Volume 2 . Issue 4
April 2009
Delivered free each month to the residents of Hypoluxo Island, Manalapan, Ocean Ridge, Briny Breezes, Gulf Stream and Coastal Delray Beach
Boynton Inlet
County to begin work on sand transfer plant By Margie Plunkett Construction on a new sand transfer plant at South Lake Worth Inlet — also known as the Boynton Inlet — will begin in April. Work won’t interfere with boaters or beachgoers, but could at times displace people fishing on the jetties and limit parking in the north lot. The sand transfer plant, jetties and the seawall around Bird Island are being reconstructed in a $7 million project that’s expected to last through November and beyond. The plan to renovate the nation’s first sand transfer plant, which redistributes sand that shifts because of the inlet, has been in the works since about 2002. The plant was last replaced 42 years ago. “It’s been so long in the making — it’s long overdue,” Ocean Ridge Mayor Ken Kaleel said, adding he didn’t expect the construction would have any impact on residents. “I’m not concerned about it.” Neighbors may hear pounding once a week for up to an hour on weekdays as workers start driving pilings for the plant beginning April 1, when the north jetty will
William Lamphear is led across the Manalapan Six-year-old street by his uncle, Officer Patrick Auger of the
Manalpan Police Department, during the annual Manalapan library book sale. Photo by Tim Stepien
be closed, said Leanne Welch of the Palm Beach County Department of Environmental Resources Management. Weekend construction will be limited to quiet work, such as painting and sanding. Manalapan Mayor Tom Gerrard raised concerns about pile driving over such a long time, and also pointed out that Manalapan doesn’t allow work on Sunday. The county “reassured me the Sunday work would be quiet work. For the sake of the residents near that end, I hope it is,” he said. Gerrard will intercede on behalf of residents if need be, he added. While people won’t be allowed on the jetty during construction, both jetties aren’t expected to be closed at the same time. And both sides of Ocean Inlet Park will be open for fishing for the duration. Steel sheet piles will also be driven for the north jetty. New rock will be put in and new decking and handrails will be installed. The sand transfer plant will be demolished and replaced between June 1 and Sept. 30. And work will begin on the
See INLET on page 31
Gulf Stream
From crinoline to denim, Gulfstream Polo crowd stays true By Angie Francalancia They dressed in their best in those earliest days, wearing furs and other finery to watch the game’s greatest players in what they called the gentlemen’s sport. The origins of Gulfstream Polo are inextricably woven within the lives of the socialites and capitalists who made the southern Palm Beach County barrier island their home in the 1920s. Originally, the polo ground was known only as Phipps Fields, and that in itself set the scene for what quickly became known as the winter polo capital of the
Inside Going green in Gulf Stream:
Students take first-hand look at environmental issues. EDUCATION Page 36
world. The roster of players read like the social registry itself: Winston and Raymond Guest and William Post II, up from Miami, Stewart and Phillip Iglehart, Adolph Busch Orthwein. William Koch was a boy, hanging around the stables and walking horses for a quarter, when the three polo fields lined the Intracoastal Waterway. Perhaps 80 to 100 people lived in Gulf Stream then, he said. But on Sundays for the big matches, people converged on the tiny town, coming up from Miami or down from Palm Beach, some taking their Trumpy yachts and tying up
alongside the fields to watch the game. “It was the socialites that used to come down in their yachts,” said Koch, who’s been Gulf Stream town mayor now for nearly 40 years. “People would dress in long dresses and hats. Their chauffeurs would set out a card table, put a tablecloth on it and put out a spread,” he said. “The movie stars used to come by — Gary Cooper, Ava Gardner.” The “rich man’s game” became a part of his life. On the wall of his office is a picture of him and his wife, Freddie, handing out the
See POLO on page 9
Make your own Easter keepsakes: Sugar egg dioramas offer a handmade glimpse into holidays past. FOOD Page 25
Del Carroll, Buddy Coombs, Mary Lou ‘Freddie’ Koch, Russell Firestone, William F. Koch Jr. and William Mayer at an awards ceremony for Gulfstream Polo players in a picture that hangs on Koch’s office wall. Photo courtesy of William F. Koch Jr.
House of the Month: Ocean Ridge property boasts huge lot, renowned designers. Page 38