Palms West Monthly • June 2011 • Page 1
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Palms West Nice and Easy
Business Spotlight
Pet Project
Backstage with Smokey
Breaking New Ground
Local dignitaries were Rescued Pets 4 U in Royal Palm on hand for the recent Beach evolved from a partnership groundbreaking of the between two non-profit animal Global Dressage Festival. rescue operations.
Ernie finds himself in the dressing room of a legend. PAGE 8 Volume 1, Number 1
Monthly
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Serving Wellington, Royal Palm Beach, Loxahatchee Groves and The Acreage with news, happenings and entertainment
Ready, set, action! Royal Palm Beach’s Dream School students produce and star in their own TV show to air June 12 on FOX.
June 2011
Loxahatchee Groves
Town to vote on future of Water Control District elections By ANGIE FRANCALANCIA Neighborhood News Group
License to drive A full-service driver license office has opened in the County Governmental Complex in Royal Palm Beach to handle the new “Real ID” compliant licenses.
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Having a ball It was a fun day for all as the Youth Baseball Association of Royal Palm Beach held its end of the year party May 1 at the Bob Marcello Baseball Complex.
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Wellington’s new ZapVan The funny-looking van which the village purchased for about $13,000 runs on batteries and is designed to transport about four people at a time, topping out at 35 miles per hour.
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INSIDE
Local Happenings ...................4 In Brief................................6 Business Spotlight ...................7 Nice and Easy ........................8 Arts & Entertainment ............ 10 School Bulletin .....................12 Manely Speaking....................13 Around the Town ...................15 Just For the Fun of It ..............16 Outside The Neighborhood .......17 Classifieds .......................... 18 PalmsWestMonthly.com
Photo submitted by Dream Middle School
Dream Middle School students ham it up as they pose for publicity shots to promote their upcoming tv show. They are, front row from left, Camila Ramirez, Seth Thornton, Shaun Stratton, Cassie Yarbrough, Elena Lopez-Belio and Cristina Casas. Back row from left are Diego Ramirez, Andrew Borell, Azure Kordick, Kali Ashurst and Laura White.
DAYDREAM BELIEVERS By FOLEY WALKER Neighborhood News Group
ROYAL PALM BEACH — Producing a TV show is a major undertaking for anyone, let alone middle school students. But at the Dream Middle School in Royal Palm Beach, under the direction of teacher Marc Zatorsky, fifth through eighth graders have done it. You can watch their premier show locally at 8 a.m., Sunday, June 12, on FOX 29. Called DayDREAMers, it’s a family-friendly version of Saturday Night Live, Zatorsky said. “We rehearsed a few months then started filming. It’s on post production and we’re working on editing now.” Zatorsky, who teaches film production at Dream, wanted to do a TV show this year to demonstrate to incoming students some of the creative education at this innovative private school. The last sentence of their mission statement says students “believe in their dreams and take action to make them a reality.” “I used some sketches from classes I have written, held auditions in February and brought in eight established actors from
my feature film, Gina, G.I.T. (“Genie In Training,” also currently in post production) as guest stars and 11 of our students.” Shawn Morell Lewis is co-writer and co-producer. Zatorsky took acting classes and taught at Burt Reynolds Institute for Film and Television in Jupiter several years before coming to teach at the Dream School. He became acquainted with school founders Wendy and Kris Soderman through a mutual friend. “They asked me to teach. The classes were popular, so I expanded the program. I aimed high. Now we’re doing a TV show.” As far as he knows, no other high school has produced an entertainment show and broadcast it on a major network. “Most just broadcast at their school,” he explained. “We’re one of the pioneers in the field. That’s the type of school Dream is. We understand the ways of expanding a child’s mind and getting through to them in the learning process.“ The school is on Southern Boulevard at the intersection of Royal Palm Beach Boulevard.
This summer the school will offer camps for science, music and art. In the fall, Zatorsky will work on two shows as a part of their curriculum, one each semester. Zacorsky will write, direct and produce them. For more information, call the Dream Middle School at 791-2881 or go online to dreamideal.com.
Make-up! Writer/Producer Shawn Morell Lewis applies makeup to Dream Middle School student-actor Elena Lopez-Belio.
The rural loving residents of Loxahatchee Groves all agree they love their lifestyle. But neighbors are poised to battle at the ballot this month as holders of small properties allege they’re being overrun by the big landowners, whose ideas of rural are changing. On June 27, residents will vote whether they want to change the election system for seats on the Loxahatchee Groves Water Control District board, which provides drainage and roads in the 8,000-acre community. Under the current system, residents vote based on how much land they own, a system that made sense when the focus was primarily irrigation for large tracts of farmland. A vote in favor of changing the system to a popular election would enable at least one seat on the board to be voted on by popular election. That would effectively equalize everyone’s votes, putting small landowners on equal footing with the big guys. It would give owners of smaller pieces of land a voice – though not likely a majority – on the board, according to the residents who prompted the referendum. “There is concern that the large (property owners) don’t necessarily have the ‘love it and leave it alone’ attitude like the smaller parcel owners, and they’re able to cause a lot of expenses for the smaller lots,” said Marge Herzog, one of two residents who spearheaded the petition drive forcing the referendum. She and others believe it’s the owners of large tracts who have been able to outvote owners of smaller parcels and win the right to have several road segments paved – a lifestyle change and expense many Groves residents oppose. The Water Control District board is turning the cost issue back toward Herzog and the othSEE VOTE / PAGE 3