The Wellington Women’s Club held its final meeting of the season on Thursday at the Wellington Golf & Country Club, announcing its new board, awarding scholarships and presenting a check to its designated charity Harmony House, a center for abused women and their families. STORY & PHOTOS, PAGE 31A
The ninth annual Palm Beach County League of Cities gala dinner/dance was held Saturday, June 2 at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in West Palm Beach. The main event of the evening was the installation of the league’s 2007-08 board of directors. Local municipalities were
Councilman Fred Pinto with Florida League of Cities President Rene Flowers, a member of the St. Petersburg City Council. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 46A
By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report
Florida Department of Transportation officials announced their preference for the route of a State Road 7 extension connecting Okeechobee and Northlake boulevards Tuesday, but still heard public input preferring other routes — as well as no extension at all.
The June 5 meeting at the Palm Beach Airport Hilton comes at the end of the department’s corridor study. Subsequent public hearings will be for a specific design or to not build, FDOT officials said.
The “no-build” option was popular with some environmentalists and residents living near the chosen route, known as Corridor 3, which curves west of the Pond Cypress Natural Area to 60th Street, then cuts back east to the original “range line” alignment and northward to Northlake Blvd.
“You need to chuck all of these,” Audubon Society environmentalist Rosa Durando said
during public comment. “I don’t think the traffic is all that bad. There isn’t a community that doesn’t have a traffic problem. I don’t think it’s quite fair to shift the exodus to Northlake.”
Those who support no extension at all were sharply rebuffed by residents expressing their frustration in trying to navigate
The Acreage and Royal Palm Beach.
Bishop Wright of Royal Palm Beach said traffic is so bad in the Acreage/Royal Palm Beach area, minor lane closures back up traffic for miles.
“This road has to be built,” Wright said. “Let’s get some roads built so we can move around. Stopping the road being built out there is not stopping growth.”
The county is currently laying the groundwork for a connector from Okeechobee Blvd. to Persimmon Blvd. at its own expense. Work began in January and will take another year and a half to complete, officials said.
The most popular route for
the Okeechobee/Northlake connector in a survey conducted by FDOT was the original range line, but it was rejected because connector roads from Persimmon and 60th would have cut across the Pond Cypress Natural Area, officials said.
Corridor 3 was the second most popular route with the public and environmentalists and will not affect residential rights of way, according to the FDOT report.
Once a route is finalized, FDOT will move on designing the roadway and then purchasing the necessary right of way, officials said. The FDOT will continue public involvement and hearings through 2009.
Indian Trail Improvement District President Michelle Damone voiced the support of her fellow ITID supervisors for Corridor 3 as long as the connection to Northlake Blvd. is made quickly.
Damone said Ibis Golf & Country Club residents cut through The Acreage to reach
By Carol Porter Town-Crier Staff Report
The Village of Wellington is considering dropping many amenities and community events in order to tighten its budget in the coming fiscal year.
Village Manager Charlie Lynn told members of the Wellington Village Council at their first budget workshop of the year Monday that items marked for exclusion from the upcoming budget include special events such as the Fall Festival and the Father/Daughter Dance, the concert series, the egg hunt, Boys & Girls Club donations, sponsorships, community grants, school donations, the Residents Academy, consulting services, supplemental positions and services, community redevelopment and neighborhood preservation, and advertising in various Wellington and non-Wellington publications.
Lynn emphasized that some of the events and items may be retained if private sponsors are found, but that the budgetary cuts and tucks are part of an effort to reduce the village’s millage rate to 2 or 2.2 mills, which he said would not likely be a pretty process.
The village’s belt-tightening moves are tied to anticipated property tax reform legislation from Tallahassee that Lynn said will reduce to one extent or another the revenue municipalities claim through assessed property taxes.
And property owners are crying out for tax relief to a degree that probably overrules their desire for extra services in the community, Lynn said. One can have low taxes or higher levels of service, but not both, he said.
“Cities and counties will be required to cut their property taxes,” Lynn said. “The level of cuts will be based on a formula tied to their past taxing performance. A cap on future property taxes will ensure that government cannot grow faster than personal income. Local governments may override the cap and the cuts by an extraordinary vote. Every category of property taxpayer would benefit from the mandatory tax cut and cap. Save Our Homes and the homestead exemption [could be] replaced with a new homestead exemption based on the value of the homestead property.”
Lynn said he and his staff are keeping a close eye on what is going on in Tallahassee, and with that in mind he had implemented a soft hiring freeze, meaning
he would not hire for any new positions and that positions that are currently unfilled would likely stay that way. Village staff is also reviewing capital improvement projects to recommend freezing or deferring some of them.
Items staff recommend to remain in the budget include special-needs funding, paratransit funding, Fourth of July events, the Seniors Club contract and senior coordinator, the lobbying contract but only at the state level, and the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office proposed increases of two more deputies, one cadet and 11 crossing guards.
Councilman Dr. Carmine Priore suggested that Wellington and other municipalities mount a public relations effort explaining that services are being cut because of the action of the State Legislature.
“We need to come forward with strong information blasts,” Priore said. “We have to say we’re cutting these. We have to let people know that it is because they are the results of cuts in Tallahassee.”
Priore also said some municipalities are worried about going “out of business” due to a constriction of their revenuegathering ability. “If the legislature rules out special districts,” he said, “you will see some cities creating special districts just to operate.”
Councilwoman Laurie Cohen suggested the village look to its reserves for some funding if necessary, and said she sensed that residents across Florida will feel the bite of lower services if tax cuts are enacted. “If every municipality in the state is doing this, there will be a lot of unhappy people,” she predicted.
Lynn told the council the village has reached a crossroads that has been anticipated for several years, with various factors affecting the situation, such as slower growth, changes in the economy and declining home values. With Wellington at a crossroads, village staff is taking a different approach with the 2007-08 budget by treating the budgetary process more like that of a business operation.
In the “business hierarchy funding model,” Lynn said, the village’s operations and services are ranked in terms of necessity. Budget writers are taking a hard look at identifying those services that are absolutely essential, those it is prudent to retain and those items that might See BUDGET, page 7A
By Steve Pike Town-Crier Staff Report
A Royal Palm Beach woman who uses a limousine to transport her large family got a helping hand from the Royal Palm Beach Village Council on Thursday evening.
The village currently prohibits the parking of limousines and other commercial vehicles in residential neighborhoods for more than one hour under a regulation that went into effect on April 12, 2005.
On Thursday, the council unanimously approved on first reading an amendment to its traffic and vehicle code allowing residents who owned limousines on or before April 12, 2005 to be exempt from the regulation.
A second reading and adoption is scheduled for the council’s June 21 meeting. If adopted, the amendment would clear residents of fines relating to the current code, “grandfathering” in any residents who owned limousines on or before that date. The exemption would expire in 2010.
The move came at the behest of resident Karen Bracciale, who transports her seven children in a 25-foot stretch limousine. Bracciale appealed to the council in April after receiving code violation warnings about her limousine, telling council members that she does not use the vehicle for commercial purposes and that she purchased the limo in 2000, before the ordinance went into effect.
While the first reading was approved unanimously, Vice Mayor David Swift expressed some trepidation over the matter.
“I’ll support you, but I think you guys have gone way around the block on this,” he said.
Also Thursday, the council directed Village Manager David Farber to send a letter to Palm Beach County Engineer George Webb that reinforces the council’s stance on the State Road 7 extension north of Okeechobee Blvd. Swift said he has spoken with village residents who are concerned that the proposed extension include a connection at Madrid Street in Royal Palm Beach as it makes its way north to Northlake Blvd.
“I live on that street, and I think I’ve said publicly before that over my dead body will I approve that,” Swift said. “And I think the rest of the council is on that same page.”
Newspaper articles have depicted an SR 7 connection at Madrid Street, Swift said, and residents have taken those reports as gospel that the county has already approved the plan.
But Mayor David Lodwick said the county has not yet made that decision, and just as important, the decision on a Madrid Street connector to State Road 7 rests with the RPB council, not the county.
“The State Road 7 extension is a county road,” Lodwick said. “Madrid is a Royal Palm Beach road. That makes it a Royal Palm Beach decision. We make those decisions in public at pub-
lic meetings and in public workshops and discussions. My opinion has been very clear. I see a lot of negatives with it, and I don’t see any positives.”
Councilwoman Barbara Isenberg agreed with Lodwick’s assessment.
“Madrid is not an appropriate place for traffic to be dumping in and out of,” Isenberg said. “I see no upside to this.”
‘The State Road 7 extension is a county road. Madrid is a Royal Palm Beach road. That makes it a Royal Palm Beach decision. We make those decisions in public at public meetings and in public workshops and discussions... I see a lot of negatives with it, and I don’t see any positives.’
— Mayor David Lodwick
Anyone who has traveled recently on Okeechobee Blvd. near State Road 7 is aware of the construction taking place on the north side of the road. We’re speaking, of course, about Palm Beach County’s “Acreage reliever road” portion of the SR 7 extension, which will bring the roadway north to Persimmon Blvd. in The Acreage.
The remainder of the extension, from Persimmon to Northlake Blvd., is in the hands of the Florida Department of Transportation, which held a meeting Monday night to discuss the issue. Not surprisingly, many nearby residents at Monday’s meeting were critical of FDOT’s current proposal, which would bring the road from Persimmon Blvd. to the east side of Ibis. Their arguments regarding traffic and noise pollution, while valid in some cases, miss the bigger picture. The project has been in the planning stages for far too long. The time for talk has passed. Now it’s time to get the road built.
While Monday’s FDOT meeting wasn’t as contentious as those of the past, the fact that there still is considerable reluctance — as well as outright opposition — does not bode well for Royal Palm Beach and Acreage residents who rely on the increasingly congested Royal Palm Beach Blvd. as the only way in and out of their communities. Furthermore, now that the roadway’s extension
Lipp: My Callery Concerns Weren’t Environmental
This is a reply to a letter to the editor published in the June 1 issue of the Town-Crier. The author of the letter, Carlos Enriquez, wants to equate the reason for my opposing the Callery-Judge DRI with the environment. Mr. Enriquez’s comments about “beer bottles… in the canal” and “where are the environmentalists?” is nothing more than sour grapes. Mr. Enriquez’s weak attempt to
to Persimmon is a done deal, most of the former naysayers among Acreage residents have joined the chorus of people urging its further extension to Northlake.
There will be no “one size fits all” solution. Inevitably, some will be unhappy with whatever course of action is taken. However, the issue has been studied and discussed enough. The options were laid out long ago. Now it’s time to weigh the pros and cons and move forward. FDOT’s current proposal does just that, ensuring that only part of the road encroaches on wetlands, as well as The Acreage itself. Special care has been taken in the FDOT route to avoid the need to take homes through eminent domain.
The only question left for the FDOT to decide is “to build, or not to build.”
Not surprisingly, our opinion is build, and build quickly. While residents living closest to the proposed route say they will be disadvantaged, it’s the benefit to the overall community that should be the deciding factor. Right now, everyone is disadvantaged by the traffic situation.
If FDOT’s latest route proposal fails to move forward, SR 7 will go only as far as Persimmon Blvd. And if that happens, it will be Acreage residents who are left holding the bag.
marginalize the work of [County Commissioner] Jess Santamaria, Alex Larson and Rosa Durando fails.
I have never held myself out as an environmentalist. I would like to see everyone breath clean air, drink clean water and live (as best we can) in harmony with nature. I am, however, a concerned citizen for reasonable growth, and the CalleryJudge Grove DRI was unreasonable. Why did the Board of County Commissioners decide to deny this project? The people
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got involved. The developer sent out tens of thousands of letters with postage-paid return cards. From this mailing, 500 cards were returned. In the span of a few days, a handful of concerned citizens collected over 3,500 signatures on a petition to the county commission asking them to “say no to 10,000 new homes.” Most of the signers of this petition were residents of The Acreage. People who moved to the central western communities want the lifestyle that reflects their sense of “place.” This “place” is a place that is home to farm animals and the people who own them. This “place” is a place that is home to thousands of people who choose to live in a rural community. “New urbanism” planners talk about “green space.” Green space is important when you plan to put a city in the middle of a rural area. However, green space in a rural community is the community! My opposition to the CalleryJudge DRI was not based on environmental issues; Rosa Durando is the expert on this. The Callery-Judge DRI did not conform to the county’s master plan. Millions of dollars and thousands of hours have been invested in developing the Sector Plan. This plan gives all developers the same approved options for any development.
Mr. Enriquez, my money is where my mouth is: 1) I led the committee that wrote the Rural Vista Guidelines which detail the design standards for all commercial projects in the western communities; 2) I was a member of the Committee to Incorporate Loxahatchee Groves; 3) I lobbied state and local political leaders to pass our bill of incorporation; 4) I ran for and was elected to the [Loxahatchee Groves] Town Council; 5) I bought 100 green shirts imprinted with “no to 10,000 new homes”; and 6) I paid for a bus to take people to the county meeting on May 7.
In closing, if you find our canals so offensive, maybe next time you should not cut through our community on your way home.
Dennis Lipp, Councilman Loxahatchee Groves
In response to Mr. [Carlos] Enriquez’s letter to the editor in the June 1 issue (“Keep it Rural… And Clean”), maybe Mr. Enriquez should take his own advice. Does the bureaucracy have to take care of everything? When do we have to be accountable? When do we take things into our own hands and take care of our own neighborhoods? Grab some of those leftover bags and head for the ditch. If you live and drive down E Road every day, chances are you are probably partially to blame for the litter in the canal. Your kids, your company, yourself might possibly be the litterbugs. Nothing leads to a better consciousness-raising level than a good example. Mark Kroll Wellington
Who do we see when we look into a mirror in the morning? Do we admire that person for his thoughts and the results of actions? It is a shame that a person has to consider living in a gated conclave in order to have a degree of safety!
The question arises, why? Where has the philosophy of honesty gone and the consideration for other persons’ property and the effects of our actions upon the lives of others? What do you think of this person? A person parks his car in the street to make it convenient for his neighbor to have belongings transferred to a moving van. It is there for only two and a half hours, and his car gets damaged by someone backing out of a driveway and smashing his driver’s side door. He looks for a note from the party that hit the car, but finds no note. He expects someone to knock on his door the next day, but is disappointed. Did the person make a report to the sheriff’s office in order to find the owner of the damaged car? No.
The question is why does the person who created the damage not come forward and ac-
cept the financial responsibility even when approached and looked in the eye?
The person now shows his inherent lack of honesty and wishes to evade paying for the damage or having his auto insurance premium increased, but does not care if the owner of the damaged car has to absorb the expense that he is trying to avoid.
Of course, he does not even worry about the inconvenience of the owner of the damaged car who now has to run around to get the car repaired and only has the one car for his errands.
The guilty person knows that I know who he is, but the person hides his guilt in secrecy because of his lack of honesty. Does the person now still look in the mirror and admire the person who he sees?
John Westerholt
Wellington
There was a notice of a Memorial Day observance in the Town-Crier, yet for the whole week before Memorial Day, the billboard on Ponce De Leon and Barcelona streets was blank, therefore the residents of La Mancha were not notified of the Royal Palm Beach observance at Veterans Park. It remained blank until after Memorial Day. This was not the case the week before, announcing “Cultural Diversity Day” (not a national holiday). Also, the naming of a park was posted, as just about everything else for the past 11 years since we moved here.
Shame on Royal Palm Beach for not honoring the men and women of past and present wars who died so that we can enjoy our picnics and outings in peace. Is a blank billboard your way of being politically correct? I am sure there are hundreds of friends and families of dead soldiers who would have welcomed some kind of message on those billboards. There was also no mention of the National Day of Prayer (also a national issue) on May 3. I think it is time our village
See LETTERS, page 13A
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continued from page 1A Royal Palm Beach and Wellington, further confounding the congested traffic situation.
“We need to get that connected to Northlake as soon as possible,” she said.
Acreage resident Alex Larson said she still prefers the original range line route. “The shortest connection is a straight line,” she said. “I understand the environmental concern.”
Larson added that she was concerned the road would go no farther than Persimmon due to lack of funding or inaction.
Alex Hansen, a planner with the City of West Palm Beach, said his city commission passed a resolution in January noting that all the suggested route options run along the western edge of the Grassy Waters Preserve, the main source of water for the City of West Palm Beach and its customers. Hansen also reiterated concerns about the extension’s impact on Ibis and other developments near the proposed corridor.
Kay Gates of the Loxahatchee Sierra Club said she preferred the no-build option. “Here we are today trying to make a choice because of poor planning, one fiasco after another. The Acreage was allowed to build with no planning,” she said. “When options were looked at, they were manipulated by a county commissioner. 110th [Avenue North] will have to be the way in and out. Engineers need to look for some more options to get in and out of this area. The water catchment area — it’s unconscionable you would put a road where it would threaten the water supply. Roads are for people. Put them where the people are, not in catchment areas.”
ITID Vice President Mike Erickson agreed that lack of planning created the congested traffic situation, but the problem must be addressed. “The problem is people are there now,” he said. “We need to look at what we can do for the future for what already exists.”
Erickson wanted assurances the road would extend to Northlake and serve as an effective evacuation route. “It’s a matter of public safety to get the alternative route for The Acreage,” he said. “It’s really more of a Royal Palm Beach reliever, but if you’re going to channel traffic north, you need to get it north to Northlake rather than end at Persimmon. If going through this process is what it takes, it is a slow machine and needs to be speeded up. We need an alternative route out of The Acreage.”
Loxahatchee Sierra Club Chairman John Koch said he was happy the FDOT had discarded alternatives that would have separated Grassy Waters from the Pond Cypress Natural Area. “I would be comfortable with no-build, but I don’t live out there,” he said. “If you have to build, Option 3 is best.”
Ibis Homeowners’ Association President Sal Faso said he doesn’t dispute that there is a problem on Okeechobee Blvd.,
but he didn’t understand how diverting traffic to Northlake Blvd. would improve the situation. “We, as residents of Ibis, know there are over 42,000 cars going east on Northlake in the morning, and in the evening they are going west,” he said
ITID Supervisor Ralph Bair amplified the pleas of his fellow supervisors. “As traffic has got worse, we have identified the State Road 7 extension as the only viable option,” he said. “We prefer the Option 3 extension all the way to Northlake.”
Bair noted that Okeechobee Blvd. traffic swelled with people fleeing Miami when Hurricane Andrew struck. “This needs to be an evacuation route,” he said. “Our board represents 50,000 people. They want that reliever to get away from internal traffic, but if it stops at Persimmon, The Acreage becomes a de facto SR 7.”
George Hudspeth said he has lived in Palm Beach County since 1947 and has seen road proposals come and go. He said he was baffled at the money the government spends. “At some point, it has got to stop,” he said. “You put in a six-lane road, then cut it back to two. It doesn’t make sense. The range line, we should make it work or not build. Don’t waste our tax dollars.”
County Engineer George Webb was the last speaker. He said the county project from Okeechobee Blvd. to Persimmon should take another year and a half but would have issues building it further north without state and federal help. “We are very supportive of seeing a road get to Northlake Blvd.,” Webb said. “We will put some money in to get that project moving. I thank FDOT for getting it to this point. We want to continue to work together and get the [Metropolitan Planning Organization] to get more funding.”
FDOT officials said the corridor report will be finalized with a summary of public comment from the meeting. Corridor 3 and the no-build option will be further evaluated during the remainder of the Project Development and Environmental Study, when specific alignment details will be developed. Additional coordinating meetings will be held with the public and permitting agencies, and a final public hearing is scheduled for winter 2010.
(Above) Corridor 3, the FDOT’s choice for the State Road 7 extension route, would follow the county’s current project, skirting the Pond Cypress Natural Area on the west, then turning back east at 60th Street and returning to the original range line route north to Northlake Blvd.
(Below) County Engineer George Webb addresses FDOT officials.
PHOTO BY RON BUKLEY/TOWN-CRIER
By Jason Budjinski Town-Crier Staff Report
JUNE 5 — A Domino’s Pizza delivery person was robbed Tuesday night while making a delivery to a home on Riverside Circle in Wellington. According to a Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office report, at approximately 10:10 p.m. the victim parked his vehicle in the driveway. When he exited the vehicle, the victim was attacked by four or five black males who had been hiding on the south side of the house, according to the report. The suspects kicked and
punched the victim, reached into his pockets and stole money and the keys to his vehicle. One of the suspects entered the vehicle but did not take anything, according to the report. There was no additional suspect information at the time of the report.
•••
MAY 30 — A deputy from the PBSO substation in Wellington responded to a home on Canyon Way last Wednesday in reference to a vehicle burglary.
According to the PBSO report,
at some time between 10 p.m. last Tuesday and 5 a.m. the following morning, unknown suspect(s) pried open the passenger-side window of the victim’s Honda Accord. The suspect(s) removed the face to the CD player, as well as two 12-inch speakers from the trunk and an ATM and credit card from the victim’s purse. A second vehicle at the residence was also burglarized. The suspect(s) entered the car, which was left unlocked, and stole miscellaneous change stored in the driver’s-side door compartment, according to the PBSO report.
Crime Stoppers of Palm Beach County is asking for the public’s help in finding these wanted fugitives:
• Ivanel Acevedo, a.k.a. Jose Gonzales, is a white male, 6’ tall and weighing 185 lbs. with black/gray hair and brown eyes. His date of birth is 06/04/62. He has a scar on his chin. Acevedo is wanted for failure to appear in court on the charges of driving while license suspended (habitual) and giving a false name upon being arrested or detained, as well as violation of supervised own recognizance related to a charge of driving while license revoked (habitual). His occupation is handyman. His last known address was Jackson Avenue in Greenacres. Acevedo is wanted as of 06/07/07.
• John Gulker is a white male, 6’1” tall and weighing 240 lbs., with brown hair and green eyes. His date of birth is 04/24/62. He has a seven-inch scar on his abdomen. Gulker is wanted on the charges of organized scheme to defraud, grand theft and dealing in stolen property. His occupation is paving contractor. His last known address was North 68th Street in The Acreage. Gulker is wanted as of 06/07/07. Remain anonymous and you may be eligible for up to $1,000 reward. Call Crime Stoppers at (800) 458-TIPS (8477) or visit www.crime stopperspbc.com.
THE INFORMATION FOR THIS BOX IS PROVIDED BY CRIME STOPPERS OF PALM BEACH COUNTY, WHICH IS WHOLLY RESPONSIBLE FOR ITS CONTENT.
There was no suspect information at the time of the report.
MAY 30 — A resident of Dahlia Drive called the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office substation in Royal Palm Beach last Wednesday regarding a residential burglary. According to the victim, she left her house at approximately 10 a.m. and returned at 2:25 p.m. to find her dog outside and the rear sliding glass door halfway open. She further discovered that a jewelry box in the master bedroom had been ransacked and some of the items were missing. The deputy recovered a latent print from the sliding door, which was placed into evidence for processing. There were no witnesses at the time of the report.
JUNE 1 — A deputy from the PBSO substation in Royal Palm Beach responded last Friday to a video game store on State Road 7 regarding an employee theft. According to the store manager, on May 23 at approximately 2 p.m., employee Christopher Johnson, 18 of Wellington, made a fraudulent transaction for $436.63. While the receipt was not located, Johnson gave a written statement in which he confessed to making the transaction, according to a PBSO report. Johnson was arrested and taken to the Palm Beach County Jail.
JUNE 2 — A Wellington man was arrested last Saturday after a traffic stop in Royal Palm Beach revealed he was in possession of drugs. A PBSO deputy from the RPB substation was traveling westbound on Southern Blvd. at approximate-
ly 12:50 a.m. when he observed a white Audi with an obscured license plate. Upon contacting the driver, 44-year-old Michael Hogan, the deputy noticed a strong odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle, according to a PBSO report. The deputy conducted a search of Hogan and recovered two yellow baggies containing five grams of marijuana, as well as $1,974. In addition, three purple heroin pills and three baggies of cocaine were found after removing Hogan from the deputy’s vehicle, according to the report. After medically clearing Hogan at Wellington Regional Medical Center for breathing difficulty, he was transported to the county jail.
JUNE 2 — A deputy from the PBSO substation in Royal Palm Beach responded to a restaurant on SR 7 last Saturday regarding an armed robbery. At approximately 8:30 p.m. the deputy met with the store cashier, who said a male had called in an order for two pizzas and said he would pick them up. A black male wearing a black shirt with orange letters entered the business and asked for the order. When the cashier looked up, she saw that the suspect was pointing a handgun at her and said to “give me the money,” according to the PBSO report. The cashier then went to the back of the store to get a key to open the register. When she returned, the suspect had fled the scene in an unknown direction, possibly in a gold Dodge Neon. The pizza boxes were taken into evidence
By Carol Porter Town-Crier Staff Report
The Wellington Village Council reviewed a series of development options for its K Park property on State Road 7 Monday.
The council has long envisioned the 67-acre site as a “signature park” for the village, containing amenities such as new swimming and tennis complexes or a senior center along with athletic fields. But with village revenue streams dwindling due to build-out and potential property tax cuts also clouding the budgetary picture, the council in recent months requested more austere scenarios for development of the property.
Village Manager Charlie Lynn and Environmental & Engineering Services Director Gary Clough offered the council a series of development ideas at Monday’s budget workshop, each relying on the sale of some of the land to partially fund the work. “I just want Mr. Clough to briefly run through a couple of scenarios on Park Site K and just get you to think about them,” Lynn said. “We’re not asking for any decisions now.”
Following Lynn’s remarks, Clough gave a brief rundown of the scenarios for the park, ranging from bare-bones park amenities and unlit fields to the construction of a senior center at about $4 million and the addition of a $6 million aquatics complex.
The various scenarios factored in the sale of either 5.7, 10 or 20 acres of the park’s frontage land, which would reap the village anywhere from $4.5 million to $8.5 million. Clough said the most minimal plan for development would actually generate a profit of $1.8 million for the village with the sale of 5.7 acres. The only amenities listed for that option were four unlit multipurpose fields and a concession/restroom building,
continued from page 1A be wished for or hoped for, but not necessities for running a business operation.
“Our budget process is based upon a strategic planning process which requires an extensive series of goal setting, both micro and macro goals in all departments, and for the village overall within the service business hierarchy,” Lynn said. “We need to identify core business
continued from page 6A for possible latent prints. The case is inactive pending further leads.
JUNE 2 — A Delray Beach woman was arrested last Saturday after being caught shoplifting at the Macy’s department store in the Mall at Wellington Green. According to a PBSO report, a Macy’s security officer observed 36-year-old Sonja Williams remove a shirt from its hanger, enter a dressing room and conceal it in her purse. The officer further witnessed Williams exit the store without pay-
at a construction cost of $2.7 million.
“All we have included is four unlit multipurpose fields,” Clough said. “There is the bare minimum, and it’s similar to Village Park. The total estimated construction costs are $2.7 million, and that doesn’t include the earthwork. It includes a paved driveway and parking and some lake excavation necessary to generate the fill that we need.”
At the other end of the spectrum, a park containing four lit fields and the concession/restroom building as well as a senior center with kitchen, an aquatics complex and a maintenance compound would cost $13.4 million to build, offset by the sale of 20 acres for $8.5 million, for a net cost to the village of $4.9 million. A similar scenario involving the sale of less land would build that park at a net cost of $11 million. The village has between $6 million and $7.5 million budgeted for park construction, depending on the amenities.
Councilwoman Laurie Cohen and Councilman Dr. Carmine Priore said they were concerned about placing the senior center at the park instead of converting the current Wellington Community Center.
“The idea was it was going to cost a lot of money to move the pool,” Cohen said, “and I understand the benefits of this. We also discussed the senior center. The seniors liked the idea of being here. Maybe I misunderstood. We talked about doing a bond, and funding a municipal complex, and turning this into a senior center. What would we do with this building, once we build the municipal complex?”
In talks with the seniors, Clough replied, they had requested a space of about 12,000 square feet, and that the Wellington Community Center would not open up to that
and service levels; prioritize funding in accordance with strategic planning, and evaluate municipal services and align with available funding.”
Lynn said that besides redefining and reducing levels of service and related projects, the village is considering how to utilize alternate funding sources, which could mean new and/ or expanded special assessments or charging higher user fees. Besides delaying projects and adhering to a pay-as-yougo approach, the village might also seek public-private partnerships to keep taxes down. Prominent issues confronting
ing for the item, which was valued at $44. Williams was arrested and taken to the county jail.
JUNE 4 — A Moonlight Way resident called the PBSO substation in Royal Palm Beach Monday regarding a burglary. According to the victim, at approximately 9 p.m. last Sunday, unknown suspect(s) entered the shed in her backyard and removed approximately 19 fishing rods and reels of various brands, which were valued at an estimated $3,110. In addition, the victim said there were other items stolen from the property, including a Yamaha motorcycle,
amount no matter what kind of reconfiguring is implemented. The best that staff could get from the current space, he said, is about 7,000 square feet.
“That’s your decision in the end,” Clough said, “but we have some structural issues to renovate this first floor and open up the others. We don’t get near the 12,000 square feet they requested.”
Priore said that during talks with senior advocate Jay Morgan at the Senior Task Force meetings, Morgan said similar senior sites are smaller. Given the uncertainty of the state legislature’s coming special session on tax reform and its effect on revenue, the council might want to reconsider whether they could build the facility at a new location. He said retrofitting would likely create an adequate senior facility out of the Wellington Community Center so one would not have to be constructed elsewhere.
“At this point in time, with all the other issues going on, we have to look at it realistically as to what we can provide,” he said.
Cohen expressed some reservations about selling a portion of the park property. “I don’t want to sell it other than the five acres,” she said. “Carmine also made some arguments that maybe we don’t want to sell the five acres.”
Priore said the most minimal park scenario would be the easiest to implement, but he didn’t want that on the front page of every paper the next day. He suggested the council wait on the results of the special session in Tallahassee before making any decision.
Cohen agreed. “We need to wait until we know what constraints will be placed on us by the legislature,” she said.
The other council members agreed, and by consensus decided to make no decision until later in the summer.
the village are also changing, Lynn noted. In the past, the village was concerned with parks and recreation services, lakeshore erosion, the condition of the village pool, golf course issues and affordable housing. While some of these issues are still in the equation, he said, others are arising, and tax reform’s impact will color everything. Also, Lynn noted, another bad hurricane season might change the financial picture drastically.
“When budget season and hurricane season impact each other,” Lynn said, “a couple of hurricanes wreck the budget real fast.”
a helmet, a 14-watt cordless battery and a 60-watt amplifier. There was no suspect information at the time of the report.
JUNE 5 — A deputy from the PBSO substation in Wellington was dispatched Tuesday to the JC Penney store in the Mall at Wellington Green in response to a grand theft. According to a PBSO report, 50-year-old Victor Velez of West Palm Beach was observed placing four pairs of Nike sneakers into a suitcase before fleeing the store. The total value of the sneakers was $430. Velez was taken to the county jail.
Taxable property values in the villages of Wellington and Royal Palm Beach increased 9.29 percent and 11.42 percent respectively over the past year, according to a preliminary report issued June 1 by the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser Gary Nikolits. Those numbers are better than the countywide average increase of 5.15 percent.
Royal Palm Beach was one of only six cities in Palm Beach County that saw property values increase by double digits, according to the preliminary figures. The other cities were Boynton Beach (10.3 percent), Mangonia Park (15.6 percent), South Bay (13.3 percent), Palm Springs (14.2 percent) and Haverhill (12.1 percent)
Of those six cities, only Boynton Beach had a higher total taxable value than Royal Palm Beach, at $6.1 billion. Royal Palm Beach’s total taxable value, according to the report, was $2.8 billion.
“Most of the increase was because of the property we annexed on State Road 7 and Okeechobee Blvd. around the Target store,” Royal Palm Beach Finance Director Stan Hochman told the Town-Crier
Wellington’s total taxable value, according to the report, was $7.79 billion. The report noted that the newly incorporated Town of Loxahatchee Groves had a total taxable value in 2006 of $359 million.
— Steve Pike
Riding a bicycle is more than basic transportation — it can be a fun and exciting hobby, especially during the summer.
But when you ride, you’re not alone. Bicyclists share the road with cars, trucks, pedestrians and other cyclists. Since accidents can turn a bicycling adventure into a bicycling tragedy, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office offers these tips to help make your ride a safe one:
• Wear an approved bicycle helmet every time you ride. If you’re under 16, it’s the law. The helmet should fit snugly, sit low on your forehead and always be buckled.
• Know and follow the rules of the road, such as ride on the right side of the street; do not ride against traffic; obey all traffic signs and signals; and use hand signals. You must obey all traffic laws just like the driver of a car. In Florida, a bicycle is considered a vehicle.
• Avoid biking at night.
• Be alert and watch for cars.
• Keep your bicycle in good condition. Check brakes, tires and handlebars every time you ride.
• Walk your bike when crossing a street in a crosswalk.
• On bikeways or paths, practice common courtesy and yield to pedestrians, slow down and warn others as you approach to pass.
By Steve Pike Town-Crier Staff Report
The Village Golf Club in Royal Palm Beach plans to have a new 7,000-squarefoot clubhouse open by Nov. 15 and is also renovating four of its greens complexes.
The course’s original clubhouse is still being used, but Village Golf Club Vice President and General Manager Dan Pesant said operations will shortly move to a temporary facility to accommodate the demolition of the existing clubhouse.
The new clubhouse, which will be built on the footprint of the present clubhouse, pro shop and offices, will feature a pro shop, snack bar and lounge area, locker room and offices. The front of the clubhouse will face the first tee, ninth green and driving range.
“We usually invest between $100,000 and $200,000 per year just in capital improvements,” Pesant said Thursday. “After the hurricanes a couple years ago, we had to make a decision about putting money into old stuff [such as the 35year-old clubhouse] or renovating. It would have been too expensive just to repair the building.”
The greens under renovation are at the 11th, 12th, 13th and 16th holes. Temporary greens are currently being used at those holes.
“Those are the ones that needed the most work,” said Pesant, who has been general manager at the club since 1992. “We thought we would start with those and show our clientele where we’re headed.”
Work on the 11th and 12th greens, Pesant said, is nearly complete in terms of sculpting. He said he hoped crews could start planting grass on those two greens Friday, with the greens at the 13th and 16th holes ready for growing by July 1. Plans call for the new greens to be ready for play Oct. 1.
The golf course design company Coore & Crenshaw of Austin, Texas is doing the renovation work on the greens complexes, as well as adding some bunkers to those holes. Coore & Crenshaw is one of the golf industry’s best-known design companies. Its design work includes the Plantation Course at Kapalua on Maui, Bandon Trails at the Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Oregon, Sand Hills in Mullen, Neb., and We-Ko-Pa in Scottsdale, Ariz.
By Leonard Wechsler Town-Crier Staff Report
State Representative Carl Domino (RDistrict 83) told a group of Acreage residents Wednesday that state legislators believe property tax reforms are necessary but that most of the details have yet to be worked out in their upcoming special session beginning next week.
Domino, whose district includes the northern half of The Acreage and much of northern Palm Beach County, spoke
at the Indian Trail Improvement District Board of Supervisors’ regular business meeting. He focused on tax reform and also on changes in property insurance from the past legislative session.
Domino said no actual bill is yet pending. “Right now North Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia look better to a lot of our residents than our own state,” he said. “That may be one reason that this year we actually saw a loss of students in our schools.”
Domino said the main goal of the leg-
islature regarding insurance was to make certain everyone can get windstorm insurance, although he said the cost is still too high. He laughed when resident Alex Larson suggested the insurance companies are worse than organized crime.
“They hold us hostage,” Larson said. “But if the mob handled insurance, they might break my legs, but they would fix my house.”
Larson told Domino and the audience that Florida law does not require windstorm insurance. Domino agreed. “There
is no law that requires it,” he said, “but banks and other institutions that hold mortgages demand it.”
Domino told residents that the staterun Citizens Insurance, which writes most windstorm policies in the state, has been given permission to write other, more profitable forms of insurance to help offset its costs. He said Florida is unable to force insurance companies across the board to offer windstorm coverage. “That kind of thing is a na-
See DOMINO, page 13A
By Carol Porter Town-Crier Staff Report
After serving much of the past school year as interim principal of Binks Forest Elementary School in Wellington, Dr. Julie Hopkins was tapped by the Palm Beach County School District to be the school’s permanent principal last week.
Hopkins came to the school to aid former principal Keely Spinelli, who has been suffering health problems. Spinelli is taking lighter duty as an elementary school reading recovery teacher around the school district.
Hopkins, who lives in the Jupiter Farms area, was previously assistant principal at Limestone Creek Elementary School in Jupiter. “I’m very excited,” Hopkins said. “I know this is a great school, and this is a great community. The faculty is top-notch, and you couldn’t find better teachers. They work well together, and they plan well together. It’s a great school to be in. I know I’m lucky to be here.”
Hopkins said Binks Forest has much in common with Limestone Creek. “It has the same type of student and parent population, and the same type of community,” she said. “It was not a hard transition going back to this school. It was almost like going back to Limestone Creek.”
Hopkins has 20 years of experience in education as an administrator and a teacher —
13 in Palm Beach County and seven in Osceola County. “Before Limestone, I was a reading recovery teacher leader,” she said. “I trained over 50 teachers in reading recovery. I worked in Title I and traveled from school to school to train teachers and work with kids who were the lowestachieving kids in first grade. I did a lot of one-on-one tutoring.”
Hopkins is a native of Columbus, Ohio and said she had her heart set on a career in education from an early age. “I knew when I was little that I wanted to be a teacher,” she said. “We always played school. I knew I was going to be a teacher when I was in sixth grade. Nobody else in the family is. I was also the first one to graduate from college in my family. It’s what I wanted to do. It was my calling.”
Hopkins earned her bachelor’s degree in education at Ohio State University, a master’s degree from the University of Central Florida and specialist and doctoral degrees from Florida Atlantic University. She just completed her doctorate last year.
As a college graduate in Ohio in the 1980s, she said, teaching jobs were scarce, and all she could do was serve as a substitute. After she moved to Florida with her husband, she worked for a year as a receptionist in a hotel before seeking a teaching position, and then found one right away.
“That was in Osceola Coun-
ty,” she said. “I got a job right away and have been teaching ever since.”
After seven years in Osceola County, Hopkins and her husband moved to Palm Beach County, where she taught at North Palm Beach Elementary School and then served as a reading recovery teacher leader for the school district before becoming assistant prin-
cipal at Limestone Creek Elementary School.
Reading is one of Hopkins’ passions, and she shares that enthusiasm with the students at Binks Forest.
“The kids have been recommending their books,” Hopkins said. “I’ve been trying to read adult books as well as the kid books and encourage them to read. I love to read. I asked the
PHOTO BY CAROL PORTER/TOWN-CRIER
kids this past month to write book recommendations for their summer reading. I’ve been picking recommendations, and they have been reading them on the [school’s] news [broadcast]. Kids will listen to other kids. They’re recommending books to me, and why they were good books to read. We want to encourage them to read all the time.”
By Carol Porter Town-Crier Staff Report
The Loxahatchee Groves Town Council voted Tuesday to contract the Davie-based management company New Community Strategies to provide administrative services on an interim basis through September at a cost of $7,000 a month.
NCS supplies management and administrative personnel to local governments, non-profit organizations and community associations. In the recent past, the firm has contracted with the Indian Trail Improvement District to supply a district manager. Current ITID District Manager Bob Mearns, now a permanent district employee, first occupied the position through an NCS contract.
NCS President Dr. Irv Rosenbaum told the council his firm would help the town find a manager and administrative personnel, and suggested they form an agreement that would be flexible for both parties. Services under the proposed contract would begin June 15 and run through Sept. 30, and it would be up to the council what to do after that.
“I think you will find as we go through this list,” Rosenbaum said, “this list may change. You may need some help with something going on at the county. We don’t know what the budget will look like. We will try to be as flexible as possible to try to make it work. It’s the only way to meet the challenges you face.”
Rosenbaum also said the contract carried a provision allowing a cancellation by either party with 60 days notice. That was fairly typical of arrangements the firm works out with new municipalities that are feeling their way and trying to find their direction, he said.
Councilman Dave Autrey asked Rosenbaum how the firm would develop a “to-do” list of items so people hired by the firm would know what to do the minute they walk in the door.
Rosenbaum said the firm would designate priorities for everything, ranging from the consideration of taxation notices to purchasing office equipment.
Autrey asked about a clause in the contract requiring NCS to post a dishonesty bond.
Rosenbaum said the bond would be in place just in case the firm incurs some liability or skips town without telling the council members. Rosenbaum also said his firm would supply the liability insurance for his personnel in the town offices.
Autrey said he was supportive of NCS supplying more permanent management services in the future, but that the town ought to issue a request for proposals (RFP) in which NCS could be included for consideration. He suggested that crafting the RFP should be one of the first projects for the NCS staff.
Interim Town Attorney David Tolces suggested both parties consider extending the initial contract on a monthly basis after its Sept. 30 expiration.
Mayor David Browning agreed and said he liked how the contract was arranged so that both sides would have a way out should the arrangement not work. “If you go a little longer,” Browning said, “you still have the provision for 60 days. If the honeymoon is over on both parts, you can end it. My thought is to go month to month. I like the ability that if it doesn’t work, we can end it agreeably. It gives us the freedom.”
Autrey made a motion to approve the contract. It was seconded by Councilman Dennis Lipp and passed unanimously.
The council also approved an interlocal agreement with the Loxahatchee Groves Water Control District through which the town will provide the state-supplied gas tax revenues to the district for road maintenance.
Tolces told the council that the LGWCD had most recently added language to the agreement further clarifying the disposition of the funding, but he didn’t think the latest changes would matter in this first agreement.
“The changes were made to provide the town and the district with additional flexibility and make the language consistent with the state statutes,” Tolces said. “I did receive revised language from the agreement today. I feel the language I proposed is sufficient. If you choose to go with the district’s language, that is fine. I would suggest you include that in a subsequent agreement.”
Mayor David Browning said
the district’s concern is that the agreement specify that the district receives the funding for use on district-owned roads particularly.
“It should be made with the understanding that the gas tax monies received by the town for such roads shall be made available to the district and made available to it on its behalf,” Browning said, “and the agreement would commit the gas money that is designated for district roads to be used on district roads.”
LGWCD Supervisor John Ryan explained that the district’s attorney Charles Schoech crafted language that reflected the district’s statutory responsibilities regarding road maintenance and upkeep.
“A question came up over the status of nondistrict roads,” Ryan said. “When we looked at Tolces’s wording, we were concerned that his wording would not cover the distinction between district and non-district roads. David, in his wording, suggested an annual revisit of the agreement either for amendment purposes or to construct a separate agreement. We incorporated the language in it. We felt that was where the appropriate distinction was.”
Ryan explained that the district contains a mix of district and non-district roads, some the responsibility of the district and others the responsibility of residents. Residents pay for the equipment and materials used on their roads, a point that mattered when the district received dis-
Dr. Irv Rosenbaum, president of the Davie-based New Community Strategies, explains the services his company can offer the town.
cretionary funding from Palm Beach County.
“When we have gotten the support of discretionary funds, we dedicated those to providing services on the non-district roads for safety considerations and so the fire department and rescue ambulances have access to the roads,” Ryan said. “We need to continue doing that.”
After some further discussion, Autrey made the motion to approve the interlocal agreement with all the language and amendments included. The motion was seconded by Councilman Dr. Bill Louda and passed unanimously.
The council also approved an interlocal agreement with Palm Beach County to provide building permit and inspection services. Tolces explained that while the fee schedule is higher as a service provided to the town, See GROVES, page 14A
By Carol Porter Town-Crier Staff Report
The Loxahatchee Groves Town Council is setting its sights on crafting an ordinance to regulate the dumping of horse manure.
Illegal dumping of the waste has been a problem in the rural community for years, and Councilman Dennis Lipp told fellow council members Tuesday that the town should put tight restrictions on the practice.
Lipp said he had done much research on the ordinances of other municipalities regarding solid waste disposal, including manure dumping. He said the Village of Wellington’s regulations require solid waste haulers to register with the village and detail where they would be dumping the manure they haul away from the village’s horse farms and equestrian facilities.
“The truck has to have fiveinch-high lettering and [the hauler’s] name,” Lipp said, “and if there are any problems, you call Wellington, and they will go and look at the hauler’s application. If the address is not there, there is a hefty fine. If we want to control what’s going on here, we need to create our own ordinance, which would include managing manure. Part of the problem is the amount that exists in stormwater runoff.”
Lipp suggested forming a committee to further research
the situation and report its findings to the council in the coming months.
Councilman Dr. Bill Louda, an environmental chemistry professor at Florida Atlantic University, said several of his students are studying the issue. The best thing he said he could recommend was “everything in moderation.” Too much manure could overwhelm the soil’s ability to absorb it properly, and large piles that have accumulated in Loxahatchee Groves are a particular problem.
Louda said Wellington formulated “best management practices” to counter the manure’s contribution of phosphorus to surface and groundwater, including restrictions on levels of phosphorus in fertilizer. Equestrians in the community also prevent manure from seeping into the groundwater with storage systems and setbacks.
“If you pile it up around trees, it’s a good way to kill trees,” Louda said. “It’s no secret that I’m 100 percent against the large stockpiling of this material. I thank Councilman Lipp for bringing it up.”
Dr. Deborah Marshall, a horse owner and veterinarian, told the council horse manure is getting a bad rap, and that its connection to high phosphorus levels had never been proven. She said a number of studies had been conducted, some in Kissimmee and Apopka, which disproved that ma-
nure is a contaminant. She added that manure should not be considered a fertilizer.
Marshall also said some equestrians had been hit so hard by the bad press that they left the community. A former Broward County resident, she said she didn’t want to move once more.
Mayor David Browning suggested the council hold a workshop to discuss an ordinance concerning manure dumping and related issues.
Lipp also raised the issue of burying the town’s power lines, noting that the Town of Palm Beach Shores is considering such a move to protect the electrical infrastructure in the event of another hurricane.
Given that Loxahatchee Groves is often at the end of the line for electricity restoration after a hurricane, he said he felt the idea deserved consideration.
Louda said he was OK with considering it, but he was concerned about whether the soil would corrode the lines. He noted that some lines on his property are buried, and so far there has been no problem.
“We have a lot of salt in our waters due to carbonates,” Louda said. “St. Petersburg has buried lines that failed. I don’t know how corrosive the soil is. My buried lines go through sand and muck.”
Vice Mayor Marge Herzog expressed concern that if the power fails, it would take longer to find the problem if
If we want to control what’s going on here, we need to create our own ordinance, which would include managing manure. Part of the problem is the amount that exists in stormwater runoff.”
— Councilman Dennis Lipp
the lines are buried than with overhead lines.
Autrey responded that buried lines would likely be less of a problem in the first place.
Since the Palm Beach County League of Cities is discussing the possibility of burying power lines, Autrey asked if the council would like to select a representative to work with the league on the topic.
Louda suggested Vice Mayor Marge Herzog, since she is already the community’s representative to the league.
Another town ordinance on the horizon would regulate where sex offenders can live.
Louda noted that many sexual predators apparently have found a home in Loxahatchee Groves, and that while a current county ordinance bans them from living within 1,500 feet of any school or bus stop, the large lots of Loxahatchee Groves offer them viable places to take up residence.
“We need to be aware and consider this in the future,” Louda said. “Maybe not to outlaw them, but to make sure that everyone is aware and our registration list for this area is up to date.”
Both Browning and his wife Sharyn agreed with Louda. Sharyn Browning said a recent newspaper article about sex offenders caught her eye, and she was especially worried about their numbers in the community. She suggested establishing a link on the community’s web site to the sex offender registry database.
Mayor Browning said he supported the town investigating the possibility of crafting an ordinance limiting where sex offenders could live in the community.
Marcella Blvd. resident Frank Schiola agreed wholeheartedly and said he was concerned about predators living in the community. “For most of us who have been out here for a while, this has become a dumping ground for bodies, cars, trash and now for sex offenders,” he said.
“This has to stop. They think, ‘we can send everything we don’t want to Loxahatchee Groves.’ We have to go to the State Attorney’s Office and to the legislators, or we will be known as the sex offender capital of the world. This is a family community. We don’t want these people here.”
Send news items to: The Town-Crier, 12794 W. Forest Hill Blvd., Suite 31, Wellington, FL 33414. Fax: (561) 793-6090. E-mail: news@goTownCrier.com.
continued from page 8A tional issue,” Domino said. “The United States Congress is in charge. Also, a lot of auto insurers just do not write any other kind of insurance.”
Regarding property taxes, Domino said the state’s Save Our Homes cap on residential property tax increases has been valuable, but traps homeowners. “Save Our Homes has been a successful program,” he said, “but what it really means is that people can’t move. The value of their home has jumped much faster than their taxes, but also much faster than their incomes. If they need to move because they have more children or because their children have grown, they will face a penalty.”
continued from page 4A leaders take to the history books and bone up on what our Founding Fathers had in mind for this great country. God, bless America, please! Ada Damigos Royal Palm Beach
Jacobs:
Leonard Wechsler, the Town-Crier staff reporter, is an excellent reporter. But with all due respect, I do need to clarify a statement that was written in the June 1 edition in reference to the Indian Trail Improvement District workshop article.
Domino said the consensus in Tallahassee is to offer portability of the cap and allow the cap on all types of property, not just private homes. While both chambers want to roll back tax rates, they are divided on how far back to go. “We in the House want it back to 2001,” he said, “and the Senate is talking about reducing things to the 2006 rate. Everyone wants some kind of portability, but no one agrees on the details.”
Domino described two different paths to tax reduction. “We can use a statutory approach that pushes rates down,” he said, “or a constitutional approach that changes the way assessed value is determined. For the constitutional approach, we need people to vote on it in a referendum, and it needs 60 percent of the vote to pass.”
Domino said counties, municipalities and special districts around the state are
objecting to changes in the tax structure because it will affect their revenues, but noted that local governments chose to reap the benefits when appraisal levels were skyrocketing. “Remember, the state collects its money from sales taxes,” he said. “But county commissioners everywhere in the state could have cut tax rates when home values were going way up, but instead spent even more money. And they could do it because sometimes only one or two people showed up at budget meetings.”
Domino was adamant in his support of a property tax cut. “We have to keep working people in Florida,” he said. “When we hear Scripps is bringing in more people, we know the famous doctors who earn a quarter to a half million dollars will be all right, but where will they get the lab techs who earn $30,000 or $40,000 a year? We need them too.”
The statement that I voted against more coverage by hiring extra security is wrong. Quite the contrary. What Bob Mearns our district manager was proposing to the board for direction was getting rid of the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office that ITID currently has on a contract. Staff is then proposing to the board to look into hiring Wackenhut Security or forestry rangers to handle security of our district.
What I am against is the hiring of “renta-cop” instead of the PBSO that the district has under contract at the present time. “The power of arrest” is a very important factor. My belief has always been you get what you pay for. My direction as a board member to staff is and always will be to look after the dis-
trict and carefully appropriate tax dollars. Tax dollars well spent and not wasted carelessly will help fund projects that are in need to be completed. If any residents ever have any comments or suggestions, please feel free to e-mail me at cjacobs@indiantrail.com. I’m elected to serve you.
Carol
Jacobs, Supervisor Indian Trail Improvement District
Our western communities are home to some of the best trained and equipped veterinarians in the world. Dog and cat owners can conveniently find a competent vet in nearly every local shopping
center. However, many animal emergencies don’t occur during regular business hours and simply can’t wait until the next day. There is a clear need for an “afterhours”’ emergency vet clinic in our area. With all of the “state-of-the-art” veterinary hospitals right in our own community, surely our local vets could devise and coordinate a plan to provide this service on some sort of rotating basis. I’m sure the growing population that supports all of our vets during the daytime hours would be very grateful for such an added service. The equipment is already in place and the rent is already being paid. Why not maximize its use for the benefit of both the community and the veterinarians?
Dr. Elliott Krakow, Wellington
The Town of Loxahatchee Groves will hold a budget workshop meeting on Tuesday, June 12 at 7 p.m. in Palms West Hospital Classroom 2, 13001 Southern Blvd.
Mo Thornton, city manager of Atlantis, will provide the town with assistance with budget preparation through the Palm Beach County League of Cities. Thornton will assist the Loxahatchee Groves Town Council in developing a budget for the 2007-08 fiscal year. The goal is to develop a budget that will assist the town council in determining the appropriate millage rate for 2007-08.
The council encourages all residents to come to the meeting to participate in the decisionmaking process.
(Right) An FPL contracted crew member trims trees away from a main power line as part of the company’s 2007 Storm Season Emergency Preparedness Plan. The company will continue to engage in system-wide strengthening activities at additional sites throughout Palm Beach County, including additional line clearing. The company has also installed stronger power poles at key sites in Palm Beach County, such as hospitals, which have been tested to withstand wind gusts up to 150 mph.
Did you know you can find treasure at your favorite Palm Beach County library this summer? By joining the library system’s first-ever Adult Summer Reading Club, you can discover “treasures” galore in the library stacks. The Adult Summer Reading Club runs June 11 through Aug. 4.
To participate in the club, pick up a “Find Treasure @ Your Library” packet at your local branch. In the packet, you will find instructions on how to get started, a bookmark, a reading log and book review forms.
Read as many books, or listen to as many audiobooks, as you like for the duration of the program. Members are requested to read 10 books and record each title in the reading
log. After reading 10 books, participants will get a commemorative tote bag (limit one per person while supplies last).
Participants may read any type of adult book (regular or large print) or audiobook (cassette or CD).
By filling out and returning the book review form for each title, participants will become eligible for prize drawings throughout the summer.
Just like the Children’s Summer Reading Program, the Adult Summer Reading Club is a way to foster a love of reading and to discover treasure at your library. Many thanks to the Friends of the Library for sponsoring this program.
For more information about this program, contact Donna Marie Smith, adult programming librarian at (561) 233-2793 or smithd@pbclibrary.org.
Migrant Program — On Tuesday, the Loxahatchee Groves Town Council heard a presentation from Zach Chastain and Bryan Cink, two recent graduates of Jupiter High School, and their teacher Madeline Miller, about El Sol, Jupiter’s Neighborhood Resource Center that reaches out to migrant workers in the community. The presentation was requested by Councilman David Autrey because like Jupiter, Loxahatchee Groves has a problem with migrant workers on its roads waiting for jobs each morning, and also migrant workers who have been attacked for their money and valuables. Autrey suggested the town learn from Jupiter’s work and initiate a similar program. “Jupiter did their homework,” he said. “They went around researching this issue. Some communities have run into problems with the way they have approached it. Jupiter has done it the correct way.” The council agreed to hold a workshop on the issue, tentatively scheduled for late August.
continued from page 10A the associated increase reflects the money the town would spend if it had its own planning and building department.
“The county has proposed a fee schedule which provides for a higher rate for the services they are providing for the town,” Tolces said. “For instance, the general application submittal is regularly $100. The county does not cover the costs through their own permit fees. They will
charge $142 to cover their administrative labor costs associated with the work they do on behalf of the town. It’s a 42 percent increase for the work they will do on behalf of the town. If you were to set up your own planning department and pay someone to do that, and to store the records, that’s the money that the town would spend and over for the applications.”
Louda made a motion for approval, seconded by Herzog. It passed unanimously.
Moroso Motorsports Park will be the site for DRAG Inc.’s gang awareness month, featuring their new hot rod on Fridays from 6 to 11 p.m.
Drag Racers Against Gangs will also be hosting Dan Calloway, and as part of DRAG’s commitment to the City of Riviera Beach, will be welcoming a group of Riviera Beach youths.
DRAG was started by Harold “Whitey” White, a dozer operator who has been drag racing as a hobby since 1967 and owns his own racecar. He saw that NASCAR had so many non-profit organizations, so he presented the idea to the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA).
As a result, June 1-30 has been designated Gang Awareness Month and DRAG has been invited to participate with “Pimpin’ Pappy Racing” at the Moroso Motorsports Park. The public is invited to come out and enjoy drag racing at its best. For more information, call Harold White at (561) 254-1823.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office is seeking the public’s help in locating a missing endangered adult from Royal Palm Beach.
Kenneth S. Milarski, 54, was last seen on Friday, April 27 near his Royal Palm Beach home. According to his wife, Milarski is unable to care for himself and suffers from dementia. He was last seen wearing black plants, black shoes and a white button-down shirt. He was also carrying a yellow garbage bag and a dark-colored duffel bag.
Anyone with information about Milarski’s whereabouts is asked to call Detective Jason W. L’Etoile at (561) 688-4067 or the nearest law enforcement agency.
It’s hard not to think about the weather. Open any newspaper, watch any local television show, listen to any radio station and the topic is, quite often, the weather: a lack of rain, the drought, the number of tropical storms and hurricanes forecasted for this season, the demands of being prepared for storms.
In response to community concern, Church @ The Grove is offering a special worship service Sunday, June 10 at 5 p.m. The outdoor service will lift concerns, through prayer, for rain and a safe hurricane season. The worship service is open to everyone and will be held at 15730 88th Place North in Loxahatchee (off Seminole Pratt Whitney Road near Northlake Blvd.). Coffee, tea and a light dessert will follow the service.
“Time and time again research has shown that prayer has an impact,” said Pastor Holly Ostlund. “Come be a part of our praying for the timeliness of rain to our area and the safety of our communities during hurricane season.”
For more info., call (561) 333-2020.
Pure Thoughts Horse and Foal Rescue will host “Dinner in the Dirt” on Saturday, June 9 at B Lazy J Ranch in Loxahatchee. The charity event will benefit Pure Thoughts and Elite Greyhound Adoption.
Pure Thoughts is a non-profit organization dedicated to saving, rehabilitating and finding homes for horses, yearlings and foals that would otherwise be destined for slaughterhouses in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Pure Thoughts also rescues starvation, neglect and abuse cases.
Get ready for a night full of great fun to benefit a great cause. Doors open at 6 p.m. Tickets are $25 in advance or $30 at the door and include dinner, soft beverages and beer. There will also be exciting raffles, games and a donation bar. In addition, guests will enjoy live music and entertainment by renowned singer Fonda Cash.
Since its founding in 2004, Pure Thoughts has saved more than 500 horses and foals. Just recently, Pure Thoughts, with the help of Fans of Barbaro, saved 10 horses from slaughter at the Sugarcreek Auction House in Ohio.
Jennifer Swanson, co-founder of Pure Thoughts, hopes to educate the public and make people more aware of what is happening to innocent horses. “Dinner in the Dirt is a chance for people to come out to the facility and get to know the horses,” she said. “If you cannot make
Two equine residents of Pure Thoughts Horse & Foal Rescue.
it, there are other ways to help. You can volunteer, adopt, sponsor or donate. There are many ways to help our equine friends. Who knows — you may find the love of your life here in the form of a four-legged friend.”
Pure Thoughts is also dedicated to helping children and young adults realize their full potential through equine-based education. Bradley Graver, co-founder of Pure Thoughts, developed the idea of “Pure Thoughts Horsemanship” to guide children on a path of success through equine therapy. For more information about Pure Thoughts Horse and Foal Rescue, or to learn more about volunteering, visit www.pthr.org or call (561) 254-0415.
The Village of Royal Palm Beach Writing Group is looking for new members to enhance the dynamic club. The group meets at the Harvin Center the third Thursday of each month to write short stories, poetry, articles and more. The group has published a book of beautiful literature that is inspirational and, at the same time, benefits the Tommy Starace Scholarship Fund. The group is working on a new publication for the upcoming season and welcomes those who have an interest in writing to join them. For more info., call Noel Vasquez at (561) 791-7080, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The Palm Beach County Law Enforcement Foundation presented scholarships and lifesaving awards to Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office deputies and law enforcement personnel at a Wednesday afternoon ceremony at PBSO headquarters on Gun Club Road. Twenty-five officers received scholarship awards and five received lifesaving awards. Representatives from the PBSO, the West Palm Beach Police Department, the Palm Beach County School District Police, the Lake Clarke Shores Police Department, the Delray Beach Police Department, the Lantana Police Department and the Jupiter Police Department were on hand to represent their agencies. Sheriff Ric Bradshaw, Dr. Richard Winter and Wellington resident Neil Hirsch — founding board members of the Palm Beach Law Enforcement Foundation — presented the certificates and checks to the recipients.
I enjoyed an unexpected delight last week when my mother and I dropped in to visit my Aunt Celia and found her babysitting her three-year-old granddaughter. I don’t know what it is about the age of three that makes kids so enchanting, but I think it’s that we adults are finally able to hear what’s been going on in their heads, now that they can communicate, and it’s fascinating.
So I barely got to converse with my aunt because as I headed toward the bathroom, I was immediately joined by my diminutive enchantress, Olivia. When I stepped through the door, so did she.
“I have to use the bathroom, Olivia,” I said.
“Let’s put on makeup,” she said.
So we spent the next 45 minutes doing each other’s faces or, if you want to get technical, with Olivia doing my face. The first thing she did was reach into her grandmother’s cosmetics bag to pull out a clear plastic case filled with blush
and its tempting little plastic brush. In a quiet voice, I asked her if she liked brushing on makeup.
“Talk louder,” she said, and I knew instantly that I was merely a decoy for her — a beard — someone on whom the blame might conceivably be shifted if we were apprehended. When I sat down on the toilet lid and wondered aloud if we really should be using her grandmother’s makeup, she looked at me like I was a traitor.
That’s how we ended up emptying my purse onto the vanity. Olivia was in heaven, and soon I was looking rather clownish, with very red cheeks and very, very red lips. Yet my makeup artist seemed quite pleased with her handiwork and began searching for new, untested products. Eventually she uncapped my concealer.
“What’s this?” she asked.
So I showed her the little port wine stain I’ve had near my nose since birth.
“I put that over my ‘dot’ and it sort of erases it,” I explained.
She reached for me and gently covered the stain over, in case it hurt, like a booboo. “Now I’ll do my dot,” she said, and colored a rather large skin-toned circle onto her face near her nose. A pause, and then she looked at me and said, “are you going potty?”
“No, you won’t let me,” I answered. But then I remembered Aunt Celia also has a half-bath, so I excused myself. When I got back, Olivia had locked herself inside the bathroom with all the makeup; my mother and aunt were pleading with her to open the door.
“Olivia,” I said, “I need my purse. I need for you to put some makeup on me.” The door opened. As the adults rushed in, Olivia and I decided to forgo makeup. We’d rather play the piano now. I again got the feeling that this was something that was normally off limits. Olivia really knows how to push the envelope.
“Sing ‘Old MacDonald,’” she commanded. “And on his farm he had a gorilla,” I sang.
“No! Cows first.”
“And on his farm he had a cow… and a gorilla…”
“No! Ducks next!”
“…And on his farm he had a cow… He had a duck… He had a… what?”
“Gorilla,” she sang.
Between the dot and the gorilla, my aunt is sure to be perplexed for weeks. I guess you have to be three, like Olivia and I, to understand.
Forty years ago today, Sergeant Pepper taught the band to play. I am actually writing this on June 1, the fortieth anniversary of the album that Rolling Stone and most other rock raters consider the most important album in history.
Why is Sergeant Pepper considered so important? It is the most important album from the most important group in rock history. And if you don’t know that the statement refers to the Beatles, you are probably in one of the tiniest minorities in the world. The album was different from all of their earlier work.
The albums of the Fab Four were generally filled with hits. Frankly, I prefer the songs on Revolver, the album produced just before Sergeant Pepper. It has “Yellow Submarine,” “Got to Get You into My Life,” the song I consider the
loveliest of all their love songs, “Here, There, and Everywhere,” as well as the brilliant “Eleanor Rigby,” a tone poem that is a hymn to contemporary loneliness.
The Beatles were famous for working quickly. Their first major album Please Please Me was recorded in one day. And it had the title song, “Love Me Do,” “Do You Want to Know a Secret?” and the great “Twist and Shout.” Not bad for a day’s work.
But Sergeant Pepper took 129 days to complete, a record at the time. The Beatles did not release any singles from the album. Anyone who remembers dancing to “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” is probably recalling the Elton John version of 1974 (to which John Lennon contributed).
The Beatles had created the first concept album, focused on the then-strange notion that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. They wanted people to listen to the entire album.
And the songs are not obvious hits at all. The title number is almost corny. Ringo’s version of “With a Little Help From My Friends” is not overwhelming. “She’s Leaving Home” was all about a girl running away from home to be with a boyfriend. The term “man from the motor trade” in England at the time usually referred to someone who was not white, signifying interracial dating. The song is not a lot of laughs.
“Lovely Rita (Meter Maid)” and “When I’m Sixty-four” would never win awards on their own. “A Day in the Life” is very interesting and was banned in a
By Leonard Wechsler
lot of places because it promoted either drugs or promiscuity (“I’d love to turn you on”). “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” is certainly not a typical hit.
Yet, despite the lack of smash hit singles, just about everyone recognized the importance of the album. Jimi Hendrix played the title song three days after the album was released (with John and Paul
See WECHSLER, page 45A
Last Friday morning, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office Eagle Academy held its 20th company graduation ceremony at Palm Beach Community College’s Watson B. Duncan Theatre in Lake Worth. Sixty recruits and cadets graduated after completing a semester at the military-style residential academy, located in Belle Glade. This year the academy celebrated its tenth anniversary with a large reunion for all past and present students and staff. The guest speaker was Florida Atlantic University President Frank Brogan. Several awards were presented, including the Top Eagle Award, the Tim Hester Memorial Scholarship Award and the Chasson Henry Memorial Award, as well as monetary scholarships which were given to several students.
FAU President Frank Brogan was the keynote speaker.
The Eagle Academy’s Captain Gretchen Webb with FAU President Frank Brogan and PBC Sheriff Ric Bradshaw.
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As a special goodbye to Wellington High School staff and teachers, the first annual Taste of Wellington was held last Friday in the school’s media center. The event was organized by Assistant Principal Barb Forgash and paralegal Arlene Einhorn, who were in charge of the Attitude Adjustment Committee. Many area restaurants and businesses took part, and several of them had tables in the media center where they served samples of their specialties. WHS Principal Cheryl Alligood also recognized longtime teachers and staff members who will not be returning in the fall.
teachers
The Wellington Rotary Club has planned two events to take place in Wellington this September. Both events will coincide with the International Day of Peace on Friday, Sept. 21, a day devoted to commemorating and strengthening the idea of peace among all nations and people.
The International Day of Peace was established by a United Nations resolution in 1981.
The first event will be the Sept. 21 dedication of Rotary Peace Park, which will be located in the wetland area in front of Elbridge Gale Elementary School, at the corner of Birkdale Drive and Royal Fern Street. The park will maintain a wet-
land area but will have a boardwalk access, with a large open wooden rotunda that will house the Wellington Rotary Peace Pole, dedicated last year. Six flags representing international, state and local sources will be prominently displayed around the rotunda.
The second event will be the Wellington Rotary Peace Festival to be held on Saturday, Sept. 22. The peace festival will feature a carnival-type atmosphere, including entertainment, games and food. The purpose of the festival is to foster a greater understanding and interaction among different cultural groups.
In order for this event to fulfill its pur-
pose, the Wellington Rotary Club is asking for community support. The club is seeking individuals or religious, social or recreational groups that would like to participate by sponsoring ethnic dances, singing, art, cultural game booths or food areas. In addition to traditional intercultural booths, the club would like to have activities such as bounce houses, rock walls, face painting, etc. The club is also seeking groups to provide these activities.
The club is also looking for groups or individuals to perform at the event — cultural, musical and dance performances, and ethnic arts/crafts reflecting cultural heritage. If you or your
group has an ethnic talent to share with the Wellington community, you are encouraged to contact the Peace Festival Steering Committee.
The Rotary Club hopes that all religious, social, cultural and ethnic groups in the area will take part in the festival, either through a game, performance, food-type booth or simply a display booth to hand out educational material. There is no cost to participate.
If you or your organization would like to participate in this year’s Wellington Rotary Peace Festival, call the steering committee at (561) 804-1500. Leave a message and Committee Chair Jeff Goodale will contact you.
By Steve Pike Town-Crier Staff Report
Chris Romano has been around football long enough to know that games are won as much by off-season preparation as by executing the Xs and Os on the field.
So with that mind, the new Wellington High School football coach is stressing hard work and focus this summer as the Wolverines prepare for the 2007
Two of South Florida’s most storied sports organizations are teaming up once more this summer. The Orange Bowl Committee and the Miami Dolphins will come together for the second consecutive year to host a
FOOTBALL
season. WHS, which played its annual Blue-White spring game on May 24, started its off-season condition training on Monday.
“In order to be successful, we have to work extremely hard in the weight room and running and conditioning,” said Romano, the Wolverines’ third coach in as many years.
“We had a good spring game. I saw some kids step up and take leadership roles, which I expect from our seniors.”
The Wolverines finished this past season 2-8, including four consecutive losses to end the season. WHS scored more than 22 points in only one game — a 40-14 victory over Spanish River — and allowed 28 or more points in six of its ten games.
Although Romano is new as
head coach, he’s not new to his players or Wellington High School. He has been at WHS since 2000 and has been an assistant principal under Principal Cheryl Alligood the past three years.
Romano, who replaces Gene Boley (who resigned this past school year), started out at WHS as an assistant football coach under Coach Tom Cherry.
Romano has been a defensive
coordinator and offensive coordinator for the Wolverines, and was even interim head coach two years ago between the regimes of former coaches Eric Robinson and Bill Bollinder.
“It’s been a merry-goround,” said Romano, who will retain his position as an assistant principal at Wellington High School. “I really think the team last year lacked focus because of that. That’s what we need to establish over the summer.”
free football and cheerleading skills clinic series. The widely popular Orange Bowl Youth Football Alliance Skills Clinic will be held Saturday, June 16 at 9 a.m. at Wellington Village Park (11700 Pierson Road). The clin-
ic is for youths ages five to 15. Each clinic, which is also sponsored by the Nat Moore Foundation and Publix, features football drills, cheerleading techniques, and injury care and prevention sessions de-
Perfect Season — The Wellington Landings Middle School boys volleyball team finished their perfect season (12-0) by defeating Boca Raton Middle School in the county championship. After falling in the first game 22-25, the Gators won the next game 2516 and the final game 15-13. It was the second year in a row that the Wellington Landings and Boca Raton teams met with identical results. Returning players from last year’s team included captains Scott Witkowski and Rex Kirby, Michael Fasano, Ben Silverman and Matt Trenchel. New additions included John Harvil, Kamil Balcerzak, Bynjar Gudmundsson, Ken Steakin, Jake Ferrara and Teddy Thomas. The team was again coached by Maureen Witkowski and assisted by Mitch Silverman. Pictured right is the team with coaches Witkowski and Silverman.
signed to teach young athletes teamwork, self confidence and social skills. Participants will receive a camp T-shirt, a goodie bag and a meal. Miami Dolphins alumni and Dolphins cheerleaders also will be on hand, serving as instructors for various camp activities.
“This is a golden opportunity to utilize Miami Dolphins’ alumni to teach football skills and fundamentals not only to the kids in the leagues, but to the coaches as well,” said camp director and Miami Dolphins Director of Youth & Community Programs Twan Russell. “The Orange Bowl Youth Football Alliance Skills Clinic is the perfect union of the Miami Dolphins and OBYFA as we share the same goal — to promote healthy and safe football and cheerleading practices.”
All campers will be challenged and taught the latest skills by the professional players and youth coaches, with strong emphasis being placed on teaching position techniques.
All participating coaches and instructors have significant experience, a strong background in leadership of children and youth, and are committed to a safe, fun-filled camp experience.
“Following the success of last year’s clinics, we realize just how much this unique experience benefits youth in our community,” added Nat Moore, a former Miami Dolphins wide receiver and an Orange Bowl Committee member. “The skills clinic will continue to provide some of South Florida’s finest young football players and cheerleaders an avenue in which to learn from some of the best in the business.”
The Nat Moore Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing educational, cultural and recreational activities to South Florida’s disadvantaged youths.
Since its inception, the foundation is committed to providing a better community for the youth of South Florida and giving them an opportunity to succeed in society. The foundation’s goal is to have the youth become physically and mentally prepared to become the future leaders of their community.
For more information about the Orange Bowl Youth Football Alliance or any of its member leagues, call Youth Sports Manager Jose Regalado at (305) 341-4709, e-mail yflkids@orangebowl.org or visit www.orangebowl.org.
Wildcats Win — On Saturday, May 19, the Kentucky Wildcats of the Wellington Youth Recreational Baseball League’s 11-12 division defeated the LSU Tigers 6-5 to win the championship. Pictured here are (L-R, front row)
Adam Bruggeman, Tim Becker, Anthony Vaccaro, Daulton Easterling and Ryan Froot; (second row) Brandon Bevacqua, Harrison Fields, Jacob Elpern, Nathan Jagoda, Kris Leonardi and Alston Austwick; (back row) Head Coach Joe Bruggeman, Assistant Coach Tony Becker and Assistant Coach Doug Froot.
Figure Skating Champ — Kendra Carver won first place in United States Figure Skating Association’s South Florida Basic Skills Series Freeskate 2 Showcase. The competition was held Sunday, June 3 at Palm Beach Ice Zone in Lake Worth. Kendra, who is ten years old and attends Royal Palm Beach Elementary School, has been skating at the Ice Zone for a year and a half and is coached by Rene Bianchi. Palm Beach Ice Zone is located at 8125 Lake Worth Road, just west of Florida’s Turnpike. For more information, call (561) 963-5900 or visit www.pbicezone.com.
The American Cancer Society will host the Hold My Hand tennis tournament Saturday and Sunday, June 9 and 10 at Okeeheelee Park (7712 Forest Hill Blvd.).
The registration fee of $30 per player will benefit the American Cancer Society. County Commissioner Jess Santamaria will be present Saturday at 8 a.m. supporting the event’s organizer and director Alejandro Plaza.
For more information or to register,
call Olga De Jesus at (561) 281-5006 or e-mail olga@holdmyhand2007.com.
The Royal Palm Beach Recreation Department is offering youth and adult tennis lessons at Camellia Park. Saturday morning classes are scheduled to begin Saturday, June 9. Tuesday evening classes begin Tuesday, June 12. Registration is now being accepted at the RPB Recreation Center (100 Sweet Bay Lane). For more information, call (561) 790-5124.
Second-Place Finish — The Wellington Warriors 9 and Under travel baseball team claimed second place in the Memorial Day Madness Triple Crown Baseball Tournament held at Olympia Park. The Warriors went undefeated in the tournament until falling to the Miami Playmakers in the championship round. Their runner-up finish qualifies the team for the prestigious Triple Crown Fall Nationals in St. Augustine. Coached by Craig Brown, Jorge Ramos, Jerry Gallicchio and Chris Brown, team members are (front row, L-R) Chandler Miles, A.J. Gallicchio, Neil Brown, Jorgie Ramos and Logan Rogers; (back row) James Tietjen, Johnny Giordano, Matthew Hendel, Adam Bilkis, Tanner Brown and Armando Rodriguez.
The Wellington Wave 16-andunder girls soccer team traveled to Orlando over Memorial Day weekend to compete in the ninth annual Disney Memorial Day Soccer Shootout.
Playing five games in three days at Disney’s sports complex, the Wave girls went undefeated throughout the weekend and came away with the championship trophy in the U-16/U17 division.
The team went 3-0 in pool play defeating the Naples Extreme U-17 team 4-1, the First Hernando Heat U-17 team 4-0 and finally the Sunrise Flames U-16 team 6-1. This advanced the Wave girls to a semifinal match with the West Pasco U17 team.
The Wave team dominated the match and won 5-0, which set up a final showdown with the highly ranked Indialantic Force U-16. Force had won the tournament in previous years and were top contenders for winning the trophy again in 2007. But the Wave came back from a 1-0 deficit after Indialantic took an early lead in the first half.
The coaching staff from the Force had looked at the Wave’s previous matches and noted the team’s strong scoring ability, and decided to hunker down in the defense with nine of their 11 players once they scored their first goal, but the Wave team did not quit. With 20 minutes left in the match, the Wave penetrated Indialantic’s defense with a goal and forced them to return to match play. The team quickly scored two more goals and
powered their way to a 3-1 victory.
The Wellington Wave’s offensive players — Chelsea Leiva, Sarah Lenhart, Ariel Cohen, Francesca Gianoli, Ariella Price, Taylor English and Shannon Mullenhauer — led with multiple goals each, while Kaitlyn Butler added a goal and midfielders Gabriella Gusman and Jasmine Castellon provided numerous assists, along with other offensive players. The defensive team gave up only three goals in five games. Leading the way was sweeper Nicole Lichtenwalner, along with defenders Noellani Laura, Ashli-Rae Smith, Jasmine Paulemon and Meghan Bradshaw. Goalkeeper Samantha Bandremer displayed remarkable skill over the weekend, limiting the opponents’ efforts to only three goals in total. Although midfielders Christina Taylor and Marissa Bennardo did not have credited goals or assists, their contributions added much depth to both the offensive and defensive play throughout the weekend. Defender Bianca Navarrete traveled but was unable to play due to an injury.
The tournament win capped off a successful season for the Wave girls and added to their earlier season merits, which helped move the Wave U-16 girls into the number seven position in Florida.
The team is coached by Gabriel Gusman, who has led his girls to the semifinals or better at every tournament since taking over the team three years ago.
For the 28th year, Florida amateur athletes will lace up their shoes, dive into the pool, pull back their bows and do whatever else it may take to prepare themselves for competition in Florida’s Sunshine State Games, which will be held in Polk and Palm Beach counties this weekend.
While two of the sports — archery and flag football — will be held in Polk County, the 2007 Sunshine State Games Inline Hockey Championships begins its schedule of 87 games on Friday, June 8 at 6 a.m. at the Skate Zone
(8125 Lake Worth Road) with 40 teams vying for gold medals.
For more information, visit www.flasports.com.
The Village of Wellington is planning an exciting patriotic lineup for the Fourth of July holiday. From 12 to 5 p.m., residents can enjoy a Patriotic Pool Party at the Wellington Aquatics Complex. Regular pool entrance fee applies.
From 6 to 9 p.m., the traditional Family Fourth Celebration will take place at Village Park on Pierson Road. Enjoy traditional
games, inflatable rides, crafts, face painting, airbrush tattoos, prizes and food for purchase.
The evening will include live musical performance by Bob Hoose and His Orchestra. Shuttle transportation service will be available from the Mall at Wellington Green’s Palm Tran bus stop.
The evening will end with a 9:15 p.m. fireworks extravaganza by Zambelli Fireworks at Village Park. Music will be broadcast at Village Park to add an extra level of enjoyment.
For more information or to become an event sponsor, call Cathy Flocke at (561) 7914770.
By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report
The Wellington Women’s Club held its final meeting of the season on Thursday, June 7 at the Wellington Golf & Country Club, announcing its new board, awarding scholarships and presenting a check to its designated charity Harmony House, a center for abused women and their families.
The club presented a check for $5,000 to Harmony House Executive Director Suzanne Turner. In accepting the check, Turner said it would help pay for improvements to the center.
Turner said the money is badly needed because the YWCA, which sponsors Harmony House, faces cuts of several million dollars from the county because of the county’s reduced funding from the state. Turner said some of the centers, including one in Royal Palm Beach, might have to close.
On a brighter side, Turner said a recent donation to Harmony House will enable them to teach abused women job skills so they do not have to return to their abusers.
The club also presented checks to six high school students: Christine Erie of Suncoast High School, Rachel Fried-
lander and Amy Levine of Wellington High School, Elvira Hernandez of Pahokee High School, Margaret Lott of Seminole Ridge High School and Kayla Topsey of Summit Christian School.
Wellington Women’s Club President Terri Priore said the club had increased its award this year to at least $1,000 per student.
Members of the Scholarship Committee were Donna Broder, Dawn Favia, Carolyn Hellman, Debbie Hession, Dotti Hovan, Jessica Johnson and Rosemary Kapoor. Priore said the applicants’ names and gender were crossed out so selection committee members would select the recipients by qualifications only.
The National Association of Special Education Teachers has selected Polo Park Middle School teacher Dalissa Rodriguez-Green as one of its winners for 2007. This award recognizes the excellence of special educators throughout the United States.
Ms. Rodriguez-Green was recommended by fellow teacher John Shoemaker. “She is one of the best special education teachers I have seen in a long time,” he said. “She holds her students to a much higher standard than many other special education teachers, and her state standardized test scores prove it. Her students often return to the school to thank her for what she has done for them. She tries to incorporate technology into her classroom and holds the belief that all children can learn regardless of their disability.”
Ms. Rodriguez-Green is currently working on her master’s degree in K-12 technology integration and will be completing her national board certification next year.
Contents Prepared by the Town-Crier Marketing Dept
• DANCE ARTS CONSERVATORY DANCE CAMP — We are in a great location for your summer fun! This summer dance camp is conveniently located in the heart of Wellington at the Wellington Marketplace, right next to the movie theater, just behind the fountain. Our camp program promises to be fun filled with huge hits such as hip hop, jazz, tap, ballet, acro, drama, arts & crafts, fun and games and musical theater. To compliment your family’s busy summer schedule, we are offering affordable and flexible half-day, full day and weekly sessions. The Dance Arts Conservatory is a family owned and operated studio with the mission to be a positive presence in each of our student’s lives. Please join us this summer as we come together for a great vacation celebration! Sessions from June 4 through Aug. 17. For more information about our program, check us out on the web at www.danceartsconservatory.com or contact Rocky Duvall, our artistic director at (561) 296-1880
• WESTCHESTER GOLF & COUNTRY CLUB SUMMER CAMP — For the past 2 years Westchester Golf & Country Club has offered a Summer Junior Golf Program for children Ages 7-17. This program is great for any golfer beginners to intermediates. Its a great way to have fun this summer, so enroll now. Call John Harbison or Jason Hogan for details (561) 369-1000.
• CASPEREY STABLES HORSE CAMP — is a small, fun-filled day camp for children ages 7 to 14. With four riding opportunities each day, arts & crafts and outdoor games, our campers find little time to be bored. Our low counselor/child ratio ensures your child will receive individual attention. There are camp sessions for spring and winter school breaks, and during the summer, each two-week session has a theme, such as Indian Days, Circus Days, and Medieval Days. We have a weekly swim party and end each session with a horse show and family BBQ! Call soon — this small, quality program fills quickly! To learn more about our camp, located at 2330 D Road in Loxahatchee, call us at (561) 792-4990 or visit our website at www.caspereystables.com.
• ROYAL GYMNASTICS CENTER — Summer Camp for Boys & Girls, runs from June 4 - Aug. 15 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. with extended hours of 7:30 a.m. - 6 p.m. A variety of camp activities are offered; Gymnastics, Swimming, Skating, Bowling, Movies, Crafts, Field Trips, Karate Classes, Preschool,Trampoline, Tumbling, Recreational Team, Level 2 -Level 9. National and Junior Olympic Champions. The 6,500 sq. ft. Air Conditioned facility is located in Wellington at 3141 Fortune Way, Bay 20 in the Wellington Commerce Park. For more information on the variety of programs Royal Gymnastics has to offer call them at 561-793-5028 or visit their website at www.royalgym.com
• LAZY ACRES FARM — Our successful camp is better than ever this year! Besides teaching our riding and grooming skills, we also have live demonstrations, horse shows, field trips, arts and crafts and more! Register now, space is limited to 10 campers a week. A Free personalized camp tee-shirt is included in price. Please call Shannon Reilly at 561-289-00096 for more information.
On Monday, May 21, Royal Palm Beach High School sent 470 graduates into the world. Many are heading off to colleges, technical schools or the armed forces. Others will be going straight into the work force.
But before the Class of 2007 could head off in their different directions, the RPBHS Project Graduation Committee invited them to an all-night, alcohol-free, drug-free celebration on the night of graduation. This year’s celebration was held at the South Florida Fairgrounds Expo Center with the theme “Your Journey Begins.”
As the students arrived at the celebration, each departed from the cruise ship the SS Wildcat. Once they cleared “customs,” each graduate was presented with a passport and a gift bag.
The graduates were able to celebrate their achievements all night long in a safe, secure and fun environment. There were plenty of games, rides and contests to keep them busy throughout the evening. There was a large selection of pizzas, subs, wings and desserts, including an ethnic array of Chinese, Italian, Cuban, Mexican and Jamaican cuisine.
The all-night celebration featured a continuous program of entertainment, including a disc jockey, hypnotist, psychic, magician, caricaturists, dancers and several comedians.
One of the more popular activities of the evening was a visit to the free money machine sponsored by Riverside National Bank. Each graduate had a chance to walk away with genuine U.S. currency.
The Project Graduation Committee organized the celebration. The committee is composed of dedicated, hardworking parents and teachers who raised money the entire year prior to the night of graduation. Additionally, generous support was provided by commu-
nity leaders and community sponsors who made the special night a reality for the Wildcat graduates.
Since graduation night in the United States has historically been one of the deadliest for graduating high school seniors, it has been the mission of the Project Graduation Committee to provide each and every graduate a fun, safe alternative that is full of music, games, food, entertainment and gifts before they depart on their respective journeys.
Because it happens every year, Project Graduation needs a large base of volunteers to plan and facilitate the celebration for Royal Palm Beach High School’s Class of 2008. Anyone who would like to donate some of their time and talent to keep this special event going should call Tammy Germain at (561) 385-8112 for additional information.
The Wellington High School Majorettes — Front row: Christine Guayara and Kaitlin Dombrowski; second row: Marianne Saa, Karly Miller, Stephanie Sperrazza and Sabrina Emery; back row: Erica Guayara, Katie Riley, Brittney Ladwig, Jaclyn Payne and Kayli Payne. Not pictured: Chelsea DiClaudio.
The Wellington High School Band’s Majorette Squad, coached by Adrienne Brady, has had a busy and successful spring competition season, ending with a state championship and qualification for nationals.
In February, the squad competed in the annual Disney World Twirlmania Competition, a twirling event featuring majorette squads from around the world. The WHS squad earned first place in the Senior Division Parade, second place in Twirling Corps and third place in the High School Classic Halftime Show and Show Corps.
The WHS Majorettes performed in the Drum Majorettes of America Southern State Regional Competition in March. In
this event, the squad earned first places in Show Corps, Dance Twirl (full ensemble), Senior High School Line, Flags and Silks, Show Team and Novelty Team. The girls also earned second place in Dance Twirl (sophomores), third place in Dance Twirl (juniors and seniors) and fourth place in Dance Twirl (freshmen). This event qualified the squad for the state competition in May.
On May 19, 11 members of the squad attended the DMA State Competition. The girls took four first places and one second place and qualified for the DMA National Competition. These 11 members will perform in the DMA Nationals to be held in Charlotte, North Carolina in July.
Several New Horizons Elementary School students donated at least ten inches of their hair to Locks of Love. The hair will be made into wigs for children who have lost their hair due to medical treatments. The students received Character Counts awards for showing caring by what they do. (Above) Jillian Mazza, Allyson Farrell, Emily Best, Taylor Grecco, Jasmine Linares, Alix Krolick, Cailtin Price, Brittany Mattingly, Alexa Fortuna, Savannah Sherouse, Ashley Machin, Erica Gomez and Brianna Starcher. (Right) Fourth grader Madison Vealy received the Sun-Sentinel/Publix Character Counts Award. Madison shows caring every day by helping teachers and students without being asked. She is shown with her mom Valisa Vealy and school guidance counselor Lynne Bray.
The Seminole Ridge High School TV Production program won several awards at the Jim Harbin Student Media Festival.
In early May, Hawk TV students won first place in five of the seven categories at the district level of competition. Last week, the students learned that they also won first place in three categories at the regional level as well.
Shane Stukel, Anthony Pedicelli and Andy Cichewicz won in the Drama category for their movie trailer The Dark Has Eyes. Andrew Suarez, Joey Baratta and Jeff Moise won in the Best Music Video category for “Early Rise,” an original song by a Miami student rapper. Andy Cichewicz also won in the Instructional Video category for his retro 1950s PSA Seatbelt Safety 101
All three student videos advance to the state FAME festival in October as strong contenders to win the state titles.
Sun-Sentinel Names Hawk Athletes ‘All-County’ — The Sun-Sentinel has published its all-county picks for spring sports, and plenty of Hawks made the cut:
• Player of the Year — Samantha Walker - flag football.
• First Team All-County Chelsea Masters - flag football, Jack Mitchell - boys volleyball, Colton Coss - boys weightlifting, Michael Griffinboys weightlifting, John Pnaife - boys weightlifting, Tyler Rochefort - boys weightlifting, and George Voren - boys weightlifting.
• Second Team All-County — Corey Lassiter - flag football, Brianna Lauer - flag football, Nick Antico - boys weightlifting and Dejay Perkins - boys weightlifting.
• All-County Honorable Mention — Peter Mooney - baseball, Dan
Scheffler - baseball, Megan Tuckerflag football, Sarah Aylesworth - softball, Kristi Mohl - softball, Alixandra Garic - girls tennis, Timonia Buchanan - track and field, Brittney Gaulttrack and field, Chris Lewis - track and field, Chris Viau - track and field, Mike Bennett - boys volleyball, John Brown - boys volleyball, Sean Casey - boys volleyball, Joey Decamillo - boys volleyball, Mike Freska - boys volleyball, Corey Kunkel - boys volleyball, JeanClaude Bourdieau - boys weightlifting, and Sean Rochefort - boys weightlifting.
Scholar-Athlete — Lia Larrea - basketball, cross-country, tennis, track and field.
County Coach of the Year — Austin Bowe - flag football and Justin Hilliker - boys weightlifting.
Mohl Signs With PBCC — Hawk hitter Kristi Mohl has signed a full scholarship to play softball at Palm Beach Community College next year. Mohl, a Sun-Sentinel All-County Honorable Mention in athletics, led the Hawks in batting average and RBIs this season.
West Area Coaches Honor Hawk Peers — Congratulations to the following Hawk coaches, honored by their area conference peers May 29 at the Palm Beach County Conference Awards Dinner:
• Austin Bowe - flag football, West Conference coach of the year
• Stacey Critchlow - girls golf, West Conference coach of the year
• Matt Dickmann - football, Palm Beach County 6A coach of the year
• Justin Hilliker - boys weightlifting, West Conference coach of the year
• Chris Jackson - boys volleyball, West Conference coach of the year
• Ben Kenerson - girls weightlifting,
West Conference coach of the year
• Marie Pelfrey - boys swimming, West Conference coach of the year
• Trent Pendergast - baseball, West Conference coach of the year
FACE Club to Sponsor Surgeries
FACE Club sponsor Mrs. Peggy Larson thanks the Hawk faculty and staff for their support of the FACE Club this year. Their support, along with the club’s own fundraising efforts, has
enabled FACE to send $400 to Operation Smile. SRHS guidance counselor Mrs. Helen Crawford has made a singular contribution to FACE’s work. “I received a check last week from Mrs. Crawford, who was able to get a donation of $500 from the Huisking Foundation for Operation Smile,” Larson said. “We will be able to help several individuals get the surgeries they need to repair a facial anomaly.”
Seminole Ridge, Palm Beach Central and Wellington high schools were among Palm Beach County schools to participate in the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections’ iVote Project, a voter registration drive for high school students.
The program successfully registered 978 students. Of the total students, 49 percent registered Democratic, 35 percent no party affiliation, 15 percent Republican and one percent other.
The Supervisor of Elections office organized the effort between Palm Beach County Schools, the League of Women Voters and various other local organizations. Most students were given a brief civics lesson and registered in their classrooms, while others were registered during lunch period.
The iVote Project was brought to the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections office in February 2005 under the leadership of Special Projects Coordinator Adina Serell.
The focus of the project is to go to all the county high schools and register and pre-register qualified students encouraging them to vote in upcoming elections during the biannual drives. “Securing the young vote and encouraging our youth
to become involved in the electoral process is so important,” Serell said. “To date, we have registered 9,554 high school students in Palm Beach County, and we hope to continue this project until every eligible senior is registered.”
Other high schools that participated in the spring iVote Project included the Dreyfoos School of the Arts, Boca Raton, Boynton Beach, Forest Hill, Glades Central, Lake Worth, Pahokee, Palm Beach Lakes, South Tech Academy, Spanish River and West Boca Raton.
For more information on the iVote Project, visit the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections’ web site at www.pbcelections.org or call (561) 6566200.
Free Summer VPK
Classes Start June 11
Loxahatchee Groves Elementary School is one of ten county elementary schools hosting almost 400 children enrolled in the free 2007 Summer Voluntary Pre-kindergarten (VPK) program at the School District of Palm Beach County. Classes will be held from June 11 until Aug. 9, Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m.
Send news items to: The Town-Crier, 12794 W. Forest Hill Blvd., Suite 31, Wellington, FL 33414. Fax: (561) 793-6090. E-mail: news@goTownCrier.com.
MJ’s Place Dance Studio in Royal Palm Beach held its recital “Mulan” on May 16 at the Royal Palm Beach High School Performing Arts Theater. The show featured more than 100 dancers ranging in age from two to 23. The MJ’s Place director and choreographer is Michele Blecher. The dancers are preparing for next year’s show, “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.” MJ’s Place is based in the RPBHS Community Education Center.
Saturday, June 2 will be remembered by the members and guests of Congregation L’Dor Va-Dor for countless years to come. The congregation celebrated its first joint adult mitzvah service and celebration. Six adults — five women and one man — fulfilled lifelong ambitions of becoming bar/bat mitzvah.
For each person, it fulfilled a special purpose and meaning in their life. The B’nai Mitzvah class included Anne Hyman, Ruth Manishin, Linda Pruskin, Randi Radin, and Ken and Caren Sawitz.
The class, which began nine months ago, taught each student to read Hebrew, to lead Friday night and Saturday
Kurt Thomas Gaughf — son of Shalise Pettigrew and Jeffrey Gaughf of Loxahatchee was born at Wellington Regional Medical Center on May 24.
Tyler Joseph Hawk — son of Lauren Hawk of Wellington was born at Wellington Regional Medical Center on May 25.
Abby Seale Minard — daughter of Lesha and Cory Minard of Wellington was born at Wellington Regional Medical Center on May 25.
Olivia Marie DeGiulio — daughter of Stacey and Joe DeGiulio of Wellington was born at Wellington Regional Medical Center on May 26.
morning services, and to chant a portion from the Torah. Each person came to the class with a varying degree of familiarity with the Hebrew language. With commitment, dedication and perseverance, each was beautifully prepared to jointly lead this momentous service and to achieve their bar/bat mitzvah.
Their accomplishment, along with their inspiring words, shared during individual d’var Torah (sermons), moved nearly all in attendance to tears of joy and admiration. According to many in the congregation, the service was very moving.
With the success of and response to this beautiful life-
Sophia Marie Iannaccone — daughter of Dawn and Walter Iannaccone of Wellington was born at Palms West Hospital on May 27.
Cole Fulton Stanley — son of Jessica and Douglas Stanley of Lake Worth was born at Palms West Hospital on May 27.
Cassidy Jean White — daughter of Rosemarie and Christopher White of Royal Palm Beach was born at Palms West Hospital on May 28.
Sophia Jean Zwirecki — daughter of Christina Bayler and Eugene Zwirecki of Wellington was born at Palms West Hospital on May 28.
cycle event, the congregation intends to offer an Adult Mitzvah Class, as well as a Torah study class, in the fall.
Congregation L’Dor Va-Dor is a Reform Jewish congregation, celebrating its 10th year in Palm Beach County. The congregation welcomes members, families and guests of any religious affiliation. Services are held weekly every Friday evening at 7:30 p.m. in the sanctuary, located at 7400 Lake Worth Road in the Marketplace shopping center. The congregation also has a religious school serving children from kindergarten through confirmation. For more information, call (561) 968-0688 or visit www. ldorvador.org.
Raoul Phillip Barthelemy — son of Jinah and Roony Barthelemy of Royal Palm Beach was born at Wellington Regional Medical Center on May 29.
Isaiah Kenneth Ehmke — son of Jennifer and Timothy Ehmke of West Palm Beach was born at Palms West Hospital on May 30.
Gabriella Grace Cardona — daughter of Katherine Fidel and Cesar Cardona of Wellington was born at Wellington Regional Medical Center on May 31.
Joelle Elizabeth LeBlanc — daughter of Noelle LeBlanc of Loxahatchee was born at Wellington Regional Medical
Center on June 1.
Arien Gai’Nasia Jackson — daughter of Tyreia Steward and Germaine Jackson of West Palm Beach was born at Palms West Hospital on June 1.
Emmanuel Gabriel Padron — son of Aidaliz and Frank Padron of West Palm Beach was born at Palms West Hospital on June 1.
Jayden Alexander Castor — son of Maguy and Joseph Castor of West Palm Beach was born at Palms West Hospital on June 2.
Abigail Elizabeth Dalman — daughter of Jennifer and Thomas Dalman of Wellington was born at Wellington Region-
Alivia Joy Jatzlau — daughter of Amanda and Jason Jatzlau of Loxahatchee was born at Palms West Hospital on June 4.
Richard Robas III — son of Chastiti Nieves and Richard Robas Jr. was born at Wellington Regional Medical Center on June 4.
Noah Robert Clark — son of Celia and Robert Clark of West Palm Beach was born at Palms West Hospital on June 6.
Margaret Lott is a recipient of the 2007 McDonald’s Black History Makers of Tomorrow (BHMOT) Scholarship. She will receive a $1,000 scholarship to the college of her choice, courtesy of McDonald’s restaurants of Palm Beach and the Treasure Coast. The BHMOT program honors outstanding high school juniors and seniors who have demonstrated exceptional leadership, academic achievement and the potential to be future history makers.
“We are pleased to recognize Margaret’s achievement and her potential with this scholarship,” said Mark Watson of Melton Management, Wellington area McDonald’s owner/operator.
Lott, a senior at Seminole Ridge High School who maintained a 3.90 GPA, aspires to
become a pediatrician.
In her application essay, Lott wrote, “many students prohibit themselves from achieving because they feel that excelling in academics would cause them to be mocked or ridiculed by their peers. Fortunately, my mother has instilled the importance of an education in me. She has inspired me to neither let fear nor shame stand in the way of what I can achieve. One of the problems facing many AfricanAmerican youth today is the fact that there are not enough African-American doctors, lawyers and other highly educated professionals still living in the black communities. Therefore, many African-American children are forced to look up to rappers and drug dealers as role models because those are the people they
James Vogel graduated with honors from Tulane University in New Orleans on May 19.
Vogel has been a Wellington resident since 1988 and graduated in 2003 from the International Baccalaureate program at Suncoast High School.
Vogel studied in Rome for one semester and upon returning to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina volunteered at a local school as a tutor. He graduated magna cum laude and has been accepted to Tulane Medical School. He will begin his studies there in August.
Vogel is the son of Jim and Lenore Vogel of Wellington.
see as prosperous. My overall goal in life is to become successful so that I can show African-American children that true success comes from pride, determination and education.”
Margaret has demonstrated leadership and commitment in numerous achievements. She has received the 2006 Students of Excellence Award, the Wellington Honors Award and the Academic Excellence Top Five Percent Award. Lott has supported her community by volunteering time at the Boys & Girls Club, as a tutor with the National Honor Society and with the African-American Studies Institute.
“Margaret has my highest recommendation,” said Debbye Raing, manager of African and African-American Studies for
He has two brothers: Christopher, who attends Florida State University and Kevin, who is a student at Suncoast High School.
Army Pvt. Derek J. Piper recently graduated from basic combat training at Fort Jackson in Columbia, South Carolina. During the nine weeks of training, Derek studied the Army mission, history, tradition and core values, physical fitness and received instruction and practice in basic combat skills, military weapons, chemical warfare and bayonet training, drill and ceremony, marching, rifle
the Palm Beach County School District. “She is a competent, self-motivated, dependable, dedicated person.”
McDonald’s Black History Makers of Tomorrow scholarship program is one of several scholarship initiatives McDonald’s offers. The company also awards an annual scholarship to a McDonald’s crew member. The Hispanic American Commitment to Educational Resources (HACER) scholarship program is awarded to Hispanic students and offered through Ronald McDonald House Charities.
More than 80 percent of McDonald’s 13,700 U.S. restaurants are independently owned and operated by local franchisees. Each year, McDonald’s in Florida employs about 34,050
marksmanship, armed and unarmed combat, map reading, field tactics, military courtesy, military justice system, basic first aid, foot marches and field training exercises. Derek is the son of Mary Piper of Wellington.
On May 10, local 4-H youth gathered to elect the incoming officers that will serve on the executive board of the county council for the 2008 season. New officers are: Jordan Morrow of Palm Beach Gardens, 16, will be president; Caitlin Hanley of Boynton Beach, 14, will be vice president; Amy
Nungesser of Wellington, 13, will be secretary; Meghan Hanley of Boynton Beach, 11, will be treasurer; and Caleb Cheng from Palm Beach, 10, will be chaplain. Outgoing and incoming presidents Andrew Cheng and Jordan Morrow will represent PBC 4-H during the Florida State 4H Congress to be held July 2327 at the University of Florida. This year’s theme is “Inspire LIFE (Leadership Involvement, Fitness Education) Around the World.” Throughout this week, senior 4-H members participate in competitive events, leadership programs, community service activities, healthy lifestyle programs and other educational workshops.
Mahrer Joins Honor Society
Andrew Alexander Mahrer of Royal Palm Beach has accepted membership in the National Society of Collegiate Scholars (NSCS). Mahrer will be honored during an induction convocation this fall on the campus of Florida Atlantic University.
“NSCS is more than just a symbol of academic achievement. Membership gives students access to a number of benefits including career and networking resources, scholarships, travel and service projects both on campus and in the community,” NSCS Executive Director Stephen Loflin said.
NSCS is a member of the Association of College Honor Societies and is the nation’s only interdisciplinary honors organization for first- and second-year college students. Membership is by invitation only, based on grade point average and class standing.
Other accomplishments by Mahrer include being a Pathfinder Award nominee for literature at Royal Palm Beach High
Alexander
School, a member of the National Honor Society and Dean’s List at FAU. He also works at Applebee’s as a host and at Publix as a pharmaceutical technician. He will continue his studies at FAU this fall.
NSCS has more than 550,000 lifetime members in 226 chapters in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. For more information about NSCS scholars, visit www. nscs.org.
PFC John DeStefano, a 2005 graduate of Wellington High School, recently graduated from the U.S. Army Aviation Logistics School located in Fort Eustis, Virginia. DeStefano spent eight months training as an electrical and electronic repairer on the armament of the Army’s sophisticated AH-64D helicopter. DeStefano, the honor graduate of his class, has gone on to Fort Campbell, Ky., home of the
101st Airborne Division. His future plans include becoming a warrant officer and helicopter pilot. He is the son of Michael and Lorraine DeStefano of Wellington.
Ashley Flaig, a senior at Wellington High School, has been awarded the Sarah McCarthy Memorial Scholarship. She is the daughter of Eric and Beatrice Flaig.
Flaig was editor in chief, assistant editor, poetry editor, prose editor and business manager of the literary magazine Magic Dragon, which is published quarterly. She was a producer of Mudslide Café, assistant producer, sound and light technician and performer in the Poetry Live productions while maintaining a high level of academic excellence.
Flaig has put in thousands of hours working in various clubs,
on athletic teams including soccer and track, on the Wellington Teen Council and with voluntary groups such as the Animal Rescue League and Odyssey of the Mind. Ashley intends to pursue a career in environ-
mental journalism, specializing in wildlife. She will attend the University of South Florida. The scholarship was established in memory of 1996 graduate Sarah McCarthy, who died on June 24, 1997.
Seminole Ridge High School seniors Nina Robinson, Nicole Hanson, Julie Edwards and Laura Hampson mug for a picture during Project Graduation on May 23, the Hawks’ alcohol- and drug-free graduation celebration. A wide variety of activities were available, including bull riding, putt-putt golf, dodge volleyball, air hockey and a money booth. There were raffles for appliances and lots of food and non-alcoholic refreshments.
• The Award-Winning Breakers Rees Jones® Course
7 Har-Tru Lighted Championship Tennis Courts
• State-of-the-Art Fitness Center
• Olympic-Size Swimming Pool Members Grille Offering Lunch and Happy Hour Daily
• Golf Pro Shop Junior Golf and Tennis Clinics with a 10% Member Discount
• Golf and Tennis Instruction
• Family Night Out Featuring Dinner and Children’s Activities
• Interactive Culinary Exhibitions Wine Tastings
• Nine and Dines – 9 Holes of Golf and Dinner in the Cypress Room at an Exclusive Member Rate
• Summer Holiday Festivities for Memorial Day, 4th of July and Labor Day
A very special benefit concert, “Let There Be Light” with Nestor Torres, will be held at 8 p.m. on Friday, June 22 at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in West Palm Beach. Tickets are on sale now.
“Let There Be Light” with Nestor Torres will benefit the John Wurm Rehabilitation Fund established to assist Kravis Center Technical Director John Wurm as he strives to recover from an intracranial hemorrhage he suffered on March 1. Wurm, a 46-year-old father of three young children, slipped into a coma and has not fully regained consciousness. His recovery depends on extensive rehabilitation, which is not fully covered by insurance.
Jazz flutist and Latin Grammy Award winner Torres has generously agreed to perform at the benefit concert for Wurm, who once worked on tour as Torres’ sound technician.
Torres has been captivating audiences with his sensual mix of Latin and pop sounds for more than two decades. By transforming the flute’s role in the contemporary musical landscape, the remarkable virtuoso has almost singlehandedly established a new genre of music. A classically trained musician, Torres has played alongside jazz giants such as Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter, and Latin music icons Tito Puente and Gloria Estefan.
Tickets for “Let There Be Light” with Nestor Torres are $20 to $80 and can be purchased online at www.kravis.org or by calling the Kravis Center box office at (561) 832-7469. Proceeds will go to the John Wurm Fund. Donations to the fund can also be made at any Bank of America location.
The Kravis Center is located at 701 Okeechobee Blvd. in downtown West Palm Beach.
continued from page 20A in the audience). It was the first Beatles album to win real respect from the music world, picking up four Grammies (although one was for engineering and the other for that incredible cover).
For those of us who already knew the Beatles were immortal, it was a fascinating move away from their norm. But for many others who had adamantly refused to listen to their music, to accept the talent of the band, it began a recognition that rock was an important musical form.
A lot has happened in music in the past 40 years... but almost everything began with the Sergeant. This column is my salute.
The ninth annual Palm Beach County League of Cities gala dinner/dance was held Saturday, June 2 at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in West Palm Beach. The main event of the evening was the installation of the 2007-08 Board of Directors, which was preceded by the presentation of colors by the Lantana Police Honor Guard and the recognition of people who had been extremely supportive and helpful to the Palm Beach League of Cities. The master of ceremonies for the evening was the league’s Executive Director Jamie Titcomb. The keynote addresses were delivered by incoming president and Lantana Mayor David Stewart, outgoing president and Boynton Beach City Commissioner Carl McKoy and Florida League of Cities President Rene Flowers.
By Steve Pike Town-Crier Staff Report
The prospect of a Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market taking the anchor spot in the Wellington Marketplace has been met with anticipation and skepticism from current tenants of one of the village’s landmark neighborhood shopping centers.
The 46,000-square-foot
space has sat empty in the plaza since original tenant WinnDixie closed in August, one of a wave of closings for the ailing supermarket chain.
While mega-retailer Wal-Mart is best known for its large discount stores and vast “Supercenters” that sell a wide array of merchandise as well as groceries, its nine-year-old Neighborhood Market concept offers
primarily grocery shopping in locations that are smaller than traditional Wal-Mart stores.
While the addition of a WalMart Neighborhood Market would restore an anchor merchant and increase customer traffic in the Wellington Marketplace, tenants might have to wait as long as two years for it to become a reality.
Wal-Mart officials are look-
Attention Shoppers — The former Winn-Dixie grocery store in the Wellington Marketplace, closed since last August, is slated to be the new home of a Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market.
ing at early 2009 as the target opening date for their Wellington Neighborhood Market.
The plaza’s management company is Clearwater-based Bruce Strumpf Inc. Spokesperson Jill Strumpf said that while they hope the opening can be hastened, “we don’t have any control over that. Wal-Mart is responsible for the build-out and the permitting.”
Strumpf said Wal-Mart is not yet paying rent on the space and could not offer an estimate on when the retailer would begin doing so.
Wal-Mart spokesperson Michelle Azel told the Town-Crier that the permitting process and refitting work on the existing building are the primary reasons for the lengthy timeline.
While several tenants of the Wellington Marketplace interviewed by the Town-Crier welcome the Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market, they questioned the timetable.
“I think everybody is happy about it because it will bring in traffic, but we’re keeping our fingers crossed it will be sooner,” said Nancy Smith, former owner and now the buyer for Elegant Estates, an antiques and consignment store.
Solomon also said she’d like to see the Neighborhood Market come in sooner. “It will be a big plus for the shopping center and the neighborhood,” she said.
“Anything is better than a big, empty building.”
But Jack Van Dell, owner of Van Dell Jewelers, disagrees.
“The W in Wellington and the W in Wal-Mart are at two different ends of the universe,” he said.
Van Dell, however, did agree with his fellow tenants that the timeline is on the slow side.
“Two years is an awful long time to be left with a hole in a shopping center,” he said.
Scotty’s Sport Shop owner Jerry Steuerer is an 18-year tenant of the Wellington Marketplace. Like his fellow business owners, Steuerer said he’d like to see the space filled because it would be good for all concerned, but called the lengthy waiting time “ridiculous.”
“It’s disgraceful for that building to be vacant for two years,” Steuerer said. “If that’s the case, I’m totally against it.”
Azel said Wal-Mart operates 118 Neighborhood Markets across the country, including 13 in Florida. A 50,000-square-foot Naples location, one of the
Wellington Pup owner Linda See WAL-MART, page 6B
By Leonard Wechsler Town-Crier Staff Report
XCSTACI Café is a new place in Royal Palm Beach for people to get quality food with the tang of the Caribbean. The name is an acronym for “Exotic Caribbean Sorbets, Treats and Cuisines, Inc.” and reflects the nature of the food in this restaurant undergoing a transformation.
The restaurant, which is taking over the old Yogurt Plus location in the Royal Plaza, is serving ice cream, coffee and breakfast and will soon also provide a variety of treats for lunch and dinner.
Lyndon Sherriffe, known as Rick to one and all, is a friendly master of ceremonies. “People here in Palm Beach love really good food, but they also want to eat healthy,” he said. “We serve really tasty food, but we’re also working hard to make certain that all our foods are as healthy as possible.”
Sherriffe noted that most of the ice cream flavors he serves are low or no fat and many also have no sugar. “We’re also planning to make more of our own special ice creams,” he said with a smile. “We’re going to have some wonderful Caribbean flavors that many people have never tasted before. And we’re going to do as many as possible in yogurt and in no-fat formats.”
Sherriffe and business partner Dale Quammie have begun serving breakfast. “We now open at 7 a.m.,” Sherriffe said, “and we’ll start even earlier if we get many requests for that.”
The breakfast menu offers the fare residents of the western communities expect from restaurants in the area, including special combo meals, three-egg omelets and a variety of sandwiches, bagels, burritos and wraps. “Not everything is typically breakfast,” Quammie said, “but a lot of people buy our food for takeout. People have told us they like the extra spices we can put in, although we only do that if they request it.”
Quammie said XCSTACI will have a rotating menu of exotic dishes to introduce people to the tastes of the Caribbean. “We’ll change the menu every week,” he promised. “We also will have a large selection of vegetarian items for those people who want them.”
Among the dishes planned are mango pies, curry chicken, escovitch fish and Quammie’s special favorite, plum-glazed chicken. “The chicken is grilled
before my special glaze is added,” Quammie said. “Most people love it.”
“We’re also working to make our foods as healthy as possible,” Sherriffe said. “Everything will be cooked or baked by us daily. If people who have special dietary restrictions call in advance, we can often alter our preparation so they can enjoy our food.”
Sherriffe and Quammie also own the catering business Royal Palm Management and are able to cater events anywhere in the western communities. The number for the catering business is (561) 572-6865.
XCSTACI is located in the Royal Plaza at 601 Royal Palm Beach Blvd. near the intersection of Southern Blvd. The eatery opens at 7 a.m. seven days a week, closing at 9 p.m. weekday nights and 10 p.m. on weekends. For more information, call (561) 791-8466.
By Steve Pike Town-Crier Staff Report
For 15 years, Jorge Ramos tended to the dings and dents in young people’s lives at the Palm Beach County Juvenile Detention Center. Fifteen years was enough.
Three years ago he decided to go into a less stressful line of work, so together with his brother Richie he started Perfection Mobile Autobody Refinishing, a Wellington-based company that takes auto body repair services to its customers.
“Richie did most of the painting for Schumacher Buick for many years before we decided to get into mobile auto body repair,” Jorge Ramos said. “There is some competition out here, but I don’t think anybody does it as well as we do.”
What the Ramos brothers do is remove minor dings and dents from vehicles, as well as touch up paint and refinish bumpers in an area stretching from Jupiter to Delray Beach. Best of all, the brothers go to their customers, whether individuals, large car dealerships or rental car agencies.
“Our business is definitely growing,” Richie Ramos said. “We average about five house calls per week, but we can do more. People like the fact that they don’t have to drop off their car for three weeks and pay for a rental car. They can have us come out to it and have no down time.”
Jorge said he and his brother
can do much of the repair work a conventional body shop can do. “But obviously we don’t have all the equipment to paint a complete car or do major work,” he said. “So we specialize in bumpers, molding, mirrors, things like that. Bigger stuff, like body panels, we don’t get into because then you’re talking about some heavy bodywork. We can go to a dealership and do nine or ten cars at one time in terms of small repair.”
The brothers contract with area car dealers to perform minor repair work on trade-in vehicles and lease returns, as well as new cars that might have suffered during delivery.
“When people turn in their leased cars, the dealers charge a lot of money for repairs,”
Richie Ramos said. “If those people take it to us, they can save up to 75 percent. So when they turn in the lease, everything passes.”
The brothers have worked on all kinds of cars, from the family van to sports cars and even the occasional Bentley.
“About 50 percent of the time people think they have to paint a scratch on their car when all we have to do is some water sanding and buffing,” Richie Ramos said. “That saves people a lot of money. People think removing scratches and dents is probably going to cost $300 or $500, but we can generally do it for a lot less.”
For more information about Perfection Mobile Autobody Refinishing, call (561) 434-7576 Monday through Saturday.
The Palm Beach Zoo will be exhibiting a rare white alligator through the end of September. The snow-white, blue-eyed alligator named Mardi is nine feet long and weighs an impressive
250 pounds. Mardi gets his name from “Mardi Gras.” He, like all white alligators, is from Louisiana. He will be on display starting June 15, courtesy of FPL’s Sunshine Energy Program.
All known white alligators are male. No one knows for certain why these alligators were born white. In fact they are not, as most people assume, albinos. Their eyes are brilliantly blue rather than the characteristic red of albino animals.
Only alligators with protective
coloration survive in the wild.
The white alligators that are now exhibited in zoos and aquariums throughout the country were rescued by workers from the Louisiana Land and Exploration Company who spotted the unusual babies minutes after they hatched and brought them to be raised at the Aquarium of the Americas and the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans.
The Palm Beach Zoo is located at Dreher Park in West Palm Beach. For more information, visit www.palmbeachzoo.org.
continued from page 1B chain’s newest, opened in March. Like all Neighborhood Markets, it features a full line of groceries as well as a selection of general merchandise. “We have 29,000 items from a grocery standpoint in a Neighborhood Market,” Azel said.
This is the second time the Bentonville, Arkansas-based Wal-Mart has proposed a location in Wellington. In 2003, the company proposed a 192,232square-foot Supercenter on State Road 7 near the Mall at Wellington Green, and in response, the Wellington Village Council drew up a “big box” ordinance imposing tight design standards on commercial and industrial buildings greater
than 15,000 square feet in size.
The Wal-Mart proposal, which was later dropped, drew fire from critics particularly because the new store would have been so close to another Supercenter, a 227,000-square-foot establishment less than three miles away on State Road 7 at Belvedere Road in Royal Palm Beach that opened in October 2002.
Azel said Wal-Mart doesn’t think Supercenters and Neighborhood Markets in close proximity work at cross-purposes because they cater to different needs.
“Neighborhood Markets are for people who want to do their grocery shopping and maybe drop off their prescriptions and pick them up when they’re done,” she said. “A Supercenter is allout shopping.”
The staff at Grayhills and Mohip Dental.
The Wellington Chamber of Commerce will join Grayhills & Mohip Dental and Associates of Wellington on Tuesday, June 12 to present the “Kickoff to Summer” reception. The event will take place from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Grayhills& Mohip Dental office, located at 250 Professional Way. There will be food, cocktails and networking. RSVP to (561) 792-6525.
The Oakwood Center of the Palm Beaches recently announced the appointment of Maureen Huber as director of development. In this position, Huber will be responsible for managing daily operations of all development programs, donor relations and special events.
Prior to joining Oakwood, Huber spent 12 years coordinating fundraising programs and marketing campaigns while serving as a development officer for various local non-profits.
“We are extremely pleased to have someone with Maureen’s expertise as part of our team,” said Oakwood Center Chief Executive Officer Dr. Linda De Piano. “One of Maureen’s first projects will be organizing the
The Palm Beach Hispanic Chamber of Commerce will host the breakfast event “Cafe con Leche” on Wednesday, June 13 at the Governor’s Club (777 S. Flagler Dr., Suite 1209, West Palm Beach). The event is a timely presentation on the real estate market and will take place from 7:30 to 9 a.m. The guest speaker will be Eric Sain, chairman-elect of the Realtors Association of the Palm Beaches. He will offer perspectives on the local as well as international real estate market. The presenting sponsor for the event is the Realtors Association of the Palm Beaches. Gold Sponsors are the Sun-Sentinel, El Sentinel and the Forum Publishing Group. Admission costs $20 for members in advance, $25 for members at the door and $25 for nonmembers. RSVP by calling (561) 832-1986 or by visiting www. palmbeachhispanicchamber. com.
The Women’s Chamber of Commerce of Palm Beach County will celebrate its 12th anniversary with the installation dinner “Champagne & Roses” on Thursday, June 14 at Breakers West Country Club. The evening starts at 6:30 p.m. and will feature the installation of the board of officers for 2007-08. The cost is $50 for members and $60 for non-members. Courtesy valet parking will be
Walter D. Kelly Award Luncheon scheduled for November 2007.”
A native of Connecticut, Huber attended Carlow College in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She is actively involved in many local organizations, including the Wellington Chamber of Commerce and the Palms West Chamber of Commerce.
The Oakwood Center provides treatment for adults and children with behavioral disorders to help them restore and maintain their productive lives in the community. Its mission is to help clients build resiliency, facilitate recovery and achieve reintegration into the community by designing and delivering behavioral healthcare services that meet their needs and expec-
available. Attendees must present a picture ID at the door. RSVP to (561) 253-0236 or sign up on the chamber’s web site at www.womenschamber.biz.
Beginning next week, the first of approximately 40 children will attend 4-H Animal Camp at the South Florida Fairgrounds. Youngsters from ages eight to 12 will enjoy and experience a full schedule of farm activities.
Lessons will focus on sugar cane, crops, horses, rabbits and poultry. Participants will visit either a dairy farm in Okeechobee County or a hog farm in Indian River County. The camp will also include tours of historic Yesteryear Village at the South Florida Fairgrounds, a 10-acre town with over 20 historic and preserved buildings. Camp sessions are June 4-8 and June 1822.
The 4-H Animal Camp has yielded positive results in the past. At the 2007 South Florida Fair, youth agricultural participation was up markedly, thanks in part to the previous year’s camp.
Palm Beach County is the leading agricultural county in the state. Camp organizers and counselors are hoping it stays that way well into future generations.
For more information about the 4-H Animal Camp at the South Florida Fairgrounds, call (561) 790-5229 or e-mail bettye @southfloridafair.com.
tations. For more information about the Oakwood Center and its services, call (561) 383-5725 or visit www.oakwoodcenter. org.
Florida Agriculture & Consumer Services Commissioner Charles Bronson said recently that his department is closely monitoring the migration of the red palm mite (Raoiella indica Hirst). Though it has not arrived in Florida, agriculture officials fear it is only a matter of time before it does.
The red palm mite causes serious leaf damage, which ruins the ornamental value of palms, and some growers anticipate as much as a 50 percent loss in coconut production.
Scientists observed that the mite has spread in the Caribbean to infest other exotic and ornamental plants, including banana and heliconia species. Equally worrisome is the mite’s ability to disperse with the wind, which in Florida means that hurricane season may bring with it more than devastating weather.
Surveys for potential infestations have been conducted in coastal areas of Miami-Dade, Hillsborough, Sarasota, Manatee, Pinellas, Broward, Monroe and Lee counties.
For more information on the red palm mite, contact Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services entomologist Dr. Cal Welbourn at welbouc@doacs.state.fl.us or visit www.doacs.state.fl.us/pi/ enpp/ento/red_palm_mite.html.
After reviewing the pest alert, if you think you have seen a red palm mite, call the department’s helpline at (888) 397-1517.
On Friday, May 18, the Palm Healthcare Foundation held its fifth annual Nursing Distinction Awards dinner at the Breakers Palm Beach.
The dinner, which honored Palm Beach County’s dedicated and highly skilled nursing professionals, featured nominees from across the nursing spectrum including: registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, nurse educators, nursing assistants, nursing students and volunteers who have made a significant impact on the lives of patients and fellow healthcare professionals throughout the community.
The winners are as follows: Jimmy Smith, 2007 Nurse of the Year; Geralyn Lunsford, Leadership; Jose Cuberge, Certified Nursing Assistant of the Year; Dorothy Sanders, Registered Nurse of the Year; Lisa Bailey, Licensed Practical Nurse of the Year; Lisa Einkauf, Nursing Student of the Year; Priscilla Dunson Bartolone, Educator of the Year; and Carol Pess, Hands & Heart Award. Two of the winners, Cuberge and Sanders, are Royal Palm Beach residents.
Cuberge was nominated by a group of volunteers who work by his side
greeting emergency room patients seeking care. A Palms West Hospital employee for 12 years, Cuberge is described as level-headed and caring. He has a way of putting patients at ease by listening to their concerns and providing reassurance, and he is willing to interpret when needed. Cuberge has been recognized twice by his peers as the Emergency Department CNA of the Year and has been nominated for HCA’s prestigious Frist Award as someone who goes above and beyond the call of duty in his profession and is active in the community. Cuberge is also a friend to volunteers. His caring manner shows his appreciation of their services.
Sanders has contributed her expertise in mental health nursing for more than 30 years at the Oakwood Center of the Palm Beaches. From the acute unit to the outpatient clinic, she demonstrates the best of nursing by establishing trusting relationships and consistently providing excellent care for patients who are frequently shunned by society.
For more information about the Palm Healthcare Foundation, visit www.palm healthcarefoundation.org.
The United States Small Business Administration and the Business Software Alliance recently announced a partnership to educate nearly 100,000 small businesses on proper software management and the risks associated with the use of unlicensed software.
Coined “Software Strategies for Small Businesses,” the multi-year partnership will provide small businesses and SBA resource partners with a set of software asset management tools and educational materials that will help small businesses establish, communicate and enforce policies that ensure copyright compliance in the work force.
In the United States, small businesses face the greatest risk for software piracy due to their lack of established software management practices. Furthermore, small businesses are less likely to recognize the benefits a software policy affords. According to the SBA, small businesses paid more than $11.4 million in fines to settle software piracy claims in 2006 alone. An independent study shows that 21 percent of software in the United States is unlicensed. Last year, the U.S. lost $6.9 billion as a result of software piracy. For more information, visit www. smartaboutsoftware.org.
Discover a retirement lifestyle that’s just right for you.At Newport Place, you’ll enjoy resort-style amenities while experiencing a renewed social life in a comfortable atmosphere.You can rely on our friendly housekeeping services to keep your apartment home looking beautiful, leaving you plenty of time to take aerobics,play mah-jongg with friends or learn how to paint.
Located in warm and breezy Palm Beach County, Newport Place is close to world-renowned beaches and museums.You’ll be amazed at the wide range of cultural and recreation activities available daily. Whatever it is you’re looking for,you’ll find it at Newport Place
Lovely apartment homes are available,and no large buy-in fees are required.Call Newport Place today at (561) 586-6455.
The start of hurricane season clashed with the end of concert season in Royal Palm Beach last Friday. Though it was planned for the amphitheater at Veterans Park, the final concert of the village’s “First Night” series was held inside the Royal Palm Beach Cultural Center. Music lovers braved the rain and turned out to enjoy Hot Brass Monkey, who entertained the small but appreciative crowd with their versions of songs by Chicago, Steely Dan and others. The First Night concert series will resume in February 2008.
The Down the Street Bead Show was held last Friday through Sunday at the South Florida Fairgrounds. True “beaders” braved the rain and came to buy their favorite glass beads, semiprecious beads and crystals. For those who aren’t into creating their own jewelry, there were several vendors offering necklaces, bracelets and earrings already made. There was something for all skill levels from beginners to advanced jewelrymakers at the numerous vendor booths. For more information about the show, visit www.thedownthestreetbeadshow.com or call (866) 667-3232.
of the
Wait a minute — stop the world, I may want to get off. Is the world going crazy or is it just me? My wife Sharon has been telling me for years that I, shall we say in a polite way, “march to the beat of a different drummer.” Of course, that isn’t the way my wife says it… I had to clean it up so the Town-Crier would print it. But now other people are starting to tell me the same thing my wife has been telling me for years.
The other day a stranger called me some very nasty names at least nine times. The funny thing is I never met this person in my life. For some strange reason, he and many others just don’t like (lovable) me.
At first I thought I was alone in this very large world where people don’t like me, but as I watch the news on TV and read the newspapers I see there are plenty of folks in our world who do not like other folks.
I know all of this hate started before Iraq invaded Kuwait, but that event seems to have been the turning point. We have bombs going off in Pakistan and India. (These two countries like to exchange gun fire on their common border every now and then and, of course, they both have nukes.)
We have some type of war going on in Lebanon. Is it a civil war, or is it outside invaders trying to overthrow the elected government? Indonesia has seen some bombs go off within its borders, and so have Bosnia
With Ernie Zimmerman
and Kosovo. Africa has a river of blood flowing, and the rest of the world (with few exceptions) doesn’t seem to care. I wonder why? Actually I think I know the answer, but I will let you decide on your own. The folks living in Sudan, Somalia, Uganda and the Congo must think they are no longer part of planet Earth.
Where is the United Nations when you need them? (Ha ha.) How can they and we allow the slaughter of millions to take place and not do a thing about it? I thought we learned our lesson in World War II about just standing by and doing nothing as people die. I am also wondering, where are Jesse and Al? The folks in Africa sure could use your help.
On the West Bank and the Gaza Strip we have groups that call themselves Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Al-Aqsa. Their main function in life is to kill Jews and Ameri-
cans. England and Spain have had bombs go off in their countries. Iraq has bombs going off every day. In the month of May, 2,155 Iraqis were killed. And of course, don’t forget that more than 3,478 Americans have been killed in Iraq and more than 25,685 have been wounded. And of course don’t forget Afghanistan. (I am also wondering why we don’t destroy the ever-blooming poppy fields in that country…) Guess where the next group of immigrants will be coming from — if you answered Iraq, you are correct. The big question is whether we will be able to trust them once they arrive on our shores.
The Turks have moved thousands of troops to their border with Iraq. And they said they will go into Iraq if they have to. North and South Korea keep giving each other dirty looks. Oh yeah, we’ve got 40,000 troops between them. And don’t forget North Korea and Iran are very close to having their very own nukes.
The big question is, how close are the bad guys getting to having their very own dirty bomb? I say very close. The question is not will we (the United States) be attacked again, but when and where will we be attacked.
As you can see, we live in a very crazy world. Come on people, as Rodney King once said, “can’t we all just get along?”
Many people like to enclose their homes with hedging for more privacy and also for more color, since many of the plants used for hedges have colorful foliage or attractive flowers. Many people select plants for hedges based on how fast they will grow, but that may not be the best policy.
Many plants used for hedges would normally develop as trees, but are kept pruned down to a small size to be maintained as hedges. By using slower-growing plants, you won’t have to trim them quite as much as you would a fast-growing tree.
Depending on the look you want, you can have fine foliage or larger-leafed plants as hedges. Generally plants with finer or smaller leaves will give a better sight and
sound buffer than larger-leafed plants.
If your hedging plants have flowers or attractive fruits, pruning needs to be kept to a minimum because most plants produce flowers on new growth and constant trimming or shaping will cut off potential fruit or flowers.
The spacing for hedges varies, but most plants should be placed about two feet apart. Once you get a total length of hedge you need, simply divide by two and then you know how many plants to buy at your favorite garden center or landscape company. A lot of people try to put in the biggest plants available for a more instant look, but often if it’s a large, long area, you may have difficulty finding plants of the same size. Sometimes smaller plants are better, and since most
hedges will grow from two to six feet in a year or less, you’ll have the privacy you require before long. Hedges need to be pruned regularly, but not excessively. Prune hedges too regularly and they become very woody, and after a while tend not to have an attractive appearance. Also, if you have flowering hedges, constant pruning means you will cut off most of your potential blooms. Hedges require fertilizing about twice a year, or sometimes more if you’re irrigating a lot. Mulches are also often used beneath hedges to prevent weed competition, particularly when the plants are small. Once the hedge gets good sized and thickens up, weeds should not be a major headache. If you’d like to see examples of plants
By Gene Joyner
used for hedges in our local area, a good place is the Mounts Botanical Garden at 531 N. Military Trail in West Palm Beach. They have examples of many types of hedges, so you can actually see what the plant looks like when maintained as a hedge. If you have hedge questions, call the Palm Beach County Extension office for free advice at (561) 233-1750.
$18-$25/HR — Teachers/Tutors P/T. All subjects PreK to Adult. Certification/ Experience required. Palm Beach County Areas Fax 561-828-8128 or Email Tutorking@adelphia.net HELP WANTED/BOOKKEEPER EXPERIENCED; Familiar with QUICKBOOKS - Full-Time position. Pay commensurate with experience. Fax resume to A. Silver - 561-432-2825
CLEANERS RESIDENTIAL FT — Car required, Pd. Training. North and West Palm Beach Cty. Up to $10/hr Start. 561756-2282
RECEPTIONIST — For Lawyer and Accounting Office. Fax resume to 561-7931470
NEEDED: Experienced home care providers for a 65-year old woman with health problems. Flexible part-or-full-time/9AM-5PM. Must have references and driver’s license. Spanish-speaking preferred but not required. Wellington 561-793-2903
WORK FROM HOME NO EXPERIENCE NEEDED
Let your home computer work for you! Your House. Your Business. Our proven system. Free personal coaching earn up to $500 - $5,000 PT/FT visit our website www.kmm.Theonlinebusiness.com HELP WANTED IRRIGATION FOREMAN — Great Pay/Full Time. 7 years experience minimum. Residential/Commercial Clean Class D Drivers. Lic. Drug Free (561) 436-3621 OR (772) 260-3691
VETERINARY RECEPTIONIST
WANTED — For busy practice near airport. Pleasant attitude a plus. Fax resume to 561-689-8433. House Cleaning — mature lady for thorough cleaning Tues. & Thurs. Mornings each week. Experienced & References. 561-795-7552.
Wellington Law Office - needs individual with strong MS Word Skills for Word Processing & general office duties. PT or FT Hours available $10 - $12/hr. Will Train. Fax resume 561-333-1824
PART-TIME-WEEKEND CASHIER
PINCH A PENNY - WELLINGTONResponsible Individual - Pool & Spa Retail Store. No Nights - apply in person. 11924 W. Forest Hill Blvd. - Wellington. Town Square Center @South Shore & Forest Hill Blvd.
PLACE YOUR HELP WANTED AD HERE CALL 793-3576 FOR MORE INFO!
DOUBLE NICHE IN ROYAL PALM MEMORIAL GARDENS MAUSOLEUM — Includes 2 openings & closings. Current price $2,800 asking $1,995 OBO. 772219-8153
2006 KUBOTA L4400 TRACTOR — 3 attachments, red master harrow, roller & front end bucket. 92 hrs. Like new. $23,000 OBO 561-662-4498 STACK WASHER/DRYER — Microwave, Range, Professional Fitness Equipment, Iron Queen Size bed. 561-740-0518 MITSUBISHI 45" Rear Projection TV — Great picture Excellent condition. All manual included. Asking $500.00 561333-6404
22 FT. 1980 CATALINA SAILBOAT — with swing keel on trailer 2006 4 horse power outboard Yamaha, sleeps 5, portable head, gallery and radio. Asking $2500. Call 561-385-3606
KIDS BEDROOM - T loft bunk w/desk dresser chair. Wood, excellent condition. $450.00 OBO. 352-3012. Moving must go by June 11th.
MATTRESSES QUEEN/KING $189. Call 561-848-8765 brand new in the plastic.
1999 DODGE CARAVAN — New tires. AS IS. $1,000 FIRM! 561-315-1508 2004 TOYOTA TUNDRA SR5 — Access Cab 4 D — Excellent Condition – tan/ tan Off Road Pkg. Towing Pkg. 45K mi. $18,900. Call 561-385-3605
POSTAL OFFICE NOW HIRING — Avg. Pay $20/hour or $57K annually including Federal Benefits and OT. Paid Training, Vacations. PT/FT. 1-800-584-1775. Ext. 2900 USWA
ABUSED DOG — Desperately seeking safe, loving, forever home. “Bella” young, female, hound mix. Sweet disposition. Good with animals & children. Please open your home and heart . Fully Vetted. Inquiries 561-632-6144 MUST SELL B CLASS SERAMAS — Cheapest price around. Pure Malaysian. 561-204-1145 Cell: 561-985-2445
LOWEST PRICES! — Nobody beats our Price! Free Est. Complete A/C units from $1,150. Repair Specialists. Lic./ins. 561-795-1130 toll free 888-981-9815
Air Conditioning Special — REDUCE
ELECTRIC BILL!! ALL POINT TUNE-UP
Including: Freon, Relay, Air Flow, Voltage & Ampage Draws, Cooling Loss, Condenser Coil, Drain Lines, Calibrate Thermostat. FREE Reusable Filter. BEAT THE HEAT CALL NOW! 561-333-7274. AIR CONDITIONING Repairs • Installation • Immediate Services. Mazella Mechanical Inc. Lic. #CMC1249709
MOBILE -TEC ON-SITE COMPUTER SERVICE — The computer experts that come to you! Hardware/Software setup, support & troubleshooting www.mobiletec.net 561-248-2611 $25 Off Labor
CONCRETE RESURFACING — Pools, decks, patios, & interior floors, spray deck, kook deck, stone design, Paver Repair & Resealing. 561-790-4588
ROCKANDRECORD.COM - A professional DJ and Videography Service. Disc Jockey • Music • Entertainment • Professional MC's • Weddings • Bar/ Bat Mitzvah • Sweet 16/Birthday Parties • Anniversaries • Private & Corporate Events • Holiday Parties 561-4224336
RENT ME! - 2007 JOHN DEERE 110 LOADER BACKHOE — Rental includes truck w/100 gal. Diesel Tank for your convenience, Trailer and Tractor. Moves Dirt, backhoe for stump & tree removal and much more. Can be used for small or large jobs. 4 hour min/$40 Per Hr. rate without operator $65 Per Hr. with operator. Pump w/fuel meter for greater ease. Box blade available. 561-7840933. Leave Message. JB Cell 561-3157751
SPECIALITY FENCE & GATE, LLC — LIC. #U-20555 All types of fence, alum, PVC, chain link, wood, pool fence, emergency repairs. Free Estimates. Call 561629-6637
GUARDSMAN FURNITURE PRO — For all your furniture repair needs including finish repairs, structural repairs, upholstery services, chair regluing, antique repairs, kitchen cabinet refurbishing. 753-8689
COMPLETE AUTO SHOP LOCATED IN THE MIDDLE OF LOXAHATCHEE!! -
Services provided; Brakes, Steering and Suspension, Belts and Hoses, Complete Engine Repair, Oil and Filters, Motor Tune Ups, Custom Exhaust Systems, A/C Repair, And Much More!!! Pick-up/Deliver Mark Hamilton Auto Repair "ASE Certified" Office: 561-793-1010 o Cell: 954-605-8416 MV#62390 Visa/MC/Amex accepted.
Learn Quickbooks One-on-One. Have a small business & need to learn Quickbooks? I will teach you: Stacy 561383-5661
HOUSE CLEANING AVAILABLE — Over 13 yrs. experience. Great references. Very Dependable. Karen. 561-632-2271
ANNETTE’S CLEANING SERVICES — Quality Cleaning: Unbelievably Low Prices. Houses $45, Apartments $20. Excellent Local References. 561-7848823
HOUSE CLEANING — Available flexible hours/No Job too Big or Too Small. References upon Request. Please call Dina 561-951-2770
HOUSE CLEANING/PET SITTING (YOUR HOME) - Reliable, owner operated excellent references. Charlene 561572-1782
CLUTTER FREE CLOSETS — For all your organizing needs. Custom closets. NOW OFFERING THE AMAZING BOOKSHELF BI-FOLD CLOSET DOOR. Robert Powell/Owner. FREE ESTIMATES. 561-422-7999 Lic. & Ins.
D.J. COMPUTER — Home & office, Spyware removal, websites, networks, repairs, upgrades, virus removal, tutoring. Call Jeff 561-333-9433 or Cell 561252-1186 Lic’d- Well. & Palm Beach
OASIS BUILDERS LLC — All types of Roofs & Repairs. Specializing in impact glass windows. Free estimates • Fast service. CGC 1511962 CCC 1327805. 1-800-733-5010
HOME STANDBY GENERATORS — Complete packages including fueled system - Best Prices & reliable new Generator systems installed from 15 to 200KW “More Practical and much quieter” Maintenance & Service for all types of generators. Factory Authorized Dealer. 561-707-0575 Palm Beach. Tropical Power Systems, Inc.
CAN FIX IT — build it, move it, plant it, and more. Call Bruce, 793-2494. TFN
BILLY’S HOME REPAIRS, INC. — Interior Trim, crown molding, rottenwood repair, door installation, minor drywall, kitchens/cabinets/countertops, remodeling, wood flooring. Bonded/Insured U#19699. 561-791-9900
I’M A HANDYMAN — Rent me hourly/ job. Slightly used craftsman practicing all trades while designing & constructing own home. Any job from hanging a fan to remodeling.Textured walls, painting, flooring, cabinets/vanities etc. Make your repair honey-do-list, free estimates, Greg. 561-531-3141
ANMAR CO. –James’ All Around Handyman Service. Excellent craftman Old time values. Once you’ve had me! You’ll have me back! Lic. Ins. Certified Residential Contractor CRC 1327426 561-248-8528
ATLANTIC SHORE HOME IMPROVEMENT — Kitchen & Bathrooms/Remodel, Ceramic & Wood Floors, Carpentry & Handyman Services, Doors & Windows. References upon request. 561-756-0428 Anthony Palermo Lic. #CGC057252 Ins.
MCA CUSTOM WOODWORKING, INC.
— “Make your home standout from the rest” Call us for all your home improvement needs. Kitchen & bathroom remodeling, custom wall units, design your home office, cabinetry, tile & drywall repair. Lic. #U-19564. Bonded & Ins. 561723-5836
QUALITY HOME IMPROVEMENTS Affordable Prices — Painting Interior & Exterior, Drywall, Knockdown Texture, Fire & Water Rest., Crown Moldings, Bathroom Remodeling, Kitchen Remodeling, Tile & Marble. AND MUCH MORE... 10% OFF with this ad! One Stop Shop. Creative Concepts Construction 561-4717874 Lic. & Bonded
LITL AUDIO/VIDEO SERVICE — spe-
cializing in Home Theatre Installation Satellite Services and communications. “I will Beat Retailer’s cost & Installation fees”! Call George for immediate service at 954-263-4189 561-784-4858 Office. Res./Comm. Lic. & Ins.
COMPLETE IRRIGATION — PVC/PIPE supplies.Citrus ,Vegetables, Power units. Water Wheels, design services, Fairways Polo fields, Pumps/Engines mowing of all types. 1-863-675-6333.
UNIVERSAL IRRIGATION SERVICE & INSTALLATION — New Installations sprinkler repair pumps/Time Clocks. We Service all brands. Monthly Maintenance. Fast Response. Lic. #U-10740 Bonded Insured. 561-795-9735
FRANK’S BUSHHOG SERVICE — Lot mowing, Lawn Maintenance, Landscaping, Lot cleaning and TREE TRIMMING reasonable rates. 561-722-4403 Lic. & Ins. TNT LANDSCAPING & LAWN CARE 561-644-8683 — Lic. & Ins. Landscape design, low maintenance gardens, professional plant installation, mulching, monthly property maintenance, sprinklers maintenance & repair, expert hedge & tree trimming.
EVERGREEN LANDSCAPING INC.
Let us take care. Residential & Commercial, Lic. & Ins. Professional landscape design & installation. Reasonable & reliable. Waterfall & Ponds, exotics, landscape & flatstone. Butterfly gardens, tropical and Mediterranean. www.evergreensgardens.net 561-7236166
LAWN MAINTENANCE CARL SAMUELS
LAWN CARE — Complete lawn maintenance, mowing, edging, trimming & much more. Free estimates. Quality work at affordable prices! Lic. & Ins. 561-6333687
ARMENTO PAINTING & SONS, INC. ––Painting, Interior, Exterior. Pressure cleaning. Custom painting, faux art. Lic. No. U14736. 798-8978. BD
JOHN PERGOLIZZI PAINTING INC. ––– Interior/Exterior, artistic faux finishing, pressure cleaning, popcorn ceiling, drywall repair, & roof painting/cleaning. Free est. Call 798-4964. Lic.#U18473
LARRY’S PAINTING & WALLPAPER — Licensed • Bonded • Insured. Interior/ Exterior painting. 561-309-2845. Wallpaper - Luanne 561-801-2018
Painting • Residential • Commercial • Historical Restoration • Faux Finishing • Stucco Repair • Roof Painting • and Pressure Cleaning • Sand Blasting • Mold Removal. FLEISCHER’S PAINTING • 561833-6661.
LET US AD A LITTLE COLOR TO YOUR LIFE — Residential/Commercial. Licensed • Bonded • Insured. Owner/Operator. Ask for Paul 561-309-8290. COLORS BY CORO, INC. — Interior/ Exterior, residential painting, over 20 years exp. Small Jobs welcome. Free estimates - Insured. 561-383-8666. Owner/Operated. Lic.# U20627 Ins. Wellington Resident.
RJA PAINTING & DECORATING — interior, exterior, custom colors, faux artwork, all work guaranteed. Lic. Bonded & Insured. 561-616-2255
MMP PAINTING - Pressure Cleaning, Interior/Exterior Painting, Paver Sealers, Driveways, Ins.&Bonded. Lic. #U-18263. Office 561-790-4026 Cell 561-719-0516
Exterior Savings Call For More Details.
561-601-4707 THE DOG NANNY — Wellington and individualized pampering for Wellington & Western Communities. Dogs at their Home & Office surrounding. Dog walks, Doggie Moi Play Sessions & sleepovers. American Red Cross Pet CPR/FIRST Aid Certified.
JOHN’S SCREEN SERVICE –– Pool & patio rescreening. Stay tight, wrinklefree, guaranteed!Lic.#9001390.7983132.
ROLL DOWN SHUTTERS — Accordion shutters, storm panels and rolling shutters...prices that can’t be beat. All shutters Systems, Inc. 863-0955 AFFORDABLE HURRICANE PROTECTION — 2 - 4 wks. Installed Guaranteed! 10% deposit . Will get you started. All products, Dade County approved. We manufacture our own product. 561-5686099, 772-342-8705 Lic. & Ins. CGC 1511213
NEED HELP DEALING WITH THE IRS?
“You dealt with the rest now deal with the best” maintenance and repairs. Inquire about 1 months FREE service. 561-7915073 ELITE POOL CLEANING
J&B PRESSURE CLEANING — Established in 1984. All types of pressure cleaning, roofs, houses, driveways, patios etc. Commercial & Residential.Call Butch 561-309-6975 BD
SIGMA III CORPORATION PRIVATE INVESTIGATIVE SERVICE — Domestic investigation, surveillance, missing persons. Background investigation into that new boyfriend or fiance, hidden assets located and more. Lic. & Ins. 561-3124386 Member of Better Business Bureau Lic. #A2300091
PRIMROSE PROPERTY MANAGEMENT, LLC — Full Service. Residential Home Care for full or part time residents. Weekly inspections, repairs, Monthly reports. Reasonable rates. 561-602-6857 or email: primrosepm123@aol.com
MINOR ROOF REPAIRS – Roof painting. Carpentry. License #U9 865. 9675580. BD
SHAKE ROOF SPECIALISTS –– New roofs, repairs, preservation. License #CC025465. Shake Masters, Shake Chem. Members of Shake Bureau. 4396668 BD
ROBERT G. HARTMANN ROOFING ––Specializing in repairs. Free estimates, Bonded, insured. Lic. #U-11006.790-0763 or 641-4592. BD ROOFING REPAIRS REROOFING ALL TYPES — Pinewood Construction, Inc. Honest and reliable. Serving Palm Beach County for over 20 years. Call Mike 561-309-0134 Lic. Ins. Bonded. CGC023773 RC-0067207 BD A ROOFING REPAIR SPECIALISTS INC. — All work guaranteed. 40 years exp. Family owned & operated. Radio dispatched 791-8855 BD HORIZON ROOFING INCORPORATED — Quality Work & Service. Free estimates. NO DEPOSITS/Pay upon completion reliable & on time. Written warranty/credit cards accepted, residential/commercial. Reroofing, State cert. Roofing contractor. 15 yrs. Serv. So. Florida. 561-842-6120. Lic. #ccc1325633
