Town-Crier Newspaper December 2, 2022

Palms

GOLDEN GROVE SILVER ANNIVERSARY

Tuttle Royale Project Moves Forward In

Royal Palm Beach

Holiday Tradition

Continues At Tackeria’s Thanksgiving Sale

Nov. 26. Page 8

Wellington’s Holiday Toy Drive Seeking Toys And Support

By Julie Unger Town-Crier Staff Report

When you see the words “holi day season,” they conjure up im ages of family, friends, food and, last but not least, gifts.

For children, those gifts are criti cal to their feelings of belonging. For many parents, however, being able to provide their children with gifts during the holiday season can be an ominous task, especially when there are mouths to feed and bodies to keep clothed — and needs have to come before wants.

“With inflation and the high cost of gas, families are really strug gling this year,” Wellington Com munity Services Director Paulette Edwards said. “With increases in rent and insurance, there’s so much that is taken away from the wallet of the parents. There is a greater need this year more than ever to

assist the Village of Wellington in the collection of toys.”

For nearly a decade, Edwards said, Wellington has come together with its residents to embrace the many children who could use some holiday cheer through gener ous donations of toys and gift cards as part of the village’s Hometown Holiday Toy Drive.

“I always say that with every thing that our children are faced with today,” Edwards said. “A toy is such a great way to put a smile on a child’s face. It can give them hope for better days to come.”

As of Wednesday, Nov. 30, approximately 200 children are registered to receive gifts this holi day season. But the village is just getting started. “We’re anticipating upward of 500,” Edwards said. “It increases every year. Since CO VID-19, it definitely has been on

the rise. Of course, with inflation and everything else that is going on, it has had a slight increase over the last couple of years.”

The past several years haven’t been easy for parents, particularly those with precarious finances.

“To be able to take one stressful task off their list encourages us,” she said. “To be able to know that we’re doing all we can to support our families that are in need.”

Collections for toys began on Monday, Nov. 28, and will con tinue until Tuesday, Dec. 13, when they will be prepared for distribution to smiling faces with grateful eyes.

But the toy drive needs the com munity’s help to thrive.

“We are desperately in need of additional toys,” Edwards said.

But that wasn’t a surprise. Wel See TOY DRIVE, page 14

Wellington Preparing To Annex Panther Run Elementary School

Football Squad Advances To State Semifinal

Game

The Palm Beach Central High School varsity football team continues to make history. In recent weeks, the Broncos have won a pair of Florida High School Athletic Association (FH SAA) Class 4M, Region 3 home playoff games against Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Nov. 18 and Palm Beach Gardens High School on Nov. 25. Page 21

By Joshua Manning Town-Crier Staff Report

While most people assume that Panther Run Elementary School is part of the Village of Wellington, it is not — it is in unincorporated Palm Beach County. However, that’s an issue that Wellington is working on with the School District of Palm Beach County to rectify.

The annexation of Panther Run was the only topic discussed at Wellington’s Planning, Zoning & Adjustment Board meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 16. On the agenda were three items related to Panther Run.

The first was an annexation application for the 20-acre school site. Then there was a comprehen sive plan amendment to assign a designation of “community

facilities” to the site on the vil lage’s land use map. Finally, there was a rezoning from Palm Beach County’s “agricultural residen tial” (AR) zoning to Wellington’s “community facilities” zoning.

All three items were approved unanimously among the four board members present.

The school is located on the north side of Lake Worth Road just east of the village’s current boundary and about two-thirds of a mile west of State Road 7.

Robert Basehart of the village’s Planning, Zoning & Building Department presented the items, with assistance from Kris Garrison of the school district, who was at tending via Zoom.

Basehart explained that the tri angular slice of land was deeded to Palm Beach County by the

original developer of the Wycliffe neighborhood in 1987. In 1990, the county deeded the property to the school district, which built the school in 1991. It has long been considered a Wellington-area school, since it serves students in the southeastern parts of the com munity. About 80 percent of the students attending Panther Run live in Wellington.

“There is no intent from the school board to redevelop the site or do anything else with it. It will continue as an elementary school,” Basehart said, noting that the vil lage does all that it can to support and improve the educational value of the schools in Wellington.

One example of that is the Keely Spinelli grants that are given out each year. Panther Run is part of

New Florida Ag Commissioner Headlines Farm City Luncheon

By Melanie Kopacz Town-Crier Staff Report

It was a day of gratitude and coming together for both rural and urban communities at the annual Farm City Luncheon held at the South Florida Fairgrounds Expo Center on Wednesday, Nov. 16.

The Central Palm Beach Coun ty Chamber of Commerce, in collaboration with the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Palm Beach County and the Western Palm Beach County Farm Bureau, hosted more than 300 state and community leaders to celebrate the positive relationships between farm families and city residents, as well as goals for the conservation of natural resources, as part of a statewide Farm-City Week.

It’s a tradition that takes place

just before Thanksgiving, allowing Florida Farm Bureau members to celebrate their harvest by donating food, money and time to help those in need, and for those farmers to be recognized for their hard work.

“We hold this Farm City event every year so we can highlight our agricultural community,” said Mary Lou Bedford, CEO of the Central Palm Beach County Chamber. “Not only are you great supporters economically to the state and the county, but you do so much. You provide nutritious food for all of us. You support the community, and we truly appreci ate all of you.”

She also noted the inherent difficulties with the agricultural industry.

“What we really admire is your

tenacity,” Bedford said. “Despite what Mother Nature puts in your way, you just keep going, you sup port one another, and you support all of us — and we’re thankful for that.”

Florida Commissioner of Ag riculture & Consumer ServicesElect Wilton Simpson was the keynote speaker. He expressed his gratitude for his new position, marking this as his first event in his new role, after serving for the past two years as the president of the Florida Senate.

“It’s an honor to be here around so many agriculture producers in one of the biggest ag-producing counties in the state,” Simpson said.

Simpson, a lifelong Floridian,

ITID OKs More Speed Tables To Combat Traffic

By Louis Hillary Park Town-Crier Staff Report

Twenty traffic tables will be added, and 40 existing tables even tually will be redone, in an effort to slow fast-increasing vehicular traffic after an amendment to the R-3 Road Project was approved by the Indian Trail Improvement District Board of Supervisors at their Wednesday, Nov. 16 meeting.

“We’re seeing a lot more traf fic out here… and an increase in accidents and an increase in speeding, which is not good,” ITID Executive Director Burgess Hanson told the board. “We’re seeing an urgency that this needs to happen. So, we want to get this implemented as quickly as possible.”

ITID Attorney Frank Palen wrote a memo supporting the plan.

“This increased traffic will come from drivers attempting to avoid roadblocks and congestion arising from the simultaneous expansion

of Palm Beach County thorough fares within and immediately sur rounding the district,” Palen wrote.

“The reconstruction of Seminole Pratt Whitney Road and Northlake Blvd., in particular, is expected to divert large numbers of drivers from these county roads into and through the district’s adjacent and interconnecting road system.”

He said that there is already an average increase of approximately eight percent on ITID roadways.

“There is also an impact from the Minto development in the City of Westlake,” Palen added.

The plan is to piggyback the $936,000 project with Wynn & Sons Environmental Construc tion Company, through an exist ing contract with the county. The contract runs out at the end of 2023, but that will be enough time to complete the tables, Palen explained, adding that money for the tables is available in the capital

BUENA VIDA OPENS NEW PICKLEBALL COURTS

RPB Council Learns About Wellington Cares Program

By Callie Sharkey Town-Crier Staff Report

The Royal Palm Beach Village Council meeting on Thursday, Nov. 17 included a special pre sentation from Diane Gutman, di rector of operations at Wellington Cares, a local nonprofit that serves senior citizens in Wellington and Royal Palm Beach.

The nonprofit provides transpor tation services, as well as several other programs.

“We do provide transportation,” Gutman said. “We have different programs. We provide nonmedical soft services to residents 65 and older who are choosing to age in place in Wellington and Royal Palm Beach.”

The organization has three main

programs: Neighbor to Neighbor, the Nonperishable Food Pantry and a Hospitality Program. The first provides transportation to both medical and nonmedical appoint ments, such as trips to the grocery store. The Nonperishable Food Pantry has nonperishable foods, hearing aid batteries, hygiene products, hurricane supplies and assistive devices donated from the community.

The Hospitality Program in cludes social phone calls made daily or weekly, and social visits for seniors who are lonely and homebound. Visits can mean playing cards or board games, or simply just talking.

“Respite companionship al

See RPB COUNCIL, page 4

After countless hours of plan ning, development, negotiations and design, the long-planned Tuttle Royale project in Royal Palm Beach is about to kick into high gear. On Thursday, Nov. 17, the Royal Palm Beach Village Council approved several items related to the project.

Golden Grove Elementary School celebrated its silver anniversary Wednesday, Nov. 16, mark ing 25 years of service to the children and families of the Acreage/Loxahatchee area. Faculty members old and new filled the school library for a festive ceremony. Shown above, students

Maximilian Berger, Daniel Rodriguez, Camryn Hopper, Anapaula Roraff, Isabel Perez and Olivia Rakoff took part in the ceremony. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 5

PHOTO BY MEREDITH BUROW/TOWN-CRIER

Bronco

The residents of Wellington’s Buena Vida community were fi nally able to set foot and swing paddles at the newly renovated pickleball courts on Saturday, Nov. 19. The ribbon cutting took place early in the morning, with exhibition games by local pro fessionals, followed by guests in attendance jumping right in to play. Shown above are Steve Shapiro, Brad Evans, Marc Rubin and Stu Turgel. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 18

PHOTO BY CALLIE SHARKEY/TOWN-CRIER

Farm City attendees got to hear newly elected Florida Commis sioner of Agriculture & Consumer Services Wilton Simpson give the keynote address — his first event since being elected on Nov. 8.

PHOTO BY MELANIE KOPACZ/TOWN-CRIER

A local holiday weekend tradi tion continued this year with the 29th annual Thanksgiving sale at the Tackeria in Welling ton. Equestrians from far and wide were able to gobble up storewide savings of up to 50 percent on Friday, Nov. 25 and Saturday,

Casino-Themed Event At Inspired Living In RPB

Benefits Delmar Farm

On Wednesday, Nov. 16, In spired Living in Royal Palm Beach held a casino night fun draiser to benefit local animal rescue Delmar Farm. Inspired Living has been holding regular themed fundraisers to benefit local nonprofits. It’s an excel lent way to get to know the community, since these charity events are open to the public.

Tuttle Royale Project Moves Forward In Royal Palm Beach

By Callie Sharkey Town-Crier Staff Report

After countless hours of plan ning, development, negotiations and design, the long-planned Tuttle Royale project in Royal Palm Beach is about to kick into high gear. On Thursday, Nov. 17, the Royal Palm Beach Village Council approved several items related to the project, including the rules around the new mixed-use social center (MXS) designation that will be applied for the first time at Tuttle Royale.

The project, led by developer Brian Tuttle, is located on the south side of Southern Blvd., just west of State Road 7. Tuttle was joined at the meeting by representatives from the planning firm Urban Design Studio.

“At the last council meeting, the council heard a presentation from Tuttle Royale representatives, and they requested an expedited process,” Village Manager Ray Liggins said. “Since then, we have come up with a method to reduce the number of days from 21 to 14 as it relates to staff review time and the way we set up the TSR [Tech nical Staff Review] meetings.”

With the project already in progress, Liggins explained the proposed cost agreement with Tuttle Royale will adjust the timeline for staff providing writ ten recommendations. The item passed unanimously.

With a new timeline in place, the next step was to approve the Tuttle Royale master plan, allowing for the addition of just over nine

acres of land to the parcel. This brings the 10-pod project up from 156 acres to over 165 total acres. This measure was also approved unanimously.

The new MXS land use desig nation will apply to a portion of the property. Nearly 32 acres of land will shift from the village’s standard commercial designation to MXS, and an additional 9.289 acres will go from the county’s low residential land use designa tion to MXS. The application for these changes was also approved unanimously.

The bulk of the discussion was around the rules for the MXS designation.

Planning & Zoning Director Bradford O’Brien provided a high lighted presentation summarizing

Wellington’s Holiday Boat Parade Returns On Dec. 10

By Julie Unger Town-Crier Staff Report

Lake Wellington, behind the Wellington Community Center, will be illuminated with twinkling holiday lights on Saturday, Dec. 10 at 6:30 p.m. as nearly 50 decorated boats cruise along in the popular Wellington Holiday Boat Parade.

This will be the sixth year that the Holiday Boat Parade, spon sored by South Florida Marine, will “Light up the Lake” through the efforts of event organizer Jack Brownson.

Brownson is part of the parade committee, a group of boaters who have worked on the parade in recent years. Last year, they had more than 40 boats participating, and the event continues to grow.

“It’s a great community event,” Brownson said. “It’s a super event, that’s really very popular. People who don’t have a boat are in their backyards. They’re having par ties, and they’re cheering us on. There’s a lot of people involved, and at the Wellington Community Center, there’s hundreds of people, watching the parade from the promenade.”

Boats will make their way around the lake, and will be visible from the Town Center Promenade, which has plenty of parking avail able. Boaters will begin lining up at 5:45 p.m. on the north end of the lake prior to making their way to

Wellington Community Center area. Residents along the path can go outside and see the parade from their backyards. Everyone else is invited to join in the party atmo sphere at the promenade behind the community center.

This year, there will be a com petition and trophy for the top three best-decorated boats, with judges from the community. Wel lington Village Council members will be joined by local celebrities Jim Sackett and Roxanne Stein, as they make the difficult decision of choosing their favorite crafts.

“One of my goals is to have people looking forward to this parade every year like they do

on the Intracoastal,” Brownson said. “We’re not that by any means, but it’s a very nice parade, with very well-decorated boats. People really go out to decorate their boats.”

Free parking is available, and attendance is free. The Wellington Community Center is located at 12150 W. Forest Hill Blvd. Be cause of construction, attendees are advised to add a few extra minutes to plan for parking. Guests are also welcome to bring their own seating.

To get involved in the Holiday Boat Parade, and for more infor mation, contact Jack Brownson at jbrownson@comcast.net.

the MXS land use designation that was adopted by the council in September. He recommended that the council address the landscap ing requirements and be a bit more specific regarding the canopy trees and palm tree substitutions.

“I would suggest that we make that palm tree something of more significance, so that a sabal palm or Christmas palm couldn’t be sub

stituted for a shade tree,” O’Brien said. “Maybe something where the language would state a royal palm, which has a canopy similar to a shade tree.”

The second reading of the or dinance will reflect the updated language.

Before Urban Design represen tative Lentzy Jean-Louis began a detailed presentation of the

form-based code for the land, Tuttle stepped in to expand on the concept of a form-based code.

“It took me almost a year to figure out what they were talking about,” Tuttle said. “What is dif ferent about this — this defines exactly what you are getting within a very small fluctuation, and it has got all the little details. This deter

Committee Prepares To Hear ‘Wellington 3.0’ Proposal

By Joshua Manning Town-Crier Staff Report

Wellington’s Equestrian Pre serve Committee will soon hold the first official public meeting on developer Mark Bellissimo’s “Wellington 3.0” proposal.

The committee meeting was scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 7 at 6:30 p.m. However, village officials told the Town-Crier early Thursday that the meeting will likely be held in January instead.

At the heart of “Wellington 3.0” is a proposal to greatly expand the existing horse show grounds known as Wellington Interna tional, while creating at least two new residential communities geared toward equestrians, along

Panther Run Wellington Annexation

continued from page 1 that program, even though it has not technically been in the village.

“We appreciate the school board for making these applications,” Basehart said. “Panther Run has functionally been a Wellington school ever since Wellington in corporated in 1996, but now it will be not only functionally but techni cally part of the community.”

He added that the school site has always been listed on Wellington’s future annexation area, which is part of the village’s comprehensive plan. It will be designated “com munity facilities” on the future land use map and the zoning map. This will actually provide more protection against any future re development.

Garrison noted that the school board approved pursuing annexa tion of Panther Run into Welling ton at a meeting in October.

with a commercial area also geared toward equestrians.

There are four items that will be on the Equestrian Preserve Committee’s agenda. According to Wellington Planning, Zoning & Building Director Tim Stillings, the items will likely be heard to gether, since they are related items. However, the board will need to vote on each separately.

The agenda items are:

• A comprehensive plan map amendment for “The Lagoon at Equestrian Village.” This is a comprehensive plan change for what is the current Global Dres sage Festival show grounds at the northeast corner of South Shore Blvd. and Pierson Road, as well as

“I just want to emphasize that the school district has enjoyed a strong partnership with Wel lington,” she said. “That has also been evidenced by the recent collaboration at Wellington High School with the sports complex. We are proud to be joining the village officially.”

During public comment, How ard Gross of the Manchester Lakes neighborhood, which abuts the area in Wycliffe, was concerned about what else might be built there. The school district and the village confirmed that the site will be used exclusively for a school in the foreseeable future, and the new zoning would limit the site to government uses only.

Board Member John Bowers was glad to see the annexation coming forward.

“We do have that Keely Spinelli grant,” he said. “Wellington does give out a total of $400,000 each year to local schools here. All of them are currently in the Village of Wellington, with this being the exception.”

the nearby White Birch property. The request would change the property from equestrian com mercial recreation to residential, and also remove the area from the Equestrian Overlay Zoning Dis trict (EOZD). The adjacent Coach House (former Players Club) prop erty, which already has residential land use, would be merged into the new residential community.

Some versions of the plan in clude a golf course amenity on the White Birch land, known as “The Links at Equestrian Village,” but Stillings said specifics on that would come later.

“This designates the unit num bers,” he said. “That would come See EPC MEETING, page 4

Board Member Ron Herman said that he was surprised when he found out that Panther Run was not officially part of the village.

“I believe that most people already believe that Panther Run is in the village,” he said.

The board members asked if the annexation would change anything else about the property, such as traffic enforcement.

Basehart said that the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office district in Wellington has already been monitoring traffic at Panther Run, and it is served by a Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue station in Wellington. “Really, nothing is changing,” he said. “It is already in the Acme Improvement District. They buy their water and sewer services from Wellington for this school. Their drainage goes into the Acme drainage system. And the police and fire are covered by Wellington.”

The three items, including the annexation, comprehensive plan amendment and rezoning, were approved 4-0.

the

Brightly decorated boats will light up Lake Wellington on Dec. 10.

Water Down, Things Looking Up As ITID Readies Santa Rosa Work

By Louis Hillary Park Town-Crier Staff Report

A five-year schedule for im provements to Santa Rosa Groves/ Unit 20 was shared with the Indian Trail Improvement District Board of Supervisors on Wednesday, Nov. 16.

Even before serious work be gins, the activation of the Santa Rosa Groves neighborhood — an area long prone to flooding — is seeing dividends in the wake of Hurricane Ian.

ITID Executive Director Bur gess Hanson said that the area did better than it would have prior to becoming part of ITID in 2021.

“We got a pump out there, and we were able to shore up some stuff,” he said.

ITID Supervisor-Elect Elizabeth Accomando, who will be sworn in at the Dec. 7 meeting, agreed.

“We definitely did do better,” said the longtime Santa Rosa res ident and prime supporter of Unit

Speed Tables Traffic Is Growing

continued from page 1 projects fund created for the R-3 Road Project.

The work will be broken into two priority zones, with the area north of Orange Blvd. and south of Northlake Blvd. and east of Seminole Pratt Whitney Road and west of 120th Avenue North to be priority one, said Hanson. Priority two will mostly include areas west of Seminole Pratt Whitney Road.

“I don’t support doing any speed tables on any road that needs to be redone,” ITID Vice President Bet ty Argue said. “It makes absolutely no sense that we do that.”

In those cases, it would be better to repave the roads and redo speed tables as one project, Argue said.

RPB Council Wellington Cares

continued from page 1 lows the caregiver the ability to confidently step away for a few hours knowing that their loved one is safe,” said Gutman, adding that this program is in high demand for people suffering with ailments like Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s.

In this program, volunteers go once or twice a week for one or two hours.

All volunteers must go through both fingerprinting and back ground checks through the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.

The PBSO also refers potential participants to the program when they see a need.

While there is no limit on the age of a volunteer, those in high school wishing to gain community service hours must volunteer with a parent.

To avoid duplication of ser vices, Wellington Cares partners with local high schools, scout troops, churches, restaurants and individuals.

20’s activation into the district.

“Most important, we had someone to call. We had been all on our own out here.”

The area, north of White Fenc es, has a long history of flooding problems. Its roads and swales have deteriorated, and the canals are overgrown. “We have a lot of old, messed up infrastructure,” Accomando said.

That’s about to change after a 10-year, $3 million loan was secured in September to install pumps; clear canals; build up or mill roads, particularly Carol Street; install signage; and per haps add some type of traffic calming. The improvements will allow curbside garbage pickup, mail and package delivery, and help prevent flooding during heavy rain events.

During the Nov. 16 meeting, ITID Vice President Betty Argue expressed concern that the harden ing of the bank at the Santa Rosa

After a brief recess in the meet ing, a compromise was reached. No existing tables will be removed in Phase 1 of the project, but some tables will be added with 23 feet of fresh pavement on either side. Do ing so will allow future repaving of those roads without having to redo the speed tables again.

In other business:

• The supervisors heard that ITID finished $1.6 million over the planned budget for the 2022 fiscal year that ended Sept. 30. Most of the overage was caused by increased fuel costs and the need to defend itself against litigation, Hanson said.

However, because personnel costs for the fiscal year came in lower than expected, the actual overage was $1,007,952, accord ing to staff.

• The supervisors rejected a proposal from Tower Engineer

“There is a local church that pro vides gardening and things around the outside of the house,” Gutman said. “Our volunteers meet every month, and the meetings consist of bringing in a guest from the com munity that also provides senior services to keep volunteers up to date on what is out there so they can share it with others.”

The Wellington Cares transpor tation program is different from other senior transports in that they provide door-to-door service. Often two volunteers are needed to ensure a participant is escorted to and from their appointments, and one will always be with the resident to be a second set of ears and to take notes for families on request. The program is free, and tips are not accepted.

The program began working in Royal Palm Beach just recently, and in 2021 logged 600 volunteer service hours for the area. Out of the 131 participants that year, 26 were Royal Palm Beach residents. This year, the number has risen to more than 50 Royal Palm Beach resident participants.

“Word is getting out there, and people are wanting to utilize our

OPINION

Thanks To Everyone Who Supported Honor Flight

Recently, I had the distinct honor of flying to Washington, D.C., with seven other veterans of the Wellington American Legion Post 390. We were part of the Southeast Florida Honor Flight program.

Before I explain this program, I would like to extend my sincere thanks to the Village of Welling ton for providing us a beautiful, brand-new bus and driver to transport us to and from Palm Beach International.

However, the highlight was the PBSO motorcycle escort. We thought they would provide us with two or three cycles at 3:30 in the morning. But to our surprise, there was a whole contingent of 16 motorcycles for eight Wel lington veterans. We were flab bergasted to be honored in such a way. We are all grateful for this magnificent and awesome display of respect, gratitude and honor. Thank you to all the officers of the PBSO unit who volunteered

for this assignment.

The Honor Flight is a nation al organization that provides a free, all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C., to visit all the military monuments, including Arlington National Cemetery and the Changing of the Guard. Any veteran who served honorably during World War II and the Ko rean and Vietnam wars are urged to apply for this awesome tribute. Go to www.honorflightsefl.org to download the application and learn more information.

Volunteers and guardians made this trip a lot easier by providing wheelchairs for every veteran who needed one. Thank you all for this fantastic support.

Again, I want to thank the Village of Wellington and the PBSO’s Wellington substation for giving us this awesome honor God bless you, and God bless the USA.

Jim Napuli Wellington

pump station was not scheduled to begin until August, well into the next hurricane season, and will not be completed until October. “Is that not priority No. 1 anymore?” she asked.

“The pump station is a pri ority… [but] we have pumping capacity there now,” said ITID Chief Construction Officer Rob Robinson, adding that it is import ant to clear canals so the water will flow if pumping is necessary.

ITID Engineer Jay Foy agreed that improvements to the pump station should be a high priority.

“Without those pumps, Santa Rosa Groves is in trouble,” he said. “We need to have a pump with a perim eter berm around it, or Santa Rosa Groves doesn’t work.”

The first phase of the project will begin in January with mow ing, cutbacks and clearing of canal banks, followed by surveys of the canals, according to the schedule Robinson provided to

ing Professionals to construct a 165-foot cell tower in a 40-footby-40-foot section of Acreage Community Park’s north parking lot. “It takes up too much parking, and it’s too close to the ball fields,” Hanson said.

• The supervisors learned that ITID crews planned to start laying sod on the north athletic field at Acreage Community Park this week with the hope that the surface will be ready by Feb. 1.

• The supervisors heard from Hanson that the district needs to be aware of Loxahatchee Groves’ possible interest in annexing some ITID land along Southern Blvd. Allowing such a move to go unchallenged could cost ITID valuable commercial property if the district ever decides to incorpo rate, he said, and put The Acreage in position where the only “gate ways” to the community would

services,” Gutman said. “Volun teers find out about us by word of mouth. They call me, and I visit with them. We try to keep it very simple and very friendly.”

Visit www.wellingtoncaresorg. com to learn more.

In other business:

• The council unanimously ap proved all consent agenda items, including one to purchase furniture for the new Royal Palm Beach Village Hall now under construc tion. At the meeting, the council got an update on the project and learned from staff that the new building will likely be delayed a bit longer before staff can move in. The goal is to move in April, but it will likely be May 2023 before the building is ready.

• Goldfish Swim School re ceived approval for an indoor facility at 10109 Southern Blvd. in the Village Shoppes plaza. Most of the students will be infants and

EPC Meeting ‘Wellington 3.0’ Plan

continued from page 3 later when they submit a site plan.”

The concept map shows the ex isting indoor dressage arena being repurposed to provide recreational amenities for the new residential development, but specifics on that would also be part of the site plan phase.

• A rezoning application for “The Lagoon at Equestrian Vil lage.” This would remove the 96-acre area from the Equestrian Overlay Zoning District and places it in a standard Planned Unit De velopment zoning district, which makes the zoning consistent with the comprehensive plan changes indicated in the first item.

• A comprehensive plan amend ment for “The Estates at Eques trian Village.” This would change some of the subject property on the west side of South Shore Blvd. south of Pierson Road from PUD residential to equestrian commercial recreation to expand the existing show grounds by approximately 115 acres. It also brings together 168 acres of nearby land to create a new residential community, bringing in a five-acre undeveloped commercial parcel.

“The five-acre piece of property at the northwest corner of South Shore and Lake Worth Road is what is changing from commercial to residential,” Stillings said. “It

the supervisors. Excavation of the canals is scheduled to start in early spring.

Roadway stabilization is sched uled to start in late fall with Marie Court. The stabilization of Carol Street, the area’s main road, will begin in the late fall of 2024. The first phase of milling the roads would begin in December 2026, with Carol Street scheduled to be completed in the winter of 2028, with most of the work done inhouse by ITID crews in order to save money.

“It’s give and take,” Accomando said. “If more of the work were contracted out, it could go faster… but it also would cost a lot more money.”

By keeping the amount bor rowed by the area’s residents through ITID relatively small with a 10-year payback, “the milled roads will last well beyond the repayment of the loan,” she said. “The residents are willing to wait.”

be though Loxahatchee Groves or Palm Beach Gardens.

• The supervisors learned that ITID staff plans to further co ordinate with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office to ensure a safe and less contentious Citrus Grove Halloween event in 2023 after complaints of both over- and under-zealous law enforcement at the most recent event.

Though not a district-sponsored event, the gathering along Citrus Grove Blvd. near Citrus Grove Park has become a long-standing tradition, Argue said.

“They’ve added food trucks, and each year it evolves a little more,” she said. “Our focus, and the PBSO’s focus, is on safety.”

The effort may include a public awareness campaign to let resi dents know what activities and vehicles are allowed in the park and on the surrounding streets.

toddlers, with lessons beginning for kids as young as four months. The in-ground pool will be four feet deep and kept at a warm tem perature. The franchise is already in Margate and Pembroke Pines, in addition to being across the U.S. and in Canada. Classes will be offered at various times to allow for working parents to still be able to bring their children.

• Approval was given to Tower com VIII-B LLC and a resolution was adopted to allow construction of a 132-foot antenna at 10719 Southern Blvd., along with securi ty fencing surrounding the ground equipment.

• The School District of Palm Beach County received approval for a text amendment that will allow construction of a new sign at Royal Palm Beach High School that will give the school district the opportunity to use the sign for public announcements.

is being combined with the other acreage to the north, which is now being placed into Pod E, which is residential.”

• The final item is a master plan amendment to the Wellington Country Place PUD that would update the master plan with the changes made through “The Es tates at Equestrian Village” com prehensive plan amendment.

“There are residential units that are assigned to the property on the west side, which is called Pod F,” Stillings said. “Those units are being requested to be transferred into Pod E, so all the residential units would be in Pod E.”

Also part of the “Wellington 3.0” plan but not included at the upcoming meeting is a mixed-used development known as “The Mar ket at Equestrian Village” on the 18-acre property currently known as the Professional Center at Wel lington located at the northwest corner of South Shore and Green view Shores boulevards. That is a largely undeveloped portion of commercially zoned land.

An application was submitted in early November for a compre hensive plan map amendment to change the future land use desig nation on the property from com mercial to mixed use, which would include a variety of commercial uses, as well as multi-family units and a hotel.

“That is a separate application that they have submitted, but it is still in the review process,” Stillings said.

The 4.53 percent loan has a total payback of $3,881,000. The av erage per acre annual assessment will be some $827.

Created in the 1970s, Santa Rosa Groves is made up of 99 lots ranging from five acres to 20 acres.

A property owner with five acres will pay approximately $4,138 in annual unit-specific assessments for the project.

In other drainage-related news: • The supervisors learned from Foy that overall, ITID is “so much better off now” than during heavy rain events over the last 30 years.

He said that ITID crews responded to 239 calls related to Hurricane Ian between Sept. 28 and Oct. 10.

Most of the problems arose from clogged culverts and homeowners who had filled in the swale to cre ate illegal driveways.

District phones continued to be answered during Ian. “We were back to normal operations while the county and many cities were

not,” said Hanson, adding that the Parks & Recreation Department also pitched in to help.

• The supervisors also learned from Foy that the drainage issues in the Grapeview area are due to a “grossly undersized pipe” that runs under county-owned North lake Blvd. Palm Beach County has plans to replace the smaller pipe with a larger one when that section of Northlake is redone, Foy said.

“We could be looking at another five or six years,” said Argue, who visited the area north of Northlake after Ian passed through. “If we’d gotten much more rain, we’d have had a problem… People blame [Indian Trail] for this, but it is not our responsibility.”

Argue encouraged staff to push the issue forward with the county through whatever means possible.

“It’s a problem that needs to be fixed,” she said. “It needs to be expedited.”

Wellington Wins Read For The Record Municipality Contest

Each year, the Literacy Coali tion of Palm Beach County holds a contest between the municipalities related to the annual Read for the Record campaign.

The coalition coordinates local efforts for the campaign in which adults read the same book on the same day to young children throughout the county. This year’s book was Nigel and the Moon

The coalition invites the mu nicipalities to engage their leaders and staff to participate in Read for the Record, and then the coalition looks at which municipalities had the biggest impact, based on the number of their volunteer readers, the number of students they read to, and the innovative ways the municipalities raise awareness for literacy and Read for the Record.

This year, 335 Palm Beach County municipal leaders and staff representing 21 municipali ties participated at more than 115 sites, reading to more than 19,000

That parcel is not in the EOZD and would not go before the Equestrian Preserve Committee for review.

Stillings said that the flow of the meeting will be determined by the committee chair, but he expects that the items will be heard togeth er, starting with a presentation by Bellissimo and his team, followed by a presentation by village staff.

“Ours is much more technical and will be tied to the actions that the board needs to take,” Stillings said. “It would be better if we go second.”

There will also be presentations by three groups that have been rec ognized as interested parties, likely to be represented by attorneys. One represents the Jacobs family, one represents Victoria McCullough of Mida Farms and one represents Equestrian Club Estates.

There will also be time for the public to comment, but it is un clear when that would be. If the presentations run long, at 11 p.m. the board has to make a decision to continue the meeting or return the next day. “We set aside a sec ond night when we looked at it,” Stillings said.

The board can go through a series of questions and answers with the applicant, or they can take public comment first.

The village has a link on its web site where individuals can submit an online public comment. There have already been about a dozen comments received.

Stillings could not comment

students at elementary schools and childcare centers.

The Village of Wellington won this year’s Read for the Record contest between municipalities in the large municipality category.

Other winners were the Town of Lake Park in the small munici pality category and the Village of Palm Springs in the mid-size municipality category.

Each of the winning munici palities will receive a basket of children’s books, and, of course, bragging rights.

For this year’s Read for the Re cord local campaign, the coalition provided more than 1,100 copies of Nigel and the Moon to childcare centers, community volunteers, municipal leaders and staff, and library media specialists through out the county. All told, more than 26,000 students at 143 elementary schools and children’s centers in Palm Beach County were read to as part of Read for the Record.

on the requested changes from a policy standpoint, but he could as a professional planner.

“Our recommendation in the staff report is for approval, with both the Lagoon and the Estates, where there are multiple condi tions. More than 30 for each one,” he said.

Stillings explained that the village’s staff report lays out the merits of Bellissimo’s proposal.

“The Lagoon is logical change in the boundary line for the EOZD,” he said. “It is on the edge of the current boundary, so it is not like we are carving into the equestrian area.”

He added that having residential at the northeast corner of Pierson and South Shore was a likely scenario if it had been developed as part of Palm Beach Polo, until early developer Bill Ylvisaker decided to put a polo field there in the late 1970s.

“Then, with the Estates, the proposed new show grounds are at an appropriate location,” Stillings said. “There would be an economy of scale there. It is almost double the size of the current Equestrian Village site — 60 acres versus 115 acres.”

After the Equestrian Preserve Committee, the proposals head to Wellington’s Planning, Zoning & Adjustment Board. From there, they head to the Wellington Village Council for two public hearings.

All the meetings will be held at Wellington’s Village Hall at 12300 W. Forest Hill Blvd.

STEPHANIE RODRIGUEZ Art & Production Manager

BARRY S. MANNING Publisher DAWN RIVERA General Manager JOSHUA I. MANNING Executive Editor

Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County CEO Kristin Calder with Wellington Mayor Anne Gerwig.

Golden Grove Elementary School celebrated its silver anniversary Wednesday, Nov. 16, marking 25 years of service to the children

and families of the Acreage/Loxahatchee area. Faculty members old and new filled the school library for a festive ceremony. The school is currently home to 793 students. It has had only five principals over the past quarter century, including current Principal Linda Edgecomb. Former principals Suzanne Gibbs, Adam Miller and Kathryn Koerner were in attendance. Founding Principal Bar bara Altman passed away in 2006.

PHOTOS BY MEREDITH BUROW/TOWN-CRIER

Principal Linda Edgecomb gives a state of the school address.

Assistant Principal Candace Dye acknowledges the school’s charter teachers.

Principal Linda Edgecomb ceremoniously tosses dirt on the gumbo limbo tree donated to the school by the Alpha Alpha Upsilon Omega chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc.

Students Maximilian Berger, Daniel Rodriguez, Camryn Hopper, Anapaula Roraff, Isabel Perez and Olivia Rakoff took part in the ceremony.

The Gator Chorus and music teacher Anna Allahar present “Dream a Dream” and “Gator Song.”

Former Golden Grove Elementary School principals Suzanne Gibbs, Adam Miller and Kathryn Koerner.

Assistant Principal Candace Dye, Principal Linda Edgecomb and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority members Priscilla Cabrera, Debra Jackson, Marcia Hayden (current chapter president), Marsha Owens, Mable King and Valerie Ford.

Linda Edgecomb acknowledges original staff members Tanya Wesley and Marlyne Youmans.

Linda Edgecomb, Marlyne Youmans and Tanya Wesley open the time capsule.

Fifth grade safety patrollers Shadrick Bembry and Isabel Perez.

Palm Beach County School Board Member Marcia Andrews praises Golden Grove’s family-oriented atmosphere.

Instructional Superintendent Maria Bishop at the podium.

Inaugural Golden Grove Assistant Principal Suzanne Gibbs kept the crowd laughing.

Emcee Cassandra OetingerKenski assists Sara Urbano Prado as she reads a poem.

Farm City

Luncheon Celebrates Local Ag Industry

continued from page 1 grew up on a chicken farm. He cur rently farms one million chickens in Pasco County, which produces two million dozen eggs a month. He touched on his accomplish ments in the Florida Senate and what he foresees in Florida’s fu ture, describing agriculture on the scale of national security.

“I’ve been farming my entire life,” Simpson said. “We’re always working behind the scenes. Ag riculture doesn’t need to survive in this state. We need to thrive in this state.”

Michelle McGovern of Baptist Health South Florida, the event’s presenting sponsor, commended the Central Palm Beach County Chamber for its critical partner ships with the agricultural com munity.

“We at Baptist feel a strong con nection to our agricultural friends, partially because Bethesda West would not be possible without the generosity of our many farming families,” McGovern said. “But also because we believe that mak ing fresh, locally grown fruits and vegetables a part of your everyday

life helps to keep you and your family healthy, and hopefully away from our emergency rooms. That’s why even at our hospital in Homestead, we have a farm right on our campus.”

Palm Beach County leads the state in production of rice, lettuce, radishes and more. Nearly 40 percent of the county’s land mass is dedicated to agriculture, lead ing the nation in the production of sugar cane, sweet corn and bell peppers.

The Farm Bureau’s goal is to educate the community about all the seasonal fruits and vegetables grown locally.

“I ask you to continue to look for the ‘Fresh from Florida’ label on all your fruits and vegetables at your local grocery store,” said Keith Wedgworth, president of the Western Palm Beach County Farm Bureau and a fourth-generation farmer.

The crowd gave a round of applause to all the farmers in the audience, as well as the Future Farmers of America, with high school students and FFA leaders from Palm Beach County’s Glades Central High School, Jupiter High School and Glades Day School, whose student officers talked about the importance of their programs.

“We have a shop where we can learn to build and weld. We have a garden. Each grade has a different kind of class,” explained Peyton

Pelham, a senior and president of the Glades Day FFA chapter. “My senior class is in agricultural com munications to spread the word about what we’re doing.”

Dr. Charlene Ford, principal of the West Technical Educa tion Center in Belle Glade, was on hand with adult students and graduates of their commercial driver’s license (CDL) program. The school’s student-driven semitruck was on display at the Expo Center parking lot. Its curriculum includes two high school programs in construction and mechatronics, as well as a number of adult classes and certifications.

“Training classes are essential to keep our economy afloat, whether you’re a high school student debat ing where you’re going to college immediately after graduation or work immediately after — or an adult transitioning careers,” Ford said. “Without skilled workers, society would come to a halt. It’s great work. You can make a great living and pass these skills down generationally.”

Following the luncheon, each attendee was given a complimen tary bag of locally grown produce as part of the Farm Bureau’s tradi tion of sharing its abundant har vest. Students from the three FFA chapters helped pass out brown bags filled with lettuce, radishes, corn, green beans, rice and sugar from event sponsors for all to share and enjoy.

Wellington

Thanks

Local

Sponsors Of Holiday Food Distribution

The 2022 Wellington Home town Holiday Food Distribution was made possible thanks to the generous contributions of local sponsors.

Wellington Regional Medical Center donated 100 turkeys. The Mall at Wellington Green and Humana each donated $1,000 toward the purchase of additional non-perishables. Feeding South Florida donated fresh produce, in cluding corn, oranges, peppers and eggplant. Professional Conces sions Inc. donated a refrigerated trailer to store the turkeys for two days prior to the food distribution.

Thanks to these important part nerships, the Village of Wellington was able to register 250 residents for the distribution, which includ ed a 10-pound-plus turkey, a bag of Thanksgiving-appropriate food items and a bag of fresh produce. Any food items not picked up at the food distribution on Wednesday evening were deliv ered to families in need identified through the Palm Beach County

The

Espressivo Christmas Concert

St. Michael Lutheran Church, located at 1925 Birkdale Drive in Wellington, will host a Christmas concert for the Espressivo choral group this month. This local choral group is comprised mainly of mu sic teachers in Palm Beach County.

The theme of this year’s concert is “A Decade of Expression,” in tribute to the group’s 10 years of performances locally. This concert, “Journey: Christmas Story,” will be held at the church on Saturday, Dec. 17 at 4 p.m. An additional performance will be held on Sunday, Dec. 18 at 4 p.m. at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Lake Worth.

Tickets can be purchased at the door and are $15 for general ad mission, $12 for St. Michael mem bers and $8 for students. Proceeds from the concert go toward music

NEWS BRIEFS

scholarships for local students.

For more info., contact St. Mi chael Church at (561) 793-4999 or stmelc@bellsouth.net.

Casino Night In Wellington

From the Atlantic City Board walk to the heart of Wellington, experience the thrill and excite ment of Atlantic City nightlife and authentic gaming action at a Casino Night on Saturday, Jan. 14 hosted at the Wellington Com munity Center (12150 W. Forest Hill Boulevard) and on the Town Center Promenade from 6 to 9 p.m.

Tickets are on sale now for ages 21 and up only. The price is $40 per person and includes hors d’oeuvres, two drink tickets (cash bar available), casino games and live entertainment by Johnny T., “the Man of Many Voices,” paying tribute to the enduring classics and entertainers of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.

Feeling lucky? See if you’ve got a hot hand and take a gamble on a variety of casino games. Trade winnings for raffle tickets and the chance to win prizes. Gaming options include slots, blackjack, roulette, craps and Texas hold ’em poker.

Tickets can be purchased in person at the Wellington Commu nity Center or Village Park (11700 Pierson Road), and may also be purchased online by existing Civi cRec users at www.wellingtonfl. gov/civicrec.

For more information, call (561) 753-2484 or visit www.welling tonfl.gov/events.

Mitigation

Strategy

Group To Meet In Wellington

On Thursday, Dec. 15, from 9 to 10:30 a.m., the Palm Beach County Local Mitigation Strategy (LMS) Working Group will hold a general meeting of its public and private sector membership.

This meeting is open to the public. Among the topics to be discussed is the 2022 Fall Priori tized Project List (PPL) and other mitigation opportunities.

The Palm Beach County Public Safety Department Division of Emergency Management coordi nates the LMS Working Group, and it is comprised of county, municipal and community part ners. Their purpose is to prepare and promote local strategies and

projects that will reduce long-term risks to life and property from natural, technological and humancaused hazards.

The resulting pre- and postdisaster mitigation strategies and projects are supported by a variety of state and federal programs and funding sources, in accordance with the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000.

The meeting will be held at the Wellington Village Council Cham bers, located at 12300 W. Forest Hill Blvd. in Wellington. For more information, contact Ronnie Heen at (561) 712-6481.

Residents Can Address State Legislators

On Dec. 7

State Sen. Tina Polsky, chair of the Palm Beach County Legisla tive Delegation, has announced that the delegation’s second public hearing prior to the 2023 Florida Legislative Session will take place on Wednesday, Dec. 7 at 10 a.m. at the Clayton E. Hutcheson Ag ricultural Services Center, located at 559 N. Military Trail in West Palm Beach.

“These hearings are specifically

designed to encourage the public to personally address the legisla tors on their concerns and issues involving state government,” Polsky said.

For additional details regarding upcoming delegation hearings and workshops, visit www.palmbeach delegation.com.

Anyone requiring further infor mation can contact the Legisla tive Delegation Office at (561) 355-2406.

Amber’s Christmas

‘Pawty’ Dec. 3

Amber’s Animal Outreach will host its fourth annual Christ mas Pawty on Saturday, Dec. 3 from 2 to 5 p.m. at Community Animal Hospital, located at 11462 Okeechobee Blvd. in Royal Palm Beach.

The day will include an ugly sweater contest for pets, which starts at 3:30 p.m. The cost is $5 per person and includes a printed photo with Santa, an entry into the costume contest, a goodie bag and one raffle ticket.

There will be raffles, vendors, Santa photos, dog adoptions, music and more. Learn more at www.aaodog.org.

Sheriff’s Office and Wellington’s Community Services Department, as well as the Boys & Girls Club.

Crowned Pearls of Wellington took the remaining non-perishable bags to be delivered to those af fected by Hurricane Ian in Fort Myers.

Officers from Glades Day School’s Future Farmers of America. (Front row) teacher and advisor Camber Pope with Peyton Pelham; and (back row) Kelly Kennedy, Addison Ascheman, Nicki Ruiz and Timaya Clark. PHOTOS BY MELANIE KOPACZ/TOWN-CRIER

Jupiter High School Future Farmers of America members (L-R) Heather Reach, Josie Martin, Tanner Gload, Daniel Gonzalez, Cash Ciliento, agriculture/ horticulture teacher Scott Ciliento and Aiden Russo.

Jupiter High School agriculture teacher Scott Ciliento and Palm Beach County School Board Member Marcia Andrews head out from the event with some fresh, locally grown produce.

South Florida Fair CEO Vicki Chouris welcomes attendees while presenting upcoming events at the fairgrounds.

Wellington’s Michael O’Dell, Councilwoman Tanya Siskind, Councilman John McGovern, Councilman Michael Napoleone and Jomekeyia McNeil.

Newly elected Palm Beach County Commissioner Sara Baxter is introduced.

Western Palm Beach County Farm Bureau President Keith Wedgworth at the podium.

The presenting sponsor presentation was given by Baptist Health South Florida’s Michelle McGovern.

Wellington Councilman John McGovern and Councilman Michael Napoleone with their bags of fresh produce.

State Sen. Lori Berman is greeted by FFA students with a bag of fresh, locally grown produce.

Royal Palm Beach Councilman

Jeff Hmara leaves with a bag of locally grown produce.

Newly elected Florida Commissioner of Agriculture & Consumer Services Wilton Simpson gives the event’s keynote address.

Pets Are Family, Too!

By Randall S. Dugal, D.V.M. OTITIS EXTERNA

Otitis externa is an external ear canal infection. It is the most common ear canal disorder in dogs. Breeds with particularly large, floppy, or hairy ears are more prone to getting this type of ear infection; however, all dogs are susceptible. Symptoms include ear scratching, excessive head shaking, red or inflamed ears, a yellow or blackish ear discharge, and an offensive odor. Otitis externa is also painful for dogs. Owners who think their canine companions may have an ear infection need to take them to a veterinarian immediately. It’s essential to determine the infection’s cause so the proper medication can be administered. In severe cases, surgery may be needed. Several different types of bacteria commonly cause otitis externa.

When your pet exhibits signs that may indicate an ear infection, don’t wait to see if the problem will resolve itself because you cannot be sure it will. Instead, call your veterinarian. The faster a diagnosis is made and treatment begun, the better the chances are of a speedy, successful recovery and a happy pet. You are in the best position to tell if your pet is not acting normally, while we’re the ones to see for an accurate assessment and treatment. For healthcare of the highest quality, please call us at COMMUNITY ANIMAL HOSPITAL OF ROYAL PALM BEACH, 798-5508. Conveniently located 1/4 mile east of Royal Palm Beach Blvd., at 11462 Okeechobee Blvd., we offer complete, state-ofthe-art health care services for small pets of all kinds. OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK.

P.S. In puppies, otitis externa is typically caused by ear mites.

Nancy Hooker and Heather Boggio.

Jen Padovani looks for an Ariat shirt.

Tamara Seely and Tom Blake.

Councilwoman Tanya Siskind looks over some boots.

Lilly Ward and Ava Stryk got new Breyer holiday horses.

Trillium Bentley and Natalie Rubino with Timber from Big Dog Ranch Rescue.

Whitney Wells with Izzy and Henry.

Elizabeth Fenner helps Selah Sharp try on boots as Jason Shinn looks on.

Peggy Gehman found a new helmet.

Manager Lou Cuthbertson and Matt Coppola restock saddle racks.

Selah Sharp loves her new boots.

Councilwoman Tanya Siskind found some cute socks for her daughter.

CASINO-THEMED EVENT AT INSPIRED LIVING IN RPB BENEFITS DELMAR FARM

Wellington Art Society To Feature Ralph Papa At Dec. 14 Meeting

The Wellington Art Society will present Ralph Papa as its guest speaker at the Wednesday, Dec. 14 meeting.

The meeting and presentation will take place at the Wellington Community Center (12150 W. Forest Hill Blvd.). The meeting will open with a meet and greet at 5:30 p.m., followed by the mem ber spotlight and a brief meeting. The event will conclude with a presentation by plein air painter and gallery owner Ralph Papa. He will discuss his personal journey in life and art, and the importance of art in Palm Beach County and beyond.

For more information, contact Laura Jaffe at presidentofwas@ gmail.com.

Born and raised in New York City’s East Harlem, Papa has had a lifelong fascination with drawing

and painting. His natural talent led him to study art and architec ture at Queens College and City College of New York. He also spent his evenings painting with the Art Students League. By the early 1980s, Papa was regularly painting en plein air in the Hud son Valley and Long Island, the Hamptons and later in southeast Florida. In 2003, he discovered a passion for teaching and began offering drawing, painting and plein air workshops throughout Palm Beach County.

In addition to being a visual artist, Papa is also an art activist through his work with local art organizations. He is co-founder of Plein Air Palm Beach and a sig nature member and past president of the Artists Guild of the Boca Raton Museum of Art. Papa also has painted in France and Italy and

has been instrumental in Boynton Beach becoming a “sister city” with Farindola in the Abruzzo Region of Italy.

A prolific painter, Papa’s sub jects range from real and imagined themes, figurative, portraits and plein air painting.

“I’m more fascinated with the actual process of creating an art work, finding it energizing and even more fulfilling than arriving at the end product of the finished work,” he said.

Papa’s artworks are in public and private collections across the United States, Canada and Europe and can be viewed at the Papagal lery Artists Association in Boca Raton, the Neighborhood Gallery in Boynton Beach and on his web site at www.ralphpapa.com.

The Wellington Art Society is a nonprofit charitable organization

The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office Honors the memory of

Deputy Sheriff Donta J. Manuel

The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office would like to take this opportunity to remember the dedication to service from Deputy Donta J. Manuel who was killed in the line of duty on November 28, 2007 while serving the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office and the citizens of Palm Beach County.

AND

Deputy Sheriff Jonathan D. Wallace

The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office would like to take this opportunity to remember the dedication to service from Deputy Jonathan D. Wallace who was killed in the line of duty on November 28, 2007 while serving the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office and the citizens of Palm Beach County

in its 41st year. It is open to artists of all mediums and patrons of the arts, allowing both local and regional artists to display their artwork in local galleries, interact with other artists and serve the community through their art. For more information, www. wellingtonartsociety.org.

On Wednesday, Nov. 16, Inspired Living in Royal Palm Beach held a casino night fundraiser to benefit local animal rescue Delmar Farm. Inspired Living has been holding regular themed fundraisers to benefit local nonprofits, such as one for Grandma’s Place last month. While the charity event is designed to help those in need, it’s also an excellent way to get to know the community, since these charity events are open to the public. Inspired Living is a resort-style assisted living facility on Southern Blvd. Learn more at www. inspiredliving.care or call (561) 570-2090.

PHOTOS BY ERIN DAVISSON/TOWN-CRIER

Sales Director Christy Zillmer and Engagement Director Aimee Paris with Inspired Living organized the event.

Tonya Thomas with Inspired Living. Attendees have fun at the craps table.

Pat Natale at the craps table.

The roulette table was popular.

Michael LaFroscia and Joseph Hamza at the blackjack table. A silent auction was part of the fundraiser.

(Above) Ralph Papa’s artwork has a unique and colorful style. (Right) Ralph Papa with one of his paintings.

Toy Drive

Donations

Needed

continued from page 1

lington also hosts its Hometown Holiday Food Drive to provide meals to families in need for Thanksgiving, with collections in October and November.

“Our collection of food was very low, and the same thing is happening with toys,” Edwards said. “Our bins are out all over the village, but we have not been that successful right now. We are reaching out to nonprofits for fund ing so that we can actually buy the toys that we know are going to be in high demand, as well as the gift cards we’re going to need for teens and tweens.”

Wellington schools have also been helping out by collecting toys, Edwards said, and this weekend, Palm Beach Central High School will be collecting toys during their games, Edwards noted.

The toy drive needs age-appro priate toys for infants through age 10, and gift cards for teens and tweens. The recommendation, Edwards said, is for $20 gift cards to Amazon, Target and Walmart.

“Wellington is a hometown, and we want everyone, regardless of their income and whatever strug gles they’re faced with, to be able to feel a part of this community,” Edwards said. “There’s no better way to feel a part than when others rally around you and come togeth

Tuttle Rules For MXS Designation

continued from page 3

mines what the site plan is. We can make sure it fits every little corner of this. This is the only form-based code I’ve ever worked with.”

He then encouraged the coun cil to stop Jean-Louis and ask questions at any point during the presentation.

When Vice Mayor Selena Sa mios questioned whether this meant variance requests would be coming, Tuttle said it was possible, but the requests would be minor.

In the presentation by Jean-Lou is, the council received details on everything from parking designa tions to the types of special public events that can take place there.

er to support your needs.”

There are many groups and organizations that have partnered with the village on this effort, such as Wellington Interfaith, the Crowned Pearls of Wellington and the Wellington Rotary Club, as well as the Great Charity Chal lenge and Wellington’s schools. But there’s always room for more.

“The only way to sustain a healthy, thriving community is for all of its members to join together and work together in partnership, and this is one of those opportuni ties,” Edwards said.

Businesses, organizations or in dividuals interested in sponsoring the Hometown Holiday Toy Drive and partnering with the village should call Wellington’s Commu nity Services Department at (561) 791-4796 to learn more.

“During the toy distribution,” Edwards said, “the families are so

grateful and thankful. They tell the council and volunteers, right there on the spot, how appreciative they are for this opportunity.”

But to be able to provide this opportunity, and give each child on the list a holiday gift, donations of new, unwrapped toys are needed. And it’s always appreciated if batteries are included.

Toys and gift cards can be dropped off at: Village Hall (12300 W. Forest Hill Blvd.), Village Park (11700 Pierson Road), the Wel lington Community Center (12150 W. Forest Hill Blvd.), the Welling ton Tennis Center (3100 Lyons Road) and the Lake Wellington Professional Centre (12133 Ken Adams Way).

Village residents who are having a tough year and need assistance from the toy drive can call (561) 791-4796 to register by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 13.

JustWorld International’s Youth Committee Supports Storybook Treasures Project

At Pioneer Park Elementary School in Belle Glade, an inspiring story is being written. The epic tale of overcoming adversity and dis covering new frontiers of success begins with a dedicated principal, intelligent elementary schoolers and JustWorld International’s part ner program, Storybook Treasures.

In 2014, Dr. Sandra L. Moreau became the assistant principal at Pioneer Park. The average literary proficiency at the third-grade level was 23.9 percent as measured by the Florida Standards Assessments (FSA). Students were unable to meet important milestones during the most formative years of their education. However, Moreau had a plan to change their trajectory for the better, because not all heroes wear capes, some carry books.

It was when Moreau stepped into the role of principal in 2020 that Pioneer Park’s ambitious goals truly came to fruition. Stu dents have demonstrated excep tional gains, with 80 percent of students showing improvement in ELA, and FSA proficiency skyrocketing to 47.9 percent.

Samios is familiar with Abacoa, a similar type of project, and said that the most common complaint she heard from its residents was about the noise. Tuttle responded that all residents will be required to sign a waiver acknowledging they are living next to a social center, and that loud music can play until midnight.

Samios wasn’t convinced.

“I will tell you right now, all of those people who live in Abacoa and Harbourside signed those agreements and still complain,” she said. “Just like how all of the people who moved into Ibis knew that State Road 7 was going to go through, and they’re still complaining.”

Tuttle noted that the sound code was not in the plan. As the project moves forward, he intends to hire sound specialists to perform sound studies. Then Urban Design will present a suggested sound code

for the MXS district. He said the apartments over the commercial units are designed with young professionals in mind more than families. Liggins noted there are sound codes in place that will ap ply, but the existing codes do not yet apply to MXS.

Tuttle noted that future plans will include a request for one bar to be allowed in the develop ment, but it is not yet in the plan.

The owner of Blue Martini has expressed an interest in putting a bar in the development, and he wanted the council to think about the potential for such a business to be added.

After clarifying the suggestions O’Brien made regarding canopy trees, the council approved the first reading with a revision to change the language allowing that one royal palm tree can be substituted for one canopy tree. It was ap proved unanimously.

“I was able to plan with teach ers and help our school increase reading gains by setting goals and ensuring that teachers had efficacy in themselves and in students to believe that the goals were attain able,” said Moreau, who didn’t let even the unprecedented challenges of a pandemic stand in their way.

To ensure that the Storybook Treasures program can continue changing the lives of students at Pioneer Park, JustWorld’s youth are answering the call to action. The newly formed Youth Ambas sador Gala Committee is com posed of 15 motivated JustWorld ambassadors between ages 13 and 22, who are not only ambitious equestrian athletes but dedicated young philanthropists.

The committee has already kicked off what is their biggest project ahead of the annual Just World International Gala, the End of Year Fundraiser, which has been nothing short of spectacular thus far. In two short weeks, they managed to raise an impressive $14,000 for Storybook Treasures — before the fundraiser had even officially gone live.

The fundraiser officially kicked off on Giving Tuesday, Nov. 29. They have set a fundraising goal of $50,000 to reach by Dec. 31.

Yet champion youth ambas sadors like Lucy Rappoport and Ethan Calvo have already exceed ed expectations.

Rappoport joined the ambas sador program in 2022, and as a result of her passion to make a difference, she has already raised more than $7,000 for the End of Year Fundraiser.

“I’ve spent the last few months as a member of JustWorld sur rounded by the most generous and kind people,” Rappoport said. “Being a part of JustWorld allows me to see the world beyond my own. I can be the change I want to see thanks to this incredible organization.”

Calvo is also a new member of the JustWorld family, having joined the youth ambassador pro

gram in 2022, but the mission has always been close to home.

“Being part of the Youth Am bassador Gala Committee has been an amazing experience. As a first-generation American, I know and have seen the effects of poverty firsthand,” he said. “Being part of this committee and such an incredible organization, I am able to spark change and lead people to make a difference not only as an equestrian but as individuals. We are stronger together, and we are able to make a difference not only in our community but around the world.”

Established in 2003, JustWorld International was founded to provide equestrians with a way to support carefully vetted education programs for impoverished chil dren around the world. To donate, become an ambassador, or learn more about JustWorld, visit www. justworldinternational.org.

“Being a part of JustWorld allows me to see the world beyond my own. I can be the change I want to see thanks to this incredible organization.”

— Lucy Rappoport

VILLAGE OF ROYAL PALM BEACH PUBLIC NOTICE

The Village of Royal Palm Beach currently has a vacancy for two seats on the Education Advisory Board. The Education Advisory Board meets on the second Monday of the month eight months out of the year, with one special meeting in April of each year for scholarship interviews. All meetings are held in the Village Meeting Hall. Board Members shall meet the following qualifications at the time of their appointment and throughout the course of their service: they must be a Village resident; have a background in education and experience in the field of education; be a member of a parent teacher organization, parent teacher association, school advisory council or other similar organization associated with or sponsored by the school district or a public or charter school located within the Village; or be a parent/legal guardian of a child currently enrolled in a Village public or charter school. Those ineligible to serve on the Board are: employees of the Palm Beach County School District; employees of an organization funded by the School District (e.g. charter school employee); or employees of a charter management organization or charter education management organization. If you would like to volunteer your service and expertise on this local government Board, go to the Village’s website at COMMISSION/BOARD APPLICATION Return the completed application to the Village Clerk’s office no later than 5:00 p.m. on December 7, 2022 for Council consideration at its December 15, 2022 meeting.

If further information is desired, please call the Village Clerk at (561) 790-5102.

By: Diane DiSanto, MMC, Village Clerk

Storybook Treasures has helped in the literacy gains at Pioneer Park Elementary School.

Wellington officials at last year’s toy giveaway event, which this year will be held Dec. 15. (L-R) Vice Mayor Michael Drahos, Coun cilwoman Tanya Siskind, Mayor Anne Gerwig, Shelly Albright, Paulette Edwards and Councilman John McGovern.

Family-Friendly Holiday Events Planned In The Village Of Wellington

Looking to get into the holiday spirit this December? The Village of Wellington offers a host of fun, family activities throughout the month.

The month kicked off with a Holiday Cultural Celebration on Thursday, Dec. 1 at the Town Center Promenade with a holiday tree lighting, book readings, face painting, food trucks, holiday card crafting, a hot cocoa station, live performances, vendors and more.

Holiday light displays will continue at the Town Center Promenade throughout the month of December. Enjoy festive light displays along the promenade, located at 12150 W. Forest Hill Blvd., behind the Wellington Community Center. The lights will be on display throughout the month, courtesy of the village and its community partners, Bang Energy, Baptist Health, Florida Power & Light, Good Vibes and Wellington Regional Medical Center.

• Friday, Dec. 9, Winterfest

2022 — Winterfest, presented by the Wellington Chamber of Com merce and the Village of Welling ton, will take place at Village Park (11700 Pierson Road) on Friday, Dec. 9, from 6 to 10 p.m. Featuring headline performer, musical icon, philanthropist, actor and TV star Vanilla Ice, the event will include live musical performances, exhibi tors, retail and holiday shopping, food vendors, lounges for adult attendees, kids and teen activities, and more. Complimentary on-site and shuttle parking will be avail able. For more information, visit www.wellingtonchamber.com.

• Fridays in December, Holiday Shopping at the Lakeside Market — Get in your last-minute gift shopping, support local small busi nesses and enjoy one of Florida’s beautiful winter evenings outdoors at the Lakeside Market at Welling ton Town Center. Browse unique gifts and handcrafted goods while shopping with a variety of artists,

crafters, bakers, makers and more. A number of food and beverage vendors will also be on-site offer ing a selection of items for pur chase. The market will be open on Fridays, from 5 to 9 p.m. on Wel lington’s Town Center Promenade (12150 W. Forest Hill Blvd.). The Dec. 16 market will feature a free screening of The Polar Express starting at 7 p.m. Guests should bring their own blankets or chairs for seating. Learn more about the market and view the vendor list at www.wellingtonlakesidemarket. com.

• Saturday, Dec. 10, the 32nd annual Children’s Holiday Fish ing Classic — Get ready to reel in “the big one” at the 32nd annual Children’s Holiday Fishing Clas sic, presented by the Village of Wellington in conjunction with the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conserva tion Commission and Building Up Sports Academy. The tournament will take place on Saturday, Dec. 10, from 8 to 11 a.m. at Village

The Kids Cancer Foundation Hosts Gobble Gobble Fall Festival In RPB

The

This family social happens each fall and is an opportunity for families battling childhood cancer in the community to connect with one another and feel a little less alone in their battle.

Patients and their families re ceived fall harvest bags with all the items for their Thanksgiving feasts and gift cards to purchase a Thanksgiving turkey. Children and their families enjoyed an evening of crafting, playing games and collecting fall prizes.

Journey Church of Lake Worth provided a generous donation to go toward the turkey gift cards for the families, and the event would not have been possible without the foundation’s many generous supporters.

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.

This is accomplished by providing compassionate, easily accessible supportive care services. Learn more at www.kidscancersf.org.

Park (11700 Pierson Road) and is open to all local children ages 15 and younger. Prizes will be awarded for first, second and third place based on a point system of fish caught and released in each age group: 6 and under, ages 7 to 9, ages 10 to 12 and ages 13 to 15. Registration is free and may be completed in advance at Village Park (11700 Pierson Road) or the Wellington Community Center (12150 W. Forest Hill Blvd.), or e-mail athletics@wellingtonfl. gov to request a registration form. Learn more at www.wellingtonfl. gov/holidayfishing.

• Saturday, Dec. 10, the Holi day Boat Parade — Come watch as local residents and boating enthusiasts “light up the lake” at the annual Holiday Boat Parade on Lake Wellington. Approximately 30 festive, decorated boats are expected to cruise in the parade. Visible from the Town Center Promenade, the boats will pass behind the Wellington Community

Center around 6:30 p.m. Those interested in participating should contact Jack Brownson at jbrown son@comcast.net for more info.

• Sunday, Dec. 11, the 38th an nual Wellington Holiday Parade “Favorite Holiday Destination” — The annual Wellington Holiday Parade, hosted by the Village of Wellington and the Central Palm Beach County Chamber of Com merce, returns on Sunday, Dec. 11. Enjoy a free day of fun and fes tivities with a judged parade filled with imaginative floats, marching bands, characters, dance troupes and more. The parade begins at 1:30 p.m. and winds its way down Forest Hill Blvd., from Wellington Trace to Ken Adams Way. Visit www.cpbcchamber.com for more information.

• Tuesday, Dec. 13, Senior Holiday Party — Wellington seniors ages 50 and up are invited to attend a free Senior Holiday Party on Tuesday, Dec. 13, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., at the Wel

lington Community Center (12150 W. Forest Hill Blvd.). Lunch will be provided, along with holidaythemed decorations, entertain ment and activities. Registration is required. Call (561) 753-2484 to RSVP. Existing CivicRec users may sign up at www.wellingtonfl. gov/civicrec.

• Sunday, Dec. 18, Wellington Holiday Jingle Bell Run 5K — The annual Wellington Holiday Jingle Bell Run 5K returns to Vil lage Park (11700 Pierson Road) on Sunday, Dec. 18. The race begins at 7 a.m., and participants are en couraged to bring an unwrapped toy to be donated to families in the Wellington community as part of the annual Hometown Holiday Toy Drive. All participants will be provided with jingle bells to wear prior to the start of the race. For registration information, visit www.active.com.

To learn more about holiday events in Wellington, visit www. wellingtonfl.gov/events.

Kids Cancer Foundation’s Gobble Gobble Fall Festival was held Friday, Nov. 18 at the Kids Cancer Center in Royal Palm Beach.

The festival was made possible by many generous donors.

Lt. Jo Cartagena of Royal Palm Beach is currently serving aboard the USS Ronald Reagan. Shown here, Cartagena (left) works on the flight deck of the U.S. Navy’s only forward-deployed aircraft carrier, USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), during flight operations in the Philippine Sea on Nov. 12. Ronald Reagan, the flagship of Carrier Strike Group 5, provides a combat-ready force that protects and defends the United States, and supports alliances, partnerships and collective maritime inter ests in the Indo-Pacific region.

PHOTO BY ERIC STANTON/U.S. NAVY

Kids enjoyed craft activities and more at the festival.

BUENA VIDA CELEBRATES THE GRAND OPENING OF NEW PICKLEBALL COURTS

The residents of Wellington’s Buena Vida community were finally able to set foot and swing paddles at the newly renovated pickleball courts on Saturday, Nov. 19. The ribbon cutting took place early in the morning, with exhibition games by local professionals, followed by guests in attendance jumping right in to play. “It’s not just the really good pickleball players who are going to have a nice time here.

It’s the folks who are just beginning and learning the game,” Board Director Brad Evans said. “And even if they’re not all that good, they’ve got a wonderful smile on their face, and they are enjoying activities they’ve never enjoyed before.” PHOTOS BY CALLIE SHARKEY/TOWN-CRIER

Guests fill the sidelines to watch the exhibition games.

Gary Katz and PBSO volunteer Jeffrey Holtzman.

Mike Alatzas prepares to hit the ball.

Residents Sue Maltzman, Gail Rosenberg, Barbara Katz and Janice Stein are also pickleball players.

Brad Evans, Stu Turgel, Sandy Goldstein, Steve Shapiro, Frank Gianttessio, Marc Rubin and Harvey Caplan.

Vice President Harvey Caplan addresses residents and guests at the grand opening.

Pickleball ambassador Jim Donelley speaks about the growing sport.

Lonny Rosenberg, Sandy Goldstein, Sallee Silverman and Paul Lefevre.

Buena Vida pro Ryan Lauer has a blast playing and coaching residents.

George Hirshberg returns a serve.

Hawaiian native and retired tennis pro Zandrix Acob is competing in multiple professional pickleball events this year.

Steve Shapiro, president of the pickleball club, gives special credit to the team that made the new courts possible.

Stu Turgel, Steve Shapiro and Marc Rubin cut the ribbon to open the new courts.

Geordie Tregre makes a great save while returning the ball.

Jim Lavender is a local pro at Buena Vida.

SPORTS & RECREATION

Bronco Football Squad Advances To State Semifinal Game

By Mike May Town-Crier Staff Report

The Palm Beach Central High School varsity football team con tinues to make history. In recent weeks, the Broncos have won a pair of Florida High School Ath letic Association (FHSAA) Class 4M, Region 3 home playoff games against Marjory Stoneman Doug las High School on Nov. 18 and Palm Beach Gardens High School on Nov. 25. In both games, Palm Beach Central (12-1) fell behind 10-0 and then rallied to win.

On Friday, Nov. 18, the Broncos outscored Stoneman Douglas, 5523, but it took a second-half surge to secure the victory.

“Against Stoneman Douglas in the second half, we didn’t allow

any points, and we scored 35,” PBCHS head football coach Kevin Thompson said.

On Friday, Nov. 25, the Broncos came from behind, again, to defeat Palm Beach Gardens, 14-10. The victory against the Gators was historic. Palm Beach Central’s football team had never won a regional final game in program history.

A year ago, the Broncos reached the regional final, but they were trounced at home by Treasure Coast High School, 35-0. Thomp son said that last year’s loss to Treasure Coast has served as a motivator for this year’s team.

At this year’s regional final, the Broncos prevailed against the visiting Gators, in a rematch of a

regular season game when Palm Beach Central soundly defeated Palm Beach Gardens, 35-14, back on Oct. 21.

“In high school football, it’s not easy defeating a team twice in the same regular season,” Thompson noted.

In this year’s regional final, the Gators took a 10-0 lead based on a first-quarter field goal and a second-quarter pick-six by Palm Beach Gardens defensive back Desean Butler, who intercepted a pass from Bronco quarterback Ahmad Haston at Palm Beach Central’s 42-yard line and returned it for a touchdown.

That 10-point deficit woke up the Broncos’ offense. With less than three minutes left in the first half, Haston threw a 30yard touchdown pass to Nedrick Boldin. Palm Beach Central place kicker Ethan Dagostino’s PAT cut the deficit to three, and the Gators led 10-7 at halftime.

On the opening drive of the sec ond half, Haston led his team on a hunt for the go-ahead touchdown, capped by his own one-yard-run to make the score 14-10.

The game was not decided until the Gators’ final drive, when Palm Beach Central safety Justin Bostic intercepted a Gardens’ pass with less than a minute to play in the game. The Bronco offense ran out the clock, which preserved the 14-10 victory.

Thompson expected the game against Palm Beach Gardens to be a difficult one to win. “We knew

it was going to be a tough game, and it was,” he said.

Now, Palm Beach Cen tral will host the Blue Darters from Apopka High School (10-3) on Friday, Dec. 2 in the Class 4M state semifinal. These are unchartered waters for the Palm Beach Central football program, and Thompson, who is com pleting his first year as head coach for the Bron cos.

“Our players are ready to play this game,” Thompson said. “They didn’t want to practice this week. They just want to play the game.”

Thompson added that his top players must lead by example, and that starts with his quarterback.

“Ahmad needs to play like Superman,” Thomp son said. “He has to be the best that he can be against Apopka, which has an SEC-like defensive front.”

That means Palm Beach Cen tral’s offensive line must provide maximum protection for Haston.

“I need our offensive line to give Ahmad at least four seconds to pass the ball,” Thompson said.

Don’t be surprised to see Haston use his legs throughout the game to run at key points.

“Ahmad has the green light to run whenever he sees room

to run,” Thompson said. “We have talked with him about that throughout the season. He’s a talented athlete who can run and pass.”

According to Thompson, other players on his roster who are ex pected to play a key role for the Broncos include Justin Bostic, Ja vorian Wimberly, Nedrick Boldin, Tony Williams, Tyler Young and

As head coach, Thomp son knows that he needs his players to respect the fact that this is the biggest game of their lives as foot ball players, but to also realize that it’s just another football game. “We must not try to play outside of ourselves,” he said.

According to Thomp son, the countdown to the game on Friday begins when his players get dis missed from class at 2:55 p.m. The game’s kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.

“We will meet in the cafeteria for a pre-game meal, then get taped, have final meetings and start warming up on the field,” Thompson said.

The winner of the Palm Beach Central-Apopka state semi final will play the winner of the other Class 4M state semifinal between Miami’s Christopher Columbus High School and Ocoee High School for the Class 4M state championship. That game will be held at DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale on either Dec. 15, 16 or 17. The exact details have yet to be announced.

TKA Swimmer Bozzuto Claims State Titles At Championships

By Mike May Town-Crier Staff Report

For Aly Bozzuto, a junior swim mer at the King’s Academy, the third time’s the charm. Her trip to the Florida High School Athletic Association’s (FHSAA) Class 1A Swimming & Diving Champion ships at the Sailfish Splash Water park Aquatic Center in Stuart on Friday, Nov. 18 was her third trip to states in as many years. And it was her most productive trip of them all.

In 2020, Bozzuto qualified for the FHSAA’s Class 1A swim finals as a freshman at Jupiter Christian School. Last year, as a sophomore at TKA, she qualified for states. And, this year, as a junior, her high school swimming season ended, again, in Stuart. Each year, she swam the same

two individual events — the 50yard freestyle and the 100-yard breaststroke. She also swam on two relay teams.

Each year, Bozzuto has im proved on her performances from the previous year in the individual events.

This year, Bozzuto had two standout individual performances during the morning preliminaries of the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard breaststroke. She had the fastest times in both events and was placed in the middle lane — lane four — in the championship A finals.

In addition to having the middle lane, she also got to pick the song that was played during pre-race introductions. She selected “Lose Yourself” by Eminem in the free style and “Can’t Hold Us” by

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis for the breaststroke.

After producing the fastest time in the 50-yard freestyle (22.97 seconds) in the morning prelimi naries, she went even faster that night in the championship. While swimming in the middle lane, she was clocked at 22.69 seconds, which won the race and was a new record for girls swimming at TKA.

According to Bozzuto, her ini tial goal in the freestyle was to ex ecute a strong start off the blocks.

“While standing behind the blocks prior to the final of the 50 free, my biggest goal was to get off the blocks quickly,” Bozzuto recalled. “I had a great start off the blocks, and I didn’t take my first breath until near the end of the first 25.”

Her next goal was to execute a strong flip turn at the halfway point of the race and to finish strong.

“I had a strong turn,” Bozzuto said. “I don’t recall if I took at breath or not on the last 25. In the 50 free, you don’t look at other swimmers. You just go ahead and swim your best.”

And her best was better than the competition.

As the favorite to win the race, Bozzuto’s goal was to focus on finishing the race as strongly as she started. She succeeded and emerged from the pool as the Class 1A state champion in the 50-yard freestyle, which is considered the fastest of the four classifications — 1A, 2A, 3A and 4A — in Florida high school swimming.

TKA girls swim coach Gina Proscia was very proud of Boz zuto’s performance in the 50-yard freestyle.

“Aly is a fierce competitor who trains and pushes herself daily,” Proscia said. “She set a goal at the end of last season and, unapolo getically, worked for it every day until states. I am overjoyed by her results.”

Bozzuto is an athlete who prac

tices what she preaches. “I am proud of the leader she has grown into on our team, and I’m so ex cited to see her grow in her faith and as an athlete year after year,” Proscia added. “She is a remark able young lady.”

In the 200-yard medley relay, Bozzuto (breaststroke), joined TKA’s Ava Fasano (backstroke), Emma Herrera (butterfly) and Julianna Bell (freestyle) to win the Class 1A championship in 1:42.41.

Bozzuto then swam in the 200yard freestyle relay, where she and her three teammates were the top seed after the morning preliminar ies. The foursome of Bozzuto, Fasano, Bell and Kiersten Munna had a great effort in the morning, posting the fastest time (1:35.68). During the evening finals, they improved their time to 1:33.64, but it was not fast enough to defeat the relay team from the Bolles School in Jacksonville, which won with a time of 1:32.82.

Bolles took advantage of the FHSAA’s rules in relays, which allow teams to insert a fresh group of rested swimmers for the evening relay finals. The winning time of 1:32.82 by the new quartet from Bolles was nearly six seconds faster than the time (1:38.20) that four of their teammates posted during the preliminaries.

In the last individual event of the evening finals, Bozzuto swam in the championship of the 100yard breaststroke. For the fourth consecutive event, she swam in the middle lane after being the fastest swimmer in the morning prelimi naries. Her qualifying time was 1:02.08, which was an Automatic All-American time.

Swimming next to her was Ol ivia Dinehart, a senior from Cutler Bay High School and an Auburn University commit, who was the defending Class 1A state cham pion in the girls 100-yard breast stroke. Dinehart was the event’s third-fastest qualifier. For Bozzuto,

she swam faster in the evening (1:01.72) than in the morning, but Dinehart successfully defended her title by swimming the four-lap race in 1:01.60.

“I felt I had the lead after 75 yards, but Olivia had a stronger final turn than me,” Bozzuto said. “She just out-touched me at the wall.”

For Bozzuto, while she had an outstanding performance at the Class 1A state finals with two first-place and two second-place finishes, there was very little time to celebrate her success.

The very next morning, Bozzuto was at a pool in North Palm Beach for a swim meet with her club

team,

“I hope to commit to a college before the start of my senior year,” Bozzuto said. “Right now, I’m looking at multiple schools.”

While Bozzuto loves the thrill of winning races in the pool, she pre fers relays over individual events.

“While I loved winning the 50 free, I enjoyed more being a part of the 200 medley relay team,” Bozzuto said.

TKA’s Aly Bozzuto steps on blocks for the 50-yard freestyle championship final. PHOTOS BY CHRISTIAN PROSCIA

Bronco Nedrick Boldin is Palm Beach Central’s second-leading receiver. PHOTO COURTESY KEVIN THOMPSON

Bronco coach Kevin Thompson addresses his team during a timeout earlier this season. PHOTO BY MIKE MAY/TOWN-CRIER

Luby Maurice Jr. There’s also a chance that the team’s leading running back from last year, Aldor son Estinvil, who has been injured all season, may be healthy enough to play in the game.

the Flood Aquatic Swim Team (FAST), where she swam the 200-yard and 50-yard freestyle. These days, Bozzuto swims year-round and just takes a day off from time to time. Not sur prisingly, she is planning to swim competitively in college.

Aly Bozzuto receives

50-yard

first-place medal from coach Gina Proscia at 2022 state finals.

Sunday, December 18, 2022 at 3:00pm

TKA Girls Swimmers Secure Second At States, Boys Finish Fifth

By Mike May Town-Crier Staff Report

The Florida High School Ath letic Association’s Class 1A Swim ming & Diving Championships — postponed a week by Hurricane Nicole — were held at the Sailfish Splash Waterpark Aquatic Center in Stuart on Friday, Nov. 18. It was a memorable event for the King’s Academy boys and girls swim ming and diving teams.

The Lions’ quartet of Ava Fa sano (backstroke), Aly Bozzuto (breaststroke), Emma Herrera (butterfly) and Julianna Bell (free style) had an unforgettable expe rience as they won the FHSAA Class 1A championship A final of the 200-yard medley relay in 1:42.41. They narrowly edged the second-place squad from the Bolles School in Jacksonville by less than one-tenth of a second to capture first place.

“The girls 200 medley relay taking first place is a dream come true,” TKA girls head swim coach

Gina Proscia said. “The talent was there, and the girls were all swim ming really well. Coach [Jonathan] Zuchowski and I believed in them all season. These girls bring the best out in each other.”

The state swim meet was also unforgettable for Bozzuto, who won the state title in the girls 50yard freestyle (see related story, page 21).

Last year, TKA had strong per formances by its boys and girls swimming and diving teams. In the team points competition last year, the boys finished second and the girls finished fourth. Both were program-best performances. This year, the boys were looking to produce another strong perfor mance, but the girls were looking to improve upon last year’s fourthplace finish. Both groups achieved their goals.

This year, TKA had a relay team in all three relays for both boys and girls. In addition to the first-place finish from TKA’s girls 200-yard

medley relay quartet, TKA’s girls 200-yard freestyle relay team (Ava Fasano, Aly Bozzuto, Kiersten Munna and Julianna Bell) had an outstanding effort in the morning preliminaries by swimming the fastest time (1:35.68). That eve ning, that foursome cut their time by more than two seconds, down to 1:33.64, but were defeated in the championship by the relay team from Bolles, which won the event with a time of 1:32.82. The Lions’ girls 400-yard freestyle relay team (Emma Herrera, Kiersten Munna, Paige Munna and Madison Sip owski) finished in sixth place in the championship A final with a time of 3:22.22.

In the three boys relays, TKA’s 200-yard medley team qualified for the championship A final with the fifth-fastest time in the morn ing preliminaries and responded that night with a fourth-place finish in the championship, with a time of 1:38.18. The 200-yard free style relay team (Noah Engstrom, Hamilton Gates, Tyler Wilkinson and Aaron McQueeney) swam the eight-lap race in 1:28.18 to secure fourth place, while the 400-yard freestyle relay team (Noah Smith, Noah Engstrom, Hamilton Gates and Maxwell Strohecker) grabbed third place with a time of 3:12.41.

In the individual events, TKA had eight girls and five boys com peting in Stuart.

In the individual events, sis ters Kiersten and Paige Munna represented the school in the girls 200-yard freestyle. Kiersten, a sophomore, advanced to the consolation B final, where she recorded a time of 1:53.39 — good enough for 10th place. Paige, a senior, didn’t advance beyond the morning preliminaries.

In the girls 200-yard individual medley, Amanda Loomis qualified for the consolation B final, where she had an overall 15th place finish with a time of 2:09.24.

In the girls 50-yard freestyle, the Lions had three swimmers — Aly Bozzuto, Ava Fasano and Julianna Bell — competing in the race. Bozzuto was the top seed, and she had the fastest time in the morning (22.97), and then followed that with a faster time in the evening championship A final (22.69) to win the state title. Fasano also qualified for the A final, while Bell earned a spot in the B final. Fasano was fourth (23.61), while Bell was 10th (24.21).

In the girls 100-yard butterfly,

Emma Herrera swam fast enough (56.63) in the morning to earn an outside lane as the eighth seed in the championship A final. That evening, she improved her time (56.20) and finished seventh.

In the girls 100-yard freestyle, TKA had three swimmers com peting — Kiersten Munna, Madi son Sipowski and Julianna Bell. Munna and Sipowski earned spots in the evening races. Munna finished in eighth place (52.24), and Sipowski was 13th (52.82). Bell, with a time of 53.62, did not advance beyond the preliminaries.

In the girls 500-yard freestyle, Emma Herrera and Paige Munna swam the 20-lap race, as they did last year at states. This year, Herrera had the fifth-fastest time (4:59.66) in the morning, which propelled her into the champion ship A final, where she improved her time (4:59.18) but dropped down to sixth place. Munna just missed earning a spot in the con solation B final with a time of 5:13.76 in the morning.

In the girls 100-yard backstroke, Ava Fasano had the 12th fastest time (57.06) in the morning, which put her in the consolation B final. That night, Fasano finished in 11th place (57.49).

In the girls 100-yard breast stroke, Aly Bozzuto and Madison Sipowski represented TKA. Both girls had strong swims in the morning and both advanced to the championship A final. Bozzuto had the fastest qualifying time (1:02.08), while Sipowski was the fifth-fastest qualifier (1:04.12). That evening, Bozzuto improved her time (1:01.72), but just missed

another state title as Olivia Dine hart, the defending Class 1A state champion in the event, touched the wall first (1:01.60). Sipowski finished in seventh place with a time of 1:05.39.

In the girls one-meter diving competition, the Lions’ sole diver was senior Madison Okon, who was focused on improving upon her 14th-place finish from 2021. This year, she finished seventh with 355.40 points.

As a result of the many strong finishes by the girls swimmers, TKA finished in second place in the overall team race. The Bolles School won the girls division.

“This year, the girls really stepped up and rallied together,” Proscia said. “They did an amaz ing job supporting each other, encouraging and cheering each other. They believed in each other and really tried to honor our team verse: ‘Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.’”

In the boys races, Noah Smith and Noah Engstrom swam in the 50-yard freestyle. After the morn ing preliminaries, Smith earned the last spot in the championship A final (21.24), while Engstrom fin ished in 15th place, which earned him a spot in the consolation B final. Both Smith and Engstrom had strong evening swims. Smith moved up to fourth place, and Engstrom advanced to 11th place.

In the boys 100-yard freestyle, Noah Engstrom was joined by teammate Hamilton Gates. Eng strom finished in a tie for 11th place (47.78), and Gates didn’t

advance out of the morning pre liminary round. He finished 22nd with a time of 48.76.

In the boys 100-yard back stroke, Noah Smith and Hamilton Gates represented TKA. Smith had the third-fastest morning swim and competed in the championship A final. In the morning session, his time was 50.43. That evening, Smith improved his time by nearly a second as he went 49.59 and finished second, just behind the winner, who was Landon Kyser from the Bolles School with a winning time of 49.02. Gates’ time was 54.13, which was the 17th fastest time in the morning session, finishing one spot out of the consolation B final.

In the boys 100-yard breast stroke, Timothy McQueeney and Tyler Wilkinson competed for the Lions. Tyler finished in 20th place (1:00.20), and McQueeney was in 22nd place (1:01.42).

In the team race, the TKA boys squad finished in fifth place with 133.5 points. Bolles won the boys division with 546 points.

“The boys did a great job at states,” said Zuchowski, the head coach of TKA’s boys swim team.

“We could not be prouder of their fifth-place finish. Our team was led by juniors Noah Smith with 32 points and Noah Engstrom with 11.5 points. The key to our success was our three relays, all finishing in fourth place with a huge effort from our underclassmen. Noah Smith was our MVP with his second-place and fourth-place finishes. He swims faster the big ger the stage. He has been a leader all season.”

The boys and girls swim teams from TKA with their coaches on the pool deck in Stuart. PHOTOS BY CHRISTIAN PROSCIA

TKA’s 200-yard medley relay squad won the state title. (Front row) Coach Gina Proscia; (middle row) Aly Bozzuto and Emma Herrera; and (back row) Juliana Bell and Ava Fasano.

Sarah And Lee Tubman Bring Their Dressage Expertise To Donato Farms

Dressage rider Sarah Lock man Tubman and her husband/ horseman Lee Tubman have been settling into the Wellington sport horse and dressage facility Donato Farms.

“The horses, from the moment they went in their stalls, acted like they had lived here all their lives,” Sarah said. “I think horses — and people — have permanent smiles on their faces.”

Everyone should be smiling. Donato Farms owners Jeff and Jessica Friedrich have gained two talented and versatile equestrian professionals that, thanks to a string of stellar performances by Sarah and her 2019 Pan American Games individual gold medal partner Summit Farms First Ap ple, are sure to bring to the facility an even greater degree of dressage gravitas.

Most recently, Sarah and First Apple were named to the Top 50 on the dressage World Ranking list. “Myself at No. 37,” Sarah said. “First Apple at No. 47.”

Donato Farms is ideally located to support the Tubmans’ heavy

competition schedule and wellearned world ranking.

“The last year was very suc cessful for my horses,” Sarah said. “Summit Farms First Apple and I had a great 2021-22 Wellington season, and ended up on the short list for the World Equestrian Games and invited to spend the summer in Europe representing the United States internationally.”

Europe was also a success.

“We placed in the top three in the CDI4* at Achleiten [Austria] and CDI4* at Schafhof [Germany], and one of the most special mo ments of the summer was, after placing sixth in the Grand Prix Freestyle at Aachen, being able to ride under the U.S. flag under the lights, in front of a packed stadium,” Sarah recalled.

After a short break upon return ing to the United States, Sarah and First Apple won both their classes at the CDI4* at the World Eques trian Center-Ocala, and a month later, launched their bid for a slot on the 2023 World Cup squad with wins in the Terra Nova CDI4* and the World Cup qualifier.

In addition, Sarah qualified a second Summit Farms horse, Balia, at the U.S. Dressage Na tional Championships in Develop ing Grand Prix, and won a Swed ish Lövsta Future Challenge for developing young horses.

Lee Tubman has been coach ing Sarah and other students to strong finishes in the FEI rings and is looking forward to taking on more FEI riders and horses, and focusing on producing more top combinations for the sport in the years ahead. The Saskatchewan native, who got his riding start in a Western saddle, said his FEI 4* judging experience has helped him produce a string of successful competitors and nearly a dozen NAYC riders.

In fact, one of the most striking accomplishments by this 3M Ca nadian Coach of the Year, is that he is the first horseman in North American Young Rider Champi onships (NAYC) history to have competed as a young rider (1981) and serve as a judge (2016).

“Jeff and Jessica have been so warm and welcoming during this

move. We are so impressed by their generosity and professional ism,” Sarah said.

The layout at Donato Farms, Lee noted, is well thought out, and the facilities are aesthetically pleasing as well as practical, and offer efficiency during day-today work. “The arenas are top class, with super footing, great sound and lights systems, and nice, breezy ventilation. There are many ‘people luxuries’ too, in cluding groom and rider lounges, locker rooms and the most amaz ing tack rooms,” he said.

The Friedrichs are proud to have them at Donato Farms.

“Sarah and Lee are consum mate equine professionals in every way,” Jessica said. “The Tubmans bring a unique, specialized and focused approach that comes from their combined experiences as stable operators, riders, judges and coaches. And they are able to brilliantly share their collec tive knowledge with riders and equine athletes of all skill levels and abilities, to achieve the goals they aspire to.”

Jeff agreed. “Our vision at Do nato Farms was to create a facility to support dressage team sport in an atmosphere that promotes an overall great experience for the equine athlete, the rider and the owner,” he said. “Our goal is to maintain an exceptional standard of professionalism, so our train ing environment is the highest quality.”

The word “donato” means a heavenly gift or blessing, and Donato Farms’ owners truly do feel blessed to have the Tubmans and their team training out of their facility. “They are amazing on so many levels,” Jessica said. “We look forward to hosting them as their dreams become realized. We are excited for what the future may bring.”

Wellington Roller Hockey Association Highlights From Week #6

The Wellington Roller Hockey Association continued its season at Village Park on Sunday, Nov. 27. Below are capsule summaries of Week 6 games.

Prep Panthers 8, Prep Stars 5 — The Prep Panthers broke open a tight 2-1 game in the second period with a trio of goals to lead 5-1 going into the third period. After opening up an 8-1 lead early in the third, the Stars pulled their goalie to stage a furious comeback with four goals in the final three minutes of the game. Nolan Cohen of the Panthers led all scorers with

four goals. Christopher Akner added a pair, while Justin Spina and Blake Cohen each had a goal to close out the Panthers’ scoring. The Stars were led by Ava Taylor and Cooper Mathwig, each with two goals. Rimon Ghawali also added a goal for the Stars. Blake Stephan of the Panthers was spec tacular between the pipes, making 20 saves for the victory. Hayden Mathwig turned away 12 shots for the Stars.

Prep Stars 10, Prep Rangers 0 — In the early Prep game, the Stars jumped out to a 6-0 lead over

a short-staffed Rangers team after the first period en route to a 10-0 win. The Stars had balanced scor ing, with seven different skaters with goals. Rimon Ghawali led all scorers with two goals and an assist for the Stars. Gavin Taccone and Bradley Weinman each added a pair of goals. Additional Stars scoring came from Cooper Math wig (one goal, one assist), Jordan Candela, Ava Taylor and Amanda Warszycki. Hayden Mathwig of the Stars turned away all 14 shots in his first shutout victory of the season. Jace Stephan stood tall

in the net for the Rangers while making 11 saves.

Junior Panthers 14, Junior Bruins 7 — The Junior Panthers jumped out to a 5-1 first period lead and never looked back in a throwback 3-on-3 game with the Bruins. The Panthers led 9-4 after two periods and closed the game out with five goals in the third period. Timothy Holmes had a monster game for the Pan thers, leading all scorers with an eye-popping 12 goals. Matthew Taylor of the Bruins kept pace for much of the day, adding six

goals in a breakout game. Ryan Warszycki of the Panthers scored his first goal of the year and added two assists. Eli Modlin added a goal and an assist for the Panthers. Additional Bruins scor ing came from Danil Anzalone (one goal, two assists). Blake

Stephan was solid in victory for the Panthers, turning away 15 shots. Ava Taylor made several huge saves for the Bruins while facing 25 shots.

Learn more about the league at www.wellingtonrollerhockey. com.

(L-R) Jeff Friedrich, Sarah Tubman, Lee Tubman and Jessica Friedrich with horses Re Damon and Goldwyn.

Matthew Taylor of the Junior Bruins enters the zone against Ryan Warszycki of the Panthers.

The Wellington High School girls wrestling team opened its season with three dual match wins, including a win over the No. 4 state ranked team.

PALMS WEST PEOPLE

PBSC President Ava Parker Receives South Florida Ultimate CEO Award

Palm Beach State College Pres ident Ava L. Parker, a Wellington resident, has received the 2022 South Florida Ultimate CEO Award from the South Florida Business Journal for her visionary business leadership.

The award was presented by Comcast Business on Nov. 17 at the Westin Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort. As a recipient, she was featured with other honorees on the cover of the journal’s Nov. 18 edition.

Parker was among 15 honorees, who were recognized for their contributions to their company, the community and the overall economic fabric of South Florida.

Parker was spotlighted indi vidually on Aug. 31 as part of the weekly “Ultimate CEO Insights”

in print and online, leading up to the awards ceremony. The mag azine also selected her as a 2022 Power Leader in Education.

“Thank you for this award and congratulations to all the Ultimate CEO honorees,” Parker said during the ceremony. “I am delighted to accept this award on behalf of Palm Beach State College. The ultimate CEOs are our students at Palm Beach State College. They are the future.”

Parker also shared the advice given to her by one of her men tors, who said, “Always challenge yourself to do more. That is how I start each day, with the thought, ‘What more can I do to help each of our students achieve their goals?’”

Parker, who has served as pres

ident of Palm Beach State College since 2015 and is the first female president in the history of the institution, also said that PBSC is proud to be among the great pub lic colleges preparing the future workforce and moving students and their families up the economic ladder.

Under Parker’s leadership, the college, which will be celebrating its 90th anniversary next year, opened a fifth campus, improved student success rates, increased enrollment growth, developed a Cross-Cultural Equity Institute, was designated top status of gold in the Florida College System ranking in 2017, and increased support for the college from both public and private sources. The college has also been named five

Life.Church Wellington Helps Make Thanksgiving Special For 600 Families

On Saturday, Nov. 19, Resto ration Bridge and 135 volunteers from Life.Church in Wellington and Church by the Glades handed out groceries and Thanksgiving meals to more than 600 Lake Worth families experiencing food insecurity.

Florida ranks seventh for food insecurity, impacting 212,382 households in Palm Beach County, with two out of every five children going to bed hungry. Every week, Restoration Bridge provides gro ceries to 500-plus families who depend on the nonprofit to put food on the table. Since Hurri cane Ian hit, much of the support Restoration Bridge typically gets has gone instead to help people in western Florida.

With help from Life.Church, Restoration Bridge will not only be able to feed their regular fam ilies, but for the first time, they’ll also be able to give them a full Thanksgiving dinner. Life.Church gave a $25,000 grant to purchase turkeys and perishable food items, and church members also collected dry goods to complete the holiday dinners.

More than 100 church members helped sort the donated items, and 300 youth group students loaded the trucks to be delivered to Res toration Bridge.

John Whittaker attends Life.

times among the top 150 commu nity colleges in the nation, eligible to complete for the Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence.

“This program truly honors the ‘best of the best’ in business lead ership, while also spotlighting how their charitable efforts improve our region,” SFBJ President & Publisher Melanie Dickinson said. “So, we couldn’t be happier about honoring these extraordinary men and women who help shape our region and advance our local economy.”

Now in its seventh year, the South Florida Ultimate CEO Awards honor the breadth of leadership across South Florida’s key sectors, including real estate, banking, health care, technology and education.

Everett Allard Of Wellington Places Third In Statewide Cooking Competition

The Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services recently announced the winners of its 2022 Lunchroom Wars, Florida’s official student chef cook-off.

Out of nearly 300 entries from across the state, three finalists progressed to the finale event, where they cooked live in front of guest judges. Each walked away with prizes. Among the winners was Everett Allard of Wellington’s Polo Park Middle School, who took third place.

Lunchroom Wars returned with an in-person finale this year with student chefs going head-to-head with their competitors in the kitchen at the Epicurean Hotel in Tampa. The students were able to showcase their cooking skills by creating a tasty dish featuring Florida commodities. All three chefs created incredible, locally inspired dishes.

Allard prepared his macada mia-crusted Florida snapper pine apple boat. He incorporated guava and Florida citrus in his dish, as well as fresh herbs and spices.

Other finalists were first-place winner Juliet Karsak of Mel bourne and second-place winner Emmersyn Smith of Lakeland. The winners received prizes from presenting sponsor Humana and Humana Healthy Horizons in

Florida. They also enjoyed com plimentary desserts from Bern’s Steakhouse and a family pizza party from Colony Grill.

“It was such an honor to have these incredible student chefs

together in one kitchen. We hope this competition leaves them with excitement and everlasting memo ries,” said Jeremy Eason, outreach director of the Division of Nutri tion, Education and Outreach.

(Right) Students from Life. Church Wellington and Church by the Glades load groceries into a car.

(L-R) Michael Chicas, sales director, Comcast Business; PBSC President Ava L. Parker; Mel Melendez, editor-in-chief, South Florida Business Journal; and Kelley Brown, market executive at Regions Bank.

Wellington’s Everett Allard won a $2,000 scholarship from presenting sponsor Humana.

(L-R) Life.Church Wellington Pastor Brian Atkins, Church by the Glades Pastor Rob Lopez, Restoration Bridge Board Member John Whittaker, LifeMissions Pastor Agim Shabaj and Associate Host Team Pastor Sean Lavender. Church Wellington and serves as a board member for Restoration Bridge. While the two nonprofits partner together year-round, this additional project was his idea because he wanted the Lake Worth families who he serves every week to have the same holiday dinner as other families.

VETERANS DAY CEREMONY AT LOX GROVES ELEMENTARY

Loxahatchee

RPBHS Medical Academy Students Visit Palms West Hospital

Juniors

THANKSGIVING FOOD DRIVE AT RENAISSANCE CHARTER SCHOOL

swer their questions before the stu dents broke into groups and toured the departments in the hospital, including the emergency room, where they learned how to use a tourniquet and a Lucas hands-free CPR Unit, as well as the pediatric unit where they learned about IVs and syringes and compared the size of the units from what is used to treat the tiniest babies to adults.

The students also visited obstet rics, the lab, the intensive care unit

and respiratory therapy.

Over lunch, they had a ques tion-and-answer session with several nurse leaders on staff and PWH CEO Jason Kimbrell. Royal Palm Beach High School Principal Michelle Fleming also visited to hear the students talk about their experiences and future aspirations. Seniors in the medical program at the high school also just started do ing their clinicals with the nursing staff at the hospital.

Prior to Thanksgiving break, students at the Renaissance Char ter School at Wellington conducted an all-school Thanksgiving food drive. In coordination and cooperation with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, students donated an astounding amount of non-perishable food items. The PBSO delivered 29 crates filled with food to local families in need this Thanksgiving. This has become an annual event at the school, and one of the many community outreach projects that the “Noble Knights” have com mitted to implementing.

in the medical academy at Royal Palm Beach High School got a first-hand look at what it takes to work in the medical field as they visited HCA Florida Palms

Groves Elementary School hosted a Veterans Day gratitude ceremony on Tuesday, Nov. 15, specifically honoring visiting veteran family members. Led by music teacher Amy Joy, the students performed multiple musical numbers and recited po ems to thank the veterans for their service. School Board Member Marica Andrews was in attendance, as was Loxahatchee Groves Mayor Robert Shorr.

PHOTOS BY PAUL BRANDOFINO

(Above) A panoramic view of the event. (Left) Mayor Robert Shorr thanks attendees. (Right) Students play “Taps” on the handbells.

School Board Member Marcia Andrews addresses the crowd.

It was an exciting experience for the participating students.

West Hospital for “A Day in the Life of a Nurse.”

Chief Nursing Officer Cheryl Wild met with the students to talk about her career in nursing and an

Students visit the hospital’s pediatric unit.

Students received a certificate for taking part in the program.

HCA Florida Palms West Hos pital recently announced that it has been awarded a Hospital Safety Grade A by the Leapfrog Group. The distinction makes Palms West the only A-rated hospital for patient safety in Palm Beach County.

The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade uses more than 30 national performance measures from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the Leapfrog

Hospital Survey and other data sources to determine a hospital’s grade, which represents its overall performance in keeping patients safe from preventable harm and medical errors.

“This distinction is a testament to the commitment that the people of HCA Florida Palms West Hos pital have to the patients we serve,” CEO Jason L. Kimbrell said. “We want our community to know that when choosing a hospital for your

family’s healthcare, Palms West is unmatched for its service, care and safety.”

Following best practices that were implemented over the past year, Palms West Hospital reduced falls in the facility by 40 percent over 2021 and reduced the fall injury rate to one percent.

This success is in addition to HCA Florida East Florida Divi sion-wide initiatives also adopted by HCA Florida Palms West

Hospital that have reduced elope ments by 70 percent, improved VigiLanz Safety Surveillance event reporting across the division, and launched a new “Make Safety Personal” initiative to take the safety program to the next level.

Serving Palm Beach County for more than 36 years, Palms West Hospital is a 204-bed full-service acute care hospital. Learn more at www.hcafloridahealthcare.com/ locations/palms-west-hospital.

Consign & Design recently announced that the store will be offering 20 percent off storewide during a “Friends & Family” event Thursday, Dec. 8. This savings event is open to the public and will include extended hours from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Wellington and Palm Beach Gardens locations.

Consign & Design offers con signed and new home furnishings

at showrooms located in Welling ton and Palm Beach Gardens.

The Wellington store is located at 13857 Wellington Trace. Call (561) 798-5222 for more infor mation. The Palm Beach Gardens store is located at 7700 N. Military Trail. Call (561) 694-0964 for more information. To learn more about Consign & Design, visit www.myconsignanddesign.com.

Wellington’s Building Depart ment is one of only 22 building departments in the United States, and one of four in Florida, to re ceive International Accreditation Service (IAS) accreditation.

The IAS Certificate of Accred itation demonstrates Wellington’s strong commitment to community, quality and efficiency. Accredi tation also highlights the depart ment’s comprehensive and quality approach to building and safety.

The International Accredita tion Service is an independent, nonprofit accreditation body that has been providing accreditation services since 1975. The IAS

recognition is for building and code enforcement departments, as well as third-party companies that have demonstrated a commitment to service, safety and continuous improvement.

Building departments are as sessed for permitting, plan review, inspection and property mainte nance code enforcement services.

Departments that can demonstrate that they meet the requirements are awarded the IAS Building Department Recognition Certif icate, which provides evidence that the department is operating at an elevated level of efficiency and technical quality.

Wellington resident and attorney Albert B. Maggio Jr. of CRGO Law was recently named this year’s winner of the Equal Justice Pro Bono Partners Award by Legal Services of Greater Miami.

The award recognizes partners at law firms who lead by example and accept at least one direct rep

resentation pro bono case.

Maggio is committed to the development of small businesses and building up the community by focusing on intellectual property cases for small business clients. He personified pro bono leadership by assisting more than 10 clients on complicated transactional matters.

HCA Florida Palms West Hospital recently participated in a number of Breast Cancer Awareness Month events, including a lunch and learn at the Hospital with breast radiologist Dr. Dianne Georgian-Smith and breast surgeon Dr. Beth-Ann Lesnikowski. The hospital also hosted the first open house for its Breast Center since the pandemic.

HCA Florida Palms West Hospital has been honored for its work in patient safety.

Times Have Sure Changed Since I Ran Toy Stores Years Ago

When I first came to Florida, I managed several toy stores. It was a fun job, and the customers (especially those under 18) were the best. The trouble started right around November, however, when the seniors started coming in, looking for holiday gifts to mail to their grandchildren far away.

Back then, Florida was still ruled by retirees who had maybe seen their grand children once that year. The kids’ school photos from kindergarten (five years be fore) were still up on their refrigerators. But they loved these little people and wanted to get them gifts that would blow their socks off. They just didn’t know what those gifts were. It’s not like they were sitting around watching cartoons every Saturday morning, being brainwashed by Big Toy. But their hearts were in the right place.

So when they told me their grandson wanted a karate frog named Renoir, I would diplomatically steer them to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle named Michelangelo. When they told me their granddaughter liked horses, I knew a My Little Pony would fill the bill. Troll dolls, Pound Puppies and Strawberry Shortcake were big. Rubik’s Cube (now enjoying a resurgence), Micro Machines

and Masters of the Universe action figures were hot. And, if a grandparent wanted to out-do even Santa Claus himself, they could always purchase the first Nintendo Entertainment System for $149.99... if they could find one.

The clerks and I (all in our 20s and 30s) were quite amused by these grandparents and what they didn’t know. We chuckled about these people (who had pulled us out of war and saved the world) and how out-of-touch they were. We appreciated them but, really — not knowing who Skeletor was?

That was then. This is now. Now I’m the grandparent. I’m the one trying to purchase informed gifts without a clue.

My latest foray into the all-new, all-ex citing world of toys had me roaming the aisles of Target, looking just like those

WWII survivors of the 1980s — per plexed, lost, alone. In fact, I would have added my name to the very long list of Well-Meaning Grandparents Who Bought the Wrong Thing, if not for a very helpful (and not at all snide) young man in the electronics department.

Today, grandparents have an out — the gift card. Don’t know what to get? A gift card is the answer. Many grandchildren consider us too old and feeble to drag ourselves to the post office anyway, so a gift card sealed in an envelope and at tached to our mailbox as outgoing is the perfect excuse. But, as it turns out, even this simple answer is not so simple.

Having given up all hope on getting the right things for my teenage grandchildren, I came to the counter holding two Google Play gift cards. “These are for download

ing games and things onto your phone, right?” I asked the clerk, so proud to have been able to use the word download in a sentence.

“Well, do they have Android phones?” “Huh?”

“Do they have Android phones or Apple phones?”

“Um, I, uh...”

“Do their conversation bubbles come up in blue or in green? When they text you.”

At that point, I just handed him my phone. In two swift swipes, he figured out I had the wrong thing. He steered me to the right thing. He rang me up on the register, no line, no waiting. He complimented me on my (ugly) Christmas sweater. I was saved! I had bought the right thing! All was not lost! Unless, of course, they get Android phones for Christmas.

‘The Glass Onion’ Is A Fascinating And Well Done Murder Mystery

Director Rian Johnson’s The Glass On ion is a worthy successor to his recent hit Knives Out. It is not exactly a sequel since there is only one returning character, but it is a very clever who-done-it that turns the genre a bit on its ear to be successful and funny.

It is set in May 2020 when most of us were locked inside our homes trying to keep from going nuts. Of course, that was just for regular folks. The really rich and degenerate did their own thing. While we suffered, a group of people receive puzzle boxes that when solved get them invitations to a private island in Greece for a murder mystery party.

The recipients are all quite different. The one thing they have in common is friendship with tech billionaire Miles Bron (Edward Norton) who has sent the

‘I’ On CULTURE

By Leonard Wechsler

invitations. Gov. Claire Debella (Katherine Hahn) is a successful politician. Lionel Toussaint (Leslie Odom Jr.) is a brilliant scientist. Birdie Jay (Kate Hudson) is a for mer model who has built a fashion empire, while her overworked assistant Peg (Jessi ca Henwick) tries, usually unsuccessfully, to keep her boss out of trouble because she is really dumb. Finally, Duke Cody (Dave Bautista), a Joe Rogan-style personality,

is there, along with his girlfriend Whis key (Madelyn Cline). But there are two unexpected guests, Andi Brand (Janelle Monáe), former partner who Bron stole his basic idea from, and Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), “the world’s greatest detective.”

They all meet at a pier, where they get a vaccine (a joke since it had not yet actually been developed, and it was sprayed inside their mouths, something not yet available) and then get on a yacht to the private is land, dominated by a huge house, topped by, what else, a glass onion.

The story goes on from there, essentially using the onion as a metaphor as many layers are stripped away and Blanc tries to figure out what’s going on. Norton tells the group that they will be asked to solve his murder, although it’s clear that will be fake. But sitting in a gigantic room decorated

with incredible artwork, it seems anything is possible for a man so rich he can display the real Mona Lisa, as sort of hostage to a major loan owed him by France.

But the original plot is shuffled around and things seem to get very real. No one is exactly who they say they are. The man supposed to be dead is not the target but others are. And all have dirty secrets that could ruin them. And the man who could do it is their host. Bit by bit we learn what happened in the past and how it affects the present and might influence the future.

And we can be amused by it.

The best thing about the film, after the intricate plot, is the acting. Craig is, as in Knives Out, more than a bit over the top. But he also combines it with almost under acting at key moments to set off the rest of the cast. And they are really good! Norton,

as usual, is excellent. He manages to be charming, manipulative and evil all at once. Hudson was particularly good. This is her best performance ever since she was pretty much a kid in Almost Famous. She manages to be a caricature of a fool but an interesting one. But Monáe is the real standout, handling a tricky part really well. Bautista was his usual blowhard best, as called for in the plot. Cline was particu larly good in her smaller role.

I enjoy a well-plotted movie. There are so few of them. And here we have a film where no one flies or has superpowers, but they do change. Unfortunately, by the time you read this, the film will be out of theaters and soon to be on Netflix. A foolish move; there were a lot of people in the theater along with me. But that’s show business. If you can, watch it.