Serving Highland Beach and Coastal Boca Raton
December 2014
Delray Beach
Tragedy on beach sparked change
Volume 7 Issue 12
LEFT: James ‘Bay’ McBride Jr. drowned in 1956 while swimming at an unguarded beach. It was illegal for him to use the ‘whites only’ beach off Atlantic Avenue. BELOW: Bay’s mother, Rosabelle McBride, visits his grave. Jerry Lower/ The Coastal Star A nesting pair of burrowing owls at the Boca Raton Airport. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star
Boca Raton
Airport project can benefit wildlife as well as human life
Teen’s drowning echoes through city’s civil rights history By Ron Hayes After church on that Sunday afternoon — May 13, 1956 — a bunch of teenagers gathered on a stretch of sand south of Delray Beach. “I was a junior in high school and I drove my father’s truck,” Walter Stephens remembers. “Gas was 25 cents
n Spady Museum to document 1956
beach conflict. Page 18
a gallon back then.” Where private homes and condos stand today, there were only dunes. “Nothing but woods,” Stephens says.
“We made a path.” No private homes, no condos. No lifeguards. “None of us could swim. We’d just get in the water and play.” Among the teenagers playing in the water that afternoon were brothers Jaycee McBride, 11, and James, 15, See DROWNING on page 19
Boca Raton operating officer, and a few other top banking executives will be having lunch later with Bill Burke walks through the main lobby Michael. The customer mentions a doctor’s of Paradise Bank’s Boca Raton branch — you appointment he has that day. That’s how tight could call it a lounge — on North Federal he is with the top management. “Don’t forget to give the doctor some help,” Highway, and sees a customer sitting at a desk Burke quips. with a teller. “Hello, Michael,” he says. Burke then continues giving his tour of Burke, the bank’s president and chief See PARADISE on page 31 By Thomas R. Collins
FAU Sports Complex
University gets a $16 mllion gift from the Schmidt Family for a new athletic center. Page 6
Looking back at Boca
Boca Raton’s history was explored during a series at FAU. Stories about the city’s architecture and life during World War II appear in this edition. Pages 10 and 11
See WILDLIFE on page 23
Paradise Bank executives: (front row, l-r) William J. Burke, Dennis Gavin, (back row, l-r) Ward Kellogg and David Englert. Tim Stepien/ The Coastal Star
Even as it grows, goal of bank is to stay small
Inside
By Rich Pollack Life near the Boca Raton Airport may become much safer for gopher tortoises, raccoons, migrating snowbirds — even the human kind — and a multitude of other critters, thanks to a new study designed to keep accidental meetings of wildlife and planes to a minimum. Wildlife biologists made their first visit to the Boca Raton Airport last month and began a yearlong assessment — largely funded by the federal government — to determine which bird species may be making unscheduled landings and takeoffs on the runaways and what other animals might transverse the tarmac when no one is looking. The study, required beginning
Seafood celebrations
Christmas can include the Feast of the Seven Fishes. Page H1
Holiday Gift Guide Our annual guide highlights offerings by local merchants. Inside