Town-Crier Newspaper October 24, 2008

TWO DISTRICT 85 CANDIDATES SPAR

FLYBOYS AT YOUR SERVICE

Loxahatchee

Beach, were granted special orders to ride in the belly of a Chinook helicopter with the National Guard at Cecil Field in Jacksonville. Their good fortune began during Palm Beach Helicopters’ Helicopter Career Day Sept. 20 at Lantana’s Palm Beach County Park Airport, where the men fielded questions and presented the display of a UH-1 “Huey” helicopter on which they’d spent two years and $40,000 restoring. Shown above are Jeczalik, Carroll and Rich with certificates of appreciation from the Florida Reserve National Guard. STORY & MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 12

Wellington’s Max Clark Helps ‘Light The Night’

By Candace Marchsteiner

Town-Crier Staff Report

A Wellington boy and his family led the way for hundreds of walkers on Friday, Oct. 17 during Light the Night, a twomile twilight walk benefiting the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society held at the Meyer Amphitheatre in downtown West Palm Beach.

Five-year-old Max Clark was diagnosed with leukemia in December 2007. Max and his parents Jim and Cris, along with nine-year-old brother Cameron, led Team Max, which also featured neighbors from their Eastwood community, other friends and family, and a large contin-

gent from Elbridge Gale Elementary School — administrators, teachers and the Elite Cheer squad.

The squad, coached by Wendy Gibbone, led “fight leukemia” cheers throughout the walk.

Lighting the way were balloons with inserts that illuminated one of three colors: survivors carried white balloons, supporters held red balloons, and those honoring the memory of someone who lost their battle with blood cancer carried gold balloons.

Elbridge Gale Principal Gail Pasterczyk and secretary Wendy Inman carried gold balloons in

well as a variety of other goodies in a fun environment. The independent store in the Southern Palm Crossing plaza is owned and operated by a Wellington couple, Jim and Loretta Misura. Page 32

Economic Woes Sink Sunrise Deal

By Mark Lioi Town-Crier Staff Report

After years of negotiation and preparation to build assisted-living housing for seniors in Wellington, Sunrise Senior Living is abandoning its proposal for a facility on State Road 7.

On behalf of Sunrise, planner Jennifer Vail of Land Design South submitted a letter to the village’s planning department last week requesting withdrawal of all development applications concerning the project, in conjunction with the termination of a contract between Sunrise and the village.

That contract was an agreement by the developer to purchase 5.3 acres of village-owned land at the southwest corner of State Road 7 and Pierson Road, south of the Mall at Wellington Green, for $5 million.

The village bought the 67acre K-Park property for $8.4 million in September 2003, and inked the sale of those five acres of prime frontage land to Sunrise in February. The company proposed building a four-story assisted-living facility for 110 senior residents and two twostory special-needs facilities of 16 units each.

remembrance of Barbara Mattis, mother of Boynton Beach High School Principal Keith Oswald. Mattis died of leukemia nearly two years ago.

During the event kickoff, master of ceremonies Jim Sackett of WPTV NewsChannel 5 introduced Max, whose moment of fame on the microphone was a quiet call to “light up the night.”

Max’s father Jim Clark shared with the crowd the story of his son’s brave journey, expressing heartfelt thanks to many people for their support, encouragement and medical skills.

While St. Mary’s Hospital raised the most money, more than $25,000 as a corporate sponsor, the Clark family registered the highest non-corporate fundraising total at $6,000. The event’s donation grand total exceeded $175,000.

Clark called for more public education and support regarding leukemia.

“In 40 years — my lifetime — the survivor rate for this disease has soared from three percent to more than 80 percent because of research funded by donations,” he said, adding that his family is one of the “lucky ones,” since his employer, the City of West Palm Beach, offers good insurance coverage that has paid for all of Max’s expenses thus far. Clark is a station manager for the city’s govern-

See MAX CLARK, page 18

But 2008 has been a rocky year for Sunrise, one of the country’s largest developers of senior living facilities. Last December, the company sacked three senior executives due to accounting problems that forced the company to revise and restate its financial statements, according to nationally published reports. In July, Sunrise announced it had lost more than $70 million in 2007 and would drastically scale back the number of new units it was planning to build. Sunrise’s shares on the New York Stock Exchange closed Thursday at 5.39, down ten percent on the day and worth only about 14 percent of their value one year ago.

Village Manager Paul Schofield said Thursday that with the economy in its current state, the decision by Sunrise was not a shock. “Due to the fact that there’s not a lot of credit available and most people are trying to reduce expenses, I’m not surprised that it happened,” he said. Wellington Mayor Darell Bowen echoed that sentiment but added that Sunrise had probably agreed to an unrealistically high price. “We all know what’s

See SUNRISE, page 2

FLORIDA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, DISTRICT 85

Democrat Abruzzo Seeks A Life Of Community Service

By Carol Porter Town-Crier Staff Report

Joseph Abruzzo, the Democratic candidate for State House in District 85, said he has lived in the area so long he feels like a native. Originally from Chicago, Abruzzo moved to Palm Beach County on a baseball scholarship, but a political career beckoned instead of a career in baseball.

“I came to Palm Beach County when I was 19 years old,” Abruzzo said. “I came here originally to play baseball at Lynn University. I wound up not playing baseball because I got involved in student government instead. From there, I started to intern for different positions, and many of them were in political campaigns.”

After graduation, Abruzzo, now 28, took a job with an international marketing company where he was the youngest executive on staff. He joined the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve, and while he enjoyed serving there, he still felt something was missing in his life — he wanted to be giving back to the community on an even higher level.

“I decided in 2003 that I would run for the state legislature,” Abruzzo said.

“I truly had a passion for doing public service. It pretty much highlights my

background of why I was here.”

In 2006, he announced his intention to challenge Republican Palm Beach County Commissioner Mary McCarty for her seat, but withdrew just before the filing deadline, stirring suspicions that he and McCarty had cut some kind of a deal. Instead, he entered the race for the Delray Beach-centered State House District 86, garnering 26 percent of the vote in a Democratic primary that Maria Sachs, now the incumbent, won with 34 percent.

“I decided I would go back to the first seat I was running for,” Abruzzo said of his 2006 race. “In the short time I was in it, I felt I ran a good race. It was a fourway race. I finished a close second. As far as the charges that a deal was cut, that’s just absurd. It never, ever occurred. I never cut a deal with Commissioner McCarty.”

Since then, Abruzzo has moved to Wellington and is now facing Republican attorney Howard Coates for the Wellington-based District 85 seat, currently held by the retiring State Rep. Shelley Vana. The district includes all of Wellington and parts of Loxahatchee and The Acreage, as well as several eastern communities. Abruzzo said that in his current bid for

By Don Brown Town-Crier Staff Report

Wellington attorney Howard Coates is counting, at least in part, on his life experience to win the Florida House District 85 race, in which two candidates with no elective experience battle for the seat being vacated by State Rep. Shelley Vana. Coates, a Republican, faces Democrat Joseph Abruzzo, also of Wellington, in the Nov. 4 general election.

Coates, an unsuccessful candidate for a Wellington Village Council seat last March, has taken a political crash course in campaigning because of the nearly back-to-back council and legislative races. After emerging as the top finisher in a four-way council race with almost 40 percent of votes cast, he ultimately lost in a runoff to Matt Willhite by a mere 42 votes.

In the State House race, the 49-yearold Coates charged that his own background greatly overshadows that of his opponent, the 28-year-old Abruzzo.

“He has no experience, and I have a lot of life experience,” he said. “I truly believe that Mr. Abruzzo is in [the race] to be a career politician. I’m not. I’m someone who has walked in the shoes of the people [in this district]. I know what

they want and how they think about the issues we’re facing.” Among the shoes Coates has walked in are U.S. Marine Corps boots — he served four years after his graduation from Twin Lakes High School. After earning an associate’s degree from the University of South Carolina, he received a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Florida, a law degree from Yale Law School and an MBA in international business from Florida Atlantic University. Coates is a 40year resident of Palm Beach County and has lived in Wellington for six years. Coates and his wife Cheri have four children, two in college and two at home. Coates counts the privilege of attending college as his biggest accomplishment thus far in his life, which he did on the GI Bill. “I was the first person in my family to go to college,” he said. “After that, I knew I could do just about anything. I had no silver spoon, and I wore tennis shoes sewn together.”

One of his top goals, he said, will be to focus on the state education system to see that it is adequately funded. “It is inconceivable that we are the 48th state in education and the fifth state in wealth. We need to encourage more vouchers and

See COATES, page 10

During halftime at last Friday’s game against John I. Leonard, Palm Beach Central High School held its homecoming parade, which included the homecoming court and the naming of Saphira Lazarre and Jon Bostic as homecoming queen and king. Shown here, Principal Dr. Matthew Shoemaker makes the pronouncement. STORY & MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 27

PHOTO BY

PHOTO BY CANDACE MARCHSTEINER/TOWN-CRIER

Max Clark leads the way for Team Max at Light the Night.

PHOTO BY CANDACE MARCHSTEINER/TOWN-CRIER

MR. AND MS. CENTRAL

Palm Beach Central High School held its Mr. and Ms. Central High Pageant in the school’s auditorium Thursday, Oct. 16. The event was largely organized with the help of Student Government Association sponsor Jessica Pnaife. Contestants included Alexa Carlin, Vincent Laureano, Ashley Mendes, Matthew Davidson, Saphira Lazarre, Jason Lesnick, Sara Sohn, Dean Hasan and Ashley Stechman. The event concluded with the crowning of Hasan and Lazarre as Mr. and Ms. Central High (shown right).

PHOTO BY CAROL PORTER/TOWN-CRIER

ITID Hopes To Build Scaled-Back Center

By Ron Bukley

Town-Crier Staff Report

The Indian Trail Board of Supervisors discussed options for a community center at Acreage Community Park at their meeting on Oct. 8.

Supervisors discussed scaling down a 45,000-square-foot rendering by the Ingenuity Group estimated to cost between $2.9 million and $3.6 million, to a building of 15,000 to 25,000 square feet.

The scaled-down version would include an open space theater, meeting and all-purpose rooms, and handball/racquetball courts. Supervisors also discussed including a small children’s splash park and a BMX track with a design that would preserve as much natural shaded area as possible but offer outdoor recreational amenities as well.

Supervisor Michelle Damone suggested a short list of six features, such as lighted racquetball courts, BMX courts, tennis courts or basketball courts.

“Let’s pick six and land at three,” she said. “That to me is where we should have public input.”

ITID President Mike Erickson also discussed installing a health trail and talking with the county’s Department of Environmental Resource Management about constructing trails connecting Acreage Community Park to other parks. The board ruled out baseball fields after members of the Acreage Athletic League reported having enough fields currently at other sites.

Erickson suggested setting two years for completion of the plans.

State

by

for

Carl

Sunrise Sun Sets On Deal

continued from page 1 going on in the banking and real estate markets right now,” he said. “The contract was for far more than what the land is worth.”

Bowen added that the high price of the land would have inevitably driven up the price of units in the facility, and out of the reach of many seniors. “I think they were painted into a corner in the first place,” he said. “If you pay that much, your product is going to cost more — more than seniors can afford.”

Bowen also confirmed that Sunrise Senior Vice President Rocky Goins, a Wellington resident who worked hard to bring the project to fruition, had approached council members in previous weeks about the possibility of a scaled-back facility that would exclude the two special-needs units and occupy perhaps three acres of the land.

Bowen said he told Goins that Sunrise would have to submit a proposal to the village.

Goins declined to comment on the status of the deal with Wellington, except to confirm that he remains with Sunrise.

In September, Bowen had noted at a council meeting that the $5 million revenue from the sale of the land would go far to fund a proposed complex of municipal offices without cost to residents, and this week both he and Schofield acknowledged that Sunrise’s withdrawal would complicate planning for a village hall.

“This will certainly have an impact on that,” Schofield said.

Councilman Matt Willhite, who has criticized the wisdom of building a village hall in the current economic climate, told the Town-Crier Thursday that the demise of the Sunrise deal only bears out his misgivings. “Sunrise is now a product of what is happening in our country,” he said. “What’s happening nationally to the economy is now affecting us.”

While noting that the seniors of the village have been dealt a blow, Willhite suggested that the village reconsider the K-Park site, most of which is eyed for a Palm Beach Community College campus, as a whole before making any more decisions.

was recognized on Oct.

Lakes.

He noted that the village has many options — making the frontage parcel larger or smaller, selling it again as it is, reincorporating it into the K-Park site and reconsidering some sort of recreational use for the land. “There’s a lot of variables we need to discuss,” he said. Willhite also said that Sunrise should not get its $375,000 in deposit money back. “We have invested time and legal services and have expended dollars for their project to go forward, and that’s a cost to residents,” he said, but noted that the contract would require closer examination before the fate of the deposit is determined. “That’s more for our legal department to answer, and that’s additional costs, too.” Schofield said it was premature to speculate on what the village would do with the land, as the council has not yet had an opportunity to discuss the situation, but said the location would undoubtedly present other opportunities. “I’m going to suggest we take another look at this,” he said. “Development has slowed, but it hasn’t come to a screeching halt. It’s prime frontage on State Road 7, it’s at a signalized intersection, and it’s still designated as surplus land that the village can sell if it wants to.” Wellington Seniors Club President Howard Trager chaired a village-empanelled Senior Citizens Task Force that polled village seniors in 2006 on their issues of concern, and many of those surveyed cited a lack of senior housing facilities. Trager said Thursday that he was dismayed to learn of the demise of the Sunrise project. “It saddens me because this is something that we need so badly in Wellington, and we were fighting for this for several years,” he said. “I thought we had that pretty much nailed down, but this economic tsunami has been sweeping everything away.” Trager said he would like to see the five-acre site reserved for the next senior facility proposal, asserting that seniors are the fastest-growing segment of the village’s population. “The senior population of Wellington is over 17 percent, and it’s only going to grow within the next 10 to 15 years, so this is something the community will need today, tomorrow and next year,” he said. “It’s something we should not be without.”

Rep.

Domino (R-District 83)

8

the Indian Trail Improvement District Board of Supervisors

his work to pass House Bill 933, which expanded the district to include property near Rustic

State House Candidates Trade Barbs At Chamber’s Debate

By Carol Porter Town-Crier Staff Report

State House District 85 candidates traded barbs and jabs Wednesday at a debate hosted by the Wellington Chamber of Commerce at the Binks Forest Golf & Country Club. Voters in the Wellington-area district will decide Nov. 4 whether Democrat Joe Abruzzo or Republican Howard Coates will represent them in Tallahassee.

Each candidate got the chance to ask questions of the other, and Abruzzo, who won the coin toss, took the first turn, asking Coates to give the number and subject of the bills he plans to introduce if elected.

“One of the first things I will be looking at will be education,” Coates said. “Education is the highest priority that I have placed on my campaign. The first thing I would be looking to

undo is the shortchanging that the education budget got in the last year. We have to find new ways of resources and revenues to ensure our education system doesn’t continue to be ranked 48th to 50th. That should be an embarrassment to the State of Florida, and it’s a problem we need to fix.”

Coates asked Abruzzo whether he would pursue campaign finance reform, as the press and

THE WILDCAT HOMECOMING COURT

The members of the Royal Palm Beach High School Homecoming Court gathered in the school’s courtyard Wednesday morning for a group photo. The homecoming court has representatives of the freshmen, sophomore, junior and senior classes. The week of activities concluded with the crowning of the homecoming king and queen at a football game on Friday and a homecoming dance on Saturday night. Shown above are the homecoming court members.

PHOTO BY CAROL PORTER/TOWN-CRIER

financial statements indicated he had invested thousands of dollars of his own money into his campaign, more than $86,000 in a previous campaign for the District 86 seat, and had received significant contributions from political action committees and special interest groups.

“I am proud of the special interests that are backing me,” Abruzzo replied. “They are working people. You were out there trying to earn their support as well. I am proud to be endorsed and supported by them.”

Abruzzo asked Coates for specifics on what tax exemptions he would like to cut or what taxes he would like to apply.

“I think we absolutely have to look at enforcing the Internet sales tax and putting some teeth into it,” Coates said. “We already have an Internet sales tax in Florida. The problem is that it’s not being adequately enforced. We are losing millions of dollars. We will also have to continue to look at the property tax issue in Florida. We need to find a way to make property tax more equitable. We will have to shift that from property owners, which is by all agreement inequitable, to sales taxes and use taxes. As far as sales taxes, I think there are a number of exemptions that we can look at.”

Coates asked Abruzzo for his views on gambling arrangements with the Seminole tribe.

“I believe that the governor signed a contract with the Seminole Indian Tribe, and we were supposed to receive $100 million a year, and we are receiving zero,” Abruzzo replied. “The Florida Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional. My stance is we needed to firm up a contract that’s legal so we can receive that revenue, or if they continue to do that illegally, we need to extend that right to the pari-mutuels. I believe we have hundreds of millions of dollars out there for education that is firm and stable. We sold out far too short. If the Indians have the rights, we should have the rights.”

Abruzzo asked Coates for his position on stem-cell research.

“I think there are ways to pursue it without pursuing embryonic stem-cell research,” Coates replied. “That’s where the big debate occurs. If you are asking me if I am in favor of stem-cell research, I say yes. If you are asking me if I am in favor of embryonic stem-cell research, the answer is a little more complex. I think that’s bad morally. It sends the wrong signal to our society.” Coates then asked where Abruzzo lives, as he had listed three different addresses in his last three years while running for three different offices.

“I do believe that the representative should live in the district, and I do,” Abruzzo replied.

State House District 85 candidates Joseph Abruzzo and Howard Coates went head to head Wednesday at a forum sponsored by the Wellington Chamber of Commerce. PHOTO BY CAROL PORTER/TOWN-CRIER

TOWN-CRIER ENDORSEMENTS

Elect Rooney, Return Klein To D.C.; Send Coates To Tallahassee

On the Nov. 4 ballot there will be candidates for a number of crucial offices. This week, the TownCrier offers our opinions on two local congressional races, the race for state representative in District 85 and the race for an open Indian Trail Improvement District seat: U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, DISTRICT 16 — After winning this seat from Mark Foley, who abruptly resigned in the wake of a congressional page scandal that ended his career, Rep. Tim Mahoney vowed to restore integrity to the office. Now, at the end of his first term, Mahoney has done much to benefit his constituents, from joining with Congressman Ron Klein to promote a national catastrophe fund to passing renewable energy legislation. Were this endorsement made two weeks ago, it probably would have favored Mahoney, whose work in Washington, D.C. has been good for central Palm Beach County. Unfortunately, all his good work has been overshadowed by the recent revelations of highly disturbing personal behavior. News that Mahoney had an extramarital affair with a staffer and paid her to keep quiet will almost certainly put him on the same path as his predecessor — and rightly so. Which leaves us with his Republican challenger, Tom Rooney, an attorney, U.S. Army veteran and scion of Palm Beach County’s well-known Rooney family. Although he differs from Mahoney on many of the core partisan issues, Rooney does support the national catastrophe fund as well as exploring alternative fuel sources. The Town-Crier endorses the election of Tom Rooney in U.S. House of Representatives District 16.

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, DISTRICT 22 — After serving in the Florida Legislature for 14 years, Ron Klein unseated Republican Clay Shaw in 2006 to earn himself a seat in the U.S. Congress. In those two years, Klein has been a strong advocate for South Florida, pushing for a national catastrophe fund as well as renewable energy. Republican challenger Allen West is a retired U.S. Army officer who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and would no doubt bring plenty of military expertise to the table. But as a relative newcomer to the area, West is not as well versed in local issues. In time, he can likely overcome that. However, District 22 already has solid representation from its incumbent. The Town-Crier strongly endorses the re-election of Congressman Ron Klein in U.S. House of Representatives District 22.

Wellington Worried About Its Image?

During these times when many of us are financially challenged, whether we are seniors losing our retirement nest eggs or families losing our children’s college funds, why is Wellington in such a rush to erect a municipal complex? Is it necessary to build a complex when most governments are downsizing due to economics or automation and when many transactions can be done via computer or phone, eliminating the need for a physical visit?

Does anyone care what the middle-income residents think?

If you look at the results of the recent poll in the Town-Crier, it’s quite clear that residents do not want to spend the money at this time.

Mayor Darell Bowen stated in the Sept. 5 Town-Crier article that, “you need to have a place where people can actually come to conduct business that’s nice and acceptable. It’s embarrassing to meet someone important over in those Greenbriar facilities.”

It’s sad that our mayor is embarrassed by our village’s facilities but even sadder that we residents have to hear him denigrate our village. I’m sure if we are visited by the president, the pope or other important people, they’ll have more important issues on their mind than the am-

biance of our meeting areas. First the K-Park giveaway, now this, what’s next?

Mary Di Iulio Wellington

Allow Deputies On School Grounds

This is an open letter to all adults of Palm Beach County regarding your children who are enrolled in Palm Beach County schools. They are at great risk because of the policies our elected school board members choose to follow together with the administrators that they hire, starting with Dr. Art Johnson, their chosen superintendent of schools.

The policy put forth by them is to keep all knowledge of any incidents that involve violence or the carrying of weapons into the schools as secret as possible from the public, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office and the news media. As a matter of fact, in many cases the various school grounds are off limits to the sheriff’s deputies. This is wrong! Recently, an incident occurred at Wellington High School. The PBSO, which is the village’s police agency, could not respond because they are not allowed on school property!

When the so-called school police finally arrived, several people had already been hurt, including the school’s principal.

A few days ago, a student took

FLORIDA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, DISTRICT 85 — The race to succeed retiring

State Rep. Shelley Vana offers one of the more difficult decisions this election. First off, Republican Howard Coates and Democrat Joe Abruzzo both live in Wellington, meaning that regardless of who wins, area residents will not have to worry about getting enough attention. Having served the U.S. Coast Guard and worked on Palm Beach County’s Consumer Affairs Board, the 28-year-old Abruzzo has proven to be an up-and-comer in local politics. Coates, on the other hand, is a former Marine who owns a Wellington law firm and has served as president of the Okeeheelee Youth Baseball League and led Cub Scout Pack 208. These last two points are important; as a businessman and father of four, Coates is an accurate representation of his district. While we feel that Abruzzo is a capable candidate, Coates is the more qualified of the two. The Town-Crier endorses the election of Howard Coates in Florida House District 85.

INDIAN TRAIL IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT, SEAT 2 — When the Indian Trail Improvement District held its first popular election in 2002, the issue of Acreage incorporation served as a litmus test for candidates. Six years later, echoes of that campaign can still be heard. However, instead of pro-incorporation versus anti-incorporation, the new issue seems to be whether a candidate supports or opposes the current ITID Board of Supervisors. In the race to fill the seat being vacated by Supervisor Sandra Love Semande, Carlos Enriquez is the board favorite. His opponent, Dr. Ted Van Istendal, has been highly critical of the current board, which he believes is intent on building an “Acreage city.” Van Istendal’s differing perspective could prove useful, but only if he is willing to work with the other board members. But we remain unconvinced he would do so, and for that reason cannot support his candidacy. Indian Trail has worked too hard to re-establish itself as a functional government over the past two years to risk descending once again into chaos. Enriquez will help Indian Trail move forward. The Town-Crier endorses the election of Carlos Enriquez to Indian Trail Improvement District Seat 2.

Whether or not you agree with our opinions, please make sure to vote in the Nov. 4 general election and help keep our democracy strong!

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

a loaded handgun in his backpack to Santaluces High School. The gun was fired and nothing was reported to the proper authorities or the news media. Today (Oct. 18), I called NBC Channel 5’s news room and I alerted them to this incident. Having retired 32 years ago after working 17 years as an undercover detective in a major city, I feel that I have the expertise and knowledge to comment on this subject.

Stewart Steinberger Wellington

Cast A Vote For Change

After years of supporting the Democratic Party and the candidates they put forth, I became a “Reagan Democrat” in 1980. It wasn’t easy, voting for the first time in my life for someone “from the other side.” Looking back, I see many similarities between 1980 and the upcoming election. Many people felt that Jimmy Carter had taken the country down the wrong path. And Ronald Reagan, for all of his inexperience, seemed to be someone who could “right the ship” and return this country to greatness. The parallels are eerily similar: we had a mess in Iran, the country was experiencing a recession and business bankruptcies were on the rise. Sound familiar? Many people voting in this election are too young to remember Reagan or Carter, while others have pros-

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LA FORTUNA, COSTA RICA — Yep, that’s right, I’m writing this week’s column from beautiful Costa Rica, my home away from home for some 20 years, as many of my close friends already know. Since arriving here on Sunday for a ten-day vacation, I decided to abandon one column idea for another that’s closer to the hearts of citizens of both countries — the economy. I discovered the similarities on my first day when I arrived in the capital city San Jose.

Just west of the town of La Fortuna in northern Costa Rica is Arenal, the country’s most active volcano. Tourists from Europe, Canada and the United States flock here to see (when the clouds aren’t covering it up) some of the most spectacular night-sky fireworks in the world. On a clear night one can see lava slowly flowing down the mountainside, and at an observatory higher up the mountain, boulders the size of SUVs are shot out of the crater and bounce downward leaving clouds of fire, smoke and ash behind them. I have always loved this place because there is something prehistoric about it — sort of like me.

By Don Brown

There are similarities in Palm Beach County, where tourism is the second largest industry, behind agriculture. In Costa Rica, those positions are reversed. I have used the same travel agent here since the second of my more than two-dozen visits, Discovery Costa Rica. The owner’s brother Jorge has always dutifully picked me up at the airport. But this time the always-jubilant Jorge became sullen during our drive to my car rental agency. “During October, I usually book ten trips a month from the airport,” he said. “This entire month, I only booked three. Mostly the Europeans have stopped coming.”

pered in the days since and simply choose not to reflect on that part of our nation’s history. I would strongly suggest that anyone who is planning to vote in this election take a look back at 1980, and ask yourselves, to paraphrase Reagan: are you better off now than you were eight years ago? If the answer is no, the choice is clear. It’s time for a real change.

Bill Underwood Wellington

Saunier: Accusations Unfounded

Editor’s note: The following letter is addressed to Loxahatchee Groves resident Ilene Rindom regarding a letter that appeared in the Oct. 10 issue of the Town-Crier I read your Oct. 10 letter to the Town-Crier newspaper and respectfully wish to correct certain misstatements directly and indirectly related to the South F Road OGEM stabilization project.

Your letter states the OGEM contractor for this project requested specifications from the district and was told there were none. Either you misunderstood the representative or he/she gave you incorrect information.

The Loxahatchee Groves Water Control District administered this county-funded project to construct OGEM surface stabilization over an unpaved district road. As the district engineer, I prepared the project documents, including detailed plans and technical specifications establishing the project scope and performance requirements. These documents were incorporated into the negotiated agreement and signed by the contractor.

I have enclosed a copy of the technical specifications for your reference. Please note that Section 5.2.1 provides a detailed description of the speed table construction you refer to in your letter as “speed deterrents.” These documents are public records available to the public and media upon request.

We have no record of you contacting the district office regarding this matter. In the future, should you have any questions

about the district’s operations and service delivery to the Loxahatchee Groves community, please consider contacting me or my staff directly.

Clete Saunier, Administrator

Loxahatchee Groves Water Control District

Don’t

Disband

The New Town

For over three years, I was a small part of the incorporation committee with Dave Autrey as chairman. Doreen Baxter and Dennis Lipp and the Von Grotes opened up their homes to us for our Tuesday night meetings. When I was employed by a large corporation, my work experience involved working on teams, committees and with groups of fellow employees. I had never been associated with a more devoted, compatible, hardworking group of people than the ones on the incorporation committee. Besides our weekly meetings, these few were meeting almost every day with state legislators, mayors of surrounding cities, county commissioners and constantly spending time researching. The result was the Town of Loxahatchee Groves, which some naysayers now want to disband. Do they really believe the county commissioners would be as interested in our welfare as this group of citizens who have worked tirelessly and endlessly without compensation on our behalf?

Recently, the townspeople were asked to participate in the Adopt-a-Road program, which the landowners obligated themselves to several years ago. Four people turned out for this semiannual event to clean up Okeechobee Blvd. The four people were Marge Herzog (our vice mayor), her husband, myself (75 years old) and one other senior lady. Were the other landowners at home “loving it and leaving it alone?”

The incorporation I worked for stressed “change is good.”

Come on, Loxahatchee Groves, we need the changes the council members are still working endlessly to propose.

Connie Kilgore

Loxahatchee Groves

Improve Town Bid Process

The Town of Loxahatchee Groves has received bids for all of the town’s contracts and services with the exception of the town management and town attorney services. In its 2008-09 budget, the town has budgeted $144,000 for attorney services and $84,000 for the town management company. The town council has stated that no laws have been broken and that this is a common practice in government. The reason for bidding government services is simple — accountability. This ensures to the taxpaying citizens that numerous bids were received for a specific service and that the specific government is doing everything possible to provide the highest quality of service at the lowest possible cost. Most governments have bidding parameters, in other words, when a service or the purchase of equipment reaches a predetermined amount it must be sent out for bid, and any service or equipment under the predetermined amount can be purchased by governmental management. The Town of Loxahatchee Groves currently has no parameters for bidding of services or equipment. To spend over $200,000 for these two services is not common practice in the governments of today. The Town of Loxahatchee Groves needs to establish bidding parameters and receive and award the contract for these services to the lowest responsible bidder. The Loxahatchee Groves taxpayers will know that their tax dollars are spent wisely instead of irresponsibly.

Frank Schiola Loxahatchee Groves

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The Palm Beach County Convention & Visitor’s Bureau recently announced that tourism has dropped dramatically in comparison to the same time a year ago. As if to bolster Jorge’s economic indicator, the front-page headline of this week’s edition of the English-language Costa Rican newspaper The Tico Times screams, “Bad Economic Weather Moving In.” The newspaper quoted Luis Mesalles, a former board member of Costa Rica’s Central Bank and general manager of poultry producer La Yema Dorada. He said Costa Rica’s banks, reluctant to loan, are holding on to their dollars and granting less credit at higher rates. This means business customers will have trouble restocking their stores, and other clients will struggle in repaying their loans, leading to a slowdown in commerce. Doesn’t that sound like a press announcement from Washington, D.C.?

“There is going to be less money [for consumers] to spend and lower production and lower employment,” Mesalles was quoted as saying. “This is going to come, and people need to be prepared.” As in the United States, businesses in

Costa Rica are already having difficulty borrowing money to even sustain them, let alone expand them. Unlike the U.S., however, the exotic financial instruments prevalent in our country do not exist in Costa Rica.

There have always been strong ties between the two nations. Costa Rica has been a beacon for U.S. retirees for decades, with estimates of about 100,000 of them now living in the country of only slightly more than four million. The U.S. dollar is accepted everywhere in the country, practically eliminating the need for banks to exchange money for the Costa Rican currency, the colón. Most U.S. retires are living here on Social Security.

My many friends here are rooting for the United States to resolve its financial crisis so Costa Rica is not swallowed up by it. Most Americans here are rooting for the same thing. Is Barack Obama the answer? Polls here are saying yes. I’m also hoping that tourism will get back to normal in Palm Beach County and Costa Rica.

Groves To Continue Moratorium On Anonymous Code Complaints

By Carol Porter Town-Crier Staff Report

The Loxahatchee Groves Town Council voted Tuesday to extend indefinitely a ban on anonymous code enforcement complaints.

Faced with a deluge of complaints, in April the council approved a six-month moratorium on accepting anonymous complaints so town staff and inspectors could get caught up on complaints already on the books.

Town Attorney David Tolces noted that the village is working with property owners to get them to comply with codes, and that the review process involving a special magistrate is not meant to be punitive.

“We are not coming down and saying you have to comply within 15 days or else,” he said. “We are giving them three to four months to come into compliance.”

Councilman Dave Autrey noted that despite the animosity generated by the code enforcement process, town staff does not have a free hand in deciding which cases to follow up on, but are just doing their jobs.

“Our staff does not have the ability to pick and choose what they like,” Autrey said. “They have to follow through with it.

It puts us all in a difficult situation.”

During public comment, nursery owner Elise Ryan of A Road noted that some residents would prefer to complain anonymously because they fear retribution.

“I agree with you that this is a very difficult situation,” Ryan said. “I don’t pretend to have all the answers. We should not be focusing on the person who had reported the code violation. We should focus on the code infraction itself. There are cases where people feel they need to file an anonymous complaint. They have a reason to be afraid of their neighbor. They might sit there and put up with something because they are afraid to complain.”

Ryan also noted that many residents are not comfortable with the codes the town inherited from Palm Beach County.

“I wish someone would take the ULDC home and start cutting things out that don’t click,” she said. “That would really help. The main concern I had when this came on the agenda was there did not seem to be a date where this would end. I would not agree with this forever policy. There has to be a time limit. I’m not sure how

much it will reduce the code enforcement costs.”

Autrey made a motion for approval, which was seconded by Councilman Dr. Bill Louda. It passed 4-0 with Mayor David Browning absent.

In other business, the council discussed formulating a policy that would provide an avenue to compliance for existing businesses that do not conform to the town’s zoning or land uses.

The town recently submitted for state approval a comprehensive plan to guide future development that does not contain agricultural land-use categories, and is taking action against agriculture-based businesses that do not appear to have the proper permitting in place.

Tolces explained that some of the difficulty stems from the presence of both legally nonconforming uses, which predate current land-use status, and illegally nonconforming uses, which were never properly approved.

“In developing or trying to develop the variance process, we are struggling with the process to make something legal that has been illegal,” he said. “When you adopt the comprehensive plan or land development regulations, you will be

allowing them to continue to operate. It’s something we are looking at. It’s not going to be easy. We are trying to find the best situation that fits the town and how we can use it in the future, and in the development of the comprehensive plan and the land development regulations.”

Tolces noted that the Palm Beach County government might have to participate in the process.

Councilman Dennis Lipp said he was concerned about establishing a way to allow local small businesses to continue operating without giving outsiders a chance to set up operations.

“As we look around, most of the uses are illegally nonconforming,” he said. “That presents a problem with how we allow them to continue. What we have in mind is the momand-pop businesses, and not a company in West Palm Beach that slips something by and tries to fool everyone.”

But during public comment, Ryan said the town’s actions appear to be targeting agricultural activities by declaring businesses illegal and then forcing them to go through a process to become legal again. She said she went through such a process

Road Repair Policy Will Need Town And District To Cooperate

By Carol Porter Town-Crier Staff Report

The Town of Loxahatchee Groves is considering an emergency road repair policy that would involve the cooperation of the Loxahatchee Groves Water Control District.

The Loxahatchee Groves Town Council discussed the proposed policy Tuesday while reviewing a policy on spending the town’s share of gas tax revenues.

Town Clerk Matt Lippman said the policy would outline the process of identifying needed emergency repairs on public

roads, which would be precipitated by a written request from a resident, followed by surveys of the road by town and district staff, evaluation and rating of the road, cost estimates and review by the council. Lippman noted that the district had agreed to identify projects in order to make use of some of the town’s gas tax revenues, and that the emergency repair policy would cover all public roads in Loxahatchee Groves. “It was agreed with the district that the district would spend the money on identified projects,” he said. “We had been

talking together a few months back about some ideas. Everyone has their own particular view on how it’s to be done. It’s important that we have a

Lippman

Attorney Bryan Miller Takes Aim At State Rep. Carl Domino

By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report

Democrat Bryan Miller is challenging incumbent State Rep. Carl Domino (R-Jupiter) for the District 83 seat in the Florida House of Representatives. Long a Republican stronghold, the district includes the northern half of The Acreage as well as most of northern Palm Beach County.

“I believe we have to change the direction of the state,” Miller told the Town-Crier Wednesday. “Tallahassee has made some really bad decisions that have dragged down the economy, and we’ve got to reverse course. It’s the only way to bring our economy back.”

Miller, a business attorney with the law firm Gunster Yoakley, is a member of Sen. Barack Obama’s national finance com-

mittee and chairs Obama’s Palm Beach County Steering Committee. He also worked for President Bill Clinton’s re-election campaign in 1996 and later founded the Democratic Professional Council, one of the largest Democratic professional groups in Florida. Miller said his top goal if elected is to improve the economy.

“Nothing else much matters if we don’t have the resources to do everything we need to do,” he said.

“Tallahassee and Carl Domino raised insurance and property tax, they gutted our educational system, they stood by and let an energy crisis develop. They haven’t done anything to make Florida a leader in the alternative energy technology that we need.” Miller said people in central

Palm Beach County have especially suffered from the real estate crisis and he would work to turn that around.

“The folks in western Palm Beach County have perhaps seen that more than anywhere,” Miller said. “This is again what the legislature did. Yeah, we have a real estate problem throughout the country, but in Florida it’s worse. We actually have one of the highest mortgage foreclosure rates in the country, particularly in the western communities. We’ve got to start lowering the insurance rates instead of letting the insurance companies write the insurance laws. My opponent voted for the largest insurance increase in the history of the state, over 610 percent for some customers.”

Miller also said he wants to

lower property taxes. “My opponent voted for hundreds of millions of dollars in property tax increases year after year after year,” he said. “That has brought down the real estate market. Those have been the two twin dangers that have really materialized and brought down our real estate market. That will improve our economy if we do that.”

Miller said his willingness and commitment to listen to people in the district is his top strength. “Carl has made one of the most remarkable statements that I’ve ever heard in politics,” he said. “He was quoted recently as saying that he doesn’t spend his time talking to voters because the rich people on the east side of the district are going to vote for him anyway. People need to understand that they

have a representative who’s not listening to them. I think the voters deserve a representative who is going to listen to them and fight for them.”

Miller said something that he has learned over time in politics and life is to put himself in other people’s shoes and understand their lives.

“No matter how you feel about a position or anything, never assume a bad motive in a person,” Miller said. “A vast majority of people in this nation are good decent people.”

Miller has been married to his wife Nora for ten years. They live in Jupiter with their two young daughters. Domino, who has served as state representative for the past six years, did not return several phone calls this week to be included in this article.

Bryan Miller

Man Arrested Trying To Tackle Deputy In RPB

By Jason Budjinski Town-Crier Staff Report

OCT. 17 — A man was charged with resisting arrest with violence last Friday outside the La Mancha neighborhood in Royal Palm Beach. According to a Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office report, the owner of a billiards hall on Okeechobee Blvd. called the PBSO substation in Royal Palm Beach after 52-year-old Robert MacIntyre of West Palm Beach pushed him. The deputy caught up with MacIntyre at the corner of Okeechobee Blvd. and Ponce De Leon Street. Upon making contact with MacIntyre, the deputy noticed he became agitated and refused to cooperate. When the deputy attempted to place MacIntyre under arrest, he tried to punch the deputy and tackle him to the ground. MacIntyre was arrested and taken to the Palm Beach County Jail.

OCT. 17 — A deputy from the PBSO substation in Royal Palm Beach responded last Friday to the parking lot of the SuperTarget store regarding a drunk driver. According to a PBSO report, the deputy arrived at approximately 6:50 p.m. to find a green pickup partially pulled out of a parking spot. The driver, 39-year-old Alice King of Ocala, had bloodshot eyes and appeared disoriented, according to the report. After failing roadside sobriety tasks, King was taken to the breath-alcoholtesting facility, where she refused to submit to testing. She was booked for driving under the influence.

cessing. A canvass of the neighborhood was conducted, but there were no witnesses.

OCT. 18 — A Royal Palm Beach man was arrested early last Saturday morning and charged with driving under the influence following a traffic stop on Okeechobee Blvd. According to a PBSO report, a deputy from the Royal Palm Beach substation responded as backup. Upon making contact with the driver, 39-year-old Stalin MoraRivas, the deputy smelled alcohol on his breath and asked Mora-Rivas to perform a roadside sobriety test as well as a breath test. Mora-Rivas blew into the machine and registered a .143 and .139. He was arrested and transported to the county jail.

OCT. 21 — A Riviera Beach woman was arrested for shoplifting Tuesday at the Lowe’s Home Improvement store in Royal Palm Beach. According to a PBSO report, a store employee observed 20-year-old Terri Campbell select several merchandise items, including bathroom tiles and paint thinner, and conceal them in a white canvas bag. Campbell then exited the store without paying for the merchandise and was apprehended by a store security officer. The total value of stolen merchandise was $292.32. A second suspect was seen with Campbell at the time of the theft. However, she left the area when Campbell was apprehended.

OCT. 17 — A man was arrested near the intersection of Palomino Drive and State Road 7 last Friday after it was revealed there was an active warrant for his arrest. According to a PBSO report, at approximately 9:30 a.m. a deputy from the Wellington substation made contact with 54-year-old Michael Pursell, who was sitting on the guard rail along Palomino Drive and behaving suspiciously. The deputy asked Pursell if everything was OK, to which he responded incoherently, mentioning taking the deputy to court and getting a lot of money. According to the report, Pursell said there was a lot of money buried in the lot behind a nearby gas station. After obtaining Pursell’s information and running a check, the deputy discovered there was a warrant for failing to appear in court on a battery charge. Pursell was arrested and taken to the county jail.

OCT. 17 — A deputy from the PBSO substation in Wellington was dispatched last Friday morning to a home on Sycamore Lane in reference to a vehicle burglary. According to a PBSO report, sometime between 11:30 p.m. last Thursday and 7:30 a.m. the following morning, someone gained entrance to the victim’s vehicle, removing a Pioneer radio/CD player (valued at approximately $650), an Eclipse four-channel amplifier (approximately $300), a subwoofer ($300) and a gray Samsonite suitcase containing $5,000 of precious metal and several diamonds. The victim acknowledged that the vehicle was unlocked. The deputy recovered three latent prints, which were submitted into evidence for pro-

OCT. 21 — A deputy from the PBSO substation in Royal Palm Beach was dispatched Tuesday morning to the WalMart Supercenter on Belvedere Road regarding a retail theft. According to a PBSO report, a store employee observed 28-year-old Jaquita Frost of South Bay walking through the store with a shopping cart containing a storage bin. The employee further witnessed Frost remove WalMart bags from her purse, placing items from the shopping cart into the bags and hiding other items in the storage bin. Frost passed all points of sale without paying for the items. She was apprehended outside. A total of 119 items valued at $517.91 were recovered. Frost was transported to the county jail. OCT. 21 — A deputy from the PBSO substation in Wellington responded Tuesday to Village Park on Pierson Road in reference to a vehicle burglary. According to a PBSO report, the victim parked her 2005 Ford Expedition in the parking lot at approximately 5:30 p.m. When she returned 30 minutes later, the victim discovered that a portable DVD player was missing from inside the vehicle. The vehicle was possibly left unlocked, according to the report. OCT. 22 — A resident of Brisbane Lane called the PBSO substation in Wellington on Wednesday regarding a burglary. According to a PBSO report, sometime between 8:15 a.m. and 1 p.m. someone entered the rear sliding door, which had been left unlocked. Once inside, the suspect rummaged through the master bedroom and a child’s bedroom. Stolen from the home were an Xbox 360 game system and a paintball gun. Other valuables in the home were not taken.

Crime Stoppers of Palm Beach County is asking for the public’s help in finding these wanted fugitives: • Hanna Birdsong is a black female, 5’11” tall and weighing 195 lbs., with black hair and brown eyes. Her date of birth is 08/15/78. She has tattoos on both calves. Birdsong is wanted on the charge of public assistance fraud. Her occupation is healthcare worker. Her last known addresses were Rome Court in Greenacres and Dove Circle in Royal Palm Beach. Birdsong is wanted as of 10/23/08. • Monica Merricks is a black female, 5’9” tall and weighing 160 lbs., with black hair and brown eyes. Her date of birth is 11/18/79. Merricks is wanted for grand theft over $20,000. Her occupation is unknown. Her last known address was 64th Court North in The Acreage. Merricks is wanted as of 10/23/ 08. Remain anonymous and you may be eligible for up to a $1,000 reward. Call Crime Stoppers at (800) 458-TIPS (8477) or visit www.crimestopperspbc. com.

Hanna Birdsong

Monica Merricks

‘Howl

At The Moon’ Festival At Dog Park

Wellington’s pampered canines will strut their stuff at the sixth annual “Howl at the Moon” festival at the Wellington Dog Park.

Come out with your canine best friends on Saturday, Oct. 25 to show them off and let them know how special they are. The event is being held from 9 a.m. to noon and offers a wide variety of dog activities for all to enjoy.

The event will kick off with a dog costume contest, silly pet tricks by Elite Greyhound Adoptions and canine good citizen testing by Marc Street from 10:30 to 11 a.m. Other activities include pictures with your pet, pet adoptions by Pet Haven Rescue, microchip implantations for $15, portraits painted by your pet, face painting, trick-or-treat bags for the dogs, nail trimming by Kim Barker and refreshments for all who attend. For more information, call Dr. Marc Pinkwasser of Courtyard Animal Hospital at (561) 784PETS. The Wellington Dog Park is located at 2975 Greenbriar Blvd.

‘Count Your Blessings’ At B’nai Avraham

In anticipation of Thanksgiving and in commemoration of Kristallnacht, the Sisterhood of Congregation B’nai Avraham invites the public to the presentation “Count Your Blessings” by Rabbi Dr. David Abrams on Sunday, Nov. 9 at 10 a.m. Kristallnacht (which means

“Crystal Night”), or the Night of Broken Glass, was a pogrom in Nazi Germany on Nov. 9-10, 1938. On a single night, 92 Jews were murdered, and 25,000 to 30,000 were arrested and deported to concentration camps. Even in the face of terrible persecution, Jews try to see the blessings in everyday life.

The synagogue is located at 12794 W. Forest Hill Blvd., Suite 6, in the original Wellington Mall. B’nai Avraham is a dynamic, diverse religious community committed to traditional Judaism as interpreted by the Conservative movement and is affiliated with the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism. For more information, call Ella at (561) 656-1916.

Self Defense Seminar In Wellington

Palm Beach Combat Hapkido will host a self defense seminar Saturday, Oct. 25 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Wellington Recreation Center at Village Park (11700 Pierson Road). The hands-on seminar will be taught by martial artist Grandmaster John Pellegrini. Among Pellegrini’s accomplishments is founding the International Police Defensive Tactics Institute and the Military Combative Association. In addition, Pelligrini has spent time training with troops in Afghanistan.

The studio invites all interested persons to take advantage of this opportunity to train with the best. The cost is $105, which includes lunch. For more information, visit www.palmbeach combathapkido.com or call instructor Gil Levin at (561) 8185537.

Toastmasters

Get Spooky

Join the Wellington Toastmasters and observe a night of terrifying tales certain to unnerve the bravest of souls as they present “A Night of Frightfully Fictitious Fables” Monday, Oct. 27 at 6:30 p.m. at the Wellington Community Center (12165 W. Forest Hill Blvd.). Guests are invited to dress casual, freaky or frightful. The event is free and includes “gruesome grub.” RSVP to (561) 2526695 or jim@wearecompliant. com. For more information, visit http://wellington.freetoasthost. com/index.html

Halloween Fun At Palms West Funeral Home

Palms West Funeral Home & Crematory in Royal Palm Beach will host “A Fun & Safe Halloween Experience” on Saturday, Oct. 25 from noon to 4 p.m. Held in partnership with Safe Kids Palm Beach County and led by the Child Life Institute, the event will feature bicycle helmet giveaways, Halloween treats, trick-or-treating tips and the chance to win a new bike. The event is free. Palms West Funeral Home is located at 110 Business Park Way. For more info., call (561) 753-6004.

RPB Band Spooktackular Concert Oct. 28

Come and join the Village of Royal Palm Beach’s Spooktackular Community Band as they offer up a great indoor family activity on Tuesday, Oct. 28 at

the Royal Palm Beach Cultural Center. The band will continue to perform its free concert series throughout the year. All concerts begin at 7 p.m. Refreshments will be served during the intermission. For more info., call (561) 790-5149.

RPB Fall Fantasy Craft Show Nov. 15

The Village of Royal Palm Beach is now accepting applications for its annual Fall Fantasy Craft Show at Veterans Park. The show will be held on Saturday, Nov. 15 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The cost for vendors is $35 for a covered space and $20 for an open 10’ x 10’ space.

The village will additionally be renting 8’ tables for $10 and chairs for $3. All items for sale must be handmade products. Interested crafters may pick up applications at the Royal Palm Beach Cultural Center (151 Civic Center Way) or call (561) 7905149 for more information.

‘Trunk Or Treat’ At St. Michael

Costumed kids are invited to attend Trunk or Treat at St. Michael Lutheran Church in Wellington on Sunday, Oct. 26 at 6:15 p.m.

The evening will be a safer alternative to traditional door-todoor trick-or-treating. The church parking lot will feature cars with open trunks filled with goodies for children, who simply go car to car. Anyone is welcome. Children who wish to participate in a party beforehand at 5 p.m. should call the church at (561) 7934999 to register. The church is

located at the corner of Birkdale Drive and Forest Hill Blvd.

Bookmobile

Comes To Royal Palm Library

A bookmobile will be located in the parking lot of the Royal Palm Beach branch library starting Monday, Oct. 27 for patrons’ use. The bookmobile hours will be 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday through Saturday; the bookmobile will be closed Sundays. For more info., call Palm Beach County Library Community Relations at (561) 233-2767.

Veterans Day Observance In Royal Palm

Come salute veterans on Tuesday, Nov. 11 at 9 a.m. at Veterans Park amphitheater in Royal Palm Beach. There will be a flag-raising ceremony followed by a presentation and live musical performances by the the Royal Palm Beach Community Band. Mayor David Lodwick, Vice Mayor Fred Pinto and other council members will be in attendance. Free refreshments will be served following the ceremony. For more info., call (561) 790-5149.

Motorcycles To Lead Chamber

Holiday Parade

Join the “Harley Hundred” in helping the Palms West Chamber of Commerce celebrate 25 years of memories and traditions with its “Silver Bells in the City”

Holiday Parade on Sunday, Dec. 14. Adding to the excitement of the parade, 100 motorcyclists — the Harley Hundred, led by Wellington Village Manager Paul Schofield — will lead the parade along Forest Hill Blvd. beginning at 1 p.m.

“We are asking for help with our scholarship and community foundation funds,” Schofield said. “Bikers are generous to a fault and during these economic times; our community needs us. We would like to have 100 motorcycles leading this year’s holiday parade. And no, they do not have to be Harleys!” Each rider will carry a toy for a child from the Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County, the parade’s very special guests this year. The children and the Harley Hundred will have a viewing area for the festivities while enjoying food provided by Gypsy’s Horse Irish Pub & Restaurant in Wellington. Money raised through the generosity of the Harley Hundred is earmarked for the chamber’s Community Foundation. For more information, visit www.palmswest.com to download an application or call the chamber at (561) 790-6200.

Village Gets Bond Money

At the Tuesday, Oct. 21 meeting of the Palm Beach County Commission, the board formally terminated a $1 million funding agreement with Cultural Trust of the Palm Beaches for construction of an outdoor entertainment pavilion. The remaining $822,296 was re-allocated to the Village of Wellington for construction of an amphitheater at the Wellington Community Center.

Amid Scandal, Mahoney Tries To Keep Focus On His Record

By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report

Prior to a scandal that has overshadowed his campaign, incumbent Congressman Tim Mahoney seemed like a shooin for re-election to Florida’s 16th U.S. Congressional District.

But by mid-October, Mahoney was under a cloud, following allegations that he paid $121,000 to buy the silence of a 2006 campaign worker with whom he is reported to have had an affair. Mahoney, who is mar-

ried, has acknowledged having “multiple affairs” but insists he did nothing illegal and has vowed to stay in the race for his congressional seat. To keep his seat, Mahoney now faces an uphill battle against Republican attorney Tom Rooney, part of Palm Beach County’s well-known Rooney family.

Mahoney discussed his campaign for re-election with the Town-Crier just hours before news of the alleged affair broke. He said his longtime residence

makes him very familiar with the district. He moved to the area in 1988, has owned three properties, been a rancher in the central part of the district and taken his daughter to participate in horse shows in Wellington.

“I’ve left a small fortune here doing the shows,” Mahoney said. “I understand exactly what it means when a horse show gets moved back up to New York and what it does to the local economy, because I was part of the local economy.”

Florida’s District 16 includes Charlotte County on the west coast of the peninsula, all of Glades, Highlands and Okeechobee counties inland, as well as parts of Hendry, St. Lucie, Martin and Palm Beach counties.

Mahoney, who serves on the House Agriculture Committee and House Financial Services Committee, said his personal experience as a businessman in the district has served him well in Washington. “I don’t think there has ever been a time where having 30 years of business experience, starting and building companies, is as valuable in Washington as it is today,” he said.

He partnered with fellow freshman Congressman Ron Klein on a bill to lower homeowner’s insurance premiums, which if passed would bring people back into the market, get rid of Citizens Property Insurance Corporation and not run up

debt, Mahoney said. “[Sen. Barack] Obama, if elected, has indicated he will move forward the Mahoney/Klein bill,” he said.

Among his top accomplishments, Mahoney cites overcoming a presidential veto to pass a new Water Resources Development Act. Now that the veto has been overridden, the Florida delegation is working with congressional leaders on appropriations. “It will be critical how much cash we get for the Everglades,” he said. “When we go back to Congress, that’s going to be one of the first things we’re going to be dealing with.”

Mahoney also said he has encouraged the development of cellulosic ethanol production in rural Florida.

Florida’s big problem, Mahoney said, is it has a real estate economy and a business model that relies on retirees buying homes. “That business model hasn’t hunted in ten years,” Mahoney said. “Now we find ourselves in a recession. We haven’t done the things here locally that are necessary to expand our economy so that we have a stable tax base.”

The farm bill and energy bill passed during his tenure have created a foundation for a new industry that will benefit Wellington with research and development business because of its proximity to the agricultural area, Mahoney said.

“The engine is in Okeechobee

because that’s where the biomass is going to be produced,” Mahoney said. “This is an industry that lifts everybody up.”

Mahoney said his top goal, if he returns to Washington, is to get the economy moving again.

“I got on Financial Services because I wanted to do something about insurance, and it turns out my business background has made me an integral part of what we’re doing to try to turn this financial credit crisis around,” he said.

He said government is finally starting to see the relationship of the national economy to the world economy. “We have to recognize that regulation is important because it gives you a level playing field and transparency,” Mahoney said. “We’re going to go back and start rebuilding the checks and balances to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

Indeed, the top issues of the campaign in Mahoney’s eyes are the economy and jobs. “We still have to get our costs down,” he said, “and what’s killing people is average incomes are going down and costs are going up.”

The way to counteract that is to create new industries, Mahoney said. “I’ve done something about that with energy technologies,” he said.

Other issues include reducing energy costs, lowering homeowners’ insurance premiums, passing tax cuts for small busi-

nesses and lower property tax rates with more deductions for lower- and middle-income homeowners, he said.

Another issue is adequate healthcare insurance, Mahoney said, noting that 29 percent of his constituents do not have healthcare insurance.

While Rooney has assailed him as unpatriotic because he is critical of the U.S. military effort in Iraq and Afghanistan, Mahoney said he has been appalled at visits to Walter Reed Army Medical Center seeing young amputees being treated in deplorable conditions.

“The administration talks about how devoted it is to the military when they don’t have adequate healthcare,” Mahoney said. “Mothers are having to buy armor for their kids. They have the wrong kinds of equipment… You can talk the talk of patriotism, but when I took a look at who was walking the walk about whether they were getting the healthcare or the equipment they needed, it didn’t match.”

Mahoney lists his business experience and his analytical nature as strengths.

“You can disagree with me, but the average person, if they sit down with me and I share the same information that I have, they would make the same call as me 90 or 95 percent of the time,” he said.

Another strength is his familiarity with the district, Mahoney

Uncertain Future — Scandal has tainted freshman Congressman Tim Mahoney’s re-election bid. PHOTO BY RON BUKLEY/TOWN-CRIER

Tom Rooney Focuses On Military Service In Bid For Congress

By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report

Republican Tom Rooney said his experience with the military, the state attorney general’s office and a local nonprofit have given him a feel for public service that he wants to continue by representing Florida’s 16th Congressional District in Washington, D.C. Rooney, a lawyer, is the Republican challenger to freshman Congressman Tim Mahoney (DPalm Beach Gardens). In the two weeks since a sex scandal has threatened to end Mahoney’s short political career, Rooney has gone from underdog challenger with a wellknown family pedigree to potential congressman-in-waiting.

The Town-Crier interviewed Rooney before news of the Mahoney scandal broke.

In his Army career, Rooney prosecuted civilian crimes on post at Ft. Hood, Texas and taught criminal law for two years at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. he afterward worked as a prosecutor under Charlie Crist, then attorney general.

Besides trying to be a good father and husband, the 37-yearold Tequesta resident said his top accomplishment has been his success as a prosecutor.

“I only lost one trial,” Rooney said. “I believe that in working with law enforcement and helping create a place in Ft. Hood, Texas that was safer was very gratifying to me.”

Another gratifying experience was his work as CEO of the Children’s Place at Home Safe, a local shelter for abused children, specifically during a

major capital campaign to build its facility at Haverhill Road and 45th Street.

“It was very difficult to raise money to build the shelter, but the hurricanes had come through and the shelter that we had in West Palm Beach, the roof blew off, and the shelter we had at A.G. Holley was One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest depressing,” Rooney said. “So getting them all on one state-of-the-art campus was a tremendous success for those kids and very gratifying, plus getting that agency to within its budget needs, which was my goal, getting it accredited from a national level, plus a local certification from the Center for Non-Profit Excellence here in Palm Beach County.”

Rooney said he is the more qualified candidate because his own views reflect those of residents of the district, which covers large parts of Charlotte County on the west coast, sections of Martin, St. Lucie and Palm Beach counties on the east coast, and a large swath of rural, agricultural land in between.

He said that if elected, he would aim for a place on the House Armed Services Committee to make sure generals are doing everything in the best interest of the troops, which includes training, equipment, rules of engagement and the care they deserve upon return.

“Post-traumatic stress disorder and severe brain injuries are happening a lot more and more because more people are getting injured rather than killed,” Rooney said. “I think I am more qualified in this day and age to address those issues than the congressman that is there now

when it comes to war fighting and the legalities under the Geneva Convention and Uniform Code of Military Justice.”

Rooney said his top goals as a congressman include making sure taxes remain low, reining in spending and making decisions independently.

“I don’t subscribe to the philosophy that I’m going to do anything to get myself elected the next two years,” he said. “I’m not tempted by what special interests can offer you. I favor term limits, even though that’s a personal philosophy.”

He said he would personally impose an eight-year limit to his service in Congress, partly because his son will be going into high school football by then.

“I have a personal interest there,” Rooney said, “but I think that’s important because your goal should not be ‘What can I do to sustain this job year in and year out?’”

He said he would support oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and considers that to be one of the chief issues on which he and Mahoney disagree.

Another top issue is immigration laws and amnesty. Rooney said illegal immigrants should not receive amnesty and that immigration laws should be enforced. “Once we do secure the border and enforce the rule of law, we must also have a guest worker program,” he said.

Another top issue for Rooney is national security. “With my background, I think I can bring a lot to the table there, but whether it’s the war on terror or any threat that would affect us or our allies, it is going to be an issue for me,” he said.

Rooney said his concern about the housing crisis would help the residents of central Palm Beach County.

“Especially out here in Wellington and Royal Palm Beach, the foreclosures, the housing market, everything that’s going on with the bailout, it’s all one big mess,” he said. “One of the things that I feel strongly about that is that predatory lenders should be punished to the full extent of the law.”

Rooney said he would have supported the financial bailout bill in Congress, with strong reservations.

“Until you fix the underlying problems on Wall Street, I’m really afraid that they’re going to be coming back in a year saying we need another $700 billion,” he said. “I haven’t been given any assurances that those problems are going to be taken care of.”

Rooney said his parents, who own the Palm Beach Kennel Club and are benefactors to many local charities, brought him up with a sense for public service, and he has looked for new and exciting opportunities where he could make a difference, rather than make a lot of money. His family also owns the Pittsburgh Steelers football team.

“There’s no doubt about it I have been very lucky,” he said, adding that as a congressman he would not be easily swayed or impressed with offers to play golf at St. Andrew’s in Scotland. “It’s true, I am a product of my father and grandfather, and I’m very proud of that.”

Rooney lists his top strengths as his military experience and knowledge of the laws of war.

He said he also has the ability to work well with both major political parties.

“When I go up to Washington now versus when I worked there in the early ’90s, there is definitely hatred in Washington, and I don’t understand why that has to be,” he said.

He said his weakness is that he doesn’t have the legislative experience that some have, although he added that could be a

Future Congressman? — Attorney Tom Rooney highlights his military, non-profit experience as top qualifications for a seat in Congress.

PHOTO BY RON BUKLEY/TOWN-CRIER good thing. “I get a lot of people who say ‘are you an elected official?’ and I say no, and they say ‘well, I’m going to vote for you,’” Rooney explained. Rooney said Mahoney may know business, but not public service, adding that he is insulted with Mahoney’s attitude toward the job. “We deserve somebody that wants to be there, respects the office and respects the military,” Rooney said.

Abruzzo Local Support

continued from page 1 election, he has garnered the support of all the county commissioners except for Bob Kanjian, who is facing a challenge from Vana for his commission seat, and Karen Marcus, who is on the county canvassing board. He said he did not seek McCarty’s endorsement, but she gave it anyway.

“I’m not the only Democrat she has endorsed,” Abruzzo said. “She has endorsed [state attorney candidate and Democrat] Michael McAuliffe. She has raised money for [Democratic] Congressman [Robert] Wexler in the past. She has crossed party lines. I consider Mary a friend. I don’t think she was impressed by Howard Coates. You would have to ask her her reasons. As far as a deal being cut, that’s crazy.”

Abruzzo also chafes at allegations that he moved to Wellington just to justify his entry into the District 85 race.

“It’s not like I came from Georgia,” Abruzzo said. “I don’t

Coates Education Spending

continued from page 1 make sure schools pass muster. The strength of our state rests on a solid education system,” Coates said. He noted that some $18 billion was budgeted for education in this year’s budget, a cut he estimates at about 23 percent or $131 per student. “Safety and security were the only items not cut in the budget,” he said. Coates advocates moving $331 million out of transition funds (earmarked for long-term future projects) and spending much of that money on education. He also favors returning state lottery revenues to their original purpose. “We were sold that it would be a supplement, not a substitute, for education [funding], but there has been no net gain,” he said. “Lottery proceeds should be used for what was originally approved.”

Another of his top goals, Coates said, is a coherent tax policy. “One of the biggest prob-

believe I am a carpetbagger. Palm Beach County is our community. I have been a Palm Beach County resident since 1999. As far as the district boundaries of our legislature, we are going to have our district boundaries redrawn in two years. I believe the same core values and issues that were the concerns and the priorities of the residents of District 86 are similar to District 85.” Abruzzo said he met with Wellington Democrats and Vana before deciding to run for the seat. “I had a meeting at the home of [Wellington Councilman] Bob Margolis, and I made sure that some of the HOA presidents and longtime residents were comfortable supporting me,” he said. “Shelley Vana felt comfortable supporting me. With that said, I decided to run for her seat.”

Abruzzo lists his work on Palm Beach County’s Consumer Affairs Board, his Coast Guard service and his commitment to charitable organizations and causes among his top accomplishments. He said he hopes the state legislature will provide a way to continue his public service.

lems we have is that partisanship has divided the house,” he said. “One of my strengths as an attorney is mediation. I’m a bridge builder, and I know how to cut through disputes.”

Coates said he would use those skills to reach across party lines in order to solve the problems facing Floridians. “We need to come up with a comprehensive tax policy that encompasses everything,” he said. “Politicians have been making decisions based on their chance for re-election, not what is best for Florida.”

Coates said he would also offer solutions to the state’s economy. “I’d like us to create incubators such as biotech and alternative energy like solar and biofuel,” he said. “We need to take the bull by the horns. I don’t trust the federal government for a coherent energy policy. We need a state energy policy.”

Coates said he wants to expand beyond the state’s solid tourism, agriculture and space industries by taking an independent look at other industries that might be willing to locate in Florida. “Max Planck and

“I hopefully will have a lot of accomplishments to come,” Abruzzo said. “I’ve devoted my life to service.”

As for his plans upon arriving in Tallahassee, Abruzzo said he would focus on passing three bills: one limiting 16-year-old student drivers to only one passenger, a sales tax exemption for purchasers of Energy Star-certified appliances and creating a fund to help save horses from slaughter and abuse.

The three big issues in this campaign, Abruzzo said, are the economy, healthcare and education. He said Florida must work hard to recruit businesses to come to the state and to keep its economy strong. “This ties into our education and healthcare policies,” he said. “Businesses want to come here because of beautiful community. We need to make sure we are safe here. We need to provide a safe community with good education and good businesses. The cycle needs to keep going. As a state representative, I will work to make sure that we’re doing what we can to recruit businesses and improve our education, which will bring in revenue to add revenue to our healthcare programs.

Scripps in the biotech fields are a step in the right direction,” he said. “We need to offer incentives to industries willing to consider Florida.”

Another major area in serious need of attention, Coates said, is the high cost of property insurance. “If we had another hurricane, I would be concerned whether there is enough money in Citizens [the state’s insurer of last resort] to pay.”

Our greatest priorities are our kids and our seniors. They need to be protected.”

Abruzzo said the state legislature should consider repealing some sales tax exemptions and also impose more taxes on Internet sales, because potential revenue is slipping through the state’s fingers. He also advocated opening up more gambling opportunities and pari-mutuel betting outside Indian reservations. “To me, that would be a core key area that could be factored into education and our shortfalls,” he said. “That would be a significant impact without raising our taxes.”

Abruzzo claimed his ability to take a bipartisan approach is his greatest strength, and said his campaign has demonstrated that, with endorsements from members of both major political parties. “I believe that I have the knowledge and vision to move our economy, our education system and the economy forward,” he said. “If I have the opportunity to serve, I believe I will make this community proud. I entered this to give the voters a choice. I plan to bring Democrats, Republicans and independents together.”

And concerning the home mortgage crises in Florida and the rest of the nation, he said, “We should prosecute those agencies that defrauded homeowners. They should go to jail. We need to tighten civil and criminal penalties.”

While the Glades area is not in District 85, Coates said he would work for the creation of the proposed inland port there as it would provide jobs and economic benefits for the entire region. “It’s still part of Palm

Beach County and the county should be ashamed about how they have treated the people out there in Belle Glade, Pahokee and South Bay,” he said. “The inland port will be good for the economy.”

Coates said he wants state incentives to make the inland port a reali-

ty. Though the possible establishment of a Palm Beach Community College campus in Wellington is largely a local issue,

Coates said he continues to support a plan to build it on the village’s “K-Park” property, as he did during his council campaign.

“It’s a nice fit for Wellington for the long term,” he said.

Coates said motive is the biggest difference between himself and Abruzzo. “The difference is whether the office holder is making decisions for his career rather than what’s best for his constituency,” he said. “If I wanted to be a career politician, I’ve waited too long.”

Road Repair New Policy

continued from page 5 said that if the council agreed with the policy proposal, town staff would draft a resolution including a classification or rating system for road repairs. During public comment, several residents appealed to the council for repair work. Resident Rita Blaylock said 24th Court North is impassable due to mud. “We are getting interrupted with garbage pickup and mail delivery,” she said. “We are getting stuck in the mud, and we can’t get out of the road. There are concerns with fire and ambulance. We are requesting assistance.”

Gail Warner, another 24th Court North resident, thanked town and district staff for a recent delivery of fill for the road, but said residents need further help. She said she had fallen when walking on the road. “It’s been really tough,” she said. “It takes a long time to drain.”

LGWCD Supervisor Ron Jarriel also asked that the council help because of the issues with

Councilman Dave Autrey said the differentiation between district and non-district roads should not exist and is one of the reasons why the town is formulating a master road plan. While the gas tax revenue is limited, he suggested the town look into some short-term solutions for problem areas so residents would not have to be told that there is nothing the town can do.

“It’s a horrible thing for a taxpayer to hear,” he said.

Councilman Dennis Lipp concurred and also said that the district has taxing units for some of the roads, and maybe that would work as well.

“I don’t think the gas tax money should bear all the burden,” Lipp said. “If we improve the neighborhoods, we can use a portion of the gas tax money.”

The council, by consensus, asked staff to come back with an emergency repair policy for review at the next meeting.

Democrat Joseph Abruzzo hopes to replace State Rep. Shelley Vana in Tallahassee. Vana is seeking a seat on the Palm Beach County Commission.

PHOTO BY RON BUKLEY/TOWN-CRIER

Howard Coates

life, health and safety. When the roads are in that poor a condition, Palm Beach County FireRescue and the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office cannot get in to help the residents.

Helicopter Ride Brings Back Memories For Lox Groves Veteran

By Candace Marchsteiner Town-Crier Staff Report

The prospects of a civilian riding in a military CH-47 Chinook helicopter were unlikely, but bonds among veterans and those still in service form instantly and run deep. That mutual respect and admiration landed Loxahatchee Groves resident Mike Carroll and two local buddies, Bill Jeczalik of Boynton Beach and Curt Rich of West Palm Beach, special orders to ride in the belly of a Chinook with the National Guard at Cecil Field in Jacksonville.

Their good fortune began during Palm Beach Helicopters’ Helicopter Career Day Sept. 20 at Lantana’s Palm Beach County Park Airport, where the men fielded questions and watched over the static display of a UH1 “Huey” helicopter on which they’d spent two years and $40,000 restoring. Nicknamed Project 452 after the last digits of the helicopter’s serial number, the restoration is a story in itself.

Briefly, they rescued the Huey from the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office gun range near 20-Mile Bend. Because the aircraft was a Vietnam veteran like themselves, they spent most of their free time restoring it. Project 452 ultimately boasts a crew of nine — eight veteran officers and enlisted men, and one woman, the blonde and buxom Chris Noel, a former Armed Forces Radio host and performer in Saigon.

The endeavor became therapeutic for those helping, and its display at special occasions such as career day helps others as well. “Vets reach out and touch the Huey, and they break down,” Jeczalik said.

And then they talk. On this day in Lantana, however, the men knew a Chinook was coming. “Chinooks are in our blood,” Carroll said.

As an Army Specialist 4, Carroll served as crew chief on a Chinook with the 147th Assault Support Helicopter Company (ASHC) in Vung Tau from 1966-1967. Jeczalik, an Army chief warrant officer, piloted a

Chinook out of Chu Lai with the 178th ASHC from 1967-1968. Their stories roused the curiosity of Rich, an Army Specialist 5 who flew in Hueys with the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment at Xuan Loc from 1969-1970.

“We were there feeling, smelling, touching that Chinook, but we wanted more,” Carroll said.

He had tried other times at other bases to secure a ride, but the groups he was with were too big. “This time it was only the three of us, and the flight engineer turned out to be a former Hillclimber like me,” Carroll said. “All of a sudden we had a Hillclimber network, an instant connection.”

Hillclimbers were the personnel of the 147th ASHC, the first Chinook company in Vietnam. With their motto “no hill for a climber,” the heavy lift company’s services were often requested. “Hillclimber” is an old term from the Ozark Mountains for “can do,” Carroll explained — where there’s a mountain that cannot be climbed, Hillclimbers rise to the challenge.

The Chinook flight turned out to be that seemingly insurmountable hill. “It was a very big surprise to get those flight orders,” Carroll said, beaming at the irony that it wasn’t surprising at all for a Hillclimber.

On Oct. 15, the three Vietnam veterans experienced a small piece of their past and marveled at progress.

In exchange for the flight, the vets first briefed Canadian pilots with orders to Afghanistan on the realities of combat. Jeczalik’s orientation involved mountaintop landings and landing zones. Carroll talked about the company area, flightline, missions and the importance of R&R or “personal time.” Rich spoke about the Huey and its history in Vietnam.

Afterward, one Canadian pilot approached the men, ripped the wings off of his own flight suit, and handed them over as a gesture of honor. “To our amazement,” Carroll said, choked with emotion.

Then came the moment they

had dreamed about. The enveloping vibration of 10,080 horsepower turbines bringing the helicopter to life. The distinct smell of burning JP-4 fuel. The squeal of five transmissions engaging and turning the rotors. The “wap, wap, wap” of helicopter blades about 30 percent larger than what they remembered. “We felt some Gs that we weren’t accustomed to,” Carroll recalled.

The vertical lift and ascending angled takeoff was enough to remember the danger of feeling like a sitting duck in hostile territory, said Jeczalik, who was awarded the military’s third highest medal — the Silver Star — for gallantry in reconnaissance operations.

With a view from the open cargo door, they skimmed treetops, performed quick stops, and picked up, transported and dropped a two-ton concrete block sling load. In a barren landing zone, the vets experienced something new and poignant — the swell of blinding dust clouds, the kind that awaited the men they trained in Afghanistan.

Jeczalik shook his head in amazement at the differences between then and now. The safety checklists. The cleanliness. “They sure fixed a lot of leaks since we were in,” he laughed. “The only thing that would’ve made it better is if when we landed they’d swapped me out with the pilot.”

The pride these vets feel for having served their country has not changed, but their reception has.

“Everyone hated the Vietnam War, but it wasn’t our fault. Desert Storm made people think differently,” Jeczalik said. “Don’t blame the soldiers for the politics.”

In parades and at special events with Project 452, they are finally being welcomed home. “The cheers and everybody waving brings tears to your eyes. This feels great,” Rich said. “I have people telling me ‘thank you for your service.’ I hadn’t been told that in 40 years.”

November promises to be a busy month for the crew of Project 452. They received a special invitation to Pratt & Whitney’s private 50th anniversary family day celebration. “We feel extremely honored that they

Royal Palm Beach Golden

asked us,” Carroll said. And if the City of West Palm Beach gets the money it needs for security, Project 452 will be in the Veterans Day parade. Otherwise, they are committed to the Veterans Day ceremony at Royal Palm Beach Veterans Park on Nov. 11

ral’s “Military Appreciation Monday” event in which every veteran gets a free meal on Nov. 17 from 5 to 9 p.m.

Warcraft — (Above) Veterans Curt Rich, Mike Carroll and Bill Jeczalik with their restored UH-

1 Huey. (Below) Carroll with some of the helicopter’s weaponry.

Seminole Ridge High School Swim Teams Triumph In Tri-Meet

The Seminole Ridge High School boys and girls swim teams glided past their competition in a tri-meet Oct. 7 against Royal Palm Beach and Forest Hill. The Hawks scored numerous first places. All three girls relays — the 200 medley, the 200 free, and the 400 free — gave first-place victories to Danielle Davis, Jaymie Davis, Carey Elfring, Nicole Infinger, Brittney Lord, Natalia Pieschacon, Kemeta Quammie and Stephanie Rodgerson.

Girls individual first-place finishes went to Jaymie Davis (200 free, 100 backstroke), Nicole Infinger (50 free, 100 fly), Ashley Jones (100 free), Natalia Pieschacon (200 IM, 500 free) and Rodgerson (diving).

The boys were equally impressive in their first-place finishes. All three boys relay teams scored in first against RPB with wins for Steven Carrasquilla, Patrick Costan, Eric Dennis, Ptah Quammie, Elijah Sherriffe, Patrick Soucy and Joey Tigeleiro. Individual first places went to Patrick Costan (100 fly, 500 free), Adam Foutty (100 back), Ptah Quammie (diving, 100 free), Elijah Sherriffe (50 free, 100 breast) and Brad Trammell (200 free).

• Freshman Hawks Break

Warriors, Swamp Gators — There’s no place like home, and it was never more evident than Oct. 8, when the Baby Hawks took on the Jupiter Warriors at Callery-Judge Stadium. The outcome was never in question as the SRHS team dominated their opponent 35-7, bringing their season to 5-0.

Wingback Gary Holmes again led the team with three touchdown runs, the longest being 69 yards. Fullback Matt Fioramonti also contributed his own touchdown. He also ran a two-point conversion and kicked three extra points. The final scoring came from punt returner Jake Hawkins, who ran a punt back 65 yards for a score in the second quarter.

The dominating defense was led by Juanathen Sams, who sacked the Jupiter quarterback twice for big losses. Sean Flynn had an interception, and Alston Pickrell and Jake Trimble each had fumble recoveries.

A week later, the freshman football team made their final home game of the season a smashing success, taking on the Palm Beach Gardens Gators and dominating them from start to finish. The final score was a resounding 35-2 victory for the Hawks.

Holmes led the scoring with

three touchdowns, giving him 19 for the season with one game remaining. Fioramonti scored a running touchdown and kicked three extra points, while Andre Davis caught a touchdown pass. Carl Chery ran a two-point conversion into the end zone to round out the scoring for the Hawks. Quarterback Justin Keip threw two touchdown passes during the game, one each to Davis and Holmes.

The defense played its usual outstanding performance. Middle linebacker Nick Medina caused a fumble… and recovered it. Trimble accounted for many tackles when the Gators tried to sweep to the outside.

• Winged Regiment Takes Double Gold — On Sept. 29, the SRHS competitive band the Winged Regiment competed at the Boca Cavalcade Marching Competition. Enduring tough competition, the Hawks pulled off a first-place finish over John I. Leonard by five-tenths of a point. They also brought home Class 2A awards for Best Auxiliary, Best Visual, Superior Auxiliary and tied for General Effect.

On Oct. 11, the Winged Regiment once again went head to head with Leonard and four other bands at the Park Vista Strik-

ing Cobra Invitational. The band performed well, winning another first place by six-tenths of a point. In the Class 2A category they won Best Woodwinds, Best Auxiliary, Best Drum Major, Best General Effect and Best Visual. In auxiliary, they won Superior with Distinction, Superior Drum Major, Superior Percussion, Superior Music, Superior General Effect, Superior Visual and Overall Superior. The team was second runner-up of the whole competition.

“This breaks two records for our Hawks — two first-place honors in a single year, and ‘top three’ in competition,” band director Mr. Tim Skinner said.

The school would like to congratulate the Winged Regiment members. They include freshmen Samantha Blair, Ally Bobinchuck, Michelle Bohl, Shelby Burton, Jacob Georginow, Mackenzie Nezbed, Eric Reeder and Taylor Wesley; sophomores Emigdio Abac-Ordonez, Jackie Bryant, Sean Caputo, Katie Easterling, Briana Febles, Brandon Fuentes, Breanna Garcia, Leelah Greenspan, Nick Hofmann, Erin Holtz, Ronnie Jarriel, Samantha Jordan, Lydia Keller, Michael Lerer, Tommy Mitchell, Angellique Phillips, Alex Rochelin, Cory Schmidt, Jared Schorr,

Palm Beach Central Band Scores At Tourney

The Palm Beach Central High School Bronco Band had another great performance at a State Marching Band Circuit Regional on Saturday, Oct. 18. The band performed at the Lely High School Tournament of Bands last Saturday in Naples. The band took home the award for Best Visual Performance and finished first-runner up of the entire show. The band missed first place by less than half a point. They also recorded the highest score the Bronco Band has ever achieved, and that score qualified them for the top-seed block at state semifinals.

• Debate Team — Thirtythree members of the PBCHS Debate Team traveled to Seminole Ridge High School last Saturday. They competed against 22 other schools in nine events.

Sophomore Stephanie Novoa went undefeated in LincolnDouglas Debate and brought home a third-place trophy. Sophomores Jordan Brown and Bryan Velasco went undefeated in Public Forum Debate and won third-place trophies. Sophomore Raphael Pierre placed second in Student Congress and won his second straight trophy. The Broncos’ next stop is North Miami Beach High School on Oct. 25.

• Marine Science — On Oct. 8, 32 Research Honors students from Palm Beach Central High School went to the Grassy Waters Preserve. Under the guidance of naturalist Sam Dorfman, students were able to observe the habitat of the endangered snail kite, dip net for invertebrates, review water quality and collect egg clusters of the native

Students do some dipnetting at Grassy Waters.

Florida apple snail. Teacher Robb Bartenslager received a $10,000 grant from Toyota/National Science Teachers Association to study the apple snails. Students are aqua-culturing the

snails at Palm Beach Central, performing genetics tests and developing lessons about the ecology of the endangered snail kite, whose population is estimated to be down to 700 birds.

Trevor Smith, Tori Thomas, Jason Waddington, Tiffany Welsh and Megan Wright; juniors Cierra Allen, Eddie Batchelor, Chauncer Baughman, Zach Brown, Dominique Cinilia, Crystal Corona, Alex Davis, Victoria DiRaimondo, Kareem Graham, Sean Joyce, Tyler Justin, Sara Madiedo, Mary Mathews, Gaby Palevoda, Richard Schwartz, Allison Yerkes and Cassidy Yerkes; and seniors Courtney Baker, Kristi Butler, Paige Carmean, Brian Clark, Kellie Cochrane, Holly Coombs, Daniel Georginow, Alyssa Gilliam, Brittany Glenn, Bobby Glenn, Leland Hall, Liz Hautamaki, Jordan Hoke, Mark James, Jerry Jolly, Christina Karimi, Jack Kazee, Amelia Kepler, Chris Lauterbach, Tiffany Massey, Matt Murray, Michael Paige, Tena Perez, J’nae Poe, Gordon Polson, Tyler Schneider, Chris Villar and Nathan Williams.

• Debate Hosts Tri-County Tournament — The Hawk forensic team hosted Broward, Martin and Palm Beach county schools in tournament events Oct. 11, and “our debaters competed amazingly,” speech and debate coach Mierka Drucker said. The team of Andrew Silverthorne and Lauren Nunez won

first place in duo interpretation; Devon Arnold placed fourth in original oratory; Cassidy Heitman placed fourth in declamation; the team of Paige DiPirro and David Sleeth placed fourth in public forum; Giana Abrams won fifth place, her first time competing in a “varsity house” of Student Congress; and Ashley Richey won sixth place in Lincoln-Douglas debate.

• Business Bash — SRHS will host its annual Business Partners in Action bash on Wednesday, Oct. 29 in the school auditorium. The event will start at 5:30 p.m. with a reception and gymnasium displays. A presentation by Academy Coordinator John Walker will take place from 7 to 7:30 p.m. There will also be performances by Seminole Ridge students. RSVP to Walker at (561) 422-2600 or walkerjo@palm beach.k12.fl.us.

• ASVAB — The ASVAB Career Exploration program will be held Thursday, Oct. 30 in the Seminole Ridge auditorium. The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) is a multi-aptitude test that provides a snapshot of a student’s knowledge and skills. For more info., students should see their guidance counselor.

Crestwood Reading Teacher Awarded Citi Success Fund Grant

Eighth-grade reading teachers at Crestwood Middle School in Royal Palm Beach joined Principal Stephanie Nance at the annual Citi Success Fund Grant Awards Dinner held on Tuesday, Oct. 7. Reading teacher Marque Drummond was one of six middle school teachers to receive a monetary award for his innovative program titled “Girrrrrrl, You’ve Got to Read This Book.”

The purpose of Drummond’s

grant is to put gender-specific books into the hands of girls in Crestwood’s reading classes. Drummond’s premise is that when female students are in the process of becoming lifelong readers, many times they stumble or stop when they cannot find a book that interests them. Research and personal experience have shown that girls will read enthusiastically if the right books are available.

• • • Send school 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.

PIERCE HAMMOCK HOSTS ANNUAL WALKATHON

Pierce Hammock Elementary School in The Acreage held its Second Annual Walkathon Friday, Oct. 3. There was a huge turnout for the event, and the school would like to thank the community for coming out and showing their support.

PTO

King’s Academy Family Fun Day A Success

WHS Debate Team Succeeds At Tourney

Parsons also took third-place honors.

While buckets of rain fell throughout the day, the King’s Academy’s Family Fun Day was barrels of fun for more than 1,400 students and parents who braved the wet weather. From the basketball ministry of “Above and Beyond” to “Euro-Bunjee” and everyone’s new favorite the “Produce 500,” the King’s Academy community was blessed with an afternoon of fun and fellowship. Bounce houses, face painting, a petting zoo and sweet shop provided hours of entertainment for the little ones.

Family Fun Day chairs Michelle Collier, Wendy Richert, Cathy Brandenburg and Courtney Dominguez led the effort to provide a communitybuilding event for the school. Their hard work and planning, along with countless volunteers and the sponsorship of DLI Inc., made Family Fun Day a success.

Nine members of the Wellington High School debate and forensic team took home honors from their performance at the Palm Beach Catholic Forensic League debate tournament Saturday, Oct. 11 at Seminole Ridge High School. Alex Hernicz was one of five Lincoln-Douglas debaters who went 4-0 at the tournament, and ranked second overall after tiebreakers were calculated. All three of Wellington’s first-time Lincoln-Douglas debaters — novices Jillian Lanzi, Katerina Mangini and Madeline Schmees — each won at least one debate round at Seminole Ridge. In Student Congress, Alexander Brunner, Victoria Davy and Andrew Tuccinardi each placed second overall in their respective legislative chambers, while Lee Parker was fourth in his chamber and Kaila Kelly was sixth in her senate. Davy, Kelly, Tuccinardi and Jeffrey Sall earned the maximum 24 National Forensic League points for the day.

In Declamation, Alex Hauser placed third overall, while the novice Duo Interpretation pair of Jackson Garber and Blithe

Other high-ranking students included Christine Simmons (sixth in Dramatic Performance), Ashlee Doss (seventh in Declamation), John Cassel and Jack Townsend (seventh in Public Forum Debate) and Max Unterhalter (eighth in novice Extemporaneous Speaking). Wellington earned seven new National Forensic League degrees over the weekend. Both Cassel and Townsend passed the 250-point mark, earning the Degree of Distinction, and Lee Parker earned his Degree of Honor, bypassing the 75-point mark. Parker also earned his Wellington Debate varsity letter. Four novices — Mangini, Parsons, Schmees and Unterhalter — each earned the Degree of Merit. Their National Forensic League certificates will find their way to the classroom wall after they arrive from Wisconsin in the next two weeks. Wellington’s next tournament is the Florida Blue Key at Gainesville held Oct. 31 through Nov. 2. The team’s next in-county tournament is Nov. 15 at Lake Worth.

Family Involvement Conference

Organizers are finalizing plans for the Ninth Annual Planting Seeds for Success Family Involvement Conference, scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 25 from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach. Parents and service providers will have their choice of a variety of breakout sessions, including topics such as “Amazing Math with Gizmos and Gadgets from Your Junk Drawer,” “Families Reading Together,” “How Parents and Community Leaders Can Make A Difference,” “Homework Hints” and more. Some of the sessions will be conducted in Spanish, Haitian Creole and Q’anjob’al, and interpreters will be on hand for the conference. The Family Marketplace will have valuable free materials, resources and strategies for parents from organizations such as the Palm Beach County Literacy Coalition, the Milagro Center, the South Florida Water Management District, the United Way of Palm Beach County, Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Palm Beach County, the Palm Beach County Healthcare District and more. Participants who complete the Harvesting a Great Reader Promise Card can turn it in for a

Second graders Heath Harvey and Matthew Schauers.

Secretary Beth Bertolami, PTO Treasurer Katie Green, PTO Vice President Tammy Schauers, Principal Jeffrey Eassa, SACC Director Vanessa Garcia, Assistant Principal Christie Schwab and PTO President Stacey Posner.

Some of the older students enjoying a game of basketball.The Produce 500 family races were a huge hit.

Students line up at the TKA Sweet Shop.

HAM RADIO SWAP NIGHT IN ROYAL PALM BEACH

The Palms West Amateur Radio Club sponsored its first Swap Night & Mobile Install Showcase on Wednesday, Oct. 22 in the Denny’s restaurant parking lot in Royal Palm Beach. Participants enjoyed dinner, showed off their mobile install and brought their surplus gear to swap. The main purpose was to sell or swap items of amateur radio equipment such as radios (large and small), antennas of all sizes and miscellaneous items. For more information about the club, contact David Fowler K4DLF at (561) 676-3007 or e-mail k4dlf@arrl.net.

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society is now registering participants for the 2009 “Equestrian of the Year” campaign.

The Equestrian of the Year is a fundraising campaign that welcomes equestrians from all disciplines and levels to compete against each other to see who can raise the most amount of money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Participants vying for Equestrian of the Year are judged solely on a philanthropic basis. The equestrian who raises the most money will be crowned the 2009 Equestrian of the Year.

The winner will be recognized in more than 20 equestrian publications and have his or her photo on the annual poster to be displayed nationwide. In 2008, Marcy Freedman and Woodstock were named Equestrian of the Year.

The fundraising campaign will last from October 2008 to February 2009. A cocktail party

and silent auction for the entire equestrian community will be held on Thursday, Feb. 12 at Grant Farms in Wellington. At this event, participants and supporters of the Equestrian of the Year will enjoy cocktails, a light dinner and a silent auction while waiting to hear who will be announced the winner.

All proceeds from the event will benefit the society’s mission to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families.

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society is the world’s largest voluntary health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research, education and patient services.

To register, or for more information, call Melissa Mulvihill at the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society at (888) 4788550 or event chair Mary Ann Grant at (561) 301-5817.

St. Michael Lutheran Church in Wellington recently celebrated the rite of confirmation with young people affirming their baptism. The pastor of the congregation is Marjorie Weiss. Pictured here are: (L-R) Gavin Zubka, Leanne Martin, Ilene Martin, Justine Malave and Wade Ball.

Palms West ARC President Rob Pease waits for his next customer.

Nelson and Carol Bailey of Loxahatchee look at a potential buy.

Tom Thompson, John Samuels and Paul Greenberg check out some equipment for sale.

David Fowler and Graham Huls contemplate their next purchase.

Jim Ketring sees something to purchase in Rob Pease’s truck.

Lee Pennington and Joey Tirrilli discuss the equipment in Penington’s trunk.

4-H CLUB HOLDS YOUTH GOVERNMENT DAY

government on Tuesday, Sept. 30. Members participating in the tour included

Bent

Lake Worth,

and

and

Church @ the Grove recently held blessings of the animals at Folke Peterson Wildlife Center, Golden Grove Elementary School in The Acreage and at Jesus Our Savior Church in Loxahatchee Groves. The series of blessings were in celebration of the Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi, a saint who cared for all living things, especially animals. The events were open to the public and free of charge. A variety of animals, from baby chicks to dogs and cats to opossums were blessed. Individuals brought pets to be blessed and were given a certificate and photo of the blessing. Church @ the Grove, which meets at Golden Grove Elementary School (5959 140th Ave. North), has several special programs planned for the rest of October and November. For more information, call the church at (561) 333-2020.

My Brother’s/Sister’s Keeper Charitable Trust members recently visited the freshly stocked food pantry at Royal Palm Covenant Church (660 Royal Palm Beach Blvd.). The charitable trust donated $2,500 to the food pantry, whose stocks were dwindling due to a reduced amount of food donations and a greater number of people seeking food, according to Pastor Mike Rose. For more information about the food pantry, call the church at (561) 793-1077. Shown above are (L-R) Pastor Rose and Brother’s/Sister’s Keepers members Chris Santamaria, County Commissioner Jess Santamaria, Jimmy Matthews, Ron Tomchin, Randy Feiffer, Dr. Farokh Jiveh and church member Triashanna Gifford.

Buddy the opossum, held by education coordinator Terry Timberlake, is blessed by Pastor Holly Ostlund at the Folke Peterson Wildlife Center.

Macy Urbas of Loxahatchee holds Cleo, a dachshund that belongs to Pat Quinn, while her mom Patricia looks on.

Mr. Chanel, owned and held by Bertha Gisonni of Royal Palm Beach, has a conversation with Church @ the Grove Pastor Holly Ostlund prior to being blessed while Frank Gisonni, Mr. Chantal’s other owner, looks on.

Palm Beach County 4-H Youth explored county

Caitlin Hanley and Blake Wick Lander of Boynton Beach, Tate

of

Taylor Braunworth of Loxahatchee

Carey Elfring of The Acreage. High points of their tour included visting the newly restored Palm Beach County Courthouse

the Flagler Museum.

4-H members in front of the Flagler Museum.

Braunworth checks for chads.

Amy Levine, holding check, is joined by

Riverside office manager Alicia Foster (left) and Amy’s parents.

HOWARD COATES ATTENDS REPUBLICAN FUNDRAISER IN PALM BEACH

A fundraiser for local Republican candidates was held Tuesday at the Palm Beach home of hosts William J. Diamond and Regine Traulsen. In attendance were state legislators such as Adam Hasner and Ellyn Bogdanoff, as well as legislative candidates, including Wellington’s Howard Coates, who is running for District 85 in the Florida House of Representatives. PHOTOS BY CAROL PORTER/TOWN-CRIER

‘REPUBLICANS IN THE WILD’ SHOW SUPPORT FOR STATE SEN. ARONBERG

Max Clark ‘Light The Night’

continued from page 1 ment access television channel. The West Palm Beach Light the Night event was one of three walks planned by the Palm Beach area chapter. A Treasure Coast walk was held in Stuart on Oct. 3 and the Boca Raton walk is set for Oct. 24. The Leukemia & Lymphoma

Society’s mission is to support research to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma while improving the quality of life of patients and their families. For more information on Light the Night’s history, area chapters and scheduled walks around the country, visit www.lightthenight.org. Learn more about the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society at www. leukemia-lymphoma.org. Read Max’s story at www.caring bridge.org/visit/maxclark.

Debate Abruzzo Versus Coates

continued from page 3

“There is nothing shady about it. I do not have an alternate dwelling somewhere else. I have been a Wellington resident since last August. I have been a Palm Beach County resident since I was a teenager. Let me say something regarding district lines. We redraw the lines every ten years. In four years, District 85 won’t look like it does now…

That’s why when we go to Tallahassee, it’s Palm Beach County working together as a delegation and making sure that what’s going on in Tallahassee has the right impact here in Palm Beach County.” Abruzzo asked Coates how certain articles of the constitution tie into the power of the state legislature and the legislative process, and Coates replied that he would fail the quiz if he was asked that question in school. But he added that the most important part of the process is procedure, which he

learned by practicing law.

“That is what governs how you get things done,” Coates said. “The most important thing is what governs the exercise of the judgment you bring to the table in making the decision. Everyone can learn from procedure. You come to the table with the judgment that has been imbedded in you by your life experiences. Knowing procedure is important. Judgment, integrity and ethics is more important ultimately.”

Coates then noted that Abruzzo had withdrawn suddenly from a Palm Beach County Commission race in 2006, allowing Commissioner Mary McCarty to win unopposed.

“Shortly after that race you established an address in Wellington,” Coates said. “Mary McCarty has endorsed you. I know you have denied any backroom deal was made, but the appearance of a quid pro quo is sitting here before the voters of the district. Do you agree that if any candidate were to make such a deal, that would not be an appropriate exercise of ethics, integrity and judgment that we should be demanding of our leaders?”

“To be blunt, there was no deal cut,” Abruzzo replied, “and your communications are way off base. After our first candidates’ forum, we made a mutual agreement that we would not send out any negative or attack campaign materials. Your political mailers have been negative swift-boat attack ads with no basis in fact. Your campaign has been based on flip-flops, distorted information and lies.”

Also Wednesday, State Rep. Susan Bucher and Wellington Councilman Bob Margolis made brief appearances to plug their respective bids for Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections before heading off to another engagement.

Bucher told chamber members she has been working to improve local voting conditions as a state legislator.

“They say this is a pretty important race, and I believe that it is,” she said. “I think we are all sick and tired of being on the radar. Palm Beach County has been the brunt of many jokes and many difficulties in our voting system. I am running for the office because I know I can fix it. I have a long history of being very detail-

Republicans gathered on Monday, Oct. 13 at Nobles in downtown West Palm Beach in support of Democratic State Sen. Dave Aronberg’s re-election. The fundraiser was titled “Republicans in the Wild.” Attendees included former Wellington mayor

(Above) The Clark family — Cameron, Jim, Max and Cris — on stage at the Meyer Amphitheatre. (Right) WPTV NewsChannel 5 Anchor Jim Sackett talks to Max Clark. (Left) Elbridge Gale’s Elite Cheer squad features: (front row) Trina Desorbo, Lauren Lamontagne and Jacqualyn Pfeio; (back row) Alicia Lowenstein, Gabi Gibbone, Andrea Rojas, Morgan Geck, Brooke Marceauz, Sienna Norman, Della Gaylor and Haley Hartner. (Top left) Wendy Inman and Gail Pasterczyk of Elbridge Gale with their balloons.

PHOTOS BY CANDACE MARCHSTEINER

oriented and working hard.”

In her eight years in the legislature, Bucher said she was instrumental in helping implement the Help America Vote Act in Florida. “I was very instrumental in helping to craft the laws that are on the books today, so I am familiar with the election laws,” she said. “I also have been involved in the campaigns and elections for the last 12 years in Palm Beach County.”

Margolis told chamber members that his business experience would augment his businesslike approach to the office.

“I believe the supervisor’s office should be run like a business, not in the business to make money, but it should be run efficiently with systems of checks and balances,” he said. “That is something I have been doing my whole life. Additionally, there is a great opportunity with the training of poll workers. Most of my career in Proctor & Gamble has been spent in training adults, whether it’s training for selling or for leadership skills. I have experience working with adults, and I have experience with opposing viewpoints. At the end of the day, it’s about coming up with solutions.”

Lox Code Variance Process

continued from page 5 with the county when she bought her property.

“It was a very expensive process,” Ryan said. “It took six months. Nurseries are legal in Loxahatchee Groves. So is a landscaping maintenance operation. We are looking at businesses that are legal here. Putting people into a process like this is not what we want in Loxahatchee Groves. There are people who are operating legal businesses here. They will have to go through a process like this. It’s very expensive. People cannot do this.”

Town Clerk Matt Lippman denied that the town is targeting agricultural businesses. “It’s not a process to make them go through hoops to realign themselves,” he said. “We can’t turn a blind eye when someone is in violation. We are telling people you are in violation, but we want to help. We are trying to make this as simple as possible.”

Council members asked town staff to come back with a further update at the next meeting.

Mahoney Mired In Scandal

continued from page 8 said. “I understand the complexities of a Wellington versus a Glades County,” he said. “I understand agriculture, and I understand what it takes to create jobs. That experience makes me very pragmatic and practical when it comes to getting my job done.”

Mahoney said he is the best person for the job because he understands the diverse district so well.

“I understand what it is to be in Okeechobee,” Mahoney said. “We’ve got 40 percent dropout rates in rural high schools. I understand how to create jobs. I’ve demonstrated now that I can go to Congress and be effective. I’m aggressive. I got on the Agriculture Committee because agriculture is the second biggest industry in the State of Florida. We need a new economy. I know how to do that. I understand the mess that has been created in this credit crisis, and I understand the sober regulatory reforms that need to be put in place to fix it.”

PHOTOS BY CAROL PORTER/TOWN-CRIER

Howard Coates with his family and supporters.Howard Coates addresses guests at the party.

Wellington Councilwoman Lizbeth Benacquisto with State Rep. Adam Hasner and his wife Jillian.

Tom Wenham and his wife Regis, Don Dufresne, Richard and Jessica Pinsky, Eric Sain, Dionna Brahs and others.

Don Dufresne, Leo Noble and Marty Perry.

Don Dufresne, Eric Sain, Regis Wenham, State Sen. Dave Aronberg and Tom Wenham.State Sen. Dave Aronberg with supporters.

RESIDENTS MAKE STRIDES AGAINST BREAST CANCER AT WELLINGTON WALK

The Western Communities Making Strides Against Breast Cancer 5K Walk took place the morning of Saturday, Oct. 18 at the Greenview Cove Golf Course in Wellington. The purpose of the non-competitive walk was to raise awareness and money to fight breast cancer, and provide hope to all people facing the disease. Teams from Wellington, Royal Palm Beach, The Acreage, Loxahatchee Groves and the Glades took part in the event. The walk is one of more than 125 Making Strides walks being held across the country.

The Moss family: Gary, Jason, Karen (a survivor) and Krystal.

PHOTOS BY CAROL PORTER/TOWN-CRIER

(Front row, L-R) Carmine Priore III and his wife Terri, Marie and Dr. Carmine Priore; (back) Terri’s parents Gerrie and John Greschuk.

Members of the breast cancer support group Your Bosom Buddies II.Cheryl Kennedy, Keri Armand and Katie Fedak.

Diane Smith serves as master of ceremonies.

Sponsorship Chair Shauna Hostetler.

Lisa McDulin, Genienne Navarro and Lorna Johnson.

Zoe Rotella, Allee Vchlitz and Natalie Scarpello.

Ms. South Florida Fair Jessica Wittenbrink with the gang from Wellington’s Ultima Fitness.

Members of Girl Scout Troop 150.

The West Palm Beach Home & Garden Show was held last weekend at the South Florida Fairgrounds. More than 500 exhibitors were on hand as well as features, experts and celebrities. Some of the best in the business conducted live, interactive seminars and demonstrations, including HGTV’s Joshua Foss and designer and columnist Stephen Saint-Onge. For more info., visit www.westpalmbeachhomeshow.com.

Better Homes and Gardens columnist Stephen Saint-Onge.

Chef Adam Bufano of Chicago demonstrates Sears appliances on the Whole Foods set.

Joshua Foss talks about eco-friendly items for the home.

Alex Modric tries a pair of My Vu personal movie viewing glasses.

Marina Zaldivar, Jillian Doerr, Sharon Williams, Maria Maldonado and Randy Risorto of Costco.

Veronica Paul and Jim Pinault try out the Hampton, a patio couch with a convertible top.

Marisa Urtiz, Hailey Peterson and Molly Ferrara go for a ride on the Sizzler.

Sword swallower Heather Holliday gets some assistance from Chesco Ferrara.

Jeremy Schroader, a designer with Underworld Creations, talks to Michelle Holsinger and Emily Widrig.

Letter From Home: The Young Person’s Guide To Self-Esteem

My sister has asked everyone in our family to write a letter to her 17-year-old son Brooks, as he is going away to a religious retreat that teaches self-esteem. The counselor will give him these “letters from home” if he appears homesick. So I wrote the following: Dear Brooks, How is camp? I know you already have selfesteem and a whole lot of other attributes necessary to look chemo in the face and come out on top, so blah-blah-blah on the self-esteem. I would rather talk about the important stuff — me. Yes, I know this letter is supposed to be about you, but I thought I would point out several things not to do if you want good self-esteem. I know these things from experience.

1. Do not say Yes when you mean No. [About

Deborah Welky is The Sonic BOOMER

Me! — When I was a stay-at-home mom, a Very Busy Person would always ask me to come to her to pick things up instead of her delivering them to me. Because I was no good at saying no, I would interrupt whatever my kids were doing, get them dressed, put shoes on them, pack them into the car, drive three miles, pick it up and grumble all

the way home. It wasn’t fair, especially to the kids.]

2. Be careful. Getting into cars with strangers is not a good thing. [About Me! — In the ’70s (when miniskirts were in style), my fiancé and I needed a ride, so we tried hitchhiking. He would thumb and I would sit down the slope with our luggage. No one picked him up. So I had him sit by the luggage and I thumbed. I was picked up in a nanosecond! But when my fiancé popped up with our luggage, the driver got all pouty and let us out at the very next stop. In retrospect, that was probably a good thing.]

3. It’s good to be careful, but you have to try to trust people. [About Me! — Right now I have a 19-year-old clerk working in my store. She is always on time, works weekends, looks nice etc., but little bits of money have been missing. First,

it was our take-a-penny-leave-a-penny dish; there hasn’t been a penny in it since she started. My emergency band of 50 singles has 48 in it now. My extra roll of quarters is gone. She’s had the sniffles for three weeks, and the other clerk is sure it’s cocaine. Not me! I trust her! Well, actually, I had a talk with her yesterday, and if this keeps up she’s out of there. But the “talk” sort of gave her a warning. If I have to fire her, I’ll be sad… but mostly because it’s hard to find clerks to work weekends. Still, I’d rather lose a few bucks than accuse someone falsely. It might damage her selfesteem! Ha-hah.]

So Brooks, those are my stories about self-esteem. You have it; I didn’t/don’t. Good work! Love, Auntie Deb (p.s. I’ll let you know how things turn out with the clerk).

Divergent Ideologies Via Political Media Is A Disturbing Trend

One of the most disturbing trends in American politics is the country’s split into two very distinct “sides.” The growth of the Internet has widened the split because it accommodates voices often not heard. Political web sites, including personal and group blogs, have grown more vicious.

While the mainstream media tends to support Democrats and liberals, talk radio is dominated by those supporting Republicans and conservatives. Some conservatives say talk radio is so conservative because it serves as a balance to television and many of the country’s newspapers. Journalists in the mainstream media decry the conservatives, calling them a variety of names while claiming that only those who are “true journalists” can decide what is really news. Conservative pundits point out numerous errors by those same journalists, some clearly demonstrating bias. As a result, far more than half the population feels the media are biased although they often disagree on who is doing the lying.

Black’s

‘I’ On

CULTURE

By Leonard Wechsler

What bothers me most is that we now have two totally different systems for gathering and presenting news, and most of the public follows one or the other. Getting only one version not only skews facts but creates two separate nations, one blue and one red.

I get many political e-mails from some conscientious (and some not-so-conscientious) family and friends. Those who skew Democratic have sent dozens of very snide jokes and nasty claims about Bush, McCain, Palin and any one else they find objectionable. Those who skew Republican are quick to point out vitally

important “facts” about Obama, Biden, and Pelosi that the “blue news” just refuses to cover. The real problem is that those who only hear one side of the news will have a great deal of difficulty when the candidate they have come to fear wins. President George W. Bush faced an immense task in trying to build a national consensus when the “blue nation” refused to intellectually and emotionally accept the fact that he was elected. (Please do not send me assorted propaganda about the validity of that election.) In three months, he will be an ex-president. Even after he won in 2004, MSNBC let Keith Olbermann run a weeklong series of shows casting doubt on the over 100,000-plus Ohio vote margin while ignoring the margin of 11,000 with which John Kerry won in Wisconsin.

After this election, the losers may very well decide that they owe the winning side as much support as those who were on the losing end in the past two elections; that is to say, virtually nothing.

We need a “time out” as they call it in elementary schools. There needs to be a lot more civility. Unfortunately, those on the winning side, particularly the more extreme, are likely to do a lot of crowing. And those on the losing side will feel isolated and ready for as active opposition as possible.

We need to cool down. When partisans on one side want loyalty from the other, they might pause to consider the amount of support they have given leaders on the opposing side in the past. Republicans worked hard to impeach Clinton and the Democrats have spent the past eight years actively working against Bush. It is not easy to solve problems when half the public feels unrepresented.

“May you live in interesting times” may not be an authentic Chinese curse, but things have gotten too interesting in political battles, and we could a bit of domestic tranquility in the next few years. Maybe we should simply wait until the next president does something we really hate before we get upset.

Comedy Show Didn’t Disappoint At Thrice The Price

Wondering & Wandering

By Ernie Zimmerman

About a month ago my friend Larry (yes, I do have a couple of friends) called me up and asked if I wanted to see Lewis Black at the Kravis Center. I watch Mr. Black all the time on Comedy Central. He is on The Daily Show every other week, and he now has his own show. He has been making me laugh for years. I told my friend that of course I wanted to go, but I had to check with my boss, meaning my wife Sharon. She really isn’t a fan of Lewis Black. I figured the best way to approach my wife on this subject was to tell her how much I wanted to see Lewis Black in person, and it would make a nice birthday present for me. I neglected to tell her the tickets were $45 each. I figured once she agreed to buy me the tickets, I would tell her the price. And that is exactly what I did. At first I told her we would be sitting in our usual seats in the “nosebleed” section. I didn’t tell her that for this show, the Kravis Center had tripled ticket prices in the nosebleed section. I knew she would find that out soon enough without me telling her. The night of the show started off with a nice dinner at a Greek restaurant in CityPlace. Because I am sticking to my rabbit diet, I ordered a salad topped with chicken. I must admit it was one of the better salads I’ve had in a long time. I knew right then and there that it was going to be a great night. My logic is that if the meal is good, the show will be better. And of course, as usual, I was correct.

The first thing that surprised me about this show was the fact that it was sold out at triple the regular ticket price. I found it very hard to believe there were a lot of folks in Palm Beach County with the same sense of humor as me. I always thought I was in a little, very unusual world of my own. So I was happy to see so many people laughing at what I laugh at. I always thought they broke the mold when I was created. If you need proof, just ask my family, friends and the folks I work with.

Lewis Black called his one-man show “Let Them Eat Cake.” I don’t have a clue why he named his show that, because in truth there was not one piece of cake to be found at the Kravis Center.

The show was exactly what I expected and more. Mr. Black’s show is topical and his material is very fresh. His language was also very fresh. On television he is a very funny man who screams a lot without using any four-letter

words. In the live show, just about every other word out of his mouth was one of those fourletter words. In my opinion, he could have left a few out and still would have been just as funny. Of course, after growing up in Brooklyn, serving in the Army and then as a New York City cop, none of these words were new to me; they didn’t have any type of shock effect.

After Mr. Black performed for a wonderful hour and a half, he announced that he would be in the lobby to meet and greet the audience after the show. As we exited the Kravis Center, the line to meet Mr. Black was one of the longest I have ever seen in Palm Beach County (maybe he might consider running for president at some future date; he couldn’t be any worse than the folks who are running now). All in all, my expectations were met at the show. It was a wonderful night for all at the Kravis Center.

TOWN-CRIER SPORTS & RECREATION

Palm Beach Central Posts 23-12 Homecoming Victory Over Leonard

By Paul Gaba Town-Crier Staff Report

A little trickery and the ability to take advantage of miscues never hurt anyone… unless, of course, it was your team that suffered as a result.

Such was the case for John I. Leonard’s football team, which was undone by the Palm Beach Central Broncos early and often on Friday, Oct. 17. The result: a 23-12 Broncos homecoming victory over John I. Leonard.

“It’s the first time we’ve won homecoming in a few years, and I’m happy about that,” coach Rod Harris said after the victory. “But we have a lot of stuff to get ready for before next week.”

One area certain to get attention from the Broncos coaching staff was the number of yellow flags thrown against Palm Beach Central. Harris expressed frustration at the continual showering of towels from the referees, which stalled or ended his team’s possessions.

“The number of penalties tonight, we don’t usually get that many penalties,” Harris said. “We have to get better, obviously, at practice, and it’s my job to make sure we correct the mistakes for next week.” Palm Beach Central (4-2) trailed 1210 at the half, but took advantage of several Lancers mistakes the final 24 minutes to achieve victory. The first took place two minutes into the third

quarter, when John I. Leonard fumbled the ball at its own 15 yard line. Two plays later, Broncos quarterback Travis Simmons hit Michael Gibbone on a 14yard strike, and with 9:05 remaining in the third, Palm Beach Central had what would end up being the winning score. Kicker Patrick O’Donnell missed the extra point attempt after a bad snap, making the score 16-12 in favor of the Broncos.

Palm Beach Central padded its lead to the final 23-12 margin with 10:20 left in the game, when senior running back (and homecoming king) Jon Bostic scored from two yards out. The touchdown was set up by a blocked Lancers punt that was recovered by the Broncos at John I. Leonard’s 35 yard line.

The second half Bronco dominance was a far cry from the first-half backand-forth shown by both teams. John I. Leonard (1-5) struck first, driving 80 yards in four plays, culminating with a three-yard run by Dillan Ovinas, giving the Lancers a 6-0 lead with 10:28 to play in the opening quarter.

Palm Beach Central responded on its ensuing possession, thanks to a bit of trickery. The Broncos faced a long fourth down from their own 37 yard line, and the dangerous O’Donnell — one of the state’s top kickers — was ready to punt the ball deep into Lanc-

ers territory. John I. Leonard never suspected Harris would call a fake punt. Neither did the fan base, which watched the snap go to Bostic, who connected with John Beasley for a 63-yard touchdown along the west sideline. O’Donnell’s extra point gave the Broncos a 7-6 lead.

“We work on that quite a bit,” Harris said. “It’s designed play, and we were fortunate enough for Jon Bostic to throw to John Beasley. That really kept us in the game in the first half.”

O’Donnell added a 44-yard field goal with 3:35 left in the quarter for a 10-6 Broncos lead. But the Lancers regained the lead with 11:36 left in the half, putting together another 80-yard drive that culminated with Ovinas’ second score of the game, a one-yard dash giving John I. Leonard a 12-10 advantage.

“It was an interesting game from the beginning tonight,” Harris said. “I felt Leonard played a great game, and I tip my hat to them. They played tough, and our kids found a way to overcome a lot of adversity and penalties. They stayed together, and proved victorious.”

Palm Beach Central’s next contest is at Seminole Ridge on Friday, Oct. 24 for the Hawks’ homecoming game. Royal Palm Beach is also playing its homecoming game, hosting the Lake Worth Trojans.

Just In Time For Halloween: Some

Think Halloween, and lots of scary things spring to mind: black cats, bats, ghosts and witches, and all the superstitions tied to them. Horses, too, figure in a lot of old wives’ tales. Here are some interesting ones:

• Good and Bad Luck — Everyone knows that breaking a mirror is supposed to cause seven years of bad luck. However, such a fate could supposedly be averted by leading a horse through the house. (I would guess you’d have to pick a really calm horse, and one that hadn’t eaten recently.) Those unfortunate enough to walk under a ladder would avoid bad luck by keeping their fingers crossed until spotting three horses. Hairs from a black stallion’s tail on the wrist would supposedly protect the wearer from witches.

White horses are said to warn of danger and supposedly live longer than dark horses, so they act as lucky charms to protect their owners from early death. Seeing one white horse is either good or bad luck, depending upon the legend. Regardless, tradition says if you do see a white horse, you should spit and make a wish, or cross your fingers until you see a white dog.

Seeing two white horses together is always good luck, which is why at weddings it’s lucky for the newlyweds to ride in a carriage pulled by two white horses. Also, seeing a gray horse on the way to the church is considered lucky for the bride and groom. Then there are horseshoes, which most people

Tales From The Trails

By Ellen Rosenberg

consider a sign of good luck. A horseshoe hung above a doorway will supposedly bring good luck, but only if it’s hung with the ends upright. If you hang it with the ends pointing down, the luck will “run out.” Horseshoes resemble the crescent moon and protect against a witch’s “evil eye.” A circular ring made from an iron horseshoe imparts the same protection. (Did you know they supposedly also cure hiccups? I’m not sure exactly how this works — maybe by hitting the afflicted party on the head with the horseshoe.) The luckiest horseshoe of all is said to be one from the “off” or right hind leg of a gray mare.

• Lucky for the Horse — The above superstitions concern people, but the following have to do with the horse’s own luck. For example, braiding ribbons in a horse’s tail or riding it with a whip made of rowan wood would supposedly keep the horse safe from witches. So would using a strip of sheepskin on the horse’s collar, if it’s pulling a cart or wagon.

Popular Horse Superstitions

There are a lot of beliefs about the hair whorls on a horse’s head and the relationship to its temperament. All horses and cattle have at least one, and some may have two or three. Dr. Temple Gran-

din of Colorado State University actually conducted a study of hair whorl positions and concluded there was a definite relationship. A hair whorl set high above the eyes indicated the horse would have a flighty temperament.

The most widespread superstition regarding horses has to do with the color of their legs and/ or hoofs, and they contradict each other. The first goes like this:

One white foot, buy him

Two white feet, try him

Three white feet, be on the sly

Four white feet, pass him by

And the second goes like this:

One white sock, keep him for a day

Two white socks, send him far away

Three white socks, give him to a friend

Four white socks, keep him to the end

Of course, the color of a horse’s legs or hoofs have no bearing on its temperament. However, many horse people believe dark hoofs are stronger and more resilient than white hoofs, which are thought to be softer and more brittle. Hence, a horse with white hoofs might be more prone to lameness. Is it true? Probably not, but you know how it is with beliefs that have been around for hundreds of years.

According to an ancient Arabian superstition, four white stockings (white marks on the legs almost to the knees) are evil, but two behind and one in front means good luck. One hind stocking and one opposite front stocking would be considered excellent, while stockings on both front legs would be very bad, and stockings on both hind legs very good.

• Healthy as a Horse — There are a bunch of old wives’ tales regarding the curative powers of horses. Inhale horse breath to cure whooping cough. Eat a hair from a horse’s forelock to cure worms. Got warts? Put a circle of horsehair around them and watch them shrink. Hang a horseshoe in the bedroom to keep nightmares at bay. Cure measles by wearing a muslin bag containing three hairs from a donkey’s shoulders around your neck. And while we’re on (ahem) donkeys, sit backward on one to cure snakebite or toothache — and maybe get yourself bucked off into the bargain, so then you’ll have to find some sort of a cure for a backache. Horses were also considered to be omens of death. In Wales, seeing a gray horse was a death omen, while in England and Germany, dreaming about a white horse would mean the same. And a horse neighing at the door of a house was considered to portent sickness for the inhabitants. So watch out for those ghost riders in the sky this Halloween night, and enjoy your tricks and treats!

Principal Dr. Matthew Shoemaker with homecoming queen and king Saphira Lazarre and Jon Bostic.

PHOTOS BY PAUL GABA/TOWN-CRIER

Homecoming Court members Alexa Carlin and Patrick O’Donnell.

Ashley Stechmen and Zacker Bayonne.

Shenise Nunez and Vincent Capo.

Brielle Mallano and Josh Adler.

Palm Beach Central’s Sheldon Boyce Payne and Leonard’s Nartavious Johnson shake hands.

Bronco quarterback Travis Simmons gets ready to pass.

Palm Beach Central’s Alex Muniz looks for an opening.

Patrick O’Donnell makes the game-opening kickoff.

An Incredible Hulk-themed float.

Tickets For Nov. 29 Steeplechase Now Available Online

Tickets are now available for sale online for the inaugural Palm Beach Steeplechase, to be held Saturday, Nov. 29 at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center at the corner of South Shore Blvd. and Pierson Road in Wellington. Tickets can be bought online at www.equestriansport.com and www.palmbeachsteeple chase.com. Both web sites contain complete details of ticket levels and a diagram of the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center stadium, showing the location and availability of spaces that can be reserved. The Palm Beach Steeplechase carries $200,000 in prize money for five races over fences and a celebrity race on the flat. The event will feature a wine festival and beer tent, gourmet

food, a highland pipe band, dove release, live singing of the national anthem and color guard, holiday shopping, Jack Russell terrier races, Blackwater skydivers with a 1,000 square-foot flag, hat contest, music, a classic car exhibition, running of the hounds, original Palm Beach Steeplechase souvenirs and a tailgate contest. The Steeplechase will have its own drink, the “Steeplechaser,” a concoction of vodka, peach schnapps, champagne and orange juice, shaken (not stirred) and garnished with a slice of orange and mint leaves that was created by Equestrian Club by Tavern on the Green.

Ticket options include:

• General admission — The cost is $20 in advance and $25

WARRIORS PLACE THIRD IN 8-U TOURNAMENT

The Wellington Warriors 8-U travel baseball team outscored their opponents 44-11 to place third at the Triple Crown Fall Nationals Tournament held Oct. 17-19 in St. Augustine. The team defeated the North Florida Venom twice and the North Florida Hurricanes to become the number-one seed in the tournament. The Warriors amassed 39 runs to their opponents’ zero in their first three games. The Warriors put up a tough fight against the eventual Triple Crown Champion, the Mizuno Glory. Pictured above are: (front row, L-R) Andrew Johnson, T.J. McKenzie, Nick Adams, Jason Fox, Jacob Weiss and Xavier Edwards; (second row) Xavier Smith, Will Anglin, Kyle Bowman, Ethan Levi, Jacob Mercado; (back row) Jason Weiss, Sean Mercado, Jeff Fox and Head Coach Javon Edwards.

Wellington, FL 33414. Fax: (561) 793-6090. E-mail: news@goTownCrier.com.

one week prior to race. There is no reserve seating and standing room only, so bring your own blanket.

• VIP Players Club restaurant — The cost is $250 or $300 one week prior to race. This includes valet parking, an all-day buffet and an open bar. Cheer from the patio or the second story of the Players Club. There is no reserve seating; tickets are limited to 450.

• Tailgate infield or rail — The cost is $250 per car (four general admission tickets) and includes the traditional tailgate experience with numbered 12’ x 30’ spaces you pick from the online map. There is enough room to set up tables and chairs on the infield or outside rail. Bring a picnic or order a gourmet basket from the official ca-

terer, Equestrian Club by Tavern on the Green. Reserved spaces are available, limited to 450.

• Carless tailgating — The cost is $350 and includes eight general admission, reservedspace tickets, one VIP car pass, one table, eight chairs, and one railside 10’ x 10’ pop-up tent for family and friends without cars.

• Turf Club — The cost is $600 and includes a reserved table for eight in a large tent (only 36 available), two VIP parking passes, option to purchase a “Tavern basket” from the official caterer, other food vendors and unlimited access to the infield.

• The Terrace — A reserved table for eight costs $500 and includes eight terrace table tickets in the three-story Turf Club

POP WARNER WILDCATS SHUT OUT GARDENS

The Royal Palm Beach Wildcats Pop Warner Jr. Pee Wee black team played their final regular season game last Sunday in Mirasol, defeating the Palm Beach Gardens Gators orange team 33-0. The Wildcats started and ended strong with great blocking from the offensive line including Noah Walker, Chase Brandine, Austin Brown, Damon Schmidt, Shane Reilly, Michael Shakes, Spencer Longley and Christian Salamone, with the line blocking so well it allowed the Wildcats tailback Dalton Trimble to score four rushing touchdowns and quarterback Will McCullough to connect to tight end Spencer Longley for a passing touchdown. Trimble scored on the pointafter kick. The defense for the black squad was outstanding with great plays from Ty Cross, David Rodberg, Will McCullough, Dalton Trimble, Logan Wakefeild, Hunter Dempsey, Ricky Durr, Josh Case, CJ Sothen, Justin Zubriski, Brandon Cordero, Griffin Schrauth and Harley Coffman. Pictured above, Dalton Trimble (with his arm in a cast) scores a touchdown.

overlooking the finish line, two VIP parking passes and is within walking distance to table; additional parking passes may be purchased.

• Home Stretch rail chalets — Ten reserved chalets are available for $2,000 each, which includes a 20’ x 20’ tent with 20’ x 30’ picket fence patio area, up to 40 guest passes, six round tables each with eight chairs, two preferred chalet and five VIP parking passes, 10 official race programs, tent marker and optional catering by the official caterer.

• Home Stretch sponsor chalets — This includes a 30’ x 30’ tent with 30’ x 40’ picket fence patio area, 90 guest passes, three preferred chalet and 12 VIP parking passes located directly behind chalet, 10 round tables each with eight chairs, tent marker, 20 official race programs, an on-course advertising banner, a full-page advertisement in the race program, color television tuned to Palm Beach Steeplechase and optional catering available by the official caterer. Call (561) 792-2427 for details. Limited VIP parking is available for $25.

Wellington Wrestlers Take Home Medals

The Wellington Wrestling Club team traveled last Saturday to St. Thomas Aquinas High School where three of the team’s wrestlers took home medals.

Brandon Lustgarten finished in first place by defeating all of his opponents in the 215pound Cadet division; Zach Pincus finished in third place in the 171-pound Junior division; and Jake Ferrara finished in third place in the 135-pound Cadet division.

Two new members of the Wellington Wrestling Club — Fletcher Sheehan (103-pound Cadet) and Tim Skaryd (103pound Cadet) — competed for the first time and earned their first career victories.

The Wellington Wrestling Club meets from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday at Wellington Village Park on Pierson Road. The club is open to wrestlers in preschool through high school. No prior experience is required. For more information, contact Coach Gray at graytra@palmbeach.k12.fl.us or (561) 827-8595.

Reduce Stress At Moksha

Moksha Yoga Studio in Wellington will host the third install-

and the terraces. Red Paddock and Blue Paddock parking costs $5. For red and blue parking, Molley’s Trolley is available from 9:45 a.m. to 7:01 p.m.

Palm Beach County Early Voting Sites October 20, 2008 through November 2, 2008

Monday - Friday 10:00 am - 6:00 pm Saturday - Sunday 10:00 am - 2:00 pm

JUPITER BRANCH LIBRARY 705 Military Trail, Jupiter

SUPERVISOR OF ELECTIONS NORTH COUNTY OFFICE 3188 PGA Boulevard, Room 2401, Palm Beach Gardens

BELLE GLADE CITY HALL

110 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard West, Belle Glade

RIVIERA BEACH CITY HALL

600 West Blue Heron Boulevard, Riviera Beach

VILLAGE OF WELLINGTON VILLAGE HALL 14000 Greenbriar Boulevard, Wellington

SUPERVISOR OF ELECTIONS MAIN OFFICE 240 South Military Trail, West Palm Beach

WEST BOYNTON BRANCH LIBRARY 9451 Jog Road, Boynton Beach

HAGEN RANCH ROAD LIBRARY 14350 Hagen Ranch Road, Delray Beach

SOUTHWEST COUNTY REGIONAL LIBRARY 20701 95th Avenue South, Boca Raton

BOCA RATON CITY HALL 201 West Palmetto Park Road, Boca Raton

BOYNTON BEACH CITY LIBRARY

South Seacrest Boulevard, Boynton Beach

COMMUNIT Y CALENDAR

Saturday, Oct. 25

• St. Peter’s United Methodist Church in Wellington (12200 W. Forest Hill Blvd., Wellington) will hold its Third Annual Community Harvest Fest on Saturday, Oct. 25 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. It will be an all-day affair with fun-filled activities starting with a rummage sale beginning at 8 a.m. Crafters will be selling their crafts inside the air-conditioned gym. There will also be a bake sale, children’s games, a bounce house, rock-wall climbing, bungee acrobatics, gladiator jousting, a 21-foot slide, 45-foot obstacle course, bungee run, face painting, ponies and more. Admission is free. For more info., call the church office (561) 793-5712.

• Yesteryear Village at the South Florida Fairgrounds will host Spookyville on Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 25 and 26 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Friday, Oct. 31 from 4 to 7 p.m. Highlights include familyfriendly, old fashioned-Halloween fun targeted for families with children 12 and under, trick-or-treating at historic buildings in the village on Halloween Night, costume contests and a costume parade and lots of other activities. Admission is $5 and free for ages two and under. Parking is free. For more info., visit www.south floridafair.com or call (561) 793-0333.

• The Palm Beach Zoo (1301 Summit Blvd., West Palm Beach) will continue its 13th Annual Boo at the Zoo Halloween celebration Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 25 and 26. Visitors are encouraged to come in costume as they trick-ortreat throughout the zoo’s 23 acres. Events will include nonstop animal encounters, costume contests, children’s entertainment and the largest haunted house in “Boo at the Zoo” history. Zoo admission is $12.95 for adults, $9.95 for seniors, $8.95 for children ages three to 12, and free for children under three and zoo members. For more info., visit www.palmbeachzoo.org.

• The King’s Academy Fine Arts Department will conclude Constance Cox’s production of Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime on Saturday, Oct. 25 at 7:30 p.m. The show is a comedic adaptation of the short story by Oscar Wilde. Tickets cost $12 for center seating and $10 for reserved seating. Reserved tickets can be ordered online at www.tka.net or by calling (561) 686-4244, ext. 353. The King’s Academy is located at 8401 Belvedere Road.

• The Studio Theatre of Wellington (11320 Fortune Circle) will continue its Third Annual Festival of Short Plays on Oct. 25, Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 at 8 p.m. The festival includes original ten-minute plays presented in a staged reading format. Tickets are $15. To RSVP, call (561) 204-4100.

• Guitarist/singer Peter Frampton will perform at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts (701 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach) on Saturday, Oct. 25 at 8 p.m. in the Dreyfoos Concert Hall. Call (561) 832-7469 or visit www.kravis.org for more info.

Sunday, Oct. 26

• Come out with the Loxahatchee chapter of the Florida Trail Association and explore the Apoxee Natural Area, another of Palm Beach County’s beautiful preserved areas, on Sunday, Oct. 26. For info., call Alan at (561) 586-0486.

• Authors David Goudsward and Diane Kachmar will be signing their book The Fly at Fifty on Sunday, Oct. 26 from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Coffee Shack in Wellington (9108 Forest Hill Blvd. in the Kobosko’s Crossing shopping plaza). The Fly at Fifty is a look back at the original 1958 film about science gone horribly wrong. For info., call (561) 333-0294 or visit www.yourcoffeeshack.com.

Monday, Oct. 27

• The Wellington library (1951 Royal Fern Drive) will present “Baby Story Time” on Monday, Oct. 27 at 9:30 a.m. for under eight months and 11:15 a.m. for nine through 12 months. Call (561) 790-6070 to pre-register.

• The Wellington library (1951 Royal Fern Drive) will present “English Exchange” on Monday, Oct. 27 at 1 p.m. for adults. Join Literacy AmeriCorps member Paula Alexander in this interactive program where you can practice speaking English while talking about everyday situations and current events. Basic English speaking skills required. Call (561) 649-5473 for more info.

Tuesday, Oct. 28

• The Wellington library (1951 Royal Fern Drive) will present “Teen Flix Fix: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Az-

kaban” on Tuesday, Oct. 28 at 6 p.m. for ages 12 through 17. Call (561) 790-6070 to preregister.

• The Wellington Village Council will meet on Tuesday, Oct. 28 at 7 p.m. at the Wellington Community Center. For info., call (561) 791-4000.

Wednesday, Oct. 29

• The Wellington library (1951 Royal Fern Drive) will present “Monster Mania” on Wednesday, Oct. 29 at 3 p.m. for ages four through eight. Have a monster-rific time reading about scary, silly and funny-looking monsters, and create one to take home. Call (561) 790-6070 to RSVP.

• The Wellington library (1951 Royal Fern Drive) will present the Poetry Discussion Group on Wednesday, Oct. 29 at 6:30 p.m. for adults. Engage in a provocative discussion of several published poems. Pick up poems at the information desk. Call (561) 790-6070 to pre-register.

Thursday, Oct. 30

• On Thursday, Oct. 30, the Eissey campus of Palm Beach Community College will host its 2008 Job Fair & College Transfer Day from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in Room SC-127 in the BioScience Technology Complex. Don’t miss this great opportunity to meet employers recruiting for part-time and fulltime careers. Admission is free. For more info., call (561) 207-5350 or visit www.pbcc. edu/career.xml.

• The Wellington library (1951 Royal Fern Drive) will present “Craft Club: Scary Crafts” on Thursday, Oct. 30, 3:30 p.m. for ages nine through 12. Also Oct. 30, the library will present Japanese Storytelling at 7 p.m. featuring chilling Japanese ghost stories for adults and teens ages 12 and up. Call (561) 7906070 to pre-register.

• The Dreyfoos School of the Arts will present Fame the Musical Oct. 30 through Nov. 9 in the school’s Meyer Hall theater, located one block north of the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach. Tickets are $15 and may be purchased by calling the box office at (561) 802-6052 or at the box office one hour before curtain (if available). Show times are Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7 p.m., and Sundays at 2 p.m. Friday, Oct. 31

• The West Palm Beach Antiques & Collectibles Show will open its new season on Friday, Oct. 31 at the Americraft Expo Center at the South Florida Fairgrounds. The show offers hundreds of dealers with innumerable choices for recycling perfectly good, attractive and useful articles priced very reasonably. Daily admission for the show is $6.50 for adults, $5.50 for seniors 62 and over, and $11 for multi-day tickets. Children under 12 are admitted free. There is no charge for parking. For more info., visit www.wpbantiques.com or call (561) 640-3433.

• My Gym Children’s Fitness Center (518 N. State Road 7, Royal Palm Beach) will host an open house on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. For info., call (561) 798-5656 or visit www.mygym.com.

• The Wellington library (1951 Royal Fern Drive) will present “Science Club: Halloween Science” on Friday, Oct. 31 at 3:30 p.m. for ages seven and up. Make fake blood and write ghost letters in honor of Halloween. Call (561) 790-6070 to pre-register.

• The Village of Wellington will host its Annual Fall Festival on Friday, Oct. 31 from 5 to 10 p.m. at the Village Park gymnasium (11700 Pierson Road). All activities require the purchase of coupon booklets or the purchase of an all-access bracelet for $20. Advance bracelets are on sale now for only $15 and are available at Village Park or the Wellington Community Center. For more info., call (561) 791-4005.

• United Methodist Church of the Palm Beaches (900 Brandywine Road, West Palm Beach) will hold its Seventh Annual Trunk or Treat Halloween Event on Friday, Oct. 31 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Enjoy a free evening of family fun in a safe environment. The event will include Halloween candy for kids who will trick-or-treat from the car trunks of church members. The event also offers free food, inflatable games, music, giveaways and more. For more info., call Patti Aupperlee at (561) 687-5411, ext. 26.

Send calendar items to: The Town-Crier, 12794 W. Forest Hill Blvd., Suite 31, Wellington, FL 33414. FAX: (561) 7936090. E-mail: news@gotown crier.com.

Plenty Of Flavors To Choose From At Tropical Popcorn In RPB

By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report

The Tropical Popcorn Company opened last month in Royal Palm Beach to offer freshpopped popcorn in 56 flavors, as well as a variety of other goodies in a fun environment.

The independent store in the Southern Palm Crossing plaza is owned and operated by a Wellington couple, Jim and Loretta Misura. “We cook all 56 varieties right here in the store,” Loretta said.

Caramel popcorn, candied popcorn, chocolate-covered popcorn, jalapeno, salsa, cheese, you name it, Tropical Popcorn Company aims to maximize popcorn enjoyment, whether a customer just wants a snack-size bag, or several gallons’ worth of one or more flavors.

“People are surprised at how many flavors of popcorn we have, and we do it all here,” Jim said.

Along with the popcorn, the candy and caramel coatings are made fresh in the store. “The candied popcorn is similar to the caramel corn, but with different flavors,” Loretta explained. “Caramel corn uses the butter. These don’t have the extra butter. These are like a candy mix with sugar and color and flavors. We do a similar process for the chocolate popcorn.”

The chocolate popcorn is coated with caramel prior to the chocolate coating to insure maximum crunchiness, Jim said. White chocolate popcorn is covered with a vanilla candy coating to assure a light white chocolate taste.

“That way it stays crunchy and crispy and doesn’t get soggy,” he said. “We have a 20-gallon cooker/coater that we use to finalize the caramel corn and candy corn.”

“We have milk chocolate, we have dark chocolate, we have white chocolate and we do different mixes,” Loretta added. “We have a white chocolate pretzel. We have white chocolate Oreo. We have Heath, chocolate almond, Butterfinger, creamy peanut butter, chocolate peanut butter, Mars. We have cheese, we have kettle corn, cinnamon toast kettle corn, we have low-salt light, for people who are watching their diet or don’t

want to get the real buttery stuff.”

The store will also prepare special requests. “One of the requests we’ve had is maple without nuts,” Loretta said. “I had a customer say he could never find maple without nuts.”

The store offers single or multiple flavors of its popcorn in bags, boxes and tins ranging from 24 ounces up to 20-gallon party bags, just right for celebrations.

“We had a gentleman who came in and bought three bags,” Loretta said. “He was having some kind of a benefit. He had a popper, but it was so time-consuming that he decided it would be easier just to come in and buy it from us. If a person calls us an hour or so in advance, we can pop it up fresh for them.”

The Tropical Popcorn Company offers a flavor of the month. October’s flavor is pumpkin spice. “My husband has hundreds of recipes,” Loretta said.

The couple said they had been thinking about starting a popcorn store for 15 years as a way to work together and control their own destiny.

“There was a popcorn store up north in Ohio that we liked,” Loretta said. “The owner there had a nice store, and we really liked it. We had an opportunity to get into the business, so we investigated a couple of opportunities, one with a franchise, and it didn’t really work out for us, but what we found was a man out in Texas who owns a place called Popcorn Papa. What he offers is a way to do your own popcorn. You pay him a flat fee, and he teaches you how to do the popcorn, what machines you need to buy, and then you’re on your own.”

Jim said he and his wife learned that a surprising amount of attention goes into the preparation of different varieties of popcorn. “For three solid weeks we learned how to make everything,” he said. “We duplicate the process exactly, and they’ve been doing it for 23 years, right down to the ingredients, the type of machines that we use, the kitchen — my kitchen is almost identical to his.”

The couple decided to keep it fun in the store and make sure

customers have an enjoyable experience. “A popcorn shop seemed like you should do something fun and creative with it,” Loretta said.

Jim said they try to lend the store an old-fashioned feel with a tropical twist, down to painted barrels containing saltwater taffy and balloons in the shape of seahorses and fish.

The store offers thematic popcorn gift boxes and arrangements for birthdays and holidays. It also offers birthday cookies and gift wrapping, as well as party balloons and other party supplies.

“We try to be creative when we come up with different gift baskets,” Jim said. “We will have special packages for every holiday for anybody who is looking for a unique gift idea.”

“We are starting to do some shipping now as well,” Loretta added.

Although the store already looks well stocked, Jim said he still has some setting up to do, including an ice cream cooler and beverage dispenser.

“We’re going to have more inventory coming in,” he said. “Including specialty popcorn seeds and mixes for people who want to do it at home, gourmet popcorn seed and the gourmet popcorn bowls that sift out the unpopped seeds for you.”

Loretta Misura noted that Tropical Popcorn Company sifts out unpopped seeds. “We have a table back there that we use to sift the popcorn to get out the old maids and undersize corn,” she said.

“And with our candy corn, it’s popped up nice and round so it almost looks like candy, although for our cheese popcorn and regular eating popcorn we change the way we pop it and make it more like the butterfly popcorn so it pops up bigger,” Jim added.

The difference is determined by the popping time, the temperature and proportion of oil to corn, he said. The right oil is also important.

“Most of our popcorn is popped in butter-flavored coconut oil,” he said. “We have light varieties of our cheese and light popcorn that we pop in corn oil. The only two oils that we use are from Gold

Medal, especially for popcorn.”

Loretta noted that the store is already enjoying heavy customer traffic. “The word is getting out,” she said. “People are discovering us.”

The Misuras have two daugh-

ters, Megan, 13, who attends Wellington Landings Middle School and Jessica, five, who attends Binks Forest Elementary School. Tropical Popcorn Company is located in the Southern Palm Crossing shopping plaza at

11051 Southern Blvd., Suite 200 and is open Tuesday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sundays from noon to 5. For more information, or to place an order, call (561) 790-7904.

Fifty-Six Flavors Of Popcorn — Tropical Popcorn Company co-owners Jim and Loretta Misura behind the counter at their store in Royal Palm Beach. PHOTO BY RON BUKLEY/TOWN-CRIER

Jim and Loretta Misura with Palms West Chamber of Commerce ambassadors during a recent ribbon cutting.

Bacalao Tapas & Seafood Grille Now Open At Wellington Green

By Candace Marchsteiner Town-Crier Staff Report

In the ocean-blue glow of Bacalao Tapas & Seafood Grille last Saturday, invited guests sipped sangria and sampled a variety of tapas to the enchanting sounds of live flamenco guitar pop music. Guests entered Wellington’s newest restaurant via a red carpet lined by a 2008 lime-green Spyder and a white LP560-4 on display courtesy Lamborghini Palm Beach. The Oct. 18 event previewed the restaurant’s soothing, cosmopolitan ambience and European/Spanish culinary fare available to the public as of Oct. 21.

features tapas, appetizer-sized portions of Spanish favorites from snapper ceviche, sautéed chorizo and fried baby calamari to baby eels in garlic sauce and baby conch in a roasted garlic wine sauce, to name just a few. Moderately priced entrées include unique grilled or ovenbaked fresh fish fillets as well as more commonly known land and sea favorites. An extensive wine list details the grape type and originating region for each selection.

Open daily for dinner from 4 to 10 p.m., Bacalao Tapas & Seafood Grille is located in the Pointe at Wellington Green (10140 Forest Hill Blvd., Suite 170). For more information, call (561) 753-2836 or visit www. bacalaoseafoodgrille.com.

PHOTOS BY CANDACE MARCHSTEINER/TOWN-CRIER

Owned by Silvio and Buchy Diaz, Executive Chef Carlos Ortiz, and Jose Lavilla, Bacalao

Co-owners Silvio and Buchy Diaz with Executive Chef Carlos Ortiz.

Brian Schachter serves sangria to the property’s maintenance engineer Max Perez, property manager Kathy Loughrey and her husband Frank Loughrey.Guests entered Bacalao last Saturday via a red carpet.

Miami’s Tony Cruz performs flamenco pop music. Gregg and Katherine Glasser of Davie.

Kelly Michel serves Wellington’s Anita and Sam Nebb.

Bartenders Kristina Welch and Nidia Schiano fill a tray for server Kimberly Valeo.

Wellington’s Luz Fernandez and Javier Baquero admire a 2008 Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder.

Liz Cruz and Dina St. Andrew, both of Loxahatchee, relish a husband-endorsed ladies’ night out.

Town Square Publix Helps Support After School Enrichment Program

ArtStart would like to thank Nat Hernandez and Barry Layton, manager and assistant manager of the Publix supermarket in Wellington’s Town Square shopping plaza, for their generous donation to ArtStart and the Latin American Immigrant & Refugee Organization (LAIRO) after-school enrichment program. The store donated 50 green canvas bags, which the students transformed into Halloween-themed works of art.

Based in Wellington, ArtStart “is a nonprofit organization with a big heart and a small budget,” founder and president Jeannette Pomeroy Parssi said, “so we depend on the generous support of individuals and corporations to help us achieve our goal of making the arts accessible to everyone.”

Parssi said numerous studies have concluded that students

who receive a robust arts education perform better in all areas of school. “Thanks to the generosity of Publix and our program sponsors, we are able to help students who otherwise might not have the opportunity to benefit from this valuable program,” Parssi said. The ArtStart program at LAIRO is funded in part by the Palm Beach County Cultural Council and the Batchelor Foundation.

ArtStart’s mission is to provide educational opportunities in the arts, including visual arts, music, dance, theater and creative writing. Its goal is to cultivate the resources, leadership and partnerships that nurture and support arts and cultural programs, which enrich the quality of life for all. The organization accomplishes this goal through a variety of initi-

atives, including art scholarships, artist-in-residence programs, teacher workshops and internship opportunities.

For more information, call ArtStart at (561) 635-2037 or visit the organization’s web site at www.artatartinc.org.

Wellington Whole Foods Market To Open On Nov. 5

Whole Foods Market, the world’s leading natural and organic foods supermarket, will hold a grand opening for its new store in Wellington on Wednesday, Nov. 5. The store is located in the new Wellington Green Center on State Road 7, just south of the Mall at Wellington Green.

The festivities for the Whole Foods Market Wellington store will begin at 8 a.m. in the store parking lot with a free continental breakfast for customers, followed by a traditional Whole Foods Market “bread-breaking ceremony” — a foodie twist on

the traditional ribbon-cutting event — at 9 a.m. The 50,000square-foot store will generate more than 220 new jobs.

“Our number-one goal is to provide Wellington and the surrounding Palm Beach County communities with the freshest, most flavorful, and highest quality products, while providing superior value in every department,” Whole Foods Market Store Team Leader Jeff Figley said. “We’re excited to offer the community a truly unique shopping experience — from our wine and cheese tastings and cooking classes in our Lifestyle

Center cooking school, to our store-made gelato at the coffee bar, every department has something that makes grocery shopping fun again!”

Whole Foods Market is offering store fans, food enthusiasts and the general public a preopening, behind-the-scenes look at the new store during a series of sneak preview tours scheduled for Nov. 3 from noon to 8 p.m. The tours will include a department-by-department look at the latest innovations that Whole Foods Market is bringing to Florida, as well as samples from every department —

including locally grown fruits and vegetables, specialty cheeses, restaurant quality prepared foods, and a wine tasting. Those interested in attending need to register online at wellington. wholefoodsrsvp.com. Space is limited.

Following the bread-breaking ceremony, grand opening week activities for the Wellington store will continue with special free product samples, in-store chef demonstrations, free classes in the lifestyle center, live music and events for all ages. For more information, visit www.wholefoodsmarket.com.

Wellington’s Rick Roth On Farm Bureau Board

John Hoblick of DeLeon Springs was elected president and Rick Roth of Wellington was elected vice president of the Florida Farm Bureau Federation at the federation’s annual meeting at the Peabody Orlando. Both were elected by unanimous votes.

Hoblick was elected to a second term; Roth was elected to a fifth term as vice president.

Hoblick, a Volusia County farmer who produces cut foliage

for the floral industry, was first elected president in 2006. He has been a member of the Florida Farm Bureau state board of directors since 1994. He represented Lake, Volusia and Seminole counties and was elected board secretary in 2000. Hoblick has served on the board of the Southern Farm Bureau Casualty Company since 2000. He was also elected to represent the Southern Region on the American Farm Bu-

reau board of directors in January 2007. Roth, a third-generation South Florida farmer, is the president and principal owner of Roth Farms in Belle Glade, the most diversified farming operation in the Everglades Agricultural Area. The farm produces lettuce and leafy vegetables, radishes, sugar cane, sod, sweet corn, green beans, field-grown palm trees and rice, and operates the Ray’s Heritage Packing-

house, which became fully operational in April 2007.

The Florida Farm Bureau Federation is the state’s largest general-interest agricultural association with about 140,000 member-families statewide. Headquartered in Gainesville, the federation is an independent, non-profit agricultural organization.

More information about Florida Farm Bureau is available at www.floridafarmbureau.org.

of Lowe’s. Shown above are Ruiz and Giardino with some of their “star pups” and Palms West Chamber of Commerce ambassadors.

Dream Middle School — Dream Middle School in Royal Palm Beach is a

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At Dream

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learning for understanding (not just test scores) is a priority. Dream Middle School students are optimistic thinkers, goal-oriented risk-takers, innovative problem-solvers and dynamic leaders. Dream Middle School graduates are accepted into Advanced Placement classes, IB and magnet programs, as well as top boarding and private high schools. Dream Middle School is the middle school for Ideal Elementary/Preschool. For more information, a private tour or an application for an interview, call (561) 791-2881. Pictured above are the Sodermans and their students with Palms West Chamber of Commerce ambassadors.

Students from the LAIRO program show the Halloweenthemed art they created with Publix shopping bags.

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