Palm Coast Observer 12-15-22

Flagler County plans dune restoration project for 1.5 miles near Gamble Rogers state park.

Photo by Sierra Williams

Photo

Palm Coast City Council approves Loopers lease

The Palm Coast City Council has approved the lease agreement for “Loopers,” the restaurant that will replace the Green Lion at the Palm Harbor Golf Club concession.

The City Council held a back-toback workshop and regular business meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 13, in lieu of its scheduled Dec. 20 business meeting.

At the double meeting, the agreement was approved in a 4-0 vote, with Councilman Nick Klufas absent.

BY THE NUMBERS:

A comparison of the city’s costs from the Green Lion and Loopers leases:

$7,200

The annual rent for the Green Lion lease, at $600 a month

$6,000

The annual cost of electric the city paid for the entire clubhouse. The kitchen has since had a meter instead so Loopers will have their electric charged through the new meter, and pay their own electric and propane

Seminole Woods gets new streetlights

Seminole Woods Boulevard in Palm Coast is receiving the gift of new streetlights this holiday season.

The installation began on Dec. 5 and is expected to last around four to six weeks.

SIERRA WILLIAMS STAFF WRITER

Construction to begin

on

Belle Terre Parkway

The city of Palm Coast is repairing Belle Terre Parkway in Palm Coast near Indian Trails Middle School and Belle Terre Elementary School, according to a city of Palm Coast news release.

Construction work began on Monday, Dec. 12.

The work will rehabilitate the stormwater culvert pipes running under the southbound lane of Belle Terre Parkway to stabilize the roadway and keep depressions from forming, according to the news release.

There will be daily lane closures during the project, which is expected to be complete on March 30.

The area of the lane closures will change as the project proceeds from north to south. The city is putting up signs to warn drivers about traffic flow changes. The pedestrian walkways will not be impacted during the project.

Contractors will be working from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The city timed the project so that some of it would be completed during Flagler Schools’ winter break.

“This concession will be available to all residents within the city of Palm Coast and beyond,” Palm Coast Mayor David Alfin said. “I hope that the entire community will enjoy the service and the reputation that [the Beach Front Grille] have brought forward and that we all enjoy a wonderful success together.”

When she reviewed the lease, Councilwoman Theresa Carli Pontieri requested two changes: a provision for late payments, and clarification for maintenance requirements on things like the HVAC system.

The lease was approved with the amendments.

Loopers is owned by Beach Front Grille owners Jamie Bourdeau and Dudley Shaw.

The new concession restaurant is expected to begin its lease and renovations on Jan. 16 and fully open around March.

The city plans to have a food truck on the golf course until the concession opens, Chief of Staff Jason DeLorenzo said, while Loopers will sell limited alcoholic beverages.

The bidding for the concession opened Aug. 24, and had to be extended when only one applicant applied for the bid.

It closed on Sept. 29 with two bids

$17,982

The annual rent for Loopers’ lease

$24,000

The amount of water the city paid at the concession building, including all of Green Lion’s costs

$12,000

The city’s expected annual water costs at the location with the Loopers lease. The new concession will be expected to pay their share of the water costs for the clubhouse

— Loopers and Thai & I Flagler, a Thai cuisine restaurant.

After a review of the submissions, the city offered the lease to Bourdeau and Shaw.

The restaurant will offer American cuisine for breakfast, lunch, dinner as well as specialty cocktails, much like it’s sister location, the Beach Front Grille.

“We plan on being golfer-friendly, but we’re also going to be the local neighborhood bar as well,” Bourdeau said.

The Green Lion team will need to vacate the premises by Jan. 15. It had leased the concession since 2017.

The restaurant’s lease became the subject of a year-long battle when City Council members found out the lease had stayed at $600 monthly lease for years.

The cost of the lease was brought before City Council last February when the owners indicated that they wished to renew.

$7,200

The annual propane costs for the clubhouse, including the concession

$30,000

The amount of money the city lost annually with the Green Lion contract

$5,982

The amount of money the city is estimated to earn after costs from the Loopers lease

lowed between council members and the owners, the Marlow family, who also own the Golden Lion restaurant in Flagler Beach.

The city had also been paying the restaurant’s utilities, tied in with the golf course’s utilities because of linked plumbing and metering.

In Tuesday’s meeting, DeLorenzo provided a breakdown of the city’s expected costs and revenue from the Green Lion and what is expected from the Loopers lease.

In all, the city will be going from a $30,000 annual cost for the clubhouse, even after the rent from Green Lion, to making $5,982 on the new lease.

Much of that, DeLorenzo said, is because the city will no longer be responsible for the lessee’s water, propane or electric.

New metering has been installed to allow the separation of utilities in the kitchen, while the water bill will be split.

A press release from the city urged motorists to be aware workers will be in the area, with daily construction hours going from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The contractor is L&S Enterprises.

The city will be installing 167 LED streetlights along the 4.9 miles of Seminole Woods Boulevard, between State Road 100 and U.S. Highway 1. While lanes are not closed at this time, the release said, periodic lane closures or traffic stoppages may occur when workers unload the poles.

The crews will use a mix of new poles and reusing poles that are structurally sound, the release said.

The installation happening at Seminole Woods Boulevard is part of the city’s Continuous Street

Lighting Master Plan, which began in 2018. Belle Terre Parkway, Lakeview Boulevard and Ravenwood Drive have already had streetlights installed as part of this master plan, the press release states.

The city plans to continue installing streetlights on Royal Palm Parkway, Rymfire Drive, Hargrove Grade, Oak Trail Boulevard and Palm Coast Parkway, according to the press release.

The Palm Coast Parkway installation will go from Florida Park Drive to Palm Harbor Parkway.

palmcoastobserver.com.

JAMIE

A months-long confrontation fol-

Email Staff Writer Sierra Williams at Sierra@

"We plan on being golferfriendly, but we're also going to be the local neighborhood bar as well."

BOURDEAU, co-owner of the Beach Front Grille and Loopers.

County engineer secures $12.6 million to add sand to beach

County Engineer Faith Alkhatib said the sand will mitigate erosion near Gamble Rogers state park. She hopes to start the project in January.

SIERRA WILLIAMS STAFF WRITER

There are few things that Flagler County residents cherish more than the county’s beaches.

Years of hurricanes, high-tides and storms have eroded most, if not all, of the shoreline’s protective dunes. But County Engineer Faith Alkhatib has managed to secure good news for the shoreline: In January, Alkhatib hopes to begin a renourishment project covering the area impacted by Hurricane Dorian, a project that has been planned for over three years. She has finagled around $12.6 million for the project, she said.

“It takes time,but we’re on the right track,” Alkhatib said.

Before Hurricane Matthew, the beaches were not engineered, and therefore did not qualify for certain forms of federal funding, Alkhatib said.

After Matthew, the damaged

BY THE NUMBERS:

6

The minimum dune density in cubic yards per foot to protect from 5- to 10-year storms

75

The amount of sand in cubic yards per foot needed to restore the dunes to their preHurricane Matthew condition

1.3

The current amount of sand in million cubic yards needed for the Army Corps project’s 2.6 miles. In 2014, the same stretch only needed 330,000 cubic yards

$12.6 million

The amount of money County Engineer Faith Alkhatib expects to have for the Hurricane Dorian restoration in 2023. The total includes $3.8 million left over from Hurricane Matthew, $3.8 million from Hurricane Dorian, and $5 million in FDEP emergency sand funds

shoreline was partially repaired, and the beaches became “engineered beaches” eligible for other funding sources in the future.

Hurricane Dorian cost the county around 50,000 cubic yards of sand, Alkhatib said. Because of federal funding requirements, FEMA can only replace the amount that was lost during a storm — in the case of Dorian, the 50,000 cubic yards, over the course of 6 miles of shoreline.

But because the dunes had never been back up to pre-Matthew heights, that 50,000 cubic yards over 6 miles would equate to 1.5 cubic yards per foot, Alkhatib said — after almost four years of additional erosion, that amount would not provide any protection.

“For protection,” she said, “the criteria or the rule of thumb we use is 6 cubic yards-per-foot.”

And sand is expensive, ranging from $63 to $70 per cubic yard.

So instead of stretching the 50,000 cubic yards of sand over the 6 miles, Alkhatib said, she will focus on building up a smaller length of dune — 1.5 miles —to the 6 cubic yard/foot criteria.

Alkhatib has also received news of two additional sources of funding.

The county has $3.8 million of emergency funding left over from Hurricane Matthew that it can use for the Dorian renourishment, and on Dec. 5, the county also received $5 million in emergency sand funds from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

With local funding constraints, Alkhatib needed to remove the 50%

local cost match for the $3.8 million grant.

She did that by moving the site to Gamble Rogers Memorial State Recreation Area. Because that area is considered a regional interest that also needs repairs, FEMA waived the match requirement.

Those changes saved the county around $1.9 million and almost doubled the amount of ground the Dorian project could cover.

The $5 million in emergency sand funding from FDEP will be split across projects up and down the shoreline, Alkhatib said. But with the three sets of funding together, she said will be able to cover almost the full original 6 miles of the Dorian project in the 6 cubic yards/foot of sand.

It is still a temporary fix, Alkhatib said, but one that must be done before more erosion happens in the next storm.

Jason Harrah, senior project manager with the Army Corps of Engineers, said that the 6 cubic yard per foot standard might not seem like much, but it protects against 5– to 10-year storm events. And even after it washes away, the smaller, temporary fixes still help build up against erosion.

The washed away sand won’t disappear into the ocean, Harrah said, but instead builds up the sand sitting in ankle-deep water on the beach.

“Think of it like a birthday cake,” Harrah said. “You’re basically adding more layers of icing on top protecting that inner layer.”

The Army Corps of Engineers

build its projects for 100-year storm events, Harrah said.

The Corps’ planned project in Flagler Beach will build up a 2.6-mile stretch of land to 75 cubic yards per foot, or 19 feet in height, bringing it up to pre-Matthew standards.

And, because of the study agreement between Flagler County and the Army Corps of Engineers, Harrah said, the Corps will come out every 11 years to check on the area and would pay 100% of the repair costs after storms damage the dune.

Once the Army Corps’ section is finished, the Corps can come back and reevaluate other areas of Flagler County’s shoreline, Harrah said.

If another stretch is damaged enough and meets other criteria, the Corps could return to shore it up, Harrah said.

But the Amry Corps project has been delayed a single beachfront property owner who has not granted the Corps an easement required for workers to add sand across her property.

The longer projects take to begin, the more they will cost — in time and money. In 2014, when the Army Corps’ beach study was completed, the 2.6-mile project area needed 330,000 cubic yards of sand. Now, Harrah said, it needs 1.3 million.

Alkhatib said that the longer the wait, the more sand will be needed to get the dunes just to the 6 cubic yard per foot minimum.

For the Army Corps project, if the work doesn’t start by May of 2023, she said, it maybe delayed until after the next hurricane season.

Bunnell Elementary obtains $10,000 grant for literacy program

Reading coach Robin Jaques won the grant and will organize a monthly science-themed literacy activity day, along with a book purchasing program.

BRENT WORONOFF ASSOCIATE EDITOR

When Robin Jaques was applying for a McDonald’s Golden Grant award, the Bunnell Elementary School K-2 reading coach decided she would go big or go home.

Jaques applied for the largest grant of $10,000.

McDonald’s franchise owners in Florida and South Georgia are awarding 27 grants totaling $100,000 to

Palm Coast, Flagler County coordinate on park plan

SIERRA WILLIAMS STAFF WRITER

The Palm Coast City Council is planning to develop a comprehensive plan for the city’s parks and recreation.

In its last meeting of the year on Tuesday, Dec. 13, the City Council combined the year’s last workshop and business meetings, reviewing and approving a service agreement to develop a master plan for Parks and Recreation.

The service agreement will be with  the consulting firm BerryDunn, and was approved in a 4-0 vote, with Councilman Nick Klufas absent from the dais.

Deputy Director of Parks and Recreation Brittany McDermott told the City Council that the end goal is develop a five-year plan for growth.

“I’m very pleased to see that the county and the city are partnering on this initiative,” Councilwoman Cathy Heighter said. “I do believe that it will be a great thing for the community and the people that live in the city of Palm Coast.”

The master plan is one of Palm Coast’s new commitments for the 2023 fiscal year, and is a combined endeavor between the city and Flagler County.

BerryDunn will audit the county and city’s current parks and recreational services and resources and then use that information to develop a master plan to grow both participants’ parks and recreational services, according to meeting documents.

The company will also seek funding sources for projects, including grants, and conduct a cost-benefit analysis, McDermott said.

The service will cost $189,920, to be split between Flagler County and the city of Palm Coast, with the city paying $100,000 for the consultation study, McDermott said.

The county and city entered into an interlocal agreement for the initiative and have organized a committee to manage it.

The committee, McDermott said, is named “POP,” or “Plan Out Play,” and features three representatives from Palm Coast and two from the county.

BerryDunn was chosen, McDermott said, in part because the consulting company has a lot of experience working with governments and parks and recreation departments.

science knowledge.

There will be a paid staff of seven that includes reading teachers and coaches and a Multi-Tiered System of Supports specialist. The multitiered system aims to make sure no student falls through the cracks.

Heidi Alves, the district’s teaching and learning specialist for science, will also support the science aspect of the program, Jaques said.

The second part of the grant provides for the purchase of books that are vetted by the school district or are already in school libraries.

It has conducted similar surveys in Martin County, West Palm Beach and Parkland, Florida.

The survey will identify which parks and recreation needs are not being met in the community and help prioritize projects for the communities to build.

According to meeting documents, the plan will have five steps, one of which requires public involvement and comment.

The public involvement process, McDermott said, will take place through needs-assessment questionnaires, both mailed out and online.

teachers and organizations. Bunnell Elementary is one of three schools to receive a $10,000 grant.

Joe Cox, the president and CEO of J-Quint LLC, which operates the three Palm Coast McDonald’s restaurants and 10 others in Central Florida, awarded the grant to BES for a book purchasing program and a monthly literacy activity day for students.

“Joe Cox said we stood out because we itemized everything we’re going to do with the money,” Jaques said.

Jaques is organizing four monthly Saturday activity days beginning Jan. 28 for students and their families.

works for their child’s age group and how they can work with their children at home.

“We want anyone who wants to come, but you have to come as a family. You can’t drop your kid off,” Jaques said.

Bunnell Elementary is a Title 1 school with 74% of its 1,125 students on free or reduced lunch, she said.

“My heart centers around students in Title 1 schools,” Jaques said. “Literacy and reading are complex topics and there are multiple reasons students have challenges when it comes to reading.”

The goal, Jaques said, is for each student to read 50 books with a family member by the end of the school year, with a chapter book counting as five books.

“Who doesn’t remember that time when they read with a family member as a special time in their lives?”

Jaques asked. “If they would like to do the program but do not have a family member, we can help find support through a mentorship.”

Jaques said McDonald’s will provide a celebration for students who reach their goal.

“Joe Cox was a science major, and he was completely all-in. He was extremely supportive,” Jaques said.

“We’ll ensure that there’s a robust campaign that goes out as we’re going through this process to make sure we’re communicating to the public every step of the way,” McDermott said.

BerryDun and the POP committee have agreed to an accelerated timeline to finish the survey by June 2023.

Denise Calderwood of Palm Coast, who ran for the county commissioner this last election cycle, said she was concerned that the survey and comprehensive plan would not lead to any actual growth once they are completed.

ROBIN JAQUES

The activities will use science themes to increase vocabulary and background knowledge. While the children will be in the school cafeteria working on activities, parents and caregivers will be in a separate room learning how reading instruction

Vocabulary and background knowledge contribute to reading comprehension, she said. The themes for each activity day — space (January), rocks (February), water (March) and life cycles (April) — are designed to boost students’ vocabulary and their

Bunnell Elementary School’s objective is to get all of its students reading by the third grade, she said.

“It is a lofty goal, but we are pretty passionate about giving our community of Bunnell 100% dedication to this goal,” Jaques said.

“Palm Coast over the years has had beautiful plans,” Calderwood said. “But when it comes to actually implementing those plans, once they’re written, they have not been accomplished.”

Courtesy photo

Robin Jaques, third from left, accepts the award with (from left) Filberto Rosa Cruz, Joselyn Cruz, Julissa Williams, Bunnell Elementary School Principal Marcus Sanfilippo, Joe Cox and Jodi Cox

“Literacy and reading are complex topics, and there are multiple reasons students have challenges when it comes to reading.”

The Palm Coast City Council is hiring a consulting firm to help build a master plan for parks and recreation.

Photo by Sierra Williams

A planned renourishment project would strengthen the dunes at Gamble Rogers Memorial State Recreation Area.

Grand Haven community clashes with HOA over wild pigs

Residents at The Crossings at Grand Haven are facing a wild pig invasion. Their HOA, they say, isn’t doing enough to address it.

SIERRA WILLIAMS STAFF WRITER

For Dave Reisman, going out on his nightly walks with his dog Riley used to be something he looked forward to.

The was until Reisman was attacked on Nov. 8 by wild hogs mere feet from his front door. Now,

“I opened the door, and there Dave was — one of the pigs was standing right over him.”

the 89-year-old said, he has taken to carrying a bat when he steps out his door.

“I don’t look forward to going out anymore,” Reisman said.

Reisman lives on Crosslink Court in The Crossings at Grand Haven, a gated community that is having a problem with wild hogs destroying lawns and, in Reisman’s case, attacking people. The pig problem has been growing for years, but according to residents like Bart Kaplan, who lives on Crosslink Court across from the Reismans, the community’s homeowner’s association and Grand Haven Community Development District have not done anything to help.

“We have been under an enormous amount of stress because of this,” Kaplan said. “Where’s your compassion for your neighbors?”

Kaplan said he has dealt with the pig problem before. Around two years ago, they tore up his lawn, he said, and the HOA threatened to fine him if he didn’t get it fixed. It cost him several thousands to repair the damage, he said, and now he’s back in the same position.

Only this time, it isn’t just his yard.

Residents up and down The Crossings have destroyed yards — front and back — where the hogs have turned up the dirt looking for food.

The HOA hasn’t sent out any fine threats yet, Kaplan said, and residents are refusing to fix their yards until something is done about the pigs.

The pigs are entering The Crossings from the neighboring property, owned by the CDD. West Waterside Street resident Susan Quirk’s property butts against the CDD property. She said she has lived there for years and never had a problem like this.

“The last three years, it’s been getting worse,” she said. “They own the yards.”

Kaplan said it took Reisman and other residents being attacked and encountering the pigs for the issue to gain attention from the HOA.

The HOA and CDD hosted a joint meeting on Dec. 5, and many residents attended — so many, that they limited the time available for public

comment to 20 minutes, and many residents didn’t get to speak.

Kaplan said he told the board the pigs aren’t just damaging property values and making it hard for people to sell their homes: It’s a safety concern the HOA needs to take seriously. When Kaplan spoke to the board about how the safety issue, Kaplan said he was told that wasn’t the CDD’s function.

“I just think reasonable requests heard by supposedly reasonable men and women should be listened to,” Kaplan said.

Neither the HOA nor the CDD responded to requests for comment in time for publication.

The unresolved situation has really shaken Reisman and his wife, Lee, they said. Reisman said that the day he was attacked, he was taking his dog Riley for a walk at 8:30 p.m., like always, but barely made it halfway down his walkway to the driveway when two wild hogs came around the corner.

“They charged at me,” Reisman said.

One pig grabbed his small dog Riley by the leg, Reisman said, and tried to yank the dog away. Reisman said he began hitting the pig over the head with the heavy flashlight he brings

with him on walks, when the other pig knocked him over into a bush.

His wife, Lee, heard the commotion and ran outside.

“I opened the door, and there Dave was,” she said. “One of the pigs was standing right over him.”

She said she screamed and waved her arms, scaring the pigs off.

Neither Dave Reisman nor Riley were severely injured, but the incident has shaken up the Rileys.

Neither will leave the house for a walk without a bat, and both now use the garage door to leave, hoping the noise will scare off any loitering pigs.

They were lucky, Lee Reisman said, that her husband didn’t fall and break his hip during the attack.

The problem with hogs is twofold: First, hogs populate at incredible rates, with one to two litters a year and six to eight piglets a litter, according to the University of Florida. Controlling the population size requires continued trapping.

Kaplan said that until three years ago, the community had a man who worked regularly trapping and killing

the hogs, and would take the meat and sell it.

But he since retired, Kaplan said, the community hasn’t had someone out to consistently maintain the population.

Then there’s the second problem: Money. Residents would like the CDD or HOA to place a fence around the edges of where the two properties meet, Kaplan said, but both organizations told residents there isn’t any funding to build a fence like that.

Kaplan said that they just installed a new croquet court in the Grand Haven community just across Colbert Road, fenced in and with pristine grass to protect it from the wildlife.

At the last meeting, he said the HOA told residents they had set aside money for trappers in the next fiscal year’s budget, but many residents are concerned it won’t be a longterm fix.

Kaplan said that isn’t a solution unless money is set aside every year.

“What we need here, since we’re overrun, is an immediate SWAT team of trappers,” he said.

Wild hogs are causing problems for residents in The Crossings at Grand Haven.

Photo by Sierra Williams

Dave Reisman, with his dog Riley, were barely out their front door when two wild hogs attacked them.

"We have been under an enormous amount of stress because of this."

BART KAPLAN,

resident of The Crossings at Grand Haven

Photo courtesy of the U.S. Department of Agriculture

LEE REISMAN, a resident at The Crossings at Grand Haven

Volusia County seeks to fire corrections director

JARLEENE ALMENAS SENIOR EDITOR

Volusia County is seeking to fire its Corrections Director, Mark Flowers, after a seven-month internal affairs investigation revealed that he had created a “hostile work environment” and violated inmates’ rights, according to a press release.

Flowers — who was hired on May 17, 2014, and promoted to corrections director on June 3, 2017 — has been on paid administrative leave since Aug. 15. In August, he also filed his own written complaint alleging that the internal affairs investigation had been mishandled. The county has requested an independent review by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement as a result.

Flowers’ attorney, Kelly Chanfrau, said in a statement that Flowers was retaliated against by the county for blowing the whistle on inmate abuse.

In an Oct. 7 letter addressed to County Attorney Mike Dyer, County Manager George Recktenwald and Human Resources Director Dana Paige-Pender, Chanfrau wrote that Flowers was placed on administrative leave after he filed his written complaint concerning inmate abuse.

“Employees like Mr. Flowers should not, and do not, deserve to be retaliated against and discriminated against when he or she issues complaints to protect the public and correct wrong and illegal behavior,” Chanfrau wrote in the letter. “A whistle-blower like Mr. Flowers should be protected for speaking truthfully and exposing a problem that needs immediate correction and intervention.”

‘HOSTILE WORK ENVIRONMENT’

According to the county, the investigation consisted of interviews with about two dozen corrections employees and a review of over 15,000 text messages sent and received by Flowers. Several employees said they felt uncomfortable with actions Flowers had directed them to do, telling the investigators that they felt “a general loss of respect and trust in his leadership,” according to the county.

The county reported that its human

resources department received an email on May 20 about a hostile work environment at the corrections division. The county’s notice of intent to dismiss, dated Dec. 7 and sent from Public Protections Director Mark Swanson to Flowers, states that a few days later, corrections officers and command staff filed complaints, and after an Internal Affairs investigation, the county “found instances of mismanagement as well as ongoing violations of VCDC policies” by Flowers.

“Based on the results of our internal investigation into the hostile work environment, which ultimately turned into an Internal Affairs investigation, we found instances of mismanagement as well as ongoing violations of VCDC policies by you,” Swanson wrote in the notice. “I concur that your ability to continue leading the Department of Corrections has been irreparably damaged by your behaviors.”

The employees alleged that they had been yelled at, disrespected and had their jobs threatened by Flowers. The county reported one example in which Flowers allegedly ordered an inmate who was under a suicide watch to be moved to a dorm with several other inmates under a single officer’s watch. When the employee refused to move the inmate because the suicide watch hadn’t been lifted, the county states Flowers “got angry and sent the employee home for the rest of the day.” Employees also reported Flowers has a “habit of quickly changing course on directives and orders.”

The county also reported in the press release that multiple employees said inmates were sent to a disciplinary unit without due process at Flowers’ direction and that those inmates were then denied basic hygiene items, communications and commissary privileges. The employees said Flowers wouldn’t explain his actions to staff or the inmates, and would often tell inmates, “This is my house.”

FLOWERS SUBMITS COMPLAINT

In Flowers’ formal written complaint, filed on Aug. 12, he said that his life “was turned upside down”

on May 12 after he submitted a formal request for an internal affairs investigation for an allegation that corrections staff had beaten up an inmate, a request he filed about four weeks before he was due to undergo cancer surgery.

“Once the IA was submitted, I immediately came under attack from the International Union of Police Associations president and many of its members,” Flowers wrote. “I understand that numerous complaints were all of a sudden being submitted against me, from the union president and others.”

Flowers said that when he returned to work after his medical leave, he was told he would be working out of a conference room, an act that he described as humiliating and very embarrassing, as county employees would repeatedly question why he was working there. He reported this to Public Protections Director Mark Swanson, who allegedly told Flowers not “to go there,” according to Flowers’ complaint.

Flowers mentioned the use of force incident on April 26 involving an inmate and five correctional officers in his complaint. While the investigation determined the allegations were not substantiated, he said he still had serious concerns about the investigation. He named three individuals — two correctional officers and one nurse practitioner — who both reported witnessing the beating, in addition to the inmate’s own words. Flowers sent an email to all staff instructing them that “the head and face be off limits unless they were facing a deadly force situation,” and said that’s when he came under attack by the union president.

The officers involved in the incident were removed from their original duty positions and placed in another department in corrections against Flowers’ recommendation during the IA investigation, and the three witnesses were subsequently subject to “unnecessary and continuous harassment” from the individuals involved, the union president and members, thus creating a hostile work environment, Flowers detailed.

“No one deserves to come to jail to be beaten by our officers,” Flowers wrote. “They are for the most part not bad people, but have made bad decisions. The majority of our staff are superb, however it is the small percentage that makes the job very difficult for the rest of us.”

Three days after he submitted his formal written complaint, Flowers was placed on paid administrative leave.

RETALIATION?

According to the county, Flowers ignored the formal disciplinary process for inmates, citing one instance where an inmate who’d been ordered by a jail hearing officer to spend 25 days in the disciplinary unit spent 182 days there instead. Interviewed employees said the lack of explanation to inmates for disciplinary actions agitated the inmates and made for a more dangerous environment for corrections officers.

Chanfrau said all of the allegations will be addressed “in complete detail” at an upcoming hearing.

A separate internal affairs investigation was also conducted by the county’s Public Protections Department due to the allegations of inmate mistreatment. Both investigations, the county reports, substantiated several violations against Flowers — these include “willful neglect” in the performance of his job duties; violations of ordinances, policies and regulations, including safety rules; and conduct that interfered with an effective job performance.

“Any suggestion that the termination was retaliation or in any way related to Dr. Flowers filing the complaint is absolutely and unequivocally false,” County Manager George Recktenwald said in the press release. “He was under investigation for three months before he ever filed the complaint. The reality is that the allegations that were substantiated during our investigation were so egregious that it was impossible for Dr. Flowers to continue in his job. His own actions and his mistreatment of his staff and inmates left us no choice.”

Volusia County Council approves new department

The Volusia County Council on Tuesday, Dec. 6, approved the creation of a new department and the realignment of some divisions from the public protection department.

The council also confirmed the appointments of two longtime public safety employees to leadership roles.

The public protection department will focus on animal services, beach safety, corrections and the medical examiner’s office. The new department, called the emergency services department, will take on emergency medical services, emergency management, emergency medical administration and fire rescue.

Mark Swanson, who has more than 40 years of experience, was named public protection director.

He began his career in 1979 as a firefighter/paramedic, later worked for EVAC ambulance in 1985, and in 2011, when EVAC transitioned to a county division, served as clinical services manager until 2013.

He was also a director of beach safety from 2013-2016, deputy director of public protection from 2016-2021 and interim director since 2021. Swanson was a law enforcement officer and paramedic for Daytona Beach Shores for 13 years.

Jim Judge will lead the new emergency services department. He joined Volusia County’s Emergency Management Division in 2013 with more than 45 years of experience.

Judge was the county’s emergency management director from June 2013 to January 2021. He then retired briefly before returning to the county as interim director of public protection and emergency management.

DEC. 3 DRUNK ‘HOSTAGE’ 12:07 a.m. — First block of West Granada Boulevard, Ormond Beach

Disorderly intoxication. Police responded to a local restaurant after receiving a call about a fight among patrons. Once they arrived, restaurant staff and the people involved told officers that it was just a verbal argument, and that they were in the process of leaving.

Two of the people were still arguing when police arrived on the scene, and the reporting officer noted that one of them — a 57-year-old Deltona man — appeared to be very drunk, according to a police report. Police remained at the scene to make sure the man did not attempt to drive home.

The man’s boss, who was at the scene, told officers that he had called an Uber for him, but that the man was refusing to leave in the car. The boss became frustrated and left, the report states. The man then tried to enter the restaurant — which was by then closing — to try to leave out the front door. Police followed him and tried to get him to call his wife to come pick him up.

The man sat down on

a couch inside the closed business as employees were trying to close up and leave for the night. He was able to contact a friend to ask them to send him another Uber, but when the friend asked him to text him his address, the man became irate and called the officers by a derogatory term, yelling that they wouldn’t let him leave and that he was being “sequestered,” according to the report.

He then “violently” threw his car keys on the couch, the report continues, and began yelling profanities after one of the officers grabbed his keys.

He was taken to jail.

DEC. 4 MIDNIGHT MISCHIEF 1:37 a.m. — First block of Nightingale Lane, Ormond Beach

Disorderly conduct. Several residents contacted police to report that their neighbor, a 58-year-old man, was causing a disturbance by yelling obscenities, honking his car’s horn and speeding down the road, prompting other neighbors to exit their homes due to the noise.

When officers arrived, the man was sitting outside his house in a rocking chair with two beer cans beside him. He said he was unaware why police turned up, according to a police report.

The reporting officer noted that a “crowd of neighbors” had gathered at one of the

homes nearby.

One witness told police she had received threatening text messages from the man. Another reported that the man had been cursing at his wife as he drove. A third told police the man had yelled that he hoped they would all die of cancer.

He was taken to jail.

DEC. 8

MAN ROBS STORE FOR A GUN, IGNORES REGISTER AND JEWELRY 1:59 a.m. — 1400 block of Palm Coast Parkway NW, Palm Coast

Armed burglary, petit theft. A pawn and jewelry store was robbed, but the suspect took only one thing: an AK-47.

The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office responded to a commercial alarm in the 1400 block of Palm Coast Parkway.

Deputies found the business’ glass door shattered. There was a hammer on the ground outside, according to an incident report. Deputies noted that the store did not appear ransacked, and the register and jewelry display cases were intact.

When they reviewed the security camera footage, deputies saw a man smash the door open with the hammer, grab a Radom Hellpup AK-47 off the wall next to the door, and then leave, the report said. He did not take anything else. The firearm, which had a 30-round magazine attached, is valued at $500.

FCSO arrests 18, seizes $5.7 million in drugs

The investigation began in January and lasted 11

SIERRA WILLIAMS STAFF WRITER

The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office has arrested 18 people in connection with an undercover operation that lasted almost a year.

Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly announced in a press conference on Dec. 8 that an 11-month long undercover narcotics operation resulted in 35 named suspects, 24 search warrants and the seizure of $5.7 million in illegal drugs, several firearms and thousands of dollars in cash.

Staly said in the press conference that the Sheriff’s Office has confiscated enough heroin and fentanyl to kill 2.3 million people, based on the Drug Enforcement Administration’s fatal dosage amount.

“This was truly an agencywide effort to make our community safer from these poison peddlers,” Staly said. “I want to commend our undercover team, Special Investigations Unit, SWAT, Evidence, CSI, PACE Unit, our detention

BRIEFS

Firefighters share fire safety tips

The Palm Coast Fire Department is asking locals to help “keep the wreaths green” at the city’s fire stations by preventing fires.

Project Green Wreath is a fire prevention program that runs through December. Large wreaths with green

and booking teams along with our patrol deputies who were all involved in this 11-month investigation.”

The operation — named Operation: Santa’s Naughty Little Sellers — also confiscated cocaine, meth and other illegal drugs. Thirteen guns were seized, Staly said, as well as almost $42,000 in cash.

The investigation issued 35 arrest warrants with a total of 71 charges filed so far, a FCSO press release said; arrests began at 6 a.m. Dec. 8.

Staly said the FCSO is also investigating some overdose deaths as homicides, and that some of the suspects from the operation may be involved.

He said the investigation should be taken as a warning to other drug dealers.

“I suggest you move out of Flagler County,” Staly said. “And by God, if you kill someone with that fatal dose of poison, we’re going to do everything we can to investigate you for murder and put you in prison for as long as the state will do it.”

Staly urged the suspects who had escaped arrest to turn themselves in by calling deputies or heading to the jail. He encouraged residents to continue sending tips.

bulbs have been hung at all five fire stations, according to a Fire Department news release. Firefighters will replace one green light with a red light for each structure fire.

“Project Green Wreath is a visual reminder of the importance of implementing and following fire safety practices during the holiday season,” said Fire Chief Kyle Berryhill.

Watch the department’s fire safety video at: youtu.be/ XaowMx3wAKY.

TRIBUTES

Janet

(Jan) Marie St Charles, 85, of Nashville, Tennessee passed away on November 22, 2022 surrounded by loved ones.

Born January 30, 1937 in Mt. Clemens, Michigan, Jan grew up in Port Huron where she developed a love of the arts, specifically dance, which is how she met her husband Ronald.

A polio survivor at age (17), Jan did not let the disease slow her down. She became a home economics teacher, played piano, became a knitting maven, supported her children in their competitive swimming, and enjoyed boating on Lake Erie with her husband and friends aboard the Saint Sea.

Jan is survived by her husband, Ronald (Ron) St. Charles, children Lori Butterfield (Mark), Robert St. Charles (Erin), and David St. Charles (Michelle), brother Robert Scarff (Jeanne), 6 grandchildren and 2

great-granddaughters.

To ensure neurological diseases, like Polio, are eradicated, Jan’s brain and tissue samples were donated to scientists at The Human Brain & Spinal Fluid Resource Center. Please help to continue her memory by making a donation in her name to https://post-polio. org/support-us/donate/.

Woman charged in stabbing

A Bunnell woman has been arrested for allegedly stabbing her girlfriend on Dec. 9.

The woman, 34-year-old Sheila Orozco, has been charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. According to an arrest report, Orozco attacked her girlfriend with a knife when she told Orozco to leave; the girlfriend had a half-inch cut on her right arm.

Flagler County Sheriff’s Office deputies were called to Bunnell about a possible stabbing and arrived at a home in the 1100 block of Sherwood Street just before 10 p.m. The victim told deputies that her girlfriend — Orozco — had been smoking molly, so she’d told Orozco she needed to leave, the report said.

The girlfriend told deputies that Orozco began swearing and called someone on her phone, asking for a gun, saying, “There is going to be a homicide tonight,” and threatened to kill her. The girlfriend had been telling Orozco to leave when she noticed jewelry missing, and confronted Orozco, the report said.

The girlfriend said Orozco came at her with a knife, trying to stab her in the neck, face and arm, the report said.

She was stabbed once in the arm before she managed

to get the knife away from Orozco. Deputies recovered the seven-inch-long folding knife as evidence.

Deputies received information that Orozco was hiding in the house next door. The residents — a man and a woman — told deputies she wasn’t there, but deputies found her in a closet and arrested her.

The man was also placed under arrest and charged with accessory after the fact.

Orozco told deputies that her girlfriend was the one to attack her, hitting her in the head and then attacking her with the knife. Orozco said during the struggle the girlfriend ended getting stabbed in the arm, the report said.

Orozco and the man were taken to the county jail. At the jail, the man made a phone call on the monitored phone system and admitted to the person he called that he was hiding Orozco in his room from deputies.

Man crashes into a garage, flees

A driver crashed his pickup truck into a garage in the first block of Barrister Lane in Palm Coast just after 3:30 a.m. on Sunday Dec. 4, then fled.

Deputies arrested an 18-year-oldman, who was intoxicatd, according to a charging affidavit.

No one was injured.

A NEW WAWA FOR PALM COAST?

A new Wawa could be coming to Palm Coast, replacing the three-story B. Paul Katz Professional Center on Florida Park Drive.

The Wawa will be the second one in the area, after the first opened in 2020 on State Road 100. A site plan application for the new convenience store and gas station was submitted

to the city of Palm Coast on Sept. 12.

The application is being reviewed by city staff members, who are waiting on RMC Property Group, the applicant, to resubmit several documents for the application. The application will eventually have to go before the Planning Board for approval.

DONATIONS: Please help to continue her memory by making a donation in her name to https://postpolio.org/support-us/donate/.

Charles R. Vreeland, 87, of Palm Coast, Florida 87, passed away peacefully on Friday, November 25, 2022.

Charles was born in Jersey City, New Jersey on February 3, 1935 to the late John & Helen (Payer) Vreeland.

Charles served in the US Army where he was stationed in Hawaii from 19581960. Charlie spent his 30 year career in Forked River N.J. working for Joe Connell Real Estate. Post retirement he continued to enjoy the Flagler/Palm Coast real estate market. His passion was the stock market, and family and friends will remember him for his investment advice, great stories and sense of humor.

He is survived by his daughters Denise Vreeland of Palm Coast, FL, Cheryl Wisenbaker (Tony) of Beaumont, Texas and step-daughter Kathleen Bunassar of Palm Coast,

A private service will be held at Craig-Flagler Palms Funeral Home. Inurnment will follow in Cape Canaveral Cemetery.

Memorial donations can be made to The Vincent St. Paul Society 400 S. Daytona Ave., Flagler Beach FL 32136.

Janet

A polio survivor at age (17), Jan did not let the disease slow her down.

FL. Sisters: Carol Moersdorf (Charles) of Neshanic Station, NJ, Betty Molnar of Forked River, NJ. He was pre-deceased by his wife Jo Ann Vreeland, brother John (Jack) Vreeland.

Charles R. Vreeland

months.

Starry Nights brings cheer to Flagler

31.

ABBIE PACE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Flurries of snowflakes flew over Flagler Beach’s Veterans Park as the city’s second annual Starry Nights event began on Dec. 2.

The snow, propelled into the park by four artificial snow machines, help set a wintry scene as the city held its ceremonial Christmas tree lighting.

Lifeguard chairs adorned with festive decorations by local businesses and organizations — The Turtle Shack, Flagler Beach OARS, Golden Lion, Flagler Beach’s Rotary Club, Finns Beachside Pub, Break-Awayz, Trademark and Oceanside Beach Bar and Grill — added a beachy flair.

“Lighting up the chairs is Flagler Beach’s unique way to celebrate the holiday season,” Flagler Beach Police Chief Matt Doughney said.

Flagler Beach Business Bureau President and Oceanside Beach Bar and Grill coowner Johnny Lulgjuraj cre-

ated Starry Nights alongside Scott Fox and Paul Chestnut, the vice presidents of the Flagler Beach Business Bureau. Fox and Chestnut also co-own Tortugas Florida Kitchen and Bar, as well as Martin’s Restaurant and Lounge, together with Mike Crave.

“Our goal is to bring people, organizations and industries together to solve common problems in our city,” Lulgjuraj said.

Lulgjuraj said the Flagler Beach Business Bureau brings the county, businesses, residents and visitors together during December to drive traffic to businesses during what can be a slow time of year.

The First Friday event held this month was one of Flagler Beach’s largest, said Flagler Beach Mayor Suzie Johnston. She attributed the attendance to the tree lighting.

“We haven’t had a tree this

size in many years,” Johnston said.

Flagler Strong President Tracy Callahan-Hennessey said Starry Nights is a joyous occasion for the community, particularly after the recent hurricanes.

“I’m excited to watch it continue to grow,” CallahanHennessey said.

Students from Wadsworth Elementary School, Buddy Taylor Middle School and Flagler-Palm Coast High School performed during the First Friday event. The Matanzas Blue Steel group also provided entertainment.

“I think it is wonderful thing to spread cheer,” Flagler Beach City Commissioner James Sherman said. “I love coming to First Fridays to see our community and enjoy our wonderful town.”

The lifeguard chairs will be on display in Veterans Park until Dec. 31.

Decorated lifeguard chairs will be on display in Veterans Park until Dec.

Photos by Abbie Pace

Flagler Beach Fire Department Driver Engineer Trey Poeira, Lt. Greg Evans and Firefighter Bob Deahl with his children, RJ, Madelynn and Evelyn.

City Manager William Whitson, Recreation Director Tom Gillin and CRA Director Caryn Miller.

Eatery brings ‘wicked’ good food

Paulie and Meghan

Bevacqua’s restaurant features cooking from scratch.

JARLEENE ALMENAS SENIOR EDITOR

Simple food, but done right. That’s what restaurant owners Paulie and Meghan Bevacqua strived for when they opened Fat Paulie’s Wicked Awesome Eatery in Ormond Beach. Whether their customers are ordering their award-winning clam chowder or their meatball parm, the Bevacquas aim to provide fresh food made from scratch. Since opening five months ago, they have built a loyal customer base.

“Most of the time, if you come in and try something, we see your face again,” Paulie Bevacqua said. “... and they usually come back with friends.”

The Bevacquas owned a bar in their home state of Massachusetts, but after the COVID-19 pandemic shut down restaurants, the couple decided to sell their business and move to Florida, where they planned to open something new. They bought a home in St. Augustine thinking they would open a restaurant there, but after eight months of looking with no success, they expanded their search to the area Meghan Bevacqua said they had wanted to move to in the first place: Ormond Beach.

“I find this town to be kind of a foodie town,” she said. “There’s a lot of great little restaurants here.”

Fat Paulie’s Wicked Awesome Eatery is located within Ormond Beach’s downtown district at 366 W. Granada Blvd. In addition to its clam

chowder — which won the 39th annual Cape Cod Chowder Festival in 2019 — the eatery offers salads and sandwiches such as roast beef, french dip, chicken piccata and steak and cheese.

Currently, the eatery is open 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, but the couple hopes to expand its hours soon to offer a limited breakfast menu.

Originally, Paulie Bevacqua wanted to open a full-service restaurant, but with the labor shortages affecting the service industry, he decided to go back to their roots and open a sandwich shop. The couple used to own a local chain of sandwich shops in Massachusetts.

Running a restaurant is what they know best, he said: They have opened eight establishments in total. For Meghan Bevacqua, it’s in her blood — her father is a professional chef in Cape Cod, where she grew up. Paulie Bevacqua has worked in the restaurant business since he was young, and put himself through college by waiting tables. He’d start-

ed working with a wholesale bread company, but wanted to be his own boss.

Paulie Bevacqua said he’s never opened a restaurant and received such high reviews in such a short period of time. He’s also found that his shop’s name has drawn in a lot of former New Englanders.

“We just say ‘wicked’ in Mass,” Meghan Bevacqua said. “If you see a baby, you’ll be like, ‘Oh my God, that baby is wicked cute.’”

And the fact the community has embraced their “wicked awesome” food is rewarding, she said.

“We love making food,” Meghan Bevacqua said. “We leave here, and we’re like, ‘What are we going to make for dinner?’”

For the couple, homemade food is the key.

“I just am taken aback with how many corners nowadays are cut,” Paulie Bevacqua said.

“Everything — sauces come in a can, gravy comes with ‘mix with water’ [instructions]. ... Scratch dining is really a lost art, and that’s why we pretty much do it.”

Photo by Jarleene Almenas

Paulie and Meghan Bevacqua are not new to the restaurant business — they previously opened and ran eight establishments in Massachusetts.

O Christmas tree: Gardner Tree Farms wraps up business after 37 years

JARLEENE ALMENAS SENIOR EDITOR

For almost four decades, Robin and Michael Gentry have helped local families celebrate the holidays in perhaps the most emblematic way: helping them pick the perfect Christmas tree.

On Friday, Dec. 2, the Ormond Beach couple con -

cluded their 37th and final season of selling Christmas trees in the community. Gardner Tree Farms has sold over 25,000 trees in Ormond Beach since 1985 when the Gentrys began their business, and Robin Gentry, a former teacher, jokes she and her husband could probably write a book about how many people they have interacted with and the stories they can recall from over the years.

They were blessed with community support, Robin Gentry said.

“We’ve had a lot of tears

this year — a lot of hugs, a lot of tears,” she said. “Some [people] have been with us for 37 years. Some of my former students have worked with us, and now they’re raising their families, and it’s a tradition to come out here and pick out their tree.”

The Gentrys began selling Christmas trees shortly after their second daughter was born. Robin Gentry’s brother-in-law owned a tree farm in their hometown of Jefferson, North Carolina, and suggested they sell his trees in Ormond Beach. All they needed was an empty lot and

his Fraser firs. “People are very passionate about their Christmas trees, even though it’s just a oncea-year transaction,” Michael Gentry said. “It’s very important to them.”

MAKING TRADITIONS

The couple started out in the lot currently occupied by Dunkin’ Donuts at 300 S. Nova Road. They were there for 20 years, and when the lot sold, they moved to Destination Daytona, since they both knew the late Bruce Rossmeyer and Chuck Strasser; Rossmeyer created Destination

Daytona, and Strasser was one of his partners.

Strasser was also one of the Gentrys’ first customers.

Since the beginning, the Gentrys have opened the lot on Thanksgiving morning. They called their period of operation “the 12 days of Christmas,” give or take a couple days, depending on the year.

The first weekend after Thanksgiving was always their busiest, but memories were always made on Thanksgiving morning. The same familiar faces came to pick out their Christmas trees, and

Strasser began a tradition of bringing everyone donuts. He would come early and pick out his trees, and take his Christmas card photo too.

After Strasser’s death, Dr. Jeff Parks continued the tradition.

“Chuck was instrumental in assisting in getting to the new location,” Michael Gentry said. “Probably at the time, he worked harder on it than we did.”

“Christmas was everything to him,” Robin Gentry added. She gets a thrill when she sees social media posts or receives texts from customers showing their trees. She doesn’t personally know all of her customers, but seeing those posts or reading their comments is “the best,” she said.

The Gentrys also enjoyed seeing over the years the number of families that took Christmas card photos on their lot.

“And every year, as they add to the family, as children get older, the families grow, but it’s still in front of the trees on the lot,” Michael Gentry said. “Many of them, that goes back almost to the beginning, and certainly more prevalent now with iPhones and videos and all of that.”

A BITTERSWEET GOODBYE

Robin Gentry’s brother-inlaw recently sold a portion of his tree farm, and that was what led to the couple’s decision to close their business.

Her brother-in-law offered to find other trees for them to sell, but they knew it wouldn’t have been the same. They decided it was time.

“It’s bittersweet, particularly because the word initially got out that this was our last year,” Michael Gentry said.

“There were a lot of phone calls and texts, and then as people came to the lot, a lot

TRIBUTES

Jo Ann Vreeland, 87, of Palm Coast, Florida, passed away peacefully on Friday, November 25, 2022.

Jo Ann was born in Roselle, New Jersey on March 17, 1935 to the late Wilbert & Thelma (Crist) Smith.

After graduating from Abraham Clark High School, Jo Ann enjoyed a 30 year career with Jersey Bell Telephone, retiring as a Senior Service Analyst in 1991.

After “retirement” to Palm Coast, Florida, Jo Ann found great joy working on the Hammock Dunes Toll booth. Her warm, outgoing personality was a friendly welcome to residents and visitors during her 18 year tenure.

Jo Ann loved cats, Christmas, collecting lighthouses and was an Englebert Humperdinck fan. She enjoyed celebrating her “St. Pat’s birthday” every year.

Jo Ann’s family and friends will remember her as a kind and thoughtful Mother, Wife and friend.

She is survived by her daughter, Kathleen Bunassar of Palm Coast, step daughters Denise Vreeland of Palm Coast, FL, Cheryl Wisenbaker (Tony) Beaumont, Texas. Grandchildren: Kelly Walsh, Scott Walsh, Cassaundra Walsh. She and her late husband Charles enjoyed 40 years of marriage.

Private Catholic Christian Burial Rites and Blessing will be held in Craig-Flagler Palms Funeral Home with inurnment in Cape Canaveral National Cemetery at the convenience of the family.

The family appreciates your prayers. In lieu of flowers, please consider donations to the Flagler Humane Society, The Alzheimer’s Association, or your charity of choice.

Kenneth Mashburn July 3, 1943 –November 25, 2022 Flagler Beach, Florida

Kenny was born in Carrollton, Georgia and grew up in Miami, Florida.

At a young age, Kenny and his brother, Ronnie joined the Boys Club where they learned how to play football. They both had a passion and a gift for the sport and Kenny ended up being a star halfback on the Miami Edison High School football team.

In his senior year (1961) Kenny was awarded a full scholarship to play football at Arkansas State University. It was at Arkansas State that he met and later married his wife, Linda. They moved back to Miami after he graduated college and had 2 children, Mark and Amy.

Kenny eventually moved to Dallas, Texas – without a car. What better job to take if you need a car? He decided to start selling cars. He found a career he loved and was in the business for over 40 years, managing dealerships in Dallas, Atlanta and Flagler Beach. Kenny was perfectly suited for this career. He had a zest for life and a love for people. He actually met his wife, Sue by selling her a car. Sue sold that same car 6 months later, but Kenny spent the rest of his life with Sue.

An exciting opportunity arose and Kenny and Sue

moved to Flagler Beach, Florida and he began the final chapter of his career at Flagler Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram as General Sales Manager. He made so many wonderful friends and co-workers in the 23 years he spent at the dealership. Life was good in Flagler Beach. Kenny had a great job, enjoyed living on the beach and had a wonderful marriage to Sue. Kenny and Sue loved to travel (thanks to Wyndham) and went to so many fabulous places. Some of their favorites were Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Scotland and Spain. Now Kenny has taken his final vacation – to Heaven, where he has joined his dad and mom (Byron and Louise Mashburn) and his brother Ronnie. We look forward to seeing him again when we are reunited in Heaven.

Kenny is survived by his wife Sue, son Mark, daughter Amy Wells (Dustin) and his granddaughters, Sarah

and

One of the people who helped the couple run the lot for over 30 years was Sandy Hull. Robin Gentry said she couldn’t have run the lot without her, and Michael Gentry called her a cornerstone for the couple.

“She’s really been a godsend,” he said. “She’s seen her family grow up, too.”

‘A LABOR OF LOVE’

Robin Gentry was often called the “tree lady.” When she returned to teaching after she began operating the lot with her husband, some of her students would say, “You’re my teacher and my tree lady.”

“I’m like, ‘Yes, I’m both,’” she recalled with a laugh.

The Gentrys always brought the trees down from North Carolina in a refrigerated trailer, and, as they unloaded them some years, some of the trees still had snow on them.

There will be a celebration of Kenny’s life on Saturday, January 14, 2023, at 11:00 am, at St. Mark by the Sea Lutheran Church, 303 Palm Coast Pkwy NE, Palm Coast, FL.

DONATIONS:

Donations can be made to St. Mark by the Sea or the Boys & Girls Club of Volusia/Flagler Counties.

“And even this year, when we unloaded — and it wasn’t that humid here — but it was cold when they loaded the truck up home, and when we pulled them out, the steam was just rolling off them,” Michael Gentry said. “So you could really get the aroma of a Christmas tree.”

One of the questions Michael Gentry said he’s fielded the most is what the couple will do for their own Christmas trees next year. The Gentrys put up five each Christmas.

“And honestly? I don’t know yet,” he said.

But what they do know is that they are thankful for the community’s support. After 37 years, it’s not the smell of the firs that they will miss — being around the trees so often, they’ve grown accustomed to it. The Gentrys said it’s the people that they will miss the most.

“It’s been a labor of love,” Michael Gentry said. “The families that have created a bond through the Christmas trees, it’s been a lifelong relationship.”

Katie Wells. He is also survived by his nephews and nieces (Trey and Elizabeth McGregor, Ellie and Thomas; Lynn and Phillip Boyd, Abby, Haley and Summer).

Jo Ann Vreeland

Robyn Gentry, Sandy Hull and Michael Gentry

Robin and Michael Gentry say they have been blessed with the community’s support.

Photo by Jarleene Almenas of thoughts of them and their memories through the years — and a lot of tears.”

LETTERS

Kudos to the past two letter writers

Dear Editor:

There were great articles in the last two editions of the Observer regarding how the city should focus on their residents.

Both letter writers hit the nail on the head with what’s happening in Palm Coast and how the people in Palm Coast

need to wake up and see what’s happening here.

PAT STASIO Palm Coast

City should take action against panhandling

Dear Editor:

I’m writing you concerning the ever-increasing panhandling happening now in Palm Coast. It’s evident that our city manager and City Coun-

cil are ignoring this issue.

In Gainesville, there are baggers at every main intersection. It is ruining the city’s property values. This is now starting here in Palm Coast.

If I were a prospective home shopper in Palm Coast and witnessed beggars in the streets and at shopping centers, I would look elsewhere. St. Augustine has many laws preventing panhandling that are working well.

It’s time to do what is best for our community and enact

laws that protect our community, our property values and safety.

DONALD EDWARDS Palm Coast

Editor’s note: Asked for comment, a city spokeswoman said that the city, through the Sheriff’s Office, can address behavior that violates city ordinances. City ordinance bars people from soliciting in the street from people who are in their vehicles.

John Vidota

Branch of military: U.S. Army

LOCAL CELEBRATES 92ND

BIRTHDAY

Arthur Nogueira celebrated his 92nd birthday at Delicias of Portugal 2 Bakery with his wife, Maria, on Dec. 7.

Many of Arthur Nogueira’s friends who frequent the pastry/coffee shop joined in, and bakery owner Maria Jose’ Pinto baked a delicious cake for the occasion, according to a news release.

Flagler County Sheriff’s Office Cmdr. Kenny Congalves joined Chaplain Dom Scardigno in honoring Nogueira, who was moved with surprise by the gathering, according to a news release from Scardigno.

Nogueira had helped hundreds of immigrants in the 1930s and ’40s through his cement business in New Jersey and the surrounding area, according to the news release.

“A wise old sage once said, ‘The generous soul who waters will also be watered himself.’ Happy Birthday Arthur!” the news release states.

KIDS

GO SHOPPING

FOR THEIR FAMILIES AT GIVING STORE

Over 100 volunteers helped 427 children “go shopping” on Saturday, Dec. 10, at Flagler Volunteer Services’ annual Giving Store at the Flagler County Fairgrounds.

For more than 25 years during the holiday season, Flagler Volunteer Services and the Retired & Senior Volunteer Program have operated the Giving Store, which provides Flagler County children in kindergarten through fifth grade an opportunity to give gifts instead of receiving them.

The children select and

The

and

Music

wrap

Volunteers bought about 3,500 gifts this year with

proceeds from semi-annual rummage sales and individual donations.

Each child was accompanied by a volunteer who helped select their gifts for family members.

Other volunteers helped the children wrap their gifts.

To donate money or gifts for next year’s Giving Store, call 386-597-2950 or email Volunteer@flaglervolunteer. org.

Dates of service: 19461948

Rank/occupation: Sergeant Technician/Signal Corps

Hometown: Pittstown, NJ

John Vidota joined the Army on his 17th birthday in 1946. He tried joining the U.S. Navy at 16, but he was too young. Vidota worked in the Signal Corps as a chief mechanic, fixing cars and handling relay stations. Prior to that he was a high school bugle player, and when he got to Germany, he became interested in playing the accordion. He was introduced to a lovely German woman named Margot, who taught music at a university. It was love at first site. Margot returned to America with Vidota, and they married. They were married 53 years. Following his honorable military service, Vidota returned home to have a career with a private company as a field engineer for three decades. He also owned a Christmas tree farm in New Jersey. At 94 years of age, he still has a traveler spirit, taking tourist bus trips and cruises. He lives in Palm Coast and is active in VFW Post 8696 as a bugler and a member of the honor guard.

NEED HELP WITH VETERAN SERVICES?

For information about benefits available to veterans and other support organizations 386-313-4014.

DEATH NOTICE

Gaylon Parton, 75, passed peacefully on Oct. 27, 2022, in Palm Coast, Florida. A loving husband, uncle and dedicated

Friedrich Hayek

“Road to Serfdom,” 1944

Publisher John Walsh, jwalsh@palmcoastobserver.com

Managing Editor Jonathan Simmons, jonathan@palmcoastobserver.com

Senior Editor Jarleene Almenas, jarleene@ormondbeachobserver. com

Associate Editor Brent Woronoff, brent@palmcoastobserver.com

Staff Writer Sierra Williams, sierra@palmcoastobserver.com

Design Editor Hailey McMillan, hailey@palmcoastobserver.com

Media Director Holly Oliveri, holly@ormondbeachobserver.com

Senior Media Specialist Susan Moore, susan@palmcoastobserver.com Advertising Coordinator Jessica Boone, jessica@palmcoastobserver.com Office Coordinator Bonnie Hamilton, bonnie@palmcoastobserver.com

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LETTERS

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Palm Coast Observer LLC P.O. Box 353850 Palm Coast, 32135

teacher

Dec. 3, 2022,

with FFA. Memorial services were held on

at Woodbury Funeral Home. He was laid to rest by his parents and brother at Leoni Cemetery.

Courtesy photo

Photo courtesy of Lena Esteves

Benefactor members, founders and past elements of the Board of Directors Maria and Tony Amaral, Mayor David Alfin, Alda Carvalho and João Queimado (Espaço Portugal-Consulate Representative).

The Portuguese American Cultural Center (PACC) of Palm Coast celebrated its 35th anniversary on Nov. 19.

PACC’s board has thanked the management

volunteers who served for the anniversary event for “a well-spent evening celebrating with pride and pomp,” according to a news release from the PACC.

was of Ban-

da Vida Alegre composed by Michael Roco, Victor Piorro and João Luis, with joyful compositions of traditional Portuguese music that invited those present to dance, according to the news release.

gifts for all of the members of their household aside from themselves, from baby siblings to grandparents who may reside with them.

PORTUGUESE AMERICAN CULTURAL CENTER MARKS 35 YEARS

Over 100 volunteers helped the Giving Store provide gifts for the family members of 427 participating children.

*Other providers are available in the CarePlus network. Provider may also contract with other Plans/Part D sponsors. Flagler County. CarePlus is an HMO plan with a Medicare contract. Enrollment in CarePlus depends on contract renewal. Important: At CarePlus, it is important you are treated fairly. CarePlus Health Plans, Inc. complies with applicable Federal civil rights laws and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, ancestry, ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, disability, age, marital status, religion, or language in their programs and activities, including in admission or access to, or treatment or employment in, their programs and activities. The following department has been designated to handle inquiries regarding CarePlus’ non-discrimination policies: Member Services, PO Box 277810, Miramar, FL 33027, 1-800-794-5907 (TTY: 711). Auxiliary aids and services, free of charge, are available to you. 1-800-794-5907 (TTY: 711). CarePlus provides free auxiliary aids and services, such as qualified sign language interpreters, video remote interpretation, and written information in other formats to people with disabilities when such auxiliary aids and services are necessary to ensure an equal opportunity to participate. This information is available for free in other languages. Please call our Member Services number at 1-800-7945907. Hours of operation: October 1 - March 31, 7 days a week, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. April 1 - September 30, Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. You may leave a voicemail after hours, Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays and we will return your call within one business day. Español (Spanish): Esta información está disponible de forma gratuita en otros idiomas. Favor de llamar a Servicios para Afiliados al número que aparece anteriormente. Kreyòl Ayisyen (French Creole):

ki nan lis anwo an.

Shave it like Fletcher

OBSERVER STAFF

Fletcher’s Irish Pub and the Live Like Cameron Foundation helped raise over $75,000 for children fighting cancer during the third annual Shave for the Brave fundraiser held on Sunday, Dec. 11.

About 50 participants — including Ormond Beach City Commissioner Travis Sargent — had their beards, mustaches or even their heads shaved by barbers of Proper Barber Co.

The proceeds will benefit Live Like Cameron’s Christmas programs, which help bring a holiday experience to pediatric oncology patients in the hospital on Christmas morning as well as children with cancer in Flagler and Volusia County who will be home for the holiday.

Last year’s fundraiser collected over $50,000 for Live Like Cameron.

THE TOP FIVE TEAMS

Team Fletcher: $7,909 raised

Team Cameron: $6,110 raised

The Thundercats: $5,663.40 raised

Grey Beard: $2,535 raised

Southern Boys: $2,300 raised Data from the event’s fundraising page.

Jake Lyke

The Proper Barber Co. team: Julius calder, owner Brandon Castaldi, Tim Sutliff, Tim Butcher and Johnny Sutliff

Randy Fernandez, owner of Nauti Pets, gets his beard shaved.

Bill Fletcher gets his beard shaved.

Yvette Smith and Julie Cox pose for a photo with Santa.

Tucker Harris

Photos by Krystal DiSantis

YOUR NEIGHBORS

Lighting up the holidays

Locals met Santa, drank hot chocolate, rosted marshmallows and watched performances by local school groups at Palm Coast’s second annual Starlight Festival on Saturday, Dec. 10.

Special guests included Santa Claus, the Grinch, Sheriff’s Office deputies and Palm Coast firefighters.

There were food trucks, hot chocolate stands and activities such as train rides, Santa’s Village, and marshmallow roasting

The Bunnell Elementary School Cheerpups, Buddy Taylor Middle School Eaglettes, Flagler Palm Coast High School Starlets, Flagler Palm Coast High School Band and

The festival, now in its second year, replaces the city’s previous Starlight Parade.

The festival, like the parade, features floats, but the festival floats are stationary rather than moving, so the city only has to close down one road in Central Park for the event.

The Blue Knights’ Rob Poulidor, George Muer, Reed Vaught and Pat D’eldorado, with their dog Dozer

Dean Auerwald makes what he called some of the best “Kettle Korn.”

Sabrina Hamilton, Dianne and Dan Campbell and Lee Filiee set up a booth for the Seawolf Pirates.

The Bunnell Elementary School Cheerpups perform to “Let’s Get Physical.”

Mai’Kayla Jeffers and Olivia Galley roast marshmallows.

Gary Obenauer, Woody Migee, and Blake Morton, with Parkview Church in Palm Coast

Marcino Dixon smiles by the Christmas tree.

Planet E Studios performed.

–ALEXIS MILLER

LOCAL EVENTS

THURSDAY, DEC. 15

HOLIDAY AT THE CASEMENTS

When: 6 p.m.

Where: The Casements, 25 Riverside Drive, Ormond Beach

Details: Celebrate Christmas during this open house and dessert social event. At 7 p.m., there will be a concert featuring “The Moonlighters.” Visit TheCasements.net.

COMMUNITY BAND HOLIDAY PERFORMANCE

When: 7 p.m.

Where: Palm Coast City Hall, 160 Lake Ave., Palm Coast

Details: The Palm Coast Community Band, a group of over 20 musicians, and the jazz band will play holiday tunes in front of City Hall. Interested in joining the band? Email palmcoastband@gmail.com.

walk will start at the

Environmen tal Discovery Center, and participants will walk to Fire Station 92 at 189 S. Nova Road be fore returning to the EDC.

CHRISTMAS IN BUNNELL

When: 5-7 p.m.

Where: Bunnell City Hall, 200 S. Church St., Bunnell Details: The city of Bunnell is celebrating Christmas with Santa and Mrs. Claus, music, activities, games and food trucks. Free event.

EUROPEAN VILLAGE HOLIDAY NIGHT MARKET

When: 5-9 p.m. Friday, Dec. 16 and Saturday, Dec. 17

Where: European Village, 101 Palm Harbor Parkway, Palm Coast Details: Join European Village for its annual two-day Holiday Night Market. There will be live music and vendors. Free admission.

SATURDAY, DEC. 17

BREAKFAST WITH SANTA AND MRS. CLAUS

When: 9-11 a.m.

Where: Alfie’s Restaurant, 1666 Ocean Shore Blvd., Ormond Beach Details: Join the Ormond-by-theSea Lions Club for a breakfast with Santa and Mrs. Claus. There will be small gifts for children, and free Santa photos. Diamond Jim the Balloon Man will make hats for children. Breakfast purchase not required.

SECOND ANNUAL PAWLIDAY EVENT

When: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Where: Granada Animal Hospital, 345 Clyde Morris Blvd. Suite 490, Ormond Beach Details: The Granada Animal Hospital team is getting into the Christmas spirit with its second annual Pawliday event, which showcases local animal welfare organizations such as Sophie’s Circle, Daytona Beach German Shepherd Rescue, Pawsibilities and Kitten Kingdom. There will be pet portraits and photos with Santa, tours of the hospital, raffles and more. Call 386-672-8860 to sign up.

ANNUAL WREATHS

ACROSS AMERICA

REMEMBRANCE

When: Noon

Where: Oak Ridge Cemetery, 128 S. Nova Road, Ormond Beach Details: The Vietnam Veterans of America Daytona Beach Chapter 1048 will host its annual Wreaths Across America remembrance event, with the goal to place a wreath on each veteran’s headstones. Visit vva1048.com.

BALLET PRESENTS

ORMOND

“THE NUTCRACKER”

When: 7 p.m.

Where: Peabody Auditorium, 600 Auditorium Blvd., Ormond Beach Details: See Ormond Ballet’s presentation of “The Nutcracker,” featuring original choreography by directors Michelle Boutros and Jeremiah Garner. A Children’s Tea Party is also offered at 1 p.m., followed by a condensed show at 2 p.m. Tickets cost $30-$35, and the tea party costs an additional $30 per child. Visit PeabodyAuditorium.org.

SUNDAY, DEC. 18

CHRISTMAS CANTATA

When: 9:30 a.m.

Where: Tomoka United Methodist Church, 1000 Old Tomoka Road, Ormond Beach

Details: Tomoka United Methodist Church choir will present a cantata titled, “Follow the Star, Follow the King. The choir will be joined by members of the choirs from First United Methodist Church of Ormond Beach and First United Methodist Church of Port Orange. This full choral group will be singing music by Lloyd Larson, Mary McDonald, Larry Shackley and Douglas E .Wagner. Free admission.

U.S. NAVY BAND SOUTH EAST HOLIDAY CONCERT

When: 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Where: Flagler Auditorium, 5500 State Route 100, Palm Coast Details: Attend this free holiday concert at Flagler Auditorium. Free tickets available at the box office, Flagler Chrysler Dodge, Beachfront Grille and Atlantic Benefit Consultants. Limit of two tickets per person.

ONGOING 2022 CHRISTMAS

WALKTHROUGH DISPLAY

When: 5:30-10 p.m. daily

Where: 111 Pine Creek Court, Ormond Beach Details: The Schoolcrafts’ 2022 Christmas Display, with over 170 inflatables, is now open, wind and weather permitting. Admission is free, but donations are appreciated. A movie theater plays movies nightly at dusk. Well-behaved leashed animals are welcome. Visit facebook. com/scdecorationsormondbeach.

A DECEMBER TO REMEMBER

When: 6-9 p.m., Dec. 7-31 Where: Riverfront Esplanade, 249 N. Beach St., Daytona Beach Details: Start a new holiday tradition while you explore the brandnew Riverfront Esplanade overlooking the Halifax River in downtown Daytona Beach. This multi-day celebration features a variety of community events such as a a movie on the lawn, holiday bazaar, Santa sightings and live music concerts. An opening ceremony with a tree lighting will take place at the News-Journal Center on Wednesday, Dec. 7, from 5:30-6:3 p.m. Visit RiverfrontEsplanade.com.

EXERCISES FOR THE MATURING BODY

When: 10:30 a.m. Mondays and Thursdays Where: First Baptist Church Of Palm Coast, 6050 Palm Coast Parkway, Palm Coast Details: Presented by Synergy Senior Fitness, attend upbeat classes with Senior Fitness Specialist Artie Gardella. Classes are ongoing. Insurances that cover fitness accepted, or a donation for those with no coverage. Visit Synergyseniorfitness.com.

SIXTH-ANNUAL MAGIC OF LIGHTS

When: Through Jan. 1 Where: Daytona International Speedway, 1801 W. International Speedway Blvd., Daytona Beach Details: The popular drive-through lights extravaganza is back with more than one million lights and holiday

scenes. New this year is the premiere of the Barbie holiday light display, as well as the Big Foot Monster Trucks and Prehistoric Christmas. Tickets cost $20 per vehicle in advance through Dec. 8, or $30 at the gate weekdays; or $35 on weekends. From Dec. 9 to Jan. 1, weekday entrance costs $25 in advance or $35 at the gate; or $40 on weekends. Visit MagicofLights.com.

HOLIDAY LIGHT FIGHT

When: Nov. 24-Dec. 17 Where: City of Palm Coast Details: Palm Coast residents — break out all of your lights, garland, inflatable snowmen, and more to participate in our new Holiday Light Fight. Parks and Recreation is working with the city’s GIS department to create maps showing where residents’ light displays are located. Judging will take place on Dec. 17, and winners will receive lawn signs to mark their yards as award winners. Call 386-986-2360.

MOAS EXHIBITIONS

When: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday; 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday Where: Museum of Arts and Sciences, 352 S. Nova Road, Daytona Beach Details: Want to spend a day looking at fine art? The Museum of Arts and Sciences has the following shows on display: “Minor Masterpieces: Porcelain Painted Scenes from the Collection;” “Magical: The Art of Susan Zukowsky;” “Selections from the MOAS Contemporary Art Collection;” and “Pacific Exotics: The Woodblock Prints of Paul Jacoulet.”

Fun with Flowers Ormond Beach Garden Club hosts basket workshop

The Ormond Beach Garden Club hosted its Chelsea Basket Workshop on Wednesday, Dec. 7, at The Casements. Members of the public, as well as club members, were invited to attend the workshop.

“We could use artificial flowers, but we don’t; we try to use real flowers, pines and different types of greenery,” said Zetta Gillespie, Ormond Beach Garden Club membership chair.

Gillespie said that the Ormond Beach Garden Club hosts a “Fun With Flowers” workshop once a month where attendees learn the art of arranging flowers.

Wire, edging tape, ribbons, bows, greens, pinecones, decorations and assistance were provided. Attendees were able to bring their own decorations for their baskets as well. The baskets made can be used as holiday centerpieces.

“Every year, we love when the community comes in and makes use of their beautiful gardens in their homes,” said Rebecca Caschette, president of the Ormond Beach Garden Club.

–ABBIE PACE

Mary Cox and Peggy Cavalluzzi

Carmen Cook and her daughter Louise Cook

Zetta Gillespie assembles her basket.

Mimi Weerts, Rayne Hart and Diane Goodreau

Photos by Abbie Pace

Susan McLane-Maxwell assembles her basket.

Seabreeze scores dual wins against Spruce Creek

MICHELE MEYERS CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Seabreeze girls head coach Eli Freidus loaded his schedule with the toughest teams at the start of the season.

The best team the Sandcrabs played last season was the team they lost to in the last game. He did not want that to happen again.

This season they faced some of the top teams in the state and country — Fleming Island, Ponte Vedra, Bartram Trail and Oviedo. His team went 1-5, but has since rallied and is currently on a four-game winning streak.

“I really believe we are going to have a good team this year,” he said. “We wanted to play the best competition. I wanted them to see all these really good teams so they would know how to play against them. I may have overdone it at the beginning of the season when they went 1-5.”

They beat Spruce Creek 5-0 on Thursday, Dec. 8. Olivia Chase kicked the game off with a goal deep in the box. Brianna Chesley and Arianna Roy followed up with two goals each. Freidus believes midfielder Kylie Watson changed the pace of the game.

“It was a little adjustment in the midfield,” he said. “To me, Kylie Watson was the game changer. She started owning the middle of the field. Every ball that came through the midfield, she was on it.”

Seabreeze’s boys followed with a win of their own after the girls game

at the Hawks’ nest. Andrew McNerney and Hector Vasquez scored one goal each, breaking a decades-long losing streak for the Sandcrabs on Creek soil. They walked away with a 2-0 win.

“I’ll just say the Seabreeze vs. Creek rivalry is always an exciting match filled with hard play and nerve wracking moments,” Seabreeze boys coach Jon Kinsler said. “The ball fell our way this year, and I applaud Spruce Creek for a hard-fought match. We look forward to many more great matches vs. them in the future.”

Spruce Creek coach Keith Costner was pleased with his team’s play.

“I thought we played well, particularly in the second half,” he said. “Just could not finish. Seabreeze is very well-coached and (has) a very good team. They deserved to win.”

Seabreeze’s girls followed up with a 2-0 win against Merritt Island on Dec. 13 to improve to 5-5. The boys tied Ponte Vedra on Dec. 9 and now have a 5-1-3 record.

Sandcrabs girls and boys soccer teams win big against the Hawks.

“It was a little adjustment in the midfield. To me, Kylie Watson was the game changer. She started owning the middle of the field. Every ball that came through the midfield, she was on it.”

ELI FREIDUS, Seabreeze girls soccer coach

Kylie Watson (1) and Tia Mercedes (12)

Photos by Michele Meyers

A save by Spruce Creek goalie Ethan Houle

Hector Vasquez (17) of Seabreeze and Ryan Domon (11) of Spruce Creek

Breanna Chesley (10) and Spruce Creek’s Kamryn Learn (16) battle for the ball.

Seabreeze’s Arianna Roy controls the ball against Spruce Creek.

Photos by Michele Meyers

STATE BOUND

Bucs prepare for first title game since 2003.

BRENT WORONOFF ASSOCIATE EDITOR

during Mainland High’s football practice on Thursday, Dec. 8.

The Buccaneers’ 2003 state championship trophy had been wheeled out on a cart and positioned just off the field.

Head coach Travis Roland, the Bucs’ leading tackler on that 2003 team, was on the field, yelling, encouraging, correcting his players.

Mainland was preparing for the Class 3S state championship game against Lake Wales, set for Friday, Dec. 16, in Fort Lauderdale. It is the Bucs’ first state final appearance since they defeated Naples 14-13 19 years ago at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville.

“We’re going to face adversity next

Friday,” Roland told his players at the end of practice. “But they have not played a football team like us.”

“I’m very excited,” said Ajai Harrell, who has led the Bucs with 11 touchdowns in their four playoff wins. “It’s been 19 years since we’ve been to this point in the playoffs,

STAT LEADERS

MAINLAND: QB Damarcus Creecy, 3,169 yards passing, 31 TDs, 10 interceptions. WR/

RB Ajai Harrell, 72 for 1,147 yards receiving, 14 TDs; 455 yards rushing, 13 TDs. WR James Randle, 57 for 1,035 yards receiving, 11 TDs.

LB Ty Richmond 86 tackles. S Zavier Mincey 6 interceptions.

LAKE WALES: QB Trent Grotjan, 1,993 yards passing, 26 TDs, 8 interceptions. RB Corey Harris 1,095 yards rushing, 10 TDs. WR/ RB/SS Xavier Marlow, 448 yards rushing, 507 yards receiver, 17 total TDs; 6 interceptions; DE/OLB Terrell James 101 tackles, 22 sacks; DB Jeremiah Anglin 8 interceptions.

“It’s been 19 years since we’ve been to this point in the playoffs, because we couldn’t get over the fourth round, but we did it, and we’re ready to go and play them and win.”

AJAI HARRELL, above

because we couldn’t get over the fourth round, but we did it, and we’re ready to go and play them and win.”

The Bucs lost in the state semifinals five times from 2004 to 2014. In their first final-four appearance in nine years, they defeated Fort Myers Dunbar, 30-23 on Dec. 2, to reserve a spot in the championship game.

“It’s very exciting being the first team to go back since our head coach, Coach Roland, went there,” right guard Malcolm Curry said. “It feels good. It’s kind of weird, but it feels good.”

LEADING THE WAY Curry and Harrell have led the way

MAINLAND

VS. LAKE WALES

n What: Class 3S state championship game

n When: Friday, Dec. 16, 1 p.m.

n Where: DRV PNK Stadium, Fort Lauderdale

n Records: Mainland 11-3, Lake Wales 14-0

n Tickets: $12 in advance, $15 day of the game through Tickemaster

n Live webcast: https://fhsaa.boxcast.com/#/ channels/vhlhvzxbguryburepez8

for the Bucs’ offense throughout the playoffs.

Curry, the Bucs’ leader on the offensive line, missed six games with a partial ACL tear after injuring his knee in the season opener against DeLand.

“We got a big, huge lift, mentally and physically, when Malcolm came back,” Roland said.

Harrell, a wide receiver, was asked to expand his role heading into the playoffs. The Bucs had rushed for minus 10 yards in a loss to Lake Mary to end the regular season, and Roland realized they needed to boost their ground game.

“Coach said, ‘Ajai, I need you to play running back,’” Harrell said. “I said, ‘Sure,’ to help the team. I’m a good athlete, I think, and the coaches prepared me during practice really well, so I’ve been having some good games there.”

Indeed, Harrell has averaged over 202 yards of offense running and receiving in the playoffs. He has scored six rushing touchdowns, four receiving touchdowns and added another score on a punt return in the four playoff games.

“We just had to figure out how to get Ajai the ball more,” Roland said. “Obviously, with Malcolm coming back, and then putting Ajai in the backfield, made the running game open up even more. With Ajai, you can just put the ball in his hands, and he can do great things. I think it also opens things up for (receiver James Randle), because when Ajai’s a running back, (opponents) load the box, and James gets one-on-one coverage.”

The Bucs have averaged 208 yards

Running back Princeton Russell (27) runs a drill.

The Bucs wheeled out the 2003 championship trophy and a championship medal during practice on Dec. 8.

Photos by Brent Woronoff

FPC grad finalist for Citizens Cup award

Former Flagler Palm Coast track and field athlete Namiah Simpson has been named one of 26 college finalists for the Coach Wooden Citizens Cup award presented by Athletes for a Better World.

One male college athlete and one female college athlete will be selected for the award in the first week of January.

Simpson, a graduate student at Southeastern University, is a four-year captain for the track team and a 10-time NAIA All-American.

She won a national indoor championship in the 4x400 relay.

She is also a 12-time Sun Conference Champ and a two-time Academic All-American.

She won the top overall Senior Capstone Presentation in Southeastern’s School of Nursing and was the first recipient of the Health and Public Policy Leadership Award, given to one nursing graduate.

She is Southeastern’s first female finalist for the Coach Wooden Citizens Cup award. Simpson graduated from FPC in 2018.

FPC’s Hagstrom attains 700th career victory

ierson native Duane Hagstrom started coming to Flagler County as a teenager to visit his grandmother. She had one of the few houses in Palm Coast at the time, he said.

Now, Hagstrom is a fixture in Flagler County. And his Flagler Palm Coast High School weightlifting teams are perennial state contenders. His girls teams have won nine conference championships, four district titles and three regional titles.

Last season, his boys team won the first state weightlifting championship in school history.

On Nov. 30, Hagstrom achieved a milestone. By defeating New Smyrna Beach and Crescent City in a girls meet, the coach surpassed 700 victories for his career. All but 30 were earned at FPC. Hagstrom won three conference titles at Jacksonville Sandalwood before taking over the fledgling Bulldogs’ program in 2002.

During his first five years, FPC had only a boys team. His first Bulldogs’ squad went 0-13. Even as the team improved during his early years, wins were hard to come by. The Bulldogs competed in just three or four meets a year, and the postseason in those years was dedicated to individual competition with no team scoring.

Hagstrom started racking up the wins when the girls program began in 2007 and when postseason meets began to include team competition. So winning the 11-team Five Star Conference championship means collecting 10 victories.

“It is a little deceiving,” Hagstrom said. “It’s not like baseball, where you play one team at a time.”

But winning conference and district championships in the VolusiaFlagler area — where the state’s alltime greatest program resides — is not easy. Spruce Creek leads the Florida record book with 27 boys state championships — 17 more than secondplace Baker County. Of the 21 schools with two or more boys state titles, five are Volusia County schools, including Seabreeze with two titles.

Hagstrom has a 704-211-7 record. Of his victories, 416 have been with the girls teams and 288 with the boys. His girls teams have always had more depth, which is the reason they

have been able to win so many conference, district and regional titles. Depth becomes less of a factor at state, where the FPC boys essentially won the 2021-22 championship with two individual state champs and two runners-up, Hagstrom said.

Hagstrom has produced 16 individual state champs at FPC — 10 boys and six girls. But weightlifting is not one of the more popular sports at the school, and perhaps never will be. Athletes who concentrate on other sports have their own weight training. Weightlifting focuses only on the bench press, clean and jerk and, since last season, the Olympic snatch.

“You would think that after we won the state championship last season, hundreds of kids at our school would want to compete,” Hagstrom said. “But they haven’t been knocking down the doors.”

The Bulldogs’ girls team, which is 14-0 heading into the Five Star Conference championships, has 40 lifters in the program, while the boys have 25.

Most of the lifters do not compete in other sports. For some sports, the seasons conflict — winter sports for

girls, spring sports for boys. Then there is the commitment. Weightlifting is a tough sport. Hagstrom’s lifters train year-round.

Also, some high school weightlifting coaches teach weightlifting at their schools and are in the weightlifting room all day long. Hagstrom is an algebra teacher.

“Coach (Pete) Hald is the weightlifting teacher,” Hagstrom said. “And he does a good job recruiting for me.”

Hagstrom competed in Olympicstyle weightlifting for over 10 years and won two national championships in the (over 35) masters division, and he prefers Olympic lifts. With the Olympic competition (snatch and clean and jerk) added to the traditional competition, FPC could be on its way to becoming the Spruce Creek of Olympic lifting.

“I gravitate to that a little more,” he said. “It’s mostly about technique.” With two competitions in each meet now, Hagstrom could end up collecting 1,000 wins before he’s ready to retire.

Send results and story ideas to Brent@ palmcoastobserver.com.

Lions Club honors Seabreeze’s Gonzalez

Seabreeze senior Sam Gonzalez was the Ormond Beach Lions Club’s Student Athlete of the Month for December. Gonzalez played wide receiver and quarterback for the football team.

He led the Sandcrabs in passing with 973 yards and also was their leading rusher with 496 yards. He also caught 13 passes for 119 yards, and he accounted for 19 touchdowns — eight passing, eight rushing and three receiving.

During the season, Gonzalez was honored as a Daytona Beach Quarterback Club Player of the Week and a MaxPreps Player of the Week twice. He has a 3.8 GPA and plans to play football in college next year.

Boda’s team wins football title

Former Seabreeze quarterback Blake Boda scored on a 5-yard run in overtime to lead Cocoa to a 38-31 win over Tallahassee Florida High in the Class 2S state football championship on Dec. 9. Boda had two passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns in the game.

Matanzas girls lifters second at four-team meet

The Matanzas girls weightlifting team finished second with 53 points in a home meet on Dec. 7 to improve to 7-3 on the season. Tocoi Creek won with 65 points, while Atlantic collected 28 points and Crescent City had 19. Matanzas’ Carina Tavares (119 pounds), Jordyn Crews (129), Maria Kelly (139) and Rilee Whitmore (169) won their weight classes. Kelly had the highest clean and jerk in the meet, at 145 ponds. Whitmore had the third highest total lift at 290 pounds.

File photo

FPC weightlifting coach Duane Hagstrom has surpassed the 700-victory plateau.

House in Grand Haven leads Flagler sales list

Ahouse in Grand Haven was the top real estate transaction for the week of Nov. 3-9 in Flagler County in the Multiple Listing Service. Coast Home Management LLC sold 136 Willow Oak Way to John and Anne Stephens, of Big Canoe, Georgia, for $799,900. Built in 2007, the house is a 3/4.5 and has 3,180 square feet.

WAYNE GRANT REAL ESTATE EDITOR

Condo Babrosh LLC, of Millwood, New York, sold 200 Ocean Crest Drive, Unit 709, to Harbour Front Holdings LP, of Plantation, for $750,000. Built in 2003, the condo is a 3/3 and has 1,676 square feet. It sold in 2013 for $390,000.

Arlington Joseph and Christine Passiglia sold 8 Mount Vernon Lane to David and Deborah Stream, of Palm Coast, for $492,000. Built in 1995, the house is a 3/2 and has a swimming pool and 2,094 square feet.

Country Club Cove

Carol Sullivan, of Palm Coast, sold 17 Casper Drive to Lynda Vassallo and Gavin Peterson, of Palm Coast, for $350,000. Built in 1972, the

house is a 3/2 and has 2,128 square feet. It sold in 2017 for $185,000.

Cypress Knoll

Blue Crown Construction Inc., of Palm Coast, sold 9 Evansville Place to Andrew and Ann Patterson, of St. Augustine, for $570,000. Built in 2022, the house is a 3/2 and has 2,017 square feet.

Forest Grove

George Carlin, individually and as trustee, sold 39 Ferngate Lane to Ackerman Real Estate LLC, of Vineland, New Jersey, for $340,000.

Built in 2003, the house is a 3/2 and has a fireplace and 2,020 square feet. It sold in 2005 for $55,500.

Grand Haven

Johnny and Brenda Morris, of Young Harris, Georgia, sold 16 Village View Way to Colleen Daly, of Palm Coast, for $485,000. Built

in 2003, the house is a 3/3 and has 1,980 square feet.

Grand Reserve

Robert and Robin Johnson, of Bunnell, sold 690 Grand Reserve Drive to Daniel Palmerton, of Bunnell, for $315,000. Built in 2021, the house is a 3/2 and has 1,714 square feet. It sold in 2021 for $271,900.

Indian Trails

Ashley Hurley, of Vero Beach, sold 24 Beechwood Lane to Angela Gonzalez, of Ramsey, New Jersey, for $290,000. Built in 1980, the house is a 2/2 and has a fireplace and 1,226 square feet. It sold in 2020 for $177,000.

Not in Subdivision Carol Serini, individually and as trustee, sold 80 Cimmaron Drive to Philip Jones, of Palm Coast, for $455,000. Built in 1986, the house is a 3/2 and has a swimming pool and 2,059 square feet.

Timothy and Pamela Buckwalter, of Glen Allen, Virginia, sold 36 Franciscan Lane to Rui Neto and Maria Fidalgo, of Newark, New Jersey, for $445,000. Built in 2006, the house is a 4/2 and has 2,116 square feet. It sold in 2017 for $285,000.

Andrzej and Jolanta Wos sold 21 Powder Hill Lane to Timothy and Jeanine Davidson, of Palm Coast, for $319,000. Built in 2004, the house is a 3/2 and has a fireplace and 1,598 square feet.

Charles and Charlotte Koenig, of Birdsboro, Pennsylvania, sold 60 Rymshaw Drive to Brittany Council-Morton and Alan Morton,

of Sanford, for $385,000. Built in 2004, the house is a 3/2 and has a swimming pool and 1,584 square feet. It sold in 2011 for $134,900.

LGI Homes Florida LLC, of The Woodlands, Texas, sold 28 Pepperdine Drive to Jose and Gloria Vasquez, of Palm Coast, for $309,900. Built in 2022, the house is a 3/2 and has 1,463 square feet.

Jamal Sabree, individually and as trustee, sold 43 Blaine Drive to Jeanne Stanley, of Palm Coast, for $275,000. Built in 1979, the house is a 2/2 and has a fireplace and 1,164 square feet.

Palm Harbor

Alice Vivona and John Vivona, of Charleston, South Carolina, sold 88 Covington Lane to Bernard La Grua and Colleen Bergin, both of Palm Coast, for $634,900. Built in 2004, the house is a 5/3 and has a swimming pool and 2,858 square feet. It sold in 2021 for $453,500.

Thomas Kelly, individually and as trustee, sold 1 Folcroft Lane to Samuel and Paige Jarrells, of Palm Coast, for $540,000. Built in 1986, the house is a 4/2 and has a swimming pool and 2,389 square feet.

Pine Grove Ana Peguero, of Youngsville, North Carolina, sold 41 Primrose Lane to Michelle Babcock, as trustee, for $400,000. Built in 2013, the house is a 4/2 and has 2,240 square feet. It sold in 2013 for $165,300.

Pine Lakes Dmitriy and Arina Belkin sold 32 Westgate Lane to Matthew Berg

and Carol Berg, of Palm Coast, for $500,000. Built in 2015, the house is a 4/3 and has a swimming pool and 2,566 square feet. It sold in 2015 for $217,100.

Zander Holding Group LLC, of Palm Coast, sold 10 Wills Place to Lisa Sapp, of Palm Coast, for $575,000. Built in 1997, the house is a 3/2 and has a fireplace, swimming pool and 2,584 square feet. It sold in 2021 for $275,300.

Quail Hollow

Valerian and Irina Burdila, of Sacramento, California, sold 11 Zonal Court to Tanzila Zhamukhanova, of Palm Coast, for $459,000. Built in 2022, the house is a 4/2 and has 2,511 square feet.

Seminole Woods

D.R. Horton Inc. Jacksonville, of St. Johns, sold 55 Underwood Trail to Shaun Butler and Danielle Eickemeyer, of Palm Coast, for $412,990. Built in 2022, the house is a 3/3 and has 2,363 square feet.

James and Madison Lindon, of Phoenix, sold 1 Smokewick Court to Steven and Angela Partain, of Palm Coast, for $399,900. Built in 2017, the house is a 4/3 and has 2,473 square feet. It sold in 2017 for $257,000.

Adams Homes of Northwest Florida Inc., of Pensacola, sold 303 Underwood Trail to Colby Grover and Florella Vasquez-Grover, of Palm Coast, for $394,400. Built in 2022, the house is a 4/3 and has 2,265 square feet.

Francisco and Corina Ortiz, of Palm Coast, sold 7 Utopian Court to Gilberto Costa and Ana Bras, of Danbury, Connecticut, for $359,000. Built in 2006, the house is a 3/2 and has 1,812 square feet.

Toby Tobin, of gotoby.com, contributed to this report.

CORPORATE OFFICE - 386-677-SOLD (7653) 900 West Granada Blvd., Ste. 3, Ormond Beach, FL 32174

BEACHSIDE OFFICE - 386-441-SOLD (7653) 2110 Oceanshore Blvd., Ste. B, Ormond Beach, FL 32176

PORT ORANGE OFFICE - 386-767-SOLD (7653) 840 Dunlawton Ave., Ste. D, Port Orange, FL 32127

COMMERCIAL OFFICE - 386-253-8565 140 S. Atlantic Ave., Suite 102, Ormond Beach, FL 32176

DAYTONA BEACH SHORES OFFICE - 386-766-SOLD (7653) 3118 S. Atlantic Ave., Daytona Beach Shores, FL 32118

The top transaction in Flagler County features a summer kitchen.

Courtesy photo

The house at 9 Evansville Place sold for $570,000.

ESTATE OF STACEY ANN SHEA

Deceased.

The administration of the estate of Stacey Ann Shea, deceased, whose date of death was October 14, 2022, is pending in the Circuit Court for Volusia County, Florida, Probate Division, the address of which is Mailing Address: P.O. Box 6043, DeLand, FL 32721-6043; Physical Address: 101 North Alabama Avenue, DeLand, FL 32724. The names and addresses of the personal representative and the personal representative’s attorney 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 FLORIDA STATUTES SECTION 733.702 WILL BE FOREVER BARRED.

NOTWITHSTANDING THE TIME PERIODS 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 December 8, 2022.

Personal Representative: Laurie Stucki 519 Bowles Street Neptune Beach, Florida 32266 Attorney for Personal Representative: /s/ Sean P. Mason Sean P. Mason, Attorney Florida Bar Number: 73894 Mason Law Firm, P.A. 330 A1A North, Suite 323 Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida 32082 Telephone: (904) 565-1421 Fax: (904) 371-3123

E-Mail: sean@masonfirm.net Secondary E-Mail: mary@masonfirm.net December 8, 15, 2022 22-00139I

SECOND INSERTION NOTICE TO CREDITORS IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR VOLUSIA COUNTY, FLORIDA PROBATE DIVISION File No. 2022-12658-PRDL Division 10

IN RE: ESTATE OF JOSEPH EARL HODGES a/k/a JOSEPH E. HODGES Deceased.

The administration of the estate of Joseph Earl Hodges, deceased, whose date of death was June 24, 2021, is pending in the Circuit Court for Volusia County, Florida, Probate Division, the address of which is 101 North Alabama Avenue, DeLand, Florida 32724.

The names and addresses of the personal representative and the personal representative’s attorney 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 FLORIDA STATUTES SECTION 733.702 WILL BE FOREVER BARRED. NOTWITHSTANDING THE TIME PERIODS 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 December 8, 2022.

Personal Representative: Thomas J. Upchurch 1616 Concierge Blvd., Suite 101 Daytona Beach, Florida 32117 Attorney for Personal Representative: Thomas J. Upchurch, Esquire Florida Bar No. 0015821

Upchurch Law 1616 Concierge Blvd., Suite 101 Daytona Beach, FL 32117 Telephone: (386) 492-3871 Email: service@upchurchlaw.com 2nd Email: clutes@upchurchlaw.com December 8, 15, 2022 22-00138I

SECOND INSERTION NOTICE TO CREDITORS IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR VOLUSIA COUNTY, FLORIDA PROBATE DIVISION

File No 2022 10446 PRDL Division: 10 IN RE: GLORIA L. MAX, Deceased.

The Trust administration of the estate of GLORIA L. MAX, deceased, whose date of death was September 10, 2021, is pending in the Circuit Court for Volusia County, Florida, Probate Division, the address of which is 101 N. Alabama Ave., DeLand, FL 32724. The names and addresses of the Trustee and the Trustee’s attorney 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 FLORIDA STATUTES SECTION 733.702 WILL BE FOREVER BARRED.

NOTWITHSTANDING 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: December 8, 2022.

Signed on this 1 day of December, 2022.

JACQUELINE SUSAN MILLER Trustee 765 Hunt Club Trail Port Orange, FL 32127 (386) 761-7669

Heidi S. Webb Attorney for Trustee Florida Bar No. 73958 140 South Beach Street, Suite 310 Daytona Beach, Florida 32114 Telephone: (386) 257-3332

Email: heidi@heidiwebb.com December 8, 15, 2022 22-00144I

Girl Talk good condition $50 386-446-3925

PHILIPS ROKU TV (Smart TV) 32” unopened box $148 386-237-9403

ROYAL OAK antique wood burning stove, excellent condition $200 310-297-0404

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