Town-Crier Newspaper August 13, 2021

PBSO CONTRACT DIVIDES LOX COUNCIL SEE STORY, PAGE 3

ROTARY SUPPORTS UNIFORM PROGRAM SEE PHOTOS, PAGE 8

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PBC Officials: Vast Majority Of Virus Cases Are Among Unvaccinated

Volume 42, Number 18 August 13 - August 26, 2021

Serving Palms West Since 1980

SWAG PROGRAM GRADUATION

Palm Beach County Mayor Dave Kerner and medical staff from the Palm Beach County Health Department and JFK Medical Center updated the community Monday, Aug. 9 on the status of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaking from the Palm Beach County Emergency Operations Center, Kerner said that the spread of COVID-19 is once again out of control, primarily due to people who aren’t getting vaccinated. Page 3

Wellington Council OKs Unchanged Tax Rate And Assessments

The Wellington Village Council approved its proposed taxes for the upcoming fiscal year on Tuesday, Aug. 10. The rates, which are largely unchanged from the current year, will now be subject to public hearings for resident input. Page 4

Students Working to Achieve Greatness (SWAG) is a Village of Wellington program that serves high school students by teaching them career readiness skills and helping them network within the community. Since its inception, approximately 50 students have received paid summer internships through the program. This year, 17 students took part in summer internships. They were saluted at a SWAG program graduation ceremony held Tuesday, Aug. 3. Shown above are Melik Frederick, Hermione Williams, McKenzie Henry, Community Services Director Paulette Edwards, Wellington High School teacher Nancy Toussaint, Victoria Loredan and Margaret Hunt.

STORY & MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 5 PHOTO BY DENISE FLEISCHMAN/TOWN-CRIER

Nonprofit Arts For Smiles Prepares 100 Backpacks For Kids

Local nonprofit Arts for Smiles stuffed 100 backpacks on Saturday, July 31. They were taken to underserved children in Belle Glade and Lake Worth.

Friends and family helped stuff the backpacks with supplies donated by Vans and the general public. Page 8

Local High School Football Teams Start Pre-Season Practice

While high school football players have been busy this summer working on getting fitter, faster and stronger during their off-season workouts, the upcoming high school football season officially started with practices on Monday, Aug. 2.

Since then, area high school football teams have been busy installing new plays on offense, new schemes on defense and fine-tuning the execution of their special teams, while also working on improving their overall fitness and conditioning.

Page 21 DEPARTMENT INDEX NEWS...............................3 - 18 NEWS BRIEFS......................... 7 SPORTS................................. 21 SCHOOLS.............................. 24 PEOPLE................................. 25 BUSINESS............................. 27 COLUMNS............................. 28 CLASSIFIEDS................ 29 - 30 Visit Us On The Web At WWW.GOTOWNCRIER.COM

Input Meeting For County’s Off-Road Vehicle Park Plan Aug. 19 At Acreage Library

By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report Palm Beach County Commissioner Melissa McKinlay will host a public meeting on Thursday, Aug. 19 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Acreage branch library (15801 Orange Blvd.) about the off-road vehicle park being planned at 20Mile Bend near the intersection of State Road 80 and State Road 880.

Palm Beach County Parks & Recreation staff will be there to provide information and receive public comment.

“I look forward to hearing the public’s input on Palm Beach County’s much-anticipated offhighway vehicle park,” McKinlay told the Town-Crier on Wednesday. “It will be an exciting, long overdue recreational facility for residents and visitors and provide

a safe place for enthusiasts to ride.

It will also help spur economic development in the western region of our county and add yet another jewel to our renowned tourism destinations.”

The Palm Beach County Commission approved the concept of the park in July after hearing a feasibility report from county staff.

The commissioners authorized the county administrator to prepare a needs analysis and feasibility study for the development of an off-highway vehicle (OHV) park at the county’s property near 20Mile Bend in 2013. The Parks & Recreation Department assembled a steering committee including representatives from the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, the South Florida Water Management District, the Palm Beach County

Sports Commission, other county departments and OHV enthusiasts to undertake the needs analysis and study.

The study was completed in 2015 but was not submitted, since other board-approved projects became priorities. The report was recently updated in an effort to provide the latest information that more accurately reflects current market conditions.

The report concludes that there is a demonstrated need for an OHV park in Palm Beach County because residents regularly travel to Miami-Dade County, Okeechobee County and beyond to participate in trail riding and other OHV activities. The need for additional off-road vehicle opportunities has also been identified by the state See OFF-ROAD, page 14

Wellington Capital Improvements Plan A Wish List For The Village’s Future

By M. Dennis Taylor Town-Crier Staff Report The Wellington Village Council spent several hours Monday, Aug. 9 in a workshop session about capital improvement projects planned for the next fiscal year and beyond. It was primarily an informational question-and-answer presentation from the village staff, and decisions on projects were not finalized.

First up was a look at the capital improvements plan for the village’s utility department during fiscal year 2021-22. These projects follow a strategic direction of five elements — to secure a sustainable water supply source, provide a major renewal of critical facilities, a major replacement of aging equipment, increase resiliency, and provide an emergency operations upgrade in investments and technology.

Deputy Village Manager Tanya Quickel said that the utility system has come a long way in recent

years, and that is reflected in the changing strategy. “It took us about three years, but right now we’re set for 2039 from the water supply, and that is a very good thing,” she said.

After reporting that the village has secured a South Florida Water Management District water use permit through 2039, which secures its water sources, Quickel explained the village has made significant strides in all areas of the strategic objectives, representing more than $60 million in completed projects.

“Before I start talking about each of the projects and our overall plan, I’d like to say that our fiveyear capital improvement program is really a roadmap,” she said. “It’s a guide to our decision-making process for a budgetary and planning perspective, and we’re constantly evaluating it and constantly re-prioritizing as necessary.”

Some of the most significant See CAPITAL, page 14

KCF BACKPACK EVENT

The Kids Cancer Foundation held its annual Jam-Packed Backpack Event on Friday, Aug. 6 at the Kids Cancer Center in Royal Palm Beach. Patients and their siblings gathered to collect student backpacks filled to the brim with school supplies for every child. The backpacks and school supplies were donated

by Christ Fellowship’s Royal Palm Beach campus and The Acreage community supporters of the Kids Cancer Foundation.

Shown above are Peter Zaasi, Ashlyn Guererri, Bella Pena and Anthony Pena with their tote bags. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 18 PHOTO BY DENISE FLEISCHMAN/TOWN-CRIER

RPB’s Commons Park Remains Town Hall Meeting Busy Every Wednesday With On Incorporation To Drive-Through Food Giveaway Be Held Aug. 14 At Seminole Ridge

By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report Feeding South Florida distributes tons of food to families at numerous locations, but Royal Palm Beach Commons Park has been a popular site, giving out about 3.4 tons of food over the past year, with more than 600 cars lining up every Wednesday morning.

Councilman Jeff Hmara has been volunteering at the site since the giveaways began last year.

“You try to maintain a presence to the community to get people to come and have the experience,” Hmara said. “The whole idea is to build that sense of belonging and a sense of community.”

Hmara said the project was manned originally by village staff, but much of the work has since

been turned over to a loyal team of volunteers.

“We’ve got really good at setting that up and operating it,” he said. “Somebody told us that they’ve been to other [distribution locations], and they said, ‘You’ve got a pretty good system going.’”

Village staff members are still involved as backup, but the number of volunteers fluctuates between 12 and 20 volunteers each Wednesday morning.

All the food comes through Feeding South Florida. The operation will continue at least through September, adding that it is uplifting to see the appreciation of the people receiving the food.

“It’s quite an experience to actually see the people in their cars and pickups, watching their reaction,” Hmara said. “Their gratitude is

extreme, and 90 percent of them are looking to thank everybody loading their car. I’ve had people come up with tears in their eyes, and people who just go on about how much of a difference it makes.

You can’t just walk away from that without a really good feeling about having made a difference in somebody’s life in a good way.”

Feeding South Florida Executive Vice President Sari Vatske said her organization feeds about 25 percent of the state’s food insecure population.

“During this past fiscal year, we distributed 154 million pounds of food throughout the quad county service area,” Vatske said. “More than 40 million pounds went into Palm Beach County alone.”

She explained that the driveSee FOOD, page 14

By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report The Indian Trail Improvement District’s Feasibility and Charter Review Committee held a fivehour meeting Saturday, Aug. 7 featuring presentations on many aspects of a possible incorporation from experts recruited to give input, including former Greenacres Mayor Sam Ferrari and representatives of Clifford McCue & Consultants, a firm helping ITID conduct the feasibility study.

ITID President Betty Argue, who chaired the meeting, plans to have a draft of a proposed charter to present at the committee’s meeting set for Saturday, Aug. 14 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

at Seminole Ridge High School, located at 4601 Seminole Pratt Whitney Road.

“I’d like to have something that’s worthy to present to the community as a draft on Aug. 14, which is a town hall meeting at the high school,” said Argue, who noted that the meeting will be available via Zoom for those who cannot attend in person. “It will not be a committee-style meeting.

It will just be a presentation, and everyone who speaks will have to go up to the microphone.”

ITID Executive Director Burgess Hanson confirmed that postcards have been sent to residents informing them about the proSee MEETING, page 7

RPB Principals Glad To Return To In-School Learning

By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report The Royal Palm Beach Education Advisory Board heard reports Monday, Aug. 9 from Royal Palm Beach High School Principal Dr. Jesús Armas and Crestwood Middle School Principal Dr. Stephanie Nance. Both noted that they were glad to be starting the new school year with in-school learning after a year of largely remote learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite the uncertainty over COVID-19, Armas said his faculty is excited to start the new school year.

“We had our week back with the teachers, and they are as excited as they’ve ever been,” Armas said.

“We got last-minute guidance on how to handle masks and how they’re doing things, so we gave it to the staff, and they’re going to go with it and make it work.”

He noted that there is still construction going on at the RPBHS campus as they start the new school year.

“Ours is supposed to be done in October. We know that in construction, that usually means November,” Armas said. “Fortunately, the big concern for us was

doing the lights in every single room and making them bigger.”

That involved taking everything out of every room and then moving it all back in.

“The one good thing about the pandemic was because we had so few students on campus, that became easier,” he said. “Fortunately, we’re done with that, and we won’t have to displace students.”

Armas added that most of the air conditioning upgrades are in place.

“We feel good about the rest of the construction,” he said. “Hope-

fully, it won’t impact the students as much as it would have last year had we had all 2,400 students.”

He said enrollment at RPBHS is projected at more than 2,400 students this year.

“We are right now at 2,414,” he said. “That’s the highest we’ve had in 12 years. Of course, that number will change.”

His big question is what happened to the students who disappeared last year.

“The question is not, ‘Are we going to get them back?’ or ‘How soon are we going to get them back?’” he said. “We’ll get them

back. The question is when. We don’t want to lose instruction time.

That’s a big deal — get them back and get them going.”

Armas said the school is fortunate to have federal COVID-19 money coming in.

“We received a lot of money, and to our leadership’s credit, I think they’ve done a good job of distributing the money and making it categorical,” he said, adding that six additional staff positions have been added due to that money, which will go to ensure that some of the lagging students will be See PRINCIPALS, page 14

Page 2

August 13 - August 26, 2021

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The Town-Crier

Reprint - From The Palm Beach Post, August 10, 2021 - Page 11a George L. Hanbury II, The Palm Beach Post Guest columnist

Don't let all that noise drown out vaccine science With the new “delta variant” and other mutations of COVID-19, and

nearly a year and a half later with more than 600,000 deaths in the United States, the virus just won’t go away. Last year, Nova Southeast­ ern University (NSU), like other organizations, had to quickly pivot operations and teaching modalities to meet the pandemic head on.

By now I had hoped we could start relaxing those precautions, but the CO­VID-19 virus has an agenda of its own.

It’s time for a reality check. The COVID-19 virus isn’t a First Amendment issue - it’s a health and safety issue, pure and simple; Most Americans al­ready receive vaccinations for many other deadly vi­ruses and COVID-19 should not be an exception.

This virus finds viable hosts to infect, and as we’re seeing now with the extremely transmissible delta variant, it’s the unvaccinated who are the over­whelming majority of those becoming sick and need­ ing to be hospitalized, or sadly, dying. Every day we see stories of people who, for whatever reason, re­sisted getting the vaccine and are now deathly ill with the virus - many of them are right here in Florida.

Don’t wait - please get the vaccine now.

At NSU, in order to be sure that our faculty and staff remain safe and to help curb and control the spread of this deadly virus, we must do more than encourage individuals to get vaccinated. As such, all faculty and staff must be fully vaccinated by Septem­ber 20. The reason is simple; science has taught us that the COVID-19 vaccine is the best shot we have to prevent more people from dying unnecessarily.

As the president of Broward County’s doctoral re­search university, and as a father, a grandfather and uncle to many nieces and nephews, I urge you to put aside all the “noise” that is drowning out the science.

Hundreds of millions of people worldwide have re­ceived the vaccine, and while it may not be a “force­field” that completely protects us from the virus, what it will do is keep the symptoms at bay and keep you from severe illness - or even death - if you hap­pen to become infected.

I’m sure you’d rather be home and not feel well in­stead of answering questions from your physician or health officials if you agree to be on a ventilator or receive CPR. Hanbury II is president/CEO of Nova Southeastern University.

- Compliments of Jess Santamaria -

The Town-Crier

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August 13 - August 26, 2021

Page 3

NEWS

PBC Officials: Vast Majority Of Virus Cases Are Unvaccinated

By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report Palm Beach County Mayor Dave Kerner and medical staff from the Palm Beach County Health Department and JFK Medical Center updated the community Monday, Aug. 9 on the status of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaking from the Palm Beach County Emergency Operations Center, Kerner said that the spread of COVID-19 is once again out of control, primarily due to people who aren’t getting vaccinated.

“Our purpose today is to speak directly and candidly with the residents and visitors of Palm Beach County,” Kerner said. “There are concerning trends with regard to COVID-19 in our community. We want to give you the best information possible related to the vaccine, which has proven time and time again to be the most effective weapon in combating the virus.”

Kerner said he understands that people are fatigued as a community and as a nation with combating a virus that has been circulating in the community since March 2020 and having to deal with the stresses and dangers of COVID-19.

“We are also aware that there are segments of our population for very personal reasons that are not willing at this time to get vaccinated,” he said. “The good news is that, as of today, 67 percent of our population here in Palm Beach

County has been vaccinated. We lead the state by a couple of percentage points, but we’re not to the point that herd immunity will protect us from COVID-19. We are also aware of the Delta variant and how that changes our combat of COVID-19.”

Kerner stressed that the Health Care District of Palm Beach County offers free vaccinations and can set up vaccinations for employees of private businesses by visiting the www.hcdpbc.org.

Florida Department of HealthPalm Beach County Director Dr. Alina Alonso said the average daily case count has been 1,180 per day, up 180 cases since Aug. 3.

“We knew the Fourth of July was a super spreader across the country, and it was here also,” Alonso said. “Our national cases have reached more than 100,000 per day starting July 30, with a reported high of 124,298 on Aug. 6.”

She said the difference in cases after the Fourth of July last year is that the cases started to recede last year after July 17 until Sept. 22.

“This year, our cases continue to climb, stressing our hospital systems, threatening businesses and the younger lives, including our children, having to go to the hospital and suffering from COVID-19 and the long-term effects of the virus,” Alonso said.

“This is mostly due to the Delta variant.”

She stressed that the vaccines are very effective against the Delta variant, even though the variant is much more contagious and creating breakthrough cases.

This means that people who are vaccinated may still catch it, but they are rarely so afflicted that they must go to the hospital.

“That is the purpose of the vaccine, to make sure that you don’t have to go to the hospital, and that you don’t die,” Alonso said. “But we need to help the vaccine by first getting the vaccine.”

People are continuing to get vaccinated, but the process needs to move faster. “We need to beat the Delta,” Alonso said.

The health department still maintains a testing site in Lantana.

“We thought the people need to have at least a government site that people feel safe to go to,” Alonso said.

There are 109 different vaccination sites in Palm Beach County.

They can be located by visiting www.vaccines.gov. The site to locate free testing is at www.hhs.gov.

“The only way out of this is through vaccination,” Alonso said.

“We need everyone’s help to get this done. As a community, we need to erase the misinformation that is out there, speak the truth, and urge our friends and colleagues to get vaccines.”

As for children under 12 who cannot yet get vaccinated, she

urged the people who are around them to get vaccinated to reduce the chance of that child catching the virus.

Dr. Raymond Golish, chief medical officer at JFK Medical Center, said he respects people’s right to autonomy and to make personal decisions, but cited a need for responsibility to oneself and to the people around them in an unprecedented situation.

“When we think about vaccination as a personal choice, the simple fact is that a hospital as large as JFK, we are able right now to care for the people who come to us for service. However, we are extremely full. We are as full as we have been at any time during the pandemic and getting fuller,” Golish said. “There’s no signs yet, based on the information in front of us, of any sign of a downtrend.”

He said it is difficult to imagine people needing complex technology to sustain their life in the face of an available vaccine. He also pointed out that the vast majority of people ill enough to require admission to the hospital, needing oxygen and complex medical treatments, are unvaccinated.

Dr. Mazyar Rohani, director of the emergency department at JFK, said his 55,000-square-foot unit has increased its 78-bed capacity.

“As of this morning, we expanded to 96 beds in order to care for COVID-19 patients,” Rohani

Dr. Raymond Golish, chief medical officer at JFK Medical Center, urges unvaccinated residents over age 12 to get their shots. said. “What we really need to do is decrease transmission. Really, the only way to decrease transmission is to get vaccinated. Get vaccinated, wear your mask, and if you are sick, you need to stay home.”

Although some breakthrough cases have been reported of vaccinated people getting COVID-19, almost none of those cases result in severe illness requiring getting hospitalized, he said. “It is the unvaccinated who are suffering,” Rohani stressed.

Kerner said that the United

States is fortunate to have a vaccine that is not available in most of the world.

“We’ve made a commitment that when we speak to you from this podium, there is not politics injected into it. There are not personal perspectives injected into it,” he said. “There are facts as we know them, and due diligence that goes with it, but the vast majority of those that are admitted to the hospital are not vaccinated.”

Learn more about COVID-19 efforts in Palm Beach County at www.pbcgov.com/coronavirus.

Lox Council Approves Contract 3-2, But Seeks Talks With PBSO

By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report At the Loxahatchee Groves Town Council meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 3, Councilwoman Phillis Maniglia called for the review of the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office contract with the goal of finding possible cost savings.

Maniglia pulled an addendum to the law enforcement agreement from the consent agenda to discuss the contract.

Town Manager Jamie Titcomb said the item for approval was the annual renewal, and the PBSO was not seeking any changes or increases to the 10-year contract that ends in 2027.

Maniglia said she was not happy with the cost of the contract.

“We give the sheriff $622,200 every year,” she said. “We’re having a little difficulty getting all of

our roads paved and getting our drainage in. I hear complaints that [the PBSO] is not very visible.”

Maniglia added that the town pays about $1.2 million to Palm Beach County, which also gives a portion of that to the PBSO. “I’m saying they’re probably getting $1.3 million from Loxahatchee Groves,” she said. “I’ve been trying to get someone to renegotiate, and it’s not happening so far to my knowledge. We are, in my opinion, entitled to emergency services, 911 calls, etc... I would like to see that money every year, the $650,000, go toward roads and drainage projects.”

Vice Mayor Laura Danowski agreed that the town should have renegotiation discussions with the PBSO. “Phillis, I hear you,” Danowski said. “It was maybe four months

ago, each one of the council members got to sit with the attorney and management, and part of the discussion in my session was a possible renegotiation to a 12hour shift versus a 24-hour shift.

I feel like it never was pursued.

I realize this is a very soft-shoe dance between the town and the sheriff’s office.”

Danowski also noted the town charter’s requirement of having to use either the PBSO or an adjacent municipality for law enforcement services. All adjacent municipalities are contracted with the PBSO. “We’re kind of stuck in that respect, or we jump off the financial cliff and create our own law enforcement division,” she said.

“This is one of those things that we really need to look at.”

Councilwoman Marianne Miles agreed that the PBSO contract

is expensive but was reluctant to change it.

“There are some things that I can equate, and one of the things I can equate with this sheriff’s contract is a life insurance contract,” Miles said. “Some people have it, some people don’t. Some people feel the need, some people want it but don’t want to pay for it, but they want the availability in the event that a family member dies.”

Miles added that she hears a lot of complaints that the PBSO is not patrolling their area. “If we go on a 12-hour shift, what shift do we do?” she asked. “Do we do 8 o’clock in the morning to 8 o’clock at night? I don’t know if that’s going to work because we have accidents all the time.”

Miles was also critical of the town starting its own police department.

“We have a rapport with the sheriff,” she said. “We know what we are going to pay right now.

Everything costs money. It doesn’t matter what it is. Our roads cost money, the sheriff costs money.

If we did do shifts and leave the nighttime blank, the people robbing during the night are going to love that. If we leave it blank during the day, the people robbing during the day are going to love that. I like the sheriff. I think it’s a necessity.”

Councilwoman Marge Herzog said she was open to exploring the options.

“I don’t know whether Jamie has met with the sheriff’s department and tried to negotiate anything one way or another, but just like any other situation in life, if you can negotiate a cheaper way to go, then I think we should do

it, as long as our health, safety and so forth is not put in danger,” Herzog said.

Mayor Robert Shorr said he felt that the PBSO has the best resources anywhere.

“I feel lucky that we have those resources, but if you never use them, you don’t even know they’re there,” he said. “If you have one of those situations where you need those resources, it’s great to have them there. I appreciate that there is no increase. I think we should approve this, but at the same time I think we should give staff direction to set up some meetings and talk.”

Danowski made a motion to renew the PBSO contract with instructions for the town attorney to see what can be done to negotiate a better rate. The motion carried 3-2 with Maniglia and Herzog dissenting.

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Page 4

August 13 - August 26, 2021

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NEWS

Wellington Council OKs Unchanged Tax Rate And Assessments

By M. Dennis Taylor Town-Crier Staff Report The Wellington Village Council approved its proposed taxes for the upcoming fiscal year on Tuesday, Aug. 10. The rates, which are largely unchanged from the current year, will now be subject to public hearings for resident input.

Also at the meeting, the council increased the village staff’s ability to approve contracts and finalized amendments to the year-long review of Wellington’s comprehensive plan despite threats of a possible lawsuit.

Wellington’s ad valorem millage rate will remain at 2.47 per $1,000 taxable property value, which is the consistent rate for a five-year period that the council promised three years ago. The Acme Improvement District assessment also remains unchanged at $230 per unit.

With a new contract to replace the current carrier, the solid waste curbside rate increases less than it

would have with the existing carrier. The amount goes up by $36 to $171 per unit, with the solid waste containerized rate increasing $21 to $121 per unit.

The water and wastewater typical bill will see an average monthly increase of up to 6,000 gallons usage of $2.37 to $69.89.

The council then took up a proposal to increase the threshold for formal bid solicitations, allowing the village’s purchasing thresholds for formal solicitations to increase from $25,000, where it has remained for seven years, to $65,000.

Each such presentation costs the village thousands of dollars in staff time to review, and there are up to 100 of these solicitations per year. The estimated savings from the new procedure will be some $250,000 per year, and a monthly reporting program makes the protocol transparent for the council and the public.

Additionally, total invoices that

do not exceed $50,000 need not come before the council on a caseby-case basis and can be approved by the management team. These are also reported for transparency.

The changes were approved 4-1 with Mayor Anne Gerwig dissenting. She disagreed on the new threshold amount.

Wellington’s new comprehensive plan will guide its growth, development and maintenance for the next 20 years or more. It has been completed after a year of input from the entire community, discussion among stakeholders and voting.

When it came time to formally adopt the bulk of the document, which has been approved previously in parts, Councilman Michael Drahos and Councilman Michael Napoleone each had questions to assure this was a final look at the plan and that no changes had been made to it from the approved versions, and that changes requested previously by

Westlake Officials Keeping A Close Eye On Sign Variances

By Louis Hillary Park Town-Crier Staff Report Sign, sign, everywhere a sign.

That’s what Westlake Vice Mayor JohnPaul O’Connor wants to avoid as the young community develops its main commercial thoroughfare along Seminole Pratt Whitney Road.

“This is not Las Vegas, and it’s not Times Square,” said O’Connor during the Monday, Aug. 9 meeting of the Westlake City Council, adding that he did not want to see “massive neon signs throughout the city.”

O’Connor’s comments came during a discussion of requests for sign variances by the planned 7-Eleven convenience store at the intersection of Seminole Pratt Whitney Road and Persimmon Blvd. West, and for the Grove Market shopping center on the east side of Seminole Pratt.

O’Connor noted that the entirety of Seminole Pratt is going to be some form of commercial through Westlake. “It’s important the precedent we set now,” he said.

Council members also expressed concern that planned signage for the Grove Market would mix new and existing signage in

the 22-year-old shopping center that is once again to be anchored by a Winn-Dixie supermarket.

“Westlake is turning into a beautifully planned city,” said Emily O’Mahoney of the planning firm Gentile, Holloway, O’Mahoney & Associates, representing the shopping center. “We’re making great effort to bring the [shopping center and signage] up to today’s standards.”

Yet what was presented was concerning to some on the dais.

“I would have liked to have seen something different,” Councilwoman Katrina Long-Robinson said.

Requiring current tenants to pay thousands of dollars for new signage as the shopping center tries to emerge from years of stagnation would be less than optimal in terms of sustaining those businesses, O’Mahoney said. She also said that the requested variances were in keeping with those granted the Publix shopping center planned nearby.

Meanwhile, Donaldson Hearing of the planning firm Cotleur & Hearing, representing the 7-Eleven project, assured council members that the area would be “very nicely

Phase 2 of the Westlake Adventure Park will add a 3,400-squarefoot, adults-only swimming pool with a lap area; a 320-square-foot pool entry building; a pool cabana building; a 6,900-square-foot lodge building; and four basketball courts, all on 4.17 acres.

GRAPHIC COURTESY COTLEUR & HEARING

the council had been included. It was the last step before sending off a year’s worth of work to the state for review.

“I think people should take away from this process that this is the second plan in the village [history]. It is for the next 25 years,” Vice Mayor John McGovern said.

He said that the first comp plan followed the original trajectory, while the new plan follows the trajectory of the residents today. McGovern also stressed the amount of time and staff resources spent on getting input community wide.

The most controversial part of the new comp plan was its equestrian element. Wording over that section led to sharp differences between village staff and members of Wellington’s Equestrian Preserve Committee. One key area of disagreement was on the issue of road widening. Some members of the committee were adamantly against road widening, despite a visit by venue owners to a meeting

to request the widening of certain access roads.

The council stressed that it has no plans to widen any roads but wanted to leave the decision to residents of the area to take up in the future should a movement decide to expand the roads.

The issue came up again as the council prepared to finalize the document.

Equestrian activist Victoria McCullough had her attorney speak to demand that council members not allow any consideration of a fourlane road in the preserve, ever.

Michael Whitlow stressed to the council members that it was their “moral responsibility” to keep the roads from being widened because that would lead to commercial proliferation along the roadways.

Carol Coleman was upset that the widening of the roads is going to divide the equestrian community down the line.

In the end, the comp plan was approved unanimously and will

now be forwarded to Tallahassee for comment.

In other business: • The council held a moment of silence in honor of late community philanthropist Neil Hirsch, who was acknowledged, followed by comments about his contributions to Wellington.

• State Rep. Matt Willhite (D-District 86) took the opportunity to bring signed copies of the recently passed ordinance to prohibit fireworks in the Equestrian Preserve Area during the Fourth of July and New Year’s holidays.

• Mayor Anne Gerwig stressed that residents pay an assessment to have their trash or solid waste picked up from a spot in front of their home. Disposing of such waste in front of a park, empty home or the back of an adjoining lot is not permitted, and the village’s carrier is under no obligation to pick up such waste. “It is illegal, and it is dumping,” she explained.

WELLINGTON HONORS LITTLE LEAGUE ALL-STARS

landscaped” so that signage would not be glaring.

In the end, both variance requests passed on 5-0 votes, with O’Connor making the motions with the stipulation that none of the new signage exceed previously approved variances for similar developments. In the case of the Grove Market, a second stipulation was added that all tenant signs must be refurbished or replaced within 36 months.

Also approved at the meeting was Phase 2 of the PC-1 Amenity Center, known as the Westlake Adventure Park, east of Seminole Pratt Whitney Road.

Phase 2 will add a 3,400-squarefoot, adults-only swimming pool with a lap area; a 320-square-foot pool entry building; a pool cabana building; a 6,900-square-foot lodge building; and four basketball courts, all on 4.17 acres. The lodge building, which is being planned with partitions to allow for larger and smaller gatherings, will be used mostly as an event center with restrooms and a catering kitchen.

The application included one monument sign, a landscaping plan, an additional 211 automobile parking spaces and 37 golf cart parking spaces, and a spacious lawn area next to the lodge.

“This is really exciting,” said Hearing, representing developer Minto. “We had a great team of consultants and experts… They looked at every aspect, every detail.”

The site plan application was approved 5-0.

Previously approved in 2018 was the already completed Phase 1, on 10.72 acres, which includes a swimming pool, pavilions, concession areas, an outdoor amphitheater and a BMX pump park.

In other business, the council approved Dec. 3 as the qualifying deadline for the March 8, 2022, Westlake municipal election.

The action was taken at the recommendation of the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections so that qualifying ends on or before the 95th day before the election to accommodate statutory voteby-mail requirements and allow appropriate time for election preparations.

The Wellington Village Council honored the Wellington Little League 9/10 combined all-star team and the 9-year-old all-star team on Tuesday, Aug. 10 for their accomplishments this season. The 9/10 combined Wellington Little League all-star team went a combined 7-1 in Little League International All-Star competition this summer. They posted an undefeated 3-0 record in the District 7 Championship, defeating Delray National and Boca Raton twice. This earned them a spot in the Section 2 Championship in Melbourne, which they won with a 2-0 record. The team advanced to the Florida State Championships in Deerfield Beach, where they placed second in their pool. The 9-year-old all-star team posted a 4-0 record while winning the Palm Beach County Invitational AllStar Tournament.

PHOTOS COURTESY THE VILLAGE OF WELLINGTON

The 9/10 combined all-star team included (L-R) Alejandro Lopez, Mike Varela, Ian Davis, Jonah Bradley, Hudson Clark, Mason Morales, Nicolas Fonseca, Dylan Vazquez, Chase Huber, Aiden Neeb, Sutter Wolfram, Jacob Hill and Alex McCranels. Shown in the back are coaches Dan Wolfram, Mike Morales, Martin Hill and Matt McCranels.

The 9-year-old all-star team included (L-R) Alejandro Lopez, Mason Morales, Dylan Vasquez, Chase Huber, assistant coach Matt Pazzaglia, Davis Pazzaglia, Brayden Buser, Thomas Mediavilla, Tyler Gagnon and Sutter Wolfram. Not shown are Dusty Parfitt, Ezhra Rodriguez and head coach Scott Buser.

Groves Council Delays Approval Of Okeechobee Overlay Plan

By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report After a year’s work, the Loxahatchee Groves Town Council on Tuesday, Aug. 3 postponed the final reading of the planned Okeechobee Blvd. overlay ordinance to add details that were discussed at the meeting. The final reading will now be held Tuesday, Sept. 21.

The ordinance also strengthens transportation plan policies that the town has fought for in the past, including opposition to the four-laning of Okeechobee Blvd., removal of the E Road/140th Avenue thoroughfare from the county’s thoroughfare map and support for the completion of the State Road 7 extension to Northlake Blvd.

“So, this is a second reading,” Mayor Robert Shorr said. “First reading was about a year ago.”

During that time, the ordinance was discussed before the town’s Local Planning Agency; joint meetings of the Planning & Zoning Committee and Uniform Land Development Committee; the Roadway, Equestrian, Trails & Greenways Advisory Committee; and other public meetings.

Town Planning Consultant Jim Fleischmann said the ordinance is commonly known as the “Okeechobee Blvd. overlay” but addresses more issues than that.

“Also included are amendments to the transportation element and the future land use element related to Southern Blvd.,” Fleischmann said. “The project was initially

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funded by a grant from the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.”

Fleischmann noted that in compliance with the grant, the council must submit the final ordinance to the state by Oct. 1.

The Local Planning Agency recommended approval of the transportation element but recommended that a joint meeting be held between the ULDC and the Planning & Zoning Committee to further review the Okeechobee Blvd. component.

“The joint committee met seven times… focusing principally on the Okeechobee Blvd. overlay land uses,” Fleischmann said.

“The joint committee recommended approval of the future land use element proposed revisions.”

Staff recommended final approval of the ordinance and recommended transmittal to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity and other required agencies for review.

Fleischmann noted that the traffic map included a change on Okeechobee Blvd. from “urban collector” to “minor collector.”

The map further describes different transportation categories in the town. He added that the ordinance increases the floor area ratio (FAR) in the commercial district from .1 to .15.

“It creates the Okeechobee overlay land use category and gets into specific intensity requirements for self-storages,” Fleischmann said, pointing out that the ordinance was generated by a review of historical

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documents, public involvement activities and numerous joint committee meetings, and has been tailored to preserve the Loxahatchee Groves rural character and prevent big box uses and strip malls on both Okeechobee and Southern boulevards.

Fleischmann also noted provisions in the town’s transportation policy that are a compilation of policies that have been written in the past where the town has had to pass a resolution either in support or opposition to an activity favored by the county.

“Rather than have to enact a resolution every time one of these activities comes up, we created a policy that the town can refer to,” he said.

Policies include the removal

of the E Road/140th Avenue thoroughfare from the county thoroughfare map, exclusion of that portion of Okeechobee Blvd. from Folsom Road to West A Road from consideration of expansion to four lanes from the county’s five-year road program, support for the expansion of Seminole Pratt Whitney Road north to State Road 710 and the Beeline Highway, opposition to the extension of Okeechobee Blvd. to State Road 80 and support for the extension of State Road 7 from Okeechobee Blvd. to Northlake Blvd.

Vice Mayor Laura Danowski made a motion to continue consideration of the ordinance at the Sept. 21 meeting, which carried unanimously.

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Page 5

NEWS

SWAG Program Provides Internships For 17 Wellington Students

By Margaret Hunt Town-Crier Staff Report Students Working to Achieve Greatness (SWAG) is a program started by the Village of Wellington in 2017 through the Community Services Department, which provides programs and services to residents of Wellington with the goal of enhancing the quality of life, especially to underserved families.

“Exposure is key to knowledge and understanding the world around you,” Community Services Director Paulette Edwards said. “The Village of Wellington’s SWAG program is designed to provide a meaningful work experience to local high school students who otherwise would not have such an opportunity.”

The program serves high school students in Wellington by teaching them career readiness skills and helping them network with successful people of color within the community. Through the years, approximately 50 students have received paid summer internships through the program. This year, 17 students took part in summer

internships. This includes students who were unable to participate in the SWAG program last year due to the pandemic. They got the opportunity to participate this year.

This summer’s program participants included Kyle Balfour, Mariangel Barboza, Erika Beckard, Angela Page Camacho, Stacey Domingue, Valentina Ezcurra, Melik Frederick, McKenzie Henry, Margaret Hunt, Jordan Jackson, Jovenah Kayla, Victoria Loredan, Wyaussi Morin, Morgann Rhule, Leylani Sime, David Usher and Hermione Williams. They were saluted at a SWAG program graduation ceremony held on Tuesday, Aug. 3.

From the internships, the students learned how to work in numerous settings, from working with children to jobs in corporate offices. The students have worked at locations such as Premier Family Health, the Art Cellar/Kidz Art, Commissioner Melissa McKinlay’s office, the Boys & Girls Club, Health Solutions Insurance, the Vinceremos Therapeutic Riding Center, the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s office, Wellington

All Stars and the Town-Crier/Wellington The Magazine. Some of the students even received internships in their desired career fields.

Through SWAG, the students have learned proper work etiquette, the importance of being on time, how to introduce themselves and other career skills. The Crowned Pearls of Wellington were also able to give the students career advice from their personal experiences working in different fields. The program helped prepare each student to be successful when entering the workforce.

The students have been aided along the way by program coordinators Ian Williams and Gus Ponce from the Community Services Department. They played a key role, accompanying students to their job interviews, helping them with paperwork and answering their questions. “My favorite thing about working with the youth is seeing the growth of the students,” Ponce said. “I come from a coaching background, and just seeing the development of these students over the years, whether it’s on the basketball court, the classroom, or

SWAG program participants and supporters at the Aug. 3 graduation ceremony.

PHOTOS BY DENISE FLEISCHMAN/TOWN-CRIER

as a person, is great to see.”

During the program, the students attended weekly meetings at the Wellington Community Center, where they were given an opportunity to discuss their new work experiences. They got feedback from their mentors and each other. They could learn from each other’s mistakes and the things that they did correctly. The program also offered a way for the students

to connect with their peers during the pandemic.

“I’m thankful for partnering up with SWAG and being able to spend my summer at Vinceremos.

It was amazing to see how much bonds mean to people. The bonds I’ve created with the volunteers, campers and horses were some that I will never forget and will always cherish,” SWAG student Valentina Ezcurra said.

SWAG has given the students tools to take with them throughout their professional lives. They will remember to give a strong handshake and make good eye contact, the type of clothes to wear to a job interview, and to always arrive early to an event. Through SWAG, the Village of Wellington gave the students a head start in key areas, setting them on a path toward success in the workplace.

Councilman Michael Napoleone, Margaret Hunt and Alma Henry Morman. Hunt interned with the Town-Crier and Wellington The Magazine.

Darren Edgecomb, Karen Whetsell, Vivian Green, Area Superintendent Valerie Zuloaga-Haines and School Board Member Marcia Andrews.

Kelley Burke, McKenzie Henry, Kyle Balfour and Lisa Wilson.

Carol and Dale Balfour, Joyce Stewart, Kyle Balfour, Mabel King and Kaden Balfour.

The Crowned Pearls of Wellington supported the program. (L-R) Gloria Coleman, Alma Henry Morman, Marcia Hayden, Paulette Edwards, Geneva Pettis-Hassell, Penelope Rahman and Mable King.

Councilman Michael Drahos, School Board Member Marcia Andrews, Wellington Education Committee Chair Jay Webber, Councilwoman Tanya Siskind and Councilman Michael Napoleone.

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NEWS

ITID President Holds Online Q&A About Incorporation Process

By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report Indian Trail Improvement District President Betty Argue held an online question-and-answer session on Monday, Aug. 2 for anyone with questions about the feasibility studies currently underway regarding the possible incorporation of the district.

After approval by the Florida Legislature, the ITID Board of Supervisors organized a Feasibility and Charter Review Committee to work out the details and study the pros and cons of a possible incorporation. The committee began its work in July, shortly after the local bill allowing the study was signed by the governor. It will continue meeting every Thursday through August.

Argue said the purpose of Monday’s online meeting was to have a more informal setting

where people could ask questions and get answers, because she felt from some comments on social media that residents were not getting answers to their questions. She noted that the answers she supplied were not necessarily those of the board or the FCR committee.

Argue explained that ITID is currently a special-purpose district, authorized to control drainage, roads and parks, separated into units of development that are assessed individually.

She showed a map of colored units that are receiving services from ITID and uncolored units that are not, which are primarily in the western part of the district, including the 4,872-acre GL Homes, which Palm Beach County has approved for the development of 3,800 homes on 2,800 acres of that land.

“This past Thursday, there was a presentation by GL Homes on what they’ve been approved for on their property,” Argue said.

“They are within the boundaries of the district.”

GL Homes has committed to becoming an activated unit and has agreed to dedicate 640 acres of that property to ITID for water catchment. Much of the remainder of that property is in use as solar farms. Whether or not GL Homes will be included in the proposed municipality remains a question, she said.

GL Homes is also donating 40 acres west of Friedland Park, in addition to the 640 acres dedicated for stormwater, as well as equestrian trails surrounding its property, Argue noted.

Santa Rosa Groves, which has been troubled by flooding issues, is another of those western units

that has been working with ITID to become activated. “That includes their roads and drainage,” she said.

Part of the detail to work out are what parts of ITID will be included in a municipality.

“The proposed municipality is going to be somewhere within those boundaries of the district, so the boundaries are going to be constricted,” Argue said. “It is not going to include everything.

About 20,000 acres are west of the L-8 Canal. We are not likely to include that.”

Some areas, such as Fox Trail, Deer Run and White Fences have been excluded from the boundary.

“Deer Run and Fox Trail are not,” Argue said. “They have specifically requested to be excluded.”

Lion Country remains in question, she added.

Bay Hill Estates, which is part of ITID, was recently annexed by

the City of Palm Beach Gardens.

Rustic Lakes is under contract to receive drainage services from ITID, but it will also be excluded.

Madison Green and other parts of the Village of Royal Palm Beach that are served by ITID will also be excluded, she said. At a minimum, all the activated units that are not part of another municipality will be included.

“The discussion at this point is what of all the areas that currently are not receiving services will be included in the boundaries of the new municipality,” Argue said.

Jacki Kerley said she was looking for a list of pros and cons about incorporation. Argue said that until the FCR committee is finished with its evaluation in August, there would not be a complete list of the pros and cons.

“We have to go through this process of doing the feasibility

study, as well as having the discussions with the community,” Argue said. “That’s the reason we set up this committee that has representatives from the community from each of the areas, so each of the areas has representation.

When we have done that and we have reviewed the feasibility study and we have a draft charter, it’s at that point that we will have most of the people’s questions answered.”

The FCR committee generally meets at 6:30 p.m. every Thursday at the Sandhill Crane Golf Club in the Dancing Crane Ballroom on the north side of Northlake Blvd. just east of The Acreage in Palm Beach Gardens.

There is also a meeting at Seminole Ridge High School on Saturday, Aug. 14 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more info., visit www. indiantrail.com.

Lox Council, Finance Board Focus On Infrastructure At Meeting

By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report The Loxahatchee Groves Town Council and its Finance Advisory & Audit Committee held a joint meeting on the upcoming year’s budget Monday, Aug. 2, with a focus on creating a capital plan in order to qualify for grants.

Assistant Town Manager Francine Ramaglia said that town staff had presented the council with a mostly balanced budget, and biggest issue was to decide how to address infrastructure improvements.

Ramaglia reminded those attending that the preliminary budget had remained basically the same as the previous year’s $5.8 million budget, with a .3 millage rate, $200 per unit for roads and drainage, and $450 per unit annually for solid waste collection.

“As we started this year, we had a total of $2 million that we could invest in capital projects,” she said.

“What we have committed funds to is the OGEM [Open-Graded Emulsion Mix] repair.”

FAAC Chair Anita Kane said

that from what she saw on the balance sheet, funds allocated for capital projects next year were already overextended.

“There are no capital funds left for anything in next year’s budget,” she said. “In other words, there are no funds left to allocate for anything else. In fact, we are $115,000 overextended for the next budget year. Is that an accurate statement?”

Ramaglia agreed that the committed funds exceed the available funds. “We have committed more than what we had available at the beginning of this year,” she said.

“We had $2.1 million available to spend, and we have committed a little bit more than that.”

Kane also pointed out that one recently refurbished road failed due to improper drainage and asked about how to ensure proper drainage in the future.

Public Works Director Larry Peters said that the town engineer designed the roads conceptually, and the town provided many locations for drainage.

“Since the inception, I’ve always said you should put in drainage first,” Peters said. “We have chosen not to do so. That’s where we are.”

Kane added that she was glad to see that some of the capital projects had been started but felt addressing some of the drainage issues would be a good idea.

Councilwoman Marge Herzog brought up that funding might be available through the American Rescue Plan. Ramaglia added that in order to apply, the town must be very specific on how the money will be spent.

Titcomb said that any free money comes with conditions.

“It really isn’t free money, it’s conditional money,” he said. “I believe we’re eligible for $1.4 million based on our scale and scope, but again, without a plan — without the conditions in place to actually receive and spend that money — we’re not even trying to grab it yet until we know we can meet all those conditions.”

Ramaglia said that there is a lot

of attention now on water projects, and Titcomb agreed.

In summarizing, Ramaglia said the last phase of a working budget is to establish a working capital plan.

“We’ve shared with you that the number one thing that we need to do is start to put some policies and priorities in place,” she said. “We need to figure out how we’d like to proceed in terms of processes on how to develop a capital plan, and also, whether we want to meet again as a group or whether we want the FAAC to put something together and bring it forward.”

Kane said she was disappointed that the FAAC did not have a quorum present. One member called that evening to report that he had been exposed to COVID-19 and could not attend, leaving only she and FAAC Member Bruce Cunningham present. “I’m concerned about quorums, but we have some great financial minds on the FAAC committee,” she said.

Vice Mayor Laura Danowski said she felt that before trying to

put a capital project together, they should decide what policies to use to approve projects.

Ramaglia said the town has working drafts of road prioritization and standards, as well as a draft of the cost sharing.

“We could review these drafts and come up with what we agree on and apply it to the projects that we know,” Ramaglia said, pointing out that the town has several pilot projects that have been completed that could be further developed.

“We’re not ruling anything out by having a policy, we’re just putting in the step that brings it forward for the council to vote on.”

Kane suggested reviewing the OGEM projects that have been outlined, pointing out that a lot of them have been completed or are underway.

Danowski asked if the projects should be prioritized by need or by how far a particular project is toward completion, and Town Attorney Elizabeth Lenihan said that the draft policy she has started has criteria that includes what to think

about when prioritizing.

“There are tiers of criteria, so some are more important to look at first than others,” she said. “You can either look at them blanketly or which one has so many boxes checked, or you can assign a point system so you can tally up points, then you have a number that gives you priority. So, there are lots of ways you can do it.”

Councilwoman Phillis Maniglia said she felt it was the town staff’s job to prioritize and for the council to approve. “Our public works director and staff can prioritize, not the council,” Maniglia said. “I don’t think it’s our job.”

Titcomb said that the policy falls ultimately on the council, but his staff will present the council with best practices and projected policy.

“In your legislative role, you get to say, ‘Yeah, that’s really important to us,’ or ‘That’s not as important,’ and prioritize what that policy looks like,” he said.

“Policy and appropriations are the two main categories that fall in the legislative arena.”

Wellington Education Committee Reviews Annual Spinelli Grants

By M. Dennis Taylor Town-Crier Staff Report Wellington’s Education Committee reviewed funding approvals for the annual Keely Spinelli grants on Tuesday, Aug. 3 “This is always my favorite meeting of the year,” Committee Chair John Webber said. “It’s great to get to see all the teachers and their teams.”

The meeting included an update on the largely self-reported protocols for the coming school year’s in-class instruction, a review of the 2020 Keely Spinelli grant efforts, and consideration and approval of

Meeting

Town Hall At SRHS Aug. 14

continued from page 1 posed boundaries, which were mailed on Friday, Aug. 6.

The meeting this weekend at the high school will be an opportunity for the committee to hear community opinions about the proposed charter.

“There have been questions about why we are doing this,”

this year’s grant applications.

The grants now go before the Wellington Village Council for discussion and approval of the exact amounts.

Each of the Wellington-area elementary, middle and high schools had representatives present to update the committee on last year’s investments, any residual money left over and plans for the current year. Most speakers were the principals or a member of the administrative team.

The grant money is targeted toward students who are struggling.

Particularly at the lower grade

levels, that is often with reading.

Christine Muldowney, a 30-year teacher with the Reading Recovery program at Elbridge Gale Elementary School, explained how the program assists students who were reading below grade level and saw them go from that point to where they are now reading at or above grade level.

“Now they are strong readers when they once were struggling,” she said. “I am beyond excited to be able to continue to change the lives of our youngest learners with the gift of reading.”

Several other speakers com-

plimented the reading program and remarked that testing scores, which didn’t count officially last year, were below where they would have liked them to be, but that has been reflected nationwide as schools battle with the pandemic’s toll on education. They are preparing for the challenge of working on that this year.

Many of the administrators remarked that a lack of adequate tutors had been a problem last year and that some of the money would be allocated toward in-house, part-time tutors. Because money was left in the budget, tutoring

programs are able to start earlier this year.

School officials believe that students who were in the classrooms last year did better than students who were remote. Anecdotally, students seem to have learned more and lost less when present with a teacher. Administrators echoed one another, saying they were going to regroup and attack that learning loss and get the students back on track.

Palm Beach Central Principal Darren Edgecomb presented a united front with an entire row of his school’s team to thank the

committee for the on-going funding. He said that they spend the money on tutorial work, instruction, consumables and student support.

“Knowledge is great, but it does not replace the teacher in the classroom, and we had dips in some categories,” said Edgecomb, who is expecting more than 3,000 students for this year with nearly half directly benefiting from the grants. “Thank you for your commitment to Palm Beach schools.”

The motion to approve the grants passed unanimously.

Argue said. “The decision was made by the Indian Trail board of supervisors. There’s a multitude of reasons why.”

She cited multiple developments surrounding ITID that are encroaching on residents’ way of life.

“We don’t have a seat at the table, and very little impact on the decisions being made, as we have seen,” Argue said.

In the end, the decision will be up to the residents.

The committee was authorized this year by a local bill that passed the Florida Legislature in April and

was signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in June.

The scheduled date for the study to be presented to the ITID board is Aug. 26.

A draft feasibility study was presented at the meeting by consultant Jesse Saginor of Clifford McCue & Associates that focused on the proposed borders of the potential town as a follow up to the previous meetings.

Saginor said he and his associates have been working diligently responding to discussions about boundaries.

“I’ve been modeling it, and it

takes some time,” he said. “It’s extremely important in terms of the municipality that you want to build.”

He said the first step required by state government is to determine whether the proposed town is compact, contiguous and amenable to separate municipal government.

“For the most part, as closely that I was modeling at home while modeling on Thursday, after your vote, I got to work,” Saginor said.

“Right now, it’s not a perfect block.”

However, many of the new

municipalities incorporated over the last 20 or 30 years in Florida have not been perfectly compact, Saginor noted.

Discussion ensued over widening the connection between the northern and southern sections of the proposed boundaries, which are potentially connected with a narrow strip of land between ITID’s M-1 and M-2 basins connected by the L-8 Canal, and the possibility of widening that strip with unpopulated land owned by FPL currently in use as solar fields that would not compromise state required density.

“FPL has deeded to us in fee simple Orange Blvd., which is Louise [Street],” Argue said. “It is the section that is adjacent to the south 640 acres of the solar farm. That is the 640 acres just off Santa Rosa Groves. They have also deeded to us Carol Street, so Carol Street would be included.”

The committee has also been discussing term limits for a future council, as well as how the mayor is elected, which was to continue at the committee’s meeting on Thursday, Aug. 12, and possibly at the town hall meeting at Seminole Ridge.

limited to income eligibility, residence must be owner-occupied, not under contract or listed for sale within the past 60 days, the property must be in Palm Beach County and the assessed value cannot exceed $331,888.

All applications must be submitted online and will be processed on a first come, first qualified, first served basis, subject to funding availability. The online application will be open Monday, Aug. 16 at 8 a.m. through Tuesday, Sept. 7 at 11:59 p.m. Applications can be accessed at www.pbcgov.com/hed.

or call (561) 966-8878 to reserve your space.

NEWS BRIEFS Kids Cancer Foundation To Celebrate 20th Anniversary

The Kids Cancer Foundation will celebrate its 20th Anniversary Party along with its annual Childhood Cancer Awareness Social on Saturday, Sept. 18 from 4 to 6:30 p.m. at the Kids Cancer Center at 246 Royal Palm Beach Blvd. in Royal Palm Beach.

The event will celebrate the 20 years of hope and support that the Kids Cancer Foundation has provided in the community. The month of September also happens to be Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, which the foundation honors annually, so the event will be a dual celebration in the theme of an all-out carnival extravaganza.

Patients and their families are invited, as are members of Kids Cancer Foundation’s board, donors, supporters and volunteers for this spectacular carnival event.

The Kids Cancer Foundation is a nonprofit charity founded in 2001 with a mission to provide hope and support to local children and families battling childhood cancer and/or blood disorders. For more info., visit www.kidscancersf.org.

COVID-19 Testing In Palm Beach County

Amid the surge in COVID-19 numbers, Palm Beach County reminds the public that there are many options available for residents to get testing.

Besides the many locations found at www.pbcgov.com, most commercial pharmacies and physician’s offices are able to do COVID-19 testing for little or no cost.

In addition to providing testing, many of these locations also offer vaccines.

“Keeping our community safe is one of the most important things we can do as a government. It is the county’s intent to make sure that the resources needed to combat COVID-19 are readily available,” Palm Beach County Mayor Dave Kerner said. “Use our county web site to find available testing locations, but of utmost importance, utilize it to find out where you can get your vaccine if you have not already.”

For additional information on COVID-19, call the Department of Health COVID-19 Call Center, available 24/7, at (866) 779-6121 or e-mail COVID-19@flhealth. gov.

McKinlay To Speak At LWV Meeting Aug. 18

The League of Women Voters of Palm Beach County will host a timely, informative and free Zoom event on Wednesday, Aug. 18 at noon.

This Hot Topic Discussion on Home Rule will feature Palm Beach County Commissioner Melissa McKinlay as the guest speaker.

McKinlay’s topic will be the concept of Home Rule and its importance in the governance of Palm Beach County and its local municipalities.

First elected to the Palm Beach County Commission in 2014, McKinlay served as mayor in 2017-18 and was re-elected unopposed in 2018.

McKinlay is the immediate past president of the Florida Association of Counties, vice chair of the National Association of Counties’ Agriculture & Rural Affairs Policy Steering Committee and a member of the NACo Board of Directors.

To register for this enlightening Zoom discussion, visit www. lwvpbc.org or www.facebook. com/lwvpbc and find the webinar registration link.

PBC Mortgage Assistance Available

The Palm Beach County Department of Housing & Economic Development is about to begin Round 2 of its Community Development Block Grant Coronavirus (CDBG-CV) Mortgage Assistance Program. This program allows new applicants, impacted by COVID-19, to apply for financial assistance to help with paying delinquent first mortgages, escrow payments, second mortgages, late fees, condominium and homeowners’ association payments, special assessments and other mortgageassociated costs.

Up to 6 months of assistance, not to exceed $10,000, will be provided to income-eligible households who are at least one-month delinquent after Feb. 29, 2020 in their home mortgage, escrow payments and/or association payments. Assistance cannot be used to cover payments already made and will be provided as a grant or a forgivable loan.

All requests for assistance will be reviewed based on approved criteria. To qualify, all homeowners must demonstrate that the costs are directly tied to COVID-19. Additional criteria include but are not

Vendors Wanted For Church Sale

St. Matthew Catholic Church is seeking vendors for its 10th anniversary Craft & Tag Sale, set for Saturday, Nov. 13 from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. with a rain date of Saturday, Nov. 20. The church is located at 6090 Hypoluxo Road in Lake Worth.

Vendor spaces opened Monday, Aug. 9. Rent a 9-foot by 17-foot space for $25, or two spaces at $40.

All profits are yours to keep. From Oct. 9 to Nov. 5, registration is $30 per space with no multi-space discount.

Registration is underway now.

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Aquatics Complex Alters Schedule For Swim Meet

The Wellington Wahoos are hosting a swim meet at the Wellington Aquatics Complex from Friday, Aug. 27 through Sunday, Aug. 29. The entire pool will be closed to accommodate the meet.

On Friday, Aug. 27, the pool will be open to the public from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The pool will then be closed after 3 p.m.

On Saturday, Aug. 28 and Sunday, Aug. 29, the pool will be closed for the entire day to accommodate the meet.

The pool will re-open for normal hours of operation on Monday, Aug. 30.

The Aquatics Complex is located at 12072 W. Forest Hill Blvd. and features an Olympic-sized swimming pool, diving boards, water slides, an aquatic spray ground, baby pool, concession stand and locker rooms.

For more information, call the Wellington Aquatics Complex at (561) 791-4770 or visit www. wellingtonfl.gov/aquatics.

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NEWS

NONPROFIT ARTS FOR SMILES PREPARES 100 BACKPACKS FOR KIDS IN NEED Local nonprofit Arts for Smiles stuffed 100 backpacks on Saturday, July 31. They were taken to underserved children in Belle Glade and Lake Worth. Friends and family helped stuff the backpacks with supplies donated by Vans and the general public. For more information, e-mail artsforsmiles@gmail.com or find Arts for Smiles on Facebook.

PHOTOS BY DENISE FLEISCHMAN/TOWN-CRIER

Arts for Smiles supporters with the completed backpacks.

Joseph Jablonski moves the completed backpacks.

Faye Ford puts pencils in a pouch.

Skyler and Sandy Van Putten Vink.

Erica Kyle puts small items in a pouch.

Sophie Nelson, Francine Nelson, Erica Kyle and Joseph Jablonski assemble backpacks.

Lois Spatz prepares school supplies.

Carolina King with some of the backpacks.

WELLINGTON ROTARY CLUB SUPPORTS BACK TO BASICS UNIFORM PROGRAM

The 2021 Back to Basics Uniform Program included 16,500 school uniforms distributed to more than 65 elementary schools and middle schools in Palm Beach County. The Rotary Club of Wellington once again partnered with Back to Basics to provide volunteers for the uniform program. To learn more about Back to Basics and its programs, visit www.backtobasicsinc.org.

Wellington Rotarians Maria Cruz, President Tom Carreras, Sandy and George Kinoshita, and Nikki Stinson.

Wellington Rotarians Tom Eastwood and Maggie Zeller.

Kelle Enriquez and Cathy Barulic of Back to Basics.

Wellington Rotarians and supporters gather after a job well done, sorting 500 boxes that arrived on 11 pallets.

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VILLAGE OF ROYAL PALM BEACH PUBLIC NOTICE

The Village of Royal Palm Beach currently has a vacancy on the Recreation Advisory Board which meets on the fourth Monday of the month. All meetings are held in the Village Meeting Hall. If you are a resident of Royal Palm Beach and would like to volunteer your service and expertise on this local government Board, pick up an application at the Village Clerk’s office or download it from our web site www.royalpalmbeach.com and go to Departments then Village Clerk section and then click on downloadable forms to Board and Commission Application Form. Return the completed application to the Village Clerk’s office no later than August 25, 2021 for Council consideration at its September 2nd meeting.

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NEWS

GISELA PFERDEKAMPER HOSTS ART SHOW AT LOXAHATCHEE GROVES STUDIO Gisela Pferdekamper hosted “An Evening of Art, Wine, Old Friends and New” on Saturday, July 31 at her Loxahatchee Groves art studio. Guests arrived to admire the art and make some purchases as well. Learn more about Pferdekamper at www.artbygisela.com PHOTOS BY DENISE FLEISCHMAN/TOWN-CRIER

Lisa Marie Bishop with “Crescendo.”

Gisela Pferdekamper with Denielle Gallagher, who purchased this horses and Ferrari logo artwork by Pferdekamper.

Jimmy Kelly and Jola Kahnt.

Loxahatchee Groves Councilwoman Phillis Maniglia purchased “Philharmonic,” painted by Lisa Marie Bishop.

Carmen Franco took the photo of Kim Jackson on Utah, and Lisa Marie Bishop used the photo to paint “Utah.”

Marty Crompton and Gisela Pferdekamper in front of “Tangled Up in Blue” by Patricia Ruppert.

Catherine Cotter admires Gisela Pferdekamper’s horses.

Patricia Ruppert with “Pirouette in Gold.”

TOWN BACK-TO-SCHOOL EVENT A SUCCESS WITH 70 BACKPACKS GIVEN AWAY

On Saturday, July 31, the Town of Loxahatchee Groves concluded its first Back to School Backpack Drive. With the donations collected, the town was able to supply backpacks and school supplies to more than 70 elementary, middle and high school students from the community. The event included participation from State Rep. Matt Willhite, School Board Member Marcia Andrews, Loxahatchee Groves Elementary School Principal Richard Myerson, Mayor Robert Shorr, Vice Mayor Laura Danowski, Councilwoman Phillis Maniglia, Town Manager Jamie Titcomb, Town Clerk Lakisha Burch and Town Administrative Assistant Jennifer Lopez. The town thanks everyone who donated, participated and made this successful event possible.

The backpack drive helped dozens of Loxahatchee Groves students begin the new school years in style.

Back-to-school event supporters with some of the backpacks.

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NEWS

Food

Wednesdays At RPB Park

continued from page 1 through method of distribution was in response to the pandemic.

“About 40 percent of our agencies had closed during the pandemic, and there was additional food and perishable food that we needed to distribute. So, when the capacity of our network was

Capital

Wish List For The Future

continued from page 1 projects include water supply improvements at $2.2 million, a water treatment system at $2.5 million, water re-pumping and storage at $1.1 million, and a wastewater force main at $4.4 million.

The raw water supply improvements include rehabilitation of the membrane-supplied wells, which will significantly improve the removal of contaminants in the water, including biological. The wastewater membrane treatment is touted as being 100 percent effective.

“Waste from our service area to the wastewater treatment plant runs through Palm Beach Polo,” Quickel explained. “That line is about 40 years old. It does not meet current standards, and there are certainly limitations relative to replacing it due to structures and large trees. It’s very challenging because the whole area is built out.”

The solution has been to reroute that wastewater. “This project reroutes that master force main along South Shore to the water reclamation facility,” she said.

This new wastewater force main system will go to a lift station that is updated and rehabilitated.

The part that goes through Palm Beach Polo will remain, to be used for only that area, and the rest of Wellington will go through the new facility. The existing portion will be a backup in the event of problems in the future.

The preliminary capital improvements plan for the upcoming year includes proposed capital improvement projects. In addition to utility projects and one-time projects, there are ongoing projects.

maximized, we found additional ways to distribute food and partner with the municipalities, such as Royal Palm Beach,” Vatske said. “Not only do we distribute through those sites, we also work with about 100 nonprofit partners in Palm Beach County, food pantries, food kitchens, but we also have a home delivery meal program, a veterans program, and then we have workforce training, a culinary training program at our Boynton Beach facility, and we

do serve families directly from our pantry.”

The food comes from local farmers as well as farmers throughout the state and the nation.

“We also partner with retail stores, manufacturers and distributors,” Vatske said. “Especially during the pandemic, there was an increase in support from the federal nutrition program.”

She added that during the pandemic, Feeding South Florida was only able to meet the increased

Together these total $32.5 million.

Some of the projects include the Aero Club widening and bike lanes at $1.3 million and the Pierson/South Shore intersection improvements, a $4 million project to rehabilitate the intersection and drainage.

The Town Center project, which is an $8.3 million project that includes grants, will complete the Town Center facility build out as a unified park from border to border, Forest Hill Blvd. to the docks at the lake, with an expansion of the amphitheater, park shade and benches, recreation facilities and parking.

Flexibility will be the key to the enlarged, completed park, allowing larger events or multiple events simultaneously. Some of the parking area will be made parallel parking that can double as a food-truck parking area, and other parking will be moved so it is a shorter walk to the community facility, as some seniors have complained the walk is too extensive.

Mayor Anne Gerwig asked about ways to address the sound from concerts.

“Because the sound goes straight out over the lake, do we have anything built in here, berms and things like that? We might find the sound is spreading a great distance,” she said.

Money is included in the budget for the planning and design of a new aquatics complex, but it does not include building the facility.

It is only the cost for determining a location and designing a new aquatics complex for the village.

So far, the allocation is $1.5 million for these so-called soft costs.

Village staff will be doing an evaluation on the existing facility features, and what is being proposed is to look at funding for the planning and design for a new facility, whether it becomes replaced at the existing site or at a different location. There is flexibility to

purchase land, use vacant land owned by the village or move forward with a previously discussed agreement with the school district near Wellington High School. The budget item doesn’t contemplate any specific location.

“This is just to let the villagers know that we’re going to maintain and bring back the pool to a Wellington level, whether it’s that one or another one, there or at some other place, and we’re going to continue moving down the road of making those decisions,” Vice Mayor John McGovern said.

A total of $900,000 is budgeted for a new Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office substation. This is because the village contracts with the PBSO to provide policing services. “If the village had its own police department, it would have to pay for its facility,” Councilman Michael Napoleone noted.

The complete budget wish list includes grants and enterprise funds added to the governmental funds. As presented, the overall budget would require borrowing some $10 million to complete all of the wish list in the coming fiscal year.

“This is just an aspirational budget, putting forth ideas for things that we may spend money on later, but there is zero construction budget for any of these projects, only some monies for planning and decision making,” Napoleone said.

Village Manager Jim Barnes said that while it is an aspirational capital budget, it is a pragmatic and realistic budget. “It shows what we can afford and what we can do within the budget that we have,” he said.

Gerwig, however, did not support borrowing money for capital projects.

“I am all for spending money after we collect it, and not spending money before we collect it,” she said. “I would not be in favor of this budget.”

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need through these partnerships.

“While the need is bad, the strength of the partnerships and the community coming together to serve families in need I think was really what brought so many of us through it. It continues to

be a bright spot in an otherwise unfortunate situation,” Vatske said.

“It’s hard. We see people at some of the toughest times of their life, and with 40 percent of the people relying on our service for the first time, there can be panic, there can

be fear, there can be sadness, so if we’re able to provide food for them during otherwise uncertain times, then that was our goal.”

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A Feeding South Florida truck delivers food to Royal Palm Beach Commons Park.

Principals

RPB Ed Board Meeting

continued from page 1 brought up to speed so they can graduate.

He expects that Royal Palm Beach High School will have about 91 percent its seniors graduating.

“When you think about all of the challenges that we faced, obvious-

Off-Road

Input Meeting Aug. 19

continued from page 1 legislature and state land management agencies.

According to the county staff report, the 20-Mile Bend site is ideal in that it is centrally located with convenient access from Southern Blvd. The county owns 128 acres at the site, which includes 34 acres recently purchased from the SFWMD. With that acquisition, there is sufficient space to include OHV trail riding, an ATV/motorcross track, a supercross track, and additional OHV amenities that would make the park a sustainable and nationally recognized facility.

The report concludes that de-

ly our faculty did a great job, but so did our kids in managing at-home learning and all of that craziness,” he said. “We feel really good about that. We think it will be another school record.”

Crestwood’s Nance reported that her enrollment as of that day was 779, which is near the projected number of 793.

Crestwood is finishing up modernization projects in time for the new school year.

“Your penny at work,” she said.

“We have upgrades at the school.”

She added that she is very excit-

ed to have in-person learning again at the school.

“At the same time, we are very mindful of the uptick of COVID-19 cases, so our team has been working very hard from day one that we are maintaining social distancing guidelines and our cleaning protocols. All of those components are in place,” Nance said.

In other business, Dr. Bill Thallemer was tapped to serve as the board’s chair for the new year, and Brittany Lee will serve as vice chair.

veloping an OHV park on the site will provide a positive economic benefit for the county. Based upon a review of previous economic impact studies completed for existing OHV sites in other Florida locations, the report estimates that users will conservatively spend more than $6 million annually on gas, food, lodging, entertainment and miscellaneous items while visiting Palm Beach County. The public will also likely spend an estimated $11 million annually on related purchases, such as ATVs, trailers and support vehicles.

Multiple agencies — such as the Palm Beach County Department of Environmental Resources Management, the SFWMD, the PBSO, the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission and the State of Florida — support the development of an OHV park in South Florida. It is anticipated that the development of the park would

reduce the number of OHV accidents and injuries on public roads and lands, as well as the amount of destructive illegal riding currently occurring on environmentally sensitive and other public lands.

The development of the park as a county-funded project is estimated to cost between $6 million to $10 million. Due to county funding constraints, it is anticipated that development of the park would need to be phased over a number of years as funds become available and would likely divert funding available for other park projects.

Since there is private sector interest in both the development and operation of an OHV park, the county funding requirement could be substantially reduced or eliminated through a public/private partnership, thereby accelerating the timeframe for development of the park.

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NEWS

U.S. Show Jumping Team Claims Olympic Silver Medal In Tokyo

The U.S. Jumping Team earned the silver medal on Saturday, Aug. 7 after an intense jump-off battle with Sweden in the Jumping Team Final to conclude equestrian competition in Tokyo. The team of Laura Kraut and Baloutinue, Jessica Springsteen and Don Juan van de Donkhoeve, and McLain Ward and Contagious put the pressure on the Swedish team, showcasing the best of the sport under the lights in Tokyo. The Swedish team topped the podium, with the Belgian team finishing with the bronze.

Kraut and Baloutinue, an 11-year-old Hanoverian gelding owned by St. Bride’s Farm, were the first combination to test the second-round track built by Santiago Varela for the final night of team competition, and the pair delivered with a clear round to start the team off strong.

“Today, he was just in the game.

He was relaxed and focused and just did everything I asked of him,” Kraut said. “He’s just one of the best horses I’ve ever had the privilege to ride, and for him to come in here tonight, he’s still new to this level of jumping, and he’s gotten better each day that he’s jumped.”

Following Kraut’s fantastic finish, Springsteen picked up the

baton and guided Don Juan van de Donkhoeve, a 12-year-old Belgian Warmblood stallion owned by Stone Hill Farm, to a fast four fault round, keeping the team within reach of the podium. In the pair’s championship debut, they excelled under the pressure.

“This course was super technical. The first time I walked it, I made a plan, and that was what I stuck with in the ring,” Springsteen said. “There were a lot of half strides where you had the option to choose whether you wanted to do one less or one more, and my horse has a big step. I was able to do most of the leave-outs, which really helped me with the time allowed.”

As the pair’s anchor combination, Ward and Contagious, a 12-year-old Deutches Sportpferd owned by Beechwood Stables LLC, found themselves needing to keep the team within striking range of the Swedish, and delivered with a solid round, as Contagious barely tapped a rail to add four to their score. Ultimately the team’s total of eight tied them with the Swedish team, forcing a jump-off to determine the gold and silver medals.

“I thought the horses jumped great last night and really well

again today. The task for me was a bit difficult to go in cold to that round last night, and I was a little bit anxious about it,” Ward said. “I had a feeling that we were going to settle in, and everyone delivered.

Jess stayed as cool as can be after having an early rail, and I thought my horse’s rail was a little unlucky, and Laura was just lights out.”

The order for the jump-off remained the same as the second-round order, with Kraut and Baloutinue entering the ring first to set the pace. The duo finished with a quick clear round and were followed by Henrick von Eckermann and King Edward, who matched their pace and kept the score even. Springsteen was tasked with keeping the team on zero in the jump-off and delivered with Don Juan van de Donkhoeve, crossing through the timers with another fast clear for the U.S. With the draw order, Ward would need to pull out all the stops to try to keep the gold medal out of Sweden’s grasp. He pushed Contagious and delivered a brilliantly fast, clear effort for the U.S., as the rest of the team waited to see what Peder Fredericson and All In would deliver. Ultimately, the gold was earned by the Swedish team,

which was well-deserved after their tremendous performance, with the U.S. team securing its second consecutive team silver medal at an Olympic Games.

“Sweden has been lights out, which was expected, but they have really been on a different level.

We would have had to have an incredible day to beat them, and I think we pushed them right to the limit,” Ward said. “In competition, when you push them to that limit and they still win, you’ve got to be proud with the fight and the medal.”

“This was a hard-fought battle,” Kraut said. “McLain is fast, and we know he’s fast, and he definitely put the pressure on Peder. He had .4 seconds to make up, and Peder and All In are just so fast, just like we saw on the individual final. This is what we do this for. It’s a lot of work, sweat and tears, but I’m just so thrilled, and I’m so fortunate to have a great team here with me.”

“This was truly a team of four, plus the army behind us,” added Ward, noting the support they received from teammate Kent Farrington, who competed in the individual qualifier but sat out the team competition.

Chef d’Equipe Robert Ridland

U.S. riders Laura Kraut, Jessica Springsteen and McLain Ward holding their silver medals. PHOTO COURTESY US EQUESTRIAN was thrilled with the way the results we were able to get,” Ridteam’s strategy played to their land said. “Today was supposed to preparation and noted that they be the day that we really channeled were confident the team competi- everything, and we tried to leave as tion would most likely go to three much gas in the tank as we could rounds and made a point to be sure through the qualifying round to get the horses were fresh and ready for there, and we’ve all been saying the task at hand. that the team was going to be three “It’s what you dream of. We rounds, and we were prepared for came up with a plan a long time that. It just became magical. It ago, and the emphasis was always was sweet revenge for Sweden, going to be on the team competi- and it’s a great rivalry. They were tion. The plan was, of course, that amazing, and we pushed them to we’re bringing four riders here and the limit. That’s what has made all four were going to be whatever us proud.”

Team Effort Wins Silver For U.S. Dressage Riders At Olympics

Silver medalists Adrienne Lyle, Steffen Peters and Sabine Schut-Kery. PHOTO COURTESY US EQUESTRIAN

The U.S. Dressage Team finished team competition Tuesday, July 27, capturing the silver medal under the lights at Equestrian Park in Tokyo, Japan. It was the first time the team has collected a team silver since the London Olympic Games in 1948. The team competition saw eight nations vie for the three coveted podium positions, with Germany taking gold, the U.S. earning silver and Great Britain awarded the bronze medal.

Adrienne Lyle and Salvino received a 76.109 percent from the panel, while Steffen Peters and Suppenkasper, who rode in the second group, finished the competition with a 77.766, a personal best for the combination.

Sabine Schut-Kery and Sanceo anchored the team and received a career-high 81.596 percent from the judges as one of the final rides of the evening.

Lyle and Salvino, a 14-yearold Hanoverian stallion owned

by Betsy Juliano LLC, were the trailblazers for the U.S. Dressage Team, riding early in the first group

order. The pair executed a mistake-free test, giving momentum to the team for their second ride with Peters and Suppenkasper.

“I’m super thrilled. I was really hoping we could pull off a score like that for the team today. We were a little conservative in the Grand Prix, and it wasn’t our greatest display, so I wanted to come out here and push for a little bit more,” Lyle said. “Despite the heat and humidity, he was really a good boy, and he delivered with no mistakes, and that’s what you want for the team test.”

In the second grouping of combinations, Peters and Suppenkasper, a 13-year-old KWPN gelding owned by Akiko Yamazaki and Four Winds Farm, rode one of their best tests to date and earned a superb score, improving from their previous test in the team qualifier competition.

“This is exactly what I wanted for my team. It’s one thing to ride individually, but when you pull a good score for your team, it’s an incredible feeling. When we came

out of the arena, I gave Mopsie a big hug and thanked him from the bottom of my heart,” Peters said.

“We were seriously in the zone.

When we were out there about to go in the ring, I said, ‘Mopsie, please just do what we just did out here in warm-up,’ and we had a good schooling this morning. He did that for me when it counted, and it’s an incredible feeling when a horse will fight for you like that in the arena.”

As the anchor combination for the team, Schut-Kery and Sanceo, a 15-year-old Hanoverian stallion owned by Alice Womble, rounded out the team’s effort with another stellar performance and personal best. The duo, who made their presence known in their first outing, returned with another strong performance for the U.S. Dressage Team, helping them to clinch the second-place finish.

“For me, this was my first time here at the Olympics, and it was quite intense to wait that long for the end of the class, but I am so proud of my horse, my team,

my owners and the coaches. It has been a really, really great experience, and I am still a bit speechless,” Schut-Kery said. “I was filled with joy and pride. It’s such a team effort. It’s a big relief to deliver for the whole team, not just my teammates, but everyone involved, and it just meant everything. It was just pure happiness.”

With team competition concluded, Chef d’Equipe Debbie McDonald discussed her team’s performance throughout the team competition, as she was overcome with emotion.

“I am just so proud of this team.

This is truly the dream team,” McDonald said. “They each persevered and delivered when their team needed them most. I am so elated by their accomplishment tonight, and wow, what a moment to be remembered for this program...

I have to thank all of the amazing coaches, support staff and owners, as this wouldn’t have been possible without their dedication and unwavering commitment to our athletes and their horses.”

Travis Wade Jarvis Travis Wade Jarvis, age 41, died in Boynton Beach, Florida on July 8, 2021. He was born in Hialeah, Florida, but grew up in Royal Palm Beach, Florida.

Travis was a 1998 graduate of Wellington High School and studied at the University of Florida. He earned his A.A. at Santa Fe College in Gainesville, Florida. He was also trained as a chef at Carrabba’s Italian Grill. An electrician by trade, he was a member of IBEW Local 728 and graduated #1 in the NJATC class.

Travis enjoyed many interests. These included drawing, cooking, softball, golf and fishing. In his teen years, Travis was an active member of the dynamic youth group of 1st Baptist Church of West Palm Beach (now Family Church) and participated in the Singing Christmas Tree and several youth mission trips.

Travis is survived by his parents, Richard and Suzanne (Hardin) Jarvis, brother, Emmett Jarvis (Jessica), nephew, Spencer Jarvis, two step-nieces, Jaelynn and Jocelyn Cintron and his aunts, uncles, and cousins.

A Celebration of Life Service was held on Sunday, July 25, 2021 at Florida Gardens Baptist Church.

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NEWS

KIDS CANCER FOUNDATION IN RPB HOSTS ITS JAM-PACKED BACKPACK EVENT

The Kids Cancer Foundation held its annual Jam-Packed Backpack Event on Friday, Aug. 6 at the Kids Cancer Center in Royal Palm Beach. Patients and their siblings gathered to collect student backpacks filled to the brim with school supplies for every child. The backpacks and school supplies were generously donated by Christ Fellowship’s Royal Palm Beach campus and The Acreage community supporters of the Kids Cancer Foundation. Members from Journey Church of Lake Worth and Life.Church of Wellington came out to volunteer their time. The kids played carnival games and won prizes, and they could also craft their own pencil cases and decorate notebooks.

PHOTOS BY DENISE FLEISCHMAN/TOWN-CRIER

Marla Pipkens, Nicole Isaacson, Janet Bruno, Michelle O’Boyle, Megan O’Boyle, Donna Leone and Kimberly Hubler.

Janet Bruno with Jackie, Remi, Nason and Richard Zimmerman.

Ashlyn Guererri makes a pencil pouch.

Naomi and Nilah Schwartz made candy lanyards.

Kinleigh, Amanda, Beverly, Alan and Piper Apfel.

Deagan Kniskern and Dana Davis give out high school backpacks.

Adiel Rodriguez enjoys a cookie he decorated.

Bella Pena picks out a backpack.

Melissa Marcantel helps Jadrian Perez make a nametag.

Karina Berri gives Dylan Flores Cruz his backpack.

Giovanni Bortone and Giancarlo Bortone with their high school backpacks.

Peter Bernardo and Anthony Porco give out middle school backpacks.

Amelia and Elena Miranda, with parents Megumi and James, decorate notebooks.

Sean Lavender and Melina Kahn give out goodie bags.

Isabella Alvarez makes a pencil pouch from colorful duct tape.

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SPORTS, PAGE 21 • SCHOOLS, PAGE 24 • PALMS WEST PEOPLE, PAGE 25 • BUSINESS, PAGE 27 • COLUMNS, PAGE 28 • CLASSIFIEDS, PAGES 29-30

SPORTS & RECREATION

Local High School Football Teams Start Pre-Season Practice

By Mike May Town-Crier Staff Report While high school football players have been busy this summer working on getting fitter, faster and stronger during their off-season workouts, the upcoming high school football season officially started with practices on Monday, Aug. 2. Since then, area high school football teams have been busy installing new plays on offense, new schemes on defense and fine-tuning the execution of their special teams, while also working on improving their overall fitness and conditioning.

There’s a new head football coach at Wellington High School.

It’s Danny Mendoza. He has been pleased by the turnout at practice.

“We have 115 players at practice, and roughly 60 to 70 of them will be on the varsity squad this fall,” said Mendoza, who was the offensive coordinator at John F. Kennedy Memorial High School in Woodbridge, New Jersey, last year.

According to Mendoza, every player who joins the team at Wellington High School will be given a chance to play. “We don’t cut kids from the football team,” Mendoza said.

For Mendoza and his players, in addition to getting fully prepared for the upcoming season, they are getting to know one another. “I’ve got to earn their respect, and they have to earn mine,” Mendoza said.

Mendoza and his staff of assistants are consumed with building the foundation for another successful chapter in Wolverines football.

“We are as busy with empha-

sizing fundamentals as we are trying to install a new offense and defense,” Mendoza said.

He is fully committed to making the upcoming football season at WHS as good as it can possibly be.

“After the first day of practice, I came home and I couldn’t wait to get back to practice the next day,” Mendoza said.

Four of the key players this fall for the Wolverines will be quarterback Ryan Anthony, running back/linebacker Josh Miloch, wide receiver Reece Larson and linebacker Ryan Hays.

The Wolverines will open their regular season on Friday, Aug. 27 hosting Pahokee at 6:30 p.m.

At Royal Palm Beach High School, head football coach Darin DeCosta is pleased with the commitment to excellence by his players, but he did not have perfect attendance during the first week of practice.

“Currently, we have 30 practicing players and 20 players missing paperwork,” DeCosta said. “This is one of our major issues. Our practices have been good even though we have missing players.”

A few of the returning players who will form the heart of the Wildcats team this year are safety Philince Bertilus, linebacker/ running back De’Juan Tolbert, linebacker Jacob Morales and linebacker Jacob Acosta.

DeCosta sees strong potential with this year’s football team at RPBHS. “We are very excited to see what this young group can do,” DeCosta said. “We are a young team looking to build for the future. COVID-19

has really taken a toll on us as far as school and distance learning.

We are looking forward to being together during school again.

Our group is excited and having fun growing together.”

The Wildcats open their regular season on Friday, Aug. 27 hosting Martin County High School at 7 p.m.

The football team at Berean Christian School has 23 players on the varsity roster. Head football coach Mario Jackson likes what he has seen so far in pre-season camp with his young Bulldogs.

“I was pleased with our ability to move around and understand plays offensively and defensively,” Jackson said. “We are really young, so being fundamentally sound, paying attention to details and being disciplined in all phases of the game is critical to our success.

This includes being students first.”

What the Bulldogs lack in experience will be replaced by positive energy and enthusiasm.

“The strength of our team will be the defensive secondary, with two returning starters in Michael Hendricks and Dominic Mastrogiacomo,” said Jackson, who is entering his fifth year as head football coach at Berean. “Overall, we have six guys returning with game experience from last season.

The guys are excited to be playing for each other. They don’t have the experience to understand what it takes to complete a season, so we preach ‘control your controllable!’

Take care of each play, selflessly.

I believe we are in great physical condition. We started our offseason conditioning program with the

Wellington High School’s quarterback Ryan Anthony.

Royal Palm Beach High School football players working hard during a preseason practice.

Members of the Berean Christian School football team take a break from a practice session. understanding that everyone will Berean will be junior offensive/ Berean Christian School hosts play on both sides of the ball and defensive lineman Ritchie Joseph, its regular season opener on Saton every special team.” sophomore tight end/linebacker urday, Aug. 28 against Jupiter Besides Hendricks and Mas- James Bicht and junior wide re- Christian School with an 8 p.m. trogiacomo, other key players for ceiver/cornerback Tajauni Elliot. kickoff.

Sterling Season For Royal Palm Beach U12 All-Star Softball Team

By Mike May Town-Crier Staff Report Famed college basketball coach Dave Odom once said that in the sports, “Don’t get so focused on the prize at the end of the rainbow and forget to enjoy the journey along the way.”

This is a great way to describe the mindset of the players, coaches and parents affiliated with this year’s Royal Palm Beach U12 All-Star girls softball team, which recently completed its stellar 2021 season. The team’s season started in April and finished in July. The season was filled with highs and lows, but the overall journey was a positive and permanent memory maker for everyone involved.

The highlight of the season was the squad’s triumph in the Babe Ruth League’s Florida Championship in late June, which qualified the team for the Babe Ruth League’s U12 World Series, which was held last month in Stuart. Unfortunately, the season came to an end without the World Series title.

Yet the team’s 1-7 finish in Stuart didn’t detract from the season’s many positives.

“The season was amazing,”

head coach Ed Bianco said. “Our team had great chemistry.”

Bianco had the help of two equally passionate assistant coaches in Carrie Severson and Jen Rudick.

For Bianco, his role as the head coach was somewhat unexpected.

“My daughter Ella was a national champion gymnast, but she was not having fun, so I suggested that she start playing softball,” Bianco recalled. “I have coached baseball for 10 years, but I have never coached girls softball until now.

It was a wonderful experience.”

The team was formed from the players who participated in the Royal Palm Beach recreational league’s regular season.

After this 13-player squad was chosen in April, the team competed in a few warm-up tournaments in West Palm Beach and Pembroke Pines. The goal was to prepare for the Babe Ruth League Florida Championship in Lake City held June 21-28.

In Lake City, the team experienced immediate success against the 12-team field.

“We played five games, won all five games, and never left the

Catcher Izzy Luna gets advice from coach Ed Bianco.

Caroline Duncan on the pitcher’s mound.

winner’s bracket,” Bianco said.

In the state championship game on June 28, Royal Palm Beach defeated a team from Wrigley, Florida, by 10 runs, 12-2. That win propelled Royal Palm Beach to a berth in the Babe Ruth U12 World Series.

In Stuart, the team struggled against the 10-team field, but it was a beneficial learning experience. “We were a young team with three 10-year-olds,” Bianco said.

“We had a number of very close games. It was great for our team to play against teams from other states. We played against teams from Kentucky, New Jersey and Louisiana.”

Every player from Royal Palm Beach contributed to the team’s overall success this summer.

The main pitcher on the team was Grace VanDyke, who played centerfield when she was not on the pitcher’s mound. “Grace was our ace, big-game pitcher,” Bianco said. “And she was a very consistent hitter.”

Another key pitcher was Caroline Duncan, who had a team-best .567 batting average. In addition to her skill in the circle, she brought

(L-R) Assistant coach Carrie Severson, assistant coach Jen Rudick and head coach Ed Bianco.

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enthusiasm to the squad. “If there’s one word to describe Caroline, it’s energetic,” Bianco said. “She is a chatter box who talked to everybody on field and in the dugout.

She kept everybody alert.”

The two main catchers on the team were Izzy Luna and Jules Severson. Bianco’s one-word description for Luna was “fireball,” while Severson can best be described as “lightning.”

“Izzy was a utility player for us who could play any position on defense. She brought lots of energy to the team,” Bianco said. “Jules was quick and lightning fast. She is fast around the bases.”

Bianco’s daughter Ella was the team’s starting second baseman.

“She was always diving on the field while playing defense,” Bianco said. “She was always moving and played heads-up softball.”

One of the more consistent hitters on the team was Lillian Severson. “Lillian was a slapper who always put the ball in play,” Bianco said. “On defense, she was a utility player, too.”

Aby Vital played in the outfield and was one of the team’s other pitchers. She took her role on the

(Front row) Ava Martinez, Caroline Duncan, Ella Bianco, Aby Vital, Izzy Luna, Lillian Severson and Grace VanDyke; and (back row) Gabi de los Reyes, Victoria Wessman, Ella Orta, Jules Severson, Taylor King and Lexi Schifano. team very seriously. “Aby was of an arm,” Bianco said. “She is all business,” Bianco said. “She the only one who can throw the hit the leather off the ball. She hit ball to home plate on the fly from many line drives.” the outfield.”

Vital and Duncan were tied for Fellow outfielder Victoria Wessthe most hits on the team with 17. man could hit for power. “Victoria Vital also slugged a team-leading was one of our sluggers who had four doubles on the season. no weakness as a player,” Bianco The starting first baseman for said. the team was Gabi de los Reyes, Ava Martinez was the 13th a powerful hitter. “Gabi was our player on the roster. She is a very cleanup hitter who drove in many talented shortstop and outfielder runs,” Bianco said. “She was one but was unable to play because of of our pitchers, too.” an injury. “Basically, Ava was our This team’s third baseman was cheerleader on the bench,” Bianco Ella Orta. According to Bianco, said. “She’ll be healthy enough to Orta was a very coachable player. play next year.”

“She was our most improved As Bianco looks back at the seaplayer from the beginning of the son and the trip to the Babe Ruth season to the end,” Bianco added. U12 World Series, the biggest One of the more talented play- positive of the entire experience ers was shortstop Lexi Schifano. for the girls was the camaraderie “Lexi can do everything,” Bianco with other players. “The sportssaid. “She has a cannon of an arm. manship at the World Series was She was a smart leader on the field tremendous,” he said. for us.”

It’s clear that Bianco and the Outfielder Taylor King’s big- team were never solely focused on gest contribution to the team was the prize at the end of the rainbow her ability to throw the ball long and made sure they enjoyed their distances. “Taylor has a cannon softball journey along the way.

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Yes to finally seeing a light at the end of the tunnel.

Katie Acquino, D.O., Medical Director

Let’s bring back the hugs. Let’s bring back the smiles. Let’s beat this pandemic together.

If you have any questions or doubts related to the vaccine, visit BaptistHealth.net/SayYes for more information.

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NEWS

Shakespeare’s ‘Twelfth Night’ At RPB Commons Park Aug. 19-29

The island of Illyria will come to life in a magical, music-filled show during the Palm Beach Shakespeare Festival’s inaugural Shakespeare by the Palms production of William Shakespeare’s Twelfth

Seth Trucks will direct Twelfth Night in RPB.

Night. The beloved comedy will be on stage Aug. 19 to 22 and Aug. 25 to 29 at the Royal Palm Beach Commons Park Amphitheater.

Adapted by, directed and coproduced by festival veteran and noted South Florida actor and director Seth Trucks, the beloved Shakespearean tale features original scoring and performances by the award-winning musical trio the Lubben Brothers.

All of Shakespeare’s favorite devices are in this play: lost twins, assumed and mistaken identity, love triangles and plenty of witty wordplay. Twelfth Night itself is special to the Palm Beach Shakespeare Festival, as it has been used during major transitions in the festival’s 31-year history. It was the first show performed when the festival launched its productions in Carlin Park. It also was performed when the festival began “phase

two” with the building of the grass bowl amphitheater, power and other amenities to the current location of the Seabreeze Amphitheater. This production also launches a new beginning for the festival, with the first two-festival summer season in the company’s history.

“As a lover of Shakespearian theater and a child of 1980s Hollywood, it has been a longtime dream of mine to take this most musical of Shakespeare’s plays and apply a cinematic score to it,” Trucks said. “Working with the amazingly talented Lubben Brothers and this remarkable cast of actors and musicians has been a truly magical experience.”

Twelfth Night stars veteran company member Sara Grant as the stranded survivor, Viola, who disguises herself as a man to finagle a job with the island’s

Thousands Of Backpacks Filled With Supplies Assembled For Title 1 Schools

As part of a large-scale back-to-school volunteer initiative led by the Jewish Federation’s Jewish Volunteer Center, in partnership with Education Foundation of Palm Beach County, dozens of community members assembled more than 6,000 backpacks filled with new school supplies to ensure students in Palm Beach County Title 1 schools had the tools they need when they returned to school.

Throughout the month of July, individuals and families dropped off more than 2,100 backpacks they assembled at home as part of a socially distant volunteer effort. Many gathered with family members of all ages, neighbors and colleagues to ensure that the district’s highest-need students can return to school prepared with the necessary tools and with dignity.

Dozens more volunteers spent hours on-site at Red Apple Supplies in Riviera Beach to assemble backpacks to be sent to the schools. The federation also donated more than 3,000 books, which will be given to students to help them grow their personal library.

“Every child deserves to have a new backpack and school supplies so they can begin the school year proud and excited to walk through their school hallways, and have the necessary academic tools to succeed,” said Melissa Hudson, director of the Jewish Volunteer Center at the Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County. “It’s an honor to expand this effort through the Jewish Volunteer Center and the Education Foundation, with our network of partners to support those in our community who need it most.”

Through this initiative, JVC also partnered with a new organization called Amy’s Army, created this summer by a group of friends to honor local resident Amy Russell, who passed away in 2020 after a fight with leukemia. Amy’s Army collected backpacks and school supplies for area nonprofits, including 28 loaded backpacks for Family Promise, 30 loaded backpacks for Extended Hands Community Outreach

Duke Orsini, played by DramaWorks actor Pierre Tannous.

Festival newcomer Madison Fernandez plays the fool, Feste, who is in the employ of the muchsought Lady Olivia, performed

by South Florida stage actress Shalia Sakona. New City Players founder, television and stage veteran Timothy Mark Davis portrays the drunken uncle Sir Toby, and in a traditional genderswap role, Carbonell Best Actress nominee Elizabeth Price is the “mad” steward Malvolia. The production also features many other established South Florida actors, including Ricky Rivera as Viola’s lost twin Sebastian, Casey Sacco in the role of Maria, Dayana Moralez as Antonia and veteran Shakespearean actor Brandon Dawson as Sir Andrew Aguecheek. Rounding out the cast are Jeremy Wershoven, Briana Earhart and Ernesto Gonzales.

The show also features scenic design and lighting by South Florida theater veteran Dean Landhouis, sound design by Christopher Bell and musical scoring by the Lubben Brothers (triplets Joshua, Michael and Tom) with

Sara Grant as Viola and Pierre Tannous as Duke Orsini. additional musical performances each Thursday through Sunday for from Sean Edelson, Jack Stamates the two-week run. Bring a beach and Krystal Valdes. chair, blanket and picnic basket, The Palm Beach Shakespeare or enjoy concessions at the Royal Festival and the Village of Royal Palm Beach Commons Park AmPalm Beach present this inaugural phitheater. Admission is free with a production of Shakespeare by suggested donation of $5 per adult. the Palms, sponsored by Baptist Visit www.pbshakespeare.org for Health. Shows will be at 7 p.m. more information.

The Lubben Brothers (triplets Joshua, Michael and Tom) will perform musical scoring for the shows.

Wellington Seeks Vendors For Lakeside Market

Teresa Dabrowski of the Education Foundation and Melissa Hudson of the Jewish Volunteer Center with backpacks.

(ECHO) and a large quantity of additional school supplies for ECHO. For more information about the Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County’s commitment to the community, visit www.jewishpalmbeach.org. For volunteer opportunities, visit www.jewishvolunteer.org.

Calling all crafters, makers, growers, bakers and everyone in between — the Village of Wellington is accepting applications for its upcoming Lakeside Market at Wellington’s Town Center.

This unique community, openair market is hosted on the scenic Lake Wellington waterfront along the Town Center Promenade at 12150 W. Forest Hill Blvd.

Visitors get to enjoy an early start to the weekend with food, drinks, live music and entertainment (including at the nearby Wellington Amphitheater), shopping, visiting with old friends and making new ones. Recently added features for the market include a newly constructed playground and shade structure along the promenade and pontoon parking

for lakeside residents.

The season will run from October 2021 through April 2022 on Fridays from 5 to 9 p.m. The specific dates/schedule will be announced. Visit www.wellingtonfl. gov/lakesidemarket for more info.

For vendor information, contact Program Coordinator Heather Navarro at (561) 753-2484 or hnavarro@wellingtonfl.gov.

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SCHOOL NEWS

Tire Kingdom And American Heart Association Partner To Redesign Staff Lounge At Royal Palm Beach High School

Tire Kingdom Service Centers, a leader in the automotive aftermarket space headquartered in Palm Beach Gardens, worked alongside the American Heart Association to re-imagine and reinvent a staff lounge at Royal Palm Beach High School.

On Wednesday, Aug. 4, Tire Kingdom and the AHA unveiled a staff lounge that was transformed into a wellness area in an effort to improve mental and physical health for teachers, faculty and

staff, enabling them to continue to provide the best support for students.

The Royal Palm Beach High School wellness lounge includes an accent wall, comfy furniture, meditation tools and wellness items, such as blood pressure cuffs, logs and instruction manuals. Tire Kingdom also shared its peel-adeal cards with the team to provide special discounts at Tire Kingdom locations.

Royal Palm Beach High School

A look inside the redesigned staff lounge at RPBHS.

is dedicated to meeting the holistic needs of all students.

“Teachers have, in my opinion, the most important job of all in taking care of our children, but before they can take care of children, they’ve got to take care of themselves. This room is great.

We appreciate the American Heart Association and Tire Kingdom for helping us out with this. It’s great for the staff, it’s great for the school and it’s great for the community,” Principal Dr. Jesús Armas said.

For more than 10 years, Tire Kingdom, a division of TBC Corporation, has been a proud supporter of the AHA. In 2016, Tire Kingdom led the Palm Beach County Heart Walk campaign, which raised $1.1 million for the mission of the American Heart Association, the most money raised in Palm Beach County Heart Walk history. Corporate social responsibility is an integral component of TBC Corporation and all its business units, spanning retail, franchise, wholesale, distribution and e-commerce.

“We are excited to further develop our partnership with the American Heart Association by

Representatives from Tire Kingdom, the American Heart Association and Royal Palm Beach High School cut the ribbon on the new lounge. sponsoring, volunteering and promoting new initiatives in Palm Beach County,” said Brian Maciak, general counsel and chief

compliance officer of TBC Corporation. “We are committed to building a culture of health and wellness, and re-imagining the

staff lounge at Royal Palm Beach High School allowed us the opportunity to work together to build a healthy Palm Beach County.”

Students Awarded Scholarships Funded By Clerk Employee Donations Donations from employees with the Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller’s Office will provide three local students each with a $1,500 college scholarship to continue their education.

The clerk’s office has announced the winners of its annual Clerks for a Cause Scholarship Program.

They include Alexus Foster, a graduate of Atlantic High School and Florida Atlantic University;

Zane Palmieri, a 2021 graduate of Jensen Beach High School; and Isabella Thomas, a 2021 graduate of Palm Beach Central High School.

The scholarship program is open to dependent children of clerk employees and is funded entirely through voluntary donations made by members of the clerk’s team. Each year, a committee of employees selects the scholarship winners based on the student’s community service, grade point average and a 500-word essay.

“Our ClerkPBC team is committed to investing in our students’ education and helping them succeed,” Palm Beach County Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller Joseph Abruzzo said. “We are proud to support our scholarship recipients as they continue their academic journey and reach their career goals.”

All three of this year’s scholarship winners are pursuing careers in the medical field.

Alexus Foster plans to become

a pediatric neurosurgeon after completing medical school at Ross University School of Medicine in Barbados. She is the daughter of Pamella Sawyer, a lead court specialist in the South County office.

Zane Palmieri attends the University of Central Florida, where he is studying kinesiology and physical therapy. He is the son of Anthony Palmieri, the clerk’s deputy inspector general and chief guardianship investigator.

Isabella Thomas will attend

Florida State University this fall and plans to become a cardiothoracic surgeon. She is the daughter of Nicole Thomas, a court specialist in the clerk’s county civil department.

The scholarship program is funded solely through donations from employees who voluntarily participate in the office’s Dress Down Program, which allows team members who donate $2 a week to wear jeans to work on Fridays.

Philanthropy Tank Seeks Next Class Of ‘Changemakers’

(L-R) Court Specialist Nicole Thomas, scholarship recipient Isabella Thomas, Deputy Inspector General & Chief Guardianship Investigator Anthony Palmieri, scholarship recipient Zane Palmieri, Palm Beach County Clerk & Comptroller Joseph Abruzzo, scholarship recipient Alexus Foster, Lead Court Specialist Pamella Sawyer and Chief Deputy Clerk Shannon Ramsey-Chessman.

As schools across the area welcome students back to class, Philanthropy Tank is looking for its next group of “Changemakers” ready to learn how to best help their community.

The local nonprofit opened its fall application window Aug. 6 at www.philanthropytank.org. To apply for the unique and prestigious organization’s seventh Palm Beach County class, the student or

student group must be in eighth to 12th grade, live in Palm Beach County or attend a Palm Beach County school, and must submit a project that directly addresses a social issue within Palm Beach County.

The students/projects selected as finalists will spend the next year receiving guidance and mentorship from local leaders, business professionals and philanthropists

in a variety of areas. These experiences will help equip and empower the students to help build their projects into impactful and sustainable programs.

During the year, the finalists will present their ideas to a select group of local leaders and philanthropists at an event at the Kravis Center next spring.

At the conclusion of the event, each project can be awarded

up to $15,000 to help fuel their programs.

Over seven years, Philanthropy Tank has awarded nearly $700,000 in funding to more than 50 projects in Palm Beach County and Baltimore, Maryland. More than 300,000 lives have been impacted by these service-driven projects.

Visit www.philanthropytank. org to apply.

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If you are uncertain about your dog’s unusual eating habits and their possible consequences, or if you have other pet care concerns, a visit to COMMUNITY ANIMAL HOSPITAL OF ROYAL PALM BEACH may be in order. We know animals, we love animals, and we treat all animals that come to us as if they were our own. Comprehensive medical, preventive, surgical, and dental care is available for the pet that loves and trusts you at our complete pet care facility. Please call 798-5508 for appointments or emergencies pertaining to your pet’s health.

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Page 25

PALMS WEST PEOPLE

WILLHITE DONATES LEFTOVER CAMPAIGN FUNDS TO LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS

State Rep. Matt Willhite (D-District 86) recently donated leftover funds from his legislative campaigns to several local organizations. Among them are the Garden of Hope, Barky Pines Animal Rescue & Sanctuary, the Acreage Athletic League and Loxahatchee Lost & Found Pets. Willhite has announced that he does not plan to seek re-election to the State Legislature and instead run for the Palm Beach County Commission in 2022.

Alexis Willhite, Cindy Walker of the Acreage Athletic League and State Rep. Matt Willhite.

Elizabeth Accomando of Barky Pines Animal Rescue & Sanctuary with Matt and Alexis Willhite.

Matt Willhite with Dawn Dibari and Gail Ann Pennetta Bass of Loxahatchee Lost & Found Pets.

Diana Demarest, Joyce Gorring and Matt Willhite with the Garden of Hope donation.

Gabrielle Williams Honored By Bank Of America

Four local students have been busy leading donation drives, mentoring English-learning students, establishing nonprofit organizations, and encouraging girls to code and pursue STEM careers — and now they’re being recognized by Bank of America as this year’s West Palm Beach Student Leaders.

This summer, the students participated in a paid virtual seven-week summer internship. The interns worked with Communities in Schools of Palm Beach County

to further its mission of helping high school students achieve academic success while working toward their individual graduation goals. This includes mentorship, creating a strategy to help meet individual needs, inspiring and motivating students, goal setting and ensuring participation.

Among these leaders of the future is Gabrielle Williams of Loxahatchee. Through the help of Philanthropy Tank, Williams is working to establish a service project to help reform youth who

have experienced legal issues with the juvenile justice system.

Through this community service, she also hopes to teach young people about financial literacy and general life skills.

Williams graduated from Palm Beach Gardens High School and will be attending Florida Atlantic University in the fall as a criminal justice major on a pre-law route.

She has been working on her community service idea with Philanthropy Tank. Her proposal focuses on the reform of at-risk

youth. Philanthropy Tank is an organization that funds community service projects beneficial to the local community. Williams hopes to teach the importance of financial literacy to these young people, as well as aspects such as life skills.

Through the Solid Waste Authority, Williams also decided to take upon the role of hosting beach cleanups through the adopt-a-spot program. This was a great way to raise awareness of the importance of keeping the community clean.

She learned that small things really

do make a difference, regardless of whether or not it is apparent or conspicuous.

Williams is an accomplished saxophonist and pianist who enjoys playing for fun. She enjoys jet skiing, playing basketball, running track, reading, going out to eat and volunteering.

Other honorees were Emma Ratchford of the A.W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts, Jonathan Beres of Spanish River High School and Raunak Manchanda of the A.W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts.

Gabrielle Williams

Boys & Girls Club Back-To-School Drive Succeeds With Community Support

Despite the shortened summer break and challenges caused by the pandemic, GL Homes and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County Back-To-School Drive successfully collected more than 2,400 backpacks stuffed with school essentials.

With the strong support of nearly 40 community partners, all club members attending summer camps will receive a new backpack filled with the supplies needed to start the new school year successfully.

“Due to the pandemic and distance learning issues, this new school year is crucial. It’s important for GL Homes to support the Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County’s efforts to help all chil-

dren reach their full potential. For many club members, they would not be able to return to school with new supplies without this backto-school drive,” explained Sarah Alsofrom, GL Homes’ senior director of community relations.

“To ensure that all club members received the needed supplies, GL Homes made a significant additional donation as the title sponsor of the drive.”

Unlike previous years, the shortened summer break made it more challenging for community partners to collect the needed school supplies. As a result, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County incorporated a virtual drive, which allowed donors to safely and easily purchase and ship items directly

to the clubs. Traditional donation drop-off locations included most Starbucks, Tropical Smoothie Café, Sears and more than three dozen other sites.

Title sponsor GL Homes led the charge. Organizations such as the Mack Foundation, the Education Foundation, 88.1 WayFM, Maschmeyer Concrete, the Democratic Women of North Palm Beach County, the Palm Beach County School District’s Office of Diversity in Business Practices and Tropical Shipping also made significant donations.

“This year, we faced an enormous challenge due to the short summer break. We were able to persevere thanks to the support of our amazing community partners,”

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Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County President & CEO Jaene Miranda said. “We are confident that our club children will be able to enter the new school year with full confidence and ready to defeat the achievement gap that has negatively impacted them due to the pandemic.”

The backpacks were distributed before school started Aug. 10. The clubs will also distribute additional backpacks and school supplies throughout the school year to ensure that all children have the supplies necessary to achieve.

If you would like to donate to help keep school supplies in stock year-round, monetary donations can be made at www.bgcpbc.org.

Boys & Girls Club members with Sarah Alsofrom.

PHOTO COURTESY TRACY BENSON PHOTOGRAPHY

Page 26

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Page 27

BUSINESS NEWS

Wellington Regional Medical Center’s Bariatric Surgery Program Honored

Wellington Regional Medical Center’s Weight Management Center was recently recognized by the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association with a Blue Distinction Centers for Bariatric Surgery designation. The recognition is part of the Blue Distinction Specialty Care program.

Blue Distinction Centers are nationally designated healthcare facilities that show a commitment to delivering high-quality patient safety and better health outcomes, based on objective measures that were developed with input from the medical community and leading accreditation and quality

organizations. The hospital’s bariatric program is already accredited by the American College of Surgeon’s Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program.

The Blue Distinction Centers for Bariatric Surgery program provides a full range of bariatric surgery care, including surgical care, post-operative care, outpatient follow-up care and patient education.

“Since the Wellington Regional Weight Management Center began treating patients in 2018, it has continued to offer several options for people who struggle with

weight loss,” WRMC CEO Pam Tahan said. “The Blue Distinction is an indication of the hospital’s commitment to providing the highest quality surgical options and outcomes for patients who choose to have bariatric surgery.”

Bariatric surgeries are among the most common elective surgeries in the U.S., with more than 252,000 bariatric surgeries performed in 2018. Furthermore, the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention estimates that nearly 42.7 percent of U.S. adults and 18.5 percent of youth are obese and are impacted by obesity-related health conditions. With obesity

New Chapter Officers At American Business Women’s Association

The Northern Palm Beach Chapter of the American Business Women’s Association recently named the upcoming 2021-22 chapter executive board officers, including President Latoria L. Hillard, Vice President Donna Bradshaw, Secretary Dottie Smith and Treasurer Janice Kuhns.

Hillard is a resident of West Palm Beach. She started her involvement in the chapter in 2017 as the professional development chair. She has served as the program chair and the vice chair of the Tri County Council of ABWA. She was also the 2018 Woman of the Year. Currently a senior independent beauty consultant with Mary Kay Cosmetics, she also works as the system process developer at M-Blot Systems LLC. Bradshaw resides in Port St. Lucie. She has worked with the Palm Beach County School District since 2012 and is currently a budget analyst. Bradshaw is also the CEO of D. Bradshaw Consulting & Global Business Strategies

LLC offering bookkeeping, training and business advising. She is an active member of the chapter and was named Woman of the Year in 2019.

Smith is a 30-year member. She has served in various capacities, such as president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, membership, education and hospitality chair.

She was the chapter’s Woman of the Year in 1995. Smith is now retired from DiVosta Homes, where she worked part-time for 22 years, and lives in Hobe Sound.

Kuhns lives in Jupiter and works as a personal assistant and a pet sitter providing services locally.

She has been an active member since 2000 serving on multiple committees over the years. She is the 2020-21 Woman of the Year.

The mission of the American Business Women’s Association is to bring together businesswomen of diverse occupations and to provide opportunities for them to help themselves and others grow personally and professionally

reaching epidemic levels among U.S. adults, the annual healthcare costs of obesity and obesity-related conditions is expected to rise $48 to $66 billion by 2030, if the rate of obesity in the U.S. continues to climb.

Bariatric surgery can be an effective treatment option for severely obese patients because it allows for substantial, sustained weight loss and possible resolution of obesity-related co-morbidities, such as Type 2 diabetes.

On average, healthcare costs were reduced by 29 percent within five years following bariatric surgery, due to the reduction or

elimination of obesity-related conditions.

To receive a Blue Distinction Centers for Bariatric Surgery designation, a healthcare facility must demonstrate success in meeting patient safety measures as well as bariatric-specific quality measures, including complication and readmission rate for laparoscopic procedures in sleeve gastrectomy, gastric bypass and adjustable gastric band. All designated facilities must also be nationally accredited at both the facility and bariatric program-specific levels.

Wellington Regional Medical Center is a 235-bed acute care

hospital accredited by the Joint Commission. Celebrating more than 30 years of treating residents in Wellington and the surrounding community, the hospital offers a wide range of services, including comprehensive stroke care, comprehensive lung program, minimally invasive services, cardiac services, a birthing center and Level III NICU, a comprehensive women’s center, hepatobiliary surgical procedures, intraoperative radiation therapy, interventional procedures, and a wellness and weight loss center. To learn more, visit www.wellingtonregional. com.

Habitat For Humanity Of Palm Beach County Celebrates ReStore Reopening

Latoria L. Hillard through leadership, education, networking support and national recognition.

For more information, contact Hillard at abwa.npb@gmail.com or visit https://northernpalmbeach. abwa.org.

Habitat for Humanity of Palm Beach County’s Riviera Beach ReStore has officially reopened after a devastating fire destroyed everything except the shell of the building in May 2019.

A little over two years later, the Riviera Beach ReStore, located at 6831 N. Military Trail, recently celebrated its re-opening celebration.

“We are excited to welcome back our supporters and shoppers to the renovated ReStore that features great merchandise and great prices... all for a great cause,” said Peter Gates, chief operating officer of HFHPBC. The ReStore sells new and gently used items that are donated to HBFHPC. Retail outlets are a vital financial resource for Habitat for Humanity of Palm Beach County. ReStores exist to support the nonprofit’s mission of providing decent, affordable housing to low-income families.

Proceeds generated from ReStore sales help build new houses and

(L-R) HFHPBC CEO Bernard Godek, Board Chair Michael DeBock, Riviera Beach Mayor Ronnie Felder and COO Peter Gates. provide urgent, critical repairs to mission of Habitat.” older, owner-occupied homes.

Community members can do“We are thrilled that our Riviera nate and/or shop at Habitat for Beach ReStore is reopened,” said Humanity of Palm Beach County’s Bernie Godek, CEO of Habitat for Riviera Beach ReStore at 6831 Humanity of Palm Beach County. N. Military Trail), the Greenacres “We encourage the community to location at the northwest corner stop by to visit us and see all of of Military Trail and Lake Worth the amazing items that are for sale Road, and the Jupiter Thrift Store — and what’s better is knowing at 1635 N. Old Dixie Highway. To that every purchase is helping us learn more, visit www.habitatpbc. continue the important work and org/stores.

Palms West Hospital Awarded Advanced Primary Stroke Certification

Palms West Hospital has earned the Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval for Advanced Primary Stroke Certification and the American Stroke Association’s Heart-Check Mark for Primary Stroke Center Certification.

Palms West Hospital underwent a rigorous, unannounced onsite review in mid-June. During the visit, a team of Joint Commission reviewers evaluated compliance with related certification standards, including

program management, supporting self-management, and delivering and facilitating clinical care.

Joint Commission standards are developed in consultation with healthcare experts and providers, measurement experts and patients. The reviewers also conducted onsite observations and interviews.

“Advanced Primary Stroke Certification recognizes healthcare organizations committed to fostering continuous quality

improvement in patient safety and quality of care,” said Mark Pelletier of the Joint Commission. “We commend Palms West Hospital for using certification to reduce variation in its clinical processes and to strengthen its program structure and management framework for stroke patients.”

The certification shows the hospital’s commitment to stroke patients.

“We congratulate Palms West Hospital for this outstanding

achievement,” said Nancy Brown of the American Stroke Association. “This certification reflects its commitment to providing the highest quality of care for stroke patients.”

Hospital officials are proud of this important designation.

“It is a great honor to be awarded Advanced Primary Stroke Certification. We are extremely proud of the expertise of our interdisciplinary stroke team who collaborate to quickly evaluate

stroke symptoms and administer time sensitive treatments to help prevent disabilities and death,” said Dr. Richard Giroux, chief of emergency medicine. “The award affirms the exceptional stroke care we provide our communities.”

Palms West Hospital is a 204bed acute care full-service facility combining high quality, patient-driven care and stateof-the-art technology to serve residents of Palm Beach County and beyond. The hospital em-

ploys nearly 900 employees, has a medical staff of more than 700 physicians and a graduate medical education program. It offers a full spectrum of inpatient and outpatient services, including 24/7 emergency care, stroke center designation, comprehensive surgical services, cardiac catheterization, an orthopedics and spine institute, and maternity services with a Level II Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Learn more at www.palmswesthospital.com.

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August 13 - August 26, 2021

The Town-Crier

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FEATURES

Back-To-School Shopping With My Grandkids Is An Experience

I got to go back-to-school shopping with my daughter Jen and her children.

For me, this is one of the great joys of life. It gives me insight into how the kids make decisions, and a glimmer of fashion sense as well.

Tess, almost 7, has completely given up the flouncy, tutu-like skirts she once craved, having solidly declared them “for babies,” and Skippy, almost 9 and extremely tactile, is firmly entrenched in the sports world and the silky jersey fabric thereof... and pastels. Just try to find a team shirt in pink. I dare you.

But their happiness was unbounded, so off we went.

No, I take that back. Their happiness was quite strictly bounded by the $100

Deborah Welky is

The Sonic BOOMER budget their mother had given each of them. If you’ve been shopping lately, you know that a $100 budget for school clothes is almost laughable, even if you don’t count underwear and shoes. But, to 7-year-olds and 9-year-olds, it’s the moon.

And it was the limit of their mother’s willingness to let them buy “anything they

want.” She’d fill in the gaps with things like, well, slacks.

We got to the first store the moment it opened and unleashed the kids, who ran in as if we’d just cut the ribbon to Disneyland. Tess found her department and started leafing through the rack of her size in hyper-mode. She looked like a buyer for Saks. “No, no, no, no, maybe (handed it to her mom), no, no, no...”

Skippy did a basketball jump that scored him a backpack off the top hook. It was small and baby blue.

“I think that might be a girls’ backpack,” I started to say, but Jen shut me down. Their money, their choices.

When we got to the next store, there was a prominently displayed t-shirt with

a photo of a baby on it. The baby was wearing a crown. The baby was a younger version of the Notorious B.I.G. (Biggie Smalls, the rap star murdered in a driveby shooting.)

Skippy loves babies. He had to have that shirt.

Meanwhile, Tess had found a dress in her size worthy of any 15-year-old.

This is exactly the way you would expect no-holds-barred shopping with elementary school children to go. So, on the first day of school, at their extremely expensive private institution, Tess will be dressed as a hooker and Skippy will be wearing Nikes, sports shorts and his “crown baby” t-shirt... while toting a little blue backpack.

Most concerning, perhaps, is that they are fashion trendsetters at the school.

What they wear one week, everyone else wears the next week.

It’s no matter. After a delightful trip to the toy store (robots on me) and an equally delightful patio lunch (“Look, grandma! That baby is just learning to walk!”), we trundled on home, each secure in the knowledge that we had just what we wanted.

For the children, it was the clothes and toys. For my daughter, it was knowing she’d finished her back-to-school shopping.

And, for me, it was just being there — yet another course in my “continuing education.”

‘Jungle Cruise’ Is Fun... As Long As You Don’t Expect Too Much

Most people will enjoy Disney’s Jungle Cruise if they go in, like people do on the actual park ride, not expecting too much.

Yes, it is fun. There are some laughs, the characters are played by appealing actors, but it really seems like we’ve sat and watched this before.

Of course, it is derivative. It is based on the park ride which pretends to be going up a river while being scared by mechanical animals and amused by corny jokes. But more than that, it is pretty much a copy of a lot of movies. Blink and you can almost see Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn in African Queen. And you can probably imagine Harrison Ford and one of the women in an Indiana Jones movie.

But the real rip-off is from The Mummy films. It felt as though Disney decided to save money by just making a few adjustments in that script. You can easily imagine Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz in

‘I’ On CULTURE

By Leonard Wechsler the part. Or perhaps Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner in Romancing the Stone.

Just imagine an intelligent, professional woman who meets a reprobate. She needs his help, gets it reluctantly, wins the day and winds up with the guy, who turns out to be a hero. That describes this movie just about perfectly.

Plot-wise, it gets convoluted, but starts out simply. Scientist and explorer Dr. Lily Houghton (Emily Blunt), accompanied by her brother MacGregor (Jack Whitehall),

who is a proper but somewhat bumbling Englishman, is after a blossom from a plant called Tears of the Moon that will cure all diseases (sort of like the Holy Grail for Indy). She steals an arrowhead necessary to get there from a stuffy British group and is on her way to Brazil, where she enlists Frank Wolff (Dwayne Johnson), a scruffy pilot, to take her upstream into possibly treacherous territory to find that plant.

Their relationship is rocky for much of the film and gets rockier as the boat takes on fierce rapids, an army of zombie soldiers led by Aguirre (Edgar Ramirez) — a man who has hated Frank for a long time — plus evil German Prince Joachim (Jesse Plemons), who leads his team in a quest to get that rare flower before Lily. It all gets rather ridiculous, even mind-bendingly supernatural, but isn’t that always the way in these bloated enterprises?

But who cares about common sense?

The film is set during World War I, but the British institution is ready to give that arrowhead to the German, who thinks it can help his country win the war, in a nice bit of corruption that rings true everywhere. It is a small world after all. And the German has his own submarine. And there are a lot of snakes and bees to go with the zombies.

Of course, Frank has his own animal — a large and protective jaguar.

The story is the same as in all the other films. Good against evil. Of course, these days we have to have wisecracks, and Blunt and Johnson toss them back and forth, to mask the expected incredible chemistry, which all in all just does not exist in the film. They’re sniping at each other until the very end, and they seem better as buddies than lovers. Whitehall was amusing as the gay brother who finally comes into his own, and Paul Giamatti

has a cute smaller role as the villainous Nilo. Plemons has a strange part; clearly a villain, he comes across as a bit too much of a bumbler, a bit of a clown. The jaguar is really good, giving the best performance of all.

But the movie comes down to Johnson and Blunt. They are charming. Johnson even does a few of the horrible puns you hear at the Disney World ride. And he is one of the most likeable characters around, a hero who knows his feet are made of clay. And Blunt is great as usual, spunky and charming. You almost believe she is falling for our hero.

The scenery is spectacular and the effects are great, a bit scary for the really young, but still fun. Is it worth seeing?

Yes, although a family with Disney+ could do better paying for it at home. But, almost against my will, I had a rollicking good time.

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In Loving Memory Of

George “Bud” Windham George “Bud” Windham, 78, of Loxahatchee, FL passed away on July 26, 2021 after battling complications of a stroke and lung cancer.

Bud was a unique individual who lived life his way. He was an extremely hard worker, who commandeered respect and admiration from his coworkers and employees throughout his long career.

Bud was a loving husband, father and grandfather, who dedicated his life to their success and happiness. He was an avid fisherman, fanatical sports fan, kindhearted animal lover and loyal friend.

Bud loved going fishing with his kids; everglades, canals, lakes, rivers, ocean, intercoastal, bridges and banks. Likewise, he took the family to football, baseball, basketball games, boxing matches and car races; Dolphins, Heat, Marlins and Hurricanes. He loved his dogs, cats, birds, fish, even goats and they loved him. Bud could make people laugh with his jokes, uncommon humor and distinct quotes.

Bud truly loved life and enthusiastically having fun.

Bud was born September 17, 1942 to George Windham and Vernice Kolwyck in St Stephen, South Carolina. At 12 years old, Bud’s family moved to Hialeah, FL, where he purchased his first bicycle and started delivering the Miami News. This was the beginning of an incredible career in the newspaper industry. Bud continued working his way thru high school with a 7 day a week route for the Miami Herald.

He graduated from Miami Central High School in 1961.

Bud joined the Coast Guard in 1962 where he spent 6 months of active duty and five and a half more years in the reserves.

In 1964, Bud married Sandra Edwards, they had four children and were

married for 56 years at the time of his passing.

Bud came back to the Miami Herald in 1965 as a District Manager, worked his way up the ranks thru the years to become the Assistant Circulation Director in 1980. To further his career and set an example for his children, Bud attended Barry University in Miami Shores FL starting in 1983. He graduated in 1986 Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business and Marketing. Bud and his family moved to Columbus, GA in 1988 where he assumed the top position of Circulation Director for the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer. After 25 years with the company Bud and his family moved to West Palm Beach FL, where he continued in the newspaper business with the Palm Beach Post. At the Post, Bud was Transportation Manager from 1993 to 1998 and Single Copy Sales Manager from 1998-2001. Bud finally retired in 2001, but continued with some consulting work for several newspapers. Bud unretired in 2002, landing a job with Suncoast Media Group, which published the Port Charlotte Sun. He held several positions from 2002-2007, finishing up as Single Copy Sales and Operations Manager.

Bud finally retired for good in 2007.

Throughout his long career Bud won countless awards, developed numerous innovations in the circulation and transportation of newspapers, presented at many conferences, mentored and guided many individuals in their careers.

Bud is survived by his devoted wife of 56 years, Sandra, sons, Wade, Wesley, Wyatt, daughter Shelley, grandson Jaxson Money, sister Esther Carr and family, and cousin Becky Lewis.

The Town-Crier

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August 13- August 26, 2021 Page 29

HERE’S MY CARD B. ELLIS ENTERPRISES, INC.

ENTRY DOORS REPLACED

Irrigation Repairs

ALSO

Crown Moulding Baseboard

$65.00 1st Hour - $40.00 Hour After Commercial & Residential

HOME ADVISOR CONTRACTOR OF THE YEAR 2014, 2015, 2018 & 2019

RDB TRIM INC.

Ben Ellis President Office 561.798.1477 Mobile 561.722.5424

LICENSED AND INSURED - U-20945

CALL RICK 561-282-8135

DATTILE PLUMBING, INC.

Daves Services Lawn Services Varmits Removed Trenches Dug Complete Irrigation Repair

U2597 CGC015908 8620 Wendy Lane E. West Palm Beach, FL 33411

W.H. BROWN,LLC

(561) 635-0937

Lic. 199804115

PAINTING

THE BEST IN THE WEST DOUGLAS DATTILE

dattileplumbing@yahoo.com

PRESIDENT

SERVING WESTERN PALM BEACH COUNTY SINCE 1973

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Residential Commercial

Knockdown Textures Interior - Exterior Carpentry Repairs

Free Estimates

Lic. #U-16274 Bonded Insured Wallpaper Removal

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Drywall Repairs

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Irrigation Installation $3,499.00 on 1 1/4 Acre Lots Free Estimates On All New Systems

Commercial & Residential Ben Ellis President U2597 CGC015908 Office 561.798.1477 8620 Wendy Lane E. West Palm Beach, FL 33411 Mobile 561.722.5424

Natural Pain Management Coach

4D Home Inspection, LLC

Helping adults find natural remedies for their pain management and guiding them on the journey to wellness.

Bryan DiPaola

Jade Bynorth (561) 670-9890 | email: bynorthcannacoach@gmail.com

FL Licensed Home Inspector InterNACHI Certified Professional Inspector

617-435-3638

Bryan@4dhomeinspection.com

Serving Palm Beach, Broward, Martin, and St. Lucie Counties

www.4dhomeinspection.com

Nose to Paws Mobile Pet Grooming of Palm Beach Inc. Master Groomer

Melissa Berntsen 561-888-4295

CLASSIFIEDS • • • Garage Sales

Professional Services

WELLINGTON ROYAL PALM BEACH LOXAHATCHEE THE ACREAGE Professional Services

Professional Services

Employment Opportunities HURRICANE SHUTTER INSTALLER WANTED — Shop Work • Screen Fabricator and Installer. Salary Open. Acreage and RPB Area. Call P&M 791-9777

Wellington

A/C Refrigeration Services

Painting

S T O N E G AT E C O M M U N I T Y G A R A G E S A L E — August 21st,Carlton & Greenview Shores, 7:30 am till Noon. Rain Date August 28th. Furniture, appliances, tools, clothes, etc.

JOHN C. HUNTON AIR CONDITIONING & REFRIGERATION, INC.—Service & new installation FPL independent participating contractor. Lic. CAC 057272 Ins. “We are proud supporters of the Seminole Ridge Hawks” 561-798-3225. Family Owned & Operated since 1996. Credit Cards Accepted

Roofing

JOHN PERGOLIZZI PAINTING INC. — Interior/Exterior - Repaint specialist, pressure cleaning, popcorn ceiling, drywall repair & roof painting. Family owned/ owner operator. Free Est. 798-4964 Lic. #U18473

NEIL O’NEAL JR. ROOFING — Roofing & Reroofing. Family owned and operated. Residential/ Commercial. Wood Replacement, Roof Coatings, Solar Vents, Skylights & Roof Ventilation. 561-6564945 Lic. & Insured CCC1330208.Free Estimates

Cleaning - Home/Office

IN HOME PERSONAL ASSISTANT - CPR . Back Ground Check . Covid-19 Vaccinated . House Sitting, Pet Sitting, Errands & Shopping, Light Meal Preparation, Medical Appointments, Medications Reminder, Companionship - Call Kaye Hilton - 954-682-4272

MOVING SALE — Saturday August 14th, 7am till Noon, Furniture, clothing, household goods, piano, tools, etc. 14398 Blackberry Drive, Wellington, Off Paddock Drive

Real Estate For Rent Greenacres 3BR 2 BA SINGLE FAMILY HOME — Island Manor Drive, Greenacres, FL 33413 Must see home on lake with deck. Pet friendly, totally updated, move in ready. Resort style gated community. For a showing, please call 305910-6849 Available 08/15/2021. Pets allowed.

Town-Crier Classifieds 561-793-7606

Seeking Employment HOME HEALTH AIDE AVAILABLE — Experienced Home Health Aide seeks new position. Flexible hours, full time, day or night. I am a Licensed CNA who has worked as a home health aide and also as a nanny. I have many years of experience taking care of the elderly at home. Price negotiable, references provided upon request. Call Pat at (561) 294-1423.

CLEANING LADY — I can help get your house cleaner than ever! Try me once and you will not be disappointed! 561-657-0420

Town-Crier Classifieds 561-793-7606 Electrical Contractor SINGER ELECTRICAL CONTRACTING, INC. — Electrical work you can trust at an affordable price, Fully Licensed and Insured. EC#13007941 561-425-5409

Home Improvement ANMAR CO.— James’ All Around Handyman Service. Excellent craftsman Old time values. Once you’ve had me! You’ll have me back! Lic. Ins. Certified Residential Contractor CRC1327426 561-248-8528

Painting J&B PRESSURE CLEANING & PAINTING, INC. — Established 1984. All types of pressure cleaning, Chemical Roof Cleaning, houses, driveways, patios etc. Commercial & Residential. Interior & Exterior painting. Certified -pressure cleaning & painting contractor. Lic. #U21552 Call Butch 309-6975 or visit our website at www.jbpressurecleaningandpainting.com

Personal Assistant

Plumbing POO-MAN — Pumping, plumbing, & drain cleaning. For all your septic & plumbing needs!

Let the Poo Crew come to you. 561-318-8416

Residential Services SONLIGHT RESIDENTIAL SERVICES — Our services include Hanging Pictures, minor screen repair, chaulking, touch up painting, Decorative lighting, and changing bulbs call David at (561)758-8676

Roofing

Screening J O H N ’ S S C R E E N R E PA I R S E R V I C E — Pool & patio re-screening. Stay tight,wrinkle-free,guaranteed! CRC1329708 call u s 7 9 8 - 3 1 3 2 . w w w. p o o l s c r e e n r e p a i r. c o m

Security Systems FREE ADT VIDEO SURVEILLANCE DOORBELL/CAMERAS — and 1,500.00 worth of Home Security at Zero Cost out of pocket, Call 561-285-2780

Wallpapering

YOUR COMMUNI1Y NEWSPAPER

PAPERHANGING BY DEBI — Professional Installation,Removal. Repair of Paper. Neat, Clean & Reliable. Quality work with a woman’s touch. 30 years experience. No Job too big or too small. Lic. & Ins. References available. 561-795-5263

Since 1980

ROBERT G. HARTMANN ROOFING — Specializing in repairs. Free estimates, Bonded,insured. Lic. #CCC 058317 Ph: 561-790-0763.

R O O F I N G R E PA I R S R E - R O O F I N G A L L TYPES — Pinewood Construction, Inc. Honest and reliable. Serving Palm Beach County for over 20 years. Call Mike 561-309-0134 Lic. Ins. Bonded. CGC-023773 RC-0067207

Town-Crier Classifieds 561-793-7606

�1��.!r��:!:JEl��! � 561-793-7606 www.gotowncrier.com

*Resident Equine Caretaker* *Wellington* (Palm Beach County)* Manage specific horse diets in consultation with a veterinarian. Check for possible injury/illness of every equine at each feeding. Report equine health issues to Director of Equine Services.

Treat minor wounds as needed. Clean and sanitize horse stables and perform minor maintenance. Manage therapy for specific horses in collaboration with their veterinarian. Ensure adequate grazing areas including safety and nutrition value. Maintain detailed logs of each horse’s diet, medications, supplements, injuries, special needs, and requirements. Perform routine checks and inspection of facility and reports all facility-related concerns.

Requires at least one year of experience working in equine services, managing dietary plans.

Send resume to: burssens@gmail.com. *International Dressage Academy of Wellington, Inc*

Page 30 August 13- August 26, 2021

The Town-Crier

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WELLINGTON • ROYAL PALM BEACH • LOXAHATCHEE • THE ACREAGE

HURRICANE IMPACT ACCORDION SHUTTERS ALUMINUM STORM PANELS Miami-Dade Hurricane approved

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For all your Septic and Plumbing needs!

Permanent Make Up Artist For information call

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The Town-Crier r.com

www.gotowncrie

- May 6, 2021 Page 30 April 23

L PALM BEACH

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• THE ACREAGE

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sers, Looking for Hairdres Barbers, Nail Techs, t, Massage Therapis & Estheticians, Tattoo Up Artist Permanent Make For information call

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ALL HOME REPAIRS

ONE CALL DOES IT

Showcase Your Business

In the Town-Crier Business Directory

Jewelry Excha

561-425-5409

0

561-499-9935 x

Commercial

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Patrycja Jaskolsk (561) 657-0420

piwanska@yahoo.com e, References, Experienc Professional Service

TOWN-CRIER BUSINESS DIRECTORY

ALL

561-662-0045

PAINTING CARPENTRY DRYWALL REPAIRS REMODELS AND ADDITIONS

E

35 YEARS EXPERIENC

IEDS AGE SSIF LNA HATCHEE • THE ACRE • CINGTO • ROYAL PALM BEACH LOXA

057254 STATE LICENSED CRC FULLY INSURED

WELL

Professional Services A/C Refrigeration

Services

NG & REAIR CONDITIONI installation new JOHN C. HUNTON INC.—Service & FRIGERATION, participating contractor. Lic. CAC FPL independent are proud supporters of the SemOwned 057272 Ins. “We 561-798-3225. Family inole Ridge Hawks” 1996. Credit Cards Accepted & Operated since

Professional Services an/Carpenter

Journeym

years experitrim carpenter, 25molding, base Journeyman, custom reasonable. Crown ence. Adult, honest, w sills & doors. 561-255-7225 board, casings,windo

Professional Services

Professional Services Pressure Cleaning

|

9 WASHING - (561)810-767 Grime. Support BELLA’S PRESSURE exterior of Mold andrs 5 star rated. pressure washing HomeAdviso a women Business.

Roofing

Septic Service

5 SERVICE — 561-689-155 DANNY’S SEPTIC Septic Tank and Grease Trap Commercial/Residential*Lift Stations *Drain Cleaning6 i c # S R O 111 6 9 Pumping *Drain Fields Septic.com L w w w. D a n n y s -

Sprinkler Systems

re, LLC — Complete OperatROOFING — SpeAQUATIC SPRINKLER of systems. Owner Bonded,inROBERT G. HARTMANN Cell: 561pair of all types firm Free estimates, 561-964-600 4 Ins. Serv— Private law cializing in repairs. 058317 Ph: 561-790-076 3. ed. Michael Office: Bonded & Law. EmployHR LEGAL LOGISTICS sured. Lic. #CCC Since 1990 County. Business 236-8595 Lic.#U17871 Communitie s Contracts. Visit: in Palm Beach OOFING ALL ing the Western PA I R S R E - R ce Law. Estate Planning.

Hon. Call (561) 480-0779 ROOFING RE Construction , Inc.CounCleaning - Home/Offi get your ment www.LegalLogisticsFL.com Beach TYPES — Pinewood Wallpapering Serving Palm — I can help once and 561-309-013 4 Instalest and reliable. me CLEANING LADY Painting years. Call Mike3 RC-0067207

BY DEBI — Professional than ever! Try 0 & Rety for over 20 PAPERHANGING INC. house cleaner disappointe d! 561-657-042 CGC-02377 of Paper. Neat, Clean Lic. Ins. Bonded.

CLEANING & PAINTING,cleantouch. 30 years lation,Removal. Repair you will not be J&B PRESSURE & Rework with a woman’ssmall. Lic. & Ins. types of pressure Roofing All Quality — 1984. liable.

ROOFING r driveways, Established too big or too Residential/ Cleaning, houses, Interior & NEIL O’NEAL JR. experience. No Job 561-795-5263 Electrical Contracto INC. — — owned and operated. ing, Chemical Roof Coatings, & Residential. cleaning roofing. Family References available.

Replacement, Roof CONTRACTING, patios etc. Commercial price, Fully Certified -pressureCall Butch Commercial. Wood & Roof Ventilation. 561-656SINGER ELECTRICAL Exterior painting. can trust at an affordable Lic. #U21552 s i t e a t Solar Vents, SkylightsCCC1330208.Free Estimates Electrical work you EC#13007941 561-425-5409 web & painting contractor.

4945 Lic. & Insured r visit our Licensed and Insured.

309-6975 o gandpainti ng.com www.jbpres surecleanin Home Improvement Interior/ExSerPAINTING INC. — popcorn All Around HandymanOnce JOHN PERGOLIZZI pressure cleaning, owned/ ANMAR CO.— James’ Old time values. terior - Repaint specialist, & roof painting. Family Ins. Certified vice. Excellent craftsman Lic. #U18473 have me back! Lic. ceiling, drywall repair Screening Free Est. 798-4964 you’ve had me! You’ll CRC1327426 561-248-8528 owner operator.

SERVICE Residential Contractor E N R E PA I R tight,wrinHN’S SCRE O Stay J .

Plumbing re-screening ll Home Repairs — Pool & patioa n t e e d ! C R C 1 3 2 9 7 0 8 c a & drain m k l e - f r e e , g u a r w w w. p o o l s c r e e n r e p a i r. c o Pumping, plumbing, needs!

- D RY WA L L ARPENTRY POO-MAN — — us 798-3132. your septic & plumbing PA I N T I N G - C AND ADDITIONS cleaning. For all come to you. 561-318-8416 REPAIRS-R EMODELS State Licensed CRC Let the Poo Crew Does It All 35 Years Experience.

Insured One Call 057254 Fully ACTION BUILDERS L.L.C. 561-662-00 45

Law Firm

Place Your Ad Here Call 561-793-7606

Town-Crier Classifieds Get Results Place Your Ad Here Call 561-793-7606

Town-Crier Classifieds Get Results Place Your Ad Here Call 561-793-7606

CLASSIFIEDS • • • WELLINGTON ROYAL PALM BEACH LOXAHATCHEE THE ACREAGE

children • community • seniors

The Wellington Community Foundation, Inc. is a Charitable organization committed to benefiting the residents of Wellington by supporting and improving their quality of life.

561-333-9843 Learn More About Becoming Involved By Visiting Our Website Today!

www.wellingtoncommunityfoundation.org

- Job Openings Front Desk Clerk

Person with good verbal/written communication skills and the motivation to provide good customer service. Flexible schedule needed. Experience preferred, but we will train the right motivated person. Royal Palm/ Wellington/Acreage residents will save on gas and travel time.

Housekeeper

Responsible for cleaning guest rooms in a timely and thorough manner.

Experience and fluency in English is preferred. Must be able to work weekends and/or holidays.

To Apply: E-mail or Fax Resume to: info@royalinnhotel.com 561-795-1502 or Apply in person

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August 13 - August 26, 2021

Page 31

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It’s important that we treat you fairly. Discrimination is against the law. Humana Inc. and its subsidiaries comply with applicable Federal civil rights laws and do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, ancestry, age, disability, sex, marital status, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or religion. Humana Inc. and its subsidiaries do not exclude people or treat them differently because of race, color, national origin, ancestry, age, disability, sex, marital status, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or religion. English: ATTENTION: If you do not speak English, language assistance services, free of charge, are available to you. Call 1-877-320-1235 (TTY: 711). Español (Spanish): ATENCIÓN: Si habla español, tiene a su disposición servicios gratuitos de asistencia lingüística. Llame al 1-877-320-1235 (TTY: 711). 繁體中文 (Chinese)：注意：如果您使用繁體中文，您可以免費獲得語言援 助 服務。請致電 1-877-320-1235 (TTY: 711)。 Kreyòl Ayisyen (Haitian Creole): ATANSION: Si w pale Kreyòl Ayisyen, gen sèvis èd pou lang ki disponib gratis pou ou. Rele 1-877-320-1235 (TTY: 711). Polski (Polish): UWAGA: Jeżeli mówisz po polsku, możesz skorzystać z bezpłatnej pomocy językowej. Zadzwoń pod numer 1-877-320-1235 (TTY: 711). 한국어 (Korean): 주의: 한국어를 사용하시는 경우, 언어 지원 서비스를 무료로 이용하실 수 있습니다. 1-877-320- 1235 (TTY: 711) 번으로 전화해 주십시오.

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