs out of the way during dinner. He keeps track by organizing them into early and later arrivals and then remembers which residents have which colors. <strong>Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star</strong></em></p>
<p><strong>Clothes call</strong><br /> Jackson began at Harbour’s Edge more than a decade ago, after spending most of his working life as a private duty nurse.<br /> “I worked at a nursing home in Brooklyn, and then I was in Chicago nursing a multimillionaire. I had my own room, my own phone and my own car.”<br /> At Harbour’s Edge, to the north of Linton Boulevard, he began as a concierge, took a few years off for another nursing job, then returned as the walker valet. After a nearly two-year interruption when the coronavirus hit, he considered retiring, briefly. The allure of friendly residents and colorful clothes brought him back in April 2022.<br /> “The residents absolutely look forward to seeing him,” says Cammarano, the culinary director. “He knows them all and he provides a service they look forward to.”<br /> You might argue that Jackson began preparing for this job as a boy in Wilmington, North Carolina, where he was born, one of eight brothers and sisters, on Christmas Eve 1941.<br /> When he was 12, Jackson’s mother had a charge account at a downtown men’s store, where she bought him a suit for $29, to be paid off at $2 a week.<br /> “Well, it looked like a croker sack,” he says, distaste creeping into his voice at the memory. “I mean, it was ugly. So I took it back and exchanged it for a $49 gray flannel suit, and when my mother found out she made me pay $2 a week until I paid it off.”<br /> He had a job in a neighborhood grocery store then, earning $9 a week, so after giving his mother $5 a week toward the rent and $2 to pay off that suit, Jackson was left with $2 spending money. But he has no regrets.<br /> “This was about 1953,” he says, “and that’s when I started getting fascinated with clothes.”<br /> Not long ago, a new book appeared in the Harbour’s Edge library, just a single copy, the only copy.<br /> Gentleman John is a homemade tribute with page after page of John Jackson modeling his seemingly endless wardrobe of flamboyant ensembles. The photos were taken by Judy Weitzmann, the book compiled by Helen Mctighe, the comments contributed by some of the other residents he inspires:<br /> “Elegance with pizzaz” — Susanna Smith.<br /> “No. 1 on the hit parade” — June Davis.<br /> “You sparkle and shine” — Lee Emmer.<br /> “Something extra to add to our dining experience.” — Gloria Weiner.<br /> “I wish I dressed as well as John.” — Audrey Kaufman.<br /> “A living work of art. He brings the joy of living to everyone who sees him.” — Linda Sandelman.</p>
<p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}11009450065,RESIZE_1200x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}11009450065,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="710" alt="11009450065?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a></p>
<p><strong>Motivation for all</strong><br /> Away from work, Jackson lives a contented life in the Leisureville section of Boynton Beach. He’s divorced, and the father of four children born before he was 25. Two daughters and a son survive. His oldest son died of COVID-19 at 63.<br /> Nowadays he likes what he calls “the old music.” Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin and Jamaican reggae, and he likes dancing to it.<br /> “I have a very fine girlfriend,” he reports, “but if I lose her I won’t have another one. I’ll just flirt.”<br /> And travel is not so important anymore.<br /> “I’ve been on cruises but I don’t like them,” he says. “There’s too much damned water.”<br /> He works five days a week, 5 to 9 p.m., and now it’s nearly time. As he’s preparing to head for the dining room, Shirley Bonier, 94, and Marjorie Grande, 97, pass by and receive a kind word and a smile.<br /> “He’s the best thing that ever happened to Harbour’s Edge,” Grande says.<br /> “He brings color to the place,” Bonier agrees. “We look forward to seeing John every time we come down.”<br /> Seven decades after he bought that $49 gray flannel suit, the fascination with clothes still gives John Jackson a reason to come to work, and the men and women of Harbour’s Edge a reason to smile.<br /> “They might not remember what they ate, but they remember what I had on,” he says, heading to the dining room. “I don’t care how much money you’ve got or how high your status is, it’s all about love. Most of us are on our last ride here, so this is a motivation for me and for them.”<br /> Then he pauses a moment to consider. <br /> “Tomorrow,” he decides, “I’m going to wear blue and white.” </p></div>Health & Harmony: Keeping active and engaged is key to long life, author sayshttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/health-harmony-keeping-active-and-engaged-is-key-to-long-life-aut2018-08-28T18:48:01.000Z2018-08-28T18:48:01.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p class="p1" style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960807255,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img width="750" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960807255,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960807255?profile=original" /></a><em>Harbour’s Edge resident Nancy Flynn is working with a trainer as part of author Roger Landry’s program. She sits with his book and her French bulldog Jazz. <b>Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star</b></em></p>
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<p class="p1"><strong>By Lona O'Connor</strong></p>
<p class="p1">All the evidence was that the residents of the Harbour’s Edge senior community were more than ready to <i>Live Long, Die Short</i>, as in the title of the book whose author, Roger Landry, was about to pitch his program for a vital old age. Every seat in the large banquet room was filled, with walkers and other devices parked in all the remaining available space. Those who could stand, mostly staff members, lined the walls.</p>
<p class="p3"><span class="Apple-tab-span"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960807468,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960807468,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="101" class="align-left" alt="7960807468?profile=original" /></a></span>And if there were any skeptics, Walter Krueger, from Abbey Delray, another Lifespace retirement community in Delray Beach, gave them an endorsement.</p>
<p class="p3">“We’ve been involved in the program for two years at Abbey Delray,” he said. “It’s so important in life to have a plan. People say, ‘Oh, I’m through.’ I had a bucket list when I retired, three pages on a legal pad. I cross off one and added two more on the bottom. By keeping active, you’re the boss and CEO. You’re running things. You’re directing all your energies for the first time in your life.”</p>
<p class="p3">Nancy Flynn, part of the team that brought the Masterpiece Living program to Harbour’s Edge, is using the program and has begun to work with a trainer.</p>
<p class="p3">“I’ve been here less than two years,” she told the group. “I’m in my mid-70s, I lost my husband and came to Harbour’s Edge to expand my connection with people. The point is that the programs are available here to maintain your health while you age.”</p>
<p class="p3">Landry was a flight surgeon for 22 years before joining his brother Larry in forming the Masterpiece Living program and to write <i>Live Long, Die Short</i>. The core of the program is that living a healthy lifestyle allows people to age with less pain and more joy and purpose, and to die “short,” without years of illness and pain.</p>
<p class="p3">He teased his audience about the perennial failure of New Year’s resolutions. </p>
<p class="p3">“Why do we fail?” Landry said. “Because we take on too much.” He offered the Japanese idea known as <i>kaizen</i>, or incremental improvement.</p>
<p class="p3">“You take small tiny baby steps towards wherever you want to go.”</p>
<p class="p3">He described his client Tony, who for a couple of years promised himself he would get more active, but never seemed to follow through.</p>
<p class="p3">“I told him just to stand during TV commercials,” Landry said. “After a week, I said, ‘Now I want you to walk in place.’”</p>
<p class="p3">Tony continued to progress. Using incremental change, said Landry, “we cannot fail and change will be durable.”</p>
<p class="p3">Landry asked the audience a series of questions based on a self-assessment in the Masterpiece program. The answers would be the basis of a program tailored to each person’s needs.</p>
<p class="p3">“First question: Are you using it? Sitting is the new smoking,” said Landry, comparing the risk factors of a sedentary lifestyle with those from using cigarettes. “Our ancestors were hunter-gatherers. Our brains, muscles, heart, everything works better when we move.”</p>
<p class="p3">More good news, said Landry, is that brain science now suggests that you <i>can</i> teach an old dog new tricks. </p>
<p class="p3">“Neuroplasticity is now the lifelong ability of the brain to rewire itself in response to what we ask it to do,” said Landry. For example, his client Nola was considering studying for a master’s degree at age 98, after fully recovering from a stroke.</p>
<p class="p3">“There’s a real benefit that comes from learning new things,” said Landry. “When they scan brains of people learning a new language, they see the brain getting heavier and thicker as it makes new connections. If you don’t want to learn a new language, how about you eat with the opposite hand? How about you get lost? Challenge yourself. Get out of your comfort zone.”</p>
<p class="p3">All those changes are enhanced by connection with other people, Landry said.</p>
<p class="p3">“We are not solo creatures. People can be annoying, but we still need them.”</p>
<p class="p3">Speaking of the social context of health, Landry added the need for a sense of value. </p>
<p class="p3">“Don’t let others put you at risk,” he advised. “People have low expectations of what aging is all about. They don’t see you as human capital. You need purpose and society needs you.”</p>
<p class="p3">And then there are the children.</p>
<p class="p3">“Don’t ever plan to live with your kids,” he said. “They love you too much to let you age in the best way possible.”</p>
<p class="p3">When Landry met Chuck Yeager, the pilot who broke the sound barrier and was immortalized in the book and film <i>The Right Stuff</i>, Yeager said he planned to do it again on the 50th anniversary of the feat. “But you’ll be 70!” Landry protested.</p>
<p class="p3">“What’s your point?” said Yeager.</p>
<p class="p3">The message, said Landry, is this: “Is your spirit or your age in charge? Never act your age. Shock people. Be out there experimenting. Life expands or contracts in proportion to our courage.” </p>
<p class="p4"><i>Lona O’Connor has a lifelong interest in health and healthy living. Send column ideas to Lona13@bellsouth.net.</i></p></div>Business Spotlight: Senior living community finishes $20 million upgradehttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/business-spotlight-senior-living-community-finishes-20-million-up2017-08-30T14:00:00.000Z2017-08-30T14:00:00.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960732654,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960732654,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" width="600" alt="7960732654?profile=original" /></a><em>Delray Beach Mayor Cary Glickstein (l-r) joins Kevin Knopf of Lifespace Communities and Dr. Leonard Sutton, president of the Harbour’s Edge resident council, to celebrate the completion of the senior living community’s $20 million renovation to add amenities. <strong>Photo provided</strong></em></p>
<p><strong>By Christine Davis</strong></p>
<p> Harbour’s Edge, a senior living community at 401 E. Linton Blvd., Delray Beach, recently completed the $20 million renovation of its new Lifelong Learning Center, a renovated theater, new spa and fitness center, a second dining venue and a remodeled restaurant with a new exhibition kitchen and wine bar. Also, it named a new executive director, James Horsman, a hotelier with more than 30 years of luxury hotel and resort experience at properties that include The Ritz-Carlton Hotel company and Destination Hotels.<br /> <br /> <a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960732683,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960732683,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-left" width="202" alt="7960732683?profile=original" /></a></p>
<p> Garlic Fest may have moved to Lake Worth, but Delray Beach artist Rebecca Loveless still comes out smelling like a rose. She won the first place SUNsational Award for the best commemorative poster during the Florida Festivals & Events Association’s 23rd annual convention and trade show in Orlando last month.<br /> Other local winners in the $250,000-plus budget category were iHeart Media, first place for best radio spot; and Real Time Marketing Group of Delray Beach, third place for best website, <a href="http://www.sflgarlicfest.com">www.sflgarlicfest.com</a>.<br /> Garlic Fest was founded to establish a fundraising source for local nonprofit organizations. The festival donated more than $610,000 this year.<br /> The Florida Festivals & Events Association is a not-for-profit group that supports and promotes more than 3,500 festivals, events and fairs in Florida. <br /> <br /> In August, Alexander P. Lee, 20, of Delray Beach, became a member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars. The son of Delray Beach residents Terry and Dorothy Lee, he is a junior at Florida Atlantic University majoring in mechanical engineering.</p>
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<p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960732696,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960732696,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-full" width="413" alt="7960732696?profile=original" /></a> Kaufman Lynn Construction, which has its corporate office in Boca Raton with other offices in Florida, North Carolina and Texas, announced two new hires and two promotions. <br /> Tom Thrasher was named vice president of operations in Kaufman Lynn’s South Florida headquarters. Previously, Thrasher held positions with Batson-Cook Construction, W.G. Yates and Sons and Archer-Western/Walsh Construction. Thrasher’s experience included building dam projects, call centers and data centers for Blue Cross Blue Shield in Texas. <br /> Jeff Blong joined Kaufman Lynn as vice president of preconstruction in its South Florida headquarters. He has worked on commercial projects that include performing arts centers, airports, churches and athletic facilities. He has held positions with Manhattan Construction Co., Hunt Construction Group and Hensel Phelps Construction Co. <br /> Derek Wolfhope and Dan Root have both been promoted to vice presidents of operations. Wolfhope has been at Kaufman Lynn for 10 years. Notable projects he’s contributed to include the Art Square in Hallandale, Claude Pepper Community Center, Signature at Doral, South of Atlantic in Delray Beach, Residences at Broken Sound, Pembroke Pines YMCA and Evernia Place in West Palm Beach. He’s also contributed to the renovations of Palm Beach State College and the construction of multifamily communities. <br /> Root, who oversees Kaufman Lynn’s Estero office, led the company’s preconstruction and construction effort for Moorings Park at Grey Oaks, a continuing care retirement community in southwest Florida. The Associated Builders and Contractors Florida Gulf Coast Chapter recognized the project with an Excellence in Construction award. <br /> <br /> Yachtico Inc., a company within the Research Park at Florida Atlantic University, was singled out as a “Florida Company to Watch” by Florida economic development organization GrowFL. <br /> The research park provides an environment for companies in the research and development stages. It is home to 20 high-tech, high-wage companies and five support organizations. <br /> Yachtico operates a regional Technology Business Incubator with companies that collectively employ 1,484 people with average salaries of $57,739, which include 149 FAU alumni and 107 student interns. <br /> In 2016, the overall economic impact of the research park activities was $643.5 million.<br /> Yachtico connects customers who want to rent or charter boats with fleet operators and boat owners. GrowFL is certified by the National Center for Economic Gardening through the Edward Lowe Foundation, a national nonprofit that supports entrepreneurship through research, recognition and educational programs. <br /> <br /> The Greater Boynton Beach Chamber of Commerce’s networking luncheon on Sept. 13 will host a program featuring city Police Chief Jeffrey Katz. Networking will begin at 11:30 a.m. with the program to follow at noon. Cost is $25. The event will be held at Benvenuto, 1730 N. Federal Hwy, Boynton Beach. <br /> The chamber also is gearing up for its 47th annual Boynton Beach Chamber Golf Tournament, which will be Oct. 20 at the Indian Spring Country Club, 11501 El Clair Ranch Road, Boynton Beach. Registration will be at 11:30 a.m.; a box lunch will be at noon; and the shotgun start is scheduled for 1 followed by a reception and award ceremony at 5:30. <br /> Prices are $550 for a foursome and $150 for a single player. To be a tee sign sponsor, the cost is $100. The tournament is sponsored by Porges & Eisenberg CPA LLC, TooJay’s, Florida Power & Light, Senior Helpers, Bethesda Help, and Palm Beach Community Bank. For information and to register, call 732-9501 or email elda@boyntonbeach.org <br /> <br /> The Lord’s Place ranked seventh of the Top 30 Best Mid-sized Florida Companies to Work For in “The Best Companies” list featured in Florida Trend magazine’s August issue. This was the fourth consecutive year the organization made the list. <br /> The Lord’s Place has worked for more than 30 years to help homeless people in Palm Beach County. Each year, hundreds of men, women and children transition out of homelessness at The Lord’s Place family campus, its men’s campus, three sites for homeless women and at more than 20 apartments throughout the county. The organization provides job training and placement as well as clinical services.<br /> <br /> The Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties this year awarded $1.2 million in scholarships to 125 students who were evaluated by an advisory committee of board members and community volunteers based on a written application, test scores, transcripts and interviews. Individual scholarships ranged from $1,000 to $36,000 and were given to students from 32 high schools and colleges. <br /> For information on the scholarship program, or about establishing a charitable fund at the Community Foundation, call 659-6800 or visit <a href="http://www.yourcommunityfoundation.org">www.yourcommunityfoundation.org</a>.<br /> <br /> <a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960732855,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960732855,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-left" width="98" alt="7960732855?profile=original" /></a>The League of Women Voters of Palm Beach County will offer two issues-oriented events this month. The first, a luncheon on “Why Courts Matter: The Impact Federal Court Decisions Have on Daily Lives,” is from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sept. 20 at the Atlantis Country Club, 190 Atlantis Blvd., Lake Worth. The keynote speaker is Nancy Abudu, director of legal operation for the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida. Tickets are $25 before Sept. 10 and $35 after. Register online at <a href="">www.lwvpbc.org or</a> call 968-4123. <br /> The second event, at 6 p.m. Sept. 27, features Irving Labovitz, adjunct professor of business law at Florida Atlantic University, whose topic is “Constitutional Crises (de jour) Guaranteed to Keep You Up at Night.” The free presentation and Q&A will be held at the Palm Beach Post Auditorium, 2751 S. Dixie Highway, West Palm Beach. Register online at <a href="http://www.lwvpbc.org">www.lwvpbc.org</a>. <br /> <br /> <a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960732470,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960732470,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" width="600" alt="7960732470?profile=original" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em>The WAV Group, a real estate business and consulting firm, gave the Realtors Association of the Palm Beaches and Greater Fort Lauderdale Realtors its first WAVes of Change Award. ABOVE: (l-r) Marilyn Wilson, founder of the WAV Group; Kim Hansen, the Realtors’ chief operating office; Dionna Hall, their CEO, and Ron Lennen, president-elect. <strong>Photo provided</strong></em></p>
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<p> The Realtors Association of the Palm Beaches and Greater Fort Lauderdale Realtors were recognized as the top fundraising team by Habitat for Humanity Palm Beach County. <br /> The group donated more than $5,200, and team captain Kim Flossie won the Pink Hammer Top Individual Fundraising Award. <br /> The Community Outreach Taskforce of the Palm Beaches created a team, Tutu’s and Tool Belts, that raised money and helped construct a roof of a home. <br /> Also, the association was honored by the WAV Group, a real estate business and consulting firm, with the first WAVes of Change Award for taking innovative steps to create positive waves of change in the industry.<br /> <br /> The Space of Mind, a schoolhouse and community studio for students, adults, families and educators, will host a family open house from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Sept. 9 to introduce its new coaches as well as the interior redesign. <br /> The studio is at 102 N. Swinton Ave., Delray Beach. For information, call 877-407-1122 or visit <a href="http://www.myspaceofmind.com">www.myspaceofmind.com</a>.<br /> <br /> Silver International Realty opened a second business, Silver International Realty 30A, for agents in the Santa Rosa Beach area in the Florida Panhandle. Owner Christel Silver’s daughter, Sabine Robertson, is on the sales team, and her grandson, Judson Robertson, has joined the company as an agent. <br /> The main office is at 55 SE Second Ave., Delray Beach.<br /> <br /> <em> Send business news to Christine Davis at cdavis9797@gmail.com.</em><br /></p></div>Veterans Day Service: Harbour’s Edge, Delray Beach – Nov. 11https://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/veterans-day-service-harbour-s-edge-delray-beach-nov-112016-11-30T18:12:27.000Z2016-11-30T18:12:27.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960685892,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img width="500" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960685892,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960685892?profile=original" /></a><em>Eighty-two veterans (79 men and three women) residing at Harbour’s Edge Senior Living Facility</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em>felt appreciated on Veterans Day, with each arriving at a flag-raising ceremony in a decorated golf cart.</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em>Executive Director Bob Scharmann spoke in celebration of these veterans and their importance.</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em>The Delray Beach Fire Department raised the flag. The veterans were then treated to lunch</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em>and a few words from the highest-ranking veteran resident, Maj. Frank Kennedy,</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em>who served in both World War II and Korea. ABOVE: Beverly Agardy and Al Morfee.</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><strong>Photo provided by Kim Agardy Coe</strong><br /><br /></p></div>Coastal Star: Harbour’s Edge resident fighting hunger, one bowl at timehttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/coastal-star-harbour-s-edge-resident-fighting-hunger-one-bowl-at-2016-03-03T01:50:21.000Z2016-03-03T01:50:21.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p style="text-align:center;"><strong><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960640653,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960640653,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="560" alt="7960640653?profile=original" /></a></strong><em>Delray Beach resident Peg Ekberg started an Empty Bowls drive at her Harbour’s Edge community.</em><br /><strong><em>Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star</em></strong></p>
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<p><strong>By Rich Pollack</strong><br /> <br /> It was Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Match Girl that first touched Peg Ekberg’s heart and led her to a lifetime of helping others.<br /> “I can’t stand to see someone else hurting,” she says. <br /> Ekberg, who turns 94 this month, has been helping people in need through her volunteer efforts since she was a child, when she collected money for struggling neighbors, one quarter at a time. <br /> Today, she is playing an important role in raising money for the Palm Beach County Food Bank through the Empty Bowls project, a nationwide effort to fight hunger. Supporters pay $25 each for their choice of a hand-crafted ceramic bowl and to share a simple lunch of soup, bread and a cookie with like-minded community members.<br />The bowls came from the Outlaw Pottery and Art Studio in Cocoa and were purchased by the Food Bank.<br /> Ekberg first got involved in the project three years ago through her church, Bethesda-by-the-Sea Episcopal Church in Palm Beach. <br /> A year later, the Delray Beach resident started an Empty Bowls drive in her Harbour’s Edge community, which last month drew nearly 100 residents and raised close to $4,000.<br /> While recognizing the impact one can have assisting others, Ekberg says that she gets a lot of personal satisfaction from supporting organizations that serve those in need. <br /> “To be able to help others is probably the best thing that can happen in your life,” she says. “It’s what keeps me going.” <br /> In addition to her support for the Palm Beach County Food Bank, the local organization that benefits from the Empty Bowls project, Ekberg continues to volunteer with both Planned Parenthood and the League of Women Voters, organizations she has supported for close to 75 years. <br /> “They tell me I may be the longest member of the league in Florida,” she says. <br /> A former resident of Gulf Stream who came to South Florida 30 years ago, Ekberg has served on the boards of both organizations and has served as the president of the Palm Beach County Planned Parenthood chapter. <br /> She has been active at Bethesda-by-the-Sea, serving on the church’s outreach committee, which she has chaired in the past.<br /> When the church got involved in the Empty Bowls project, Ekberg was tapped to find 250 volunteers to help. <br /> She didn’t have any problems getting recruits. <br /> “I am an old lady and people were afraid to say ‘no,’ ” she says.<br /> Ekberg later was asked to coordinate the baking of hundreds of cookies handed out to everyone who purchased a bowl.<br /> Seeing the success of the effort in Palm Beach inspired her to bring the Empty Bowls project to Harbour’s Edge.<br /> She contacted the senior living community’s activities director, Judy Stauffer, and chef Tim D’Antuono, who both greeted the idea enthusiastically. <br /> That first year, 60 Harbour’s Edge residents participated, each buying a bowl and then sitting down in the dining room for a bowl of soup prepared by the kitchen staff. The event raised about $2,500. <br /> In addition to raising money, the event helped raise awareness of the hunger issues in Palm Beach County. Ekberg had brought in Perry Borman, executive director of the Palm Beach Food Bank, and also spoke to the residents herself. <br /> “I want people to understand that those who are poor are not lazy bums,” she says. <br /> This year, the team at Harbour’s Edge agreed to host the Empty Bowls program, even though the kitchen and dining room are being renovated. Instead, tables were set up in a makeshift dining room and supporters gathered together over a lunchtime meal. <br /> “You look around the room and you get the warmest feeling because you know everybody cares,” Ekberg says. <br />“I think everybody who was there feels better knowing that they’re part of something that’s helping others.”</p></div>Home, Health, Harmony: A stroke of healing arthttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/home-health-harmony-a-stroke-of-healing-art2014-07-29T14:30:00.000Z2014-07-29T14:30:00.000ZChris Felkerhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/ChrisFelker<div><p style="text-align:center;"></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><span class="font-size-5" style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">Guild creates art to soothe patients</span> <br /> <span class="font-size-5" style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">of health center at Harbour’s Edge</span></p>
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<p style="text-align:center;"><span class="font-size-5" style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960516486,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960516486,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="216" alt="7960516486?profile=original" /></a></span><em>Artists guild member Janis Cooper, her painting on the wall,</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em>sits with Barbara Green, who was undergoing therapy</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em>at Harbour’s Edge in Delray Beach.</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><strong>Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star</strong></p>
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<p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-family:'andale mono', times;" class="font-size-2"><strong>Story by Linda Haase</strong></span></p>
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<p style="text-align:left;"> As a lifelong artist, Janis Cooper knows how color can lift one’s spirits.<br /> That’s why she and the other members of the artists guild at Harbour’s Edge continuing care retirement community created healing artwork for the campus’s 11,703-square-foot health center. <br /> The health center’s $6 million renovation, which included painting the walls soothing colors, expanding the dining room and adding a new kitchen in the 54-bed unit drew rave reviews, but Cooper felt something was missing. <br /> “It needed more art,” explains Cooper, a former commercial artist and designer who moved to Harbour’s Edge in coastal Delray Beach five years ago.<br /> But, she emphasizes, it had to be a certain type of art — the kind that helps heal. So the guild members got out their brushes and created 13 paintings, then donated them to spruce up patient rooms and hallways.<br /> “We were passionate about it. We wanted to adhere to the protocols that help people heal. We wanted to use themes that look into the future and were optimistic so it would be a sign of a future and hope for them,” says Cooper, a graduate of New England School of Art in Boston and chairwoman of the guild. <br /> The result: colorful, soothing, inspiring artwork depicting sunsets, archways, meandering rivers, people rowing into the distance and other paintings that evoke serenity.</p>
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<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960517452,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960517452,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="538" alt="7960517452?profile=original" /></a><em>Paintings by the artists guild line the walls at Harbour’s Edge in Delray Beach.</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><strong>Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star</strong></p>
<p style="text-align:left;"><br /> “This warms up what could be a very cold area, boosts a positive attitude and can help people heal faster,” says Cooper, whose work has been exhibited in galleries including the Rosen Museum Gallery in Boca Raton and the Currier Museum of Art in Manchester, N.H. <br /> “These are pieces that touch you, that attract your eye and keep your interest. They give the patients something to think about instead of the pain they might be feeling and are nice conversation starters,” says Harbour’s Edge Health Center administrator Jennifer Stevens, who is grateful for the artwork — and even happier the guild has agreed to create and donate even more artwork (after all, there are a lot of walls at the health center). “We have some very large walls and these pictures really warm up the area.” <br /> That’s the impact it had on Barbara Green, who is recovering from a fractured leg at the health center. “It makes it feel homey and brightens up the room,” says the Boynton Beach resident about the painting with the vivid sunset that adorns her room. <br /> As anyone who has ever been a patient — or even a visitor — in a hospital knows, it can be a dreary, depressing, stressful experience.<br /> Thankfully, stark white walls and white-starched uniforms that were the trademark of hospitals have gone by the wayside, says Cooper, lauding the soothing yellow/gold colors at Harbour’s Edge Health Center’s skilled nursing facility, which offers rehabilitation and short and long-term care to its residents as well as others in the community.<br /> The call for color in hospitals has a huge following. The Foundation for Photo Art in Hospitals Inc.’s mission is “to place large, framed photographs of nature and beautiful places from around the world in hospitals to give comfort and hope to patients and their families, visitors and caregivers.” The nonprofit organization, based in St. Louis and Florence, Italy, has donated artwork to more than 200 health care facilities on six continents since it was established in 2002.<br /> And here’s why: According the group’s website, healingphotoart.org, “Scientific evidence is clear and convincing. Viewing nature scenes plays a key role in creating a healing environment which can improve patient outcome.” And research suggests that the right kind of artwork can “reduce stress and anxiety, lower blood pressure, reduce the need for pain medication, increase patients’ trust and confidence and be a positive distraction for patients, visitors, and staff.”<br /> Indeed. The American Journal of Public Health notes a study showing “surgery or critical care patients who participated in guided imagery or had a picture of a landscape on their wall had a decreased need of narcotic pain medication relative to their counterparts and left the hospital earlier.”<br /> The ladies at the guild — who meet weekly at their waterfront studio at Harbour’s Edge — are ready, able and willing to do their part to help further this healing process. <br /> One of them is Charlene Miletta, who has been with the guild since Cooper created it five years ago. “I love painting seascapes and landscapes, so this was perfect for me. I wanted to create something peaceful to help them take their minds off where they are,” says Miletta, who is in the studio at least twice a week. <br /> For the artists, painting is just as therapeutic. The studio, which used to be a filled-to-the-brim storage unit until Cooper transformed it — is open for artists’ use at all times. <br /> After all, inspiration can strike at any moment. And that’s a very healthy thing.<br /> <br /> <em> Linda Haase is a freelance writer on a quest to learn — and share — all she can about how to get and stay healthy. You can reach her at lindawrites76@gmail.com.</em></p></div>Coastal Star: 8,000 hours in, hospital volunteer has no plans to slow downhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/coastal-star-8-000-hours-in-hospital-volunteer-has-no-plans-to-sl2014-06-04T19:05:38.000Z2014-06-04T19:05:38.000ZChris Felkerhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/ChrisFelker<div><p style="text-align:center;"><em><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960508055,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960508055,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="530" alt="7960508055?profile=original" /></a></em><em>Ezzat Fairplay (left), Mildred Strom and Bette Cumpton are among the 10 or so neighbors</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em>at Harbour’s Edge who knit blankets, sweaters and hats for newborns.</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><strong>Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star</strong></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"></p>
<p style="text-align:left;"><strong>By Ron Hayes<br /> <br /></strong> After her husband, Nathan, died at Hospice By The Sea in 1994, Mildred Strom was composed enough to realize she needed to find something new to do. Something to get her out of the house. Something to help her heal.<br /> And so she returned to Hospice By The Sea, as a volunteer.<br /> Four years later, she volunteered at Boca Raton Regional Hospital.<br /> And then, almost four years ago, she and about 10 neighbors at Harbour’s Edge in Delray Beach started knitting sweaters, blankets and hats and sending them to newborns in hospitals throughout the United States. <br /> “I know it’s a cliché that when you volunteer you get more than you give,” she says, “but it’s true. You’ve got to keep busy so you’re not sitting home thinking about your aches and pains. And sad to say, that’s what a lot of people do.”<br /> In the decades since she walked back into the hospice as a new widow hoping to volunteer, Strom has tallied nearly 8,000 volunteer hours; and in April, the Boca Raton hospital’s Debbie-Rand Memorial Service League named her its Volunteer of the Year.<br /> “She’s fantastic,” says Aimee Yahn-Carmichael, the hospital’s director of volunteer services. “Dedicated, loyal, dependable, hardworking and willing to take on any new challenge.”<br /> The honor is not offered lightly or easily earned. About 700 of Boca Raton Regional Hospital’s 1,000 volunteers are active each week in more than 70 areas of the hospital. From those 700, a Volunteer of the Month is chosen, and from those 12 honorees, an annual Volunteer of the Year is named at the April luncheon.<br /> “You need to be serious and look at it the same as you would a job,” says Strom. “You have to take the work seriously. We have some who goof off, and they’re asked to leave.”<br /> Raised in Belrose, Long Island, Strom brought along a lifetime of work experience at Manhattan’s broadcast advertising agencies when she and her husband retired to Boca Raton in 1989. The skills she was paid for up North she now gives away as a volunteer.<br /> During her 16 years with the Debbie-Rand Service League, she’s worked in the director’s office, served on the board of trustees, the lobby sales committee and the ways and means committee. <br />She resigned last year as membership chairman after nine years.<br /> And then every Thursday morning, she and her friends in “Stitches From The Heart” spend two hours in a meeting room at Harbour’s Edge, knitting baby clothes.<br /> “I’ll be 88 in June,” she says “and I’m one of the babies here. Some of the women can do a sweater in a day. I can do a hat in two days. But it’s healthy to stay active and you make lifelong friends, so I’ll volunteer as long as my family doesn’t take my car away.”<br /> And when she’s not volunteering?<br /> Strom laughs.<br /> “I sleep! And I read and — oh! — I also help in our Harbour’s Edge library, taking minutes at the committee meeting and helping catalog the new books.”</p></div>Lenny and Roz Sutton, Harbour’s Edgehttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/lenny-and-roz-sutton-harbour-s-edge2013-01-31T19:53:53.000Z2013-01-31T19:53:53.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960434898,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960434898,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="573" alt="7960434898?profile=original" /></a>The Sutton’s first met in 1960, at a family wedding. Roz’s sister was married to Lenny’s brother, and the clan was always getting together.<br />“I loved her husband and she loved my wife,” explains Lenny, a retired cardiologist with perfect diction and a twinkle in his eye. “I was Uncle Lenny to her sons!” <br />Roz was widowed after 38 years of marriage to her cherished Bernie; Lenny enjoyed 52 years with his spouse, Harriet. <br />Neither ever expected to love again. <br />But Roz was family, so of course Lenny looked her up whenever he visited his sister in Florida. <br />And when Roz rented an apartment in Providence R.I. (her sister lived there), Lenny offered to show her around, since he was a local. <br />Before long, waiters in town were asking the couple how long they’d been married.<br />“People said we were a cute couple, and I always told them it’s because we’re not married,” says Roz, laughing.<br />Lenny fell in love first. <br />“She was so warm; every statement she made was just filled with warmth. It wasn’t a put on. I just loved her honesty.”<br />For him, “The bells rang and the lights went on.” <br />It was Sept. 3, 2000. The couple had decided to eat in to celebrate Lenny’s birthday; Roz had bought a fruit tart and decorated it with a single candle. <br />“I was leaning against the kitchen door jamb and I had the tart in my hand and I suddenly said ‘Marry me!’” Lenny relates gleefully. <br />“That was the first big kiss I got from him,” Roz chimes in. “A kiss on the forehead was all he’d done till then.”<br />Though Roz was drawn to Lenny’s kindness and thoughtfulness, she wasn’t sure.<br />“I was afraid; I thought it can’t happen to someone twice,” she says. “How could love be so wonderful the second time?” <br />Of course Lenny won out; the lovebirds have now been married 11 years. They are constantly talking, they kiss openly (even in public, admits Roz), and hold hands on their morning walk. <br />“We just keep finding and discovering things about each other,” says Roz, who at 80, is 10 years younger than Lenny.<br />The couple speaks openly of their first spouses, which brings them both joy.<br />“It was a different phase of life,” Roz explains. “We were raising families and building businesses. It would be sad to have to cut that out of your life suddenly, like you didn’t exist before the other person came into your life.” <br />“We recall wonderful moments with each other’s mates,” agrees Lenny. “Unfortunately, some people don’t want to speak of their previous marriage because someone might get jealous or something silly like that.<br />“We love each other with the same intensity as our first,” he shares. “It’s just a different chapter of your life.” Ú</p></div>Valentine's Day: Love's Lessonshttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/valentine-s-day-love-s-lessons2013-01-30T17:30:00.000Z2013-01-30T17:30:00.000ZDeborah Hartz-Seeleyhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/DeborahHartzSeeley<div><p style="text-align:center;">A good love story is welcome in every season, but February seems an especially appropriate time to highlight some of our local sweethearts. Since romance is in the air, we’re featuring three love matches: a darling couple joyfully embracing their second chance at love; a pair who married late and are now enraptured with their young son; and a couple whose next anniversary cake will have the numbers 7 and 0 prominently displayed. (She’s 100 and perhaps qualifies for cougar status, since her husband is just 95.)<br />Each couple has wisdom to share about love’s lessons.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><strong>Stories by Anne Rodgers</strong></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><strong>Photography by Libby Volgyes/The Coastal Star</strong></p>
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<p style="text-align:center;"><em><b>Lenny and Roz Sutton,</b> Harbour’s Edge</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em>For this couple, love is just as sweet</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em>the second time around</em></p>
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<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960419063,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960419063,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" width="538" alt="7960419063?profile=original" /></a><em>Dr. Lenny and Roslyn ‘Roz’ Sutton first met in 1960. They have been married 11 years.</em></p>
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<p>The Sutton’s first met in 1960, at a family wedding. Roz’s sister was married to Lenny’s brother, and the clan was always getting together.</p>
<p>“I loved her husband and she loved my wife,” explains Lenny, a retired cardiologist with perfect diction and a twinkle in his eye. “I was Uncle Lenny to her sons!” </p>
<p>Roz was widowed after 38 years of marriage to her cherished Bernie; Lenny enjoyed 52 years with his spouse, Harriet. </p>
<p>Neither ever expected to love again. </p>
<p>But Roz was family, so of course Lenny looked her up whenever he visited his sister in Florida. </p>
<p>And when Roz rented an apartment in Providence R.I. (her sister lived there), Lenny offered to show her around, since he was a local. </p>
<p>Before long, waiters in town were asking the couple how long they’d been married.</p>
<p>“People said we were a cute couple, and I always told them it’s because we’re not married,” says Roz, laughing.</p>
<p>Lenny fell in love first. </p>
<p>“She was so warm; every statement she made was just filled with warmth. It wasn’t a put on. I just loved her honesty.”</p>
<p>For him, “The bells rang and the lights went on.” </p>
<p>It was Sept. 3, 2000. The couple had decided to eat in to celebrate Lenny’s birthday; Roz had bought a fruit tart and decorated it with a single candle. </p>
<p>“I was leaning against the kitchen door jamb and I had the tart in my hand and I suddenly said ‘Marry me!’” Lenny relates gleefully. </p>
<p>“That was the first big kiss I got from him,” Roz chimes in. “A kiss on the forehead was all he’d done till then.”</p>
<p>Though Roz was drawn to Lenny’s kindness and thoughtfulness, she wasn’t sure.</p>
<p>“I was afraid; I thought it can’t happen to someone twice,” she says. “How could love be so wonderful the second time?” </p>
<p>Of course Lenny won out; the lovebirds have now been married 11 years. They are constantly talking, they kiss openly (even in public, admits Roz), and hold hands on their morning walk. </p>
<p>“We just keep finding and discovering things about each other,” says Roz, who at 80, is 10 years younger than Lenny.</p>
<p>The couple speaks openly of their first spouses, which brings them both joy.</p>
<p>“It was a different phase of life,” Roz explains. “We were raising families and building businesses. It would be sad to have to cut that out of your life suddenly, like you didn’t exist before the other person came into your life.” </p>
<p>“We recall wonderful moments with each other’s mates,” agrees Lenny. “Unfortunately, some people don’t want to speak of their previous marriage because someone might get jealous or something silly like that.</p>
<p>“We love each other with the same intensity as our first,” he shares. “It’s just a different chapter of your life.” </p>
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<p style="text-align:center;"><em><b>Mike and Lillian Levine,</b> Abbey Delray South</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em> A love affair that has endured seven decades shows no sign of cooling down.</em></p>
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<p style="text-align:center;"><em><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960419277,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960419277,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="576" alt="7960419277?profile=original" /></a></em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em>Mike and Lillian Levine are looking forward to their 70th anniversary this year. <br /> Lillian turns 101 in March. Mike is 95.</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"></p>
<p>This couple counts 69 years — so far — of married life. They were friends for a decade before he popped the question, and they remain best of friends today. </p>
<p>They got hitched in 1943, just four days after Mike graduated officers school, and only a couple days after they first discussed the idea of marriage. But once the bit was between his teeth, Mike seized the first excuse for a wedding.</p>
<p>On the spur of the moment — when the couple discovered all planes were grounded for a planned trip from Chicago to New York — Mike suggested they get married instead. </p>
<p>“I didn’t do it; it was all him,” insists Lillian. So instead of driving home to wait for the weather to clear, the couple stored their bags, caught a cab and got a blood test on their way to City Hall. </p>
<p>“We stopped at Marshall Field’s, too, because I’d lost my gloves,” Lillian chimes in. </p>
<p>The newlyweds then made a switch from planes to trains, and ended up honeymooning in a private room on the 20th Century Limited from Chicago to New York City.</p>
<p>“Everyone said it wouldn’t last,” says Lillian. “I don’t exactly know why I said ‘yes’, but I’m awfully glad I did. He’s a keeper.” </p>
<p>The couple — she was an interior designer, he won sales awards at automotive dealerships — moved to Abbey Delray South in 2005. An Oriental flair is evident in much of the artwork and décor in the apartment, which features bright rugs and white sofas.</p>
<p>When Lillian turned 100 last March, no fewer than four parties commemorated the occasion, while Mike looked proudly on, telling any and everyone that he was five years, seven months and 10 days younger than his wife.</p>
<p>“I studied the actuarial tables,” he says wryly. “I knew women lived longer than men.” </p>
<p>So what’s kept them together through the decades?</p>
<p>“Glue!” quips Mike, as Lillian tackles the question head on. </p>
<p>“Well, he’s one of the brightest men I know,” she answers. “Plus, he is such a good husband. He does things for me that are absolutely fantastic. He makes the bed every morning, he does the dishes, he helps me whenever he can.”</p>
<p>Her praise spurs Mike to compliment Lillian as a great housekeeper, an imaginative cook and a great hostess.</p>
<p>“Plus, she’s a good listener and I talk a lot,” he continues. “And she’s good company! What more could you ask<br /> for?” </p>
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<p style="text-align:center;"><em><b>Lia Schultz and Tyrone Halfhill,</b> Briny Breezes</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em> In this relationship, each partner helps the other achieve the goals they have set.</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960419081,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960419081,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" width="573" alt="7960419081?profile=original" /></a><em>Tyrone Halfhill and Lia Schultz met when she was walking her dog <br /> back from the beach and he was getting ready for a toga party.</em></p>
<p>Living proof that opposites attract — Lia and Tyrone found one another in 2004. </p>
<p>“I like a beer on the beach and she likes classical piano,” Tyrone explains. She’s the introvert; he most definitely is not. </p>
<p>When they met, Lia was an Iowa farm girl with just a few years of Florida living. </p>
<p>While walking her dog back from the beach, she spotted Tyrone there on Briny Breezes Boulevard, cutting some rope to use as a belt for that night’s toga party. </p>
<p>“I thought she was attractive,” recalls Tyrone, 41, who moved to Florida 18 years ago. “I talked to her and she blew me off. But I tried again. The third time I said something, she flinched, and I was like, ‘Yeah, got her.’ ”</p>
<p>Lia says she agreed to don a toga that night “because my field is higher education and I thought it was a professional requirement to go to at least one toga party.”</p>
<p>The party’s setting was lush, she recalls, and she decided Tyrone was the “best guy there.”</p>
<p>He asked her to come back to the beach the next day to learn about kite surfing, which she did. </p>
<p>From there, it was a short road to moonlit sails on Tyrone’s catamaran and romantic bonfires on the beach. </p>
<p>“He’s the only person who never holds me back,” says Lia, 37. “I know I can grow and learn and reach my potential with him as my partner.” </p>
<p>There was no formal proposal; but Tyrone and Lia wanted to focus on a family and together they just agreed that 11/11/11 was the perfect wedding day. The plan was to get hitched in Hawaii, but son Tytan made an early arrival, so the couple got married close to the spot where they met.</p>
<p>These days, they confess to being enraptured with their son, and say parenting him connects them deeply. </p>
<p>Though they sleep at their home in Boynton Beach, each day after work finds them in Briny Breezes, at the trailer where Tyrone’s mom lives, spending quality time with their 1-year-old. </p>
<p>Right from the start, the couple wanted things to be special for Tytan.</p>
<p>“We had a home birth,” Lia says. “Tyrone was so tuned in and supportive through the whole process. It was really a bonding experience for us — in a big way.” </p>
<p>“She didn’t even take an aspirin,” Tyrone adds with pride.</p>
<p>When asked if there’s a secret to their success, Lia says it pays to keep a desire list and help one another achieve it. </p>
<p>“Focus on daily pleasures instead of conflict.” <span><br /></span></p>
<p><span> </span></p>
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<p style="text-align:center;"></p></div>Delray Beach: Residents like their bit of retirement paradisehttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/delray-beach-residents-like-their-bit-of-retirement-paradise2012-10-03T16:00:00.000Z2012-10-03T16:00:00.000ZDeborah Hartz-Seeleyhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/DeborahHartzSeeley<div><p><span><b> </b></span></p>
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<p>June McSweeney (right) laughs while playing bridge with Elaine Brenner at the Harbour’s Edge retirement community in Delray Beach. <b>Photos by</b> <span><b>Libby Volgyes/The Coastal Star</b></span></p>
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<p><span><b>By Libby Volgyes</b></span></p>
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<p>The pool is glittering in the morning light, and Boo Sutton, 82, is just a few minutes early. And as the sunlight bounces off the multimillion-dollar homes just across the Intracoastal Waterway, she hurries to join the water fitness class. It’s a picture-perfect morning in paradise, and it’s suddenly very easy to see why so many residents choose Harbour’s Edge for their retirement.</p>
<p>“It’s a resort. It’s really hotel living,” said Marion Diamond, who declined to give her age. She originally lived in New York state and moved into Harbour’s Edge after living in Boca Raton, along State Road A1A. </p>
<p>Sutton agrees. </p>
<p>“We felt it was home,” she said before descending into the water. “We are lucky that we have everything (here) that will make us happy. The swimming, the food is fabulous. We <i>love</i> the happy hour.” </p>
<p>She and her boyfriend picked out a place together, moved in, and fell in love with each other as they fell in love with their new home. </p>
<p>Located on the west side of the Linton Boulevard Bridge, Harbour’s Edge just celebrated its 25th anniversary. With 267 independent-living apartment homes and 54 beds in the stand-alone health center, the community rests on 20 acres along the Intracoastal.</p>
<p>It offers residents a variety of activities, from an annual gala to current-event discussions; digitally streamed operas and poker nights; trips to the Norton Museum of Art, Miami Marlins games and Café L’Europe; Wii bowling, line dancing, yoga and tai chi.</p>
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<p style="text-align:center;">Bea Shaw works out with light dumbbells during Water Fitness class.</p>
<p>In the Harbour Light Theatre, there’s a furious game of contract bridge going on — Chicago bridge with a $1 buy-in. The rules are simple: Ask questions during the shuffle, not the play. </p>
<p>“What’d ya play, sweetheart?” Elaine Brenner, 89, asks her partner before carefully considering and tossing her card out. “This is the best place in the entire world,” she said before returning her concentration to the game. </p>
<p>Sitting next to her is Marilyn Goldman, 88, who moved in six years ago because she could bring her rescue dog — “a half Maltese and a half question mark.” During the day, when she sits in the rotunda, she fields many questions about Punkin’s health. She keeps a busy day with the myriad of activities. </p>
<p>“I love yoga. There’s also music appreciation, but I don’t sing because I have a horrible voice,” she said.</p>
<p>She does Reiki, loves the rack of lamb offered in the Edgewater dining room and enjoys it when Lynn University Conservatory students come in and give concerts. She participates in current-events discussions and attends the opera broadcasts. </p>
<p>“There’s six dimensions of wellness — physical, social, emotional, spiritual, intellectual and vocational,” said Activities Director Judy Stauffer, who started at Harbour’s Edge in October 1987, just two months after it opened. “So we try to make sure we have something of each dimension going on each day.”</p>
<p>That includes tai chi, Giselle in 3D, theme parties, an 18-hole putting green, shuffleboard, a Dakim machine (for brain fitness) and a 10-week course on Beethoven. They bring in speakers, take cruises or trips to the zoo and the aquarium, and have regular poker nights. They also have subscriptions to most of the area theaters throughout Palm Beach and Broward counties.</p>
<p>“It’s very important for them to stay busy; it takes their mind off medical issues or worrying about their kids. And I think the reason they’re here is so their kids don’t have to worry about them,” Stauffer said.</p>
<p>Harbour’s Edge has earned the “Gold Seal” for three years from the state of Florida Panel on Excellence in Long-Term Care — one of only 17 skilled nursing centers recognized statewide. A multimillion-dollar renovation and expansion will take place in the coming years, including renovation of the dining room (adding an outdoor dining area) and more access to the Intracoastal. </p>
<p>“It’s only going to get better,” said Tom Smith, executive director. </p>
<p>The first night that Shirley Bonier moved into Harbour’s Edge, about six months ago, she and her husband sat down in the dining room alone for dinner. They weren’t that way for long, though, because shortly afterward, Elaine Brenner popped over and invited them to join her for dinner. </p>
<p>“Sometimes when you go to a new place, it’s very cliquey, but it’s not like this here,” Bonier said. “Everyone seems very nice and ready to get to know you. My son calls it a senior country club.” <span><br /></span></p>
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<p><span><b>Harbour’s Edge Retirement</b></span></p>
<p><span><b>Community</b></span><span><b> </b></span></p>
<p>401 E. Linton Blvd., Delray Beach</p>
<p>271-7979 or (800) 232-1358</p>
<p><a href="http://www.harboursedge.com">www.harboursedge.com</a></p>
<p><b>Opened:</b> August 1987</p>
<p><b>Price range:</b> Monthly service fees range from $3,800 to $6,200 for ‘life care contracts.’ Residents pay a one-time entrance fee ranging from $210,000 to more than $1 million based on unit size and amenities.</p>
<p><b>Staff size:</b> About 250 employees.</p>
<p><b>Special features:</b> Harbour’s Edge has transportation, security, a professionally staffed health center, health club, spa, sauna, steam room, library, beauty salon, a waterfront pool, two dining rooms, theater and 18-hole putting green.</p></div>Delray Beach: Workplace seems like family to grieving Haitian staffhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/delray-beach-workplace-seems2010-03-04T19:54:51.000Z2010-03-04T19:54:51.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div>By Dianna Smith <br /><br />On the day his world fell apart, Kivland Lubin turned to the only place where he feels at peace. <br />His work. <br /><p style="text-align:left;"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960296862,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="" /></p>
<br />At Harbour’s Edge, a retirement living facility nestled along the Intracoastal in Delray Beach, more than 80 employees are Haitian. So when a powerful earthquake rocked Haiti on Jan. 12, it rocked the lives of those here, too. <br />Many workers lost family members, including Lubin, whose six relatives are still missing in the country’s capital, Port-au-Prince. He believes they all are dead. And though he felt weak and helpless in those first few days after the earthquake, it was the people at Harbour’s Edge who gave him strength. <br />“When I came here, I felt better,” Lubin, 49, of Boca Raton, said. “I feel like I’m with my family.” <br />So Lubin and the rest of the Haitian staff did what they would do with their own families — they prayed. A prayer service was quickly organized with Harbour’s Edge Executive Director Theresa Bertram nearby. <br />She brought in grief counselors and offered counseling to those who told their stories that day. Bertram still recalls the sadness that poured from their voices over and over again. <br />Employee Jean Delva had been in Port-au-Prince for a funeral and left just hours before the earthquake hit. In Haiti, he spent time with his sister and he bought his uncle a cell phone. When he returned to Florida he tried calling it. Still, no one answers. <br />“I don’t know where my family is,” Delva, 35, of Delray Beach said. “My house collapsed.” <br />Another man, Jocelyn Viau, mourns the loss of his entire town, Leogane, about 30 miles outside the capital. Like hundreds of thousands of others, Viau’s family is sleeping on the street and, with the rainy season fast approaching, many are fearful that one bad rain could trigger mudslides and more death. <br />“This is very hard,” Viau, 36, of Delray Beach, said. “My heart is over there.” <br />These stories touched the executive director so much that Harbour’s Edge started an employee assistance fund just for the Haitian employees. The money can be used to pay for cell phone calls to Haiti or to help them eventually travel there. So far, $4,000 has been raised. <br />“Our commitment is to be there with them, so they don’t feel alone,” Bertram said. <br />But the people of Harbour’s Edge want to be there for the people of Haiti, too. <br />Which is why the residents raised more than $12,000 for the American Red Cross Greater Palm Beach Area Chapter. The local Red Cross alone has received more than $600,000 in donations, all of which have gone directly to Haiti, according to Larry Casey, CEO of the local chapter. <br />Lubin, Viau and Delva sat nearby as Casey was presented the check. He spoke of Haiti and the people suffering there, including their families. <br />“A lot of lives will be touched by this,” Casey said of the donation, adding, “I know how it tears at you, not being able to be there.” <br />But the men said they are thankful to be here. At Harbour’s Edge. Where work feels like home and the people are like family. <br />Where they always feel at peace.<br /><br /></div>