Letters

A ‘Beer-y’ fun time

The new face of Wop’s Hops Brewing Company, Austin Buergermeister. Cheers with Cindy Beers.

Photos by Michele Meyers

Wop’s Hops owner Greg J. Piecora with buddy Eric Jovet.

The second-annual Ormond Beach beer festival took place on Saturday, May 8, at the Destination Daytona pavilion.

Featuring a performance by Pryor and Lee, along with over 100 different beers, attendees had their choice of beverage and entertainment for the afternoon. Proceeds benefited the Rotary Club of Ormond Beach.

–MICHELE MEYERS

Bouncer, Jean-Pierre Pontier. Kaleb Lee

My two cents on Tomoka Oaks

Dear Editor:

I would love to see the Tomoka Oaks Golf Course survive as a golf course or public space. I live in Tomoka Oaks and have been connected to it for more than 50 years.

Unfortunately, the time has passed for that to occur. The acquisition cost is out of reach. The residents and the association should have been addressing this years ago when the golf course designation expired, and when the zoning changes for development were being done. We were asleep.

The property is the best undeveloped tract of acreage in Ormond Beach. We should recognize that any developer wants to maximize their profit, limit the risk of failure, and loss of investment.

At least two of the investors in this project have deep ties to Ormond Beach, so they have a vested interest that perhaps others would not have. This project will be part of their legacy. One of them has several businesses here, and the businesses I am familiar with are well managed. So that gives me hope that this project will turn out better than some are projecting.

The traffic issue is not solvable, and will probably result in a traffic light at the entrance of Tomoka Oaks. Shunting traffic through the existing subdivision should not even be considered, as it would hurt property values, totally change the nature of the neighborhood, and be dangerous for children.

The density of homes allowed is high, and would be out of character with the surrounding neighborhood. Are there scenarios that would work that could reduce the homes per acre, and still allow the zoned number of living units?

What about using the clubhouse site and some of the land there for three-story townhomes or other forms of multifamily housing? How many multifamily units would it take to get the single family home density down to three per acre and still allow the total number of homes the parcel is zoned for?

Would it be feasible to put utilities underground? This would protect trees and add value to property. Are there suitable areas with trees for small community green spaces that would protect some of the natural features? This would also add value.

The development should be part of the Tomoka Oaks subdivision.

These are the things we should be talking about.

Why a National Day of Prayer?

Dear Editor:

Americans don’t need the government to tell them when and how to pray through their National Day of Prayer. Unfortunately, our citizens are told to do just that on the first Thursday of May, every year. As a result, local governments cross the line and promote NDP religious events and lend their name to endorse them, clearly violating the First Amendment Clause of the separation of church and state. Religious freedom allows Americans to decide which religious prayers to say —if any — and when to say them. Take government influence out of our religious freedoms. Put an end to the NDP and its task force.

SHEILA ZINKERMAN

Ormond Beach

Shift focus to traffic policing

Dear Editor:

All this talk about development. I see it in carefully worded letters to the editor, walking the thin line between a developer’s entitlement to maximize his or her investment and the obvious negative impact it would have on traffic and infrastructure here in what was, when I moved here almost 10 years ago, a beautiful and laidback community.

Now Granada Boulevard, off which I live, is very much like Interstate 95. Sirens wail as police and emergency vehicles respond to accidents all day long. Speeding is routine, the norm. Go the speed limit and you are risking your life. Cars and trucks pass you, doing 60 or more. Obey traffic laws, signal lane shifts like the law requires, and you are daring cars and trucks to cut you off. And believe me, they do.

I thought traffic on Granada might ease up after the snowbirds left, but this isn’t the case.

We have allowed the mindset here in Ormond Beach to devolve into one debate after another about rezoning and allowing further development. We are being played for fools by our city commissioners, all supported heavily by developers.

We have already lost the fight to overdevelopment, my fellow citizens. It’s time to shift the entire conversation away from further trafficadding consequences to our lost cause and towards the necessary costs it will take to improve policing and pedestrian safety, especially traffic policing.

ORMOND BEACH Observer

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MEET THE CGI WINDOWS & DOORS

FINALISTS & VOTE FOR THE GRAND PRIZE WINNER!

Hialeah-based CGI Windows & Doors, part of the PGT Innovations family of brands, recently selected four standout individuals from across Florida to be awarded with a $1,000 cash prize as part of its “CGI Heroes: Celebrating Strength” contest. The annual event recognizes Florida residents who have gone above and beyond to help others. Read about each finalist below and help choose the grand prize winner who will receive an additional cash prize of $5,000. Voting starts now!

Tori Mason, Janet Woods, Bethany Keime, and Drew Rogers were all nominated and selected as statewide finalists for their commitment to assisting others. Giving back to the community has always been part of the company culture at CGI Windows & Doors. That philosophy fueled the launch of the inaugural CGI Heroes contest in 2020 and its expansion to a statewide contest in 2021.

TORI MASON

is a school resource officer with the Okaloosa Sheriff’s Office in the Destin/Fort Walton Beach region. The law enforcement officer is passionate about helping kids and serving others. She is a single mom who dedicates her time to serving on the Sheriff’s Office Dive Team, instructs at the Teen Driver Challenge Program, and recently launched a fellowship of Christian Police Officers. Mason is known for going above and beyond to assist students at whatever school she is assigned to and creating safe learning environments and positive interactions between herself and students. She regularly fundraises for families in need and can always be found helping her fellow officers or community members.

JANET WOODS

is a dedicated volunteer with the 9463 Foundation and South Florida Rest, organizations that support first responders in Florida. She’s been making personalized quilts and hand delivering them to families of fallen officers in conjunction with the 9463 Foundation as a volunteer for close to ten years. “I don’t think there’s a quilt I make that doesn’t have a tear drop on it,” she says. A retired legal secretary, she moved to Florida ten years ago and ever since she has been volunteering at the foundation and also with South Florida Rest (aka Canteen), an organization that hydrates firefighters and police officers while on call at emergency scenes. “We bring water, Gatorade, snacks and food to first responders who are at the scene of an accident, a fire, a SWAT call or wherever they need us,” she says. When she’s not making quilts or helping hydrate first responders, she’s sewing masks. Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic she made more than 9,300 masks and donated them to police and fire agencies, hospitals and others all over the country with patriotic or specific meaningful fabrics.

BETHANY KEIME

is a self-proclaimed heart warrior from Cutler Bay. At 17 years of age, the Florida native was a senior in high school with a promising dance career and her whole life in front of her, when she was diagnosed with the number one killer on school campuses and leading killer of student athletes: hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Her life changed forever when she fatefully learned that hers would be a lifetime of medication, testing, and treatments, including having a defibrillator implanted into her chest. Seven years later, she came to terms with the diagnosis and decided to do something positive about it. She launched the HeartCharged Instagram page to spread awareness, built her own website, and created her own 501C-3 nonprofit, HeartCharged. She puts on community heart screenings, donates defibrillators, and speaks at schools. And she’s even helping to change the law. “We just got a law passed in Florida to get CPR and AED training for high school students, which can prevent death from sudden cardiac arrest,” Keime says. “Next year, we’re working on getting heart screenings for all kids in Florida. Many heart conditions have no recognizable symptoms. With screenings, deaths can be prevented

DREW ROGERS

is the Operations Fire Chief at Marion County Fire Rescue (MCFR) in Ocala. A firefighter for 20 years, he’s made it his mission to inspire and mentor others who may be headed down the wrong path. “I joined the fire service from a little bit of shaky background,” Rogers says. “I wasn’t sure where I was going in life and at times, like a lot of kids, I made some bad choices, but becoming a firefighter changed my life, and I want to do that for others.” He’s been instrumental in operating the mentorship program at MCFR; he secured funding and support to build a 7,000 square foot gym to help cadets stay fit to pass their physical ability tests and for his crew to stay mentally and physically fit; and he works tirelessly with students at the fire career academy to help them find a career path they can stay on for life. “A lot of our chiefs are great at many things – analytics, spreadsheets, power point presentations. For me, the biggest thing I am good at and enjoy the most is building a culture of wellness and community to support our firefighter family in whatever ways possible.”

CGI Windows & Doors accepted nominations from April 6 through April 22 and four winners were selected by the CGI team. The grand prize winner will be selected through an online voting campaign beginning May 13 and ending on May 28. To learn more about the individual contest winners, and to vote for the grand prize winner, visit cgiwindows. com/heroes. The grand prize winner will be announced on June 1 on CGI’s social media channels.

“These four Florida residents represent the definition of a community hero,” said Bob Keller, President of the Southeast Business Unit for PGT Innovations. “Their clear dedication to servant leadership, generosity, and compassion made them stand out among hundreds nominated across the state. Our team is honored to highlight their accomplishments and recognize them for the ways they are serving their communities.”