Key West Weekly 22-0922

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An anchor of health and wellness in the heart of the Florida Keys, Fishermen’s Community Hospital has expanded its specialized service offerings.

The state-of-the-art facility is home to the services you need, brought to you by the most trusted healthcare provider in the region. Fishermen’s Community Hospital is proud to now offer the following:

Other services available include: 24/7 emergency care with on-site helipad, diagnostic imaging, inpatient care, intensive care unit, telestroke services to provide stroke patients with emergency access to board-certified neurologists, outpatient laboratory and rehabilitation.

The care you deserve, right in your neighborhood.

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NUMBER OF THE

A wild week 2 in the NFL saw three teams making unbelievable come backs. The Arizona Cardinals and Miami Dolphins both overcame 20-point deficits at halftime to win their respective games. The New York Jets did the unthinkable by overcoming a 30-17 deficit with two minutes to go against the Cleveland Browns, winning 31-30.

MANDY MILES

ON

SICK OF SEAWEED

KEY WEST OFFICIALS APPROVE FLOATING BARRIER

CONTRIBUTED

Kmandy@keysweekly.comeyWest’sSouthBeach may

once again be swimmable, without piles of seaweed, or sargassum, and the ac companying stench of its decay that poses a health hazard and hurts the adjacent resort and restaurant.

City officials on Sept. 20 ap proved the installation of a seaweed barrier designed to prevent the floating seagrass from accumulat ing in the basin at the south end of South Street between Southern most Beach Resort and the South ernmost

“OnceHouse.theseaweed lands on the beach, it begins decomposing and emits hydrogen sulfide, which has an unpleasant odor, and has been linked to respiratory issues, nau sea and irritation of the eyes,” city documents state. “Per the Florida Department of Health, the tiny sea creatures that live in sargassum can irritate skin with direct contact. Additionally, the seaweed buildup

makes the shallows near the shoreline thick with seaweed, making them un safe and unpleasant to swim in.” State and federal environmental agencies have approved the barrier. Several employees of the Southern most Beach Cafe and its adjoining resort spoke in favor, citing headaches, nausea and vertigo, along with hun dreds of negative online reviews and constant customer complaints about the unsightly beach and intolerable smell despite daily beach-cleaning efforts. In its lease of the city-owned beach area and restaurant building, the resort pays the city about 6% of gross restaurant revenues, which have dramatically declined since the sea weed worsened in recent years, the resort general manager said.

But not everyone was on board with the barrier. Hugh Morgan, whose family lives next door to the Southern most House, told the commission the barrier could redirect the floating sea weed to his property, where seaweed is not currently an issue.

Before unanimously approv ing the barrier, the commissioners amended the plan to ensure Mor gan has a clear complaint process. Officials also were assured that the barrier can be removed and de tached from its anchors on the sea floor if it’s not effective.

WHAT ABOUT THE VACATION RENTAL RULES?

Officials at the Sept. 20 meet ing postponed any vote on new short-term rental rules until at least December, following more public workshops, discussion and collabo ration among city staff. Commis sioner Mary Lou Hoover said the next workshops should be held in the evening, when working resi dents, many of whom are renters, can participate. She emphasized that the initial workshop on the topic took place Sept. 8, a weekday, from 9 a.m. to noon, keeping many working residents — and renters — from attending and voicing their

concerns.Theproposed rental restriction, as currently written, would prohibit rentals of fewer than six months at properties without a newly imple mented short-term rental license.

More than 100 real estate agents, mortgage brokers, property man agers, attorneys and owners of vacation rental homes packed the Sept. 8 city workshop to oppose the new rule.

Key West officials approved an offshore barrier to redirect seaweed that accu mulates at South Beach, posing a health threat and hurting nearby businesses.

Conch running back James Reynolds scores for Key West High School, which defeated Dade Christian 44-6 on Sept. 16. See pages 18-20. ELLA HALL/ Keys Weekly

MANDY MILES mandy@keysweekly.com

THEFINDINGSWEET SPOT

RALPH & KILWINSHENRIQUEZDEEDEEBUYONDUVAL

Conch

baseball coach Ralph Henriquez knows all about the sweet spot — on a baseball bat. He and his wife DeeDee Henriquez, who was our elected county tax collector for 20 years, were less familiar with a certain sweet spot on Duval Street — Kilwins, purveyor of fine chocolates, premium ice cream, fudge, caramel apples and other confectionery treats.

“We knew nothing about Kilwins, to be honest, but we love everything we’ve learned,” DeeDee said, expertly dipping an Oreo in a vat of liquid chocolate and arranging her creations neatly on a parchment-covered baking sheet.

The familiar Key West family was looking for a new business opportunity, and the more they learned about Kilwins, the more they liked the company’s commitment to customers, qual ity — and its franchisees.

The Henriquezes bought the local Kilwins franchise at 505 Duval St. on Aug. 30 and are now satisfying every sort of sweet tooth with premium chocolates, truffles, ice cream, fudge, caramel apples, and chocolate-dipped straw berries, pretzels, Oreos, you name it.

“And we just got approval from the city to add outdoor cafe seating so people can sit and enjoy their ice cream, fudge and caramel apples,” Ralph said.

“Kilwins ice cream is a proprietary brand and will never be sold in grocery stores, or anywhere but a Kilwins shop,” he said, while DeeDee scooped their special-edition, seasonal ice cream flavors — pumpkin pie and apple pie — into a perfectly crisp waffle cone.

The Michigan-based company has been around for 75 years, and will have more than 200 locations by the end of the year, mostly in tourist destinations, said Ralph Henriquez, who will be back on the diamond come baseball season.

For now, though, the family has traded their red Conch colors for Kilwins’ teal behind their new candy counters.

“Kilwins started in a town called Petos key, Michigan — the same town where Ernest Hemingway started his writing career. He worked for the newspaper there. The connec tion was amazing and it seemed meant to be,” Ralph said.

“Everything just seemed to fit,” DeeDee agreed, adding that the pair spent 12 intense days in Michigan at “Kilwins University,” learn ing recipes, processes, expectations and every thing else about the operation.

The Key West Kilwins has been in its Duval Street location for 14 years.

“We’re the third franchise owners here,” Ralph said. “And we’re already talking with them about doing a second location some where else on Duval Street, and/or up the Keys, but we have to learn the ropes here first.

“We’re having a great time, and are excited to help bring more locals downtown. This store has been here for 14 years … and it has always done well with tourists and foot traffic, but we’re hoping with our longtime community ties up and down the Keys, we can bring more locals in as well.”

They’re already planning to sponsor youth athletic teams, host fundraisers and donate baskets and other items for groups to raffle.

“Kilwins will absolutely be truly involved and invested in the local community,” DeeDee said.As

quickly as the Henriquezes learned the ropes, they realized immediately that many of their customers know Kilwins’ products just as well.

3 4

“People come in and know right where to go, exactly what flavors they want, and what sizes they come in. They have their favorites and do the selling for us, convincing others what to try,” DeeDee said, laughing and hand ing this reporter a scoop of pumpkin-pie ice cream in a waffle cone.

As if on cue, a couple paused on the side walk outside, trading tastes of their own ice cream cones, a Kilwins shopping bag swinging from his left hand.

“This is delicious; try it,” she said.

“I told you,” he replied. “Everything in there is great.”

1. Caramel apples covered in all sorts of delightful toppings line the shelves at Kilwins. MANDY MILES/ Keys Weekly

2. Key Westers Ralph and DeeDee Henriquez recently bought Kilwins, the chocolate, fudge, ice cream and candy shop at 505 Duval St. CONTRIB

3.UTEDCoach

Ralph Henriquez offers Kilwins signature “Tuttles,” an addictive combination of chocolate, nuts and caramel. MANDY MILES/Keys Weekly

4. DeeDee Henriquez serves up Kilwins premium ice cream that can only be found in their stores. MANDY MILES/Keys Weekly

They explained to officials why they believed the rule would do nothing to increase the city’s inventory of long-term, annual rentals for work ing residents and they proposed alternative remedies to the city’s housing crisis.

Paul Hayes on Sept. 8 sug gested the city impose a morato rium on conversions of multi-unit dwellings to single-family homes that typically become vacation rent als. One woman, an out-of-state homeowner participating via Zoom, received no support from the audience when she suggested that Key West, particularly Old Town, is simply too expensive for working renters, who should consider mov ing up the Keys as far as Big Pine, where rents could be cheaper.

Resident homeowner Todd Santoro said, “I see vacation rentals as businesses operating in residen tial neighborhoods. I can’t have a business in my home, with custom ers coming and going. I question why we’re allowing these busi nesses.”

To encourage more annual rentals, speakers suggested ex tending the significant tax benefits of homestead exemptions for primary residences to landlords who rent annually to residents. Those landlords are providing a primary residence for someone, even if they’re not the ones living

there, say supporters, including former city commissioner Margaret Romero, who tried more than a decade ago to launch an initiative to preserve long-term rentals. She received no support on the com mission at the time.

Still other workshop partici pants raised a perennial proposal: Use Tourist Development Council (TDC) money — paid by tourists to attract tourists — to fund afford able housing. State laws dictate specifically how TDC money can be spent, and affordable housing is not an allowed use. Any change would require legislative action, which has long been viewed as unlikely.

At the Sept. 20 city commis sion meeting, City Manager Patti McLauchlin assured lawmakers that further workshops will be held. Commissioner Sam Kaufman said he was initially hesitant to post pone the vote on the proposed rule given the city’s dire housing crisis, but he ultimately agreed to the postponement.MayorTeriJohnston said the Sept. 8 workshop raised several concerns. “I’m making the assump tion that we’ll need to modify this proposed ordinance before voting on it.”

CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL RETURNS TO KEY WEST

CAPITAL CAMPAIGN IS WELL UNDERWAY

MANDY MILES mandy@keysweekly.com

TheBasilica School is bringing Catholic high school back to Key West, and is receiving generous community and parishioner support for its capital campaign.

Key West families will have the option of a Catholic high school for the first time since 1986, when the last class graduated from St. Mary’s High School.

The Basilica School of St. Mary Star of the Sea currently offers prekindergarten to ninth grade. The new ninth-graders are attending classes in the convent building on the Truman Avenue campus, but a brand new, 15,000-square-foot Ba silica High School building is in the works, said principal Robert Wright.

“By fully restoring Catholic edu cation in Key West, we will have the opportunity to realize the words of Saint Paul – providing an education for the whole child — spirit, mind and body,” Wright said. “The goal of our capital campaign is to raise $7.5 million for the renovation of the old auditorium building. Any funds raised that exceed renovation costs will be used for improvements on the existing elementary and middle school buildings.”

The school already has raised about $2.5 million, and hopes to have $5 million in hand by May 2023 in order to sign a construction contract. The school has already completed architectural plans, a feasibility study and other hurdles.

“If all goes well, we’ll start build ing in May, and I see the new build ing opening in late spring 2024,” Wright said. “We’re piloting our first ninth-grade class with 13 of 21

eighth graders from last year. We’ll add a grade each year.”

The school expects to enroll about 30 to 45 students per high school grade to start, but Wright ac knowledged that “when news of the Catholic first hit the Keys Weekly, our phones started ringing off the hook. We’re not trying to be another or to replace Key West High School. The key ingredient to a successful educa tion is a good ethos and environ ment. As a Catholic school, we can have higher expectations.”

But, Wright emphasized, “We are not just a school for the haves. We have families with seven-figure incomes and kids that we’re sending food home with on the weekends to ensure they can eat. And they’re all in the same classes, wearing the same uniforms. Seventy percent of our stu dents have vouchers and/or tuition assistance and our parish and school community does a tremendous job of fundraising for tuition assistance.”

Tuition for grades K through 8 runs about $9,000 to $9,500 per year, Wright said, adding that high school tuition will be about $12,500 per year, with assistance and vouch ers also available.

To bring the new school to fruition, “Options for giving include one-time donations, gift pledges and large gifts payable over multiple years. There are also several nam ing opportunities available. Please prayerfully consider giving and sharing our endeavor with others who may be interested in expanding the mission and ministry of Catholic education in the Florida Keys,” Wright said.To support the capital campaign, contact Wright at principal@basilicas chool.com.

A similar seaweed barrier has been successful at Tranquility Bay Resort in Marathon. CONTRIBUTED

The above diagram shows the outline of the floating barrier that will redirect seaweed away from the city-owned South Beach. CONTRIBUTED

This architectural rendering shows the Basilica High School, which has a targeted opening date of late spring 2024. CONTRIBUTED

EDUCATION & ENFORCEMENT

EMPHASIZED IN FIRST IN-PERSON COMMENT SESSION FOR RESTORATION BLUEPRINT

JIM McCARTHY jim@keysweekly.com

More law enforcement and education, as well the need for better water quality, were among the sentiments relayed by residents during a public com ment session on the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary’s Restoration Blueprint on Sept. 20 at Coral Shores High School auditorium.

A revised draft management plan unveiled to the public in July detailed a va riety of new marine zones, regulations and a sanctuary expansion to 4,795 square miles. Sanctuary officials say the latest proposal recognized a host of comments from the Restoration Blueprint’s release in 2019 that contained four proposals.

Public comment on the latest proposal started mid-July. Residents can provide their opinion in writing by visiting regula tions.gov now through Oct. 21. They also had the chance to issue their response via the microphone inside the Coral Shores High School auditorium as sanctuary of ficials

Glennlistened.Paton was among the 20-plus commenters on Sept. 20. He said a 2011 condition report showed the sanctuary was in fair to poor condition. Eleven years later, he said, it’s still going downhill.

“The most important thing to do, but politically almost impossible, is water quality,” said Paton, noting the difficulty in getting counties to the north to advance wastewater projects. “We need to improve water quality, that’s key to making the sanctuary better.”

Bill Kelly, Florida Keys Commercial Fishermen’s Association executive director, noted the challenges taking in a 356-page Restoration Blueprint with no table of contents or page numbers.

“The reality is the Restoration Blue print is a report card for the sanctuary. Right now it’s a failing grade. We’ve had management for over 30 years and contin ue to have numerous problems,” he said.

Kelly went on to note that develop ment and a growing number of users on the Keys waters are contributing to a decline in water quality that’s bringing algal blooms of enormous proportions. He also said the sanctuary must also address law enforcement, which “we have barked about for decades here.”

Dianne Harbaugh, of the Islamorada Charter Boat Association, also expressed the need for education, enforcement and water. In addition, she said the plan needs to be friendly to artificial reefs.

Every year more than 700,000 divers and snorkelers take to the water to discover the wonder and beauty of coral reefs in the Florida Keys. JUSTIN WADE THORNTON/Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary

“It’s not really stated much in the plan how you want to address that,” she said.

Some commenters took issue with the proposed no-entry zone for Pelican Key Wildlife Management Area at Sunset Cove in Key Largo. According to the blue print, the closure seeks to protect shal low seagrasses, decrease disturbance of manatees and roosting and wading birds, including magnificent frigatebirds and pelicans. Joseph Mastrangelo Jr., owner of Veteran Sailing Association, said he’s never seen anyone on the island besides kids snorkeling.“I’venever seen anyone molest or harm the creatures,” he said. “The no-en try zone is absurd in every manner.”

Ginette Hughes, of MarineLab, said children coming through the program have snorkeled at Pelican Key. She ac knowledged support for Pelican Key’s closure.“We go there a lot and we know how special it is. We talk about sanctuary to our students. If the sanctuary wasn’t there it’d be so much worse,” she said.

Sanctuary officials held an in-person comment session at Marathon High School on Sept. 21. A final in-person com ment session is set for Thursday, Sept. 22 at 6 p.m. at Key West High School.

Residents have until Oct. 21 to voice their opinion or in person at an Oct. 18 meeting of the Sanctuary Advisory Council at 9 a.m. in Marathon. People can also visit regulations.gov to submit their comments. In the past 90 days, more than 630 com ments were made to the federal website.

CAN DIAPERS?DONATEYOU

1 IN 3 FAMILIES LACK DIAPERS AND WIPES

In honor of Diaper Need Awareness Week, the Florida Keys Healthy Start Coalition is hosting a community diaper drive to collect 12,000 or more diapers (enough for about six weeks of distribution).Thediapers

will help local working families who struggle to make ends meet and often must choose between paying utility bills or purchasing diapers.The Florida Keys Healthy Start Coali tion (FKHSC) supplied struggling families with 100,000 diapers and 80,000 wipes in the past year. After Hurricane Irma, diaper need became an important issue for families affected by the storm. With the help of the Miami Diaper Bank, FKHSC provided about 50,000 diapers to fami lies in need. During the height of COVID, those numbers doubled. With 1 in 3 families lacking enough diapers to keep their baby clean, dry and healthy, FKHSC projects that over the next year it will receive requests for assistance totaling over 180,000 diapers.

Parents need diapers to send their children to daycare and they need child care in order to work. While FKHSC doesn’t provide all the diapers that a family needs each month, diaper assis tance can mean the difference between a parent being able to earn money at work or missing days on the job. Without diapers, parents can’t go to work.

To support this effort, donate directly to this cause, or to find out more about FKHSC, visit KeysHealthyStart.org. A $50 donation will pro vide a local family with two weeks of diapers and wipes. If you have diapers, wipes or other baby essentials that you would like to donate, call 305293-8424.

— Contributed

Local twins receive donated diapers from Florida Keys Healthy Start Coalition. CONTRIBUTED

COMEWITHWORSHIPUS

ENGLISH SERVICE

Sunday Bible Study 10am (on site)

Service 11am (on site) & Service 6pm (on site)

Wednesday Bible Study 7:30pm (on site)

Minister Rodrigue Aleandre Cell 305.296.3331

KREYOL SEVIS

Dimanch Klas Biblik 7:30pm (on site)

Adorasyon 8:30pm (on site)

Madi Klas Biblik 7:30pm (on site)

Minis Rodrigue Aleandre Cell 305.296.3331

SERVICIO ESPAÑOL

Servicio de adoración dominical a las 5pm (en el sitio)

Estudio bíblico del jueves a las 7pm (en el sitio)

Ministro Pedro Ruiz Celda 347.430.2263

‘‘The churches of Christ greet you.’’ Romans 16:16 NKJV VON PHISTER ST, WEST

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‘‘For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.’’

FAMILY DISPUTE LEADS TO CANDIDATE ARREST

KIM HIGHSMITH & STEPSON FACE MISDEMEANOR BATTERY CHARGES

Kim Highsmith reportedly called police Monday morning, Sept. 19, when the argument continued and Bobby High smith, according to the police report, “placed the family pets in his vehicle and stated he was ‘dropping them off at the SPCA.’”

SHERIFF PROMOTES

3 IN LOWER LEADERSHIPKEYSROLES

Sheriff Rick Ramsay pro moted three members to command staff positions in the Lower Keys this week.

Lt. David Smith was promoted to the rank of captain over District 1, which covers the Lower Keys from the south end of the Seven Mile Bridge to Key West.

Joining Smith was newly pro moted Lieutenant Lissette Quin tero, who will serve as second in command for District 1.

District 1 Lt. Tom Walker was promoted to captain before his retirement at the end of October.

of service to the people of Monroe County.”

Smith has served as a Criminal Investigations Unit sergeant, Nar cotics K9, Key West International Airport lieutenant, Accreditation and Internal Affairs lieutenant, training lieutenant, and com mander of school resource officers among other responsibilities.

A“difficult family situ ation” escalated this week, when Kim High smith, a candidate for the Key West city commission, and her 18-year-old stepson, Thomas, both were arrested Sept. 20 on misdemeanor bat tery charges, and released the following day.

The arrests occurred hours apart and in different locations on Tuesday, Sept. 20.

Kim Highsmith told police the situation started the night of Sunday, Sept. 18 when she and her husband, Bobby Highsmith, a current Monroe County school board member, were having a verbal argument. The stepson told police that both Kim and Bobby Highsmith were intoxicated at the time of the argument, which continued into Monday morning, Sept. 19.

At one point the stepson intervened in the argument and admitted to throwing water on Kim Highsmith, who told police she had defended herself. She acknowledged that her stepson may have received scratches on his neck during the altercation. Kim Highsmith added that her relationship with her stepson is “volatile” and sometimes “aggressive.”

When police arrived at their Seidenberg Avenue home, the stepson had left for classes at Key West High School. Bobby Highsmith eventually returned with the pets.Police interviewed the stepson at school, where he admitted to throwing water on his stepmother. Police also noted scratches around his neck.Thomas Highsmith was arrested in the afternoon on Tuesday, Sept. 20 for misde meanor battery for throwing the water. Kim Highsmith was arrested that evening on the same misdemeanor charge, given the scratches on Thom as’s neck.Both were taken to jail and released on Sept. 21.

Kim Highsmith is run ning against Lissette Cuervo Carey for the District 4 city commission seat and was the top vote-getter in the August primary that included four candidates.BobbyHighsmith is completing his term on the school board and did not seek reelection.

“I’m excited to announce these promotions as both Capt. Smith and Lt. Quintero have shown their commitment to this community and this agency,” said Sheriff Rick Ramsay. “I would like to thank Capt. Walker and wish him well in his retirement following his 19 years

Quintero has served as a road patrol sergeant, Criminal Investiga tions Unit sergeant, Major Crimes Unit detective, Internal Affairs in vestigator, Crisis Negotiations team leader, and Threat Management team leader among other respon sibilities.Walker has served as road patrol sergeant, Criminal Investiga tions Unit sergeant, Internal Affairs sergeant, and District 1 lieutenant among other responsibilities.

— Contributed

Lieutenant Lissette Quintero

Captain David Smith

Captain Tom Walker

Kim Highsmith. CONTRIBUTED

CRICKET DESMARAIS

MEET...YOUSOMEONESHOULD

The Key West Firehouse Museum, 1026 Grinnell St., needs volunteers and will train anyone who enjoys history, people and Key West. The museum is open for tours from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Call 305-849-0678 or visit westfirehousemuseum.com.key

RETIRED FIRE CAPTAIN ALEX VEGA FANS THE FLAMES OF HISTORY

Alex Vega loves history. So much so that in 1992, when the City of Key West wanted to demolish and rede velop the 135-year-old firehouse on the corner of Grinnell and Virginia streets, the former fire marshal and department historian stepped in with both feet to preserve the dete riorating building and all it represented.

“They were talking about making it a park ing garage. Then they talked about condos. So I talked to the chief and said, ‘You know, shouldn’t we do something different than that, something better?’” Vega recalled recently.

He set in motion efforts to restore and pre serve Fire Station No. 3, founding the Old Fire House Preservation, Inc. nonprofit organization and securing grants from Tallahassee and local donors to create The Key West Firehouse Mu seum, 1026 Grinnell St. Local officials thought he was wasting his time, that no one would be interested.“Isaid, ‘You’d be surprised who will come.’ They come from all over the world — Germany, England, New Zealand, Australia. They come from everywhere,” he said. “How does the old saying go? Build it and they will come? Yeah. So that’s where we are now.”

The retired second-generation firefighter is president of the Key West Firehouse Museum and since the recent passing of retired fire chief and museum volunteer Edwin “Eddie” Castro, only Vega and one other volunteer, Rich Sinis calchi, run the museum (hint hint: volunteers are needed). It’s been a labor of love for Vega for nearly three decades.

Vega has given countless tours of the two-story museum that’s filled with prominent artifacts, including a century’s worth of badges, a fire pole, an antique fire truck, a section of the World Trade Center that collapsed on 9/11, as

well as red shoes and a desk that belonged to Key West’s infamous fire chief Bum Farto, who disappeared in the 1970s just before he was due to be sentenced for selling cocaine.

Vega points to a glass case filled with cigar boxes, a tribute exhibit to the industry that flourished in Key West before fires turned the wooden cigar factory buildings, and sometimes entire blocks, into ash.

“I’ve always been interested in history,” Vega says. “My grandmother told me stories about the cigar factories where she worked. My grandfather, too. Women did certain jobs there — not many of them rolled (tobacco). They stripped — they call them strippers. Not that kind of stripper. They never were able to be the lector (who would read aloud to the toiling factory workers), but they let her read one time when she was 12 because she had such a good voice and would use expression.”

Storytelling is as much a part of Vega’s DNA as firefighting. His words are a bright flame painting vivid pictures — how his family came from Cuba more than 100 years ago, how they worked in the factories and owned their own bakeries. These oral narratives are as impor tant as the artifacts the museum strives to preserve.“Iwould hang out on the bench with fire men who were here in the 1920s and ’30s and some in the ’40s and they would tell me all the stories from back in the old days. I’m like, man, these stories really sound fascinating, you know, if you like history. It’s a shame they aren’t being written down or saved.”

Vega captured the voice of some of those old timers and others who worked there to create “The History of the Key West Firehouse No. 3,” a fascinating collection of vignettes pub lished in 2011 and sold at the museum.

Firehouse Number 3, Vega says, was a true neighborhood station, where neighbors gath ered with the crew in the morning to drink cof fee, tell stories, play cards. Everyone knew each other. Some joked that it wasn’t just a different firehouse — it was a different fire department that did things the way they wanted.

“There were firemen here from the 1940s when I came, and plenty from the ’50s. So these guys had spittoons and would spit chewing tobacco, they would smoke cigars. I mean, these guys were a rough group. But if they liked you, you had no problem. If they didn’t like you, they’d transfer you back out. You had to do things how they said. You had to mop the floor a certain way. You went against the grain? Nope. Whatever they told you, you did. We’d say, ‘But the book says’ and they’d say, ‘We don’t care what the book says. This is how we do it.’’’

Vega recently turned 70. He’s eager to pen another book — about the Key West Fire Department — from the many notes he’s saved since he joined the department at 22. He says it’s time to pass the torch, let someone else step up to lead and share the traditions that have been so thoughtfully saved.

“We’ve done our job,” he says. “I’ll tell them everything they need to know. Get them in the right direction. Let’s see who steps up.”

Alex Vega is a retired Key West firefighter, fire captain, fire marshal and remains the department’s historian and founder/director of the Key West Firehouse Museum. CRICKET DESMARAIS.

KEY WEST KID EARNS WINGS OF GOLD JOIN THE NAVY,SEE THE WORLD

CALEB HILLER BECOMES STRIKE FIGHTER PILOT FOR U.S. NAVY

the military’s elite F/18 Super Hor nets, having just earned his Wings of Gold to become a Strike Fighter Pilot on Aug. 12 at Naval Air Station Meridian in Mississippi.

His mother, Mercy Hiller, pinned his wings on him during the ceremony, as his father, Edward, a retired Navy chief petty officer, beamed with pride.

Caleb Hiller is now stationed at NAS Oceana in Virginia Beach with Strike Fighter Squadron VFA-106, known as the Gladiators.

KEY WEST NATIVE SERVES ABOARD AIRCRAFT CARRIER IN PACIFIC OCEAN

Key West born and bred, Caleb Hiller receives his Wings of Gold as a naval aviator on Aug. 12. CONTRIBUTED

CalebHiller has had his head in the clouds since he was 3 years old, watching fighter jets from the run way at Naval Air Station Key West, where his father was stationed. Today, Hiller is in the cockpit of

His dream of flying became a reality in 2013, when he earned his personal pilot license, a year before he graduated from Key West High School.

From there, he graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy Preparato ry School in 2015 and the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis in 2019.

During high school, Hiller also was a cadet with the Civil Air Patrol and founded the school’s Flying Club, created to garner interest in aviation.

MARINE SANCTUARY UNVEILS

‘EXPLORER’ GUIDES USERS THROUGH KEYS ENVIRONMENT

Like

a lighthouse showing the way home, Florida Keys Na tional Marine Sanctuary has built a mobile application that will help protect the unique Florida Keys environment by pro moting responsible recreation and providing real-time information about sanctuary rules and regula tions, as well as points of interests.

As of Sept. 19, Marine Sanctuary Ex plorer is available for free and fea tures GPS-enabled technology that alerts users when they approach managed zones inside the sanc tuary. Packed with facts, the app describes the more than 50 marine zones located within the sanctuary with easy-to-read guidelines that communicate activities allowable in each managed area.

Marine Sanctuary Explorer was developed in partnership with the National Marine Sanctuary Founda tion.

Mercy Hiller pins her son Caleb’s Wings of Gold on his naval uniform during a ceremony at NAS Meridian in Mississippi.

William Knowles, damage controlman 2nd class from Key West, gives a safety briefing in the hangar bay during a damage control training team drill aboard the U.S. Navy’s only forward-deployed aircraft car rier, USS Ronald Reagan, in the Pacific Ocean on Sept. 13. The Ronald Reagan provides a combat-ready force that protects and defends the United States, and supports alliances, partnerships and collective maritime interests in the Indo-Pacific region. NATASHA CHE VALIER LOSADA/U.S. Navy

RALPH MORROW

... a veteran sports columnist, says the only sport he doesn’t follow is cricket. That leaves plenty of others to fill his @gmail.comralphmoro1936time.

SPORTS & MORE

I’M ALL IN FOR TUA

Tua!believer.I’mTua!!!Tua!!a

Put me on bandwagon.theCanyoubelieveit?

Down 35-14 at the start of the fourth quarter. No one could recover from that. Is there another game to watch? What a bunch of bums!And then Miami Dolphins quar terback Tua Tagovailoa exploded. Touchdown pass after touchdown pass.An advantage of 28-3 in the fourth quarter. A final score of 4238 Miami. A team-tying record of six touchdown passes. Six! Count me in.But

... There’s always a but. We have to realize what had gotten the Dolphins in that hole to start.

To me, it was defense. And that defense will still be there this Sunday when the outstanding Buf falo Bills visit the Dolphins. Yes, Tua to Tyreek Hill will still be there, too. Tua to Jaylen Waddle will still be there. Tua to seven other receivers will still be there.

But I’m afraid the Bills are a better team. We shall see.

LET’S TALK ABOUT some base ball. Namely Babe Ruth to Aaron Judge.For 34 years, the most hal lowed baseball record was Ruth’s 60 home runs, which he hit in 1927.

It lasted until 1961, when another New York Yankee, Roger Maris, hit 61.

Three other hitters have also topped 60 and all did it in the National League. Sammy Sosa did it three times for the Cubs with totals of 66 in 1998, 63 in 1999 and 64 in 2001. Mark McGwire topped 60 twice for St. Louis with 70 in 1998 and 65 in 1999. And the king of homers, Barry Bonds, topped them all with 73 in 2001 for San Francisco.Butthe 60 for Ruth and 61 for Maris remain tops for a lot of people as Sosa, McGwire and Bonds are all tainted because of the possible use of performance enhancers.

Hence the interest in Judge as he trudged along in search of 60 and 61.

Interestingly, Ruth, though regarded as clean by so many people, was a victim of one of the worst sins of all: He faced only white pitchers. Not by choice, of course, but segregation back then eliminated a sizable portion of the baseball populace.

The fix was simple.

Eleven weeks after infielder Jackie Robinson integrated base ball on April 15, 1947, outfielder Larry Doby of Cleveland integrated the American League on July 5, 1947. Dan Bankhead was the first black pitcher, joining Robinson on the Brooklyn Dodgers on Aug. 26, 1947. Though Bankhead had left his mark in the Negro leagues, he couldn’t duplicate that in the majors – except for homering in his first at-bat – giving up 10 hits and eight runs in 3 1⁄3 innings of relief work in his first game. That first year, Bankhead got in only four games, finishing with an earned run average of 7.20. He was soon back in the minors, returning three years later and marking a season with 9 wins and 5 losses.

The first outstanding pitcher in the American League, who happened to be black, was Leroy Robert “Satchel” Paige, who was 42 when he broke in with the Cleve land Indians on July 9, 1948. In that year, the Tribe won the World Championship and I saw Paige with the team. He won 6, lost 1 over 21 games. Paige, who began his pitch ing career as an 18-year-old semipro in 1924, also pitched for the St. Louis Browns and a final game in which he pitched three one-hit innings in 1959 – when he would have been 53 – with the Kansas City Athletics. He had a career mark of 28 wins and 31 losses.

Judge’s season continues against a variety of talented pitch ers. While Ruth batted left-handed, Judge bats right. Ruth was 32 when he hit those 60 home runs while batting .356, Judge is 30 and is batting above .300. Judge has this week (Sept. 22-25) to overcome what must be a ton of pressure in search of further records.

SAVE THE DATE

Friday, Sept. 23

• Volunteers are needed from 9 to 11 a.m. to help revive the Eco-Discovery Center’s gardens at Truman Waterfront. Weeding, pruning and removing invasive species. Register to volunteer to elizabeth.trueblood@ noaa.gov or emily.kovacs@noaa.gov.

Sunday, Sept. 25

• Nick Norman & Caffeine Carl, 7 p.m. at Key West Theater, 512 Eaton St.

Tuesday, Sept. 27

• Groundbreaking of the Key West International Airport enhancement project, 10 a.m. at the airport.

Friday, Sept. 30

• Travel Channel and Discovery+ kicks off a month of scary shows with a special featuring “The Curse of Robert the Doll,” Key West’s most haunting resident. Check online listings for showtimes.

Thursday, Oct. 6

• College of the Florida Keys hosts CFK Poetics with featured poet Tom Hunley, 6 p.m. at the Tennes see Williams Theater on the Key West Campus.

Saturday, Oct. 8

• Womankind’s BraZaar decorated bra auction in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, 7 p.m. at Key West Theater, 512 Eaton St.

Oct. 12-27

• “Bum Farto - The Musical” is performed live at San Carlos Institute Theater, 516 Duval St., Key West. Visit bumfartothemusical.com.

Wednesday, Oct. 12

• Tats for Tatas fundraiser for Breast Cancer Awareness, raises money for WomanKind and mam mograms, featuring a silent auction and raffles, 7 to 10 p.m. at Tattoos & Scars, 512 Greene St., Key West.

Oct. 20-Nov. 12

• “Jimmy Buffett’s Escape to Margaritaville – The Musical” at the Waterfront Playhouse is a madcap love story, with an erupting volcano, tap dancing zombies and classic Buffett songs. Visit waterfrontplayhouse. org.

Oct. 21-30

• Key West celebrates Fantasy Fest with the theme “Cult Classics and Cartoon Chaos.” Visit fantasyfest. com for an event schedule and details.

Friday, Oct. 21

• The Royal Coronation Ball crowns Fantasy Fest’s 2022 King and Queen, 6 to 9:30 p.m. at the Coffee Butler Amphitheater. Benefits AH Monroe.

Saturday, Oct. 22

• Smallest Parade in the Universe, an official Fan tasy Fest event, benefits MARC, 7 p.m. at The Studios of Key West. All miniature floats will be auctioned after the parade. The theme is “Cult Classics and Car toon Chaos.”

THE

Team

Key Boys KW, MHS, CSHS 9/12 Key West

Marathon Volleyball Posnack 9/12 L, 3-2

Coral Shores Volleyball Key West 9/13 L, 3-0

Marathon Volleyball Archimedean 9/13 L, 3-2

Coral Shores Golf (boys) St. Brendan 9/13 W, 224-230

Coral Shores Swimming Key West 9/14 Boys L, 195-74 Girls W, 144-135

Key West Swimming Coral Shores 9/14 Boys W, 195-74 Girls L, 144-135

Key Golf (boys) Key CoralMarathonWestShores 9/15 KW 195 MHS 224 CSHS 233

Key West Football Dade Christian 9/16 W, 44-6

Coral Shores Football Miami Sunset 9/16 W, 35-0

Key West Volleyball Martin 9/16 L, 2-1

Marathon Volleyball Pasco 9/16 L, 2-1

Marathon Volleyball Palm Beach Ctr. 9/16 L, 3-0

Marathon Volleyball Martin County 9/17 L, 3-0

Key West Volleyball Marathon 9/17 W, 3-0

Key West Swimming Wellington & South Dade 9/17 2nd Overall

CORLEY SMITH

Coral Shores, senior Swimming

Coral Shores senior Corley Smith is already an outstanding swim mer. But she’s also on a constant quest for improvement. Last year, Corley took fifth place overall and was the second female swimmer to complete the Swim to Alligator Lighthouse. This year she came in first in the women’s category and third place overall. She completed the 8-plus mile open water swim in rough conditions the morning after winning multiple events for the Hurricanes at their opening meet against Doctors Charter School.

On Sept. 14 against Key West, everything Smith touched turned to gold. She won the 200 freestyle by 25 seconds, was part of the winning 200 free relay and 400 free relay team and won the 500 freestyle. Corley was 16 seconds in front of her sister, Layne, in the distance race, but once the pair had finished, it was almost a minute and a half before another swimmer reached the finish line.

“Corley is the first to help a struggling teammate,” said coach Kelly Owens. “She is always actively leading a cheer for swimmers in the pool. Corley is kind and a great example of what it means to be a leader.”

For her amazing accomplishments, both in the water and on the deck, Corley Smith is the Keys Weekly Athlete of the Week.

THIS WEEK SPORTS

Corley Smith came in first among women in the 2022 Alligator Light house swim, after finishing second in 2021. DOUG FINGER/Keys Weekly

“Corley is a hardjustdream.coach’sNotbecausesheworksandhastalent,butbecauseofhernaturalleadershipabilityandsportsmanshiponthepooldeck.”

— Kelly Owens, Coral Shores swim coach

TRACY MCDONALD www.keysweekly.com

CORAL SHORES

The Hurricanes made the most of their only road trip this season, soundly beating Miami Sunset 35-0. Coach Ed Holly said he was “so proud of the team for understanding the importance of travel and overcoming the struggles of a road game.” He elaborated that in addition to the regular trials of a long bus trip, the ’Canes had to endure well over an hour delay prior to kickoff due to bad weather.

When the game did finally start, it was sloppy in every way except for one: the play of the Hur ricanes. Holly praised center Hugh Connolly for the perfection in his snaps despite the conditions and described the win as “a team effort.” Cornerback Alex Gutierrez played with impeccable coverage the entire game, shutting down big plays, while de fensive ends Xavyer Arrington and Victor Franchini stopped the short game. Franchini had two sacks to his credit during the contest.

Offensively, quarterback Yemcel Moreno had a pair of passing touchdowns, one to Derek Smith and one to Isaac Holmes, along with one rushing TD. Chuck Jacobsen added a pair of touchdown runs to make the final score 35-0.

Overall, Holly said the team executed well and is excited to play Everglades Prep on Friday, Sept. 23 in Coral Shores’ homecoming game. The 3-1 Hurricanes hope to topple the 1-2 Panthers in the neon-themed celebration to top off the “Dancing Through the Decades” festivities. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.

MARATHON

Marathon spent its bye week preparing for its game Friday, Sept. 23 against Ransom Everglades. The Fins seek to avenge their loss last season against the Raiders. The matchup appears to be a fairly even one, despite the 54-0 score last time the teams met. This time around, Ransom will travel to Marathon, whose student section asks that fans take part in their spirit theme, “Ridin’ in Style” by dressing up in rodeo gear.

KEY WEST

The outcome of Key West’s Sept. 16 game against the Crusaders of Dade Christian became obvious in the first quarter, during which the Conchs scored a record 30 points. The domination be gan on the Crusaders’ first offensive possession, when Jakari Blackman inter cepted the ball and the Conchs’ offense quickly capitalized with a James touchdownReynoldsrun. The pick and subsequent score put Key West on the scoreboard before most fans had even settled

Thein.Conchs’

defense played well all night, effectively stopping Dade Chris tian’s attempted air assault. The Crusaders threw the ball 18 times in the first half with zero runs, adding only one attempt on the ground in the second half.

The Conchs’ offense reached the end zone every time it touched the ball, scor ing at will in a variety of ground and air attempts. The Crusaders had no answer for Blackman’s speed, Clerf Alexandre’s resilience, or James Reynold’s brute force. Adrian Mira threw well, with one touchdown pass in the game, but left the contest early with an ankle injury. While coach Johnny Hughes said there was no fracture found, he described the idea of heading into a game with nationallyranked Cardinal Gibbons with a starting QB whose play is questionable at the moment as “not an ideal situation.”Fortunately for the Conchs, backup quarterback Jaden Fox held down the QB spot for much of the final three quarters, connecting with Zentavious Carey for one of the Conchs’ six scores on the night. The Conchs scored early and often, with both teams agreeing to running clock – standard when a point deficit reaches 35 – early in the second quarter. The Crusaders managed to score late in the second quarter as Key West gave ample play time to underclassmen. It would be their only score of the game, though, as Key West rumbled to a 44-6 win via six touchdowns and a safety. Marco Davila had a perfect night kicking, converting all six PAT attempts and putting the ball into the end zone multiple times on kickoffs.

The Conchs hope to carry the momentum forward into this week’s matchup against the undefeated Chiefs of Cardinal Gibbons. Hughes says the Conchs are “stoked to have the opportunity” to play a team he described as talented, deep, disciplined and well-coached, stating, “We need to play our perfect game if we want to win. We can’t beat ourselves.” Key West kicks off at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 23 in The Backyard.

For to the

Jakari Blackman turns on the jets against the Dade Crusaders.ChristianELLAHALL/ Keys

FOOTBALL FRIDAY

KEY

TheKey West Conchs handily defeated the Dade Christian Crusaders at a home game on Sept. 16.

The final score was 44-6, bringing the Conchs’ record to 2 wins and 2 losses.

The Conchs will next face undefeated Cardinal Gibbons on Friday, Sept. 23 at 7 p.m. in Key West. On Friday, Sept. 30, the Conchs are again at home against Bishop Verot.

A dickcissel, a migrating songbird seen recently in Key West.

MARK HEDDEN/Keys Weekly

... is a photogra pher, writer, bonFloridadirectoristhebemaythanWesthasbirdwatcher.semi-professionalandHelivedinKeyformore25yearsandnolongeremployableinrealworld.HealsoexecutiveoftheKeysAuduSociety.

THE STRUGGLE OF MEMORY FORGETTINGAGAINST

MilanKundera once wrote, “The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting.” That line has long stuck with me. Possibly because I wrote a paper in college about the novel it came from – “The Book of Laughter and Forgetting” – and possibly because it’s the first line of said novel.

I’m struggling to remember specifics of characters or plot points from the book, and all I can come up with is the image of a Czechoslovakian Communist leader being airbrushed out of a historic photo after he had fallen from political favor. Also, looking it up, the line I quoted is not the first line of the novel, but the second line of the second chapter. Still, it stuck.

It floated up again the other morning at Fort Zach ary Taylor. Not so much the struggle-of-man-against-power part. It was the struggle-of-memory-against-forgetting part. Sometimes I think about how much math I knew as a kid, how many arith metic hoops I could jump through, and how little of that I have retained.Sometimes

I think about all the birds that migrated north in the spring, and are now migrating south, and I have this overwhelming fear that I’m going to blank out on their IDs, that memory will lose the upper hand to forgetting.

It had been a long, pretty stressful summer, and I hadn’t found time to do much birding, at least not the walk-around-and see-what-you-can-find type. Mostly it had been mission oriented – going out to track down something specific – or random – seeing something on the way to the grocery store.

And I’d spent most of the previous week driving to Alabama to pick up a dog. I felt out of touch with one of the things that most reliably brings me joy in life. Especially since it was migration season in one of the best places in the country to see migration in action.Honestly, I was worried about leaving the new dog alone in the house. But it had to happen some time, so I figured I’d bird for an hour, and see if the dog got into any trouble.

Walking into the hammock, my fears of having gone bird stupid were allayed a bit when the bird world threw me a softball – an American redstart, the small, impossible to misidentify war bler spinning its way up a branch with its tail spread like a cancan dancer. Next there was an overbird, another small warbler, doing a Mick Jagger strut.

Up on the berm the world scaled up when I flushed a chuckwill’s-widow, a brown bird, the size of my wife’s shoe, that zigzagged away through the trees. A blue-gray gnatcatcher, a diminu tive Old World warbler, threw me by the way that it didn’t spin as it disappeared and reappeared behind a cluster of leaves. I looked up to see a flock of snowy egrets in formation. A common-yellow throat, another newly arrived warbler, was working low in a bush.

At the edge of the moat a magnificent frigatebird circled over head. Then, a hundred yards away, a large black mass dropped at an attack angle toward the far edge of the moat. It disappeared into a low copse of trees with a slapping sound and I worried.

Nothing happened for a solid minute, but then a dark-phase short-tailed hawk popped up, having missed its target, and drifted off.

It’s always a debate whether it’s worth the long walk across the field at Fort Zach to the cluster of trees known informally as the Back 40, especially when it’s hot as Hades, but I started toward it. Halfway there I spotted a pile of feathers and bones. The skull was missing, but the long legs made me think wading bird, and when I flipped one of the wings over, there was a lot of rufous in the feath ers, which made me think green heron.

While being all “CSI: Bird Crimes” I heard a splash behind me and turned to see a belted kingfisher rise out of the water. Then I heard what my notes describe as a “low recipe grunt” – it was voice to text, so no doubt I didn’t say recipe – and I turned to see a white ibis in a descending glide over the water.

As I worked toward the Back 40 I caught sight of the white Sshape of a great white heron in the shadow of a buttonwood, then the smiley-face yellow of a prairie warbler in a mangrove, then, a hundred feet above the fort, the frenetic flapping of a merlin, the most psycho of the American falcons, on an urgent mission to cause some mischief somewhere.

In the blessed shade of the hammock I heard the yip of a barn swallow, but didn’t bother to look for it, as I’d seen a few thousand on the drive from Alabama. Then I saw a black-and-white warbler spiraling up a branch, as if trying to trace the erratic stripe of a poorly painted barber pole.

There was a quintet of basic Florida Keys bird species – a pair of northern mockingbirds, a royal tern, a laughing gull and a mourning dove.The

first bird that made me doubt myself was in a patch of rag weed on the way back across the field. It was a mid-sized songbird, brown and streaky, with a big honking bill, clinging to one of the stalks. I waved a butterfly net around my skull for a while, came up with nothing, felt defeated briefly, and then saw it clearly: a dickcis sel, which is not some fourth-grade version of profanity, but instead the name of a small, seed-eating bird that breeds in the Midwest and that you get to see here once or twice a year if you’re lucky.

The alarm went off on my phone, telling me it had been an hour. I hadn’t even gotten to all the good spots in the park, so I hit repeat and headed back toward the hammock for another hour.

When I got home, the new dog had only eaten a single pair of my flip flops.

MARK HEDDEN

Every new idea feeds a will to keep learning and growing. That’s why First Horizon is proud to support the countless ways the Florida Keys is invested in enlightening and inspiring the next generation of leaders – and lifelong learners.

Aswe anxiously approach the last leg of hurricane season, let’s begin this Top 10 segment by collective ly knocking on wood. Thankfully, it appears Hurricane Fiona will drift north ward, sparing the Florida Keys for now. However, as we all know, more storms are on the horizon and all eyes will remain on the spaghetti models and forecast cones over the next several weeks. No matter what happens, we only ask the great folks at the World Meteorological Organiza tion one thing — can we please get some cooler names for our storms?

Always here to help, we bring you some names to avoid in our …

TAKE ME HOME?

FIND A FRIEND AT THE FLORIDA KEYS SPCA

TheKeys Weekly family loves animals as much as our friends at the Florida Keys SPCA do, and we’re hon ored each week to showcase some “furever” friends that are ready, waiting and available for adop tion at the organization’s Key West campus.From cats and dogs to Guinea

pigs, hamsters, rabbits, reptiles and birds, the perfect addition to your family is waiting for you. The SPCA’s knowledgeable staff will help with advice and care tips while working to ensure a good fit between each pet and its people.

The SPCA’s Golden Paw pro gram also provides special assis tance with vet bills and medications for special-needs and older animals that require a little extra TLC.

Check these pages each week for just a few of the animals wait ing for a home and see them all at fkspca.org.

Fiona is a 1-year-old female lop-eared rabbit. Fiona is outgoing and adventurous and will make someone an engaging companion as a house rabbit. She may do well with another rabbit, but as long as she gets plenty of attention, she could live in a single bunny home.

Lele is a 4-year-old female medium mixed breed. She’s energetic, active and will need plenty of exercise. She would do best in a home with no other pets, lots of treats and continuous training.

Mello Yello is a 1-year-old female Turk ish angora mix. Mello Yello is shy and will take some time to come out of her shell, but once she does, she is all love. She loves treats, being brushed and a nice, relaxed home.

Baby Kitty is a 2-year-old male domes tic shorthair mix. He’s lovey, snuggly and wants your full-time attention. If you are looking for a cuddle buddy, he is the cat for you.

Winnie is a 10-month-old male hound mix. Winnie likes to be by your side, is a master sniffer and could make friends with another dog.

KIRBY MYERS

THE DILEMMADRINKING

GUIDANCE/CARE CENTER

GETS $10K FOR SUICIDE PREVENTION

LOCAL COUPLE CREATES COMMUNITY FOUNDATION FUND

Ifeared deeply when I quit drink ing that two things might happen: I would no longer love living in Key West. And my husband would find me boring.The truth? For a good bit sobriety really sucked. I replaced drinking and smoking at night with binge eating, which triggered a short relapse in my long-dormant bulimia, (which I covered in a previous column at keysweekly. com). I spent countless hours sob bing silently. And I took a lot of my angst out on my husband, convinc ing myself he was going to end up missing the fun-loving life of the party woman he married … all the while not being totally transparent with my needs. So basically, I was a ball of joy.

is a busy mom, business owner and writer who’s not afraid to say what many of us are thinking.

I tried a couple of women only meetings (wonderful group and felt so incredibly welcomed). I’m still trying to find the right therapist. Ultimately reading and writing saved me. I threw myself into the science behind alcohol and how it affects not only our bodies, but our brains. I kept note of how I was feeling. I read lots of memoirs and blogs from other now-sober women I could relate to – particularly those mothers and wives battling addiction while also managing a household and/ or a career (and appearing to have their shit together). I stared at my children. A lot.

Over the years I also found myself repeatedly Googling “Am I an alcoholic?”

I believe part of the reason more people don’t abstain when they maybe think they should is the emphasis placed on the word alcoholic. Drinking and the struggle that comes with it are often not black and white. It’s not either brown-bagging it in a park or being completely in control and sipping one glass of rosé over dinner. More often than not it lies somewhere in the middle. And for many, like myself, that big A word is the reason it took so long to give up the booze. I felt as if I had to identify fully that way and wear it

on my T-shirt instead of being able to just say “drinking isn’t working for me” and “I don’t want to live like this any more.”

I contemplated quitting for years, but didn’t know what that meant for me. I was indulging too much, sure, but my life was under control — until it wasn’t. And unfor tunately, while my hamster wheel turned nightly in my brain about how “tomorrow I’m going to be bet ter” (usually while outside on my porch chain-smoking alone with a vodka), I went from wanting to quit to absolutely needing to quit.

Questioning one’s relationship with alcohol is starting to become less of a stigma. You don’t have to shout “I’m an alcoholic!” from the rooftops to decide that alcohol is not serving you – for whatever reason.And

to people like me, who fear that life will be no fun, that YOU will be no fun, let me let you in on a little secret: Life without al cohol is not only fun, it’s downright fabulous. I’ve never once woken in the morning — clear-headed and well-rested — and thought “man I wish I drank last night.”

I thought I’d hate living In Key West. But I’ve come up on a decade here and I’ve never loved it so much. I recently watched the sun come up on the old Seven Mile Bridge and as I stared at the jaw-dropping skyline, I thought to myself, “I can’t believe I get to live here, and I’m so lucky that now I get to really see it.”

I feared my marriage would suffer, that with our out-on-thetown escapades behind us, my husband would feel like he was missing out because of me. It took us some time to find our groove again socially, no doubt, and we certainly had our ups and downs, but I can honestly say we are more in love now than ever. Intimacy without alcohol is a game changer.

The fear of what life would be like without alcohol was nearly impossible to imagine. I’ll be 18 months in October. And in place of fear, I found freedom.

(September is National Recovery Month. Visit samhsa.gov/recoverymonth for information, resources and support.)

Turning

a personal tragedy into an opportunity to help others, a long-time Keys family has worked with the Community Foundation of the Florida Keys to make its first grant from the Aaron Davis Broadaway Suicide Prevention Fund.

“The Guidance/Care Center is honored to receive a $10,000 gift from the Aaron Davis Broadaway Suicide Prevention Fund, which will enhance our programming to pre vent suicide and suicide attempts. The Guidance/Care Center is a proud provider of these services, and we are so grateful for this op portunity to save lives in our com munity as one more life lost is one too many,” said Maureen Dunleavy, Guidance/Care Center’s regional vice president.

Billy Davis and Miki Yaras-Davis created the fund last year after their grandson died by suicide. Their wish is to make a difference and aid others, raise awareness for the alarming number of suicides that occur each year, and honor their grandson Aaron’s memory. During his life, Aaron often spent time in the Keys visiting his grand

parents and volunteering with his grandfather, Billy Davis, who Aaron called “Big Guy.” They would assist numerous local nonprofits and serve others. According to Billy, “Many people knew Aaron and he was part of the fabric of this com munity.”The Davises are hopeful that others who have gone through this tragic experience will donate to the fund so it can provide ongoing sup port to local nonprofits for suicide prevention programs and training and benefit those at risk, especially young people, in Monroe County. “Helping others is the best way to honor Aaron,” Billy said.

Information about the Aaron Davis Broadaway Suicide Preven tion Fund and how to donate is available at cffk.org/suicide. To create a fund in honor of someone you love or a cause important to you, contact Jennifer McComb at jen@cffk.org or 305-809-4991. Contributed

Aaron Davis Broadaway with grandparents Miki and Billy Davis in December 2019. CONTRIBUTED

“FloridaKeysHistorywithBradBer

telli, Volume 1,” was not the next book I planned to write. However, the inter esting year keeps get ting more interesting. The book is the result of one thing leading to another, and it started because of the Facebook group Florida Keys History with Brad Bertelli.

The group has become something of a virtual and inter active local history museum that appears in your Facebook feed every morning, seven days a week. It has been a tremen dous outlet, and the response has been nothing short of amazing. The insights and memories shared by the members have been quite an education and have made two things abundantly clear. First, people have a significant appetite for the histories associated with this particular chain of islands.

Second, the little Facebook group I started in late December is not so little anymore.

On the last day of the week, I post the Sunday Morning Read to the group page. Hopefully, Sunday comes with fewer commitments and maybe an extra cup of coffee, so I will post one of my col umns from the Keys Weekly. It was the Sunday Morning Read that prompted the new book. The response to the Sun day Morning Read inspired me to revisit some of my old columns and create a new book.

The limitation of my column is that it is saddled with a word count. When I write the story, I am only able to use bits and pieces of information. What I wanted to do with this book was to take some of those bits and pieces, add a bunch of other bits and pieces, and tell stories that were unconstrained by word counts. I wanted a format where I could tell the stories I wanted to tell the way I wanted to tell them, and that format turned out to be the book I didn't see coming.“Florida Keys History with Brad Bertelli, Volume 1” is not a standalone history of the Florida Keys, but a peek into some fantastic moments in the local history that might be otherwise over

looked. The collection of stories stretches from the island chain’s northern reach in Biscayne National Park to the Dry Tortugas some 70 miles southwest of Key West.

In this first volume, I picked out some of my favorite stories. The Ed and Fern Butters love story is one of them and one of the rea sons I wanted to write this book. Not only is their story an all-time great love story, but their union also engaged the Florida Keys, Key lime pie, and the most powerful hurri cane to ever strike North America, still.

Captain Ben Baker, too, has always been a favorite topic. In the mid-19th cen tury, he was the king of the Florida wreck ers. In addition to being a classic Florida Keys character, he is considered to be the man responsible for introducing large-scale pineapple farming to the Florida Keys. Farm ing and pineapples might seem like foreign concepts these days. However, farming and pineapple, tomato, cucumber and lime crops (among others) were how early pio neer families made their living – at least part of theThetime.book is not all about a case of love at first sight and pineapples but is filled with stories about early pioneers, place names and historical connections that connect the islands to surprising people and places far beyond the Florida Keys. Davida Breier, the author of the amazing novel “Sinkhole,” wrote: “Pull up a barstool and gather ‘round as historian and honorary Conch Brad Ber telli brings the past alive. From pineapple farmers to notorious wreckers, Bertelli focuses on individuals who worked the land and sea, as well as those who tried to ex ploit the Keys since they were first sighted. Locals and visitors alike will delight in his vibrant telling of the lush and often quirky history of the Florida Keys.”

Volume 1 is just the beginning of something bigger. As my Facebook group continues to grow, so will these volumes of history. Two more editions are already in the works.Thebook is available through Amazon. Locally, it can currently be found at Sandbar Books in Tavernier and the Oldest House Museum in Key West. If you are a retail out let and want to sell this title, send me a note at whypanic@aol.com.

Copies of Volume 1, along with copies of “The Florida Keys Skunk Ape Files,” will be available at my next talk at the Islamo rada Moose Lodge on Monday, Oct. 3. I will be sharing stories about Captain Ben Baker and the rise and fall of the pineapple industry at this free event that is open to the public. The talk starts at 6 p.m. I will be signing books after the event. Mark your cal endars. I hope to see you there.

In the meantime, pick up your copy of my latest book, learn some great local histo ry, and help support my efforts as I continue to share the fascinating and multifaceted histories of our favorite string of islands.

“Florida Keys History with Brad Bertelli, Volume 1” is available for purchase on Amazon, Sandbar Books in Tavernier and Oldest House Museum in Key West. CONTRIBUTED

BRAD BERTELLI

REASONABLE GOALS

FOR THE SANCTUARY TO TARGET

As fishermen we are always making decisions that are calculated to result in success. Careful attention to weather, tides, and seasonal patterns are constant factors in creating success, but so too are understanding fisher ies matters from things like the quality of water moving through the southern everglades to the condition of the reefs along our coastline. The best days on the water are the ones that strike a balance and create oppor tunity for today and for tomorrow.

We believe the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary should use the same logical approach as fishermen to protect and restore our marine ecosystem which provides a crucial role in the lives of the members of our community that depend on this resource to make a living and for the betterment of their quality of life.

We commend the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary for its clear ability to listen to community concerns following the 2019 draft proposals. The new blueprint is a solid step in the right direction. Adjustments to zones that received tremendous public outcry were implemented and "mission iconic reefs” is an ambitious public/private project that should get everyone’s support. The Sanctuary‘s commitment to education, enforce ment, and water quality are also heard loud and clear. But frankly, more needs to be done and local knowledge from a diverse group of users must be brought to bear. We urge the public to recognize the importance of public comment to inform these decisions and we humbly ask you to consider our input and provide your own input via the o cial federal register. www.regulations.gov Docket number: NOAA-NOS-2019-0094-1012

The Lower Keys Guides Association, the Florida Keys Fishing Guides Association, and the Islamorada Charter Boat Association are leading a coalition to weigh in on the important decisions that are needed to achieve success with the restoration blueprint. In preparing our comments we have also worked with community and business leaders to ensure we did so with a diverse perspective. Here are the general goals we believe will strike the right balance for the future of our community, our economy, and our marine environment:

1. IMPROVE ACCESS AND RECOGNIZE HISTORICAL USES

From the world class sail fishing on Alligator Reef to the cast netting of Pilchards on Boca Grande Key to the wildlife management areas proposed throughout the backcountry, we believe that access to fishing and reason able environmental protections can be achieved with precise "no anchor ing, idle speed, or no motor" zones.  Modifying behavior while still allowing for traditional uses is far better than restricting access. It will improve it.

2. IDLE SPEED ZONES AND MARKED RUNNING LANES

Following Covid pandemic, the Florida Keys have seen an enormous increase in boat tra c. Ask any local and they will tell you it takes a lot of experience to learn how to run the backcountry. Even with GPS and marine tracks software there are uneducated boaters running aground all the time. What is needed are gate style markers similar in design to what is found in Everglades National Park and marked idle speed zones on certain flats that are susceptible to regular destructive impacts. This will greatly assist in safe navigation (especially on slick calm days) and reduce harmful prop scarring and boater caused habitat degradation.

3. A COMPREHENSIVE ARTIFICIAL REEF AND HABITAT RESTORATION PLAN

From German submarines to old shrimp boats to the 7-mile bridge rubble, artificial structure has played an enormous role in the Florida Keys fishery for decades. The sheer number of wrecks in the Florida Keys has no doubt aided if not helped to create the world-class fishery we are known for today. But after countless storms and old age taking its toll, these structures are crum bling. But there is hope. New designs, advances in architecture, and reefing techniques have been proven successful elsewhere. We strongly suggest the Sanctuary utilize this valuable restoration and mitigation tool. But take it further! Deep water FADS, Vandenberg size ships, nearshore post larval recruitment habitat, and bait fish/juvenile fish habitat are good ideas to bring to the table. We need to use science to inform the process and get hands-on to create favorable structure. This will help prepare for future threats, climatize our fisheries for the future, and mitigate the di cult socioeconomic and environmental challenges to face us. The sanctuary restoration blueprint must include language that provides for such a program. While coral restoration technology and "mission iconic reefs" o er tremendous hope, the timeline for restoration is too long. The Sanctuary must engage in alternative habitat restoration techniques to bridge the gap and maintain healthy fish stocks that support our entire economy.

4. ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT

The Sanctuary EIS process has provided a unique opportunity for citizens and organizations to weigh in with ideas about how to manage our shared marine resources. Constructive dialogue between citizen user groups, science-based environmental organizations, and regulators is critical to building trust and achieving meaningful protections. Our shared path to environmental resto ration relies on this trust. We urge the Sanctuary to make continued e orts to engage and build trust. True adaptive management is the key to this and must be a cornerstone process moving forward. We must be both proactive in our e orts and responsive to our concerns. Furthermore, we need to simplify rules and regulations to improve the e ectiveness of such rules and our ability to enforce them. The Sanctuary must implement a process moving forward that can adjust to changes, provide flexibility in management, and avoid prolonged delays in action while simultaneously coordinating with the other agencies regulating recourses within the Sanctuary.

Sincerely,

Scan qr-code to make your electronic blueprint public comment in the Florida register.

... a reader and now a writer, has hundreds of book reviews at: org.karen@newfield.comments,questionsing.com.readingandeatwww.Forandemail

MONTHHISPANICEMBRACINGHERITAGE

CELEBRATED SEPT. 15 OCT. 15, HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH PROMOTES THE HISTORY AND CULTURE OF HISPANIC AMERICANS. BOOKS ARE AN EXCELLENT WAY TO BETTER UNDERSTAND AND SUPPORT OUR DIVERSE COMMUNITY. CHECK OUT SOME OF MY FAVORITES!

OUR LAST DAYS IN BARCELONA

By Chanel Cleeton

In 1964, the eldest Perez daugh ter, Isabel, travels from Palm Beach to Barcelona looking for her sister Beatriz. Always the rebel, Beatriz was involved with the CIA and her family fears the worst. In Spain, Isabel finds the apartment empty and a hand some stranger named Diego offering his assistance. Isabel is searching for more than her sister as she admits she is in a loveless marriage. In 1936, Alicia Perez, Isabel’s mother, also traveled to Barce lona, running from her own crumbling union. As Spain exploded with fascism and violence, Alicia debated whether she should return to Cuba and face the only happiness a woman can possibly expect. She spent months with her parents and sister and reunited with a long lost love while contemplating her and her daugh ter’s future. As history and the present collide, these women learn to follow their hearts.

About the author: Growing up in Florida, Cleeton’s passion for politics and history is rooted in endless stories of her family’s life as they fled to the U.S. after the Cuban Revolution.

OFSHADOWTHEWIND

By Carlos Ruiz Zafron

On his 11th birthday, Daniel Sem pere can select one book from the Cem etery of Forgotten Books, where every volume has a soul. Mourning the loss of his mother, Daniel is searching for a way to fill the hole in his heart. He carefully selects an intriguing novel by author Julian Carax. Daniel quickly reads the complex novel and decides to begin a search for other works by the elusive author. When he realizes that someone has begun systematically destroying every copy of the late author’s work, Daniel sets out to solve the mystery. As the lives of everyone around him unravel, so do answers. Set in post-civil war Barcelona 1945, this book is both intriguing and macabre. Beauti fully translated, it is filled with dark alleys, murder and corruption and is the first in an epic series not to be missed.

About the author: This international bestselling novelist, who was born in Barce lona and moved to the U.S. in the 1990s, re cently passed away. He was the most widely read Spanish author in the world.

WATCH TIP: “In The Time of the Butterflies.” Dominican-American author Julia Alvarez wrote this phenomenal novel in 1994, and it was adapted to the big screen in 2001. A fictionalized account of the brave Mirabal sisters fighting for freedom during the Trujillo dictatorship in the Dominican Republic. Watch on Hoopla, Vudu or Tubi.

THE CRASHERWEDDING

By MiaSolangeSosa Pereira, a gorgeous BrazilianAmerican firecracker, is helping her wed ding planner cousin Lina with an affair when she mistakenly overhears a private conversation. Unable to keep quiet dur ing the ceremony, this wedding crasher becomes the wedding destroyer and stops the handsome groom, Dean, from making the biggest mistake of his life. Little does she know that the couple had an agreement and Dean does not believe in true love. Mortified that she ruined his special day, Solange cannot refuse when Dean asks her for a favor. As he fights for a partnership track in his law firm, Dean must help recruit a woman from a wellconnected family and needs Solange to “date” him to accomplish this task. One rom-com mishap after another leads these adorable characters and their fake romance to finally acknowledge their very real chemistry.

About the author: Born and raised in Harlem, this Puerto Rican and Brazilian author defines sassy romance in our multi cultural world.

KAREN NEWFIELD

OFFICIALSCITYCLEANKEYWEST

ISLAND PITCHES IN FOR COASTALNATIONALCLEANUP

Inaddition to the Key West Ploggers’ weekly Friday morning cleanup last week, the city celebrated National Coastal Cleanup Day on Sept. 17. Mayor Teri Johnston and Commission ers Greg Davila, Clayton Lopez and Mary Lou Hoover, along with City Manager Patti McLauchlin participated in cleanups in vari ous parts of the city on the wet Saturday morning.Nearly 100 volunteers met their com missioners and the mayor at locations all over town. In two hours, those 95 volunteers collected 887 pounds of trash and recycling and 5.5 gallons of cigarette butts.

Key West’s residents, visitors and of ficials ask everyone to do their part when visiting our beaches, parks, neighborhoods and businesses. Every piece of trash picked up will save it from ending up in our fragile ecosystem and the ocean.

City organizers give special thanks to residents Julie Brown and Monroe Holloway from the Mayor’s Beautification Committee for organizing the event.

Coca Cola brought down a team of 10 people who participated in the cleanup and afterward provided drinks to all volunteers at a picnic at Bayview Park.

Pastor Max and 20 volunteers from the Southernmost Baptist Church participated in the cleanup efforts.

The Stock Island Cleanup will take place at 8 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 24. The city of Key West will be cleaning its side of Stock Island. Volunteers should meet at t 8 a.m. at the corner of U.S. 1 and College Road near the entrance to the Key West Tropical Forest & Botanical Garden.

Upcoming cleanups; all events begin at 8 Friday,a.m.: Sept. 23: Lazy Way & Caroline Street (Meet in city lot across from Harpoon Harry’s)

Saturday, Sept. 24: Stock Island Cleanup (Meet at Key West Tropical Forest & Botanical Garden)

Friday, Sept. 30: Fort Street in Bahama Village (Meet in Douglass Gym parking lot)

1. The city of Key West hosts a picnic at Bayview Park on Sept. 17 to thank the 95 volunteers who pitched in to pick up trash on National Coastal Cleanup Day. The event included City Manager Patti McLauchlin, Mayor Teri Johnston and Commissioners Clayton Lopez, Greg Davila and Mary Lou Hoover. CONTRIBUTED

2. Ploggers meet at Smathers Beach on Sept. 16 for the weekly Friday cleanup. In one hour, 10 volunteers collected 99 pounds of trash, 15 pounds of recycling and a half-gallon of cigarette butts.

3. Commissioner Mary Lou Hoover meets the Southernmost Coconut Castaways and other volunteers at the VFW, where 16 volunteers col lected 181 pounds of trash and recycling and one gallon of cigarette butts.

4. Dorian Patton staffs the official scale to weigh the trash and recycling collected by each volunteer group.

5. Commissioner Greg Davila meets his volunteers at the FKAA parking lot, where 13 volunteers collected 209 pounds of trash and recycling and one gallon of cigarette butts.

6. Commissioner Clayton Lopez meets his volunteers at the corner of Olivia and Duval streets, where 26 volunteers collected 111 pounds of trash and recycling and two gallons of cigarette butts.

LEGAL NOTICES

FICTITIOUS NAME

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the undersigned, desiring to engage in business under the fictitious name of MARATHON HAIR AND NAILS SALON located at 5177 Overseas Highway Marathon FL 33050 intends to register said name with the Florida Department of State, Tallahassee,

By:Florida.Voeun Loeung

SeptemberPublish: 22, 2022

The Weekly Newspapers

NOTICE OF PUBLIC SALE

Wheatons Towing gives notice that on 10/06/2022 at 10:00 am, the following vehicle(s) may be sold by public sale at 101500 Overseas Hwy, Key Largo, FL 33037 to satisfy the lien for the amount owed on each vehicle for any recovery, towing, or storage services charges and administrative fees allowed pursuant Florida statute 713.78.

Wheatons Towing reserves the right to accept or reject any and/ or all 1G1ZE5ST9HF159422bids. CHEV 2MEFM74W91X682447 2001

SeptemberPublish:MERCURY

15 & 22, 20221

The Weekly Newspapers

NOTICE OF PUBLIC SALE U-HAUL COMPANY OF MIAMI

Notice is hereby given that on October 10th, 2022, Leonard Richford Jr. Storage Auctioneer, Executive Administrator for U-Haul Company of Miami, Will be offering for sale under the Judicial Lien Process, By Public Auction, the following storage units. The Terms of the sale will be cash only. U-Haul Company does reserve the right to refuse any bids. The sales will Begin at 8:00 a.m. and continue day by day until all units are sold. The names of whose units will be sold are as follows: 103530 Overseas Highway, Key Largo, FL 33037. Name and Last Known Addresses are as Follows: Benjamin Capote Unit 1207 $523.85

Kimberley Stewart Unit 1185 $507.80

Cody Merrin Unit 1589 $871.55

Daniel Norton Unit 1775 $1,134.76

Pat Edward Placey Jr Unit 1003 $716.45

SeptemberPublish: 22nd & September 29th, 2022

The Weekly Newspapers

NOTICE OF REQUEST FOR COMPETITIVE SOLICITATIONS

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that on Wednesday, November 9, 2022, at 3:00 P.M., the Monroe County Purchasing Office will receive and open sealed responses for the FIREfollowing:ALARM,PANIC ALARM, AND SECURITY SYSTEM ANNUAL CERTIFICATION, MAINTENANCE, REPAIR, AND MONITORING MONRE COUNTY, FLORIDA

Pursuant to F.S. 50.0211(3) (a), all published competitive solicitation notices can be viewed at: floridapublicnotices.com,www. a searchable Statewide repository for all published legal notices. Requirements for submission and the selection criteria may be requested from DemandStar at www.demandstar.com OR readsubjectandSEPARATEfinancialPleaseWednesday,gov,OMB-BIDS@monroecounty-fl.bidsDepartmentThebeproposals/responsesphysicallypersonmailelectronically.DepartmentMonroerequest.Publicmonroecounty-fl.gov/bids.www.TheRecordisavailableuponCountyPurchasingreceivesbidsPleasedonotorattempttodeliverinanysealedbids.Mailed/deliveredbids/WILLNOTaccepted.MonroeCountyPurchasingherebydirectsthatbesubmittedviaemailto:nolaterthan3:00P.M.,onNovember9,2022.submityourconfidentialinformationinaEMAILfromyourbidrequireddocuments.Yourlineonbothemailsmustasfollows:

LEGAL NOTICES

Files11-9-22that do not contain this REJECTED. Please note that the maximum size that will be is Please plan accordingly to ensure that your is not rejected the

LEGAL NOTICES

after the sale.

SeptemberPublish: 15 & 22, 2022 The Weekly Newspapers

LEGAL NOTICES

LEGAL NOTICES

CASE NO.: 44-2021-CC-331-K

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE SIXTEENTH JUDICIAL MONROEINCIRCUITANDFORCOUNTY, FLORIDA

CASE NO.: 44-2021-CA-726-K

NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE

BY CLERK OF THE CIRCUIT COURT

Notice is hereby given that the undersigned, Kevin Madok, Clerk of the Circuit Court of Monroe County, Florida, will on the 3RD day of October, 2022 at 11 o’clock a.m., at 500 Whitehead Street, Monroe County, in the City of Key West, Florida, offer for sale and sell at public outcry to the highest and best bidder for CASH the Following described property situated in Monroe County, Florida, to wit: Unit 5721, Week 35, Annual Windward Pointe, a Leasehold Condominium (“Condominium”), according to the Declaration of Condominium thereof recorded in Official Records Book 1803, Page 844, Public Records of Monroe County, Florida, and all exhibits thereto, and any amendments thereof (the Pursuant“Declaration”).toIN REM FINAL JUDGMENT OF FORECLOSURE AFTER DEFAULT AS TO COUNT(S) I, II entered in a case pending in said Court, the 3RD day of August 2022. Style of which is: WINDWARD POINTE II, LLC, A DELAWARE LIMITIED LIABILITY

SHERRIVS.PlaintiffCOMPANYJ.CARTER, et. al

AndDefendanttheDocket Number of which is Number 44-2021-CAWITNESS726-K my hand and the Official Seal of Said Court, this 15TH day of August, 2022.

KEVIN MADOK, CPA Clerk of the Circuit Court Monroe County, Florida By: Shonta McLeod Deputy Clerk Florida Statute 45.031: Any person claiming an interest in the surplus from the sale, if any, other than the property owner as of the date of the Lis Pendens must file a claim within 60 days after the sale.

SeptemberPublish: 15 & 22, 2022

The Weekly Newspapers

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE SIXTEENTH JUDICIAL

MONROEINCIRCUITANDFORCOUNTY, FLORIDA

CASE NO.: 44-2021-CA-786-K

NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE BY CLERK OF THE CIRCUIT COURT Notice is hereby given that the undersigned, Kevin Madok, Clerk of the Circuit Court of Monroe County, Florida, will on the 3RD day of October, 2022 at 11 o’clock a.m., at 500 Whitehead Street, Monroe County, in the City of Key West, Florida, offer for sale and sell at public outcry to the highest and best bidder for CASH the Following described property situated in Monroe County, Florida, to wit: Unit 5411, Week 38, Annual Windward Pointe, a Leasehold Condominium (“Condominium”), according to the Declaration of Condominium thereof recorded in Official Records Book 1803, Page 844, Public Records of Monroe County, Florida, and all exhibits thereto, and any amendments thereof (the Pursuant“Declaration”).toIN REM FINAL

JUDGMENT OF FORECLOSURE AFTER DEFAULT AS TO COUNT(S) III entered in a case pending in said Court, the 12TH day of August 2022.

Style of which is: WINDWARD POINTE II, LLC, A DELAWARE LIMITED LIABILITY VS.PlaintiffCOMPANY MONROEINCIRCUITOFINTheSeptemberPublish:aftermustasotherthepersonFloridaDeputyBy:MonroeClerkKEVIN26thOfficialWITNESS306-KwhichAndDefendantet.THOMASUNDERCLAIMANTS,ADMINISTRATORSPERSONALCREDITORS,ASSIGNEES,DEVISEES,INTERESTPARTIESANYvs.PlaintiffOFUNDERAASSOCIATIONBEACHStyle11THaV,FORECLOSUREFINALPursuant“Declaration”).anyexhibitsMonroePageinCondominiumaccordingHouse,UnitFlorida,situatedthehighestandKeyMonroea.m.,dayCounty,ofundersigned,NoticeBYNOTICECASEMONROEINCIRCUITOFINTheSeptemberPublish:aftermustasotherthepersonFloridaDeputyBy:MonroeClerkKEVIN16THOfficialWITNESS786-KwhichAndDefendantKIMBALL,UNDERCLAIMANTS,ADMINISTRATORSPERSONALCREDITORS,ASSIGNEES,GRANTEES,LIENORS,TRUSTEES,REPRESENTATIVES,ORASOTHERBY,THROUGH,ORAGAINSTMARYELLENDECEASED,et.altheDocketNumberofisNumber44-2021-CA-myhandandtheSealofSaidCourt,thisdayofAugust,2022.MADOK,CPAoftheCircuitCourtCounty,FloridaShontaMcLeodClerkStatute45.031:Anyclaiminganinterestinsurplusfromthesale,ifany,thanthepropertyownerofthedateoftheLisPendensfileaclaimwithin60daysthesale.15&22,2022WeeklyNewspapersTHECIRCUITCOURTTHESIXTEENTHJUDICIALANDFORCOUNTY,FLORIDANO.:44-2021-CC-306-KOFFORECLOSURESALECLERKOFTHECIRCUITCOURTisherebygiventhattheKevinMadok,ClerktheCircuitCourtofMonroeFlorida,willonthe3RDofOctober,2022at11o’clockat500WhiteheadStreet,County,intheCityofWest,Florida,offerforsalesellatpublicoutcrytotheandbestbidderforCASHFollowingdescribedpropertyinMonroeCounty,towit:E31,Week20,BeachaCondominiumtotheDeclarationofthereofrecordedOfficialRecordsBook1510,225,PublicRecordsofCounty,Florida,andallattachedthereto,andamendmentsthereof(thetoINREMSUMMARYJUDGMENTOFASTOCOUNT(S)UNITE31,WEEK20enteredincasependinginsaidCourt,thedayofJuly2022.ofwhichis:HOUSECONDOMINIUMOFKEYWEST,INC.,NONPROFITCORPORATIONTHELAWSOFTHESTATEFLORIDAANDALLUNKNOWNWHOCLAIMANASSPOUSE,HEIRS,GRANTEES,LIENORS,TRUSTEES,REPRESENTATIVES,ORASOTHERBY,THROUGH,ORAGAINSTCHESTERMCCREARY,DECEASED,al.theDocketNumberofisNumber44-2021-CC-myhandandtheSealofSaidCourt,thisdayofJuly,2022.MADOK,CPAoftheCircuitCourtCounty,FloridaShontaMcLeodClerkStatute45.031:Anyclaiminganinterestinsurplusfromthesale,ifany,thanthepropertyownerofthedateoftheLisPendensfileaclaimwithin60daysthesale.15&22,2022WeeklyNewspapersTHECIRCUITCOURTTHESIXTEENTHJUDICIALANDFORCOUNTY,FLORIDA

NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE BY CLERK OF THE CIRCUIT COURT Notice is hereby given that the undersigned, Kevin Madok, Clerk of the Circuit Court of Monroe County, Florida, will on the 3RD day of October, 2022 at 11 o’clock a.m., at 500 Whitehead Street, Monroe County, in the City of Key West, Florida, offer for sale and sell at public outcry to the highest and best bidder for CASH the Following described property situated in Monroe County, Florida, to wit: Unit 5432, Week 22, Annual Windward Pointe, a Leasehold Condominium (“Condominium”), according to the Declaration of Condominium thereof recorded in Official Records Book 1803, Page 844, Public Records of Monroe County, Florida, and all exhibits thereto, and any amendments thereof (the Pursuant“Declaration”).toIN REM SUMMARY FINAL JUDGMENT OF FORECLOSURE AS TO COUNT(S) I, UNIT 5432, WEEK 22 entered in a case pending in said Court, the 11TH day of July 2022. Style of which is: WINDWARD

PlaintiffCOMPANYDELAWAREWINDWARDStyleAugustinIIAFTERJUDGMENTPursuantthereofthereto,County,PublicRecordsthereofthe(“Condominium”),aBiennialUnitFlorida,situatedthehighestandKeyMonroea.m.,dayCounty,ofundersigned,NoticeBYNOTICECASEMONROEINCIRCUITOFINTheSeptemberPublish:aftermustasotherthepersonFloridaDeputyBy:MonroeClerkKEVIN26THOfficialWITNESS331-KwhichAndDefendantSHEETS,UNDERCLAIMANTS,ADMINISTRATORSPERSONALCREDITORS,ASSIGNEES,DEVISEES,INTERESTPARTIESANYVS.PlaintiffOFUNDERCORPORATIONOFCONDOMINIUMPOINTEASSOCIATIONKEYWEST,INC.,ANOT-FOR-PROFITTHELAWSOFTHESTATEFLORIDAANDALLUNKNOWNWHOCLAIMANASSPOUSE,HEIRS,GRANTEES,LIENORS,TRUSTEES,REPRESENTATIVES,ORASOTHERBY,THROUGH,ORAGAINSTRONALDLEEDECEASED,et.altheDocketNumberofisNumber44-2021-CC-myhandandtheSealofSaidCourt,thisdayofJuly,2022.MADOK,CPAoftheCircuitCourtCounty,FloridaShontaMcLeodClerkStatute45.031:Anyclaiminganinterestinsurplusfromthesale,ifany,thanthepropertyownerofthedateoftheLisPendensfileaclaimwithin60daysthesale.15&22,2022WeeklyNewspapersTHECIRCUITCOURTTHESIXTEENTHJUDICIALANDFORCOUNTY,FLORIDANO.:44-2021-CA-786-KOFFORECLOSURESALECLERKOFTHECIRCUITCOURTisherebygiventhattheKevinMadok,ClerktheCircuitCourtofMonroeFlorida,willonthe3RDofOctober,2022at11o’clockat500WhiteheadStreet,County,intheCityofWest,Florida,offerforsalesellatpublicoutcrytotheandbestbidderforCASHFollowingdescribedpropertyinMonroeCounty,towit:5313,Week48,OddYearWindwardPointe,LeaseholdCondominiumaccordingtoDeclarationofCondominiumrecordedinOfficialBook1803,Page844,RecordsofMonroeFlorida,andallexhibitsandanyamendments(the“Declaration”).toINREMFINALOFFORECLOSUREDEFAULTASTOCOUNT(S)enteredinacasependingsaidCourt,the3RDdayof2022.ofwhichis:POINTEII,LLC,ALIMITEDLIABILITY Florida,CircuitJuneceased,WILLIAMTheNOTICEDeceased.WARDINsionFilePROBATEFORTEENTHINTheSeptemberPublish:aftermustasotherthepersonFloridaDeputyBy:MonroeClerkKEVIN15THOfficialWITNESSisAdDefendantSHERRIVS.PlaintiffCOMPANYDELAWAREWINDWARDStyleAugustinVII,FORECLOSUREFINALPursuant“Declaration”).amendmentsallMonroePageinCondominiumaccordingCondominiumWindwardUnitFlorida,situatedthehighestandKeyMonroea.m.,dayCounty,ofundersigned,NoticeBYNOTICECASEMONROEINCIRCUITOFINTheSeptemberPublish:aftermustasotherthepersonFloridaDeputyBy:MonroeClerkKEVIN15THOfficialWITNESS786-KwhichAndDefendantKIMBALL,UNDERCLAIMANTS,ADMINISTRATORSPERSONALCREDITORS,ASSIGNEES,GRANTEES,LIENORS,TRUSTEES,REPRESENTATIVES,ORASOTHERBY,THROUGH,ORAGAINSTMARYELLENDECEASED,et.altheDocketNumberofisNumber44-2021-CA-myhandandtheSealofSaidCourt,thisdayofAugust,2022.MADOK,CPAoftheCircuitCourtCounty,FloridaShontaMcLeodClerkStatute45.031:Anyclaiminganinterestinsurplusfromthesale,ifany,thanthepropertyownerofthedateoftheLisPendensfileaclaimwithin60daysthesale.15&22,2022WeeklyNewspapersTHECIRCUITCOURTTHESIXTEENTHJUDICIALANDFORCOUNTY,FLORIDANO.:44-2021-CA-726-KOFFORECLOSURESALECLERKOFTHECIRCUITCOURTisherebygiventhattheKevinMadok,ClerktheCircuitCourtofMonroeFlorida,willonthe3RDofOctober,2022at11o’clockat500WhiteheadStreet,County,intheCityofWest,Florida,offerforsalesellatpublicoutcrytotheandbestbidderforCASHFollowingdescribedpropertyinMonroeCounty,towit:5133,Week26,AnnualPointe,aLeasehold(“Condominium”),totheDeclarationofthereofrecordedOfficialRecordsBook1803,844,PublicRecordsofCounty,Florida,andexhibitsthereto,andanythereof(thetoINREMSUMMARYJUDGMENTOFASTOCOUNT(S)VIIIenteredinacasependingsaidCourt,the3RDdayof2022.ofwhichis:POINTEII,LLC,ALIMITIEDLIABILITYJ.CARTER,et.altheDocketNumberofwhichNumber44-2021-CA-726-KmyhandandtheSealofSaidCourt,thisdayofAugust,2022.MADOK,CPAoftheCircuitCourtCounty,FloridaShontaMcLeodClerkStatute45.031:Anyclaiminganinterestinsurplusfromthesale,ifany,thanthepropertyownerofthedateoftheLisPendensfileaclaimwithin60daysthesale.15&22,2022WeeklyNewspapersTHECIRCUITCOURTOFTHESIXJUDICIALCIRCUITINANDMONROECOUNTY,FLORIDADIVISIONNo.2022-CP-103-PDiviProbateRE:ESTATEOFWILLIAMEDFLEMINGTOCREDITORSadministrationoftheestateofEDWARDFLEMING,dewhosedateofdeathwas13,2022;ispendingintheCourtforMonroeCounty,ProbateDivision,thead

dress of which is 88820 Overseas Highway, Plantation Key, FL 33070. The names and addresses of the personal representative and the personal representative=s attor ney are set forth below.

All creditors of the decedent and other persons having claims or demands against decedent=s estate, on whom a copy of this notice is required to be served must file their claims with this court ON OR BEFORE THE LATER OF 3 MONTHS AFTER THE TIME OF THE FIRST PUBLICATION OF THIS NOTICE OR 30 DAYS AFTER THE DATE OF SERVICE OF A COPY OF THIS NOTICE ON THEM.

All other creditors of the decedent and other persons having claims or demands against decedent=s estate must file their claims with this court WITHIN 3 MONTHS AFTER THE DATE OF THE FIRST PUBLICATION OF THIS NOTICE. ALL CLAIMS NOT FILED WITHIN THE TIME PERIODS SET FORTH IN SECTION 733.702 OF THE FLORIDA PROBATE CODE WILL BE FOREVER NOTWITHSTANDINGBARRED. THE TIME PERIOD SET FORTH ABOVE, ANY CLAIM FILED TWO (2) YEARS OR MORE AFTER THE DECEDENT'S DATE OF DEATH IS BARRED. The date of first publication of this notice is September 22, 2022. Personal

LEGAL NOTICES

LEGAL NOTICES

LEGAL NOTICES

proceeding, please contact the County Administrator’s Office, by phoning (305) 292-4441, between the hours of 8:30 A.M. – 5:00 P.M., no later than five (5) calendar days prior to the scheduled meeting; if you are hearing or voice-impaired, call Publication“711”.

Dates: Thursday, September 22, 2022

The Weekly Newspapers

MEETING NOTICE

The District II Advisory Committee (DAC II) of the Monroe County Tourist Development Council will hold a regular meeting on Tuesday, October 11, 2022, at 6:00 P.M., via Communications Media Technology using a Zoom webinar

Pursuantplatform. to Executive Order No. 20-69, Monroe County Emergency Directive 20-06, and the Center for Disease Control (“CDC”) socialdistancing guidelines established to contain the spread of the Covid-19 virus, the October 12, 2022, regular meeting of the District I Advisory Committee will be conducted via CMT, using a Zoom webinar platform. If the Governor issues a subsequent order changing directives for Local Government Public Meetings, the Monroe County Tourist Develop ment Council will provide updates on the County website at www.

TheMonroecounty-fl.gov.accesspointstoview the meeting or for members of the public to provide public comment will

Joinbe:Zoom

MEETING NOTICE

The District V Advisory Commit tee (DAC V) of the Monroe Coun ty Tourist Development Council will hold a regular meeting on Tuesday, October 11, 2022, at 10:00 A.M., via Communications Media Technology using a Zoom webinar

Pursuantplatform.toExecutive Order No. 20-69, Monroe County Emergency Directive 20-06, and the Center for Disease Control (“CDC”) guidelinessocial-distancingestablishedto contain the spread of the Covid-19 virus, the October 12, 2022, regular meeting of the District I Advisory Committee will be conducted via CMT, using a Zoom webinar platform. If the Governor issues a subsequent order changing directives for Local Government Public Meetings, the Monroe County Tourist Development Council will provide updates on the County website at www.

TheMonroecounty-fl.gov.accesspointstoview the meeting or for members of the public to provide public com ment will be: Join Zoom AT THE SOUTHEAST CORNER OF TRACT “B”, HAMMER POINT PARK, ACCORDING TO THE PLAT THEREOF AS RECORDED IN PLAT BOOK 6, PAGE 35 0F THE PUBLIC RECORDS OF MONROE COUNTY, FLORIDA, THENCE RUN NORTHEASTLY, ALONG AN EXTENSION OF THE SOUTH LINE OF SAID TRACT “B” FOR A DISTANCE OF 80.83 FEET TO A POINT, SAID POINT BEING 70 FEET FROM THE EAST LINE OF SAID TRACT “B”, THENCE RUN NORTHERLY, ALONG A LINE 70 FEET EAST OF AND PARALLEL TO THE EAST LINE OF SAID TRACT “B”: FOR A DISTANCE OF 151.00 FEET, PLUS OR MINUS, TO A POINT ON THE NORTH LINE OF PARCEL ID#00089210-000000 SAID POINT BEING COINCIDENT WITH THE MEAN HIGH TIDE LINE; THENCE RUN IN A SOUTHWEST ERLY DIRECTION ( S48º39’43”W), ALONG THE NORTH LINE OF PARCEL ID# 00089210-000000 BEING COINCIDENT WITH THE MEAN HIGH TIDE LINE FOR A DISTANCE OF 93.11 FEET TO THE NORTHEAST CORNER OF SAID TRACT “B” THENCE RUN SOUTH, ALONG THE EAST LINE OF SAID TRACT “B”, ALSO BEING THE EAST LINE OF SAID SECTION 22-62-38, FOR A DISTANCE OF 130 FEET TO THE POINT OF BEGINNING. CONTAINING +-0.21 ACRE Has been filed against you and you are required to serve a copy of your written defenses, if any, to it on Ronald G. Baker, plaintiff’s attorney whose address is 1176 E 5th Ave., Mount Dora, FL

PLACE YOUR HELP WANTED AD here for only $25.00/week for up to five lines of copy. Call 305-743-0844 TODAY

MIDDLE KEYS

Pancho's Fuel Dock in Marathon is looking for a part-time cashier Thu/Fri/Sat. Please 305-743-2281.call

NOW HIRING - Full Time Seafood Packers/Graders. Competitive Wage. Apply in person at Keys Fisheries Fish House, 3390 Gulfview Ave, Marathon. EOE DFWP

CDL Drivers needed. Must have a clean record & drug free. We are offering competitive wages. Please apply in person at Discount Rock & Sand, 10500 Aviation Blvd, Unit 2, Marathon

City of Marathon Current Job Openings: Recreation Specialist, Right of Way Technician, Parttime Marina Custodian/ Maintenance and Marina Tech/Pump Out Captain. Full Benefits. EOE Please see City website for www.ci.marathon.fl.usdetails

Come Join Our Family and Have Fun At Work! Hiring: Host, Hostess & Servers - Full &/or parttime. AM & PM Shifts. Apply in person at Castaway Restaurant, end of 15th Street, Oceanside, Marathon or lobstercrawl@gmail.comemail:

The Housing Authority of the City of Key West now hiring the following positions: Housekeeper, Maintenance Mechanic (Maintenance Worker), Med Tech, Protective Service Aide. To apply, please contact Human Resources at: martinezm@kwha.org or 305296-5621. Applications are available at the Administrative Office located at 1400 Kennedy Dr., Key West, FL 33040 or online at www.kwha. org - EOE & Drug Free Work Place. This opportunity

ActundercoveredisSection3oftheHUDof1968.

HOBBIES/COLLECT.

PRIVATE COLLECTOR WANTS Rolex, Dive Watches and Pilot Watches. Old Model Military Clocks & Watches. Call 305-743-4578

PLACE YOUR HOBBIES /COLLECTIBLES AD here for only $25.00/week for up to five lines of copy. Call 305743-0844 TODAY!

HOUSING FOR RENT LONG TERM

Las Brisa - 2BR/2BA Unfurnished, great view, W/D, covered parking. Tennis, Swimming Pool & BBQ on property. Across from Smather’s Beach, Key West. $3,900/month + util. F/L/S Owner/Agent Douglas Miller 305-296-7706

EMPLOYMENT WANTED Need sitter for older selfsufficient woman, two or three days at a time. Sombrero Isle, Marathon. Please call 305662-1916 daytime for details.

Program Facilitator: PartTime. Manager position, computer skills, create & implement programs. Independent contractor $20.00/hour,16-20 hrs/ wk Send resume gmail.comjustolderyouthinc@to

Shell World Key Largo, seeking engaging, dependable, experienced person(s) to work with the team at Mile Marker 97.5, Part and Full time opportunities available, some weekend and evening hours. Opportunities for advancement, great benefits, competitive salary and flexible hours. Please stop by and fill out an application, drop off resume or Fax 305-852-9639to

Sandbar Donuts mobile food trailer located at 102840 Overseas Highway, Key Largo is open Saturdays and Sundays 8am-1pm. We prepare hot fresh donuts daily and are looking for creative and responsible individuals to join our team. Please email sandbardonuts@ gmail.com or stop by to see us if interested in becoming part of our "Sprinkle Squad" or just to place a donut order and experience the Sandbar Donuts crave! Hiring excavator operators, deckhands, & boat operators in Key Largo. 40/hrs per week MondayFriday. 305-440-3304 HIRED!!!

Immediate openings for experienced plumbers and helpers (with or without experience - we will train the right person). Must have a valid driver's license & clean driving record. Please apply in person at 10700 5th Avenue Gulf, Marathon or email resume to: eerpinc@gmail.com

NOW HIRING: Sweet Savannah's is now hiring for multiple positions: Cashiermust be 16 yrs or older, Fulltime Baker & Part-time Baker's Assistant. Stop by for an application at 8919 Overseas Highway, Marathon or info@sweetsavannahs.comemail:

Serve/Bartend

on the ocean! FT/PT Ocean front private swim club is seeking customer service oriented server/bartender. Serve on pool deck, beach and/or bar lounge. Open year round, 10am-7pm daily. Full time/Part time. Small friendly staff. Above average hourly wage plus tips. Apply in person at 425 E. Ocean Dr. Key Colony Beach or call 404219-3359 and ask for Dave.

NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY

- Concrete Field Testing Technician needed. Full-time. Year round. We train you to go to various job sites and collect samples. Vehicle provided. Must speak English, live in Marathon area and have clean driving record. Starting pay $18/hour. Pay rate will rise at intervals. 305-743-5555

HIRED IN LESS THAN THREE WEEKS!!

PLACE YOUR HELP WANTED AD here for only $25.00/week for up to five lines of copy. Call 305-7430844 TODAY

PLACE YOUR HOUSING FOR RENT AD here for only $25.00/week for up to five lines of copy. Call 305-743-0844 TODAY!

1 BR/1 BA Efficiency for rent in Marathon. 3-4 months lease. Own entrance. 2 parking spots. $1,350/mo. 305-417-0346 RENTED IN LESS THAN TWO WEEKS!!!

HOUSING FOR RENT SHORT TERM

2BR/2BA Single Family Waterfront Home for rent in Marathon. Fully furnished. 70' dock. $5,000/ month includes all utilities, internet & TV. Available for 3 months - Jan, Feb & March. 727-278-1105

FOR SALE

RV FOR SALE - 2017 Thor Citation RV, 24ft Mercedes V6 Diesel, Cummings Diesel Generator, Low Mileage, Many Upgrades, Call Richard 363-8021305-

YARD SALES

SARA’S ESTATE SALE: 87 Bay Drive, Baypoint, MM15, Lower Keys | Fri., Sept. 23 and Sat., Sept. 24, 9am to 1pm both days | ENTIRE HOUSEHOLD at waterfront estate behind Baby’s Coffee, Oceanside: high-end battery operated mower, blowers, chain saws, hand tools; generator, work lights, tools, tool chest, pressure washer, lots of outdoor furniture, mini tiki hut, Olhausen pool table, cue cabinet, Martha dePoo art, carved mahogany king bed and sidetables, plants, pots, yard art and bedding, silk rug, dining table, TVs and mattresses. Follow signs and park

Keys Energy Services, in Key West, is accepting applications for the following position in its Fleets & Facilities Section:

GENERAL HELPER/COURIER

Starting pay rate for this position, depending on qualifications and experience: $17.38/hr. - $19.46/hr.

For more information, including job duties and required qualifications, and to apply for the job, please visit their website at www.KeysEnergy.com

KEYS is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

KEYS promotes a Drug-Free Workplace.

Certain service members, veterans, the spouses and family members of service members and veterans, receive preference and priority in employment, and are encouraged to apply for positions being filled.

The Turtle Hospital in Marathon

Join our team! Full and part-time Educational Program Guides/Gift Shop Sales. Public speaking & retail sales experience helpful. $16.00/hour to start. resume TurtleHospitalMarathon@gmail.comto:

Keys Energy Services, in Key West, is accepting applications for the following position in its Fleets & Facilities Section:

AUTO DIESEL VEHICLE TECHNICIAN

Starting pay rate for this position, depending on qualifications and experience: $27.17/hr. - $30.43/hr.

For more information, including job duties and required qualifications, and to apply for the job, please visit their website at www.KeysEnergy.com.

KEYS is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

KEYS promotes a Drug-Free Workplace.

Certain service members, veterans, the spouses and family members of service members and veterans, receive preference and priority in employment, and are encouraged to apply for positions being filled.

Keys Energy Services, in Key West, is accepting applications for the following position in its Fleets & Facilities Section:

APPRENTICE AUTO MECHANIC

Starting pay rate for this position, depending on qualifications and experience: $22.59/hr. - $25.31/hr.

For more information, including job duties and required qualifications, and to apply for the job, please visit our website at www.KeysEnergy.com

KEYS is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

KEYS promotes a Drug-Free Workplace.

Certain service members, veterans, the spouses and family members of service members and veterans, receive preference and priority in employment, and are encouraged to apply for positions being filled.

DUI

The Advocate DUI Program is hiring for part time positions. DUI instructors and evaluators - 2 days a week, Bachelors or Masters degree in substance abuse eld required. Bilingual preferred, not required. Of ce located in Marathon. Contact Marcia at 305-704-0117.

MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Pigeon Key is seeking dedicated professionals seeking to make a positive impact in their community. Those individuals who wish to work on a uniquely beautiful island , while promoting our cultural history and preserving the natural Keys environment are encouraged to apply. Competitive wages based on ability and experience. Applicants will be subject to criminal background check and drug screening.

Positions include: Trolley Operator (CDL licensing course provided for qualified applicant) Tour Guides, Sales Associates, Customer Relations Reps, Maintenance, Rental Associates and more.

Application online at pigeonkey.net - under the Staff icon. Or apply in person at the Pigeon Key Gift Shop, 2010 Overseas Hwy, Marathon, FL. Questions and completed applications can be emailed to pigeonkey@aol.com

OPEN POSITIONS

TAVERNIER MARINERS HOSPITAL

- Environmental Tech, $5,000 Bonus

- Cook, $5,000 Bonus

- Medical Technologist, $15,000 Bonus

- Multi Modality Imaging Tech

- Occupational Health Registered Nurse, $20,000 Bonus

- Patient Experience Advocate

- Pool Group Exercise Instructor

- Pool Physical Therapist

- Registered Nurse, Emergency

- Registered Nurse, Multispecialty

- Registered Respiratory Therapist, $15,000 Bonus

- Sr Phlebotomist

MARATHON COMMUNITYFISHERMEN’SHOSPITAL

- Cook, $5,000 Bonus

- Dietitian, $5,000 Bonus

- ED Team Coordinator

- Floor Technician, $5,000 Bonus

- Medical Assistant, $5,000 Bonus

- Medical Technologist, $15,000 Bonus

- Multi Modality Imaging Tech

- Patient Experience Advocate

- Phlebotomist, $10,000 Bonus

- Pool Physical Therapist

- Registered Nurse, Emergency, $20,000 Bonus

- Registered Nurse, Surgery, $20,000 Bonus

- Security Of cer

PHYSICIAN PRACTICE – MARATHON

- Patient Representative, $1,000 Bonus

- Registered Nurse

- Athletic Trainer

APPLY AND LEARN MORE

careers.baptisthealth.net or call 786-243-8507

Offering for full or part-time to meet your needs. Apply and enter your availability.

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