memorial - News - The Coastal Star2024-03-19T04:42:30Zhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/memorialMemorial paddle-out — Lake Worth Beach — Feb. 8https://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/memorial-paddle-out-lake-worth-beach-feb-82020-03-03T20:43:52.000Z2020-03-03T20:43:52.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960934460,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960934460,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960934460?profile=original" /></a><em>Dozens of surfers paddled to the south end of the William O. Lockhart pier at Lake Worth Beach on the morning of Feb. 8 to honor the late surfing icon and orthodontist John ‘Chummer’ McCranels, who died Dec. 26 at age 81. McCranels was a South Florida surfing pioneer who was inducted into the East Coast Surfing Hall of Fame. <strong>Willie Howard/The Coastal Star</strong></em></p></div>Boca Raton: A towering memorial to lover of oceanhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/boca-raton-a-towering-memorial-to-lover-of-ocean2019-10-30T15:19:33.000Z2019-10-30T15:19:33.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:12pt;"><strong><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960894871,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960894871,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960894871?profile=original" /></a></strong><em><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960894871,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"></a>Jacob Kosowsky, shown here just shy of his 18th birthday in 2015, was an outdoorsman who loved the ocean. He died in a car accident last year.</em><strong><br /></strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:12pt;"><strong>Couple’s $250,000 gift for Gumbo Limbo overlook reflects son’s sunny spirit</strong></span></p>
<p></p>
<p><strong>By Margie Plunkett</strong></p>
<p>When you someday find yourself atop the new observation tower at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, and the Intracoastal-to-ocean view inspires in you joy, the sensation of being alive and awe at the beauty of nature, you will be experiencing Jacob’s Outlook.<br />This is how Jacob Kosowsky’s parents hope to memorialize and share the spirit of their exuberant 21-year-old son, who was killed in a traffic accident a year ago last month. “We like to think that Jake would be helping people to think about conservation, beauty and the ocean,” said his father, Stephen Kosowsky. <br />Kosowsky and his wife, Sharilyn Jones, have pledged $250,000, half the sum needed to pay for an inclined elevator, or funicular, that will be part of the 40-foot tower once it’s been restored. A plaque with the name Jacob’s Outlook will be placed at the site in their son’s honor.</p>
<p></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960895099,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960895099,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960895099?profile=original" /></a><em>Jacob Kosowsky’s parents, Stephen Kosowsky and Sharilyn Jones, donated $250,000 to Gumbo Limbo Nature Center in memory of their son, Jacob. <strong>Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star</strong></em></p>
<p><br />The donation kicked off an Oct. 1 campaign by Friends of Gumbo Limbo to raise $500,000 to Bring Back the Tower, according to Michele Peel, president of the Friends. The tower was closed to the public in 2015 and demolished after being deemed unsafe. <br />The funicular is essential to make the tower, which had stood for 30 years, compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.<br />The city of Boca Raton is proceeding on the design and anticipates getting something back by early this month, with construction possibly starting on the tower in early 2020, said Briann Harms, executive director of the Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District.<br />The funicular will mean “everybody can go up even if they can’t walk up it,” Jones said.</p>
<p></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960894896,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960894896,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960894896?profile=original" /></a><em>The Kosowsky family often visited Gumbo Limbo Nature Center when the children were small. A 6-year-old Jacob, far left, accompanied his aunt, uncle and cousins from San Diego. <strong>Family photos</strong></em></p>
<p><br />The donation came about when the family was looking for a way to honor Jacob’s memory and his love of the sea. His parents and sister, Mia, liked the idea of Gumbo Limbo. <br />“All his friends — every kid that grows up in Boca — goes to Gumbo Limbo,” Jones said. “Our kids grew up going there, too.<br />“It was great for the community and it was more accessible to everyone who knew and loved Jake — because everybody can’t swim out to a coral reef. But they can go to Gumbo Limbo, and they can bring their family and friends,” Jones said.<br />Jacob Kosowsky grew up in Boca Raton, graduated from Boca Raton High in 2016 and was a student at Vanderbilt University — his sister started at Vanderbilt a year after he did. <br />His parents described him as demonstrative and generous of spirit. He was an outdoorsman who loved spearfishing, boating and all things about the ocean — he even had a turtle collection started when he was a boy. He was a high achiever, excelled in academics and pursued debate and Youth Court, among other activities.</p>
<p></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960895669,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960895669,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960895669?profile=original" /></a>Stephen, Jacob, Sharilyn and daughter Mia on New Year’s Eve 2017 in downtown Park City, Utah. <strong>Family photo</strong></em></p>
<p><br />In the Kosowsky children’s younger years, they spent summers with their parents’ families in Hawaii, California and Utah — where Jacob learned to love skiing and hiking in the mountains as well. His family also regularly spent time in the Bahamas. He was returning from a fall-break hiking trip to Arches National Park in Utah when the traffic accident took his life. <br />Jacob had a special way of bringing people together who might not have otherwise gotten together — as does Mia, their mother said. At his celebration of life, Jones recalled, one of the speakers said, if you think of yourself as Jake’s best friend, please come up. <br />“Like 100 kids came, from elementary, middle school, high school, that he didn’t go to high school with, from college, some of his fraternity brothers, friends from school came down,” Jones said. “I think that speaks a lot about a young person when so many of their peers can say he’s my best friend.”<br />His legacy at Gumbo Limbo will allow him to touch many more people. At Jacob’s Outlook, he’ll just be “reminding us to slow down and enjoy it all — because he definitely did that,” said Jones. “To always remember what’s most important in life: family, nature and ultimately, love. That’s who he was.”</p>
<p><br /><em>To donate, visit <a href="http://www.gumbolimbo.org/Bring-Back-The-Tower">www.gumbolimbo.org/Bring-Back-The-Tower</a>.</em></p></div>Briny Breezes: 9/11 Memorial Servicehttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/briny-breezes-9-11-memorial-service2019-10-02T15:33:46.000Z2019-10-02T15:33:46.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960905898,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960905898,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960905898?profile=original" /></a><em>About 20 Briny Breezes residents and friends gathered at the Memorial Fountain on Sept. 11 to remember those lost in the 2001 terrorist attacks. Seven flags, including one from the New York City Fire Department, were flown around the fountain. <strong>ABOVE</strong>: Briny residents Barbara and Roger Klink recently developed a relationship with members of one of the New York stations that lost firefighters. Roger Klink is a retired firefighter from Ohio, where he served for 26 years. Barbara Klink grew up in New York. <strong>Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star</strong></em></p></div>Ocean Ridge: In tribute to our armed forceshttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/ocean-ridge-in-tribute-to-our-armed-forces2019-05-29T17:30:00.000Z2019-05-29T17:30:00.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:18pt;"><em>Garden Club unveils Blue Star Memorial Marker at Town Hall</em></span></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960870664,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960870664,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960870664?profile=original" /></a><em>A crowd gathers on Memorial Day for the unveiling of a Blue Star Memorial at Ocean Ridge Town Hall. <strong>Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star</strong></em></p>
<p><strong>By Ron Hayes</strong></p>
<p>This past Memorial Day, members of the Ocean Ridge Garden Club, residents and guests met outside Town Hall to unveil a memorial that will honor our country’s service members every day for years to come.<br /> Promptly at 11 a.m., an honor guard from American Legion Post 164 in Boynton Beach presented the colors, allegiance was pledged and Garden Club president Mary Ann Cody welcomed about 70 people to the ceremony.<br /> “Good morning,” she began. “Our gathering today is just one small spark in the flame of pride that burns across the nation today.”<br /> That one small spark was a Blue Star Memorial Marker waiting to be unveiled, a 7½-foot, cast aluminum tribute to the men and women who serve, have served and will serve in all branches of the armed forces.<br /> In 2017, the club’s 65 members voted to allocate $1,540 to purchase the marker, and civic committee co-chairs Lynn Allison and Barbara Cook worked with the Florida Federation of Garden Clubs and town officials to facilitate its placement.<br /> In accepting the gift on behalf of Ocean Ridge, acting Town Manager Tracey Stevens became briefly emotional as she noted that the towering flag above the hall was at half-staff.<br /> “Memorial Day is one day,” she reminded the crowd, “but this memorial marker will be a reminder every day of the sacrifices by our nation’s finest and bravest.”<br /> Barbara Hadsell, president of the Florida Federation of Garden Clubs, noted that Ocean Ridge now boasts one of 3,204 Blue Star memorials in the 50 United States.<br /> Florida has 184 memorial markers, including two in Boynton Beach, one on U.S. 1 at the north entrance to the city and another on 32nd Lane, off Boynton Beach Boulevard between Seacrest Boulevard and Interstate 95.<br /> The Boca Raton Garden Club has placed a marker in Sanborn Square Park, and a second in front of its clubhouse on Northwest Third Avenue.<br /> Lake Worth has a marker on U.S. 1 at 19th Avenue North, and the West Palm Beach Garden Club has sponsored another in Prospect Park.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960870867,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960870867,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960870867?profile=original" /></a><em>ABOVE: The unveiling of a Blue Star Memorial Marker in Ocean Ridge on Memorial Day was two years in the making. The Garden Club voted to allocate $1,540 to purchase the marker and worked with its state federation to place it. BELOW: Lynn Allison and Barbara Cook (l-r) co-chaired the memorial committee. Lt. Gen. Thomas Bostick and Vietnam veteran Al Naar spoke at the ceremony. Naar reminded the crowd that ‘war is a dirty business,’ and Bostick said troops who died ‘made the ultimate sacrifice.’<br /></em></p>
<p><em><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960871459,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960871459,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960871459?profile=original" /></a></em></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>A start with WWII</strong></span><br /> The Blue Star Memorial Highway tradition began with a world war, a garden club and 8,000 white dogwood trees.<br /> In 1944, the New Jersey State Council of Garden Clubs planted those 8,000 trees along a 5½-mile stretch of U.S. 22 between the towns of Mountainside and North Plainfield, to honor the men and women of the state then serving in the armed forces.<br /> The blue star came from the star on military service flags that families displayed in their windows to show they had a son or daughter serving.<br /> In 1945, the program went national. Individual garden clubs collaborated with state highway departments, and a uniform marker was designed by Cornelia Kellogg, founder of the clubs’ national council.<br /> With the war over, the program came to honor all who were serving, had served or would serve. Blue Star Memorial Markers and a smaller “byway marker” were added for display at cemeteries, veterans organizations and public buildings.<br /> In his remarks, Al Naar, an Ocean Ridge resident who served as an operating room Navy medic in Vietnam in 1968-69, refused to let patriotic sentiment disguise the horrors of war.<br /> “War is a dirty business,” he said. “We struggled to save the wounded, sometimes after days without sleep, and sometimes during incoming fire.”<br /> In March 1969 alone, his 3rd Medical Battalion handled 1,464 cases, took 7,752 X-rays and performed 130 blood transfusions.<br /> Naar closed by quoting Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s farewell address.<br /> “The soldier above all other people prays for peace,” MacArthur told the U.S. Congress, “for he must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war.”<br /> The day’s keynote speaker was Lt. Gen. Thomas Bostick, who retired in 2016 as the commanding general of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.<br /> “Memorial Day is a recognition of those who made the ultimate sacrifice,” he said, “but none of them willingly died. They willingly served their country and their teammates, and they died as part of that.”<br /> And then the general quoted Nelson Henderson, a Canadian farmer who said, “The true meaning of life is to plant trees under whose shade you do not expect to sit.”<br /> Recalling a time in his military career when he was a recruiting officer, Bostick said, “You reach out to young people and plant trees, and that’s what this garden club does in many ways.”<br /> And so the time had come.<br /> Mary Ann Cody, along with Barbara Hadsell and Carol Coleman of the state federation, lifted the cover from the tribute, the honor guard fired a volley, and Legion Post 164 bugler Christine Morales sounded a slow and mournful taps. <br /> The first Blue Star Memorial marked where New Jersey garden clubs had beautified a highway 75 years ago. The marker was not an end in itself, and the new one at Ocean Ridge Town Hall is no exception.<br /> Next, Lynn Allison said, the club plans to create a small garden around the marker’s base.<br /> “Something we can maintain.”</p></div>Highland Beach: Memorial bench a subtle addition to library’s consoling powerhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/highland-beach-memorial-bench-a-subtle-addition-to-library-s-cons2019-02-27T14:09:54.000Z2019-02-27T14:09:54.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p class="p1" style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960837698,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960837698,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960837698?profile=original" /></a><em>Richard Kaplan says the library bench that remembers his granddaughter Meadow Pollack and the 16 other victims of the shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High helps him focus on fond memories of Meadow. <b>Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star</b></em></p>
<p class="p1"></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>By Rich Pollack</b></span></p>
<p class="p3">Richard Kaplan sat pensively outside the Highland Beach Library on Feb. 14. It was the first anniversary of the shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, and the bench on which he rested has a bronze plaque with the name of his granddaughter Meadow Pollack and a tribute to the 16 other victims.</p>
<p class="p3">“The bench is a place where I can sit and feel close to her,” Kaplan said. “It gives me a place to be with her.”</p>
<p class="p3">Tucked away in a corner of the library’s front porch, the bench is a memorial erected by the nonprofit Friends of the Highland Beach Town Library and an individual donor.</p>
<p class="p3">Kaplan, who has been on the board of the Friends for many years, also stays in the figurative corner, as does his daughter Shara, Meadow’s mother. One of the few events Shara attended related to the tragedy was a private unveiling of the bench late last year.</p>
<p class="p3">It is difficult, Kaplan said, to see the constant reminders of the loss of his granddaughter when he reads stories in daily newspapers.</p>
<p class="p3">The anniversary on Valentine’s Day was especially tough. “The whole day was emotional,” he said. “When it happens to you it’s overwhelming, but we do the best we can.”</p>
<p class="p3">The bench helps, said Kaplan, a longtime Highland Beach resident.</p>
<p class="p3">“I find it a place of calmness and I can direct my thoughts to how wonderful she was in our lives,” he said.</p>
<p class="p3">His granddaughter was full of life and loved animals, Kaplan said. “Shara made sure her life was full of love,” he said.</p>
<p class="p3">For Kaplan, the library has been a refuge, helping him get through other tragedies — and helping him move forward.</p>
<p class="p3">After the death of his first wife, Kaplan went to North Carolina and stayed with another daughter for months as he tried to overcome his grief.</p>
<p class="p3">When he returned to Florida, he found himself feeling lost, but ventured to the library and to one of the town’s clubs where he had been a regular.</p>
<p class="p3">“The only place I was comfortable was at the philosophy club,” he said.</p>
<p class="p3">It was at a club meeting where Kaplan met his second wife, Cynthia.</p>
<p class="p3">“The library is important to me,” said Kaplan, 84. “It’s a treasure.”</p>
<p class="p3">That the library is welcoming and comforting makes it a truly special place. “There is a lot of loneliness, he said. “Not everyone likes to go home.”</p>
<p class="p3">The library, Kaplan believes, is the perfect place for the bench. “A library is a place for quiet reflection, and the bench just adds to the quiet reflection,” he said. </p></div>Memorial Fountain taking shape: Briny Breezes — Dec. 17https://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/memorial-fountain-taking-shape-briny-breezes-dec-172019-01-02T17:13:32.000Z2019-01-02T17:13:32.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p class="p1" style="text-align:center;"><b><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960833865,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960833865,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960833865?profile=original" /></a><em>ABOVE:</em></b> <em>Briny Breezes residents watch as contractors lay a perimeter of decorative memorial bricks around the renovated fountain at the main entrance to the community. </em></p>
<p class="p1" style="text-align:center;"><em>The fountain features a bronze leaping sailfish statue by artist John W. Townsend. Residents also donated time and skills to tile the fountain walls.</em></p>
<p class="p1" style="text-align:center;"><em><b>BELOW:</b> Pallets of inscribed bricks honoring past, present and future residents wait to be put into place.</em></p>
<p class="p1" style="text-align:center;"><em>More than 650 memorial bricks have already been installed. And orders can still be placed through the Briny Breezes office.</em></p>
<p class="p2" style="text-align:center;"><em><span class="s1"><b>Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star</b></span></em></p>
<p class="p2"><span class="s1"><b><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960835053,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960835053,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960835053?profile=original" /></a></b></span></p></div>Alex Schachter Memorial Benefit Concert: Funky Buddha Lounge and Brewery, Boca Raton — March 1https://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/alex-schachter-memorial-benefit-concert-funky-buddha-lounge-and-b2018-04-04T00:39:57.000Z2018-04-04T00:39:57.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960780289,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960780289,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="600" class="align-center" alt="7960780289?profile=original" /></a><em>A benefit concert held to remember Alex Schachter, one of the murdered Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students, featured music by the Matt Calderin Trio, Tame the Lyons and Johan Danno. <b>ABOVE:</b> (l-r) George Nesmith, Alex West, Haley Shaheen, Melissa Velasco and Riley Nielson-Baker were among current and past MSD students who attended. </em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em><b>BELOW:</b> Ocean Ridge resident Danno.</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960780853,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960780853,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="600" class="align-center" alt="7960780853?profile=original" /></a><br /> <b>Photos by Tim Stepien/<br /> The Coastal Star</b></em></p></div>Highland Beach: Memorial set for Highland Beach commissionerhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/highland-beach-memorial-set-for-highland-beach-commissioner2017-02-10T22:20:01.000Z2017-02-10T22:20:01.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p><strong> By Rich Pollack</strong></p>
<p>A memorial service will be held Feb. 26 for Highland Beach Town Commissioner Lou Stern, who died Feb. 8 following a short battle with kidney disease. He was 82.</p>
<p>The service will be held at Gutterman-Warheit Memorial Chapel, 240 North Federal Highway in Boca Raton beginning at 3 p.m.</p>
<p>A resident of Highland Beach since 1997 after moving from the Philadelphia area, Mr. Stern was active in the community, serving as the chair of the town’s Planning Board and also serving on the Board of Adjustments and Appeals. He was elected to the town commission in 2012 and again in 2015.</p>
<p>A founding member of the board of directors of the National Council for Adoption in 1980, Mr. Stern served as chair of the organizations board five times and in Nov. 2015 was honored with its Ruby Lee Piester Adoption Award, a lifetime-achievement recognition.</p>
<p>Mr. Stern is survived by his wife of 54 years, Carol; two children Lawrence Stern and Natalie Kolton; a granddaughter, Danielle Kolton and a sister, Sally Epstein-Piccone.</p>
<p>Donations in lieu of flowers can be made to National Council for Adoption, 225 N. Washington Street, Alexandria, Va., 22314 or to the charity of the donors’ choice.</p></div>Along the Coast: Balloons keep family bond alivehttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/along-the-coast-balloons-keep-family-bond-alive2015-11-04T17:51:50.000Z2015-11-04T17:51:50.000ZChris Felkerhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/ChrisFelker<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960606292,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960606292,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="386" alt="7960606292?profile=original" /></a><em>Bess Hatsis, (l-r) Ellie Ana Sperantsas, Dean Sperantsas and Father Mark Leondis</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em>of St. Mark Greek Orthodox Church in Boca Raton pray over the grave</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em>of Athena Sperantsas. They released balloons into the sky to honor Athena’s birthday.</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 Lucy Lazarony<br /><br /></strong> Nine-year-old Ellie Ana Sperantsas sends messages to heaven.<br /> They arrive via pink balloons with pink ribbons and typewritten notes, the contents of which only Ellie Ana, a fourth-grader at Gulf Stream School, knows. <br /> Ellie Ana’s grandmother, Athena Sperantsas, who was an award-winning typist in her day, taught Ellie Ana to type. And typing is a special way for granddaughter and grandmother to communicate. <br /> Why the pink ribbons and the pink balloons? <br /> “Because pink is my favorite color and she liked what I liked,” Ellie Ana explains. <br /> Athena Sperantsas died on Jan. 8 at age 87. And because the two share and celebrate late September birthdays, a balloon launch was planned at Boca Raton Cemetery on Sept. 28.<br /> After a short prayer service led by Father Mark Leondis from St. Mark Greek Orthodox Church in Boca Raton, it is time for the balloon launch. <br /> “How much did you love your Yaya?” Ellie Ana’s father, Dean Sperantsas, asks.<br /> “A lot! A lot!” Ellie Ana replies.<br /> “How much did your grandmother love you?” her father asks. <br /> “As much as every drop in the ocean,” Ellie Ana answers. <br /> With a running and joyful leap, Ellie Ana sends the balloons skyward. <br /> “Dad! It didn’t get caught in the tree!” Ellie Ana cries out. <br /> “I see! I see!” her father answers. “You made it work!” <br /> The family then heads to Maggiano’s with Anastasia “Bess” Hatsis, her grandmother’s best friend, for a birthday celebration. <br />Ellie Ana’s mother, Christy, died when Ellie Ana was just 3 years old and Ellie Ana and her grandmother grew very close. <br /> “There were days she prepared food for her grandmother who was 80 years older than her, and cared for her,” Dean Sperantsas says of his daughter. <br /> For the first balloon launch this spring, Ellie Ana typed letters to her mother, grandmother and grandfather, who died when Ellie Ana was 6. <br /> “It was her initiative entirely,” Dean Sperantsas remembers. “She typed up letters on an old-fashioned typewriter on her own. She put them in an envelope and sealed them. She attached the letters to each of the balloons and joyously launched them into the heavens.”</p></div>Boca Raton: Monument to tout airport’s historical status, if scout succeedshttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/boca-raton-monument-to-tout-airport-s-historical-status-if-scout-2015-03-04T17:30:00.000Z2015-03-04T17:30:00.000ZChris Felkerhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/ChrisFelker<div><p><span><strong>By</strong> <b>Rich Pollack</b></span></p>
<p> Before he started working on his Eagle project, 16-year-old Boca Raton Boy Scout Charlie Schmidt didn’t know all that much about the Boca Raton Airport. </p>
<p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960565258,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960565258,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-left" width="199" alt="7960565258?profile=original" /></a> He knew that during World War II what is now an executive airfield used by private planes had been part of a much larger airbase, but he never really had a grasp of the bigger picture. </p>
<p> “I knew it was a military base, I just didn’t know the significance,” he said.</p>
<p> Now the scout from Troop 333 is hoping to help others gain a better understanding of the important role the airport — and a large parcel surrounding it — played during the war by erecting a monument on airport grounds that will honor those who served and highlight some of the base’s history. </p>
<p> “It’s important for people to learn about this,” he said. “It is one of the most significant aspect of Boca Raton history.” </p>
<p> Last month, Schmidt — who needs to complete a significant community project as part of his efforts to become an Eagle Scout — was back before the Boca Raton Airport Authority with revised plans to calm concerns authority members had expressed during a January meeting about a permanent installation.</p>
<p> What the teen came back with was a plan to make the memorial more mobile by having it anchored into the ground by 2-foot-long stakes. Should the property where the monument will likely be placed be needed for other purposes, crews could easily move the estimated 300-pound structure with a backhoe.</p>
<p> Following the presentation, airport authority members gave Schmidt the green light to move forward with the project, but asked that he come back for additional approval once his plans for the memorial are finalized. </p>
<p> Airport staff members who work with Schmidt say they are impressed with the dedication and level of professionalism the scout displayed. </p>
<p> “He came in with a well-thought-out plan and explained how the airport could benefit from his project,” said Clara Bennett, the airport’s executive director. “He did his homework before he came to us.”</p>
<p> Right now, plans are for the memorial to be about 5 feet tall and include four or five plaques, each commemorating a different aspect of the airfield’s history. </p>
<p> One of the plaques, for example would explain that the memorial “commemorates Boca Raton’s World War II military contributions and the unselfish service of veterans — past, present, and future.”</p>
<p> Another would explain that the close to 6,000-acre Boca Raton Army Air Field, which included what is now the Boca Raton Airport as well as the grounds of Florida Atlantic University, served as a training facility where army airmen learned how to use radar, a top-secret technology at the time. </p>
<p> Schmidt, who has been working with a masonry company on the plans, estimates the cost of the memorial would be around $3,000, money he will be raising from private donations.</p>
<p> Susan Gillis, archivist for the Boca Raton Historical Society, said there is nothing currently on the site of the airport grounds or at FAU to publicly explain the historical significance of the property. </p>
<p> “Boca Raton should be very proud of the contributions the airbase and those who served there made during World War II,” said Gillis, who is helping Schmidt with his research.</p>
<p> The scout, who is also involved in the Junior ROTC program at Boca Raton High School and is on the school’s debate team, believes the opportunity to work with airport staff and to make a presentation to the authority board has been a great learning experience.</p>
<p> “This has been a completely unique experience,” he said. “It taught me to be persistent with what I believe in."</p></div>Memorial Ridehttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/memorial-ride2011-05-04T15:01:45.000Z2011-05-04T15:01:45.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960328861,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960328861,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="576" alt="7960328861?profile=original" /></a><em>Ray Mikkelsen (l) of Boca Raton rides with more than 100 other motorcyclists who participated in a two-hour ride held to benefit the family of Delray Beach Police Sgt. Adam Rosenthal on April 30 at Old School Square in Delray Beach. A 16-year veteran of the force, Rosenthal died in a February accident on his way to work.</em><br /><strong><em>Photo by Lauren Loricchio</em></strong></div>