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Palms West Monthly • October 2019 • Page 1
Palms West
Monthly
WELLINGTON • ROYAL PALM BEACH • WEST PALM BEACH • LOXAHATCHEE GROVES • THE ACREAGE Volume 9, Number 10
PalmsWestMonthly.com
Celebrate the Lake Worth Lagoon! LagoonFest returns to the WPB Waterfront Nov. 2. PAGE 4
FREE • October 2019
Royal Palm’s Fall Festival to be held Oct. 25-26 The annual event will feature tribute bands Friday night, Halloween fun for families on Saturday.
Grand Celebration, locals come to aid of the Bahamas
The effort was spearheaded by a group of downtown West Palm Beach restaurant owners, whose goal is to raise $1 million for the continued relief to the island.
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AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa
A couple embraces on a road destroyed by Hurricane Dorian as they walk to the town of High Rock to try and find their relatives in the aftermath of the hurricane in Grand Bahama, Bahamas.
DEALING WITH A COUNTRY’S
PBSC to host two job fairs in October
Job fairs will be held at Palm Beach State College campuses in Palm Beach Gardens and Boca Raton in October, where local job seekers can meet recruiters from numerous companies, health care providers and government agencies.
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Ballet Palm Beach kicks off season with ‘Cinderella’
Ballet Palm Beach’s first performance of the 2019-20 season will be “Cinderella” at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in early November. Other productions during the season include “The Nutcracker” and “Peter Pan’s Neverland.”
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RPB Green Market moves to Saturdays, boasts new location The Green Market and Bazaar kicks off its season Oct. 29 in two big ways – moving from Sundays to Saturdays and relocating to the southeast corner of Royal Palm Beach and Okeechobee boulevards.
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AFTERSHOCK
Mental health specialists say it could take months to determine Dorian’s psychological toll on the residents of the Bahamas. By DANICA COTO The Associated Press
HIGH ROCK, Bahamas — One woman and her husband huddled on top of a bedroom dresser for two days, surrounded by floodwaters. Another man sat in his wheelchair for nearly 48 hours in water up to his chest, alone in his home. A third rescued a friend who sat in shock when part of a building where they sought shelter blew away. Stories of survival are trickling out across northern Bahamas as the initial shock wears off from Hurricane Dorian, one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes in history. And the extent of the storm’s terror lingers on in the minds of many. Mental health counselors are now fanning out into communities to help those traumatized by the direct hit of the Category 5 storm that forced the evacuation of nearly 5,000 people and killed at least 50 others. Some 1,300 still missing in the hard-hit islands of Grand Bahama and Abaco, although the government has said many could be in shelters and with loved ones.
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“I think some persons can’t believe that it happened, and others are still processing it,” said Pastor Robert Lockhart of Calvary Temple in Grand Bahama. He offered his pulpit on Sunday, Sept. 15 to more than 200 people in attendance, offering to let congregants share their stories as part of an island-wide effort to prevent what officials warn could become a mental health crisis as people struggle to absorb the extent of the devastation. Only six people spoke, but the crowd clapped and cried with them. “They needed to have an outlet and share these emotions,” Lockhart said. “People felt like they were going to die.” Among those who shared survival stories was 49-year-old Carlos Evans, who began to use a wheelchair after he was injured while working at an oil refinery. He recalled how he kept shining the light from his cellphone on the rising water as he tried not to panic. The water finally stopped surging when it reached his chest, and he waited alone for nearly two days until he was rescued. “I wanted to encourage somebody else,” he said of his deci-
HOW TO HELP LOCALLY: Dozens of local organizations, groups and individuals are pitching in to help with the Bahama’s relief effort.
IN WEST PALM BEACH: Read
Aaron Wormus’s column on page 8 about the effort spearheaded by downtown businessmen that has grown to hundreds of volunteers. And to learn more ways locals are pitching in, go online to aguyonclematis.com.
GET INVOLVED: If you want
to help the relief effort, consider volunteering your time, donating supplies or even hosting a displaced family. To get started, go online to BahamasReliefCruise.org.
sion to speak. “It’s not just dem going through it, it’s all of us.” Dorian hit the northern Bahamas on Sept. 1 with sustained winds of 185 mph, unleashing flooding that reached up to 25 feet in some areas. It then remained nearly stationary for a day and a half, flattening homes, sweeping away children and adults and stripping people of their most treasured possessions, leading the U.N. Secretary General to BAHAMAS / PAGE 8
I think some persons can’t believe that it happened, and others are still processing it. — Paster Robert Lockhart of Calvary Temple in Grand Bahama
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Why should kids have all the fun? With that in mind, organizers of this year’s fall festival – which will be held at Commons Park in Royal Palm Beach – are planning to target the first night mainly toward adults. The annual two-day event, which is now known as Rock ‘n’ Fall Festival, kicks off Friday, Oct. 25 from 5-10 p.m. with two rock tribute bands featuring the music of Aerosmith and Queen. Craft and domestic beer will be available for purchase and the popular Gourmet Food Truck Expo will be on site. Attendees are encouraged to come in their best costumes, as an adult costume contest will be held at 7:30 p.m. The second day, Saturday, Oct. 26, is when kids take over. The family-oriented day runs from 3 to 10 p.m. and will be full of Halloween-themed events such as a pumpkin patch, Trunk or Treating, a pumpkin carving contest, a free kids fun zone and the alwayspopular hay rides. There will also be a petting zoo, an arts and crafts area, train rides, live music featuring the Spazmatics and plenty of costume contests for kids of all ages. And yes, there will even be a costume contest just for pets! For those brave enough to enter, a haunted house will also be on site at Commons Park, presented by Catskill Haunts. Cost is $10 to enter. The haunted house will be open Friday, Oct. 25 through Wednesday, Oct. 30 from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. except on Oct. 26, when the hours will be from 3 to 11 p.m. Commons Park is located at 11600 Poinciana Blvd. in Royal Palm Beach. For more information, go online to royalpalmbeach.com.