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January 1 - January 7, 2016
The Town-Crier
www.gotowncrier.com
NEWS
Flags For The Cure Flag Football Tourney Returns Next Week
By Julie Unger Town-Crier Staff Report The ninth annual Flags for the Cure Flag Football Tournament, benefiting the American Cancer Society, is set to take place Wednesday, Jan. 6 through Sunday, Jan. 10 at Acreage Community Park. Tournament Director Keith Shivers is excited to be helping organize the popular annual tournament, where people play hard to help win the battle against cancer. “For the first five years, we donated to the Susan G. Komen Foundation,” he explained. “For the past four years, we’ve been donating to the American Cancer Society.” Overall, the tournament has raised $168,000, with $30,000 raised last year from more than 50 teams and 600 players. The event started out as a girls tournament, but has since grown and evolved to include boys and adults as well. “At this point, we have pretty much all age groups covered,
RPB 2016
Plenty Of Projects
continued from page 1 Village resident Lenore White is challenging Councilman Jeff Hmara for Seat 1, while businesswoman Selena Smith is challenging Vice Mayor Richard Valuntas for Seat 3. After the March 15 election, the new council will make a determination about what do about Pinto’s current seat, which will then be vacant. One controversial project will be in the spotlight immediately after the new year. The Wantman Group will host a meeting regarding the proposed RaceTrac gas station at the corner of Southern and Royal Palm Beach boulevards on Monday, Jan. 4
Groves 2016
Much To Accomplish
continued from page 1 opers to make it a thoroughfare, and include provisions for small local businesses to operate there. “I firmly believe and pray that we will complete that by early spring, and it will be such that the town can maintain its rural character,” Underwood said. “I think it’s very critical.” He said some residents have requested potable water lines, and he has met with Palm Beach County to explore the feasibility. “I don’t know that we’re actually going to get them, but I’m still working in that infrastructure area to improve those things,” Underwood said. He is also working on getting land in the county-run Loxa-
ITID 2016
Traffic, Park & Drainage Projects
continued from page 1 water project grants, including $2.9 million for ITID’s share for completion of the Corbett berm. “We’d have to work out something with the South Florida Water Management District because it’s really their project, but we’re at least attempting to help out in that kind of funding,” he said. The SFWMD is near completion of the first phase of the Corbett berm project. “It’s amazing the way that berm looks,” he said. “It’s night and day from what it was before.”
men and women,” Shivers said. “The men’s open division has probably been the largest growth area recently; there are established leagues in the age group around the state. We’re a little spoiled here in The Acreage with the girls program, one of the few all-girls [programs] in the area.” Registration is closed, but roster changes can take place until the games start. The 60 registered teams this year will begin playing on Wednesday, Jan. 6 with games starting from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday and Friday will follow the same schedule, with games beginning at 8 a.m. Saturday and going until 8 p.m., and then starting at 9 a.m. Sunday and running until 2 p.m. During the tournament, there will be a formal opening ceremonies event at 11 a.m. on Saturday, with a check presentation and a ceremony where cancer survivors and those who have passed away are honored. “It tends to be an emotional thing. The way it affects people’s lives, it’s very understandable,”
Shivers said. “It’s always touching. It can be emotional, but it’s an emotional disease, unfortunately. It takes people’s lives, moms and dads, uncles and grandparents, away from them.” The ceremony lasts about an hour, and then the games continue. Over the years, many teams have been formed to honor, or play for, local cancer survivors and patients. “We have a couple of them every year,” Shivers said. “There’s always a few teams out there playing for somebody, not necessarily in honor of, but in support of.” In addition to registration fees, the organizers and participants help raise money to fight cancer through sponsorships, raffle items and snacks. Raffle item donations can be made by contacting Stephanie Defazio at (561) 891-8093. Sponsors include platinum supporters South Florida Labs, Gator’s Shack and Caroline Moran; gold supporter the Acreage Athletic League; silver supporter Sir Speedy; and bronze support-
ers Hubbs Tire & Services Inc., Ashurst Air, Extreme Women & Men Flag Football, Party Rental Pro, Pat’s Tires and Paul Toren. Vendor spaces are available for $250. The kitchen will be open for breakfast, lunch and dinner over the weekend, Shivers noted, with drinks and food (likely pizza) during the week. The tournament attracts local players, many with personal ties to cancer. “We have a lot of people who come out to the park who don’t normally end up out there,” Shivers said. “Just the fact that cancer does touch so many people’s lives, it gets us outside what we normally call ‘the park families’ and draws more people in for the fact that we’re raising money to cure cancer.” Dawn Herron, who is in charge of registration, explained that at least five or six teams are in honor of someone, and many of the teams that come back year after year are typically partici-
pants because cancer has touched their lives. “There are at least 10 teams either with someone close, or someone with family members either going through it or who have passed away,” she said.
For more information about the tournament, call Shivers at (561) 358-1933, Herron at (561) 7238806, e-mail flagsforthecure@ gmail.com or visit www.flags forthecure.com.
from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Royal Palm Beach Cultural Center. To RSVP, call (561) 478-8501 or e-mail receptionist@wantmangroup.com. While that meeting is not being run by the village, the council will discuss the project again on Thursday, Jan. 14 at 7 p.m. at the Royal Palm Beach Cultural Center at a special meeting to finish the public hearing on the gas station. “My guess is we will be getting some resolution to that in January,” Liggins said. “We’re expecting a larger crowd. The first meeting we had on that, we could not fit all of the people into the council chambers. That’s when we postponed it and had a meeting at the Cultural Center. We are anticipating the same amount of people.” Speaking of the Cultural Center, Liggins has received direction from the council regarding
expanding that building. Many organizations lease space there, and a public meeting will occur most likely sometime in February to gather input on expanding the rentable space, especially for local nonprofits. “I think that will be something that many of the organizations will appreciate,” he said. “It is a little different. We’re going to meet with them, get their input and go from there.” Over at Royal Palm Beach Commons Park, a permanent stage is under design. “Every event we have, we bring in a fixed stage, and we’re looking to get a permanent stage,” Liggins said. “That will be happening this year, along with adding some bathrooms out there.” Another large project will be construction work on Crestwood Blvd. from Saratoga Blvd. to
Royal Palm Beach Blvd. “We’re adding an on-street bike lane and some curbing. When that’s complete, we’ll be able to restripe Crestwood Blvd. through Madison Green,” Liggins said. “That will actually complete our on-street and off-street bicycle network throughout the entire village that we started 15 years ago.” Royal Palm Beach is a 3-mile by 4-mile rectangle, soon to be completely accessible by bike paths. “You’re talking about roadways that were all paved roadways. We had a vision to make them safer for bicycles and pedestrians. That’s not something that’s ever going to happen overnight. It’s not something that you can even afford to do by yourself. You have to do it with assistance from others,” Liggins said. “You have to do it by having first the vision.”
When the Florida Department of Transportation wanted to widen Southern Blvd., Liggins explained, the village was specific about its bike path vision. As a result, there are extra-wide paths and additional lighting for pedestrian safety in that section. “We stayed on it,” he said. “Now, after Crestwood is done, we can say it’s a complete network.” On the subject of transportation, Liggins also noted that residents will see roads in the village getting resurfaced. “The council put more money toward that than they ever have in the past,” he said. The village’s new recreational vehicle storage lot near Costco, which will hold up to 300 RVs, will be opening this year, too, he said, noting that construction will begin in January and should be complete in the summer.
A request for proposals will soon be put out for a continuing care facility at Commons Park, Liggins said. “We don’t have a continuing care facility in Royal Palm Beach, and that is a projected need of the community,” he said. “When someone gets up in years and isn’t completely independent, there’s a place they can go to and not leave Royal Palm Beach. That’s our goal.” He has heard many stories of seniors who have lived in the village for decades, but have to leave their homes as their needs change. “It’s actually kind of sad when you listen to the seniors,” Liggins said. Making the land available in front of Commons Park, he said, will allow the seniors to be in a central location for many community events.
hatchee Groves Park near Loxahatchee Groves Town Hall for an equestrian arena. “We want them to keep it as a county park and work with the county to take a small piece of that and allocate it for equestrian facilities, such as a ring that’s open to the public,” Underwood said. Recreational vehicles have become an issue over the past year. Some people see restrictions as an attack on the equestrian industry because it is largely equestrian people who use them, but the issue arose when it was discovered that some property owners were running illegal RV camps with some tenants dumping raw sewage into the canals. Underwood hopes that town officials and residents will reach some accord over the issue in the coming year. “There is some level of harmo-
ny that can be reached, and less division amongst the population that will resolve that issue and others,” he said. “I’ve heard that Wellington has similar problems with RVs. They have worked to address that.” Underwood said that Loxahatchee Groves is working on a short-term resolution of the issue, but a longer-term solution is needed. He said the town will probably have to bring back targeted enforcement for manure haulers dumping illegally because some haulers are coming in from outside of the town. “I got two complaints from last Thursday and this week,” he said. “We have made huge strides, and I think when we put the targeted enforcement in place with the PBSO, it was a great concept and it worked well.”
Underwood also looks forward to Big Dog Ranch Rescue relocating to Loxahatchee Groves at the southeast corner of D Road and Okeechobee Blvd. The nonprofit recently began construction on its new facility. He said that Big Dog recently paid the town a $100,000 impact fee for paving D Road from Okeechobee Blvd. to Big Dog’s entrance. Underwood is proud of the job that his staff is doing providing town residents with the government they deserve. “They have seen that it is transparent, open, and we will try to provide the best level of response we can to as many people as possible,” he said. “I hope that continues into next year and into the future years. There is a very active population, of which I am very honored and pleased to have
been associated with over the last five years.” Underwood added that he thinks that the council has made tremendous strides in expanding its purview of governmental ideals. “Since I’ve been here, no council member had ever attended a legislative meeting of the Florida League of Cities,” Underwood said. “That has occurred. To
the best of my knowledge, they never attended legislative issues in Tallahassee. That is about to occur. I think they’re seeing that while it’s important to maintain the rural character, issues and problems and legislation outside of their purview can affect what happens internally. I think that is a big step forward for the council, and I cannot be any more positive or praise them any higher.”
ITID also plans to continue canal bottom clearing, which started with about 10 miles of clearing last year. “I’d like to make that 15 next year if we could do it,” Shallman said. “That’s our goal. We have 50 miles of swale restorations. That’s basically what we do. We’re in business of keeping the waterways flowing and the roads maintained.” The district did three major culvert replacements last year and will probably do three to five more in 2016. One culvert project is about to start at Hall Blvd. and 88th Road North. “We’re going to replace that with a concrete culvert and also add a traffic calming station south of Northlake [Blvd.],” he said. “That’s in the works to start in January.”
A two-mile sidewalk project is set to start on Grapeview Blvd., which was at the request of residents. The district also plans to support the county buying back a strip of Mecca Farms from the SFWMD for use as an easement for a road to Northlake Blvd. to replace the portion of the Seminole Pratt Whitney Road easement that was abandoned when Mecca Farms was sold. Shallman also anticipates great strides in park development in the next year, including the Acreage Community Park south expansion. “The projects that we’re definitely getting ready to start involve Acreage Community Park,” he said. “We have some great, stateof-the-art recreational facilities, but the one thing I want to do,
and almost insist on, is sticking a shovel in the ground for the Acreage Community Park expansion. It has been one thing after another for 12 years, and I think, finally, we’re at a spot where we should be breaking ground probably in a month or so. That’s a big issue for a lot of people.” Canal and pump station maintenance, telemetry monitoring and diagnosis, and storm readiness are key things that ITID does every day, Shallman said, and a pilot pump project is well underway for possible drainage improvements using the Moss property owned by the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission. “That seems to be going along pretty well,” he said. “We’ll find out more when we go up north for Palm Beach County Days.”
Keith Shivers with daughters Sydney and Kylie at last year’s tournament.
PHOTO BY JULIE UNGER/TOWN-CRIER
Save The Date: 17th Annual Everglades Day Returns Feb. 20
The Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge invites you to save the date for the 17th annual Everglades Day, set for Saturday, Feb. 20 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Everglades Day is a free, family event filled with wildlife presentations, birds of prey, canoeing, fishing demonstrations, educational programs, guest speakers, Spanish presentations, food trucks, interactive activities, tours and music. For 17 years, the event has promoted awareness, appreciation and understanding of the Everglades. The theme this year is “Songs of the Everglades,” celebrating 100 years of the Migratory Bird Treaty, and will headline Florida singer/ songwriters Dale Crider and Rod MacDonald. The Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge is located off State Road 7, two miles south of Boynton Beach Blvd. The refuge is currently open
from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week. Refuge hours are posted at each entrance. The visitor center hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., seven days a week. An entrance fee of $5 per vehicle or $1 per pedestrian is charged. A variety of annual passes, including a $12 refuge-specific annual pass, are available. Visit www.fws.gov/refuge/ arm_loxahatchee or call (561) 732-3684 for more info.
OPINION
RIP Meadowlark Lemon, Basketball’s Court Jester Supreme
When it comes to Meadowlark Lemon, who died Dec. 27 at the age of 83, the National Basketball Association’s loss was the world’s gain. Lemon was, according to no less an authority than NBA great (and former Harlem Globetrotter) Wilt Chamberlain, “the most sensational, awesome, incredible basketball player I have ever seen.” Put this
Footloose and... By Jules W. Rabin
former sportswriter down with a ringing “amen!” Lemon, who could have easily
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been a star in the NBA, instead chose to be an entertainer on the hard court as he traveled worldwide with the Harlem Globetrotters. On this path, he thrived as one of the most recognized athletes ever. This genial basketball wonder was also inducted to both the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and the International Clowns Hall of Fame. “My destiny was to make BARRY S. MANNING Publisher JODY GORRAN Associate Publisher
people happy,” he intoned when inducted into the basketball hall as a contributor to the sport in 2003. Lemon played for the Globetrotters from the mid l950s to the later 1970s. It is estimated that he covered almost four million miles while playing in 100 countries. The man with the “rubber arms and the ceaseless smile also played in front of presidents and popes, JOSHUA I. MANNING Executive Editor
DAWN RIVERA General Manager
RON BUKLEY Managing Editor
EDITORIAL STAFF/ Chris Felker • Denise Fleischman • Paul Gaba • Julie Unger CONTRIBUTORS/ Jules Rabin • Ellen Rosenberg • Leonard Wechsler • Deborah Welky ART & PRODUCTION MANAGER/ Stephanie Rodriguez ADVERTISING/ Betty Buglio • Evie Edwards • Wanda Glockson STAFF/ Jacqueline Corrado • Shanta Daibee • Jill Kaskel • Geri O’Neil
as well as kings and queens. He averaged 325 games per year in his prime and earned the well-deserved title of Clown Prince of Basketball. Lemon dazzled his worldwide fans with an array of no-look passes, a special water bucket routine that wound up as confetti, plus successful half court hook shots. Lemon was also the ringmaster of
the Globetrotters’ famous circle with a series of fabulous moves while “Sweet Georgia Brown” blared over the loudspeaker. Later in life, Lemon became a minister and toured the United States as a motivational speaker… particularly to youngsters. He was 83 at his passing, yet remained readily recognizable all over the world. He was one of a kind!
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