woody gorbach - News - The Coastal Star2024-03-29T01:51:20Zhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/woody+gorbachMemorial Day: Town Hall, South Palm Beach – May 29https://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/memorial-day-town-hall-south-palm-beach-may-292017-05-31T17:00:23.000Z2017-05-31T17:00:23.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960720694,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img width="500" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960720694,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960720694?profile=original" /></a><em>South Palm Beach honored those who served with a Memorial Day program also dedicated</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em>to two former Town Council members: Woody Gorbach, a World War II veteran who died</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em>in October, and Vice Mayor Dr. Joe Flagello, who died suddenly in March. <strong>ABOVE:</strong></em> <em>Members of VFW Post 4143</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em>of Riviera Beach and American Legion Post 268 presented the colors and joined about 100 residents</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em>at the Town Hall. Dr. Joe’s Community Barbecue Bash, honoring Flagello, was held after the memorial ceremonies.</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><strong>Dan Moffett/The Coastal Star</strong></p></div>Editor's Note: Despite all our efforts, mistakes will happen ...https://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/editor-s-note-despite-all-our-efforts-mistakes-will-happen2015-07-29T16:41:47.000Z2015-07-29T16:41:47.000ZChris Felkerhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/ChrisFelker<div><p> We make mistakes. We try really hard not to, but they happen. <br /> Sometimes we can’t fit all of the information into a story that people think we should, and sometimes the way we say things makes readers think one thing when that’s not what we were trying to say. We’ve heard both of these complaints this past month.<br /> Putting words together in a compact and readable way, forming stories out of interviews, trying to find the facts behind hints and innuendo can be tricky. We do the best we can and hire several different people to look at all the words before we publish. We try not to make mistakes. Really we do.<br /> But sometimes our fingers simply hit the wrong keys on the keyboard. And sometimes we miss these typos before they get into print. That’s what happened with Woody Gorbach’s name in a photo caption. Twice. Once it was Horvath then it was Gorbath. <br /> Here’s my explanation: My husband is an excellent photographer, but a lousy typist. He claims he had to take typing class twice in high school. <br /> But don’t we have copy editors you ask? Yes, we do. And normally we watch caption information very closely, but the first time around with Mr. Gorbach’s name, we just missed it. <br /> My husband was so upset by his first mistake that we published a correction and I didn’t double-check behind him. If you’ve been married for a while, you probably know what a minefield it can be to second-guess your spouse’s work. Right?<br /> So, we made a mistake — again. Unfortunately it was on the name of an elected official who is also a decorated war hero. Embarrassing.<br /> Mr. Gorbach has been a good sport about these mistakes and we’ve promised him a copy of the photograph as an apology. That’s the least we can do. <br /> And we’ll try not to do it again. But if we do, please let us know. If the mistake we make is factual, we’ll do our best to correct it. Even if it’s a typing error.<br /><em>— Mary Kate Leming,</em> <br /><em>Editor</em><br /><br /></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5" style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">... But here’s something we got right</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-1" style="font-family:'times new roman', times;"> <span class="font-size-2">We won several awards at the Florida Press Association’s Better Weekly Newspapers contest July 24 in Orlando:</span> <br /><span class="font-size-2"> Cheryl Blackerby received two first-place awards for environmental and outdoor writing.</span><br /><span class="font-size-2"> Dan Moffett won second place for local government reporting.</span><br /><span class="font-size-2"> Willie Howard won second place for outdoor and recreation writing.</span><br /><span class="font-size-2"> Mary Thurwachter took second place for community history.</span><br /><span class="font-size-2"> Scott Simmons, Jerry Lower and Mary Kate Leming received second place for overall graphic design.</span><br /><span class="font-size-2"> Third place winners were: Mary Hladky, business reporting; Ron Hayes, community history and Emily J. Minor, feature profile.</span><br /><span class="font-size-2">We are very proud of our award-winning team.</span></span></p></div>South Palm Beach: At Paragon’s request, council puts ordinances on holdhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/south-palm-beach-at-paragon-s-request-council-puts-ordinances-on-2015-04-01T18:00:00.000Z2015-04-01T18:00:00.000ZChris Felkerhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/ChrisFelker<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960562869,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960562869,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="360" alt="7960562869?profile=original" /></a><em>Woodrow ‘Woody’ Gorbach (above) and Bernice ‘Bonnie’ Fisher (below) are sworn into office.</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960563078,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960563078,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="360" alt="7960563078?profile=original" /></a></em><strong>Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star</strong></p>
<p style="text-align:left;"><strong>By Dan Moffett<br /> <br /></strong> South Palm Beach Town Council members had planned to give final approval to two ordinances that would give the council final say over all development projects in the town.<br /> But then Gary Cohen, the CEO of Paragon Acquisition Group, showed up at the March 24 meeting with two lawyers and a court reporter.<br /> Cohen was concerned that transferring power from the town’s Architectural Review Board to the council could derail his development plans for the Oceanfront Inn site, a property that for years has been in the crosshairs of political controversy.<br /> Paragon wants the town to allow it a six-month extension for beginning development because turtle season and the federal and state permitting process have gotten in the way of progress.<br /> Cohen’s developers had been working with the architectural board, but they worried the proposed shift of control could raise legal complications, or change agreements already in place — or worse.<br /> John Herin, a Paragon attorney, told the council the company “is very concerned that the ordinance is a ‘back door’ attempt by the town to frustrate its (Paragon’s) efforts to redevelop the property in a manner that is fully compliant with the town code.”<br /> Herin also said the company had gotten wind of an idea circulating among residents to buy the property back from Paragon and turn it into a public park.<br /> But council members assured Herin and Cohen that there was nothing subversive going on, and that the town wants Paragon to move forward and build the six-story condominium building that the architectural board approved in August.<br /> “We want you to go ahead with this project,” Councilwoman Stella Jordan said.<br /> “It was not our intent,” said Vice Mayor Joseph Flagello, “to put a fly in the ointment of the Paragon Group.”<br /> Council members unanimously voted to postpone action on the ordinances until the architectural board could give Paragon its six-month extension. Demolition of the old Hawaiian hotel is expected to begin this summer, and by then the council is expected to have its new ordinances approved and in place.<br /> <strong>In other business</strong>, Councilwoman Bernice “Bonnie” Fischer was sworn in as mayor after defeating incumbent Donald Clayman in the March election.<br /> Fischer campaigned on a promise to focus on beach restoration and working with other governments. She said one of her first acts as mayor will be meeting with county environmental officials to talk about the town’s beaches.<br /> When it comes to life experience, not many elected officials can match Woodrow “Woody” Gorbach, who was sworn in as councilman after running unopposed in March. The 91-year-old Gorbach has been a real estate agent for 60 years and married to wife Lois for 61. <br /> He said dealing with beach erosion will be his priority and that he intends to take classes from the League of Cities to get up to speed on his new job.<br /> Clayman, who was the town’s mayor for six years, stepped down to a round of applause for his service. Commissioners praised him for his sound fiscal management during some tough budget years.<br /> “I feel that we’re in good hands,” Clayman said on leaving. “There are good people leading us and good people working here.”</p></div>South Palm Beach: Honor flight makes full, moving day for WWII veteranhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/south-palm-beach-honor-flight-makes-full-moving-day-for-wwii-vete2014-05-01T13:37:55.000Z2014-05-01T13:37:55.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p><strong><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960503086,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-left" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960503086,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="190" alt="7960503086?profile=original" /></a><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960503496,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960503496,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="185" alt="7960503496?profile=original" /></a></strong></p>
<p><strong>By Ron Hayes</strong><br /> <br /> At 6:30 a.m. on Saturday, April 26, a 90-year-old real estate agent named Woody Gorbach took off from Palm Beach International Airport aboard a US Airways jet, bound for Washington, D.C.<br /> At 8:20 that night, he returned.<br /> In between, Woody Gorbach spent the day remembering a boy from Bridgeport, Conn., who enlisted in the U.S. Army at 19, sailed to Italy with the 34th Infantry Division, carried an M1 rifle into the battles of Monte Cassino and Anzio beach, rode one of the first tanks into Rome amid Italian cheers, and made it home alive. And he spent the day remembering comrades who fought just as bravely but didn’t come home. <br /> He wasn’t alone. And he wasn’t the oldest.<br /> Gorbach was one of 85 area veterans to join the latest trip sponsored by Southeast Florida Honor Flights, a nonprofit organization that thanks World War II vets by flying them to Washington to visit the national memorials honoring their service.<br /> “This is our fourth year,” said Todd Tucker, a lieutenant with Martin County Fire-Rescue and chairman of the organization’s Southeast Florida branch, which has no paid staff. “Our goal is four flights a year, two in the spring and two in the fall.”<br /> There is no charge to the vets, who are paired with a guardian for the day, each of whom pays $400 for the privilege of accompanying a veteran.<br /> “A lot of our volunteer guardians are firefighter paramedics, so there’s almost no situation we can’t deal with,” Tucker said. “We’ve flown double amputees, and we have a 99-year-old on this flight.”<br /> Gorbach was aboard because his wife, Lois, happened to spot a newspaper story about the most recent flight.<br /> “Woody, why don’t you call?” she suggested.<br /> “Well, I hadn’t seen any of the memorials,” Gorbach reasoned, “but I’ve spoken to people who’ve been and they all say it’s an experience you never forget.”<br /> He called, then filled out a detailed application. After he was accepted, Lois learned more about her husband’s war than she’d heard in 60 years of marriage.<br /> “At Monte Cassino, I was only there three days and I got trench foot with frostbite,” Gorbach remembered. “They sent me to a hospital in Africa for three weeks, and while I was gone my platoon was annihilated. Frostbite saved my life.”<br /> In May 1944, he hit the beach at Anzio.<br /> “I was in the first division to land,” he said. “All mountains, horrible weather, snow. We took a lot of casualties. The Germans were all over the beach and at the top of the mountains. I didn’t think I was going to make it back, to tell you the truth.”<br /> Gorbach made it back in November 1945 with a Bronze Star and a Croix de Guerre. He was 21.<br /> He got married, started a family, started law school and quit to work in his father’s real estate firm. He’s sold real estate ever since, except for a brief period in 1998, when he and Lois retired to South Palm Beach.<br /> “I tried retirement for a month or two and it got boring,” he says. “I played too much tennis.”<br /> Now he’s back, selling real estate at Lang Realty in Manalapan, where his son, Donald, is also a Realtor.<br /> “I enlisted 71 years ago,” he says with a smile, “and I’m still going strong.”<br /> A single day in Washington is scarcely enough to remember a war that lasted four years and claimed 291,557 American lives, but it was a full day.<br /> Gorbach toured the Iwo Jima Memorial, was served lunch by the Knights of Columbus, watched the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and ended the day with a visit to the World War II Memorial on the National Mall.<br /> The monuments moved him, but the surprises brought tears to his eyes.<br /> “As we were departing on the runway,” he recalled, “a truck from Palm Beach Fire-Rescue gave us a fantastic salute, washing down our plane to salute us for our service.”<br /> They arrived at Reagan National Airport to be greeted by a huge crowd of men, women and children waving signs and reaching to shake their hands or kiss them.<br /> A band was playing, a choral group from West Point was singing. “It brought tears to everyone’s eyes,” Gorbach said. “We couldn’t help it.”<br /> During lunch at a Knights of Columbus hall, he was met by three cousins he hadn’t seen in years, and at the World War II Memorial on the Mall, his grandchildren, Averi and Jared Seligmen, suddenly emerged from the crowd.<br /> Nearby, former Sen. Bob Dole, another 90-year-old vet, sat greeting anyone who wished to shake his hand.<br /> “He saw my nametag and said, ‘Hello,’ how’s everything in Florida?’” Gorbach recalled. “A real politician, but he seemed sincere.”<br /> And then they were back at PBIA, with another crowd cheering and waving signs.<br /> “Seeing my wife and son in the crowd — well, I cried again. … God bless America. What more can I say?”<br /> About 16 million Americans served in World War II. Today, only about a million survive and most, like Woody Gorbach, are in their 90s.<br /> “At the age these folks have reached, they’re not always able to fly with us because of health,” says Tucker, Honor Flights’ chairman. “We’re finding we have to call two veterans to get one.<br /> “We’re accepting applications from Korean War vets, but currently we’re just for World War II. It’s a race against time. ”<br /><br /><em> For information about Southeast Florida Honor Flights, call 1-855-359-2838 or visit <a href="http://www.honorflightsefl.org">www.honorflightsefl.org</a>.</em></p>
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<p style="text-align:center;"><em>Photos: ABOVE LEFT: Woody Gorbach displays his World War II-era medals and documents. ABOVE RIGHT: Gorbach, pictured in Pisa, Italy, served in Europe. <strong>Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star</strong></em></p></div>