Vero Beach Magazine March 2024

Leigh

Mary

Melinda

Steve

Debbie

INTERIORS coastal

Crystal Lemley Senior Designer

Gregory Allan Ness

Principal Designer

Welcome to John’s Island. A cherished haven enjoyed by generations who have discovered the undeniable allure of life by the sea. luxury

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Photography

Features

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116

POP THE CORK!

Bri any Swartz and Steven Thompson tie the knot in a garden on the Emerald Isle

By Ann Taylor

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A NOBLE DECISION

Terry Stough chooses to preserve his family’s land legacy in a way that will benefit us all

By Chris Fasolino

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GIVING LIMITS THE BRUSH-OFF

Artist and teacher Dawn Miller has opened her heart and home for the Village Arts VB initiative

By

Ann Taylor

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PLAYLAND WITH A PURPOSE

A couple’s seaside cabana welcomes what they value most: family, nature, and philanthropic causes

By Renáe Tesauro

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GOLDEN OPPORTUNITIES

For Barbara du Pont, unforge able photographs are born of patience and light

By Teresa Lee Rushworth

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32 OUR 2024 ADVISORY BOARD

VERO VIBES

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WILDE SIDE

The DNA of poetry runs through our lives; it may even live next door

By

Evelyn Wilde Mayerson

50 FACES

Artist Rick Kelly partners with the Land Trust to support preservation efforts

By Ann Taylor

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INDIAN RIVER INSIGHTS

Artificial intelligence can describe, but never replace, authentic community engagement

By Jeffrey R. Pickering

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CLASSIC CARS

The 1950 Crosley CD Super Station Wagon

By Patrick Merrell

COASTAL LIFE

Deciphering the intricacies of rug selection can underlie the revival of a room

By Valerie

Cruice

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HOMEGROWN

Houseplants can bring joy without an overwhelming workload

By Nickie Munroe

PATRICK MERRELL

CONTENTS

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162

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LIVING WELL

With early diagnosis and proper treatment, children with ADHD can reach their full potential as adults

By Renáe Tesauro

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BY THE BOOK

The Mystery Guest by Nita Prose

By Elizabeth Leonard

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TRUE TAILS

Try teaching your old cat some new tricks

By Amy Robinson

NEW & NOTEWORTHY

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ON THE MARCH

Local people and products are always keeping things interesting

LOCAL FLAVOR

162

THE DISH

Dignity Food Trucks are serving up opportunities for a better life

By Chris Fasolino

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OFF THE VINE

Madeira was an early-American luxury we can share with our Founding Fathers

By Chris Fasolino

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THE SCENE

With culture and caring, local nonprofits enrich the community in countless ways

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GALLERY GUIDE

March to your own beat with art to suit everyone’s fancy

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CALENDAR

Community events are at full throttle this month!

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BUSINESS DIRECTORY

Thank you for supporting our local businesses

208 ROOTS

Before Sebastian’s 1923 incorporation, Main Street was beginning to buzz

By Ellen E. Stanley

ON THE COVER:

Bride Brittany Swartz Thompson glories in a breathtaking Irish garden.

See the story on page 102.

Photograph by Irina Duane

AHeart & Home

s we “March” forward into spring, I’m tugged back into memories of my home growing up in Connecticut. Mom had quite the green thumb— something I was not lucky enough to inherit. The gardens surrounding our home were beautiful in the spring, filled with bright yellow forsythias, lilacs, tulips, and my absolute favorite, pansies. She even grew summer vegetables in the backyard. But right there in the first flower bed just outside the front door was our version of a little Blarney Stone, a gift from a treasured neighbor and friend.

Our March issue is where we celebrate our homes and gardens, and two of our fabulous features bring both together with a bit of an Irish twist! Our cover feature takes us across the Atlantic Ocean to a gorgeous spot on the Emerald Isle where Vero Beach residents Brittany Swartz and Steven Thompson exchanged vows in 2023—Bantry House in County Cork. Kris Trustey and her husband, Sean McGraw, both with ties to the University of Notre Dame, tell their story of healing and renewal and how that connects to the cabana property they created next to their oceanfront home.

Sharing her home in the Vero Beach Art Village with other creatives is just what artist Dawn Miller loves to do. Two days each week, she opens her brightly colored front door (not to be outdone by the riot of color in her gardens or the murals on her fences) to adults with special needs. During their hours together, she shares her passion for art and does what makes her truly happy: giving back to others.

Barbara du Pont, local photographer and one of the artist-owners of Gallery 14, is right at home in the outdoors, as she has proven in her work from all over the world. She’s traveled to all seven continents with cameras in hand, documenting the wildlife of some of the most exotic and remote places on Earth. What’s her favorite subject to photograph? Moms and babies.

We can’t have all this talk of gardens and the outdoors without including the Indian River Land Trust in this issue. Executive director Ken Grudens recently announced the acquisition of a new property on the edge of the St. Sebastian River. We are lucky enough to tell you about the generous and heartfelt decision Terry Stough and his family made when selling the property to the IRLT to help with the nonprofit’s Indian River Lagoon conservation efforts.

If you’re out and about in what should be beautiful March weather, come see the staff of Vero Beach Magazine at Under the Oaks in Riverside Park March 8–10. We can’t wait to meet you!

Kelly Rogers editor@verobeachmagazine.com

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Make the Most of March

As we prepare to spring into the warmer months, I’ve been thinking about the significance of March for us in Vero Beach. It’s usually the month of one last cold snap before we put away our sweaters and start to change gears in our gardens. I recommend keeping an eye on the wise advice that Master Gardener Nickie Munroe provides in each month’s Homegrown article.

Winter’s swan song makes March what I consider to be “prime time” here on the Treasure Coast; season is still in full swing, so there are loads of activities and events to choose from, especially those that take place outdoors.

Of course, March is the month of the Vero Beach Art Club’s hugely popular Under the Oaks show, so be sure to check out this staggering array of art during the second weekend of the month.

Another perennial favorite is the annual AACA Car Show, also held at Riverside Park. It’s great fun to walk around, marvel at these impeccably maintained and restored classics, and even chat with their proud owners.

If you find outdoor music appealing, you may want to catch Jazz Under the Stars at St. Francis Manor on March 15—a chance to enjoy some smooth sounds while supporting affordable housing for our seniors.

Vero Beach Museum of Art will also jazz things up when pianist Mike Telesmanick plays the March 21 Concert in the Park. The Night Sounds concert March 23 offers an opportunity to enjoy more live music under the nearly full moon at Sebastian Inlet State Park.

Another musical event that intrigues me this month—an indoor one this time—is Vero Beach Opera’s March 24 presentation of “Scenes from Zarzuelas,” which will expose us to a distinctly Spanish form of musical theater.

Thank you for your continued support, and happy reading!

Teri Amey-Arnold, Publisher publisher@verobeachmagazine.com

KELLY

OLGA

RENÁE TESAURO Editor at Large

Valerie Cruice, Chris Fasolino, Elizabeth Leonard, Evelyn Wilde Mayerson, Patrick Merrell, Nickie Munroe, Jeffrey R. Pickering, Amy Robinson, Ellen E. Stanley

Vero Beach Magazine is the first magazine to be dedicated exclusively to Vero Beach and remains the only local magazine with verified circulation. A minimum of 10,000 magazines are distributed monthly, to at least 30,000 readers in almost every state, including Alaska and Hawaii.

Vero Beach Magazine’s staff is committed to using print media to make Indian River County a better place for all residents, mindful of environmental and historic preservation, while underscoring the best aspects of life in this charming oceanfront community.

Winner of numerous awards since its inception, starting with the Florida Magazine Association’s Best New Magazine Award in 1998, Vero Beach Magazine has made its greatest impact by providing meaningful information to readers about the needs of local nonprofit organizations in Indian River County, inspiring philanthropy and prompting nonprofit coverage by many other media companies.

Our office is located at 3375 20th Street, Suite 100, on the corner of 34th Avenue and State Road 60, in Vero Beach. Visitors are welcome by appointment from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, for subscription, article, and advertising questions.

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Sandra

ASHLEY MEYER

OUR 2024 ADVISORY BOARD

SOPHIE BENTHAM-WOOD is a native of London. At Sheffield University, she studied the history of art, design, and film, earning a bachelor’s degree. She then embarked on an illustrious career in marketing and public relations that now spans 25 years. Sophie moved to the United States in 2008, and, since 2012, she has been the director of marketing and communications at the Vero Beach Museum of Art. In this capacity, she oversees enterprise activities, including Visitor Services, the Museum Store, and the Museum Café. She is also part of the senior management team. In her tenure, she has managed the introduction of an admission charge, overseen a rebranding of the museum’s logo, and played a major role in reenvisioning and shaping the VBMA’s strategic plan. More recently, she has implemented a fully integrated marketing campaign for the museum.

KEVIN GIVEN hails from White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, home of the worldfamous Greenbrier resort and hotel, where he was a fourth-generation team member. He earned a degree in hospitality and tourism management, with a minor in business administration, from Concord University in Athens, West Virginia, and has now been in the resort/private club management field for over 40 years. He is a board member at the West Virginia University Foundation and a hospitality management advisory board member at WVU’s John Chambers College of Business and Economics. In 2001, he was one of the founding partners at Quail Valley, and he was also on the executive team developing Windsor and Orchid Island. Kevin has served on the boards of the Indian River Community Foundation, the Environmental Learning Center, and Saint Edward’s School.

TRUDIE RAINONE has lived in Vero Beach for 23 years and has served the community in leadership roles with a variety of Indian River County nonprofits. Her passion for outreach has her currently serving on the executive boards of Senior Resource Association, ORCA, Youth Guidance Mentoring Academy, and Senior Collaborative. She is also a health care partner volunteer with Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital and vice chair of Quail Valley Charities, which funds 43 local children’s organizations. A native of New York City, Trudie reared her children with her husband of 50 years, Donald, in both New York and New Jersey. She is the proud grandmother of two boys, Chase and Drew. She has a merchandising background in the fashion industry and was a business owner specializing in fine antiques.

JON R. MOSES is the managing director and COO of Riverside Theatre, where he has worked for 25 seasons. A Treasure Coast native, he studied theater design technology at Florida State University’s School of Theatre, followed by graduate studies at Florida Atlantic University. He has been involved in every aspect of theater for over 32 years. He has even served as an adjunct faculty member at Indian River State College, where he taught and coordinated an associate of science technical theater program. Jon’s involvement in the community includes serving as treasurer on the board of the Indian River County Chamber of Commerce and as a member of the Exchange Club of Indian River. He was also a board member of the Oceanside Business Association and president of the Florida Professional Theatre Association.

JESSICA LINUS WATFORD moved to Vero Beach as a 10th grader and attended Saint Edward’s school. A graduate of Auburn University (War Eagle!), she lived in Atlanta and Raleigh before returning to Vero Beach in 2015 and joining her father and grandfather in the family business, Linus Cadillac Buick GMC. In 2019, she graduated from the National Automobile Dealers Association Academy and is now a proud third-generation dealer-operator at Linus. Jessica resides in Okeechobee with her husband and two young daughters. She enjoys the best of both worlds, between boating days on the water and country life, rodeos, and ranching.

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ALEXANDRA C. NUTTALL, ASID

The Traverse of Time

THE DNA OF POETRY RUNS THROUGH OUR LIVES; IT MAY EVEN LIVE NEXT DOOR

BY EVELYN WILDE MAYERSON

Adazzling start to Vero Beach’s fall season was the Laura (Riding) Jackson Foundation’s presentation of poet Billy Collins speaking at both a luncheon at Quail Valley River Club and, on the evening of the same day, at the Community Church of Vero Beach. Collins, a poet laureate of the United States who was inducted into the American Academy of Arts

and Letters in 2016, read selections from his collected works, including Aimless Love and Musical Tables. Conversational, witty, and often profound, Collins gave the audience his observations of the everyday, some with a sudden turn at the end, as in the poem titled 3 a.m. that read, “Only my hand is asleep, but it’s a start.”

It is entirely fitting that the appearance of Billy Collins,

hailed by critics as “the people’s poet,” was at the initiative of the Laura (Riding) Jackson Foundation, a notable presence in Indian River County since its inception by Marie Stiefel in 1992. Established in honor of the internationally known poet whose name it bears—who lived and worked in Wabasso for a number of years—the foundation aims to promote writing.

LITERATURE

Billy Collins

BILL HAYES

As an art form, poetry predates prose.

With accessible offices on Vero Beach’s 14th Avenue, the foundation offers teen workshops open to all high school students; adult writing workshops and groups; an all-day writer’s retreat held this year in February at the Vero Beach Garden Club; informal gatherings of the Porch Poets and the Pole Barn Poets, who read to one another from their works; plus a yearly poetry and barbecue event to be held April 13 on the campus of IRSC’s Mueller Center, less than 150 yards from Jackson’s relocated Wabasso cottage. This year’s event will feature poet B.H. Fairchild, winner of the Book Circle Award, and John Balaban, prize-winning author of 13 books of poetry and a former colleague at the

University of Miami.

Prominent in the workings of the foundation is Vero Beach artist, poet, and cattle rancher Sean Sexton, poet laureate of Indian River County and a regular presenter at the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada. Like Collins, Sexton deals with his everyday experiences, in his case things such as “righting a leg” in the birthing of a calf. A working rancher, Sexton belies the image of poet as a lofty effete whose words and affectations are as frivolous as a doily.

Sexton and Collins’ use of the ordinary is not new. They, like most contemporary poets, are inheritors of a movement that began over 200 years ago when, in 1801, English poet laureate William Wordsworth announced a revolution in poetry. Declaring independence from the stilted conventions of poetic language, the private lexicon of men of letters, Wordsworth

proclaimed the equality of the reader with the poet and further declared that the poet’s mission was not only to choose incidents and situations from common life, but to describe them in language used by ordinary people.

Decades later, American poet Walt Whitman furthered the cause of unfettered verse by offering free verse, untrammeled by either rhyme or meter.

For some readers, whether rhymed or not, poetry might seem an acquired taste, an obscure and arcane literary form that perhaps they once had to memorize. The truth of the matter is that we have been tuned into its rhythms since before we were born. We find poetry in the alternation of night and day and light and dark, cosmic cycles ingrained

in our subconscious along with seasons and the pull of the tides from the phases of the moon that resolve in the circadian rhythms that govern our blood pressure, heart rate, and sleeping state.

As an art form, poetry predates prose. The metrical language of verse was how our ancestors preserved their history, a generational telling and retelling that eventually spawned the Norse Edda and Homer’s epic of the Trojan War. Poetry is found everywhere. It may be a personal

William Wordsworth (below) and Walt Whitman (right) both favored poetry reflecting everyday life, free of lofty, stilted language.

bias, but Floridians seem to encourage it. Perhaps verse is inspired by our relative newness; our wildlife, glorious sunsets and warm, scented breezes; our diversity and our history, which on occasion turned the state into a battleground. is last is re ected in a poem by an unnamed Seminole, which begins, “ ere is a sickness in my heart. It began a long time ago with three evil spirits that came out of the sea.”

Nineteenth-century poet Sidney Lanier, known for his adaptation of musical meter to poetry and regarded by many Southerners as the “poet of the Confederacy,” was paid after the Civil War

to write a promotional tract on Florida. While living in Tampa, Lanier was inspired to write, in addition to a guide titled Florida: Its Scenery, Climate, and History, several poems about the state, including A Florida Sunday, A Florida Ghost, Tampa Robin, and e Bee, which “thrust up its sadgold body lustily, all in a honey madness hotly bound.”

Although Lanier’s tenure was brief, he was followed by other poets, some to be born in Florida, many others adopting the state as home—poets such as Miamians Hannah Kahn, winner of numerous national awards, and Donald Justice, who won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in

Southern poet Sidney Lanier penned several poems about Florida, as well as the guide Florida: Its Scenery, Climate, and History

Charlotte

Diane

Kit

Martin

Patty

Kimberly

Michele

Shannon

Cheryl

Carolyn

Candace

WILDE SIDE

“Listen to this simple story, to this song of Hiawatha.”

– H.W. LONGFELLOW

1980; Key Wester Shel Silverstein—cartoonist, poet and composer of “A Boy Named Sue”; and the funny, sharp, and engaging Peter Meinke of St. Petersburg, who wrote the amusing words, “Marry a pretty girl after seeing her mother” and was named poet laureate of Florida in 2015.

Zen teaches us that everything is connected, which is why I don’t hesitate to introduce another form of poet, those who live on not only in their works but in their DNA— the epic poem, contained in our cells, that carries the record of our journeys. I know such a case—a story that brings illustrious poetic DNA to my very neighborhood.

This particular journey

begins with Zilpah and Stephen Longfellow, solid colonial stock with roots tracing back to the settlement of Plymouth. From there the voyage eventually extends over several generations south to Vero Beach, to Thayer Longfellow Baine, who resides with her husband, Kevin, in the community of Windsor.

Thayer shares her double helix not only with Samuel Sewell, the presiding judge of the Salem witch trials, but with America’s first acknowledged poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who, in his own time, like the contemporary Billy Collins, has been hailed as a “poet of the people.”

Thayer and her famous cousin share a common ancestor,

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow sits for a daguerreotype circa 1850 (right) and in his study about 30 years later (below).

WEST PALM NAPLES JUPITER FORT MYERS PALM BEACH WELLINGTON

WILDE SIDE

the poet’s great-grandfather, Stephen Longfellow II. It is through Stephen’s son William that their lines diverge, Henry’s to remain in the American Northeast, Thayer’s to eventually migrate to the Midwest.

When Henry Wadsworth Longfellow died in 1882, the year Henry Flagler visited St. Augustine and was inspired to build his FEC Railway, Longfellow was the most popular poet in the English-speaking world as well as the first, and up to the present time the only, American poet whose bust has been placed in the Poets’ Corner of Westminster Abbey.

In our own day there has been a resurgence of academic interest in Longfellow, about the

time his cousin Thayer enjoyed careers in both music and math education, each discipline, incidentally, an element of poetry. Taking time off to rear three children before returning to teach sixth-grade math for 20 years, Thayer has been a member of a chorus for 40 years and a bridge life master who loves to walk, play golf, and read to one of her eight grandchildren when the occasion arises. For 10 years, she has served, along with Sara Whiting, as co-chair of the Windsor Book Club.

Thayer even resembles a portrait of Henry’s father, Stephen Longfellow IV. When I look at Thayer, I see more than an accomplished neighbor. I see

a living link to one of America’s greatest poets. The association also triggers memories of lines I once memorized, lines from Paul Revere’s Ride, The Song of Hiawatha, Evangeline, and, from The Village Blacksmith, “a mighty man is he with large and sinewy hands.”

The historic Laura (Riding) Jackson house, originally situated in Wabasso, now stands on the grounds of IRSC’s Mueller Campus in Vero Beach.

MARTINA TANNERY

In His Nature

ARTIST RICK KELLY PARTNERS WITH THE LAND TRUST TO SUPPORT PRESERVATION EFFORTS

BY ANN TAYLOR

Meet Rick Kelly, an award-winning artist whose paintings celebrate the glorious gifts nature has bestowed on us. With each stroke of his brush, images of lush landscapes and native vegetation come alive, forming visual stories of the beauty that surrounds us—beauty we all too often take for granted.

Robinson Waterfront Trail.

“I absolutely love nature, and I’ve always liked what the Land Trust does, so I asked Melissa [DePriest, director of philanthropy and marketing] and Ken [Grudens, executive director] if there was something I could do to help raise funds. A few years ago I donated a painting to one of their auctions, and I thought

That’s what prompted Kelly to partner with the Indian River Land Trust on a fundraising project that showcases Land Trust properties along the Indian River Lagoon where preservation won out over development, among them Bee Gum Point Preserve, Oyster Bar Marsh, the Lagoon Greenway, and the Toni

maybe I could do something similar,” says Kelly, going back to the beginning.

“The three of us had a number of conversations, and it was decided I would do 12 paintings. They gave me free license to roam their properties alone or with one of their staff. I did a tremendous number of sketches to

make sure everything was correct—which way the light was coming from, that sort of thing. There’s a lot of editing involved. It basically took me a year and a half to get all of the sketches and paintings done. As it turned out, I ended up with 18 paintings. I showed them to Ken and Melissa and they chose them all for the annual benefit at Rock City Gardens.”

When DePriest saw Kelly’s paintings, her immediate reaction was “Wow!”

“They’re amazing,” she says. “Rick’s a creative genius, and his paintings are another way for people to see our properties. Three of them are part of a triptych, so when viewed together they create one scene of the Toni

Robinson Waterfront Trail, a mile-long path through scrub habitat and oak forest to the mangroves.”

If Kelly has a favorite, it’s probably those three, due in part to his admiration for Robinson, IRLT director emeritus and passionate preservation advocate. He explains: “As you walk through the trail, especially the mangrove swamps, you get these little openings and see a beautiful bird or fish jumping. It just takes your breath away! Kudos to Miss Toni Robinson and many, many people like her who are protecting places for us, plus the birds, to enjoy.”

Great Blue, 20 x 30 inches, Toni Robinson Waterfront Trail

Roseate Spoonbills , 20 x 30 inches, Oyster Bar Marsh

Kelly’s love of nature began early, when, as a young boy, he traveled around his home state of Florida with his father and brother, savoring the sights, sounds, and times spent fishing for snook.

A retired Fort Pierce firefighter, Kelly was a student of well-known landscape artist A.E. “Beanie” Backus. He learned well.

In 2007 Kelly received the Florida Senate Medallion of Excellence commemorating his artistic visions of Florida’s

natural beauty. A year later, he and ecologist Camille Yates authored Treasured Waters, a book that combines art with the history and biology of Florida.

Kelly continues to use his art to inspire others to appreciate the natural environment and help preserve it for future generations. On every painting, above his signature, he paints a Jesus fish. “I have a talent I never learned or earned; it’s a gift from God. That’s what I’m about, end of story.”

Paradise of Birds , 20 x 30 inches, Bee Gum Point Preserve

Butterfly Orchids , 18 x 36 inches, Coastal Oaks Preserve

Above: Royal Courtyard North , 24 x 18 inches, Toni Robinson Waterfront Trail

Right: Kelly with Ken Grudens

Staged Scenes from ZARZUELAS!

This is the real deal.

Our Artists specialize in Zarzuelas! Transport to the heart of Spain with passionate melodies & stories brought to life by four remarkable singers, a brilliant ensemble of musicians, and a group of fiery dancers.

March 24 at 3 pm

With English SupertiTles

VBHS Performing Arts Center

MEET THE CAST & PURCHASE TICKETS AT VeroBeachOpera.org

Did you know?

• We invite the top young rising opera singers in the world today to compete for major cash prizes, and we cast many of them in our operas and concerts.

• A two-day pass to the competition rounds is only $20!

Semi-Finals: April 10 at 3 pm

Finals: April 11 at 3 pm

• The formal Awards Concert is April 12 at 7 pm with Master of Ceremonies Ian Campbell

VBHS Performing Arts Center

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RisingStars

2024 vocAL Competition april 10, 11 at 3 pm • April 12 at 7 pm

Dancing

The Real Thing

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE CAN DESCRIBE, BUT NEVER REPLACE, AUTHENTIC COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

BY JEFFREY R. PICKERING

For the better part of the last three years, I have had the privilege of writing this Indian River Insights column in Vero Beach Magazine. That’s 36 columns, give or take, written on the topic of philanthropy and charitable giving in our Indian River County community. I submit each by a monthly deadline.

This one was due January 1. Deadlines have a funny way of getting me to pay attention. While there are some months when the specific subject of the column is one that inspires me to start writing well in advance of my deadline, this is one where the words just wouldn’t come. At least not for this writer.

Over the course of the last year, like many people, I read articles and listened to news stories about the rise of artificial intelligence. One aspect of this new technology that piques my curiosity is its ability to compose written content, including articles, social media posts, essays, and other creative material that simulates

PHILANTHROPY

Childcare Resources relies on making connections in the community through fostering empathy with residents who want to help local children.

the work of an actual human being. ChatGPT is one application that has been getting a significant amount of attention lately. Could it be the answer to my writer’s block? I was about to find out.

ChatGPT, which stands for “Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer,” is an artificial intelligence chatbot developed by the company OpenAI. Once this application is downloaded onto a computer, tablet, or smartphone, it works by attempting to understand a text input, otherwise known as a prompt, and generating a dynamic response. It can do this because the algorithm can search and curate

virtually any content that exists on the internet and present it in a usable format.

As an example, when ChatGPT is given the prompt “What is the best recipe for bread pudding?” it responds, “A classic bread pudding is a delightful treat that brings comfort and warmth.” This statement is followed by a list of ingredients and cooking instructions.

While ChatGPT’s result is both accurate and thorough, and its speed is impressive, there is still something not quite right about this artificially intelligent dessert, at least for my taste, because the recipe calls for two ingredients that

no self-respecting amateur chef living in the South would include: raisins and chopped nuts. Just ask any of the countless neighbors, friends, or family members who have ended a dinner party at my home with a warm serving of my “Pick’s New Orleans–style Bread Pudding.” No raisins, no nuts. Just bread, milk, sugar, cinnamon, eggs, a pinch of salt, and caramel sauce.

Sure, a bread pudding minus raisins or nuts could be considered a personal preference. In my opinion, however, it is my personal preferences that make my bread pudding authentic.

Personal preference also has

Use of ChatGPT in some circumstances can be helpful, but it’s not human.

quite a bit to do with the charities that people choose to support as volunteers or donors. It is a person’s authentic engagement or investment that makes these acts of kindness and generosity special.

Ask ChatGPT, however, to describe why charitable giving is important, and while the answer is both thorough and succinct, something inspiring is certainly missing. Take the following answer, for example:

Charitable giving, at its core, is a powerful force for positive change that extends far beyond the act of donating money or resources. It is a conduit for fostering empathy, creating connections, and analyzing tangible improvements in society.

Okay, ChatGPT. I’ll play along.

So, how does charitable giving foster empathy?

Firstly, charitable giving has an intrinsic emotional bene t. It cultivates a sense of purpose and ful llment in individuals by allowing them to contribute to causes larger than themselves. e act of giving, whether through donations, volunteering, or fundraising,

can bring about a profound sense of joy and satisfaction, enhancing one’s overall wellbeing.

I recently helped clients donate to Childcare Resources, a local charity that provides high-quality early education to children from low-income families. Previously, these clients had donated primarily to similar causes a liated with their church. When they learned about the impact this local charity makes in the lives of some of the more vulnerable members of our community beyond their congregation’s membership, including homeless children, they were inspired to learn and eventually do more.

ey were familiar with much of the data that speaks to the importance of quality early childhood education, but it was the individual stories of the children served by the organization that touched them at a deeper level and motivated them to give. is act of charitable giving was special not because of the transactional nature of a donation but because of the

human connection between my clients and the children they will help.

So, what does ChatGPT have to say about the connections created through charitable giving?

The impact of charitable giving transcends mere monetary value. It stimulates a ripple effect, inspiring others to contribute and creating a culture of generosity. Through the power of example, it encourages compassion and kindness, fostering a more empathetic society.

Walk through any of our community’s anchor institutions where philanthropy plays an important role in the organization’s history and ongoing operations. Donor recognition walls

Inside the front entrance of the Vero Beach Museum of Art, one of the first things you’ll see is the donor wall.

KELLY ROGERS

I see authentic connections between donors that artificial intelligence knows nothing about.

list the names of benefactors whose generosity helped get important things done, such as building a stage at Riverside Theatre, growing a permanent collection for the Vero Beach Museum of Art, or equipping an operating room at Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital with 21stcentury medical devices.

Taking a closer look at these lists of names, I see authentic connections between donors that artificial intelligence knows nothing about. One of dozens that come to mind is the special relationship between two clients of mine who met and fell in love after the deaths of their respective spouses. For years, their names were listed within the same grouping of top donors to the Vero Beach Museum of Art, but their introduction came when a mutual friend

hosted the widow and widower at a reception in advance of an exhibit opening. The word they both use to describe their connection means “destiny” in Yiddish. When I see the mutual respect these two have for each other’s pasts, combined with the loving way they spend time together as each other’s “bashert,” there is nothing artificial about it.

What are the tangible improvements that ChatGPT suggests are made possible by charitable giving?

Charitable giving plays a pivotal role in addressing societal challenges. Charitable donations fuel organizations and initiatives that tackle pressing issues such as poverty, education, healthcare, environmental conservation, and more. By supporting these causes, individuals become active participants in shaping

INDIAN RIVER INSIGHTS

Donors give because they believe in a cause, such as their place of worship or alma mater, or a health care charity.

a better world, effecting positive change in communities locally, nationally, and globally.

In the fall of 2014, I brought my wife and youngest son from Bakersfield, California to Vero Beach for my second in-person interview for the role of CEO of Indian River Community Foundation. On one of our strolls down Ocean Drive, we spied the playground at Humiston Park and walked over to look. After a quick glance at a rickety teeter-totter and a rusty set of monkey bars wrapped in yellow “caution” tape, we opted to skip the potential trip to the emergency room and

continued toward the beach to watch the waves.

One year later, a ribbon cutting was held to unveil the new playground at Humiston Park. The public-private project was made possible with donations collected by a group of mothers organized as Go Play Vero and construction by the City of Vero Beach Parks and Recreation department. Parents, grandparents, and other concerned citizens who rallied to make this playground possible are recognized on engraved bricks, and a monument lists the names of the project’s top donors. I am proud to see Community Foundation listed

Above: Former City of Vero Beach recreation director Rob Slezak, founder of Go Play Vero Kelley Della Porta, and City of Vero Beach assistant recreation director Patty Howard were instrumental in getting a new Humiston Park playground (below) installed.

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there and continue to point this out as a tangible improvement made possible by charitable gifts, big and small, that have made our community better.

Sure, ChatGPT, there are

other practical benefits that come with charitable giving, such as tax deductions. In my experience, this typically affects what donors give— such as appreciated stock, or when donations are made—

often bundled as one large gift to a donor-advised fund that pays out to multiple charities over several years. However, a tax deduction is rarely the reason why someone chooses to make a donation.

Donors give because they believe in a cause, such as their place of worship. They give to show their appreciation, as when they donate to an alma mater. Grateful patients often give to a hospital or other healthrelated charity for the care

they received or to help others in need to receive the same.

Founders and other dedicated volunteers give to a wide range of organizations to help animals, promote the arts, support education, preserve the environment, or give vulnerable individuals and families needed relief. These acts of generosity tap into a wide range of emotions because of the difference they make.

“Tears of joyness” is the phrase my daughter uses for the contagious laughter that sometimes ensues when she is moved by a stranger’s act of kindness or generosity. There is nothing artificial about that.

ECONOMY AUTOMOBILES

Winner and Loser

FROM THE COLLECTION OF DARRELL AND CHERYL ZERAN IN VERO BEACH: THE 1950 CROSLEY CD SUPER STATION WAGON

WRITTEN AND PHOTOGRAPHED BY PATRICK MERRELL

The year 1950 was a dismal one for Crosley Motors of Cincinnati, Ohio. It sold only 7,612 vehicles that year, and the road ahead looked worse. The one bright spot for the company came from its tiny new sports car: the Hotshot. At the last minute, a Hotshot was entered in the first sports car endurance race held in the United States, a six-hour event at Sebring Raceway. Although it competed against Ferraris and Fiats, the results took engine size into account, and when the calculations were completed, the Crosley was the overall winner!

Powel Crosley Jr. was a serial entrepreneur and innovator whose first big success came in 1916 from selling automobile parts by mail. His bestseller was Insyde Tyres, a liner he invented to prevent tire punctures. In 1921, he established the Crosley Radio Company, producing a wildly popular line of inexpensive radios. A string of other successes followed over the next 20 years (more about that later), making him one of the most well-known people in the country.

Crosley’s first love was automobiles, however, and in 1937 he built a prototype of a small car

This Crosley Hotshot won America’s first sports car endurance race, based on calculations that took engine size into account. The rules were changed for the next race, with the winner being the car that covered the most distance.

he nicknamed the CRAD, an acronym of Crosley Radio Auto Division. Luckily, that name didn’t survive; neither did the positioning of the back tires, which were just over a foot apart. In 1939, Crosley Motors introduced its rst production automobile, a spartan convertible that weighed just 975 pounds. It sold for $325 to $350, well below any other American make.

This Crosley station wagon was on display last year at Sebring Raceway, the site of the Hotshot’s moment of glory 73 years earlier. The grille and propeller on this 1950 are from a 1951 model, swapped in when Darrell Zeran restored it. The greyhound hood ornament is an a ermarket item from another manufacturer.

The bestseller in Crosley’s mail-order business

CLASSIC CARS

Below: Even with a

The car was available as a two-passenger coupe or a four-passenger sedan. Both had a tiny 80-inch wheelbase and a two-cylinder engine capable of a top speed of about 50 mph. Customers could buy them at their local hardware or appliance store, alongside other Crosley products.

In 1941, the car line was expanded to include a deluxe sedan, a “woody” station wagon, and two trucks. By the time production was shut down for the war in 1942, Crosley had sold 5,757 vehicles.

After the war, Crosley was one of the first carmakers to offer a new design. It built and sold 5,000 cars at the tail end of 1946; 19,000 in 1947; and, with the introduction of a popular station wagon, 28,000 vehicles in 1948. Unfortunately, it was all downhill from there.

In 1949, the Big Three ramped up production, at long last offering all-new vehicles. Crosley couldn’t compete with the larger, plusher, and more powerful products Detroit was putting out—but that was only half the problem.

After several years of use, Crosley’s sheet-metal CoBra (copper-brazed) engines began to corrode and crack. Customers were furious, and Crosley scrambled to replace the defective engines—and outfit the 1950 models— with a cast-iron design.

Although Crosley hoped the bad publicity would die down, just the opposite happened. The company’s innovative use of disc brakes in its 1949 vehicles proved equally disastrous. Snow and road salt in the winter caused them to lock up, and the alloy parts deteriorated much more quickly than expected.

Sales plummeted over the next two years, and on July 4, 1952, the last Crosley cars rolled off the assembly line.

CROSLEY SUCCESSES

In 1920, when radio was still in its infancy, Powel Crosley Jr. went to buy a radio for his son. Shocked to find it cost $135, he decided he could do better. In 1921, the Crosley Radio Company came out with a model priced at just $7. Other models followed, and within a few years the company had grown into the largest radio manufacturer in the world.

The hood emblem (left) was based on the Crosley family crest, minus its motto: “Per Crucem Confido” (I Trust Through the Cross). The trunk emblem (right) includes the Crosley Motors slogan: “A Fine Car.”

cluster of modern gauges on the dashboard, the Crosley’s interior remains spartan. The heater, under the dash, was one of the extras that came with the “Super” model.

In 1922, Crosley established WLW radio in Cincinnati, “the Nation’s Station,” as it came to be known. Its 500,000-watt transmitter, built in 1934, was the most powerful in the world, broadcasting shows that could be heard from Alaska to the Amazon basin. Red Skelton, Doris Day, and Fats Waller were among its on-air personalities. During World War II, its sister station, WLWO, broadcast Voice of America programming.

In 1929, Crosley introduced the Icyball, a refrigeration system requiring no electricity. Although popular, it almost never needed to be replaced, so sales soon began to decline. Four years later, the company had another hit with its patented Shelvador electric refrigerator, the rst to o er storage on the door.

In 1934, Powel Crosley Jr. bought the Cincinnati Reds and a year later held Major League Baseball’s rst night game. FDR ceremonially ipped a switch at the White House as the lights came on at Crosley Field in Cincinnati.

During World War II, Crosley built generators, gun sites and turrets, and several prototype vehicles for the military. Its most important project, however, was helping to produce one of the Allies’ most important secrets: the proximity fuse.

e device, used to detonate shells when close enough to a target, sped up the war in the Paci c. It also played a huge role in thwarting Hitler’s V-1 assault, as well as the German army’s last major o ensive. “ e funny fuse won the Battle of the Bulge for us,” General Patton said.

Above: Crosley started producing radios in 1921, refrigerators in 1927, and proximity fuses for use in World War II in 1942.

The lightweight CT-3 Pup was designed for military use, but only 37 were built. The fenders are heavy canvas over wire frames.

This Mule, as well as several motorcycles and the amphibious Duck, never got past the prototype stage.

JOHN LLOYD

JOHN LLOYD

„

A

collaboration with Leah Muller Interiors

Area Code

DECIPHERING THE INTRICACIES OF RUG SELECTION CAN UNDERLIE THE REVIVAL OF A ROOM

BY VALERIE CRUICE

Sisal, serapi, jute, or flokati?

Serged, scalloped, taped, or fringed?

Legs on, legs off?

Choosing the right area rug can really tie you into knots. These carpet conundrums roll into our homes at some point. Selecting the right style, the right material, and the right size of an area rug can be as mysterious as Area 51.

Area rugs have warmed floors since ancient times, particularly for nomadic tribes; the earliest known example is the hand-knotted Pazyryk Carpet, discovered in Siberia and dating to 500 B.C.

The word “rug” is thought to be derived from the Old Norse “rokk.” The first known use of the word appeared in England in 1591. Fast-forward to 1950s Lord & Taylor, where carpet designer Edward Fields coined the term “area rug,” describing his new collection for the department store. Seventy years later, Edward Fields Carpet Makers pays tribute to this heritage with a line called “Area by Edward Fields.”

Vero Beach interior designer Rod Mickley calls area rugs “art for the floor.” He prefers wool, says sisal has “run its course” (he’ll throw a dhurrie on top for color), and cites NIBA Designs in Miami as his “go-to.”

A mainstay of the area rug industry is Stark. Founded 80 years ago, the company is now in the hands of its third generation: Chad Stark is CEO, and his cousin Ashley Stark is creative director of the New York City–based business. Last year the cousins cofounded Ashley Stark Home, an omnichannel brand anchored by a collection of area rugs.

Sophistication is important in the home office.

Leah Muller Interiors, the company behind all the decor seen in these photos, ensures a good first impression with this attractive and practical seagrass rug in a client’s foyer.

“Statement rugs are having a moment,” says Ashley Stark, whose designs are inspired by fashion and travel. “We’re leaning into neutral hues paired with touchable textures, proving that simple can make a statement.” In the Southeast, Stark notes, “We’re seeing a high demand for area rugs that are quiet with occasional pops of color. Nature-inspired hues like green, soft blue, and teals also continue to grow in popularity.”

Over 50 years ago, Jafar Falasiri opened Falasiri Oriental Rugs in New York. He and his wife, Barbara, relocated their business to Vero Beach in the 1990s after stints elsewhere in the state. All their rugs are handmade in organic materials. Their Florida Collection, which features both curated and commissioned pieces made by their artisans in Nepal, reflects the coastal aesthetic.

“This collection speaks to the sun, the sand, the verdant landscape; you bring the outside in,” says Barbara Falasiri. The designs are “tone on tone, modern impressionistic, and a lot of painterly style,” she explains. She notes that people are buying larger rug sizes, beyond the typical 8 by 10. “They’re moving to 10 by 13, filling more space with area rugs.”

Size is important when dealing with area rugs. Crystal Lemley of Coastal Interiors says, “The biggest mistake people make buying rugs is that they’re too small.” A living room rug, for example, should accommodate at least the front legs of a sofa and

any chairs should rest completely upon it.

Distance from the wall should be 24 inches in a large room and a minimum of 18 inches in a small one. Jute, seagrass, or sisal work well here. In a bedroom, designers like to see 24 inches all around the bed. Softer viscose or silk blends add extra comfort underfoot.

In a dining area, 36 inches from the edge of the table to the edge of the rug is ideal. Wool, cotton flatweave, and dhurries are good choices for cleaning spills. For hightraffic areas or those with indoor-outdoor function, designers are calling for highperformance rugs, made from recycled plastic, that feel soft and can be hosed down.

So, pile it on with area rugs; you just might be swept away on a magic carpet ride.

From the top: A chevron print adds whimsy and an unexpected art element to the floor; funky patterns elevate a modern room; shag rugs can be fun in a game room or entertainment space.

Leah Muller Interiors celebrates coastal decor but brings in a muted ticking stripe in the area rug.

HORTICULTURE

Botanical Buddies

HOUSEPLANTS CAN BRING JOY WITHOUT AN OVERWHELMING WORKLOAD

BY NICKIE MUNROE

My friends and family try to encourage me through the winter by giving me new houseplants.

ey are pretty, and my friends are sweet and well-meaning. What am I to do with seven jade plants? e darling friend who repots my African violets when she does hers receives payment in brioche French toast. ey are doing well, and I do not want to jinx it. e rest receive new

digs on their birthdays, so I do not feel overwhelmed.

e bene ts of having houseplants are numerous. ey help clean the air, add a nice ambience to a space, and are lovely to look at. e drawbacks for many who visit my o ce are about the maintenance of the plants. Some people claim all their plants die within three months. ( at’s not bad if you are a snowbird and only need them for a few months.)

Almost everyone who objects to having a houseplant claims it is because they o er room and board to ants, gnats, or other insects. My mission is to help people nd the perfect plant and help them gure out how to have the best relationship with it.

If you are like me, you want to add beauty to a space. It

cannot be high maintenance. ere is so much more to life than managing 13 houseplants. I also travel for work, so they must be okay with me going away for a few days. My favorites to share with others are jade, peace lily, and select herbs for kitchen windows.

I tell my friends to follow a very easy regimen with their new plant babies. ese tips will also work for you:

• Do not water your indoor plants unless there are signs of wilting, or the top 1 to 2 inches of soil are dry. Many people have a watering schedule, and you will eventually gure out that is dependent on the conditions of your home. E cient watering will help keep the plant healthy and reduce the likelihood of insects nding refuge. Ensure all pots with

The peace lily and select herbs are great choices when it comes to gi ing plants.

drainage holes are on saucers to catch excess water.

• Repot the ornamentals annually. Most pest issues develop and remain poorly managed because of soil conditions. Plant health is dependent on soil health. Most potting mixes for indoor plants provide enough fertilizer to last until the following changeover. Select the specialty blend that is right for your plant.

• Pot and plant size relate directly to your ability to manage and handle them. I have only two 12-inch pots inside my house. Most of the others are 6 inches or less. At these sizes, I can do everything I need to do with them independently if required.

Navigating my small house without plants obstructing walkways and taking up limited flat surfaces is also easier.

• Enjoy your plants—place them where they can add to your happiness. In a pinch, using a regular houseplant as a table centerpiece is easy. One of my jades is in a very colorful 6-inch pot. I use it when someone stops by and we have an impromptu tea party.

My indoor plants are unconcerned about whether March allows the winter one last hurrah. As for outside, I remain vigilant until All Fools’ Day. Of course, April comes with its troubles—insects preparing for a resurgence and transitioning my vegeta-

Watering of houseplants should be done when soil is dry, not on a schedule.

ble gardening beds. I will use Florida-Friendly Landscaping techniques for those problems. Bring on the warmth!

Nickie Munroe is an environmental horticulture agent with the University of Florida’s IFAS Indian River County Extension

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LEARNING

Your Attention, Please!

WITH EARLY DIAGNOSIS AND PROPER TREATMENT, CHILDREN WITH ADHD CAN REACH THEIR FULL POTENTIAL AS ADULTS

BY RENÁE TESAURO

We all know them.

The child who cannot sit still or follow instructions. The adult who is constantly distracted and can’t seem to focus on the task at hand. They could be among the more than 6 million children and 8 million adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (commonly known as ADHD or ADD).

“I was diagnosed with ADHD

when I was in third grade,” says 32-year-old Natalia of Miami. “My parents had me evaluated at the recommendation of my teachers, who said I was very bright but that I was easily distracted and talked too much in class.”

“There was a stigma about ADHD at the time, and there weren’t many resources for parents and children,” Natalia recalls. “Unlike now, the school

didn’t provide accommodations for test taking and I had a hard a time in the elementary grades, despite having tested as a gifted student. When it came to test taking, I would make careless mistakes because I read through the material very quickly. If someone in the room happened to be tapping a pencil, for example, I became easily distracted.”

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In 2022, more than 10 percent of U.S. children aged 3 to 17 were diagnosed with ADHD, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A developmental disorder characterized by ongoing symptoms of inattentiveness, hyperactivity, and/or impulsivity, ADHD has no known cause or cure. However, with the proper combination of treatments, the symptoms can be minimized and managed throughout a person’s lifetime, enabling those who once felt stigmatized by the disorder to become highly functional adults.

“ADHD symptoms have traditionally accounted for the largest number of referrals to child health specialists,” says Joseph R. Feist, PhD, a licensed clinical psychologist who o ers evaluation and therapy for students from pre-K to adulthood at o ces in Vero Beach and Coral Gables. “Teachers would say the incidence is up, but it may

also suggest that more cases are being diagnosed.”

ere are three main types of ADHD, according to Feist, each centered around a cluster of symptoms ranging from mild to severe. People with inattentive ADHD are easily distracted, have trouble paying attention, or have diculty following instructions or completing tasks that require sustained focus. ey may be perpetually forgetful, have trouble keeping appointments

RESOURCES FOR PARENTS

and meeting deadlines, and often lose things.

ose with hyperactive/ impulsive ADHD may have trouble staying seated (as in a classroom), waiting their turn, or engaging in hobbies quietly. ey may talk excessively, interrupt others who are speaking, or act impulsively without thinking about the consequences.

e third and most common type of ADHD is a combination of the two, in

If you suspect your child has ADHD, consult a licensed psychologist, pediatrician, pediatric neurologist, psychiatrist, or nurse practitioner with expertise in the field.

For more information about evaluation services and educational opportunities for students with ADHD, contact the School District of Indian River County Exceptional Student Education Department at indianriverschools.org.

those in need.

which there are symptoms of both inattentiveness and hyperactivity/impulsivity. Regardless of the type of ADHD, the symptoms can wreak havoc on a child’s relationships with parents, teachers, and friends as well as school performance.

“Early detection is the key to treating most attention and learning disorders, and ADHD in particular,” says Feist, who performs detailed psychoeducational evaluations to assess students’ learning strengths and weaknesses, as well as to identify learning disabilities, including the presence and severity of ADHD, or any emotional condition that may be interfering with their education. “If undetected and untreated, these children are often labeled by others as di cult. By addressing their symptoms early, they can avoid a lot of collisions at home, school, and—later in life—with bosses at work.”

Studies show that more

One of the fi rst steps in diagnosing a learning disorder in children is to evaluate behavior and address symptoms early. School resources are available to

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than 80 percent of adults with ADHD are unaware they have it, and anywhere from 35 to 78 percent of people diagnosed with ADHD during childhood have symptoms as adults.

ADHD is a lifetime condition that changes over time, Feist points out. “With children, the biggest challenge is often the con nement that occurs during the rst years of school. ey are made to sit still and study a generic curriculum, which is di cult if they have these symptoms. Our education system is like a giant hourglass. When you’re in preschool, it’s wide open. In grades one through 12, we squeeze everyone to be the same. If children can come

out of that without damage, things open up and get easier in college or the world of work, where individuals have more free time to pursue subjects or activities they enjoy.”

“ADHD can occur in people who are brilliant, average, and below average in intelligence,” Feist adds. Although the causes and risk factors are unknown, research suggests that genetics may play an important role. More than half of children with ADHD have a parent with the disorder. Research has also shown an increased incidence of ADHD among premature and low birthweight babies, babies whose mothers smoked or used alcohol, children with

frontal lobe head injuries, and those exposed to toxins that may interfere with brain development.

Although there is no cure for ADHD, its symptoms can be managed with a multipronged approach, which may include medication; cognitive behavioral therapy; self-control, quieting, and mindfulness techniques; and various proven coping strate-

gies. Treatment also extends beyond the patient: “It’s important to train families to positively intervene with ADHD behaviors,” says Feist. “Parents sometimes threaten, scream, or get frustrated when their children ignore their requests. It’s best to give them the tools they need to promote compliance e ectively and gracefully through self-control techniques or

reward systems implemented at home or in collaboration with their child’s school.”

Students of all ages who are diagnosed with ADHD can bene t from policies that require schools to be on the lookout for signs of learning disabilities, conduct evaluations, and provide classroom-based behavioral interventions and/or academic accommodations if necessary. Interventions might entail helping the student to better manage classroom behavior or study skills, while accommodations might include extra time or a smaller, quieter location for test taking; preferential seating in the classroom; or

a reduced workload. ese interventions and accommodations, experts say, can help level the playing eld for students who would otherwise be inadvertently discriminated against in a traditional classroom setting.

In Indian River County, resource specialists in public and charter schools act as intermediaries between teachers, problem-solving teams, and parents when a disability is suspected, according to district resource specialist Beth Miller. e school team, which includes parents, reviews all available data to determine what is impeding the student’s learning. is may prompt tiered interventions in the area(s) of struggle, which may include behavior.

If the student shows progress following the targeted intervention, the team may decide to continue those interventions, as they are usually standard practices in the general education tool kit. If the

student doesn’t show progress, the school team may consider a change in the frequency, duration, or type of intervention; an evaluation for either a 504 plan (part of a federal civil rights statute) if the team nds that specialized accommodations are needed due to a suspected or documented disability; or an individualized education program (IEP) if the student requires specialized instruction along with accommodations. e interventions and accommodations are all dependent upon the data and needs of the individual student.

“ e evaluation process includes information provided by the parent, teacher(s), and an assessment by our school psychologist,” explains Miller. “ e psychoeducational evaluation may include observations and rating scales related to ADHD. However, IQ and academics may also be assessed, as many learning disabilities can

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present with characteristics resembling ADHD. If parents suspect their child has a disability such as ADHD, they should contact their local school for assistance.”

Natalia was initially put on medication to manage her symptoms, but she didn’t like the way it made her feel. Fortunately, a reevaluation by Feist made her eligible for accommodations that were available by the time she entered high school. Natalia took full advantage of extended test-taking time; testing in a quiet, distractionreduced setting; teachers’ office hours; and peer-to-peer tutoring. She captained the robotics team, played varsity

sports, and started a group that made medical missions to the Dominican Republic.

By the time Natalia entered the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she also received educational accommodations, she had developed more coping skills and study mechanisms. For example, she credits the Pomodoro Technique, which involves breaking work into 25-minute intervals with fiveminute breaks in between, for helping her to stay focused during long study sessions.

After graduating with bachelor’s degrees in psychology and nursing, Natalia worked as a critical care nurse, a school nurse, and, during

“Early detection is the key to treating ... ADHD in particular.”

– JOSEPH R. FEIST

COVID, a traveling nurse. Now in graduate school studying to be a nurse practitioner, Natalia says that a nursing career suits her strengths perfectly. “I could never work in an office job, sitting at a desk for 12 hours a day,” she admits. “To be a nurse, you need to be able to do several things at once and work under pressure. I’m never bored. I’m constantly challenged, and it’s ideally suited for me!”

“For most people with

ADHD, the world of work affords opportunities to find something they can do versus something they can’t,” observes Feist.

Today, Natalia feels 100 percent in control of her symptoms, thanks to her own self-awareness and the coping mechanisms she has acquired during her lifetime of living with and learning about ADHD. Plus, she has something very positive on which to focus—her December wedding!

ADVANCED CANCER CARE IN VERO BEACH

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Learn more at ClevelandClinicFlorida.org/Cancer or call 877.463.2010 to schedule an appointment.

Cleaning Up Crime

AN UNCONVENTIONAL HOTEL MAID INADVERTENTLY BECOMES AN ASSET TO LAW ENFORCEMENT

BY ELIZABETH LEONARD OF THE VERO BEACH BOOK CENTER

THE MYSTERY GUEST

by Nita Prose

If you loved The Maid, Nita Prose’s debut novel starring the endearing Molly Gray, you will be just as delighted with this second installment in the Molly the Maid mystery series.

As head maid at the five-star Regency Grand Hotel, Molly finds herself, yet again, in the middle of a scandalous murder investigation after guest speaker J.D. Grimthorpe, a mystery writer, collapses to the floor in front of an audience, dead as a perfectly shined doornail.

Grimthorpe had drawn hundreds of diehard fans, many of whom bordered on obsession with the author. As police try piecing together the crime, Molly inadvertently becomes the best witness and eventually the sidekick of her onetime accuser (in The Maid), Detective Stark, because Molly knew Grimthorpe long before his untimely death at the Regency Grand.

Narrated by Molly, the story unfolds from the perspective of a person with autism. Her unique mind interprets everyone around her literally, leading to some awkward but humorous exchanges that make her one of the most innocent and lovable characters I have ever had the pleasure of reading. Despite the humility she feels regarding her condition and station in life, she knows her duties and takes pride in her work, and sometimes a little in herself.

Molly’s love for cleaning and perfecting the world around her, instilled in her by her Gran, is expressed with such solemn respect it almost seems like a sacred act or an art. All I know is that I couldn’t wait to clean my house after I finished The Mystery Guest. (Maybe my kids should read it too.)

If you haven’t yet read The Maid, you may wish to do so in order to become familiar with Molly and the backdrop of this engaging series.

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RED STRING THEORY

by Lauren Kung Jessen

In this romantic novel, artist Rooney Gao believes in the legend of the red string, an old Chinese belief that everyone is tied to their true love by fate. After questioning this theory herself, she meets skeptic Jack Liu.

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TRAINING

Smarty Cat

TRY TEACHING YOUR OLD CAT SOME NEW TRICKS

BY AMY ROBINSON

Cats are thought to be mysterious, unknowable, and perhaps a bit disdainful of us, their human roommates. These assumptions add to their enigmatic reputation, but cats would beg to differ. They want us to know that they are clever, interactive, trainable, and possess excellent problem-solving skills. Just ask them.

Cindy Wold, owner of A Dog’s Life daycare, is certainly a dog person. Prizes and photos from her agility champions line the walls of the lobby. “I like cats,” she says. “I don’t understand them, but I like them a lot.” Her two rescued cats, Tater and Spud, are informal greeters at A Dog’s Life and have interesting side jobs: they model for

pet product photo and video shoots at Chewy, the leader in e-commerce sales of pet products. This requires a level of control on set that most cat owners would envy.

The feline duo is foodobsessed, which is Wold’s control mechanism. Her cats will interact with dogs for photo shoots, be nice to human actors, and even wear

Tater is one of two feline greeters at A Dog’s Life daycare in Vero Beach.

costumes like pros as long as food is involved. “‘People food’ is their primary goal,” says Wold. “Spud is relentless; he will try to use his nails to grab something off my plate. If I hold a bite of food away from him, Tater will jump up out of nowhere, snatch the food right out of my hand, and exit in a flash,” she laughs. “Yesterday, they ate my entire chicken Caesar salad, lettuce and all.”

Wold is in a position to observe and affect the behaviors of both cats and dogs at work and at home. “With my cats, it’s more about taking their normal cat behaviors and encouraging those, marking those with a cue and reward,” she says. “Anything that the Chewy crew wants Tater and Spud to do on set generally comes from their toolbox of normal behaviors, such as reaching up to something with a paw, watching something, showing interest in something.”

Far from being unknowable and distant, Tater and Spud are engaged with their human and their surroundings, but does their relentless snack seeking mean they are smart? A peek inside a cat’s

brain reveals that the cerebral cortex is larger and more complex compared to that of dogs. This is the part of the brain that rules information processing, action planning, the interpretation of language, and memory.

Cats will also spend more time solving a problem than their canine counterparts. Take the cat that learns how to smack the treat jar onto the floor so that it pops open, and when the same jar is then hidden inside a cabinet, that clever cat will spend hours or even days learning to open that cabinet so he can toss the jar onto the floor all over again.

“Cats learn by association and by consequence, just as dogs do,” notes Zazie Todd, animal expert and author of the popular books Wag and Purr. “People don’t think of them as trainable, but they absolutely are.

“Most people have already trained their cats to do a few things, perhaps without realizing it. If you take the treat pouch from the cupboard, and the cat hears the rustling of the pouch or even the cabinet opening and comes running, then you are training the recall.

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Many cats can be trained using food as a motivator.

Ask Amy

amy@verobeachmagazine.com

My mother is moving in with me and my playful dog, Bingo. He and I like to wrestle a bit on the floor and play some tug, but I am worried that he will try to treat my mother in the same way. When Bingo is bored and wants to play while I am working in my office, he signals this by wrapping his mouth around my wrist. I’d like him to stop that but it is an ingrained habit for both of us. What should I do?

– Riley in Vero Beach

Good for you for addressing this now instead of after your mother moves in. Look at the situation from Bingo’s point of view: he mouths your wrist and you react by looking at him. Success! Bingo got your attention, but that doesn’t mean you should ignore it and let him gnaw on you until he gets tired. Make a food puzzle toy for him. Stuff a toy made for this purpose with a bit of cream cheese or canned dog food along with bits of kibble, or make your own: an empty paper towel tube with kibbles inside and the ends folded shut. Have it on your desk, and when he starts mouthing, say “Leave it,” then take the food toy and place it at your feet. The message is that mouthing does not equal play. He can be with you, but when you are occupied, he must entertain himself for a bit. You might also get a gate for your office so he doesn’t try his toothy overture on your mother.

I like to walk my dog, Star, with my friend and his dog in the afternoons. It is a good social time for the dogs, and we enjoy it too. His dog walks with a prong collar and is very well behaved. My friend suggested one for Star, since she does pull to the point that my back gets sore. It looks kind of mean, but should I try it?

– April in Wabasso

My approach is to use different equipment for different circumstances. A prong collar is great for this type of walk, in which you would like to chat with your friend and have the dogs enjoy each other’s company, and for the veterinarian’s office or other places where you need extra control. That being said, you will want to work with your dog first on that collar before attempting a longer walk. Avoid applying steady pressure; that will be uncomfortable for Star. Instead, the leash should be mostly slack, but when she starts to pull, give her a command like “Wait,” and then you stop completely. When she turns to see what the delay is about, offer a treat so she has to circle back to you to get it. The reward happens when she stops and the leash gets slack. Rubber tips on the end of the prongs will make you feel better about using this collar, and a bandana hides it from opinionated neighbors.

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“Owners can further de ne this behavior by calling ‘Come,’ or just calling the cat’s name, and then rustling the treat pouch. e cat hears the cue word, then the treats being handled, and comes when called. In this learning process, you are trying to make the contingency really clear.”

ere is a perception that cats do not have the innate desire to please that dogs have, which makes them harder to train.

“ at is a sweeping generalization,” says Todd. “Some dogs appear to want to please, but they are learning by consequence.” Dog lifts paw adorably, person delivers pets and rewards. e assumption that dogs are slaves to our desires whereas cats couldn’t care less about us prob-

ably stems from the miniscule amount of time we have spent training them as compared with time spent training our dogs.

“Cats don’t have that history of going to class that dogs do, so we don’t have that reference point,” Todd adds, “but they can learn some fun behaviors, like sitting up, since they naturally sit on their haunches in the grass to look around.” Cats are inquisitive, so following a target stick with a catnip toy or treats stuck to the end may allow you to lead them into another room or even into an open carrier for those necessary trips to the vet.

Tater and Spud have informed Cindy Wold’s thinking about cats. “ ey really do have untapped potential,” she says. “Cats thrive on interactions with their people,

Muster all of your patience to start cueing cute tricks with your cat.

but often don’t get enough and then behavior problems can come up. Dogs are easier to predict; we know that retrievers want to hold and fetch and terriers want to go to ground, so we can make assumptions about their genetic hardwiring. We don’t really have that information about cat traits that match their breed, but we know the behaviors we will see if we show the proper stimulus.

“In training, we are trying to get them to react predictably to a trigger, be it their name,

our hand signal, or similar cue, and then o er play or treats as payment for behavior we have asked them to do.”

Muster all of your patience to start cueing cute tricks with your cat. What is she good at already? Jumping up to high places? You can cue that with “Up!” and place a treat in her favorite spot, then pretend not to care if she does it or not. If the treat is gone later, you win.

Does she like to reach up with a paw to investigate things? Try sticking a treat to a little smear of cream

cheese on a spoon, then raise it in front of her just over her eye level. If she rises up on her haunches or lifts a paw, choose a word to mark that result and let her lick the goodies. Your cat may even start to initiate these minisessions with a pointed meow or just by looking at you. is overture is an open door to a real bond with your cat that is ful lling for both of you.

In general, cats have not been as well trained as dogs; their learning potential hasn’t been tested.

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Pop the Cork!

BRITTANY SWARTZ & STEVEN THOMPSON TIE THE KNOT IN A GARDEN ON THE EMERALD ISLE

BY ANN TAYLOR PHOTOGRAPHY BY IRINA DUANE

“Do you ever feel like you’re home, even though you’ve never been there before?” asks Brittany, recalling how she felt five years ago when she and a friend visited Ireland, the land her great-grandfather called home.

While venturing up the west coast, the two women stopped in the small village of Glengarriff in County Cork, where they were told that before going any farther they needed to visit Garnish Island, known for its beautiful gardens.

“I didn’t really go there with any expectations, but I was blown away! It was so spectacular! Everything just happened to be in bloom, and I knew immediately that I would love to be married there one day,” says Brittany, recalling the aha moment that stayed with her while waiting for Mr. Right to appear.

Make that reappear.

Throughout high school and college, Brittany had dated a classmate named Steven Thompson; however the two took different paths after graduation. Thanks to mutual friends, they met again 15 years later and sparks flew.

“It was basically instantaneous!” Brittany enthuses. “Steven told me after he kissed me for the first

Expansive views from Bantry House provide a dramatic backdrop for this couple’s wedding photographs.

The gardens at Bantry House underwent extensive renovations in the late 1990s, with more planned for the future. It’s a popular venue, open for events during the warmer months of the year.

“It was an absolutely incredible experience; I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”

— BRITTANY SWARTZ THOMPSON

time—again—that he was going to marry me, and he did!”

It took awhile. Steven moved to Vero Beach to be with Brittany in 2020. While she was busy managing the Farmers Market Oceanside, his IT work took him on the road. They were like two proverbial ships passing in the night.

Then COVID hit. The Farmers Market shut down, the road trips stopped, and Brittany and Steven found themselves together 24-7. Without missing a beat, they put their heads together and created the Farmers Market Drop-off, an online marketplace and delivery service that kept customers supplied with their favorite products and market vendors in business.

It was a win-win with an added bonus, as Brittany happily points out: “Steven and I learned that living and working together in such a high-stress scenario actually made us stronger and better as a couple, and in ’21 Steven proposed.

“When we started talking about where we wanted to have our wedding, I said, ‘I know just the place. Garnish Island.’ Steven loved the idea, but we were really nervous about what it would cost. What sealed the deal was we learned it was so affordable to get married in such an absolutely stunning fairy tale setting.”

With that decision made, wedding plans kicked into high gear, then came to a screeching halt when Brittany’s father passed away. “We pushed the date forward a year, giving me time to grieve.

“I think the thing Steven and I hung onto during that time was that the goal for us was to get married surrounded by those we love. My dad passing away really highlighted how important it is to cherish each other and make memories with our loved ones while we can.”

The 12-month delay resulted in losing the Garnish Island venue, so, sight unseen, they selected nearby Bantry House, a historic estate where hillside gardens abounding with rare flowers and statuary overlook Bantry Bay.

“We had never been there; we’d just seen photos, which were beautiful, but you never know if they’re going to match real life. In this case they did,” Brittany notes happily.

“We stayed with our guests at the historic Eccles Hotel, which is very elegant, very old-world, and we had the reception there as well. The hotel coordinator was wonderful. I can’t sing her praises enough. She was with us every step of the way and helped with so many things,” says Brittany, adding that making the arrangements

Clockwise from left: The bride surrounded by Bantry’s gorgeous gardens; the ring; Sarah Tobias, Shina Liu, Brittany, Justina Gioia, Hannah Schoenfeld

long distance wasn’t always easy, considering the fivehour time difference and communication delays.

Yet, slowly but surely, things fell into place.

“Britt had done a lot of hunting to find the perfect photographer,” Steven points out. “It seems the trend nowadays is to have high-contrast photos, but we wanted photos that captured us. Britt had found an amazing photographer we clicked with right away during our intro phone call.”

Brittany cites another example: “I had never met my florist before the wedding. She ended up having a family emergency, so I didn’t really have a chance to finalize things, but as it turned out, the flowers were absolutely stunning.”

“Our videographer called the day before the wedding saying he had just come down with chicken pox, so we

Brittany and Steven said their vows overlooking Bantry Bay in Ireland on May 3, 2023.

went with a backup one. We just trusted that at the end of the day it would all work out—and it did!”

“Actually, every single vendor we worked with was amazing,” adds Steven. “They all over delivered, and on top of that, they were really kind, wonderful people.”

That included the seanchaí, a traditional Irish storyteller, who charmed guests with colorful tales about Irish history and love

stories during the cocktail hour after the rehearsal dinner.

“I had a hard time finding a storyteller,” says Brittany. “There are only about seven official ones in all of Ireland.

“They play an important role; in some remote places of Ireland they didn’t get [electrical] power until the late ’70s or ’80s, so people would gather in the pubs and tell stories. We wanted our guests to have a

connection to Ireland.”

After their May wedding, Brittany and Steven traveled with their guests to Galway, the Cliffs of Moher, and Dublin before heading off on their honeymoon in Italy, where their first stop was Rome, then Lake Como. They lasted three days in Northern Italy. “It rained almost the entire time we were there; everything was soggy and sloshy,” Steven groans. “We were supposed

to finish in Venice, but it just kept pouring, so we returned to Ireland to continue our honeymoon.”

Much of their trip was spent behind the wheel of a car in order to get from point A to point B. Oh, the tales they love to tell.

“We had some amazing adventures, like driving down mountain roads that were one lane for two-directional traffic, then making a wrong turn,” says Steven,

the designated driver, as he recalls more than a few near misses. “First of all, in Ireland they drive on other side of the road; second, I was driving a manual. A lot of the narrow roads have switchbacks and rock walls, so you’re busy shifting while passing within inches of other cars.”

“We drove through mountains in pitch dark and fog, and the directional signs for switchbacks were so intense, they looked

like spaghetti. Everyone was squealing,” laughs Brittany, recalling a white knuckled memory.

She and Steven have many more memories shared with those they hold dear in a country they have grown to love. Given the opportunity, would they do it over again?

Brittany doesn’t hesitate. “Yes! 100 percent! It was an absolutely incredible experience; I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”

Left and above: The gardens, created by Richard White in the 1800s, include seven terraces.

Top: Simple and elegant details adorn tables during the reception at the Eccles Hotel.

A Noble Decision

TERRY STOUGH CHOOSES TO PRESERVE HIS FAMILY’S LAND LEGACY IN A WAY THAT WILL BENEFIT US ALL

BY CHRIS FASOLINO PHOTOGRAPHY BY SAM WOLFE

You might feel as though you’ve stepped back in time, into Florida’s frontier past. A barbed wire gate opens onto a narrow pathway through a cattle pasture. It leads to another gate and an even narrower path, this time through dusty green scrubland. Wildflowers blossom amidst the long grass, attracting varied butterflies: gulf fritillaries with glistening silver iridescence; monarchs, renowned for their continental migrations yet seemingly at home here; even a queen butterfly, far from an everyday sight, with its amber wings marked by white spots as if from an artist’s paintbrush. As you walk a little farther, the trees take over—majestic live oaks and ancient, elegant cypresses.

Top: Terry Stough and his dog Red visit the Land Trust property, an heirloom of the Stough family. Above: Terry’s grandfather, Roy Stough Sr.; father, Roy Jr.; mother, Marian; grandmother, Nellie; uncle, James Stough; and a young Terry with sister Barbara Ann.

“This was a transaction that made everybody feel good.”

— KEN GRUDENS

Le : Terry Stough’s grandparents built a home on a nearby parcel of land a er their arrival in 1918. It no longer stands. The communications involved in the 1940s property purchase show a personal touch characteristic of the times.

Now under their welcoming canopy, you have stepped from the blazing sun into the quiet and restful lighting that exists only in a forest. A blackwater creek meanders its way through the lush vegetation.

You feel as if you are far away from the busy, noisy, and troubled world of the 21st century. And this place is going to stay that way. It is, in a sense, a gift.

e 36-acre property is just south and west of the Sebastian city limits. For its previous owner, Terry Stough, it is a living heirloom, as it had been in his family since the 1940s. Now, Stough has refused lavish o ers from developers who wanted to buy the property; instead, he has chosen to sell it to the Indian River Land Trust. Since the price he will get from the Land Trust is only a fraction of what the developers were o ering, this is indeed a gift as much as it is a sale. He is making the choice so that the site will be preserved in all its natural beauty.

Standing under the cypress trees and listening to the soft murmuring of the creek, Stough recalls how the history of the property and his family history go together. His grandparents moved here more than a century ago, in 1918. His grandfather’s family was from Alabama and his grandmother’s from North Carolina. ey built a homestead on a property nearby, where his grandmother would wash clothes in the creek. She spoke of seeing Seminoles washing their clothes nearby and said they would just look at each other and continue their work. Stough’s wife, Maribeth, says of his grandmother, “She lived to be 96, and she had so many stories.” Stough himself smiles sharing the Seminole story and says, “Believe it if you want!”

With the next generation came citrus. “My dad planted a grove here in 1949,” Stough says. ere were red grapefruits, white grapefruits, navel oranges, and Valencia oranges, along with about a dozen tangerine trees.

e property also hosted festive occasions over the years. “When I was 12 years old, we had a big family reunion—all my kinfolk from Alabama and North Carolina—and we came here,” Stough recalls. e creek had a one-plank bridge back then. “You’d walk across, one person at a time, and it would wobble.”

The family fished frequently in the creek, and one of Stough’s uncles once caught an eel. “He told us it was an electric eel, and he chased my sister and me across the field with it.” Stough laughs at the memory.

When greening became a widespread plague on the citrus industry, the orchard was lost, and the land was leased to a family friend who pastured Florida longhorn cattle there. The scale of the horns could be quite impressive. “You wonder how they can hold their heads up,” Stough marvels. “One had horns longer than I can stretch my arms—and it was a female!”

The area near the creek is rich in wildlife, and the family has always been appreciative of that. They have often seen deer here, and, Maribeth notes, “There are lots of owls.”

As befits his interest in the preservation of nature, Terry Stough served as a park ranger for years at Fort Pierce Inlet State Park. So when the developers came calling for the family property, he was definitely not interested. “All the development around here just breaks my heart,” he laments. “You wonder where all the animals are going. Gopher tortoises, foxes, maybe even some of those scrub jays—where are they going?” From

Old Florida scrub, including oaks and cypress trees, cover part of the landscape of the Stough property donated to the Indian River Land Trust.

this heartfelt concern and empathy, his arrangement with the Land Trust was born.

And it was certainly a welcome one. “This was a transaction that made everybody feel good,” says Ken Grudens, executive director of the Land Trust. The creek on the property flows into the St. Sebastian River, which, Grudens notes, is “a unique river. It has species of globally rare fish,” as well as manatees, alligators, heron rookeries, and the gar—a spear-shaped fish that is considered a living fossil. Furthermore, the St. Sebastian River is a major

Left: Terry Stough and Ken Grudens peruse the property. Below: An elusive queen butterfly finds nourishment in the property’s rich plant life.

tributary of the Indian River Lagoon. Protecting the Stough property, with its creek and forests, helps to protect the St. Sebastian River, complementing other trails and conservation areas nearby and forming an area called the St. Sebastian River Greenway. Grudens adds: “It also fits in with our new strategic plan of looking at a wider variety of properties and areas. And of course, with anything that drains into the lagoon, we’re protecting the lagoon.”

Plans for the Stough property include its eventual

“Every time I think about my decision, I get happier. I know my dad would appreciate it.”

— TERRY STOUGH

opening for public access, with trails, boardwalks, observation decks, and interpretive signage. Partners with the Land Trust on this undertaking are the Friends of the St. Sebastian River, the City of Sebastian, and Indian River County.

The St. Sebastian River is classified as a blackwater stream; its color is caused by tannins leaching from leaves along its forested shores. This color is also apparent in the creek on the Stough property, as it flows beneath cypresses that have stood since before Europeans settled in this part of North America.

No wonder Terry Stough looks at the property with an expression of peace on his face. “A few dollars here and there don’t much compare to this. Every time I think about my decision, I get happier. I know my dad would appreciate it. He loved nature, and I reckon it’s a family tradition.”

Terry and Maribeth Stough were told many stories by Terry’s grandmother about life in Indian River County many years ago.

Giving Limits the Brush-Off

ARTIST AND TEACHER DAWN MILLER OPENS HER HEART AND HOME FOR THE VILLAGE ARTS VB INITIATIVE

BY ANN TAYLOR PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEVEN MARTINE

Dawn Miller loves Wednesdays and Thursdays. Actually, she loves every day of the week, but these two are the best, as that’s when adults with special needs excitedly open the door to her yellow woodframe house in Vero’s Art Village in the historical Edgewood neighborhood. Here, they will create works of art, prepare a nutritious meal, and engage in tasks that foster self-sufficiency, social skills, and community engagement.

Their nonstop smiles say it all, with Miller’s the brightest of the bunch.

“The Village Arts VB program started incubating three years ago when my friend Sue DePalma, a mom of a special needs daughter, told me about a program for special needs adults where they use farming and community engagement to promote similar goals.

“I thought, ‘Why can’t we do something like that here—something that’s more art based?’ Then I wondered where we would do it and I thought, ‘Why not my house?’ I was already teaching art classes here, so it wasn’t a giant step. So we started a nonprofit, formed a board

Left: Dawn Miller leads the group in preparing for the day’s gathering. Right: Miller enjoys the front porch of her Art Village home with furry friend Ellie.

“I didn’t plan any of it; opportunity just showed up and I said yes.”

— DAWN MILLER

of directors, went through all the hoops, and here we are.”

Miller leads the way into what was once the living room and is now an open studio where tables, easels, and art supplies await enthusiastic students whose painting prowess can be seen lining walls, windowsills, and shelves, and even hanging from the ceiling. Bursts of color on canvas bags, silk scarves, and fence posts are just the tip of their creative iceberg.

“Wednesdays and Thursdays are full days, as up to seven students are here for three to six hours. They come in, sign up, and declare what their personal goal is for the day. Then it’s nonstop. I have two wonderful volunteers for each three-hour class, and I couldn’t do without them.

“Everything we do is aimed at increasing their independence and social skills. The art making is the vehicle we use to improve these goals. We do a lot of painting; we also work with clay, beads, fabric, even coconuts.” Miller looks upward, indicating a colorful school of coconut “fish” swimming overhead.

“Then we have lunch prep, which is a lot of fun,” she continues. “The stu-

dents set the table, we go over table manners, and they help with the cooking, learning safe and sanitary cooking skills. We started with things like English muffin pizzas and grilled cheese sandwiches. Now, we’re getting fancy with chicken quesadillas and spaghetti and meatballs with garden salad! We give them options and let them choose, which is important, as so many things in their lives are out of their personal control.”

“This program has helped me communicate much more explicitly,” says Miller, smiling as she recalls a particular instance. “I had asked one of the students to pass me a cookie, and she did: she threw it at me. So I learned to say, ‘Pick up a cookie and hand it to me, please.’”

After the dishes are washed, the floor swept, and trash taken out, it’s time for music and a choreographed dance routine in the backyard that has everyone swaying and moving to the beat. The energy level soars.

Next comes what Miller refers to as service jobs, a way for Village Arts participants to think of the needs of others. One student gives Miller’s rescue pup, Ellie, treats; another

Above and left: Miller works with her students. Right: Caregiver Kayla Woodworth assists Elizabeth with sketching.

gives the laid-back pooch a bath; one waters garden plants; another fills the birdbath. At the end of their time together, there’s a sense of accomplishment and sheer joy.

The joy level was off the charts this past October when their artistic creations were showcased in Art at the Emerson’s “Celebrating Special Needs Village Artists” exhibition and reception. It was standing-room only.

If you had told Miller that one day she would own a house where others would come to nurture their inner artists, she would have called you crazy. While art was an important part of her life when growing up on Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay, she graduated with a psychology degree, went on to earn a master’s in biology, and became a trained facilitator and mediator dealing with crisis management and child custody cases—a far cry from her artistic roots.

That all changed when Miller moved to Vero Beach and began teaching classes at the Vero Beach Museum of Art 15 years ago. Since then she has taught students of all ages and skill levels at a number of other locations, including the Alzheimer and Parkinson Association of Indian River County, Senior Resource Association, Indian River Estates, and in her home.

“I didn’t plan any of it; opportunities just showed up and I said yes,” Miller smiles as she reflects on the past and the path that brought her

“What I value, what makes me truly happy, is service to other people.”

— DAWN MILLER

to where she finds herself today, living and teaching in a storybook cottage with a yellow mailbox and a blue-and-orange Village Arts VB sign out front.

“I had been living down the street and keeping my eye on this cute little house,” she explains. “The minute it went up for sale I knew it had to be mine. The first thing I did after I bought it was paint the dark chocolate brown walls a cheerful yellow. It opened everything up. I also added front and back porches to create more outdoor living space.

“Another thing—I love to garden, and there was a big backyard, but it was nasty,” she says, wrinkling her nose.

Right: After sketching on canvas, art student Peter plans his latest creation. Below: Caregivers and volunteers pitch in to help students.

“Let’s just say it needed a lot of work.”

Once the yard was cleared, Miller added flower and vegetable beds, fruit trees, and sitting spots. Later, once the Art Village neighborhood was rezoned, she built a small house that is rented as an artist’s studio and gallery or a living space. As Miller points out, “Its use is always evolving.”

Over the years, Miller, whose preferred medium is soft pastels, has won numerous awards, most recently first place in the “varied techniques” category at the A.E. Backus Museum’s “Best of the Best 2023” annual juried art show. Her portrait of an elderly woman appearing lost and confused, titled Where Am I? Are You There? is a poignant reminder of the effects aging can have, and a reflection of Miller’s experiences working with individuals who are memory challenged.

“I used to travel all up and down the East Coast and teach art classes, but it wasn’t as fulfilling as some of the other things I was doing or wanted to do,” Miller admits. “Then I went to a women’s conference where we were given play money and we got to bid on what we value the most. While most of the younger women bid on something materialistic, I realized that as I age, what I value, what makes me truly happy, is service to other people, and that’s what I want to be doing. There’s a deep contentment and gratitude in coming to this place in my life.”

Above: Miller’s garden is filled with colorful flower and vegetable beds, bright murals, and places to sit and reflect. Left: Peter is the first to show off his painting.

Playland with a Purpose

A COUPLE’S SEASIDE CABANA WELCOMES WHAT THEY VALUE MOST: FAMILY, NATURE, AND PHILANTHROPIC CAUSES

BY RENÁE TESAURO | PHOTOGRAPHY BY LAUREN RUBENSTEIN

The parcel of land on South A1A sat vacant for almost five years, awaiting its destiny. But destiny works in mysterious ways, and what emerged from the ground up was unlike anything Kris Trustey had envisioned when she and her husband, Joe, purchased the lot along with the adjacent oceanfront estate in April 2015.

“We originally thought of installing walking trails around it, as a place of meditative

respite after losing our son the prior year,” says Trustey. But, three months after they purchased the property, tragedy struck again: Joe and the couple’s 18-year-old daughter, Anna, were killed in a plane crash.

Through the ensuing weeks, months, and years of grieving and continual healing, Trustey eventually found new love with Sean McGraw, a former priest and professor at the University of Notre Dame and now a recurring

Kris Trustey and Sean McGraw developed a shared vision for the property next to their home that turned it into a place of peace and reflection.

visiting professor of political science at Boston College.

Following their marriage in 2019, the couple took a fresh look at the vacant lot with the idea of creating a cabana that welcomes the things they hold most dear: family, nature, and their philanthropic causes. To execute their vision, they turned to Mark Sartain, owner

of Sartain and Associates landscape architecture, and Page Franzel of Page 2 Design, who had fine-tuned the interiors of the main and guest houses.

“Knowing that the structure would be a small component of the entire property, we brought in the landscape architect at the beginning rather than at the end of the project,” explains

Trustey, to achieve architectural continuity with the main and guest houses. “We spent considerable time with Mark and Page thinking about the possibilities that could be incorporated into the overall design of the property and structure.”

Both nature lovers, they shared the main objective of creating an indoor-outdoor space in which to experience both the ocean to the east and the sunsets to the west. The result would be a place for healing with resort-style amenities.

Before the shovels went into the ground, a significant amount of fill was added to raise the elevation of the lot in relation to the adjacent prop-

erty and create walkways connecting to the main house and driveway. Two years and many brainstorming sessions later, the vacant lot was home to a 2,600-square-foot cabana; a large patio area with firepit and pergola; a great lawn for games and outdoor gatherings; a 25-meter, infinity-edge lap pool; a tennis court and pavilion; an outdoor grilling area; and a regulation-size bocce court.

“Kris is a CPA, so she values balance and symmetry,” says McGraw. “The blue tennis court, blue tile on the pool, and blue ocean create this perfect symmetry with the natural environment. It was fun to watch Kris and Mark work collaboratively to make sure that the center of

Above and left: Kris Trustey worked with landscape architect Mark Sartain on the layout of the property, with an eye toward symmetry and balance. Right: The patio is an inviting area that can seat guests around a firepit.

SAM WOLFE

SAM WOLFE

the cabana is perfectly aligned with the center of the firepit, the center of the pool, the center of the tennis court, and the center of the oak tree nestled in the parking area.”

Even the pergola at the front of the cabana lines up directly with the view from the dining room of the main house, he points out.

“I was honored to be invited to the table and have an opportunity to work on this project, from its initial thought bubbles to its completion,” remarks Sartain. “Page

Winding paths from the home on the south property lead to the cabana.

Right: Colors incorporated into the interior were chosen to reflect the tones in the cabana’s natural surroundings.

has a real talent for spatial design, and RCL Development did a fantastic job executing the technical details. It’s easy to give an architect credit, but the multitalented tradespeople make it happen, and I owe them a huge sum of gratitude.”

What’s unique about the result, according to Sartain, is that there are quiet, intimate spaces within the large-scale compound, making it feel spatially right whether there are

two or 200 people there. “I’ve worked on at least 300 projects in Vero Beach and this one ranks among the very top.”

The cabana is designed to be totally open to the outdoors, with screens that can be lowered from the porches at the flick of a switch as well as quadruple retractable pocket doors on both east- and west-facing sides. The interior includes a large open gathering space with a generous

seating area, a dining table that seats 12, a fully functional chef’s kitchen with granitetopped island, and a rear bar area leading to the outdoor grill and bocci court.

“Kris and Sean were very emotionally connected to this project and, therefore, very involved in its creation,” says Franzel. “I considered it a personal endeavor to make a perfect retreat for them in every sense.”

Trustey and Franzel collaborated on tile and granite selections for the kitchen and bath; creative backsplashes fashioned out of mother-ofpearl, abalone, and brushed stainless steel; custom furniture, lighting, and accessories; and a palette of warm beiges and subtle colors inspired by Mother Nature.

“I enjoy all kinds of decor, but I especially love tranquility and peace,” says Trustey. “I

wanted something that allows me to breathe easily. The ocean changes color all day, and the colors in here blend seamlessly with the outdoors.”

To complement the white oak engineered hardwood floors, Franzel applied an acid lime wash to the soaring oak ceiling and interior mahogany doors. She designed a pair of ceruse oak built-ins on either side of the conversation area to house large-screen TVs, and

remote-controlled retractable solar shades were installed to soften the effects of the bright morning sun.

Trustey and McGraw are quick to point out that it was intentional not to include bedrooms in the cabana. “We want it to be a shared space,” Trustey says.

“I know what I like and don’t like,” she adds. “But to make it all come together, that’s where Page came in. She did a good job of listening, right

down to the idea for the two TVs,” which provide the perfect opportunity for checking in on football or March Madness scores amidst all the outdoor activities.

“It’s a bit of a playland,” smiles Trustey, adding that McGraw’s buddies have affectionately renamed the property “Splendida Fundida” from its original name, Splendida Dimora. It’s a playland with a purpose.

“Creating ‘a gathering space for

In addition to color choices, the idea of bringing the outdoors inside is enhanced by the retractable pocket doors on both the east and west sides of the structure.

“This space is an invitation into the light and a place for healing.”

— SEAN MCGRAW

good’ was central to the overall design of the cabana,” says Trustey, who, with McGraw, generously supports several philanthropic causes through personal giving and their family foundation.

“We wanted this space to be a place for meaningful conversations about important issues,” says McGraw. “We care about mental health and education. In this serene, quiet, safe space you end up having those kinds of honest conversations. Everyone has had darkness in their lives. This space is an invitation into the light and a place for healing.”

Trustey and McGraw can attest to the healing power of their cabana by the sea. “It’s a great integration of indoor-outdoor living that truly reflects our lifestyle,” says McGraw, who swims or jogs in the pool daily. “Bringing the outdoors in gives us peace and a sense that we are part of something bigger than ourselves.”

“The nice thing about having the property for a number of years is that we had the opportunity to think about what we wanted and what would work best,” reflects Trustey, who says the cabana has become a daily respite from their busy lives when they’re in residence from January through May. “We leave our work behind in the main house and love coming over here to sit by the firepit with a glass of wine. We enjoy watching the sunset as it reflects off the ocean and sets over the river.”

“Kris makes fun of me because I never want to leave,” chuckles McGraw, but Trustey admits she’s making progress.

“I finally convinced him to go out to dinner!”

OPPORTUNITIES GOLDEN

FOR BARBARA DU PONT, UNFORGETTABLE PHOTOGRAPHS ARE BORN OF PATIENCE AND LIGHT

BY TERESA LEE RUSHWORTH PHOTOGRAPHY BY BARBARA DU PONT

Barbara du Pont is not a daredevil. She is a composed, elegant widow, mother of two, grandmother of five, and co-owner of an art gallery. But anyone who thinks she wouldn’t brave 40-foot seas en route to Antarctica or hop into an open Land Rover in the wilds of Botswana in order to capture the wonders of nature with her camera would be mistaken.

Well, the 40-foot seas are probably behind her at this stage of life, but even after visiting nearly 20

Clockwise from above: The Perfect Perch , leopard, South Africa; Barbara du Pont at home; Brotherly Love , lions, South Africa

SAM WOLFE

“Photographing animals in the wild takes patience and a little bit of luck.”

– BARBARA DU PONT

countries on all seven continents, du Pont is far from finished. It’s not that there are places she has never visited but longs to; it’s just that her photographer’s eye is keenly aware of the endless possibilities. “It’s always different,” she says of her returns to familiar locales and subjects.

Du Pont and her late husband, Hal, traveled to South Africa and Botswana, their two favorite destinations, two or three times a year to photograph the intriguing wildlife. Hal had been enamored of the African landscapes and their inhabitants since childhood, having been introduced to the exotic continent on family vacations, and Barbara joined him in that fascination. She even identifies a particular smell with Africa, one that she finds captivating.

Barbara du Pont is one of Gallery 14’s eight artist-owners, the only one whose art

Above: Baby Tempo, African elephant, Botswana

Left: Wild Dog , African wild dog, South Africa

Opposite page: A Bit of a Stretch , serval cat, South Africa

form is photography. She was there at the gallery’s beginning 16 years ago, a milestone that also marked her foray into selling her work.

Her interest in photography began when her first husband, an avid surfer, asked her to stand on the shore and take pictures of him in action. As her knowledge and skills developed, she discovered a love for the art of photography, and she has never looked back.

The New York native relocated to Vero Beach in 1983 and married Hal in 1997. By then, film was being supplanted by digital technology, freeing photographers from the constraints of a limited number of exposures, and the couple embarked together on the adventure into the excit-

ing new possibilities. Their first excursion using digital equipment was to South Africa. “We always brought a laptop so we could review the photos at the end of the day,” she says.

Mother animals with their babies are one of du Pont’s recurring themes. Her favorite animals? Elephants, “because they’re so intelligent,” she explains.

Between Africa trips, Barbara and Hal toted their cameras to Ireland, Scotland, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Holland, Japan, and many other destinations—always during the off-season, so as to minimize the number of accidental photobombers and “competing” photographers. In Holland, the celebrated tulip gardens took center

stage. In Italy, gorgeous landscapes and some architectural subjects filled their viewfinders. Despite having been to Italy four or five times, du Pont would like to return and photograph more scenery; she finds the winding, tree-lined roads of Tuscany particularly appealing.

But wildlife will always be du Pont’s first photographic love. The sheer variety of species and behaviors is compelling. She has photographed the famed “snow monkeys” of Japan on several occasions, a project that entails a winter journey to an elevation of nearly 3,000 feet in the Nagano Prefecture, where the Japanese macaques are known to lounge in the local hot springs. These monkeys are accustomed to the

presence of their many human visitors, to whom they are largely indifferent, since feeding or touching of the monkeys by guests is strictly prohibited.

In the Camargue region in the South of France, herds of wild horses roam free on the beaches, and, knowing (or at

least hoping) that the horses will sidestep them, photographers position themselves in front of the galloping animals. This approach probably feels more dangerous than it actually is, and it results in some breathtaking images.

The dynamic, unpredictable nature of

Left: Running on Water, wild horses, France

Below: The Oakum Boys , juvenile king penguins, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands

wildlife is no doubt part of the allure for both artist and viewer; animals demonstrate no limit of poignant, amusing, and even perplexing behaviors. But not all creatures are acclimated to human proximity, and a certain danger is inherent to any expedition into the wild. Du Pont has

had a few brief brushes with peril, but she seems to consider them all just part of the journey.

Her eldest grandson, Jake, “quite the photographer himself,” accompanied her on safari twice as a preteen, having apparently inherited his grandmother’s spirit of adventure in addition to her photographic prowess. “He was even chased by a hippo while sitting in the front of the Land Rover, in the tracker’s seat,” du Pont relates. “It was pretty scary, since the hippo came out of the bush unexpectedly. The driver put it into reverse and we were soon safely out of its way.”

One of du Pont’s most terrifying experiences was traversing the Drake Passage— the deep, treacherous waterway between South America and Antarctica—in a 400foot Russian icebreaker.

Several geographical and meteoro -

logical factors make this 600mile stretch of sea among the most tumultuous on Earth; it is not unusual for travelers to encounter 40-foot swells and gale-force winds, and even the most intrepid seafarers have been known to succumb to seasickness. Du Pont was no exception.

But she made it to Antarctica, her remotest destination to date, where she photographed the small but spunky Adélie penguins. While there, she also boarded a small, inflatable Zodiac boat to approach and photograph the impressive leopard seals that, alas, feed on the aforementioned penguins. Such is the circle of life.

On the virtually uninhabited island of

South Georgia, the British territory on which Ernest Shackleton is buried, du Pont photographed the larger and more colorful king penguins, whose juveniles are referred to as “oakum boys”—a nickname bestowed by 19th-century sailors

Above: Trusting Each Other, Japanese macaques, Japan

Right: Not Far Behind , African elephants, Botswana

who thought they resembled the color of oakum, the material used to pack the seams and joints of their wooden boats.

At the planet’s opposite extremity, du Pont’s lens found itself zooming in on the polar bears of the Arctic Circle—creatures so ferocious that the tourists leaning over the boat’s rails to snap photos were ordered to stay back 5 feet after one of the bears managed to lunge up the side of the hull, snatching and tearing a man’s pant leg. “Luckily,” du Pont says, “he had several layers on, and it just ripped the outside waterproof pants.”

Yes, fortitude and a sense of adventure are key characteristics of zealous wildlife photographers. But, du Pont says, patience plays the biggest role in getting the shot. “Photographing animals in the wild takes patience and a little bit of luck,” she says. “Being in the right place at the right time is an old adage, but it still rings true.

Above: Vista View, king penguins, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Left: Golden Spar, polar bears, Arctic Circle

“We always had our own driver, so that we could follow any particular animal for as long as it took to get the best shot. Waiting for the golden light and for the animal to look your way makes it all worthwhile.”

Indeed, she once waited two hours for a three-minute window to frame a leopard in the optimal light. The “golden light,” as she calls it, “makes all the difference” by lending a softer, warmer tone to the subject. And, as is often the case in photography, timing is everything.

Du Pont explains: “The ‘golden hour’ is generally the hour right after dawn and right before dusk when the sun is at its lowest, and therefore your subjects become more dimensional and interesting.”

With her love of travel and endless photographic curiosity, it will be interesting to see which of the world’s wonders Barbara du Pont decides to focus on in the future.

Above: A Winter’s Nap , arctic fox, Canada

Below: Steller’s Eagle Flying , Steller’s sea eagle, Japan

DOUBLE THE STYLE

MARCH 22–23: TRUNK SHOWS AT COOPER & CO.

Cooper & Co. will host another set of trunk shows featuring Barbara Lohmann and Maison Common. Prepare to find the best pieces to add to your stylish and always-evolving collection.

LIVE FROM NEW YORK

MARCH 22–23: STEPHANIE ALBERTSON APPEARANCE AND TRUNK SHOW

The Laughing Dog Gallery is delighted to welcome New York artist Stephanie Albertson for a two-day event. Her spectacular 22-karat-gold and gemstone jewels—charms, chains, and earrings, are favorites of jewelry aficionados and those who appreciate something truly unique. COOPER

772-231-9889

CHICKING IN

MARCH 22–23: ANNUAL EASTER EVENT AT LYRA

Lyra Home will host its annual “Pick-A-Chick” Easter event. Shop and save when you pick a chick at checkout for a discount of 10 to 30 percent off your purchase (certain items excluded).

2910 Cardinal Drive | 772-234-6711 | thelaughingdoggallery.com

HOP TO IT

MARCH 30: EASTER SALE AT TRIMMINGS

Celebrate Easter weekend with an egg hunt at Trimmings! Eggs will be filled with prizes and discounts, so stop by, find an egg, and reap some savings.

3403

Across from Bobby’s 772.231.4300

mmaisonvero.com

New

DIG AROUND

BUSINESS OFFERS VARIETY OF ITEMS

Digg Gardens not only has a variety of indoor and outdoor plants, but it also has a gift shop filled with charming pieces for yourself or others. Visit the shop and find the perfect gift for the perfect recipient.

DIGG GARDENS

7430 U.S. Hwy. 1 | 772-360-2131 | digggardens.com

CLEAN ROUTINE

NEW FAUCET OPTION AVAILABLE

European Kitchen & Bath presents this Aquno Select kitchen faucet. Featuring a laminar spray, needle spray, and SatinFlow pull-out, it offers a crystal-clear spray type. It’s highly efficient with the day-today kitchen routine with very little splash back.

EUROPEAN KITCHEN & BATH

4003 U.S. Hwy. 1 | 772-494-2694 | europeansink.com

A SHOPPER NEVER FORGETS

VARIETY OF DECOR PIECES AT FANTASTIC FINDS

This unique carved wood elephant bar cart on casters was made by luxury custom furniture manufacturer Marge Carson Inc., founded in 1947. It measures 47 by 26 by 39 inches and is one of many distinctive items available at Fantastic Finds.

FANTASTIC FINDS

4300 U.S. Hwy. 1 | 772-794-7574 | fantastic-finds.com

SMOOTH IDEA

NEW PRODUCT GAINING POPULARITY

A new powerhouse product is quickly becoming a fan favorite. With its custom formulation, this medical-grade retinoic acid cream works to unclog pores, boost collagen, stimulate skin cell turnover, and even out discoloration while smoothing the skin’s texture.

ICONIC DERMATOLOGY

4800 20th St. | 772-758-1310 | iconicderm.com

4

4

Nestled

New & Noteworthy

BUICK’S BEST

LINUS SHOWCASES TOP OPTION

Available in base Preferred, mid-level Sport Touring, and upscale Avenir trims, the new Envista has a turbocharged 1.2-liter 3-cylinder engine that works with a 6-speed automatic transmission.

LINUS CADILLAC BUICK GMC

1401 U.S. Hwy. 1 | 772-562-1700 linusautomotive.com | linuscadillac.com

Red light wellness is now offered at Mind and Body of Vero. Call to learn more and get scheduled to enjoy several benefits of this treatment, which may improve skin complexion, reduce inflammation, help mend sun damage, and increase energy.

MIND AND BODY OF VERO

1040 37th Place, Suite 202 | 772-400-2020 mindandbodyofvero.com

STAND STILL & ENJOY

ARTIST FRANE MLINAR ON EXHIBIT

Meghan Candler Gallery is delighted to exhibit a new collection of paintings by Frane Mlinar, a leading master of the Croatian realism movement. His distinctive, crisply painted boats with their serene stillness and outstanding color palettes are both beautiful and technically superb.

MEGHAN CANDLER GALLERY

6160 Hwy. A1A | Village Shops | 772-234-8811 meghancandlergallery.com

Oriflamme fire tables are available in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, colors, and materials, as well as propane or natural gas options. The finished product is a beautiful centerpiece for your outdoor setting. Visit the store to select yours.

Summer Beauty by Frane Mlinar, oil on canvas, 36 x 48 inches

ROYAL & RARE

NEW CUSTOM JEWELRY AVAILABLE

Royal Palm Jewel presents one-of-a-kind earrings featuring rubellite with diamonds flanked by rare Paraiba and sapphires. Available in 18-karat white gold, you won’t want to miss these fabulous adornments.

ROYAL PALM JEWEL

53 Royal Palm Pointe | 772-766-3165 | royalpalmjewel.com

IF THE SHOE FITS

NEW SHOE LINE AT SASSY

Built on a desire to support the indigenous communities of Paraguay and preserve their precious craftsmanship, Amambaih merges sustainability, artisanship, and luxury. Each of the brand’s footwear creations draws upon vibrant, luscious fabrics that are handwoven by female artisans in Paraguay.

SASSY BOUTIQUE

3365 Ocean Drive | 772-234-3998

3554 OCEAN DRIVE

DOUBLE PENTHOUSE 1 & 4 VERO BEACH, FLORIDA 32963

A once in a lifetime opportunity awaits you on iconic Ocean Drive! Voted ‘’The BEST VIEW in Vero Beach,” this extremely rare double penthouse unit has everything you desire & more! Enjoy surreal sunrises from your oceanfront balcony/master suite, take in breathtaking sunsets & river views from your family room, or relax & watch all the hustle & bustle of Ocean Drive. Luxury upgrades sure to appease even the most disconcerting buyer. 2 master suites + 3rd bedroom, 3 full baths, with possible 4th bedroom & 4th bathroom conversion. The opportunities are endless!

SPECIAL FEATURES

OCEANFRONT

SURREAL SUNRISES BREATHTAKING SUNSETS

MARBLE FLOORS

CUSTOM CHERRYWOOD CABINETS

GRANITE COUNTERTOPS

IMPACT WINDOWS ACCORDION SHUTTERS RIVER VIEWS

COLLEEN JENNINGS, REALTOR

1021 Beachland Blvd. | Vero Beach, FL 32963

Direct: 772-559-8125

Office: 772-231-0001

billeroproperties.com

New & Noteworthy

HANGING AROUND

NEW DECOR PIECES AT STUDIO

Sandra Morgan Interiors at the Village Shops presents a fresh group of large wall baskets in indigo and white that can be used as artwork. These baskets are handwoven by ladies in Rwanda and would make a fabulous addition to many spaces.

SANDRA MORGAN INTERIORS & ART PRIV É 6174 Hwy. A1A | Village Shops | 203-629-8121 sandramorganinteriors.com

LET’S HEAR IT

GROUP RECOGNIZED AS TOP TEAM

Brian Shambo

The Shambo Schwibner Wealth Management Group was recently recognized by Forbes as one of the “Best in State Wealth Management Teams.” Managing director Brian Shambo was also recognized by Forbes, Barron’s, InvestmentNews, and On Wall Street as a top advisor.

SHAMBO | SCHWIBNER | SCHWARTZ WEALTH MGMT. GROUP  660 Beachland Blvd., Suite 302 | 772-231-9051 fa.ml.com/shamboschwibner

NO RUFF VISITS

PETS WELCOME AT HOTEL

Staybridge Suites offers transparent guidelines for dogs, cats, and other pets, so you can travel easily with your favorite companions. Wherever you go, your pet goes too.

STAYBRIDGE SUITES  5155 20th St. | 772-562-6000 | staybridge.com/verobeachfl

VERO’S VETERANS

ORGANIZATIONS REVOLUTIONIZING VETERAN ADVOCACY

United Way’s Powered by Purpose speaker series spotlighted Florida veterans’ critical needs. Meredith Egan and speakers Kris Hasenauer (Emerald Medical), Cynthia Ryan (Veterans Council of IRC), and Melissa Arndt (IRC Veteran Services) presented innovative solutions emphasizing mental health support, benefits access, and comprehensive care.

UNITED WAY FOUNDATION OF INDIAN RIVER COUNTY 1836 14th Ave. | 772-569-8900 | unitedwayirc.org

Kris Hasenauer, Jasper, Cynthia Ryan, Melissa Arndt

CONSIDER IT HAND-LED

BEAUTY STUDIO UPHOLDS BEST PRACTICES

The Jessyca’s Beauty Studio team is made up of trained, educated, licensed, and insured nail artists who take tremendous pride in ensuring all materials are cleaned, sanitized, and disinfected using antibacterial soap, Barbicide, ultrasonic cleaning, autoclave, and UV light treatment.

JESSYCA’S BEAUTY STUDIO

1535 U.S. Hwy. 1 | 772-882-8273 | jessycasbeautystudio.com

DREAM A LITTLE DIAMOND

NEWEST TECHNOLOGY AT LEIGH JEWELERS

Leigh Jewelers has expanded its custom design department with inhouse 3D printing. A resin can be grown on-site for custom design clients to try on their custom piece before final production. Call to make an appointment to create a piece of one-of-a-kind jewelry.

LEIGH JEWELERS

3401 Ocean Drive | 772-234-8522 | leighjewelers.com

Federico Herrero

A Piece of Waterfall in the Sound of Crickets

January 27 – April 26, 2024

An expansive solo exhibition featuring a selection of recent paintings and monotypes by Costa Rican artist Federico Herrero.

The Gallery at Windsor 3125 Windsor Boulevard, Vero Beach, FL 32963 windsorflorida.com/gallery

By appointment | 772 388 4071 gallery@windsorflorida.com

Huracan, 2023, Oil and acrylic on canvas, 78 3/4 x 63 in., 200 x 160 cm

CUSTOM

VB Home presents new Lee Industries custom sofa upholstery with a 4-to-6-week turnaround. Featured here is the trundle bed, offering a fabulous use of space that can be designed with your theme or style in mind.

615 Beachland Blvd. | 772-492-9348 | vbhome.us

Sea turtle nesting season begins in Florida March 1. Visit LED Capstone Lighting & Fans for all turtle lighting options to help avoid disturbances by having appropriate “turtle-safe” light bulbs and fixtures that are certified wildlife safe and fit code-enforcement guidelines.

Unique Lattice inspired precious gemstone, key to your heart pendant and matching earrings set in 18 karat gold.

RoyalPalmJewel.com

THROUGH THE PRIVACY GLASS

VERO GLASS NOW OFFERING SMART GLASS TECHNOLOGY

Vero Glass is pleased to introduce Smart Glass Technologies to its wide range of window and door products. SGT is a leader in the industry of switchable privacy glass, which can be changed from transparent to opaque with the flip of a switch. Stop by the showroom to discover all the ways this technology can enhance your home or office.

VERO GLASS & MIRROR 1705 Old Dixie Hwy. | 772-567-3123 | veroglass.com

TAKE A CRUISE

NEW FOOTWEAR AT VERNON SCOTT

VERNON

Vernon Scott Resort Wear has the newest Peter Millar knit drivers. Designed in three colors, this style provides a timeless, lightweight shoe selection. Visit the store to snag a pair, or

Realtor Cathy Curley of DSRE has been recognized as the No. 3 real estate agent in Indian River County, based on information obtained from the MLS of the REALTORS Association of IRC for the 2023 year! Incredibly proud and grateful, she extends big thanks to the clients who put their trust and faith in her, and she promises to continue to work hard at exceeding expectations, giving back to the community she loves, and making real estate a fun and memorable experience.

YSF Community Sailing announces the appointment of Chris Drake as executive director, as Stu Keiller transitions from that position into work on the planning and construction of the organization’s new community sailing center set to open in early 2026. Drake and his family moved to Vero Beach from Shelter Island, New York, in 2018.

Sponsors

Presenting Sponsor: VERO BEACH OUTLETS

Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital

George E. Warren LLC

Dr. and Mrs. Paul Minotty

Florida Power & Light Company

Jim and Jean Ueltschi

Au Pair in America

Premier Plastic Surgery & Aesthetics – John Michael Sarback M.D.

93.7 WGYL

97.1 OCEAN FM

Designers

Alexandra Nuttall Design

Andi Beck Interior Design and Jennifer Grant

Andrea Giles and Alysia Hines

Colleen Wixon

Darien Santos

Deborah Pariseau

Dillard's, Vero Beach

Elly Jones

Environmental Learning Center

Sue Lakin and Sharon Mills

Lisa Sarbak and Robyn Nolan

M.C. Gorman

Marylou Robins

Monica Scurry-Anderson

The Tree Amigos –

Nancy Large

Lyn Law

Barbara Woodward

Trinity Omniscient Care, Inc.

Tykes & Teens

Vero Beach Art Club

Winterfest is the signature fundraising event for Riverside Theatre’s educational programs with a mission to give every child the chance to participate in the performing arts, regardless of financial need.

THE DISH

The Source’s Dignity Food Trucks are serving up opportunities for a better life.

Secret Recipe

DIGNITY FOOD TRUCKS ARE SERVING UP OPPORTUNITIES FOR A BETTER LIFE

BY CHRIS FASOLINO PHOTOGRAPHY BY KIM BOTTALICO

For Toni Moore, cooking brings her back to memories of family. For Russell Walker, cooking has been part of dramatic changes in his life. For you, both Moore and Walker are part of the story behind the food trucks that you have likely seen at a variety of Vero Beach locations.

Featuring an award-winning barbecue sauce and serving an imaginative pineapple bowl, Dignity Food Trucks are part of a series of programs from The Source that aim to blend philanthropy and culinary arts, as Walker’s story shows.

“When I came here, I was homeless,” he says. “They told me about the cooking program. It was hard, but I stayed with it. They taught me how to properly sanitize and handle food, and they taught me about seasonings.” Today, Walker is no longer homeless, and he is running one of the food trucks.

Moore is the kitchen manager, and she oversees the culinary program, which, she explains, offers education and experience in restaurant-style service, catering, and food trucks, in addition to providing certification that can give graduates an advantage when it comes to finding jobs.

“This is my second career,” Moore says. She never expected to go into the culinary field, although she learned cooking skills as a child. “At an early age, I heard my grandmother say that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach—so I followed her into the kitchen,” she laughs. “My grandmother and my mom did everything from scratch.”

Growing up in Fort Pierce and then attending college in North Carolina, Moore pursued a computer science career path, which took her far from the

kitchen—until she decided to “try something different” and exchanged coding for cooking.

Dignity Food Trucks use a secret-recipe barbecue sauce called “Mo’s.” It is named in memory of Maureen Archer, a beloved associate who passed away in 2022. Mo’s Sauce has won first-place honors at competitions in Vero Beach and on the Space Coast.

“It’s got a little kick, but not too much,” Moore says. “It’s a little sweet and a little sour.” It enhances the pineapple bowls, which are half-pineapples filled with yellow rice along with either shrimp or chicken.

As kitchen manager, does Moore herself have a favorite recipe? “My favorite is whatever you like,” she says, “because if the customer is happy, I’m happy.”

Toni Moore, kitchen manager for The Source, enjoys sharing her culinary talent and keeping her customers happy.

APPETIZER

Shrimp Cocktail

The flavorful cocktail sauce provides a vibrant combination of horseradish, citrus, and spice.

SERVES 4

24 large shrimp (21–25 count per pound, raw, thawed, deveined, and easy to peel)

1/2 tsp. salt

Half a lemon (optional)

8–10 peppercorns (optional)

Handful fresh parsley (optional)

Cocktail sauce

In a large saucepan, add water until 3/4 full. Add salt. If using lemon, squeeze the juice into the pot and then add the peel and flesh. Add peppercorns and parsley if using. Bring to a rapid boil over high heat. Remove from heat. When water stops boiling, add the shrimp and stir. Cover and let sit 4–5 minutes, until shrimp are opaque and pink. Meanwhile, prepare an ice bath: in a large bowl, put 2 cups of ice cubes and fill halfway with cold water. When shrimp are cooked, drain off the hot liquid and transfer shrimp (but not the aromatics) to the ice bath. Let sit for a few minutes to fully cool off before draining. Peel shrimp but leave the tails on.

Divide cocktail sauce among 4 small bowls, wine glasses, or martini glasses. Hang shrimp from the rims. Serve immediately.

COCKTAIL SAUCE:

1 cup ketchup

2 tbsp. horseradish

Pinch of salt

1 tsp. lemon juice (optional)

1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce (optional)

1/2 tsp. hot sauce, such as Tabasco (optional)

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl.

ENTR ÉE

Orange Glazed Chicken

Contrasting yet complementary flavors, a distinctive blend of spices, and a honey glaze give this dish interest and complexity.

SERVES 2

2 half chicken breasts or thighs, bone-in and skin-on

3 tbsp. butter, melted

1/2 tsp. smoked paprika

1/2 tsp. chili powder

1/2 tsp. onion powder

1 tsp. garlic powder

Salt and black pepper to taste

Orange honey glaze

1 tsp. fresh rosemary, chopped fine, for garnish

1 tsp. fresh thyme leaves, for garnish

ORANGE HONEY GLAZE

3/4 cup honey

Zest of one orange

1/2 cup fresh orange juice

1/4 cup apple cider

1 tbsp. Dijon mustard

Salt and black pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients in a small bowl. Reserve half to serve with the chicken. Use the rest to baste while the chicken cooks.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Line a half sheet pan with aluminum foil. Place the chicken breasts bone-side down on the pan. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with paprika, chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Brush with a little orange honey glaze. Insert a digital thermometer so you can check the internal temperature. Cook for 30 minutes, then continue to baste with orange honey glaze every 10 minutes until the chicken is done. Allow chicken to rest 10 minutes before slicing.

Sprinkle with fresh rosemary and thyme and serve with the reserved orange honey glaze.

Strawberry Parfait

A refreshing and healthful dessert featuring Greek yogurt, honey, and fresh strawberries.

SERVES 2

1 cup plain Greek yogurt (full fat)

2 tbsp. honey

1 cup fresh strawberries

1 cup granola, any kind

Chop strawberries into small pieces. Using a whisk, thoroughly mix the yogurt and honey.

In a small glass cup or jar, assemble each parfait using 1/4 cup of each ingredient at a time. Layer in this order: yogurt, granola, and strawberries. Repeat until filled to the top.

DESSERT

MADEIRA

Madeira wine was enjoyed by our colonial ancestors and was a favorite of both Benjamin Franklin and George Washington.

A Wine for the Ages

MADEIRA WAS AN EARLY-AMERICAN LUXURY WE CAN SHARE WITH OUR FOUNDING FATHERS

BY CHRIS FASOLINO

From colonial times through the early days of the republic, the after-dinner drink of choice in America was Madeira wine. Shipped from the Portuguese island of Madeira, this fortified wine was a fitting choice for the close of a banquet or for a quiet evening by the fireside.

Benjamin Franklin loved Madeira wine, and with his scientific curiosity, he was fascinated by the unusual climate of the island itself. Franklin was the first person to chart the Gulf Stream, and he noted its effects on the island of Madeira, where tropical fruits and spices flourished along with the vineyards.

George Washington favored Madeira accompanied by walnuts for dessert. James Fenimore Cooper, author of The Last of the Mohicans, wrote a wryly touching story about an American soldier and a British soldier who came to respect each other because they were both men of honor—and because they were both connoisseurs of Madeira.

Today, Madeira is rather overshadowed by other fortified

wines, particularly port and sherry. And while I’m undoubtedly a proponent of good port or sherry, Madeira should not be forgotten. Indeed, its relative obscurity today makes it a great choice for entertaining; it comes as a pleasant surprise.

The venerable company of Henriques & Henriques offers a selection of fine Madeira wines.

Along with the various Portuguese grape varieties that are used, the length of time spent aging in oak casks is a major distinction. Five years of aging produces a wine that is amber in color—as Cooper said Madeira should be—and brimming with caramelized brown sugar and vanilla flavors. Already, the winemaker’s description “full, generous and rich” is very apt.

Double the aging time and the flavors become even deeper, with a 10-year-old Boal Madeira

having stronger notes of oak and nuances reminiscent of honey. A 20-year-old Madeira will boast increasing complexity, and in the historic category of “Very Old Reserves,” the sky’s the limit—both in age and in price. Some of these wines, from the Henriques family’s private reserves, predate the company’s founding in 1850. As an after-dinner wine,

Madeira is a great pairing for rich desserts. As per George Washington’s recommendation, it also pairs well with walnuts; you might toast the walnuts and dust them with cinnamon and freshly grated nutmeg. In any case, if you enjoy cream sherry, you will probably love Madeira. It is a taste of history, and a wine worth remembering.

Henriques & Henriques Madeira wines can take on different flavors at different times in their aging process. The complexity of the flavor grows with age.

Culture & Caring

LOCAL NONPROFITS ENRICH THE COMMUNITY IN COUNTLESS WAYS

Evening of Music

VERO FRIENDS OF ACO

“An Intimate Evening of Beautiful Piano Music” brought music lovers together at Orchid Island Golf & Beach Club December 5. The Vero Friends of the Atlantic Classical Orchestra put on the event, which featured the performance of a program titled “Invitation to Dance” by pianist Drew Petersen. Afterward, he and David Amado, the ACO’s musical director, hosted an outdoor cocktail and hors d’oeuvres reception with the orchestra’s musicians and supporters.

Guests enjoy a performance by pianist Drew Petersen.

David Amado, Drew Petersen, Pat Baker Scott

Genny and Gerry Pearce

Drew Petersen, Phil and Joan Gulley, Rob and Kari Tench, David Amado

Steve and Reggie McCormack, Greg and Lori Clark

Guests face a tough hors d’oeuvres choice.

An outdoor reception caps off the evening.

THE SCENE

Opening Receptions

GALLERY 14

Artists Jim Cohoe and Joshua McMiller were present to launch their exhibitions, “Nuts to Garden Vases” and “Nature’s Conscience, an Artistic Journey,” respectively, at Gallery 14 in November. The receptions also marked the opening of Gallery 14’s 16th year. In addition to meeting the artists and viewing their work, guests enjoyed wine and cheese as well as desserts supplied by Sweet Desires espresso bar and bakery.

Sponsor: Panacea Eye Center

Jason and Kathleen Pogany, Mark Wygonik, Liz Mayo

Jodi Dassow Landry, Mark Landry

Jim Cohoe, Dr. Sarah Khodadadeh, Joshua McMiller

Deborah Polackwich, Rickie Leiter, Rosemary Polsky-Newman

Chris Foster, Ryan Schroeder, Jim Davis

Debbie Daly, Petra Blackman, Joshua McMiller

Huey Zaplin, Quentin Walter Jessica Leto, Kim Paul

Barbara Landry, Dr. Sarah Khodadadeh, Diane Khodadadeh

Donna and Peter Polk

Barbara Krupp, Dorothy Napp Schindel, Allan Teger

Dana Baker, Christine Hughes

Lila Blakeslee, Joshua McMiller, Paul Genke

THE SCENE

Bow Wow Meow Luau

HALO NO-KILL RESCUE

The lovely Magnolia Manor was the venue for HALO’s Bow Wow Meow Luau, a magical December evening with entertainment by Aloha Productions. Many supporters turned out to enjoy tropical cuisine from Wild Thyme and hula the night away, raising enough money to fund the renovation of an entire 10-suite dog wing at the shelter. The improvements will allow for more sanitary and open conditions, which will lead to happier, healthier dogs available for adoption.

Wanda and John Bolton

Kelley Adrahtas

A dancer from Aloha ProductionsHummus in his Hawaiian shirt

Guests enjoy the beautiful setting at Magnolia Manor.

Jacque Petrone, Rob Kyzer, Joey and Allyson King

NORAIR PHOTOGRAPHY

Karen Loeffler, Page Franzel, Allyson King, Diane Langevin, Lynne Bortree

A dancer represents Samoan warrior tradition.

Hula dancers from Aloha Productions

Michelle Lee with Hummus, Karleen Rogers

Page Franzel, Diane Langevin

Marina Harvey, Melody Weaver

Carol Tapp, Anij Indigo, Carl and Deb Kretchman

NORAIR PHOTOGRAPHY

THE SCENE

Night of Caring

CARE NET PREGNANCY CENTER

More than 350 guests and too many sponsors to mention made Care Net’s 39th annual fall fundraising dinner banquet, A Night of Caring, a huge success. The event took place in November at the Intergenerational Center. Supporters learned about Care Net’s new building, enjoyed an inspiring talk by Dr. William Lile, and celebrated the bestowal of the Legacy of Life Award upon office manager Vicki Fannin in recognition of her two decades of achievements with Care Net.

Taylor Knott, Norann Chambers, Paige Chambers, Dr. William Lile, Ross Chambers

Amy Beckley, Reggie McCormack, Dr. Lile, Bonnie Martinelli

Rev. Chris and Kathy Rodriguez, Marty Fite, Dr. Lile

Vicki Fannin, recipient of the Legacy of Life Award

THE SCENE

Fall Luncheon

RIVERSIDE THEATRE

About 500 supporters were on hand for Riverside Theatre’s Friends Fall Luncheon in November. They enjoyed an original presentation created by the theater’s producing artistic director, Allen D. Cornell, followed by lunch catered by Elizabeth D. Kennedy & Co.

Major sponsors:

Barbara Baldwin; Debbie Berghorst and Wheatie Gibb; Rennie Gibb, Catalina Pines, and Kristen Yoshitani; Eva Gurley; Sonia McGowan; Carolyn and Bill Stutt

Cindy Rounsavall, Carolyn Stutt

Steve Mazza, Susan Temple, Cathy Padgett

Co-chairs Kristen Yoshitani, Rennie Gibb, and Catalina Pines

Performers take the stage for an original presentation by Allen Cornell.

Myriam Robinson, Debbie Berghorst, Lucy Danis

Ginger Gibson, Sallie Gibson

Colorful decorations invite participants into the luncheon.

The Stark Stage

Carol Price, Karen Meyer

Catalina Pines, Kristen Yoshitani, Sandy McManus, Steve Mazza, Cathy Padgett, Rennie Gibb

Undulant

“Do you ever feel like you’re home, even though you’ve never been there before?”

–

QUALITY PRODUCTS

EXCEPTIONAL SERVICE

OUTSTANDING VALUE

DESIGNERS ROW

VERO BEACH

4003 U.S. Hwy. 1

772-770-9970

Fax 770-9570

STUART

197 SE Monterey Rd. 772-221-3990

EUROPEANSINK.COM

Twice as nice at a fraction of the price!

Fine Custom & Consignment Furniture

Original Art ~ Persian Rugs ~ Coastal Decor

DESIGN ROW

4300 US Rt. 1

Vero Beach

772-794-7574

fantasticfindsverobeach@outlook.com

Fantastic-Finds.com

THE SCENE

Evening at the Boulevard ST. FRANCIS MANOR

Chefs Anthony and Lisa Damiano of Counter Culture at Boulevard Tennis Club prepared an array of hors d’oeuvres, and members of the Gifford Youth Orchestra provided the entertainment as guests enjoyed a silent auction, a wine pull, and raffles in support of St. Francis Manor. A tennis exhibition topped off the evening, which benefited the manor’s work of providing affordable housing for local seniors aged 62 and over.

Charlie Schuler, Chris Lecakes, Ann Schuler

Wendy Orthober, Diane Benkert Mello

Tom Collins, Randy McMillan

Sharon Knowles, Maria Elena Kitchell

Tom Collins, Tim Brueggeman

Ryan Kitchell

Christina and Mike Marshall

Bonnie Matz, Anthony and Lisa Damiano

Pre-Apprenticeship Program

YOUTH GUIDANCE MENTORING ACADEMY

Back in September, Youth Guidance launched the third year of its Pre-Apprenticeship Program with 25 students aged 17 to 24. Through partnerships and donor generosity, the program is offered at no cost and introduces students to five trades: carpentry, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, and welding. Twice each week, they meet for three-hour sessions to study both the academic and practical aspects of these fields—everything from reading a tape measure to wiring outlets to wielding a welding torch. Since 2021, 25 students have graduated from the program, and some have secured employment performing valuable services in the trade sector.

During National Nutrition Month, help us provide nutritious meals to families who don’t always have enough to eat.

Students learn to use a circular saw.Students create a small house to scale.

Students in the carpentry module build a wall frame.

Aerial li operation is part of the training.

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“I enjoy all kinds of decor, but I especially love tranquility and peace.”

– KRIS TRUSTEY, “Playland with a Purpose,” p. 122

•

“I didn’t plan any of it; opportunities just showed up and I said yes.”

– DAWN MILLER, “Giving Limits the Brush-Off,” p. 116

For the joy of it.

March to Your Own Beat

THERE’S SOMETHING IN THE LOCAL ART SCENE TO SUIT EVERYONE’S FANCY

‘A SUMMER BREEZE’

MARCH 1–29

Gallery 14 welcomes the alwayspopular husband-and-wife team of Melissa Mastrangelo and Horacio Lertora with the latest fruits of their 18-year artistic collaboration. “A Summer Breeze: Paintings by Melissa & Horacio” will launch with a reception during the March 1 Gallery Stroll. Mastrangelo’s use of acrylic paint and mid-century ephemera joins Lertora’s handcut stencils and wood tiles to create playful, nostalgic, Floridathemed assemblages that can often be displayed either alone or as part of a multipiece panorama.

Gallery 14 1911 14th Ave.

772-562-5525

gallery14verobeach.com

Pineapple in Pink by Horacio Lertora and Melissa Mastrangelo, acrylic with mixed media on wooden tiles, 24 x 18 inches

MORE TO SEE

‘ANCIENT EGYPT’

Through April 28

VBMA’s Holmes and Titelman Galleries are currently home to the exhibition “Ancient Egypt & the Napoleonic Era: Masterworks from the Dahesh Museum of Art.”

Vero Beach Museum of Art 3001 Riverside Park Drive 772-231-0707

vbmuseum.org

‘FORM + FIRE’

March 1–22

For the second year, Indian River Clay presents “Form + Fire,” a juried exhibition of varied ceramic works by Florida artists.

Indian River Clay at Raw Space

1795 Old Dixie Hwy. 772-202-8598

indianriverclay.org

ORCHID ISLAND ARTISTS

March 7–May 31

The ELC wraps up its art season with the Orchid Island Art Club Member Show, which will include a meet and greet Wednesday, March 13 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.

Environmental Learning Center 255 Live Oak Drive 772-589-5050

discoverelc.org

Left: News from America by George H. Boughton, oil on canvas,

MARCH 14–APRIL 27

J.M. Stringer is featuring masters of yesterday and today, including John Phillip Osborne, John C. Traynor, and George Henry Boughton, in its exhibition “History in the Making.” Osborne is known for his study of the infinite effects of light, which he uses to convey the mood of each moment he depicts. Traynor demonstrates the influences of the “old masters,” such as the American tonality painters and the French Impressionists, while imparting his

‘HISTORY IN THE MAKING’ ANDRÉ HAMBOURG

own contemporary techniques. Boughton, who lived from 1833 to 1905, painted many figures in landscapes, particularly peasants at work, along with some historical subjects. Stop by the gallery March 14 to 16 (Thursday 4–8 p.m., Friday and Saturday 11 a.m.–6 p.m.) for the opening.

J.M. Stringer Gallery of Fine Art 3465 Ocean Drive 772-231-3900

jmstringergallery.com

OPENING MARCH 19

Initially set for January, Findlay Galleries’ exhibition of works by celebrated French artist André Hambourg (1909–1999) is now scheduled to open March 19. Working en plein air, he painted scenes that sometimes included crowds of people in Paris, Trouville in Normandy, and as far afield as the markets of Jerusalem, the Maghreb region of Northern Africa, and Abidjan in the Ivory Coast. He also found inspiration in the water and skies of the centuries-old port town of Honfleur as well as London, Venice, and Istanbul. He served as a military correspondent with the French army and later became the official painter of the French navy.

Findlay Galleries

165 Worth Ave., Palm Beach 561-655-2090 findlaygalleries.com

Above: The Epic Heroism of Jockey Hollow by John Phillip Osborne, oil on canvas, 30 x 50 inches

42 x 55 inches

Le plage, apres midi by André Hambourg, oil on canvas, 8 7/8 x 13 3/4 inches

GALLERY GUIDE

ART AT THE EMERSON

The Emerson Center’s gallery shows works by local artists in six themed exhibitions per year.

1590 27th Ave. 772-778-5880 artattheemerson.com

ARTISTS GUILD GALLERY

This cooperative-owned fine art gallery offers works in diverse styles and media by its ownerartists as well as associate and consignor artists.

1974 14th Ave. 772-299-1234 artistsguildgalleryofvero beach.com

ART WORKS

Various U.S. artists are featured, representing a range of styles. Classes, art parties, and other events are available.

2036 14th Ave., Suite 106 772-559-5230 artworksofvero.com

ENVIRONMENTAL LEARNING CENTER

The Lagoon and Tidal Rooms are dedicated to nature-related art.

255 Live Oak Drive 772-589-5050 discoverelc.org

FINDLAY GALLERIES

Renowned globally for its distinguished roster of contemporary and abstract artists, the gallery specializes in 19th- and 20th-century Impressionism, European Modernism, l’Ecole de Rouen, l’Ecole de Paris, and 20thcentury American art.

165 Worth Ave., Palm Beach 561-655-2090 findlaygalleries.com

THE GALLERIES AT FIRST PRES

This venue displays the works of local artists in quarterly threeartist installments.

520 Royal Palm Blvd. 772-562-9088 firstpresvero.org

GALLERY 14

The gallery features a diverse array of works in a variety of media by its eight owner-artists, along with eight represented artists and rotating monthly guests.

1911 14th Ave. 772-562-5525 gallery14verobeach.com

THE GALLERY AT WINDSOR

This independent art space annually invites curators of museum-quality shows of contemporary art.

3125 Windsor Blvd. 772-388-4071 windsorflorida.com/the-gallery

GALLERY VERITAS

This gallery has periodic exhibitions and adjoins a working studio housing seven artists and an art library.

1422 20th St. 323-547-1188 thegalleryveritas.com

J.M. STRINGER

GALLERY OF FINE ART

The gallery offers worldwide collections of original paintings, objets d’art, sculptures, and select antique furnishings.

3465 Ocean Drive 772-231-3900

jmstringergallery.com

THE LAUGHING DOG GALLERY

The vast showroom offers works from more than 350 contemporary American craftsmen who create art glass, ceramics, sculpture, furniture, and fine art jewelry.

2910 Cardinal Drive 772-234-6711

thelaughingdoggallery.com

MAIN STREET VERO BEACH STUDIOS AND GALLERY

The handcrafted jewelry of Clair Brunetti, who creates custom works and repairs and updates older pieces, is showcased.

2036 14th Ave.

772-643-6782

mainstreetverobeach.org

MEGHAN CANDLER GALLERY

This friendly, uplifting gallery has a beautifully curated collection of paintings by more than 40 contemporary artists of the abstract, Impressionist, and realistic styles.

6160 Hwy. A1A

Village Shops 772-234-8811

meghancandlergallery.com

OCEAN DRIVE GALLERY

The oil abstracts of Elise Geary and representational narrative paintings by Jill Kerwick are featured, along with acrylic rural and outdoor scenes and seascapes by two additional artists.

3349 Ocean Drive, Suite 8 772-579-7667

eliseartist.com

oceandrivegalleryverobeach.com

PALM HOUSE STUDIO & GALLERY

The work of several awardwinning artists is featured, and commissions are welcome.

3227 Ocean Drive, 2nd floor 772-231-6816

palmhousegallery.com

Bateaux de Cassis by Alice Williams, oil on canvas, 33 x 41 inches, at Meghan Candler Gallery

RAW SPACE

This innovative alternative cultural venue promotes a spectrum of artistic disciplines

Old Dixie Hwy -artconceptalternative org

SEBASTIAN RIVER ART CLUB

The club offers classes demonstrations workshops and art shows

Main St Sebastian -sebastianriverartclub com

SEVENTH AVENUE STUDIO

The gallery features the abstract art paintings of Rita Barone and the varied works of Janet Kipp Tribus th Ave Barone -Tribus - -

VERO BEACH ART CLUB

This independent nonprofit serves members and the community through education exhibitions social events and monthly meetings with special programs and guest artists

th Ave -verobeachartclub org

VERO BEACH MUSEUM OF ART

The largest accredited art facility on the Treasure Coast VBMA presents international exhibitions from lenders and from its permanent collection also offering classes lectures fi lm studies concerts children’s programs and interactive Art Zone sculpture parks and museum store

Riverside Park Drive -vbmuseum org

Filigree Tusk by David Russell, glass, 18 inches high, at The Laughing Dog Gallery

Maximizing March

COMMUNITY EVENTS ARE AT FULL THROTTLE THIS MONTH

TUnder the Oaks

The Vero Beach Art Club’s 73rd annual Under the Oaks fine arts and craft show, the group’s major fundraiser and one of our most popular local events, will take place at Riverside Park March 8–10. More than 200 artists from far and wide will be displaying their paintings, sculpture, jewelry, and much more in this juried show attended by some 60,000 visitors over three days.

Friday and Saturday hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free, and lots of food trucks will be on hand. Find all the information you need at verobeachartclub.org. The Art Club can also be reached at 772-231-0303.

TFirefighters’ Fair

It’s time for the 44th annual Indian River County Firefighters’ Fair, which will take place at the county fairgrounds (7955 58th Ave.) March 8–17

This year’s theme is “Lights, Sirens, and Smiles”; among the highlights are two concerts: Dillon Carmichael on Saturday, March 9 at 7 p.m. and Eddie Montgomery of Montgomery Gentry on Sunday, March 10 at 7 p.m. In addition to the rides and food, the 10-day event will include magic shows, a cowboy circus, a demolition derby, youth livestock and agriculture events, and the always-popular firefighter training shows for children. The fair opens at 5 p.m. on weekdays and 1 p.m. on weekends. For more information, check out the fair’s new and improved website, firefightersfair.org, or call 772-571-FAIR (3247).

Car Show

For the 45th year, the Indian River Region of the Antique Automobile Club of America will hold its massive car show, with awards in 16 classes in addition to Best in Show. Take a walk down automotive memory lane March 16 at Riverside Park from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. More than 300 vehicles are expected, along with a DJ, food trucks, a 50/50 raffle, and a silent auction. The car show is free to attend. The contact information is 772-584-1842 and indianriver.aaca.com

TERESA LEE RUSHWORTH

KELLY ROGERS

Eddie Montgomery

CALENDAR

MARCH 4

KARL ROVE

The Distinguished Lecturer Series presents political pundit and author Karl Rove. 4 and 6 p.m.; Stark Main Stage $102, Waxlax Theatre simulcast $87

Riverside Theatre

3250 Riverside Park Drive

772-231-6990

riversidetheatre.com

MARCH 6

QUEEN CONCH

Research professor Megan Davis presents a lecture titled “Celebrating the Queen Conch: A Journey of Restoration with Caribbean Communities.” Registration is required. 4 p.m., free

FAU Harbor Branch

Oceanographic Institute

5600 N. U.S. Hwy. 1, Fort Pierce 772-242-2293

fau.edu/hboi

MARCH 8

9 TO 5: THE MUSICAL

Based on the 1980 movie, this show features music by Dolly Parton and book by Patricia Resnick. Through March 24; Fridays 7:30 p.m., Saturdays 2 and 7:30 p.m., Sundays 2 p.m.; $35–$40

Vero Beach Theatre Guild 2020 San Juan Ave.

772-562-8300

verobeachtheatreguild.com

MARCH 9

CARE NET CAR SHOW

Care Net Pregnancy Center now has a car show! 9 a.m. registration, 10 a.m.–2 p.m. show; free to attend

Care Net Pregnancy Center of IRC at Vero Christian Church 3250 9th St. SW (Oslo Road) 772-569-7939

carenetchampions.org

PLAYTIME IN THE PARK

Bring the little ones to Riverside Park for the 30-minute theatercentered educational program “Spring Tales.” March’s dance component, “Leaping into Literacy,” will take place March 16. 11 a.m., free

Riverside Theatre

3250 Riverside Park Drive 772-231-6990

riversidetheatre.com

SUNSET SATURDAY

Glory Days will play classics from the ’60s through the ’90s. 5–8 p.m., free Vero Beach Chamber of Commerce at Ocean Drive by Humiston Park 772-226-5459 verochamber.com

DAVE MASON

Prolific singer-songwriter and guitarist Dave Mason, formerly of the band Traffic, will perform his hits from the ’60s, ’70s, and beyond. 8 p.m., $47.50–$67.50

Sunrise Theatre

117 S. 2nd St., Fort Pierce 772-461-4775 sunrisetheatre.com

MARCH 10

‘THE 20TH CENTURY’

In keeping with its numerical theme for this season, Treasure Coast Chorale will perform songs by the decades in the concert “The 20th Century: A Musical Extravaganza.” 4 p.m., donations accepted Treasure Coast Chorale at First Baptist Church 2206 16th Ave. treasurecoastchorale.org

BREVARD SYMPHONY

With Paul Huang as guest violinist, the BSO will perform Mozart’s Overture to The Magic Flute; Korngold’s Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35; and Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition . 7:30 p.m., $85–$90

Indian River Symphonic Association at Community Church of Vero Beach 1901 23rd St. 772-778-1070 irsymphonic.org

MARCH 11

‘THE EARL & THE PHARAOH’

Lady Fiona, the Eighth Countess of Carnarvon, presents “The Earl & the Pharaoh: The Discovery of Tutankhamun,” a lecture on famed Egyptologists Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter. 4:30 p.m.; $130 members/$158 nonmembers; streaming or Leonhardt Auditorium simulcast $80 members/$95 nonmembers

Vero Beach Museum of Art 3001 Riverside Park Drive 772-231-0707 vbmuseum.org

Kyiv Virtuosi Symphony

TOn March 25, the Indian River Symphonic Association welcomes Dmitry Yablonski and the Kyiv Virtuosi Symphony Orchestra. This 19-piece ensemble of Ukrainian musicians was formed in 2016 and is now based in Chieti, Italy. Young Israeli pianist Alon Kariv will be the featured soloist. Selections will include the Overture from Crystal Palace by Alexey Shor; Piano Concerto No. 2 in A Major by Franz Liszt; and Symphony No. 8 in G Major, Op. 88 by Antonín Dvorák. The concert will take place at Community Church of Vero Beach (1901 23rd St.) at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $95–$125. For more information, call 772-778-1070 or see irsymphonic.org

ROCK THE BOAT

YSF’s Rock the Boat benefit gala will include a regatta, dinner, an open bar, a raffle, and a live auction. 5 p.m., $225

YSF Community Sailing at Quail Valley River Club 2345 Hwy. A1A 772-492-3243 ysfirc.org

MARCH 12

HISTORY LECTURE

The E-series (Engage, Educate, Entertain) presents author Michael Tougias with a talk on the 1945 sinking of the USS Indianapolis 7 p.m., free

The Emerson Center 1590 27th Ave. 772-778-5880

theemersoncenter.com

MICHAEL PAVIA

Alon Kariv

MARCH 13

ARTIST MEET & GREET

The ELC will hold a meet and greet for the Orchid Island Art Club Member Show, which will run through the end of May. 4:30–6:30 p.m., free

Environmental Learning Center 255 Live Oak Drive

772-589-5050 discoverelc.org

GISELLE

Members of the Grand Kyiv Ballet will perform the 19th-century romantic tragedy Giselle. 7:30 p.m., $79–$107

Sunrise Theatre

117 S. 2nd St., Fort Pierce 772-461-4775 sunrisetheatre.com

MARCH 14

ANGELS DINNER

The Boys & Girls Clubs will hold their major fundraiser at the Vero Beach club. In addition to cocktails and dinner, guests will meet BGCIRC members and learn about

their activities at the three Indian River County clubs. 6 p.m., $500 Boys & Girls Clubs of IRC 1729 17th Ave.

772-299-7449 bgcirc.org

WINE & DESIGN

The Art Club invites aspiring painters to bring refreshments and join instructor Christine Thomas in creating their own versions of Blue Heron on Wood Sign . 6–8:30 p.m., $55 members/$65 nonmembers

Vero Beach Art Club

1903 14th Ave.

772-217-3345 verobeachartclub.org

CORK, CANVAS, & COMPANY

Camy DeMario will lead a fun class in painting Mermaid Dreams Participants are welcome to bring beverages and snacks; all art supplies are provided. 6:30–8:30 p.m., $45

Vero Beach Museum of Art 3001 Riverside Park Drive 772-231-0707 vbmuseum.org

Boys & Girls Clubs Angels Dinner, March 14

THE SIXTIES SHOW

This Broadway-style multimedia production revisits the 1960s, with musicians performing a wide selection of hits from that momentous period in musical history. 7 p.m., $45–$90

MusicWorks

at The Emerson Center 1590 27th Ave.

800-595-4849 musicworksconcerts.com

RECURRING EVENTS

EVERY SATURDAY FARMERS MARKET

Browse the wares of more than two dozen vendors at the Vero Beach Farmers Market, at the corner of Ocean Drive and Dahlia Lane. 8 a.m.–noon

Business Inspiring Kindness 2901 Ocean Drive verobeachfarmersmarket.com

EVERY FIRST FRIDAY

FIRST FRIDAY GALLERY STROLL

Pop into some art galleries and then enjoy a beverage and a bite at a restaurant or café. March 1 and April 5, 5–8 p.m.

Main Street Vero Beach Downtown along 14th Avenue 772-643-6782

mainstreetverobeach.org

EVERY LAST FRIDAY

DOWNTOWN FRIDAY

Enjoy a community street party with live music, street vendors, and food trucks. March 29, 6–9 p.m., free

Main Street Vero Beach Downtown along 14th Avenue 772-643-6782

mainstreetverobeach.org

EVERY LAST SATURDAY

VBMA FREE ADMISSION

Admission is free for everyone on the last Saturday of each month. March 30, 10 a.m.–4:30 p.m.

Vero Beach Museum of Art 3001 Riverside Park Drive 772-231-0707

vbmuseum.org

MARCH 15

LOVE OF LITERACY LUNCHEON

Author Will Schwalbe will join Literacy Services in celebrating its Students of the Year and promoting local literacy efforts. 11:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m., $150 Literacy Services of IRC at Bent Pine Golf Club 6001 Clubhouse Drive 772-778-2223 literacyservicesirc.org

JAZZ UNDER THE STARS

Bring a chair or blanket and enjoy the sounds of David Mundy and the Indian River Charter High School Jazz Ensemble at this event funding affordable housing for local seniors. 6–8:30 p.m., $50

St. Francis Manor 1750 20th Ave. 772-562-8575 stfrancismanor.org

PELICAN ISLAND NWR ANNIVERSARY

Celebrate the 121st anniversary of the United States’ first national wildlife refuge, right here in our

own backyard. President Theodore Roosevelt himself (Joe Wiegand) will be on hand to mark the occasion. Through March 17; see website below for all times, costs, and locations

Pelican Island Conservation Society

firstrefuge.org/anniversary

MARCH 16

DOG PARK ANNIVERSARY

It’s been a decade at the dog park! VBDP is planning its 10th anniversary program. 11 a.m., free

Vero Beach Dog Park 3449 Indian River Drive E. verobeachdogpark.org

‘THROUGH THEIR EYES’

Ballet Vero Beach and VBMA join to present “Through Their Eyes: Choreographic Impressions from Foreign Lands.” 3 p.m., $30 members/$36 nonmembers

Vero Beach Museum of Art 3001 Riverside Park Drive 772-231-0707

vbmuseum.org

BLUE JEANS & BBQ

Special Equestrians invites everyone to its barn for this fundraiser catered by 14 Bones. Guests will enjoy music, barbecue, beer and wine, a silent auction, a pony parade, and a student riding demo. 5:30 p.m., $125

Special Equestrians of the Treasure Coast 7065 37th St. 772-562-7603

specialequestrianstreasurecoast.org

CALENDAR

INTERNATIONAL MUSIC

FESTIVAL

Cellist and vocalist Mike Block will perform a solo show as part of a cross-cultural music series. 7:30 p.m., $25

First Presbyterian Church 520 Royal Palm Blvd. verobeachinternationalmusicfestival.

com

THE HIT MEN

The five musicians of The Hit Men perform songs made famous by the many artists they have played with in the studio and onstage over the decades. 8 p.m., $39.50–$59.50

Sunrise Theatre

117 S. 2nd St., Fort Pierce 772-461-4775

sunrisetheatre.com

FLOWER SHOW

If you enjoy viewing exquisite flower arrangements and horticulture plants, you’ll want to attend the Garden Club’s Flower Show. The theme is “Hidden Treasure.” Also March 17; Saturday 12:30–4:30 p.m., Sunday noon–4 p.m.; free Garden Club of IRC 2526 17th Ave. 772-567-4602

gardenclubofirc.org

MARCH 19

ACADEMY OF ST. MARTIN IN THE FIELDS

The Symphonic Association welcomes the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, with its world-

Left: Vero Beach Dog Park 10th anniversary, March 16

Above: Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge 121st anniversary, March 15

renowned music director, Joshua Bell, as violin soloist. Selections include works by Rossini, Bruch, and Brahms. 7:30 p.m., $95–$125

Indian River Symphonic Association at Community Church of Vero Beach 1901 23rd St. 772-778-1070 irsymphonic.org

YANKEE TAVERN

This 2007 thriller by Steven Dietz will be performed on Riverside’s Waxlax Stage. Through April 7, times vary, $65

Riverside Theatre 3250 Riverside Park Drive 772-231-6990 riversidetheatre.com

MARCH 20

‘TRIOS TRANSFORMED’

Three musicians from the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (pianist Wu Han, violinist and violist Arnaud Sussman, and cellist David Finckel) will play trios by Beethoven and Haydn. 7:30 p.m., $65

Trinity Episcopal Church 2365 Pine Ave. 772-567-1146 chambermusicsociety.org

MARCH 21

CONCERT IN THE PARK

VBMA welcomes jazz pianist Mike Telesmanick for a rain-or-shine outdoor concert. Wine and beer cash bar and Off the Hook food truck will be on-site. Bring a chair. 5–7 p.m.,

$10 members/$12 nonmembers

Vero Beach Museum of Art 3001 Riverside Park Drive 772-231-0707 vbmuseum.org

‘BEATLES VS. STONES’

Tribute bands Abbey Road and Satisfaction face off. 7 p.m., $45–$95

MusicWorks

at The Emerson Center 1590 27th Ave. 800-595-4849

musicworksconcerts.com

‘LATIN PASSIONS’

The ACO will perform Bizet’s Carmen Suite No. 1, The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires by Astor Piazzolla, and The Three-Cornered Hat by Manuel de Falla. 7:30 p.m., $30–$65

Atlantic Classical Orchestra at Community Church of Vero Beach 1901 23rd St. 772-460-0851

atlanticclassicalorchestra.com

SWEET CHARITY

The performing arts students of IRSC present the musical comedy Sweet Charity, with music by Cy Coleman and book by Neil Simon. Through March 24; Thursday–Friday 7 p.m., Saturday–Sunday 2 p.m.; $20

McAlpin Fine Arts Center 3209 Virginia Ave., Fort Pierce 772-462-4750

irsc.edu

MARCH 23

NIGHT SOUNDS

The band St. John’s Wood will take the stage at the pavilions, and food trucks will be on hand. 6–9 p.m., regular park admission fees apply Friends of Sebastian Inlet State Park 14251 Hwy. A1A 772-589-2147

friendsofsebastianinletstatepark.org

MARCH 24

ART IN THE PARK

Members of the Art Club will be displaying their creations, which will be available for purchase. Also April 7; 10 a.m.–4 p.m.; free

Vero Beach Art Club at Humiston Park 3000 Ocean Drive 772-217-3345

verobeachartclub.org

‘SINATRA, MARTIN & MORE’

Vocalist and 2004 American Idol finalist John Stevens will join SCSO’s jazz ensemble to perform “My Way,” “Fly Me to the Moon,” and many more favorites. 3 p.m., flexible pricing

Space Coast Symphony Orchestra at The Emerson Center 1590 27th Ave. 855-252-7276

spacecoastsymphony.org

‘SCENES FROM ZARZUELAS’

Singers, dancers, and musicians come together to present stories in the distinctly Spanish genre of the zarzuela. 3 p.m., $15–$100

BOB JOY

KELLY ROGERS

THROUGH MARCH

KINKY BOOTS

This show features music by Cyndi Lauper and book by Harvey Fierstein, based on the 2005 British fi lm wri en by Geoff Deane and Tim Firth. Times vary, $45–$105

Riverside Theatre 3250 Riverside Park Drive 772-231-6990 riversidetheatre.com

Vero Beach Opera at VBHS Performing Arts Center th St -verobeachopera org

MARCH

SRA BINGO LUNCHEON

Senior Resource Association will hold its th annual Bingo Luncheon

The theme is “Solid Gold Country ” so dress accordingly if you have a hankerin’ to a m – p m

Senior Resource Association at Oak Harbor Clubhouse S Harbor Drive -seniorresourceassociation org

MARCH

CHICAGO TRIBUTE

Live! from Vero Beach presents

Beginnings a seven-piece Chicago tribute band p m –

MusicWorks at The Emerson Center th Ave -musicworksconcerts com

MARCH

TIPSY TURTLE

Support turtle-friendly initiatives by participating in the Tipsy Turtle -mile run/walk which will include postrace food beverages and activities – a m –

Coastal Connections at Jaycee Beach Park Ocean Drive - -

coastal-connections org

APRIL

HARBOR BRANCH TALK

Professor Colin Polsky will discuss Florida Atlantic University’s new School of Environmental Coastal and Ocean Sustainability ECOS Preregistration is required p m free

FAU Harbor Branch

Oceanographic Institute N U S Hwy Fort Pierce - -

fau edu/hboi

‘OWLS DON’T WALK’

The Sunrise welcomes comedian and actor Kevin James best known for his work on the television series The King of Queens p m –

Sunrise Theatre S nd St Fort Pierce -sunrisetheatre com

CALENDAR

APRIL 4

‘ONE NIGHT IN MEMPHIS’

This show recreates the Dec. 4, 1956 event that saw Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis jamming together at Sun Studios. 7 p.m., $45–$100

MusicWorks

at The Emerson Center 1590 27th Ave. 800-595-4849 musicworksconcerts.com

‘CURTAIN CALL CLASSICS’

IRSC’s jazz and wind ensembles present a concert of jazz, film, and Broadway selections. Through April 6; Thursday–Friday 7 p.m., Saturday–Sunday 2 p.m.; $20

McAlpin Fine Arts Center 3209 Virginia Ave., Fort Pierce 772-462-4750 irsc.edu

APRIL 6

WALK FOR LIFE

Care Net will hold its 40th annual Walk for Life in support of its services to women facing unplanned pregnancies. 8 a.m., entry is free (donors may sponsor walkers)

Care Net Pregnancy Center of IRC at Riverside Park 3280 Riverside Park Drive 772-569-7939 carenetchampions.org

CRAFT SPIRITS FESTIVAL

Distilleries from all over Florida will be represented at the Treasure Coast Craft Spirits Festival benefiting Sunrise Rotary Vero Beach. 2–6 p.m.; $100 general admission (must be age 21 or over) includes unlimited tasting, souvenir glass, appetizers, and bottled water; $30 designated driver ticket (must be 18 or over) includes appetizers and bottled water

Treasure Coast Craft Spirits Festival at Airport Drive treasurecoastspiritsfestival.com

Event co-chairs Ann Cathleen Egan Cronin, Pamela Larrick, and Susan Kintner

Blue Ribbon Luncheon

Hibiscus Children’s Center’s Blue Ribbon Luncheon & Fashion Show, scheduled for 11 a.m. April 3, will be held at Oak Harbor Clubhouse (4755 S. Harbor Drive). This year’s theme is “Up, Up & Away.” Professional models will be sporting the latest fashions from local boutiques, and guests will also enjoy a gourmet lunch and silent auction. Tickets are $175; proceeds help build a brighter future for the teens at Hibiscus House, who have experienced abuse and/or neglect. Further information can be obtained at 772-299-6011, ext. 313 and hibiscuschildrenscenter.org.

The Directory

CHARLOTTE TERRY GROUP OF ALEX MACWILLIAM REAL ESTATE 772-234-8500 charlotteterry.com 147, back cover

CHRISTINE R. MCLAUGHLIN

139

COLLEEN JENNINGS AT BILLERO & BILLERO 772-559-8125

D IANE DEFRANCISCI 772-538-1614

MARTIN CARDER

THE MOORINGS REALTY SALES CO. 772-231-5131

themoorings.com 20, inside back cover

O’DARE BOGA GROUP

AT ONE SOTHEBY’S INTERNATIONAL REALTY 772-713-5899

odareboga.com.......................... 23

RYAN HOMES

GR AND HARBOR

772-299-6623

91

78

J. K NAPP WITH AMAC | ALEX MACWILLIAM REAL ESTATE 772-913-0395

J OHN’S ISLAND REAL ESTATE COMPANY 772-231-0900

johnsislandrealestate.com 8, 9

Contributing Advertising

THE AD AGENCY

E. Fred Augenstein

772-538-3923, augy@comcast.net

Ad design and production, all media, full service

NICOLACE MARKETING

Maureen Nicolace

772-299-4889, maureen@nicolacemarketing.com

Public relations, marketing plans, media placement, graphic design, marketing, and staff development

SQUARED STUDIOS

Amanda Robinson

772-713-6884, squared-studios.com

Marketing, advertising, and graphic design from concept through production

SKY ADVERTISING

321-777-0140, skyadinc.com

Full-service marketing, including brand creation; photography and videography; digital, print, and broadcast advertising; and website creation

VERO MARKETING

Lindsay Candler

772-473-0654, veromarketing.com

Creative graphic design, print marketing, and website design

ROOTS

100 YEARS

Street Smarts

YEARS BEFORE SEBASTIAN’S 1924 INCORPORATION, MAIN STREET WAS BEGINNING TO BUZZ

BY ELLEN E. STANLEY

What a bustling, thriving town Sebastian was becoming! These photographs of the south side of Main Street looking east were taken by Rodney Kroegel. The closer, ground-level view above was shot in 1918; all we know about the other is that it was taken sometime in the 1910s, with Kroegel perched in the second story of the schoolhouse built around 1905, perhaps in the belfry.

This commercial center of Sebastian was booming. From east to west, the first visible building is the Sebastian Hotel, built in 1912; it would burn to the ground in 1928.

Next to it was the Tompkins Store for a short while, and next was the Vickers Garage, then Vickers Bros. Store. Continuing west in those days, though not visible in these images, would have been the Hall Packing House and another store, perhaps the Deal Store. The Kitching and Hardee stores stood on the opposite side of Main Street for many years.

By this time, the street was no longer rutted and muddy. It had acquired a finish of smooth crushed shell, a better surface for automobiles. This pampering, as well as the new Vickers Garage, was evidence of the growing love affair between

man and Model T. More and more photographs of the time included automobiles with proud drivers or houses with cars and new garages.

The Tompkins Store was eventually bought out by Doc Sloan and moved to his property. Brothers Frank and George Vickers bought the Braddock Store in 1911, converting it to Vickers Bros., with their living quarters on the second floor.

A few other stores came and went in rapid succession on Main Street. However, Vickers Bros. remained, grew, relocated, adopted a stucco exterior, changed owners, and

still exists in a greatly modified form on U.S. Highway 1.

Over the years, the commercial hub of Sebastian gradually shifted to the north-south routes—Central Avenue, Dixie Highway, and U.S. 1—no doubt in response to increased traffic flow through the town.

Ellen E. Stanley is an author, historian, and member of the Sebastian Area Historical Society

COURTESY OF SEBASTIAN AREA HISTORICAL SOCIETY KROEGEL COLLECTION