town-crier newspaper may 24,2013

Your Community Newspaper Serving Palms West Since 1980Volume 34, Number 21May 24 - May 30, 2013

WELLINGTON • ROYAL PALM BEACH • LOXAHATCHEE • THE ACREAGETOW N - C R I E RTH

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INSIDE

DEPARTMENT INDEXNEWS ............................. 3 - 13OPINION .................................4CRIME NEWS .........................6NEWS BRIEFS........................ 8SCHOOLS .....................14 - 15PEOPLE ............................... 16COLUMNS .................... 23 - 24BUSINESS .................... 25 - 27ENTERTAINMENT ................ 33SPORTS ........................ 37 - 39CALENDAR ...................42 - 43CLASSIFIEDS ................ 46 - 49

Visit Us On The Web AtWWW.GOTOWNCRIER.COM Wellington High School Salutes The Class Of 2013

WELLINGTON HOA SYMPOSIUM JUNE 5SEE STORY, PAGE 3

CHAMBER ON HEALTHCARE REFORMSEE STORY, PAGE 7

Inspector GeneralFunding, Lawsuit

Defense Unchanged

OPINIONHopefully A SettlementBrings Needed HealingWhen members of the Welling-ton Village Council meet nextweek with representatives ofWellington Equestrian Partners,both sides have an opportunityto come together and let thecommunity heal. Let’s hope thatis what happens. Page 4

WWII Veteran Recalls FallenSoldiers On Memorial Day

County CommissionVotes To Sell Mecca

Farms To SFWMD

By Lauren MiróTown-Crier Staff Report

The battle over the use of theEquestrian Village property couldbe settled next week with the Well-ington Village Council expected todiscuss a settlement offer to curbits legal woes.

A discussion of the issue is onthe agenda for the council’s Tues-day, May 28 meeting, Village At-torney Laurie Cohen told theTown-Crier this week.

The settlement offer could halttwo lawsuits filed last year byWellington Equestrian Partners(WEP), who run the Global Dres-sage Festival held at EquestrianVillage during the winter show sea-son.

Lawsuit Settlement DiscussionOn Wellington Council Agenda

See LAWSUIT, page 18

A VISIT TO WELLINGTON’S WILD WEST

A “Murder in the Wild West” murder mystery dinner theater was held Saturday, May 18 in theWellington Village Park gym with food, a fully-stocked saloon, costume contests and a night ofmystery. Shown here are Jason and Laura Hanchuk, Shannon Fox-Levine and Julie Mahoneywith Eric Levine and Mike Mahoney in the lock-up. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 9

PHOTO BY DENISE FLEISCHMAN/TOWN-CRIER

By Ron BukleyTown-Crier Staff Report

The Palm Beach County Com-mission approved its staff recom-mendation Tuesday to continueits present method of financing theOffice of the Inspector General(OIG) and also pursue its defenseof a lawsuit by 14 cities protestingthe method of funding.

The county employs the wide-ly used Local Government Elec-tronic Reporting (LOGER) programto calculate the amount allocatedthe OIG, which is the subject ofthe lawsuit. The cities assert thatthe county cannot bill them for theservice, although they would bewilling to collect the fees and de-liver them to the county.

County Administrator BobWeisman said county staff recom-mended continuing to use theLOGER system, at least until theend of the lawsuit. “There’s a his-tory of why we use LOGER,” Weis-man said.

He explained that the InspectorGeneral Drafting Committee hadcreated a subcommittee with rep-resentatives from the county, theOIG, municipalities and the publicto identify a method to retain theoriginal 0.25 percent financing inthe ordinance that created the of-fice, which was to be collected

from the county and the cities.Other goals were to reduce theadministrative effort and cost ofmonitoring the collection of reve-nue and to recognize the intent ofthe cost-share proportion be-tween the cities and the county.

“The subcommittee ended uprecommending and the full com-mittee accepted the use of theLOGER system,” Weisman said,adding that the LOGER system isrecognized in the Florida Statutesas a financing record that keepstrack of all city and county spend-ing at the state level. “It meets allaudit requirements, so we’re al-ways sure that those numbers aregood. It’s a uniform and consis-tent method to record actual ex-penditures and revenue activities,and it can therefore be used to pro-portionally allocate inspector gen-eral costs between the countiesand the municipalities.”

Weisman said it was recognizedthat the 0.25 percent fee that wasto be assessed on contracts doesnot generate sufficient revenue tocover the annual expenses of theOffice of Inspector General andsaid there was much dispute aboutwhich contracts should be exempt-ed.

“For example, contracts that


Wellington High School sent 569 gradu-ates into the world Tuesday during its com-mencement exercises at the South FloridaFairgrounds Expo Center.

“Over the next several days in Palm BeachCounty, over 11,300 graduates will walkacross this stage and receive their diplo-mas,” School District of Palm Beach Coun-ty Superintendent E. Wayne Gent said.“They will have earned over $90 million andcounting in scholarships.”

Gent told graduates that they will be start-ing a new way of life in which they will haveto make decisions, solve problems and dothings as an adult. “The decisions you makethe next few years, you will spend the restof your life managing those decisions,” hesaid.

Student Government Association Presi-

dent Terah Kalk encouraged class membersto go outside their comfort zone. “Make asmany mistakes as you can,” Kalk said.“Learn something from every person youmeet. Listen to others, but don’t ever loseyour own voice, and take into considerationthat time only moves in one direction, andnothing is permanent.”

Quoting the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs,Kalk said: “Here’s to the crazies, the misfits,the rebels, the drum beaters. You can glori-fy or vilify them, but the one thing you can’tdo is ignore them because they changethings. They push the human race forward.The ones who are crazy enough to thinkthey can change the world are the ones whodo.”

Salutatorian Marc Nebb said he disagreedwith author Kurt Vonnegut, who said, “Trueterror is to wake up one morning and dis-

See WHS GRAD, page 12

By Alexandra AntonopoulosTown-Crier Staff Report

Monday, May 27 is Memorial Day, and as Americapauses to honor the memory of its fallen soldiers,World War II veteran Angelo Cona will remember thebravery of the men with whom he served in the Unit-ed States Marine Corps more than 65 years ago.

Cona, an 86-year-old veteran who lives in subur-ban Lake Worth, can hardly express the emotionsthat flood his mind while he reflects on his time in theservice. “Memorial Day, to me, means a lot,” he said.

When Cona was drafted in 1945, he was only 18years old. Like many of his contemporaries who wouldalso serve in the U.S. military, Cona was both excitedand nervous about the journey that he was about toembark upon.

“I didn’t know anything then. What do you knowwhen you’re 18?” Cona said of his entrance into theservice.

After training, Cona was sent overseas almost im-mediately. He received orders to leave the UnitedStates on Dec. 7, 1945, and spent 30 days at sea,making several stops — one at the Panama Canaland a second in Pearl Harbor, where the troops spentone week before reaching their final destination. Conawas stationed in northern China and charged with

By Anne CheckoskySpecial to the Town-Crier

In a unanimous vote with littlediscussion, the Palm Beach Coun-ty Commission took a giant stepTuesday in settling an issue thathas plagued the county since2004.

The commissioners voted to sellthe Mecca Farms property northof The Acreage to the South Flor-ida Water Management District.They also voted unanimously tomove forward with plans to builda shooting range on the northwestcorner of the Mecca land and anall-terrain vehicle park on county-owned land near 20-Mile Bend.

After an overwhelming show ofpublic support for the three mea-sures from scores of supportersranging from residents to Nation-al Rifle Association officials toenvironmental group representa-tives — all of whom showed up tospeak at the meeting, Palm BeachCounty Mayor Steve Abramsasked his fellow commissioners ifthey had any comment.

“I wish this would have oc-curred in 2006,” said District 6Commissioner Jess Santamaria toapplause from the audience.

“We need to get this monkeyoff our backs,” District 5 Commis-sioner Mary Lou Berger agreed.

The deal now goes back to theSFWMD Board of Governors forapproval. Commissioners antici-pate a final vote in September.

The county will sell the 1,920acres situated between the J.W.Corbett Wildlife ManagementArea and The Acreage communi-ty to the SFWMD for $26 million.

That’s far less than the $60 millionthe county paid for it in 2004 whenit hoped to turn it into a home forthe Scripps Research Institute.Legal and environmental challeng-es to developing the land derailedthat plan, and after Scripps ulti-mately decided to build its facilityin Jupiter, the county was stuckwith the land. Supporting docu-ments show it costs the county$250,000 a year to maintain theproperty.

Last May, SFWMD officialsapproached the county aboutbuying the land. But the countyand district couldn’t agree on asale price at that time because ofdiffering appraisals. Eventually,county staff rejected their initialgoal of holding out for propertyvalues to rebound. They also re-jected the idea of shopping theproperty for development, as thiswould require a lengthy and cost-ly process and would put them atrisk of legal challenges, coupledwith a lack of community support.

The district will use the proper-ty for two main purposes: to re-store water flow to the Loxa-hatchee River and to enhanceflood control for The Acreage. Itbecame clear after Tropical StormIsaac last August that the SFW-MD needed an enhanced floodplan for The Acreage. Acquiringthe property will allow the SFW-MD to better manage its resourc-es to deal with floodwaters.

The only disagreement amongthose who commented publicly onthe sale was whether the countyshould reserve land to eventually

“What’s going to be discussed[at the meeting] is a way to resolvethese matters,” Cohen said.

At the site of the old Palm BeachPolo stadium at the corner of SouthShore Blvd. and Pierson Road, theEquestrian Village site was origi-nally envisioned to have commer-cial elements and a hotel. Howev-er, the only portion of the site thathas been constructed is the exist-ing dressage facility.

In May of last year, a newly seat-ed council majority voted to revoketwo measures that were approvedby the former council: the proper-ty’s master plan and conditionaluse approvals.

WEP Managing Partner MarkBellissimo filed the lawsuits after

the revocations of the existingpermits, which had allowed a showfacility on the property and year-round use. An attempt was madelast year by Bellissimo to settle theissue, but council members ulti-mately rejected his proposal andthe issue moved forward in court.

The decision caused concernfor the 2013 dressage season inWellington, even launching anadvocacy group to urge the coun-cil to approve use of the facilityfor the season.

Ultimately, council members andWEP came to an agreement to al-low activity on the site for a cer-tain number of show dates.

“They were allowed to use the

See MECCA, page 18

See MEMORIAL DAY, page 18 See OIG, page 4

Jason Gauthier, Jonathan Riotta, Josh Gauthier, Logan Jara and Kris Justscelebrate their graduation outside the South Florida Fairgrounds Expo Center.

PHOTO BY RON BUKLEY/TOWN-CRIER

LOOK FOR GRADUATION STORIES & PHOTOS FROM OTHERAREA HIGH SCHOOLS IN NEXT WEEK’S TOWN-CRIER

World War II veteran Angelo Cona athis home in suburban Lake Worth.

PHOTO BY ALEXANDRA ANTONOPOULOS/TOWN-CRIER

RPB Council Agrees ToSwap Bank For RetailThe Royal Palm Beach VillageCouncil approved a site planmodification last week for theRoyal Office Park and Toys ‘R’Us planned commercial devel-opment on State Road 7. Thechange replaces a 2,925-square-foot bank parcel with a6,336-square-foot retail officebuilding. Page 3

PBSO: Grow HousesA Growing ProblemThe western communitiesmake good places for marijua-na grow houses. That’s the con-clusion of area law enforcementofficials and why they want toarm the public with informationabout how to spot and reportthem. Page 7

Fundraiser SupportsLocal Cancer PatientSwip Swap Loxahatchee mem-bers held a fundraiser for breastcancer patient Sharon Vomeroon Saturday, May 18 at Kid-scape Park in The Acreage.Friends, family and other com-munity members gathered foran afternoon of fun to raisemoney for Vomero’s medicaland travel expenses. Page 5

Western Pines EventShows Student TalentWestern Pines Middle Schoolheld a fine arts festival to show-case student work Tuesday, May14 in the school cafeteria. Fam-ily and friends were able to viewthe work of 130 students.

7

May 24 - May 30, 2013 WWW.GOTOWNCRIER.COM The Town-Crier

The Town-Crier WWW.GOTOWNCRIER.COM May 24 - May 30, 2013

NEWS


The Royal Palm Beach VillageCouncil approved a site plan mod-ification last week for the RoyalOffice Park and Toys ‘R’ Usplanned commercial developmenton State Road 7. The change re-places a 2,925-square-foot bankparcel with a 6,336-square-foot re-tail office building.

The 12.65-acre development ison the east side of State Road 7about eight-tenths of a mile southof Southern Blvd.

Planning & Zoning DirectorBradford O’Brien said the pro-posed bank is being abandonedin favor of the retail building, whichis expected to house two tenants.

In reviewing the petition, villagestaff found that the project meetsrequirements for a general com-mercial zoning district and forplanned commercial developmentsas well as large-scale commercialand industrial projects 20,000square feet and larger.

The proposed modificationmeets the requirements of villagecode and conforms to traffic pat-terns for the overall site.

The applicant also sought ar-chitectural approval for a styleO’Brien said meets village codeand generally reflects the style ofthe existing Toys ‘R’ Us building.The applicant also sought approv-al to delete a proposed arbor,which was found to be in conflictwith underground utilities, O’Brienadded.

The Royal Palm Beach Planning& Zoning Commission recom-mended approval of the modifica-tion by a vote of 5-0 at its April 24meeting. Staff also recommendedapproval of the application.

The existing commercial spacefor Royal Office Park is 29,438square feet. Toys ‘R’ Us is 58,341square feet, with an additional16,030 square feet of office spaceplanned to the north, as well asthe 6,336-square-foot retail outpar-cel proposed to replace the bank.

“It’s kind of nice,” said agentDon Hearing with the architectur-al firm Cotleur & Hearing on be-half of property owner Pebb En-terprises. “Now you’re not goingto see the drive-through, and it willprovide a little bit more architec-ture on the street. It fits very wellinto the overall circulation of thetraffic for the site. This has beendesigned to tie in nicely with theToys ‘R’ Us building, with somelarge tower elements and project-ing planes, the use of overhangsand recesses.”

Hearing added that greatthought has also been put into thesite’s signage.

“Signage has been contemplat-ed as part of our overall design sothat there is ample room to havesignage where it is not constrainedon the elevation,” he said. “It real-ly becomes a part of the overallcomposition.”

The entrances have projectinghorizontal planes, which is in keep-ing with the Toys ‘R’ Us design

and will also incorporate stackstone that will tie in with the de-sign.

“We anticipate having two ten-ants within this building,” Hear-ing said. “The building will actual-ly block some of the parking thatis there. It will fit very nicely from acomposition standpoint into theoverall scheme out there on StateRoad 7.”

The plan continues to havecross-connectivity and cross park-ing across the site. “We have morethan ample parking,” Hearing said.“The requirement is 505 for thesite. We actually have 515 whenwe look at the easement we haveacross the site onto the Isla Verdeproperty.”

Hearing added that the projecthas been very successful so far.As part of the development ap-proval, the project has donated$5,000 toward a bus shelter,$38,413 toward wetland mitigationand $13,902 toward median land-scaping.

Hearing added that the devel-oper plans to move immediatelyinto permitting and hopes tohave it completed by the end ofthe year.

Councilman Richard Valuntasmade a motion to approve the ap-plication, which carried 5-0.

The council also approved avariance request for reduced park-ing on the site, which had beenpreviously granted variances.

O’Brien said the required num-ber of parking spaces had beenreduced from 505 to 392, but thevariance before the council wasactually for an additional five spac-es for Toys ‘R’ Us, which was re-questing four spaces for cart cor-rals and a handicapped parkingspace.

The applicant is providing anadditional 41 parking spaces out-side the village boundary in Well-ington behind the Toys ‘R’ Us, andis providing connectivity to IslaVerde to the south, also owned bythe applicant, which has a surplusof parking spaces.

“The applicant has prepared aperpetual parking and access ease-ment over these spaces to assurethey will be available for the pa-trons of the shopping center,”O’Brien said, adding that the ap-plicant has conducted a sharedparking study. “The study indi-cates that 393 spaces are sufficientfor this shopping center. Betweenthe parking spaces provided on-site, on the site directly behind theToys ‘R’ Us, there are 433 parkingspaces dedicated to the shoppingcenter.”

The applicant has agreed to re-quire employees to park in the lotbehind the Toys ‘R’ Us, O’Briensaid. In addition, the applicant hasproposed cross-access with IslaVerde, which has a surplus of 82parking spaces. The Planning &Zoning Commission recommend-

ed approval in a 5-0 vote lastmonth.

“Based on the study and theamount of parking provided on-site and off-site, staff is recom-mending approval of this vari-ance,” O’Brien said.

Hearing said the Toys ‘R’ Usopened during the height of theChristmas shopping season andhad no issues with parking. “Evenon Christmas Eve, there was morethan ample parking on the site,”Hearing said.

Councilman Fred Pinto pointedout that the overall parking vari-ance had been approved previous-ly. “All they’re asking for is anadditional five spaces to accom-modate a cart storage capability,”Pinto said.

Pinto made a motion to approvethe variance, which carried 5-0.

In other business, CouncilmanDavid Swift recommended the ap-pointment of Felicia Matula as analternate to the Planning & Zon-ing Commission. Matula, who ranfor mayor against Matty Mattioliin 2012, is currently a member ofthe Recreation Advisory Board.

“My only comment is you’ll belucky to have her,” CouncilmanRichard Valuntas said. “She is be-ing stolen from my board, so I thinkif this goes through, then weshould also advertise that we’regoing to have a vacancy on theRecreation Advisory Board.”

Swift’s nomination carried 5-0.


Wellington will host a sympo-sium Wednesday, June 5 to pro-vide local homeowners’ associa-tion and condominium boards withmuch-needed tools to manage andenhance their organizations.

The free event will be at 6:30 p.m.in the Wellington Community Cen-ter, featuring experts who will shareinformation about the legal, man-agerial and financial aspects ofdealing with an HOA or condo as-sociation.

“We have a panel of expertswho specialize in HOAs and fore-closures,” Neighborhood Advo-cate Meridith Tuckwood said.“The goal is to provide education-al tools that HOAs can use.”

The panel will be led by attor-neys from Korte & Wortman andinclude representatives from A&GManagement, RV Johnson Insur-ance and Hafer & Co. CertifiedPublic Accountants, as well as thePalm Beach County Sheriff’s Of-fice and Wellington’s code com-pliance staff.

“With foreclosures and a chang-ing market, this HOA symposiumwill be geared toward the increasein rental units,” Tuckwood said.

“We see all sorts of issues with[rental properties], and it’s impor-tant for HOAs to know how to pro-tect themselves.”

Though the symposium isgeared toward HOA board mem-bers, anyone interested is wel-come to attend. Topics will includehow to find the right property man-agement company, how to effec-tively collect dues from residents,how to manage elections, what todo about nuisance problems andhow to update HOA documentsto reflect changing times, Tuck-wood said.

“A lot of communities don’thave a way of regulating issuesbecause it’s not in their bylaws,”she said. “We want to educatethem, let them know what theirrights are and what they can andcan’t do.”

Another important topic will bedealing with foreclosures and ini-tiating association lien foreclo-sures, she said.

Tuckwood noted that the Flori-da Supreme Court recently hand-ed down a ruling regarding solicit-ing and HOAs, which will be dis-cussed as well.

With hurricane season startingnext week, HOA members will also

get information on what type ofcoverage they need to protectthemselves.

And representatives from thePBSO will share tips on how todeter crime in the neighborhoods.“People think that because theylive in a gated community, they’reprotected,” Tuckwood said.

Each panelist will cover his orher area of expertise, answeringcommon questions, giving solu-tions to common issues and shar-ing advice. Then, attendees willhave a chance to ask questions.

“Each attendee will get a packetof information so they can followalong, with room to write notes,”Tuckwood said. “It will be similarto our Foreclosure 911 seminars.We want to be sure we’re provid-ing these groups with every op-portunity to be successful.”

Attendees must register withTuckwood by Friday, May 31. Toregister, call (561) 753-2476 or e-mail [email protected].

“We are extremely excitedabout this opportunity for HOAsand encourage their participa-tion in this extraordinary educa-tional opportunity,” Tuckwoodsaid.

RPB Council Agrees To Swap Bank For Retail On State Road 7

Wellington To Present June 5Symposium For HOA Leaders

By Alexandra AntonopoulosTown-Crier Staff Report

Caribbean-Americans for Com-munity Involvement (CAFCI) inpartnership with Royal PalmBeach will host a Cultural Diversi-ty Day celebration at Veterans Parkon Saturday, May 25 starting at 1p.m. The event is free to the pub-lic.

Cultural Diversity Day is a cele-bration of all heritages and will pro-vide the community with an excit-ing and entertaining way to ex-plore the cultures of the westerncommunities and to experiencefood, artwork, music, sports anddancing from around the world.

“What we want to bring to thearea is all different types of cultur-al things: music, food, arts andcrafts,” explained event coordina-

tor Ernie Garvey. “It’s going to belike a melting pot in the westerncommunities now, and we want tocelebrate that.”

Cultural Diversity Day kicks offat 1 p.m. and continues until sun-down, but the real action will be-gin at 3 p.m. when guests will en-joy live performances by local andinternational artists. “There will bea lot of entertainment as well asdelicious food and arts and craftsvendors with different ethnic of-ferings throughout the day,”Garvey said.

Some of the entertainers includeAnize Hanif, who will perform Af-rican dancing, steel drums fromTrinidad by Pan Man Eddie and aperformance by 10-year-old super-star singer Soleil Rowe of north-ern Miami Beach.

CAFCI’s Cultural Diversity Daycelebration promises to be aunique way to learn about the his-tory of the area’s various ethnici-ties. Vendors will showcase theirwares from individual booths andvisitors are encouraged to bringchairs, tents, blankets and be pre-pared to make it an all-day familyevent.

CAFCI, a nonprofit organiza-tion, is focused on promoting mul-ticultural awareness and fosteringcommunity involvement withinthe western communities.

The celebration will take placeat Veterans Park, located at 1036Royal Palm Beach Blvd. For moreinformation, call event chair EletCyris at (561) 791-9087, ErnieGarvey at (561) 676-5664 or visitwww.cafcipbc.org.

CAFCI To Host Diversity DayCelebration In Royal Palm


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The Wellington Chamber of Commerce

LETTERS TO THE EDITORTennis CenterMove A Hard

DecisionThe recent decision by the Well-

ington Village Council to move thetennis center was a very hard one,it was almost a lose-lose, but I ap-plaud Mayor Bob Margolis andcouncilmen John Greene and MattWillhite on having the courage tomake this decision. Keeping thetennis center at its current loca-tion was not an option, especiallyif the council was going to moveforward on the new communitycenter.

All of the other sites that wereconsidered had current recreationfacilities in place, and would haverequired an extra six to nine monthsto move them and add hundredsof thousands of dollars to the costof the project. K-Park is now inplay for a major player to enhanceour equestrian industry and is notin play for a tennis site. For thefirst time in 20 years, I have to agreewith my friend George Unger —the western equestrian conceptwould be a huge positive for thecommunity and economy, andneeds to be explored.

Council members HowardCoates and Anne Gerwig arewrong on two counts: Leaving thecenter where it is currently doesnothing but prolong the debateand delays Wellington movingforward on plans for a new com-munity center and making the ten-nis program viable. In addition,Gerwig’s comment about the costand so few participants is highlyinaccurate. The village has spent

millions on the gym building andrenovations, and the current rec-reation program and residents inthe travel basketball program fea-ture far fewer residents than thetennis program does currently.Gerwig’s lack of knowledge aboutrecreation may be her undoing inthe upcoming elections.

Unfortunately, the Village Walksite will probably spell doom forthe tennis program as many of thecurrent members will choose notto make the additional 15 to 20 min-utes of a drive, especially duringschool hours when the traffic isbumper-to-bumper with twoschools within a mile of the pro-posed tennis center. I do agreewith Coates and Gerwig that thecost is very high for this new cen-ter, so consider this: If the demandfor the tennis center is so large,sell the property (Village Walk) toa qualified business or individual,with a contractual agreement tobuild a private 24-court club andclubhouse facility with their mon-ey, offer programs and leagues tothe residents, in a return for a 99-year lease at a very modest sum.

We will see how quickly there isa need for tennis in Wellington,and the residents will be off thehook for the $5 million in costs.

Steve HaughnWellington

Moving TennisCenter Not Well

Thought OutOn May 14 there was a Welling-

ton Village Council meeting to dis-cuss moving the current tennis

center to a different location. Judg-ing from the discussions, it is notclear that this decision is wellthought out or cost efficient.

Several alternative sites for thenew relocation have been men-tioned: 1) behind the Hampton Inn,2) Stribling Road and Lyons Road,3) Stribling west of State Road 7and 4) where the old Boys & GirlsClub is presently. The second sitewas finally selected.

The first site was rejected dueto the mayor’s desire to hold it inreserve for a future art center. Themayor also wanted to keep thethird site in reserve for a “largervision.” The fourth site was reject-ed because it would result in re-scheduling and relocation ofleagues.

While it is evident that the cur-rent facility is in need of long-over-due repair, one must question thecost of building a completely newfacility at a different location ver-sus upgrading the current one. Aprice tag of $5 million was given atthe meeting as a projected cost fora new tennis facility. Some councilmembers questioned whether thisreflects only the cost of the courtsthemselves. Other items may notbe included. For example, does itinclude funds for the pro shop,parking, demolishing the currentfacility, etc?

Other questions arise, such aswhether this money comes out ofthe current budget or if new taxeshave to be raised. No budget orcost analyses were presented, soat this point we are pretty much in“trust me” mode.

A petition was collected andpresented to the council, signed

by approximately 200 players, toremain at the present location andbuild the new community centeron one of the other sites. Buildingclose to the Hampton Inn wouldmake a lot more sense due to itsproximity to the mall, convenienceof bus transportation and so on.For example, using the center forweddings within walking distanceto a hotel would seem to be a sig-nificant advantage, not to mentionthe obvious synergistic advantag-es of having the community cen-ter and art center at a common lo-cation.

We are disappointed that themayor does not see this as a goodoption. We are also disappointedin his comment that the petitionwas not 100 percent Wellingtonresidents and was mostly fromwomen’s team tennis. Well, duh?Nonresidents have always been apart of our sporting venues. Fortennis in particular, they pay ahigher rate than residents to usethe facilities, and we are certainlyglad to have them join in. And yes,ladies almost always outnumbermen in tennis leagues everywhere!

We realize there are many fac-tors and political concerns that gointo these decisions, but the resi-dents of Wellington deserve spe-cifics on exactly how much the newcommunity center, art center, ten-nis facility and other plans are go-ing to cost us, where the fundswill come from, and whether thereis a better way.

There will be more review ofplans at the next council meetingon May 28. Oh, and current tennisplayers: you might want to askhow much the rates will go up due

to building a brand-spanking-newfacility!

Ron and Phyllis FieldWellington

How DidWe Get Here?

Rhonda Swann’s editorial in thePalm Beach Post on the fate ofWellington Mayor Bob Margolisas he faces the Ethics Commissionhas me asking a question or twoabout this whole process of legalfunds for elected officials.

Earlier I read that unlike cam-paign contributions, which havestrict uses, these funds are on whatwas described as a “gray area.”Does that mean no accountabilityas to source and expense? Thecurrent investigation is on theWellington mayor’s legal fund, butI have to ask if there have beenany inquiries into the expenses ofthe other two legal funds — thefunds set up for councilmen MattWillhite and John Greene. They didnot go to court over the electionissue but simply had a recount ofsorts under the eye of the super-visor of elections and the canvass-ing board. So here is the No. 1question: How much money wasdonated to their funds and howwas the money expended?

And before signing off on this

editorial letter, I have another ques-tion regarding the Wellington mu-nicipal race: If the initial resultswere certified by the supervisor ofelections office, how is it possiblethat they were changed to the cur-rent outcome when the “legal” re-sults are the certified results? Thecertified results were not for Will-hite and Greene. Is there an inves-tigative team at the Town-Crierthat can find the answers to thesequestions for us out-of-the loopvoters? Please, how did we get towhere we are now?

Nell Hagen-AltmanWellington

Not In SupportOf Tennis MoveThe Wellington Village Coun-

cil has voted 3-2 to move our ten-nis courts to Village Walk, thustearing the heart out of Welling-ton! The three council members— [Matt] Willhite, [John] Greeneand [Bob] Margolis — can kisstheir village seats goodbye comenext election. Make some space,move the 9/11 monument to Vet-erans Park, where no one goesbecause of poor planning and noparking! I’m a resident since1981.

Peter G. EvansWellington

OPINION

Confronting active shooters is one oflaw enforcement’s most challenging du-ties. Across our nation, most recently incommunities like Newtown and Aurora,these individuals have killed or injuredmasses of people, often for no reason atall. These attackers typically had no pat-tern or method to the selection of victims,just firing unpredictably and indiscrimi-nately into crowds stuck in confined orpopulated spaces. They struck in placesconsidered “soft targets” with limited se-curity measures or armed personnel toprotect the public.

But know this: if there’s an active shoot-ing incident in Palm Beach County, mydeputies are ready to respond.

At the Palm Beach County Sheriff’sOffice, we have undergone considerabletraining in recent years to confront activeshooters, protect victims and educate thepublic to report individuals who threatento commit these crimes. All of my depu-

other public places are not a new phe-nomenon. School shootings, in particu-lar, have taken place since the 1960s, andthey have been on the rise during the pasttwo decades. They impact every geo-graphic region of our nation. Unfortunate-ly, no city or town is immune.

For us in law enforcement, the in-creased training has made us much bet-ter at responding to these attacks. To-day, officers who arrive first on the sceneact immediately, rather than waiting forbackup by SWAT and other officers, aswas the case during the Columbine HighSchool shooting in 1999. My deputiesknow to go in right away and end thekilling. They are skilled at shaving off

ties are trained to take bold, immediate anddecisive measures in stopping such at-tacks in progress.

We practice active shooting scenariosregularly at vacant schools, hospitals andother facilities across the county. All dep-uties and their supervisors are required totake part in trainings that deal with notonly ending the shooting incident but alsohandling its impact on the surroundingcommunity. Following each exercise, mystaff examines what we did right and whatwe did wrong, and we often revise ourpolicies and share our analysis with otherpolice departments.

As I’m sure you know, active shootingincidents in schools, offices, malls and

POINTOF VIEW

By PBCSheriff RicBradshaw

PBSO Deputies Are Trained To Handle ‘Active Shooter’ Situationsprecious minutes in the time it takes forpolice to respond.

My deputies are also trained to preventattacks from happening. They are con-stantly on the lookout for individuals act-ing in a manner that could cause concern.But law enforcement can only do so much.We need family members, friends andneighbors to notify police if they suspectsomeone they know is planning an at-tack. With the public’s help, troubled indi-viduals can be identified and helped be-fore they become active shooters.

The succession of high-profile shoot-ings across our nation has made it clearthat we all need to be involved in prevent-ing more violence.

OIGFundingSystem

Unchangedcontinued from page 1

were based on federal or state grantfunding, you could not assessthose contracts for the inspectorgeneral,” he said. “In the Miami-Dade County experience, there isa considerable list of exemptionsby going to this method that waseliminated.”

The total proposed budget forthe OIG in 2014 is $3.7 million, hesaid. An analysis shows that the0.25 percent fee would cover onlyabout two-thirds of the budget, hesaid.

Also, while auditing might nothave been actively talked aboutin setting up the OIG, those ser-vices were included for cities andcounties as part of the ordi-

nance. “You cannot use a con-tract fee to pay for the servicesof the audit on general audit is-sues,” he said. “The contract feecan only be used for contract-type auditing.”

Weisman said using the LOGERsystem makes the most sense.

“From numerous perspectives,it makes sense to go with theLOGER fee method because itgenerously provides more fund-ing to the IG,” he said. “It eliminat-ed the issue of auditing and argu-ing and what they would pay for.It provided funding for audit ser-vices... and all the parties agreedto it.”

Weisman said he was shockedwhen the cities sued because citystaffers had been part of the ap-proval process. “That was notraised as a question,” he said.“This has been going around forquite a bit of time. Staff has alwaysdefended the county’s position tothe board and the public. We have

defended the lawsuit, successful-ly so far.”

In a recent meeting with attor-neys for both sides, Weismanasked what would be necessaryto settle the lawsuit and was toldthe cities object to LOGER and theauditing aspect.

After that meeting, Weismansaid he had been delivered a doc-ument from West Palm Beach’sattorney that was not intended asa proposed settlement, but ratheras a set of talking points.

“I concluded it did not provideany basis for a settlement agree-ment,” Weisman said, explainingthat one of the points disavowedthe need for auditing services.

Weisman reiterated that thecounty is continuing to supportthe LOGER system of financingand to defend the lawsuit.

Claudia McKenna, city attor-ney for West Palm Beach andcounsel for the plaintiff cities, saidshe wanted to explore what she

thought would be commonground regarding the OIG’s fi-nancing.

“Mr. Weisman gave you an ac-curate presentation with the excep-tion of a few things that are reallynot fruitful for us to talk about,”she said. “I really just want to fo-cus on the funding, the LOGERsystem. Under the LOGER system,you expect a contribution of about$1.5 million from the cities. Underthe LOGER system, you send thecities a bill, and that’s what the law-suit is about. The cities say it isnot lawful to send us a bill.”

McKenna said the cities wantan alternative to get the county its$1.5 million. She said it would beto provide that all contracts in thecounty and the cities be subjectto an inspector general fee of 0.25percent. Each time a city makes apayment to a vendor, it would with-hold that much. “Every quarter, wewould send the county all of thatmoney,” she said.

Although some say that wouldnot generate sufficient revenue,McKenna countered: “We do notknow that. We all know that thereare hundreds of millions of dollarsspent by the 38 municipalities.”

Should it not raise enough mon-ey, McKenna said there is an easyfix. “If we put the quarter-percentcharge on all contracts that are el-igible, and it doesn’t generate the$1.5 million, you can amend theordinance and say next year wehave to charge 0.3 percent,” shesaid. “You are not locked into thequarter-percent. Secondly, if youthink there are too many exemp-tions, you can delete them. Youdon’t have to make them exempt.The only required exemption iswhere the county or cities receivefederal funding, because theydon’t allow you to pass on thecharge to the vendor.”

Commissioner Jess Santamariasaid he liked McKenna’s propos-al. “What I heard Ms. McKenna

state seems to be pretty simple,”he said. “If what I understood is infact what it meant, I actually seethe solution. Let’s follow withwhere it began. It all began withthe grand jury report. The grandjury report was very simple. It saidcollect one-fourth of a percent ofthe vendor contracts.”

He added that the objective ofthe grand jury report was to notcollect the fee directly from taxpay-ers.

David Baker, representing thePalm Beach County Ethics Initia-tive, said he supported staff’s rec-ommendation to continue litiga-tion and to pursue a settlement.

“I will support litigation with theunderstanding there can be dis-cussions to make it work better,”Baker said.

Commissioner Hal Valechemade a motion to follow staff’srecommendation to continue todefend the lawsuit, which carried7-0.

NEWS

The Town-Crier welcomes letters to the editor. Please keep lettersbrief (300 words). Submit letters, with contact name, address andtelephone number (anonymous letters will not be published), toThe Town-Crier, 12794 W. Forest Hill Blvd., Suite 31, Wellington, FL33414; fax them to (561) 793-6090; or you can e-mail [email protected].

When members of the Wellington Village Council meet next week with representatives ofWellington Equestrian Partners (WEP), both sides have an opportunity to come together andlet the community heal, putting an end to some of the legal matters that have plagued thecommunity for too long now.

For more than a year, Wellington has been embroiled in legal battles that have cost thevillage’s taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars and divided our community. Further, thecontroversy has put the continued success of Wellington’s equestrian venues in doubt.

Next week, council members will have a chance to talk with WEP Managing Partner MarkBellissimo and his representatives in an attempt to resolve two lawsuits WEP brought againstWellington last year.

The lawsuits arose when current council members chose to rescind approval of two mea-sures that were passed by the former council to allow for the operation of the EquestrianVillage site for horse shows.

The popular Global Dressage Festival has proven to be a success, bringing a new level ofdressage competition to Wellington. It is clear that dressage riders are willing to come to

Wellington if there is a competitive show season for them. All members of the council haveexpressed support for dressage in Wellington, even if they didn’t necessarily agree with theparticulars of the Equestrian Village project. We hope that all involved can remember thisgoing into the discussion next week.

We believe everyone involved is trying to do what they believe is best for the community. Itwill take open minds and a willingness to compromise to resolve the questions at hand, andwe hope that all sides are willing to have an honest dialogue and work toward a collectivevision for Wellington’s equestrian future.

It is time to set aside past transgressions and bruised egos and remember that we all benefitfrom the success of our equestrian community. Whether it’s polo, dressage, show jumping orcasual riding, it’s the equestrian season that keeps our businesses full and property valueshigh.

The only way Wellington can walk away from this as a winner is if we walk away together,as a community once again intact and working toward a common goal. Let’s hope that iswhat happens.


NEWS

Royal Palm Beach High School’s Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) members held a safety fair Monday, May 20 in theschool cafeteria. Sponsored by the National Organization for Youth Safety, representatives from AT&T of Palm Beach Gardens andAllstate agency owner Robert Cavanagh donated their time and services for the event. Students took the “It Can Wait” pledge to stoptexting while driving on computers provided on site. They received free gifts for their participation. PHOTOS BY JESSICA GREGOIRE/TOWN-CRIER

ROYAL PALM BEACH HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS PLEDGE NO TEXTING AND DRIVING

SADD members Stefani Goodine, Maya Williams andLacey Latour get students to take the online pledge.

Royal Palm Beach Allstate agency representativeAndrea Vallarella and owner Robert Cavanagh.

SADD Coordinator Maureen Witkowski places herthumbprint on the poster to signify taking the pledge.SADD Coordinator Maureen Witkowski (center) with members.

Robert Lariviere places his thumbprint onthe poster to signify taking the pledge. Shanice Gillette and Brian Ulloa take the pledge.

Swip Swap Loxahatchee members held a fundraiser for breast cancer patient Sharon Vomero on Saturday, May 18 at Kidscape Park inThe Acreage. Friends, family and other community members gathered for an afternoon of food, games, music and shopping to raisemoney for Vomero’s medical and travel expenses. PHOTOS BY JESSICA GREGOIRE/TOWN-CRIER

FUNDRAISER IN THE ACREAGE SUPPORTS CANCER PATIENT SHARON VOMERO

Sharon Vomero receives a Kalanchoe plant fromsupporters Rachel Wiseman and Viann Welsh.Sharon Vomero with husband Jeff and children Sophia and Nico. Supporters Angel Nichols and Nancy Schneider serve food.


CRIME NEWS

THE INFORMATION FOR THIS BOX IS PROVIDED BYCRIME STOPPERS OF PALM BEACH COUNTY. CRIMESTOPPERSIS WHOLLY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CONTENT SHOWN HERE.

Crime Stoppers of Palm Beach Coun-ty is asking for the public’s help in find-ing these wanted fugitives:

• Julian Escalante, alias Francis Es-calante, is a white male, 5’4” tall andweighing 146 lbs., with black hair andbrown eyes. His date of birth is 03/22/88. Escalante is wanted for viola-tion of probation for possession of co-caine and felony DUI. His last knownaddress is listed as at large. He is want-ed as of 05/16/13.

• Lauralyn Salito, alias LauralynOslon-Salito, is a white female, 5’7”tall and weighing 155 lbs., with blondhair and green eyes. Her date of birthis 05/25/1970. Salito is wanted forgrand theft and attempted dealing instolen property. Her last known ad-dress was Hawthorne Place in Well-ington. She is wanted as of 05/16/13.

Remain anonymous and you may beeligible for up to a $1,000 reward. CallCrime Stoppers at (800) 458-TIPS(8477) or visit www.crimestopperspbc.com. Lauralyn Salito


MAY 15 — A teenage girl wasrobbed in Royal Palm Beach lastWednesday evening while walk-ing home from school. Accordingto a Palm Beach County Sheriff’sOffice report, the victim stayed atRoyal Palm Beach High School lateto assist a teacher and was walk-ing along Raven Court at approxi-mately 7 p.m. when she was ap-proached from behind by threeunknown men. According to thereport, one of them struck her withhis fist on the right side of her face,then forcibly removed her back-pack from her back and cell phonefrom her pocket. According to thereport, the victim fell to the groundand the other two men began kick-ing her. The suspects were de-scribed as three black males, onetall and thin with a fade haircut,wearing black jeans and a white t-shirt. A second suspect was de-scribed as between 20 and 25 yearsold, husky build and wearing ablack New York hoodie. Accord-ing to the report, the suspects fledeast on Raven Court. The stolenitems were valued at approximate-ly $160. There was no further in-formation available at the time ofthe report.

MAY 15 — A deputy from thePBSO substation in Royal PalmBeach was dispatched to theSouthern Palm Crossing shoppingplaza last Wednesday evening re-garding a vehicle theft. Accordingto a PBSO report, the victim waseating at a restaurant between 7:30and 9 p.m. when someone stolehis black 2007 Ford F-350 pickuptruck from the parking lot. The vic-tim said he parked his vehicle andleft the keys to the truck on thefloorboard, using the electronickeypad to lock it. According to thereport, when the victim returnedto his vehicle, he discovered itmissing. However, there were nosigns of forced entry. Accordingto the report, the truck has a four-inch lift kit, chrome rims and achrome pipe bumper. It has a rearwindow sticker with fishhooksand the word “tease,” as well as asilver Harley-Davidson symbol.There were no suspects or wit-nesses at the time of the report.

MAY 17 — A Riviera Beachwoman was arrested last Friday onfelony fraud charges after she wasdiscovered stealing from the Wal-mart Supercenter on BelvedereRoad. According to a PBSO report,a loss prevention officer discov-ered that there was a $200 short-age on one of the store registerson Saturday, May 11. During a re-view of video surveillance footage,the officer observed 19-year-oldNatasha Davis, a Walmart employ-ee, remove a gift card from underthe register and ring it up for $200.According to the report, Davisconcealed the gift card under herkeyboard at the register and, at theend of her shift, removed it andleft the store. According to the re-port, the gift card was used for $20in gas at the Murphy’s Gas Sta-tion and $180 was spent at anoth-er Walmart store. Davis was arrest-ed and taken to the Palm BeachCounty Jail where she was chargedwith illegal use of a credit card.

MAY 18 — An Acreage manwas arrested last Saturday after hestole and sold his father’s car. Thevictim contacted the PBSO’s Acre-age/Loxahatchee substation toreport that his red 2004 Kia Sedo-na had been stolen from his drive-way. According to the report, thevictim said that his son, 24-year-old Ricardo T. Navamuel had sto-len the car. The victim made con-tact with his son, who told him he

had stolen the car and gave himinformation about the sale. Ac-cording to the report, the deputylater made contact with Navamuel,who said he had taken the car keysfrom his mother’s bedroom, drovethe car to Broward County andsold it for $500. Navamuel said hedid not know where the car wasnow. Navamuel was arrested andtaken to the county jail where hewas charged with grand theftauto.

MAY 19 — A resident of theVictoria Grove community contact-ed the PBSO substation in RoyalPalm Beach last Sunday morningto report a vehicle burglary. Ac-cording to a PBSO report, some-time between 7 p.m. last Saturdayand 10 a.m. the following morning,someone entered the victim’s un-locked car and stole an HP laptopcomputer from the rear seat of thevehicle. The victim discovered hiscar had been burglarized when henoticed both rear doors were leftajar. The stolen item was valued atapproximately $800. DNA evi-dence was taken from the doorhandles, but there were no sus-pects or witnesses at the time ofthe report.

MAY 19 — A deputy from thePBSO substation in Wellingtonwas dispatched to a home on Sug-ar Pine Trail last Sunday morningregarding a residential burglary.According to a PBSO report,sometime between 8:15 p.m. lastSaturday and 9 a.m. the followingmorning, someone stole a whiteRedline bicycle from the victim’sfront porch. According to the re-port, the victim left the screen doorunlocked. The stolen bike wasvalued at approximately $100, butthere were no suspects or witness-es at the time of the report.

MAY 19 — An employee of agas station on Greenview ShoresBlvd. called the PBSO substationin Wellington last Sunday to re-port a theft. According to a PBSOreport, sometime between 8 p.m.last Friday and 11 a.m. the follow-ing morning, someone used anunknown instrument to cut thelock on the car wash vending ma-chine. Once inside, the perpet-rator(s) stole an undisclosedamount of money. There were nosuspects or witnesses at the timeof the report.

MAY 19 — A deputy from thePBSO substation in Wellingtonresponded to a restaurant on StateRoad 7 last Sunday afternoon re-garding a vehicle burglary. Ac-cording to a PBSO report, the vic-tim parked her vehicle in the park-ing lot and was inside the restau-rant eating between 3 and 4 p.m.According to the report, someonesmashed the front passenger win-dow and stole the victim’s pursefrom under her front passengerseat. The victim said the pursecontained her driver’s license,bank cards and iPhone. The sto-len items were valued at approxi-mately $200. There were no sus-pects or witnesses at the time ofthe report.

MAY 20 — A resident of RoyalPalm Beach Blvd. called the PB-SO’s Acreage/Loxahatchee sub-station Monday to report a caseof vandalism. According to aPBSO report, the victim said thatshe and her husband left home atapproximately 8 a.m. Mondaymorning. When the victim returnedat approximately 3:30 p.m., she dis-covered that she had no waterpressure. According to the report,when the victims checked theirwater system, they discoveredthat someone drilled a hole intothe side of the retention tank and

Teen Robbed WalkingHome From RPBHS

See BLOTTER, page 18

Julian Escalante

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NEWS

Healthcare Reform Panelists — Dr. Alan Pillersdorf, Palms West Hospital CEO Eric Goldman, Dr. JackZeltzer and Florida Blue Community Educator Herman Koch. PHOTO BY RON BUKLEY/TOWN-CRIER


Healthcare reform was the topicat the Central Palm Beach CountyChamber of Commerce luncheonMonday at the Wycliffe Golf &Country Club.

A panel of doctors and otherhealthcare providers gave theirtake on what effect the Patient Pro-tection & Affordable HealthcareAct, often referred to as “Obam-acare,” will have.

Moderator Dr. David Soria saidthe changes in healthcare are con-fusing and anxiety-provoking be-cause people do not know whatto expect. “It’s hard to decipher,and whoever you talk to can giveyou a different story, and thatdoesn’t go just for you all, it goesfor most of us health profession-als,” he said.

Dr. Alan Pillersdorf assertedthat hospitals are likely to take thebiggest hit under the new health-care law. In Florida, most of thelegislative issues center on health-care, he said. Most recently, thestate’s healthcare discussionshave centered on what he calledthe “flip-flop” of Gov. Rick Scottin taking Medicaid money from thefederal government.

“Why didn’t he want to take themoney? The reason is very sim-ple. The Florida budget by law hasto be balanced every year, $74.3billion, and of that $23 billion isMedicaid,” Pillersdorf said. “If youadd 1.2 million lives conservative-ly to the Medicaid rolls of thisstate, we are going to have to payanother $19 billion, so where isthat going to come from? You haveto balance the budget. How can

they figure out a problem that iscompletely dominated by Wash-ington?”

He said other states that havetaken Medicaid money, such asArizona and Maine, now regret it.“They realize that they havecaused themselves probably tobecome quickly bankrupt,” hesaid. “This law basically is an un-funded mandate.”

Palms West Hospital CEO EricGoldman said the AffordableHealthcare Act is probably themost difficult topic facing every-one in the industry. Goldman saidhis employer, HCA, does not havea position on the law because thereare still too many questions to beanswered.

“There is still a looming, loom-ing question about how do we payfor all this and how do we make itwork in the end,” Goldman said.“The reality of it is at the core be-liefs of where we’re at, should peo-ple have access to healthcare, re-gardless of whose responsibilityit is to pay for it?”

Goldman said that upon tryingto review the 2,100-page docu-ment, he thought stopping health-care fraud was a major initiative ofthe plan. “There’s billions inhealthcare fraud occurring acrossthe country annually,” he noted.

The act also covers early retir-ees between 55 and 65 years old.“That happens to be a challengefor a lot of people who exit thework force prior to Medicare age,”he said. “There’s elimination ofpre-existing conditions, coverageof children until they reach the ageof 26.”

Mammography and colonosco-

py screenings will be availablewithout co-payments or deduct-ibles. Insurance companies will nolonger be able to rescind cover-age if a client is diagnosed with aserious disease. “There would notbe an opportunity for an insurancecompany to go back and look fora technicality in a patient’s appli-cation and retroactively deny cov-erage,” Goldman said.

Dr. Jack Zeltzer said that de-scribing the Affordable HealthcareAct as “Obamacare” does it a dis-service.

He said few people have actual-ly read the Affordable HealthcareAct. “We get bits and pieces,sound bites and snippets, and wereally don’t have a collated per-spective of what’s going on,” Zelt-zer said. “When 2,100 pages goup to Congress and the person try-ing to push the bill through says,‘Sign it, pass it, we’ll worry aboutit later,’ it really doesn’t seem tomake much sense, but that’s theway the thing came through. Thatbeing said, there are many thingsabout it that are probably verygood and very advantageous.”

Coming from Canada, he wasamong the first generation of phy-sicians to practice under its nation-al healthcare system. “For 12 yearsprior to coming down here, I nev-er knew what it was like to send apatient a bill, and I never knewwhat it was like to operate under aprivate enterprise system, as faras medicine is concerned, andboth of these systems have theirpros and cons,” Zeltzer said.

One of the biggest questionsabout the American healthcaresystem is whether patients are

getting value for their dollar.“When we talk about what we’respending and what are we gettingfor it, the answer is woefully ‘no,’because we are way down at thebottom of the list in terms of inter-im care and all the other parame-ters in which some Third Worldcountries exceed us,” Zeltzer said.“We spend more to deliver health-care than any other nation in theworld, and yet by standards, inmany cases we achieve a lot less.The reason for that is we’re notvery good businessmen when itcomes to medicine.”

The Institute of Medicine re-ported recently that the healthsystem wastes $750 billion a year,he said. “That’s absolute wastethat you could contract and tight-en up on without adjusting any-

thing as far as medical costs go,”Zeltzer said.

Herman Koch, community edu-cator for Florida Blue, said the fed-eral government had to do some-thing because the healthcare sys-tem as it existed was about to im-plode, with 17 percent of the grossdomestic product being spent onmedical needs. “That affected ev-erybody, and it’s going up,” hesaid. “This year, they’re saying it’scloser to 20 percent. They neededsomething to come in and inter-vene.”

He noted that 46.6 million Amer-icans are without health coverageand 4.3 million children are with-out insurance. “Basically, this isinsurance law,” Koch said. “It’stelling insurance companies whatthey have to do going forward.”

He pointed out that Floridaranks No. 1 in the nation for unin-sured people. “People say rightaway it’s because of the immigra-tion problem,” Koch said. “It’s not.It’s because a lot of people areworking two and three jobs andthey still can’t afford insurance.Something had to be done.”

Koch said that one of the issueswith the Affordable Healthcare Actwas that many legislators underthe influence of insurance lobbiesput clauses in the act that theythought would prevent it frompassing.

“Well, guess what? It passed,”he said. “If you want to look upexactly what’s in it, it’s onhealthcare.gov. I read all of it. Doesanyone have insomnia? That’s agood way to cure it.”

Central Chamber Discusses Many Facets Of Healthcare Reform

PBSO: Area Neighborhoods Attractive To Grow House OperatorsBy Anne Checkosky

Special to the Town-Crier

The western communities makegood places for marijuana growhouses. That’s the conclusion ofarea law enforcement officials andwhy they want to arm the publicwith information about how tospot and report them.

“The size of the lots, the avail-ability and privacy” make the west-ern communities appealing towould-be growers, said Lt. DavidCombs, commander of the PalmBeach County Sheriff’s Office Dis-trict 15 substation covering TheAcreage and Loxahatchee Groves.“It’s the perfect place to do it,” hesaid.

Last month, Alexa Ray of thePalm Beach County SubstanceAwareness Coalition and EdwardHunter, a PBSO Narcotics Divisionagent, spoke to residents at theAcreage library about the dangersof grow houses and how to iden-tify them. Last year, the PBSO tookdown 62 grow houses.

Although many people thinkgrow houses are victimless crimes,that’s not the case, especially if ahomeowner is trying to sell a prop-erty and discovers that propertyvalues have dropped significant-ly because of a grow house in theneighborhood, Hunter said. Andthe opportunity to buy distressedproperties increased after the hous-ing market imploded in 2009,Combs added.

Grow-house operators are usu-ally siphoning electricity illegally,Hunter said. The houses useabout 300-kilowatt hours per day,according to the Electrical Distrib-utors Association, which is 10times the average household elec-tricity consumption, Police Chiefmagazine reported in its May is-sue.

The large amounts of electricityused to power the lights neededto grow the plants can also causepower fluctuations, which can beproblematic for neighbors. The

water and high-humidity environ-ment needed in these operationscan also often lead to deadly moldleft behind in the house, com-pounding an owner’s ability to sellit or repair it, Hunter said.

And operators are probably sell-ing the marijuana to and in thecommunity, Ray added.

So what are some of the signsthat there might be a grow houseon the block? One or more of thefollowing: strong, strange odorscoming from the house; multipleair conditioning units; unusualPVC piping; a pool pump presentwhen the house has no pool; lotsof security; excess water in theyard; covered windows; the prop-erty is left unoccupied for longperiods of time; no mail delivery;and trash is seldom placed by theroadside.

Also, people coming and goingat odd hours or for short time peri-ods, Hunter said.

But he urged caution in jump-ing to conclusions. Many home-owners in the western communi-ties value their privacy, which iswhy they choose to live in a semi-rural area in the first place, Huntersaid. And tradesmen, such asowners of lawn care companies,for example, want to make sure theirmachinery is secured using chainsand padlocks.

However, if residents suspectsomething’s wrong, they shouldcall Crime Stoppers at (800) 458-TIPS (8477).

“It’s about a neighborhood pro-tecting itself,” Hunter said.

Grow houses usually exist forabout a year, and they can be re-markable in that they are oftenunremarkable, he said. Many ofthem are well maintained on theoutside, and some may even havechildren living there.

One way to prevent a growhouse from springing up in aneighborhood is to tell propertyowners that if they’re planning torent their property, include lan-

PBSO Narcotics Division Agent Edward Hunter inthe middle of a grow house in West Palm Beach.

This electrical distribution panel was used to illegallyprovide electricity to a grow house in the Acreage.

A busted grow house in the Acreage contained41 marijuana plants. This one is tagged 34.

guage in the lease that clarifies in-spections can and will be done onthe property, Hunter said. Andonce the language is in place, it’sup to the property owner to en-force it.

Grow-house operators can anddo take advantage of lax oversightfrom landlords, he said.

And while drug use among mid-dle and high school students is

down in Florida according to a Flor-ida Youth Substance Abuse sur-vey — 12.4 percent of studentssaid they’d used in the last 30 daysin 2012 vs. 13.4 percent in 2011 —the goal of Ray’s organization iszero drug use.

Partnering with the PBSO helpsthem get the message out. “Wewant to create a drug free PalmBeach County,” she said.

PHOTOS COURTESY AGENT EDWARD HUNTER AND THE PBSO

State Rep. Mark Pafford (D-Dis-trict 86) will host a town hall meet-ing Thursday, May 30 to discussthe 2013 legislative session.

The purpose of the meeting isto provide an opportunity to hearfirsthand about critical issues fac-ing Florida, and to offer the publica chance to provide feedback.

The discussion will also includesome information about how to be

a better advocate for the legisla-tive session in 2014. A question-and-answer session will follow thepresentation.

The meeting will be held from 6to 7:30 p.m. in the auditorium ofKeiser University, located at 2085Vista Parkway in West Palm Beach.

The town hall is open to thepublic and all are welcome andencouraged to attend.

Pafford To Hold District 86Town Hall Meeting May 30


NEWS BRIEFSMakeover

Contest SeeksApplicants

Starting Tuesday, May 28 andcontinuing until Friday, June 14,Dr. G’s Medical Weight Loss &Wellness location in Wellingtonwill be accepting applications andnominations for one deserving in-dividual in the community to re-ceive a complete makeover, madepossible through Dr. G’s partner-ship with local health, beauty andwellness businesses.

The winner will be chosen at alive event Thursday, June 20 from6 to 8 p.m. at the Dr. G’s WeightLoss & Wellness location in Well-ington. The winner will receive a3-month medical weight loss pro-gram from Dr. G’s, hair and make-up from Visions Salon and a den-tal treatment up to $6,000 in valuefrom Perfect Smile Dentistry.

The winner will also receiveLipo-Light Body Sculpting Ther-apy from Beach Body Contouring,$500 in fillers from Bafitis PlasticSurgery and a specialty facial atthe Sanda Gané European DaySpa valued at $275. Also for thewinner: a new wardrobe providedby She’s the One, a massage from

Massage Envy and a 1-year mem-bership to the Zoo Health Club,complete with a once-per-monthconsultation by a personal trainer.

Applications for the contest canbe obtained from any of the par-ticipating business locations. Dr.G’s Weight Loss & Wellness islocated at 2615 S. State Road 7,Suite B540. For more info., call LisaButcher at (561) 370-6484 or [email protected].

ParticipantsSought For

Cancer StudyResidents of Palm Beach Coun-

ty have an opportunity to partici-pate in a historic study that hasthe potential to change the face ofcancer for future generations.

Men and women between theages of 30 and 65 who have neverbeen diagnosed with cancer areneeded to participate in the Amer-ican Cancer Society’s Cancer Pre-vention Study-3 (CPS-3). CPS-3 willenroll a diverse population of upto half a million people across theUnited States and Puerto Rico. Theopportunity for local residents toenroll in CPS-3 is being made pos-sible in partnership with JFK Med-

ical Center on June 11 and June15.

CPS-3 will help researchers bet-ter understand the lifestyle, envi-ronmental and genetic factors thatcause or prevent cancer. Research-ers will use the data from CPS-3 tobuild on evidence from a series ofAmerican Cancer Society studiesthat began in the 1950s that col-lectively have involved millions ofvolunteer participants. Thesestudies have played a major rolein understanding cancer preven-tion and risk, and have contribut-ed significantly to the scientificbasis and development of publichealth guidelines. Earlier studiesconfirmed the link between ciga-rette smoking and lung cancer,demonstrated the link betweenlarger waist size and increaseddeath rates from cancer and othercauses, and showed the consid-erable impact of air pollution onheart and lung conditions.

The voluntary, long-term com-mitment by participants is what willproduce benefits for decades tocome. “Taking an hour or so ev-ery few years to fill out a survey— and potentially save someonefrom being diagnosed with cancerin the future — is a commitmentthat thousands of volunteer par-

ticipants have already made.We’re looking for more like-mind-ed individuals in [the western com-munities] to join this effort that weknow will save lives and improvethe outlook for future genera-tions,” said Alpa V. Patel, Ph.D.,principal investigator of CPS-3.

For more information, or to learnhow to become involved withCPS-3, call (888) 604-5888 or visitwww.cancer.org/cps3.

Science CenterOpening June 7The expanded South Florida

Science Museum is officially be-coming the South Florida ScienceCenter & Aquarium. On Friday,June 7, from 10 a.m to 5 p.m., thevenue will host a free communityday for the public to showcase thenewly expanded center and cele-brate the official name change.

The beloved nonprofit spentthe past year and $5 million in cap-ital campaign funds on increasingits exhibit space, tripling the sizeof its aquarium and adding newpermanent exhibits including Sci-ence on a Sphere. The museum hasgrown from 20,000 to 30,000 squarefeet, and visitors will see changesfrom the moment they park at the

new South Florida Science Center& Aquarium. In addition to experi-encing the expanded facilities,guests at the community openingeven will be treated to the expand-ed facility’s first blockbuster ex-hibit, Savage Ancient Seas: TheAncient Aquatic Deep, on displayuntil mid-September 2013.

The South Florida Science Cen-ter & Aquarium is located at 4801Dreher Trail North in West PalmBeach. For more info., call (561)832-1988 or visit www.sfsm.org.

Free WaterSafety Event

Summertime is pool time, butbefore jumping in, know how tostay safe. The Wellington Aquat-ics Complex will host a free watersafety event on Saturday, June 1from 9 a.m. to noon. The event,called Make a SPLASH (Safetyand Prevention Leaves All Swim-mers Happy), will include vendorssuch as Palms West Hospital andPalm Beach County Fire-Rescuediscussing water safety. There willalso be lifeguards demonstratinga near-drowning scenario.

The Wellington Aquatics Com-plex is located at 12150 W. ForestHill Blvd. For hours of operation

and rates, visit www.wellingtonfl.gov. For more information, callAquatics Supervisor Eric Juckettat (561) 753-2497.

Student ArtworkTo Be On DisplayThere’s an upcoming opportu-

nity for young Wellington artiststo see their creations on public dis-play. The village is teaming up withthe Wellington Art Society for theStudent Art Program, which putsyouth artwork on display at theWellington Community Center.

Elementary school students whoeither live in Wellington or attenda Wellington school are invited todeliver their original works of artto the Wellington Community Cen-ter (12150 W. Forest Hill Blvd.,Suite 100) on Wednesday, May 29between 4 and 6 p.m. The exhibitwill open Monday, June 3, and theartwork will be on display for afour-month rotation ending in Sep-tember. Artwork must be framed.The Wellington Art Society willselect the artwork for the exhibit.

Information and entry formswith program dates and guidelinesare available from the WellingtonArt Society at (561) 791-2194 aswell as school art teachers.


NEWS

A “Murder in the Wild West” murder mystery dinner theater was held Saturday, May 18 in the Wellington Village Park gym. Guestsenjoyed food from Big Lock Mobile Kitchen and a fully stocked saloon provided by Star Discount Wine & Liquors. There was also acostume contest with prizes for best men’s, women’s and couples’ costumes.

‘MURDER IN THE WILD WEST’ BRINGS COWBOYS & COWGIRLS TO VILLAGE PARK

Standing Room Only Productions cast members,who led the popular murder mystery dinner.

Wellington staffers Eric Juckett, Michelle Garvey, Bruce DeLaney,Debbie Liquori, Christine Jarriel, Ryan Hagopian and Jim Barnes. Team Five solved the murder mystery by figuring out whodunit.

Costume contest first-place winners Rudy Fernandez,Virginia Guido and Debbie and Gregg Nuessly.

John and Jill Murphy with miniature horse Rocky, andRobert and Fran Cassi with miniature horse Kalua.

Dayna Kempgens, Lauren DeLaney, Zachary Stoneand Kathy DeLaney dressed for the theme.

The Mid-County Democratic Club met Monday, May 20 at Tree’s Wings & Ribs in Royal Palm Beach. State Sen. Joseph Abruzzo (D-District 25) and State Rep. Mark Pafford (D-District 86) updated the club on the state of affairs since the end of the 2013 legislativesession. For more about the club, call Steven Licari at (561) 307-0876.

MID-COUNTY DEMS GET LEGISLATIVE UPDATE FROM ABRUZZO AND PAFFORD

Phyllis Klarmann and Rachel Hartnett.Mid-County Democratic Club members Muriel Rosenthal

and Betty Schwerin prepare for the meeting.Dave Schumacher, State Rep. Mark Pafford

and Steven Licari greet club members.

PHOTOS BY ALEXANDRA ANTONOPOULOS/TOWN-CRIER

PHOTOS BY DENISE FLEISCHMAN/TOWN-CRIER


NEWSWHS Grad

The ClassOf 2013

continued from page 1cover your high school class isrunning the country.”

“I can’t help but find myselfblessed,” Nebb said. “We as anation have such an eclecticgroup of talented individuals tochange this world. Class of 2013,look back on high school as fond-ly as I do. Class of 2013, be themovers and shakers of this worldI know all of you can be. Class of2013, remember our motto, whichwill echo on through the years —We are the lean, mean Class of2013.”

Valedictorian Ali Sina Booe-shaghi said that regardless ofwhether the graduating class mem-bers are going to college or enter-ing the work force, he believedWellington High School had pre-pared them well.

“Next year, as we enter college,let’s all party hard, after study ses-sions, of course, and make newfriends and meet new people, andoverall enjoy life,” he said. “Let’smake sure to enjoy life to its full-est and every day enjoy the sun,hang out with friends, read a book.Fifty Shades of Grey was prettygood, but that’s what my aunt toldme.”

As the final chapter of their highschool lives has ended, Booe-shaghi said they as a whole willdictate their own futures.

“We will determine whether theblank page that sits on our deskready to be filled in will turn intothe country’s next bestseller,” hesaid. “We must not settle for me-diocrity or the path of triviality, forthese paths have no end. Theysimply go in circles, never allow-ing us to achieve our goals, evenif your goal is to lick your elbow.Yeah, I see you there in the back.Let me tell you it’s biologically im-possible.”

Booeshaghi said there are twoways to approach life, as a victimor gallant fighter. “We must decidewhether to act or react, deal thecards or play with a stacked deck,”he said. “If we don’t decide whichway to play life, in the end it al-ways plays us. I know the Classof 2013 is the gallant fighter. I knowthe Class of 2013 is the dealer, andI know we will all be winners.”

Class President Austin Sweeneysaid he was impressed with thediverse goals of Wellington HighSchool’s Class of 2013, and likened

the class to its mascot the wolver-ine, which is known for its tenaci-ty.

“I know we’re all eager to be onour own and make something ofourselves, but I want you all torealize something,” he said. “Sinceday one of freshman year, schoolhas told us to keep our eye on theprize, get good grades, graduate,get a job, go to college, whatever.It kept us focused on the destina-tion.”

But he said the destination isnot the important part. “Whatmakes us who we are is the jour-ney to that destination,” Sweeneysaid. “Four years at WellingtonHigh has definitely been a jour-ney. I know that every one of ushas a different dream, a differentgoal and a different path, but I’mconfident that we will all find suc-cess in our own ways because weall started this journey as Wolver-ines, and none of us will ever giveup.”

Principal Mario Crocetti urgedclass members to reach outside thegroups they identify with in orderto enjoy life to its fullest and im-prove the world. Crocetti referredto social identity theory, whichsays that a person’s sense of whohe or she is often is based on thegroup or groups the person be-longs to. “It gives us a sense ofidentity and pride in the groups towhich we belong,” Crocetti said.“Our self-esteem and self-imageare often tied to these groups.This can lead us to believe thatour group is better than any othergroup, which can lead us to that‘us-versus-them’ mindset.”

Once people believe that theirgroup is better than any othergroup, it becomes very easy todenigrate those who are not partof their group, he said. “Our histo-ry books are filled with accountsof violent factions of countryagainst country, class againstclass, and sects against sects,”Crocetti warned.

He said people need only to turnon the news to hear about racism,sexism and other “isms” that pre-vent people from enjoying a bet-ter quality of life.

“It doesn’t need to be this way,”he said. “Today, we are a perfectexample of how thousands of peo-ple can come together, people whorepresent different religions, na-tionalities, races, genders, politi-cal parties, come together for acommon cause. Today that com-mon cause is to support, acknowl-edge and applaud our loved oneson this special day.”

Newly minted WHS graduate Nicholas Arena with his family.PHOTOS BY RON BUKLEY/TOWN-CRIER

Darlene and Christian Arevalo celebrate after the ceremony.

SGA President Terah Kalk givesan inspirational message.

Senior Class President AustinSweeney at the podium.

WHS Valedictorian Ali SinaBooeshaghi with his diploma.

Salutatorian Marc Nebbaddresses the Class of 2013.

Graduating seniors, drummajor Ryan Dargan and

section leader Tyler Derose.Abbie Schlechter and

Lauren Olevitch.

Graduates Taylor Heisnerand Kenneth Hoff.


NEWS

IberiaBank in Royal Palm Beach hosted a shredding party Saturday, May 18 in its parking lot. Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue had a firetruck and an ambulance on site, while the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office had a SWAT truck. Guests enjoyed music from DJ Tony theTiger, food samples from Chick-fil-A and kids crafts provided by Lowe’s. The event was a fundraiser benefiting Families First of PalmBeach County and the Royal Palm Beach Rotary Club.

IBERIABANK HOSTS SHREDDING PARTY FUNDRAISER AT ROYAL PALM LOCATION

Paul Chamberlain and Monica Lewis from Total Shreddingwith several boxes of papers brought to be shredded.

Claudette Williams, Selena Smith, Joan Scherer,David Eisenson, Cristy Johnson and Julie Swindler.

Troop 222 Assistant Scoutmaster Evilio Borges, Matt Perry,Thomas Vogt, Shelly Akers and IberiaBank Manager Des Romm.

Alice Villard, Des Romm, Aris Cedes andSebastian Osorio at the Lowe’s table.

DJ Tony Armour (Tony the Tiger) leadsthe conga line around the parking lot. Royal Palm Beach Rotarians volunteered at the event.

Palm Beach Chapter of the Association of Legal Administrators hosted its second annual Community Connection Golf Tournament tobenefit the Vinceremos Therapeutic Riding Center on Friday, May 17 at the Madison Green Golf Club. Guests enjoyed lunch before teeoff and dinner with an awards ceremony. There was also a silent auction, raffles and goodie bags.

LEGAL ADMINISTRATORS HOST GOLF TOURNAMENT TO SUPPORT VINCEREMOS

Billie Hearrell and Bob Jackson with Bruce and Amy Testa.First-place winners Brian Hall, Mike Hall and Jeremy Latimer

with Golf Chair Laura Shaw. (Not pictured: Dennis Hall.)Michelle Parcells, Gloria Hernandez, Golf Chair Laura Shaw,Patty McElvy, Karen Luther, Ruth Menor and Susan Guinan.




SCHOOL NEWSWellington Students Win Science Awards

The Wildcats of Wellington El-ementary School had a lot to cele-brate last week when the PalmBeach County School Districtwrapped up its annual science andmath fair.

Students and staff were hon-ored to find that six of the school’sprojects were selected for awards.Jack Robertson, Hannah Dimaiwatand Emily Oswald took first placein their respective grade levels,while Matthew Robinson receivedthird place with an interestingproject on popcorn kernels.

In the primary division, JenniferDisanti’s class won a first-place

WES Award Winners — Emily Oswald, Hannah Dimaiwat, JackRobertson and Matthew Robinson.

ribbon, while Stacey Oswald’s andMarie Sinram’s classes each re-ceived an honorable mention.

Wellington Elementary Schoolhad a total of 25 projects enteredin the county science fair, which isheld annually at the South FloridaFairgrounds. The projects select-ed to represent the school werejudged by the school’s sciencecommittee and several teachers.

These projects were evaluat-ed and chosen out of severalhundred projects. School offi-cials are proud of all the partici-pating students, including thosewith top honors.

It was another stellar fundrais-ing year at Elbridge Gale Elemen-tary School in Wellington.

For the second year in a row, itwas the top fundraising areaschool participating in the Leuke-mia & Lymphoma Society’s (LLS)School & Youth Programs.

Out of 119 participating schoolsin the Palm Beaches and TreasureCoast, Elbridge Gale ElementarySchool was awarded the first-placehonor. The school will be given abanner at the School District ofPalm Beach County board meet-ing Wednesday, June 19.

The students had a fun time set-ting up lemonade stands, having

Students At ElbridgeGale Support LLS

treasure hunts in their homes forspare change and donating theirhard-earned allowance to achievethis top honor. Students collected$7,460 in donations.

In the past 16 years, kids acrossthe United States have raised morethan $211 million that goes direct-ly to funding blood cancer re-search and patient support — justby collecting change.

LLS leads the way in blood can-cer research and has funded curesand therapies that are changingthe lives of patients. For more onSchool & Youth Programs, contactStacy Hewitt at (561) 616-8682 [email protected].

The King’s Academy recentlyannounced the selection of its2013-14 Prefect Council. The coun-cil is made up of senior leaders whopossess an uncompromising com-mitment to the school’s values andideals.

To be considered, students mustsubmit a nomination form, gothrough an interview, and be se-lected by a team of administratorsand teachers. The council helpsto oversee all areas of student lifeand lead the student body withemphasis on service not privilege.Congratulations to these rising se-niors:

• Clark Aliapoulios — son ofMark Aliapoulios and Amy Clarkof West Palm Beach, will serve asa Fine Arts Prefect.

• Rachel Bassett — daughterof Ben and Rosa Bassett of WestPalm Beach, will serve as an Aca-demic Prefect.

• Abigail Cornelius — daugh-ter of Reid and Marla Cornelius ofPalm Beach Gardens, will serve asa Service Prefect.

• Michela Diddle — daughterof Eric and Christin Diddle of Boyn-ton Beach, will serve as a SpiritualLife Prefect.

• Grace Evans — daughter ofCraig and Helen Evans of LakeWorth, will serve as a Student LifePrefect.

• Matthew Fritz — son ofDave and Karen Fritz of Welling-ton, will serve as an AcademicPrefect.

• Alexandra Gantt — daughterof Stuart and Phyllis Gantt of Well-ington, will serve as a Service Pre-fect.

• Garrett Larson — son of Ri-chard and Rosario Larson of LakeWorth, will serve as a Spiritual LifePrefect.

• Katelyn McCoy — daughter

of Bill and Connie Tuller of Well-ington, will serve as a Unity Pre-fect.

• Jonathan McGrath — son ofDonald and LeAnn McGrath ofWest Palm Beach, will serve as aFine Arts Prefect.

• Christian Rodriguez — sonof Miguel and Maria Rodriguez ofWest Palm Beach, will serve as aStudent Life Prefect.

• Casey Ryan — daughter ofMichael and Barbara Ryan of PalmBeach Gardens, will serve as aUnity Prefect.

• Jerry (Paul) Schumacher —son of Jerry and Annette Schuma-cher of North Palm Beach, willserve as an Athletic Prefect.

• Rachel Spell — daughter ofRev. Scott and Anne Spell of WestPalm Beach, will serve as an Ath-letic Prefect.

• Ashley Stack — daughter ofBob and Nancy Stack of Palm

Springs, will serve as a SpiritualLife Prefect.

• Sarah Vander Wagen —daughter of John and Terri VanderWagen of Palm Beach Gardens,will serve as a Service Prefect.

The King’s Academy is a na-tionally recognized private Chris-tian school serving approximately1,200 students from preschoolthrough 12th grade. It is accredit-ed by the Southern Associationof Colleges and Schools, the As-sociation of Christian Schools In-ternational and the Florida Asso-ciation of Christian Colleges andSchools. TKA serves studentsand families across Palm Beachand Hendry counties at its maincampus at Belvedere Road andSansbury’s Way in West PalmBeach, its Clewiston campus onCaribbean Avenue and its satel-lite preschool campuses. For moreinformation, visit www.tka.net.

TKA Announces Prefect Council Members

A college counselor with world-class experience is joining the Ox-bridge Academy of the PalmBeaches. Formerly at the Rift Val-ley Academy in Kenya, Steve Pe-ifer has been hired to serve as as-sociate director of college coun-seling. He’ll work with the school’sdirector of college counseling,David Prutow, and assist in edu-cating the school community onthe college admissions process.

“What appealed to me the mostabout Oxbridge Academy is thatthe administration and faculty aredetermined to make a difference instudents’ lives and provide themwith every opportunity possibleto succeed,” Peifer said.

For the past decade, Peifer has

been the director of college guid-ance at Rift Valley Academy, aninternational boarding school incentral Kenya that serves childrenof missionaries with an American-based curriculum. During his ten-ure, he saw the first students inthe school’s 107-year history at-tend prestigious American univer-sities. His work as a crusader forKenyan children has earned himnumerous awards, including theCNN Heroes Award for Champi-oning Children in 2007. Peifer alsoauthored a book titled Dream SoBig, detailing the struggles of lifefor children in Kenya.

For more information on Ox-bridge Academy, call (561) 972-9600 or visit www.oapb.org.

Oxbridge Academy RecruitsRenowned College Counselor


SCHOOL NEWS

After studying colonial times, and researching and reporting oncolonial trades, fifth-grade students at New Horizons ElementarySchool experienced Colonial Day. Students enjoyed taking on therole of colonials by dressing in costumes, churning butter, creatingtinsmith designs, playing colonial games and square dancing. Pic-tured here is fifth-grade teacher Juan Ramos with students.

COLONIAL DAY AT NEWHORIZONS ELEMENTARY

Mitil To Teach VocalsAt Oxbridge Academy

Osceola Creek Middle Honors Scholar-AthletesOsceola Creek Middle School

recently announced its recipientsof the Scholar-Athlete Award forApril. The award honors varsityathletes who also excel in academ-ics, effort, behavior and schoolspirit, and serve as role models.

Boys volleyball honored sev-enth-grader Jonathan Fioramonti.

Frontier Kids Win At Math & Science FairSeven Frontier Elementary

School students earned awards atthis year’s Palm Beach CountyMathematics and Science Fairheld May 6 through 8 at the SouthFlorida Fairgrounds.

Jackson Harding, a fourth-grad-er from Lisa Caprio’s science class,and fifth-grader Jacob Hargeshe-imer from Molly Harding’s scienceclass, both won first place in themathematics category.

Dylan Justin, also in Harding’sfifth-grade science class, placed

second in math. Third place wentto fourth-graders Kailee Matthewsin math and R.J. Sorensen in sci-ence, both from Caprio’s scienceclass, and fifth-grader, BrandonDomaceti from Harding’s scienceclass.

Fourth-grader McKinley Hard-ing from Caprio’s class took homehonorable mention in the math cat-egory.

Frontier Elementary is proud ofall the students who entered themathematics and science fair.Frontier Elementary Student mathematics and science winners.

Principal Dan Frank, Jonathan Fioramonti, Shane Sullivan,Samantha Steiner and Officer Sandy Molenda.

“Jonathan has been a key play-er this season,” coach ShayneSanderford said. “His serving andhitting abilities have contributedto the team’s offense tremendous-ly. He stays focused and doesn’tlet anything get to him during thegame. He’s a great role model onand off the court, and it has been a

pleasure having him on the teamthe past two years.”

Fioramonti has a 5.0 grade pointaverage, and is also a member ofOsceola Creek’s soccer team. Heis undecided on a college, but isleaning toward either a medical orengineering career.

Boys and girls track and fieldhonored Samantha Steiner andShane Sullivan, both eighth-grad-ers.

“It is with great pleasure that Inominate Samantha Steiner forScholar Athlete of the Month,”said Judy DeCosta, athletic direc-tor and girls track coach. “As amember of the Osceola Creek Mid-dle School girls track team, she hasdemonstrated hard work, leader-ship and determination. Ms. Stein-er runs in the ladies 4x100 relay,the sprint relay, the 200m dash andthrows the shot put. She will qual-ify for the regional track meet ineach of these events. Most impor-tantly, Ms. Steiner excels academ-ically. She currently has a 4.95 GPAand is president of the National

Junior Honor Society.”Steiner, who is also a member of

Osceola Creek’s volleyball team,is a student council representative,and was the Female Scholar-Ath-lete of the Year as a seventh-grad-er.

“Shane Sullivan has been amember of the boys track teameach of his three years at OsceolaCreek,” boys track coach Jay Mer-melstein said. “He runs the 400meters and is part of the 4x400meter relay team. With his highgrade point average (4.19) andperformance on the field, Shanehas earned the title of Scholar Ath-lete.”

Sullivan, 13, is a member of theFishing Club and desires a careeras a marine biologist.

Supporting the program areSubway, Domino’s Pizza and Burg-er King, located at Seminole PrattWhitney Road and Orange Blvd.,and Dairy Queen at Royal PalmBeach and Okeechobee boule-vards, which donated free foodcoupons.

Students and parents at West-ern Pines Middle School recentlyenjoyed a night of culture and ele-gance as they celebrated theschool’s inaugural Fine Arts Fes-tival.

Students in the band, art andculinary departments displayedtheir talents as parents and com-munity members gathered to rec-ognize the students’ effort andhard work. Dining on a student-prepared menu of fresh capreseskewers, two kinds of savory meat-balls, finger sandwiches and more,everyone in attendance was fullof praise for the Culinary Arts stu-dents.

As the culinary arts students

circulated through the event withtrays full of goodies, parents, fac-ulty and other guests browsed thehundreds of pieces of artwork ondisplay. Many of the young art-ists proudly discussed their art-work with the crowd. For the finalevent of the evening, which alsoincluded a silent auction, the West-ern Pines band played to a stand-ing-room-only crowd. Studentsfrom beginning, jazz, concert andsymphonic bands treated thecrowd to an outstanding show.

Eighth-grader Sara Irvani, whohad seven pieces on display, ex-pressed it best. “Art is a stress re-liever,” she said. “It’s fun, andyou’re not limited.”

Western Pines Presents Fine Arts Festival

Seventh-grader Maryanna Poe circulates with a delectabletreat, compliments of the Culinary Arts Department.

Oxbridge Academy recentlyhired Palm Beach Atlantic gradu-ate and former Bak Middle Schoolof the Arts teacher Catherine Mitilas its full-time vocal teacher.

“We’re excited to add such anincredibly talented vocalist andeducator to our staff, who will cer-tainly help bring our growing mu-sic program to the next level,” Ox-bridge Academy President & CEORobert C. Parsons said.

Mitil began her training at thePalm Beach Middle School of theArts (now Bak), and continued hereducation at the Dreyfoos Schoolof the Arts.

She has studied private voicefor more than 10 years with in-struction from many internation-ally recognized teachers. She re-ceived her bachelor’s degree inmusic from Palm Beach AtlanticUniversity and was named the“Most Outstanding Graduate” inthe university’s School of Music& Fine Arts program.

In addition to her teaching ca-reer, Mitil has presented four solorecitals and performed favoredroles in several operas, includingGianni Schicchi and Die Fleder-maus.

She was also an artist in resi-dence at Dreyfoos. She has re-ceived numerous accolades, in-cluding first place in the Federa-

tion Music Club of the Palm Beach-es’ 2007 vocal competition andthird place in the Artist Series ofSarasota vocal challenge in 2008.

During the summer months, Mitilhas worked with both the JulliardJazz Summer Camp and the ARTSMusic Camp.

Mitil is a member of the FloridaVocal Association, the NationalAssociation of Teachers of Sing-ing, and the Florida Music Educa-tors Association. She also servesas a choir director for Young Sing-ers of the Palm Beaches.

For more information on Ox-bridge Academy, call (561) 972-9600 or visit www.oapb.org.

Catherine Mitil, the new vocalteacher at Oxbridge Academy.


PALMS WEST PEOPLEKids Cancer Foundation Helps Area Kids Enjoy ‘Prom To Remember’

Marine Corps Pvt. SebastianCook II, Pvt. William Christian andPvt. Angela Castro recently earnedthe title of United States Marineafter graduating from recruit train-ing at Marine Corps Recruit De-pot in Parris Island, S.C.

For 13 weeks, they stayed com-mitted during some of the world’smost demanding entry-level mili-tary training in order to be trans-formed from civilian to Marine in-stilled with pride, discipline and thecore values of honor, courage andcommitment.

Training subjects includedclose-order drill, marksmanshipwith an M-16A4 rifle, physical fit-ness, martial arts, swimming, mili-

Air Force Airman DvonteWashburn recently graduatedfrom basic military training at JointBase San Antonio-Lackland in SanAntonio, Texas.

Washburn completed an inten-sive, eight-week program that in-cluded training in military disci-pline and studies, Air Force corevalues, physical fitness and basicwarfare principles and skills. Air-men who complete basic trainingearn four credits toward an asso-ciate’s degree through the Com-munity College of the Air Force.

Washburn is the son of PatriciaLourmais and Scott Washburn,both of Loxahatchee Groves. Heis a 2012 graduate of Palm BeachGardens High School. Airman Dvonte Washburn

Dvonte Washburn FinishesAir Force Basic Training

Kids undergoing cancer treat-ment often miss school and themilestone celebrations that fill thecalendar and their adolescentmemories. On May 10, hundredsof adolescent cancer patients hadthe chance to trade in their hospi-tal gowns for prom dresses andtuxedos and attended the fourthannual “A Prom to Remember,” agala red carpet evening designedin their honor.

All of the festivities were pro-vided free of charge, including hairand makeup, wardrobe and limou-sine service, food, music and danc-ing. Thanks to a donation from theRitz-Carlton Fort Lauderdale, thekids were able to party in style. Local kids dressed up for “A Prom to Remember.”

Marines Graduate FromParris Island Training

Arthritis Foundation Names 2013 Walk Chairs

Preservation Foundation Awards Scholarship

The Arthritis Foundation hasnamed Eduardo Pantoja andJeanne Mullin of the Center forBone & Joint Surgery as the eventco-chairs of the 2013 ArthritisWalk.

As volunteers for the ArthritisFoundation for the past two years,Pantoja and Mullin were asked tochair the Palm Beach County Ar-thritis Walk because of their lead-ership skills and passion for help-ing people with arthritis. Pantoja,director of marketing at the Centerfor Bone & Joint Surgery and Com-prehensive Pain Care, has been inhealthcare management for more

On May 9, the PreservationFoundation of Palm Beach award-ed the Deborah Snyder Scholar-ship to Francisco Sarmiento, a se-

The Kids Cancer Foundation, alocal charity that provides hopeand support to local children andfamilies battling cancer, assistedin referring patients and coordinat-ing hair and makeup for all PalmsWest Hospital patients who at-tended the event.

On the day of prom, the girlsfrom Palms West Hospital came tothe Kids Cancer Center to be treat-ed to a day of glamour in prepara-tion for the evening festivities. Pro-fessional hairstylists volunteeredtheir time to style the girls’ hair and/or wigs, and LoriAnn Santarpiafrom Loriana Makeup volunteeredher time to make up each girl forthe special evening. All the pa-

Scott Snyder and Francisco Sarmiento

than five years and was responsi-ble for raising over $13,000 for lastyear’s walk.

Mullin has been with the Cen-ter for Bone & Joint Surgery for 11years, now serving as dispensingsupport manager and marketingassistant and assistant to the clin-ical manager.

The Arthritis Walk is the Arthri-tis Foundation’s signature fund-raising event that supports publicawareness and raises funds need-ed to fight arthritis. For more in-formation, call the Arthritis Foun-dation at (561) 833-1133 or visitwww.arthritis.org.

nior at Wellington High Schoolwho will begin attending the Uni-versity of Florida this summer tostudy architectural design.

The scholarship is named inhonor of longtime foundationtrustee Scott Snyder’s sister whopassed away in 2010. Open to highschool seniors who wish to pur-sue a collegiate course of study inarchitectural design, interior de-sign or landscape design, thescholarship provides a financialaward of $5,000 to one recipienteach year.

“I want to create the future ofliving because from my viewpoint,buildings may not be fragile at thetime, but erosion and degradationwill take their toll,” Sarmiento said.“We have to fix that problem.”

Originally from Columbia,Sarmiento has long had an inter-est in architecture. “What inspiredme to study architectural designwas my environment,” he said. “Abuilding just like a statue can rep-resent so many things such asstrength, freedom, humanity —

anything you want it to. Personal-ly, I think this power of creationand symbolism one achievesthrough creation of such an itemis incredible, and this is what in-spired me to pursue architecturaldesign.”

Sarmiento is ranked 14 out of551 students in his class. He isstrongly involved in communityservice projects, in particular vol-unteering at Palms West Hospitaland the Kids Cancer Foundation.

This is the third annual Snyderscholarship that has been award-ed, and this year saw nearly fourtimes as many applicants as be-fore.

In addition to the scholarship,Snyder gave Sarmiento severalbooks, including Palm Beach: AnArchitectural Legacy and Land-mark Architecture of Palm Beach,and offered him an internship athis Palm Beach office.

Eduardo Pantoja and Jeanne Mullin

tary history, customs and courte-sies. One week prior to graduation,they endured the Crucible, a 54-hour final test of recruits’ mindsand bodies. Upon completion, re-cruits are presented the MarineCorps emblem and called Marinesfor the first time.

Cook is the son of Tamika andSebastian Cook of Royal PalmBeach and is a 2012 graduate ofPalm Beach Central High School.

Christian, son of Angela andWilliam Christian of Royal PalmBeach and a 2011 graduate of Sem-inole Ridge High School.

Castro is the daughter of Luce-ro Valero and Ricardo Castro. Sheis a 2012 graduate of Seminole

tients and their dates met up at theKids Cancer Center at 4 p.m. forphotos before boarding the partybus at 4:45 p.m. “All the kids wereso excited about the prom. It wassomething they could look for-ward to and helped take their mindoff of their daily battle with can-cer,” said Michelle O’Boyle,founder of the Kids Cancer Foun-dation. “They are already askingabout next year’s prom!”

To learn more about A Prom toRemember, visit www.apromtoremember.org or call (877) FTL-PROM. To learn more about theKids Cancer Foundation, visitwww.kidscancersf.org or call (561)371-1298.


NEWS

Western Pines Middle School held a fine arts festival to showcase student work Tuesday, May 14 in the school cafeteria. Family andfriends were able to view the spring semester work of 130 students from the arts program. The pieces included portraits, watercolorpaintings and mixed media art. Meanwhile, the school’s culinary class students provided refreshments.

PHOTOS BY JESSICA GREGOIRE/TOWN-CRIER

SPRING FINE ARTS FESTIVAL AT WESTERN PINES SHOWCASES STUDENT TALENT

Event organizers Laura Beighley and Liz Jimenez.

Wall of students’ paintings on display.Melanie Cilella with her sugar skull painting.

Kelsie Heckman shows her parents,Sue and Will, her betta fish painting. Culinary class students Jose Rosiles and Kadeen Rosan.

Cub Scout Pack 125 and the St. Peter’s United Methodist Men’s Group hosted a pancake breakfast Saturday, May 18 at St. Peter’sUnited Methodist Church in Wellington. Proceeds benefited the scouts and the men’s group, which sponsors Pack 125. Leaders BradStockwell and Gary Gouveia supervised as the crowd enjoyed a delicious breakfast spread. PHOTOS BY ALEXANDRA ANTONOPOULOS/TOWN-CRIER

WELLINGTON CUB SCOUTS HOST PANCAKE BREAKFAST AT ST. PETER’S CHURCH

Cub Scouts Alex Gibbs, Chase Saxon andAllan Manuel greet customers at the door.

Keith Jones, Nancy Jones, Marlene Walford and EdWalford enjoy breakfast as they support Pack 125.

James Nesbitt and JackAbhau of the men’s group.

Leader Brad Stockwellwith Daniel Ramosand George Greene.

Culinary career teacher Robyn Anzalone with art teacher Jessica Prugh.


NEWS

Blottercontinued from page 6

also into a pipe leading to theground well. The deputy said thatthe holes appeared to be the samesize. According to the report, thevictim did not believe she had is-sues with anyone who might havedone this, but noted that she hada water system company out inJanuary who the victim later de-cided not to hire. The damage wasestimated at approximately $500.There was no further informationavailable at the time of the report.

MAY 20 — A deputy from the

PBSO substation in Wellingtonwas dispatched Monday after-noon to a home on Shoreline Drivefollowing a report of a theft. Ac-cording to a PBSO report, at ap-proximately 2:30 p.m., the victimplaced her iPhone 5 on a privacywall in the community. The victimsaid she looked up and saw anunknown black male reach overthe wall and grab her phone, thenflee in a black BMW. The stolenphone was valued at approximate-ly $600. There was no further in-formation available at the time ofthe report.

LawsuitSettlementDiscussionOn Agenda

continued from page 1property for certain dates,” Cohensaid. “But that expired at the endof April.”

The fate of the site’s permanentpurpose and design is still beingcontested in court. If a settlementis reached next week, the propertycould be used year-round as orig-inally intended.

Bellissimo noted that the tem-porary permit granted by councilmembers last year does not allowuse of the venue for summershows.

“This economy is not able tomake use of [the property] as asummer venue, using the largestcovered riding surface in thestate,” he said. “It could bring hun-dreds of horses from all over the

state to this community for horseshows.”

Bellissimo said he hopes to seethe council’s decision reversed.

“[We] believe that the councilshould restore the revocation ofthe venue’s approvals,” Bellissi-mo said.

Cohen noted that a settlementoffer was discussed in a closedsession with council members, butcould not provide details.

“We’ve had some dialogue, andhopefully this can move in a pos-itive direction,” she said. “It’s a dis-cussion that needs to be had.Hopefully it will be a two-way con-versation.”

At the meeting, Bellissimo andhis representatives will have achance to talk to council membersabout resolving things.

Bellissimo said he hopes to cometo a consensus.

“We believe it is in the best in-terest of all involved to stop thelitigation and move forward as acommunity,” he said.

MeccaPublic

ShootingRange

Includedcontinued from page 1

expand Seminole Pratt WhitneyRoad north to the Beeline High-way. Several residents urged com-missioners not to seal the deal with-out making a provision for that.

“I pray that you save youreasements and your right ofway,” Indian Trail ImprovementDistrict Vice President Carol Ja-cobs said.

County Administrator RobertWeisman promised to discussthe easements and future roadwith SFWMD officials as part ofthe negotiating process. Envi-ronmentalists, however, opposethe road.

The county plans to use theproceeds from the sale of Meccato balance its budget and paydown its debt, Weisman said.

Commissioners also voted unan-imously to reimburse Pope Farms$15,000. In 2011, county staff rec-ommended Mecca Farms be used

for agriculture purposes as a wayto recoup some of its costs. InDecember of that year, a requestfor proposals was put out. InMarch 2012, Pope Farms was se-lected. But concerns about theterms of the proposed lease, andplans to burn sugar cane on theproperty, led to it being post-poned. Pope Farms had request-ed $23,000 for reimbursement of itsexpenses.

As part of the purchase agree-ment between the county and theSFWMD for Mecca, county staffrecommended that the SFWMDprovide 150 acres of land to theFlorida Fish & Wildlife Conserva-tion Commission (FWC) to build apublic shooting range. This is tosatisfy requests from the public forsuch a facility dating back to the1970s.

The public comment portion ofthe meeting showed passionatesupport for the project as speakerafter speaker came forward to sayhow strongly they felt this wasneeded in Palm Beach County.They pointed out that no such fa-cility exists here, and that they rou-tinely travel to Okeechobee or Bro-ward counties to participate insport shooting activities. Speak-ers also pointed out the economic

boon the county is missing out onbecause of the lack of such a facil-ity.

The range would be built in fourphases beginning in 2014 with atemporary clubhouse, range of-fice, driveways and parking to becompleted by 2015. Phase Two,building a 15-station sporting clayscourse, would be complete by2016. Phase Three, building an in-ternational Olympic bunker trap,eight trap fields and four combi-nation trap/skeet fields would becompleted in 2018. And a club-house, pro shop and spectatorstands would be completed by2019.

The price tag for the projectstands at $5.1 million. The fundswould come from the U.S. Fish &Wildlife Service Division of Finan-cial Aid, according to a county staffreport. The FWC would overseedesign, construction and opera-tion of the shooting range. Thecounty and the FWC have tried tobring such a project to fruition overthe last 10 years without success.The last attempt came in 2007,when the FWC donated 95 acresfor such a facility to be built near20-Mile Bend, but it never hap-pened.

A few in the audience expressed

skepticism that the project will becompleted, but most were gratefuland thanked commissioners fornot giving up on it.

In an item not related to theMecca sale, but affecting the west-ern communities, the commission-ers also unanimously voted tostudy building an ATV park near20-Mile Bend. Staff recommendedthe study after it said the county’sparks department received numer-ous requests for such a park. Anoverwhelming majority of thosewho spoke during Tuesday’spublic comment section favoredsuch a move.

County staff pointed out dur-ing its presentation that presentlythere is no safe place to ride anATV in the county. The closestATV park is in Collier County onthe west coast. They pointed outthe park would likely draw patronsfrom a 50-mile radius. They alsopointed out the economic benefitthe county would receive in jobcreation, fuel purchases, lodgingand opportunities for motor sportsevents. The FWC submitted a let-ter in support of the project.

The approval vote allows coun-ty staff to conduct a formal needsanalysis, capital cost estimate andfeasibility study.

Memorial DayVet Angelo

Cona SharesHis Storycontinued from page 1

guarding the military prisons,which held Japanese soldiers whohad been caught and detained bythe U.S.

Cona recalled an incident thathe chuckles at now, during a timevery early into his service whenhe attempted to carry out orderswith little success. “I had to giveorders to a Japanese prisoner tohelp clean up the camp, but hedidn’t understand me,” Cona said.

The prisoner, whom Cona as-sumed to speak Japanese but notany English, only stared blanklyat Cona when he asked him toclean. Finally, a frustrated Conawent to his superiors and explainedthe situation, hoping that theywould have better luck communi-cating with the prisoner.

“I listened to their conversation,and he spoke better English thanme!” Cona said. “Apparently, hewas a major in the Japanese army,which is a very high rank — com-parable to our general — but Ididn’t know that at the time.”

After 10 months in China, Conacame home in October 1946 andreturned to his native Long Island,N.Y., where he served as a volun-teer firefighter, raised his family andgot into the landscaping business.He now lives in suburban LakeWorth with his wife, Rosemary, andlives to honor the memory of thosesoldiers who lost their lives dur-ing WWII.

One of those fallen soldiers isCona’s own cousin, also namedAngelo, who died in combat atIwo Jima in 1945. “I think of mycousin a lot,” Cona said.

As a Marine veteran and a mem-ber of the Chris Reyka MemorialPost 390 of the American Legionin Wellington, Cona was recom-

mended for the Honor Flight,which he took part in last month,partly for the experience and alsoin memory of his cousin.

The Honor Flight provided 84WWII veterans with a day trip toWashington, D.C., where theytoured the city and, most especial-ly, remembered their fallen com-rades at Arlington National Ceme-tery. “It was the greatest thing forme to go there. I wish I could goagain,” Cona said of the HonorFlight.

Cona said that in that crowdthere were adults and children, andthat he was surprised at how manychildren were part of the group thatgreeted them at Palm Beach Inter-national Airport.

“The best thing about the tripis where the money comes from

— from children in school. Theygo out collecting… What a greatexperience,” he said. “When wegot off the flight in Washington, Inever expected to see so manypeople. There were close to a thou-sand waiting for us. And when wereturned home, there were anoth-er thousand.”

The Honor Flight is just one ofthe ways in which the memory ofCona’s cousin has inspired him.On this Memorial Day, he will ob-serve the holiday in his cousinAngelo’s honor, and he hopes thatothers will continue to be inspiredby all veterans, regardless ofwhich war they fought in.

Cona explained that he wouldlike to know that the importanceof Memorial Day will not be for-gotten and that the gravity of the

holiday is instilled in children. Hefeels that if they are encouragedto discuss what Memorial Daymeans to them, the memory ofthose fallen soldiers will indeed behonored.

Wellington will honor Memori-al Day with a parade and ceremo-ny Monday starting at 8:15 a.m. atthe Wellington Municipal Complexand continuing down Forest HillBlvd. to the Wellington VeteransMemorial, where the ceremonybegins at 8:30 a.m.

Royal Palm Beach will hold itsMemorial Day observance Mon-day at 9 a.m. at the Veterans Parkamphitheater on Royal Palm BeachBlvd. featuring a flag-raising cere-mony, motivational presentations,free refreshments and a musicalperformance.

World War II veteran Angelo Cona (seated left) with Jim Napuli of the American LegionChris Reyka Memorial Post 390 during last month’s Honor Flight to Washington, D.C.

said. “Women make 78 cents forevery dollar a man earns in thiscountry, and that’s not goodenough.”

Accepting less pay means re-ceiving less Social Security andless pension money accrued formany workers, which has a majorimpact on the economy. This of-ten forces retirees to move out oftheir homes and in with their chil-dren, creating additional hardshipsand less money to spend. It is notgood business.

Ledbetter would know; sheworked as a supervisor at a Good-year tire plant in Gadsden, Ala., for19 years. Toward the end of hercareer, Ledbetter began to suspectthat she wasn’t getting paid asmuch as her male counterparts.The rest is history. In the battle forequality in the workplace, her nameis now etched in the nation’s lawbooks as the Lilly Ledbetter FairPay Act of 2009.

The law established new stan-dards to ensure equal pay forequal work. Today, she is workingto pass the Pay Check Fairness Bill,which will offer more protection forwomen and minorities.

For its 30th anniversary, the Ex-ecutive Women of the PalmBeaches wanted someone whoadvocated for women’s rights inthe work place, and Ledbetter fitthe bill. The organization pridesitself for being the first organiza-tion in Palm Beach County to hon-or professional women leaders inthe community, and this year wasno exception.

The Women In LeadershipAwards are presented to womenin three community sectors — vol-unteer, public and private — rec-ognizing their outstandingachievements, generosity of spir-

it, and commitment to integrity anddiversity.

The 2013 WILA honorees areAnne Gannon, Michelle Poole andJane Kreusler-Walsh. Also hon-ored were Executive Women mem-ber Blain Aymond, who organizedthe first WILA luncheon 30 yearsago and member Julie Kime, whohas supported the WILA eventevery year for 30 years.

Honored in the volunteer sec-tor, Michele Poole is owner andCFO of North Ridge Electric Inc.She served her industry on a lo-cal, statewide and national basisfor many years, including workingwith Secretary of Labor ElizabethDole in setting standards for wom-en in jobs traditionally held by men.However, it is her remarkable ac-complishments as a volunteerleader that truly sets Poole apart.

When one of her twin grand-daughters sustained a traumaticbrain injury as a result of beingshaken after birth, Poole went intoaction. Due to a number of circum-stances, she and her husbandadopted the twins and Poole be-gan the journey of being a ShakenBaby Syndrome (SBS) family. Shelearned all she could about SBSand attended conferences. Armedwith information, she created apresentation and contactedschools, daycare centers, drug re-hab centers, women’s shelters andother agencies, giving them litera-ture and requesting to speak atevents.

Poole continues to be an activevolunteer leader and has been rec-ognized many times for her efforts,including 2012 Advocate of theYear: National Center on ShakenBaby Syndrome. She took a tragicevent in her life and turned it intoa leadership opportunity helpingmany.

Honored in the public sector,Anne Gannon serves as the PalmBeach County Tax Collector, thefirst woman to hold the position.She is responsible for collectingand distributing over $3 billion intax revenue and the issuance ofReal ID compliant driver licensesfor Palm Beach County. The agen-cy employs more than 290 peoplein the central office and eight ser-vice centers that collectively han-dle over 4,000 transactions daily.

Lilly Ledbetter Address Highlights Executive Women’s WILA EventThe Executive Women of the

Palm Beaches held its 30th annualWomen In Leadership Awards onThursday, May 2 at the Kravis

Center for the Performing Arts tohonor local women who haveshown commitment to integrityand diversity.

The keynote speaker for theevening was Lilly Ledbetter, achampion for women’s rights.

“We can do better,” Ledbetter

Gannon served on the power-ful House Health Care Appropria-tions Committee, where she se-cured funding for many health andsafety programs for women andchildren. Her longstanding com-mitment to combating violenceagainst women and children isevidenced in her fundraising andvolunteer service to Aid to Victimsof Domestic Abuse (AVDA),Healthy Mothers/Healthy Babies,and both the Statewide Task Forceon Human Trafficking and the PalmBeach Human Trafficking Coali-tion.

Jane Kreusler-Walsh was hon-ored in the private sector. Walshand her firm, Kreusler-Walsh,Compiani & Vargas P.A., special-ize in civil appeals and litigationsupport in state and federal courts.Kreusler-Walsh is a board-certifiedappellate lawyer by the Florida Barand is AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell. She has practiced inWest Palm Beach for more than 30years. Her all-woman firm recentlywon the 2012 Athena BusinessAward given by the Chamber ofCommerce of the Palm Beaches,honoring the firm’s efforts in men-toring women.

Kreusler-Walsh’s professionalhonors are many, including theAmerican Academy of AppellateLawyers Fellow since 2003, 2011Appellate Lawyer of the Year forWest Palm Beach and the 2013South Florida Legal Guide’s TopLawyers list. She has served onthe Board of Trustees of the LegalAid Society of Palm Beach Coun-ty since 2003 including serving aspresident for three years and vicepresident for two years during thattime.

Through its Women in Leader-ship Awards, Executive Women ofthe Palm Beaches strives to honorwomen in leadership and their sig-nificant accomplishments and toraise funds to empower womenand to promote them to positionsof leadership. Proceeds from theluncheon support the scholarshipand grant programs administeredthrough its charitable foundation,Executive Women Outreach.

For information about ExecutiveWomen of the Palm Beaches, call(561) 684-9117 or visit www.ewpb.org.

National women’s rights activist Lilly Ledbetter (second from left) with Women In LeadershipAward (WILA) recipients Michelle Poole, Anne Gannon and Jane Kreusler-Walsh.

Lox Groves To OfferHurricane SeasonPrep Trash Pickup


The Loxahatchee Groves TownCouncil decided Tuesday toschedule a pre-hurricane seasonvegetative trash pickup sometimeover the next month.

“We need some lead time to goahead and do a postcard to letfolks know that we’re going tohave this event occurring on what-ever days are determined,” TownManager Mark Kutney said, point-ing out that hurricane seasonstarts June 1.

Councilman Ron Jarriel said thatduring previous discussion, thecouncil wanted to give residentstwo or three weeks notice so theywould have time to cut back vege-tation.

“Three weeks would be the min-imum, I would think,” he said. “I

would like to send out a notice assoon as possible.”

Kutney said he would contactthe town’s vegetation removalcontractor, C&C Loader Service,to find dates that they can assistwith the pickup, possibly the sec-ond or third Saturday in June.

“I will try to determine a date,and I will start the postcard pro-cess,” Kutney said. “I can at leastgive you an update at our firstmeeting in June.”

Mayor Dave Browning ex-plained that the vegetative pick-up is in coordination with its regu-lar hauler Waste Pro, where resi-dents are allowed to place largerpiles than is normally allowed.

The council agreed to begin theprocess and send out postcardsas soon as possible with the col-lection date.


NEWS


About 30 Acreage residentsattended a public input meetingMonday led by the Palm BeachCounty Planning & Zoning Di-vision regarding a request for aland use amendment for an 11.25-acre piece of property at thesoutheast corner of Coconutand Northlake boulevards.

The applicant is asking for anamendment from agricultural-residential land use to low-den-

sity commercial for the property.The parcel, which would be

called Coconut Palm Plaza, wouldinclude a 2,300-square-foot con-venience store and gas stationwith 12 pumps and 24 fueling po-sitions, a 3,100-square-foot fast-food restaurant with a drive-through, a 3,500-square-footbank and a 15,000-square-footpharmacy with a drive-through,as well as 13,000 square feet ofother uses, for a total of 12 ten-ants with almost 38,000 square

feet of commercial use. The sitehad previously received approv-al for a post office.

In April, the applicants gave apresentation to the Indian TrailImprovement District Board ofSupervisors, which strongly op-posed the plan, and sent a letterto the county asking the PalmBeach County Commission notto approve the plan. The Acre-age Landowners’ Associationalso sent a letter opposing theplan.

Northlake Project Discussed At Acreage Public Input Meeting

The Central Palm Beach Coun-ty Chamber of Commerce will holdthe 16th annual Taste 2013 featur-ing the Chocolate Lovers Festival,sponsored by the Royal PalmAuto Mall, on Thursday, June 6 atthe South Florida FairgroundsExpo Center East (9067 SouthernBlvd.).

More than 2,000 food and choc-olate lovers are expected to attendand enjoy tasty food, wine andcraft beer samples offered by arearestaurants and caterers. This an-nual event is guaranteed to pleasethe palate and satisfy the appetitewhile attendees enjoy music anda business expo with more than 60exhibitors.

Chocolate lovers will enjoy themany delectable chocolate sam-plings, and all attendees have theopportunity to vote on their favor-ite chocolate treat at the event. Thewinner will receive the covetedPeople’s Choice Trophy for the“Most Scrumptious ChocolateDessert.”

Produced by the Central PalmBeach County Chamber of Com-merce and presented by RoyalPalm Auto Mall, this highly popu-lar food tasting and business expois open to the public from 4:30 to 8p.m.

Admission costs $20 per personand is free for children 5 and un-der. Purchase advance tickets to-

day for $15 and save $5 per ticket.Additional sponsors include All

Star Plumbing, Florida Public Util-ities, Humana, Family Dentist ofPalm Beach, DiSalvo’s Trattoria,Armand Professional Services,Two Men & A Truck, Above &Beyond Parties, Sam’s Club, andDue South Brewing Co.

Community partners include thePalm Beach Post, Localdines.com,Around Wellington, the Town-Crier Newspaper, WEI Network,94.3 Real Radio, Kool 105.5, 1290WJNO, WILD 95.5 and the SouthFlorida Fair & Palm Beach CountyExpositions. For more information,call (561) 790-6200 or visit www.taste2013.net.

For the third consecutive year,Whole Foods Market stores inBoca Raton, Palm Beach Gardensand Wellington will host a Memo-rial Day weekend fundraiser tocommemorate the service and sac-rifice of the men and women of theU.S. military.

In partnership with ForgottenSoldiers Outreach, all three storeswill host a Support Our TroopsCookout on Saturday, May 25 fromnoon to 3 p.m. During the cook-out, customers can enjoy a ham-burger, hotdog or vegetarian burg-er with their choice of side and adrink all for a donation of $5.

All proceeds from the event will

be donated to Forgotten SoldiersOutreach. Customers are invitedto write letters of encouragementto the troops or donate toiletriesand other items to be included incare packages, which will then besent to U.S. soldiers serving over-seas. The three locations are asfollows: 2635 State Road 7, Well-ington (561-904-4000); 1400 GladesRoad, Boca Raton (561-447-0000);and 11701 Lake Victoria Gardens,Palm Beach Gardens (561-691-8550).

“We’ve been proud to partnerover the years with such a won-derful organization as WholeFoods Market,” said Lynelle

Chauncey Zelnar, founder and ex-ecutive director of Forgotten Sol-diers Outreach. “It’s truly a way tosupport our troops. Our sole mis-sion is to reach out to those troopswho receive little to no supportfrom the home front, and many ofthem are from our own back yards.”

Created in 2003, Forgotten Sol-diers Outreach is a nonprofit or-ganization that ships care packag-es filled with donated items andletters to the men and women ofthe U.S. military serving overseas.Since its inception, FSO has deliv-ered care packages to more than250,000 U.S. troops worldwide inall branches of the military.

On Monday, Planning Direc-tor Lorenzo Aghemo had someof his staff give an overview ofthe land use amendment andplanning process. Senior PlannerBryce Van Horn said the countycomprehensive plan would allowfor a little over 40,000 square feetof commercial use. The countyalso considers uses for the areain the Acreage NeighborhoodPlan and the Northlake CorridorPlan.

Although the applicants had

presented more specific plans tothe ITID board and the ALA, nozoning application had beensubmitted to the county as ofyet, Van Horn said.

To the south of the propertyare residential lots ranging from1.25 to 2.5 acres. To the north isthe Vavrus Ranch property inPalm Beach Gardens. To the westis 30 acres previously amendedfrom rural residential to commer-cial low. The developer of thatparcel has submitted a zoning

application for the Shoppes atIndian Trails, which has approv-als for up to 106,000 square feetof commercial use, including agas station, restaurant, grocerystore and bank. To the east is aconservation area.

The next public hearing on theapplication is at the Palm BeachCounty Planning Commissionmeeting June 14. The Palm BeachCounty Commission is slated tohear it at a transmittal hearing July24.

The third annual Women forWomen 5K/10K was held Satur-day, May 18 beginning at the newLake Worth Casino. This women’s-only race has grown each year and

is currently the only all-women’srace in South Florida.

This year it was 1,000 runnersstrong. The race started at the newLake Worth Casino beachfront at

7 a.m. to the roar of cheering fami-ly and friends. The women ranover the Lake Worth bridge andaround Lake Worth before com-ing back over the bridge and fin-ishing back at the beachfront.

The race benefits Girls on theRun, a mentoring program for girlsages 8 to 13 in Palm Beach Coun-ty, and the Palms West Communi-ty Foundation. The race was start-ed two years ago to give back tothe community and was support-ed by the Lake Worth Chamber ofCommerce. The new Central PalmBeach County Chamber has nowtaken on that role. Organizersthank all the volunteers, sponsorsand runners who supported thesuccessful event.

(Left) These women from thewestern communities call them-selves Moms Fit for Fun.

Women For Women Run A SuccessRunners line up at the start of the race.

Whole Foods Hosting SpecialMemorial Day Weekend Event

Taste 2013 Featuring TheChocolate Lovers FestivalAt The Fairgrounds June 6


A TOWN-CRIER PUBLICATION

ShoppingSpreeShoppingSpree

INSIDE

THIS WEEK’S INDEXCOLUMNS & FEATURES ........................ 23-24BUSINESS NEWS.................................. 25-27DINING & ENTERTAINMENT ...................... 33SPORTS & RECREATION........................ 37-39COMMUNITY CALENDAR ......................42-43CLASSIFIEDS ........................................46-49

BusinessHome-Like Assisted Living At A NewAge Of Senior Care’s Wellington FacilityAt A New Age of Senior Care, residents of the assist-ed-living facility are treated like part of the family.Located in Wellington, the nine-bedroom, six-bath-room, 4,500-square-foot facility recently increasedits bed capacity from 6 to 14. The husband-and-wifeteam of Tony Borges and Diana Yanes opened A NewAge of Senior Care in December 2010 to providequality care to local seniors. Page 25

SportsHawks Begin SpringFootball PracticeWith New CoachThe Seminole Ridge HighSchool varsity footballteam started spring prac-tice this month, and theHawks are preparing fortheir game Friday, May 24against South Fork HighSchool. The teams will usethe game to assess wherethey need the most atten-tion for the fall. Page 37

Claudia Campbell’s Pony Camp Great For KidsClaudia Campbell hosts Pony Camp for children ages 4 through12 at her comfortable farm in Loxahatchee. Campbell usuallyholds Pony Camp a couple of times a month on Sundays from 9a.m. to noon year-round. Students are welcome to attend oneor all sessions. Ellen Rosenberg’s Column, Page 23

Broncos Keep Eyes On State Title PrizePalm Beach Central High School’s varsity football teamhas increased its win total each of the last three sea-sons. Hoping to keep the momentum going, the teamplays its annual spring game May 24, putting the Bron-cos on a path toward next year. Page 37


FEATURESClaudia Campbell’s Pony Camp Great For Horse-Loving Kids

Tales FromThe Trails

By EllenRosenberg

The horse community is a small world.When I sat down with Claudia Campbell ather comfortable farm in Loxahatchee, we start-ed talking about old times and stables far, faraway. Turns out we both attended C.W. PostCollege, part of Long Island University, inBrookville, N.Y., and had ridden at many ofthe same stables. Campbell also taught ridingat some of them before meeting and marryinga polo player who talked her into moving toWellington in 1997.

Campbell kept teaching riding, first for HelenVarble at Wellington Show Stables for sevenyears, and then from her home. Now a singlemother of two young daughters, ages 7 and 9,Campbell hosts Pony Camp for children ages4 through 12.

“I know how it is to be a busy mom,” shesaid. “Time is an issue. If you have a horse-crazy kid, you don’t always have the time tobring them somewhere for riding lessons dur-ing the week. I started this program in 2004 formoms like me.”

Campbell usually holds Pony Camp a cou-ple of times a month on Sundays from 9 a.m.to noon year-round. Students are welcome toattend one or all sessions, and the cost is avery reasonable $55. Parents are welcome tostay and watch. She accepts up to 12 childrenat a time.

Get updates all week long... follow EllenRosenberg on Twitter at twitter.com/HorseTalkFL or stop by the Tales from theTrails page on Facebook and click “like.”

“The children are divided into two groups,and each camper is assigned a horse or ponybased on riding experience,” Campbell ex-plained. “I make sure there are lots of counse-lors and lots of close supervision at all times.While one group grooms and rides, the othergroup works with the four miniature horses.They might give them a bubble bath, fingerpaint them, or play games with them. Then thetwo groups switch.”

That generally takes the first two hours.Then it is snacktime. “All the kids bring alonga snack or light lunch. Then we have a 20-minute bareback ride, which usually involvesa game like red light-green light. Again, it’s allclosely supervised, and beginners are ledaround on a lead line. We also teach groom-ing and basic horsemanship,” Campbell said.“Safety always comes first. I’m fully insured. Iown 15 horses and ponies, and use seven inthe camp. They’re all quiet, kid-tested andmother-approved,” she laughed. “They’re notthat fancy, but they’re perfect ponies. My kidsgrew up riding these ponies. We cater to eachrider.”

Claudia Campbell with one of her horses, Rumor.

See ROSENBERG, page 24

Kristen Campagnuolo’s two daughters at-tend Pony Camp even though they own po-nies of their own.

“My 7-year-old has been going for twoyears,” Campagnuolo said. “My 4-year-oldhas just started. They love it. It’s like all thekids get together for a big pony play day. Clau-dia’s ponies are very safe, quiet and easy. My

daughter has had some issues cantering herown pony, but she loves cantering Claudia’s.”

Campagnuolo has known Campbell foryears. “I used to take lessons from Claudiawhen she worked at the Wellington stable,”she said. “Her farm’s a friendly environment.She teaches the kids a lot of horsemanship

FEATURES May 24 - May 30, 2013 WWW.GOTOWNCRIER.COM The Town-Crier

So somebody in Zephyrhills has won thePowerball lottery, and even though I own ahome nearby, it wasn’t me.

This is my second near-miss since the Pow-erball started. The first time, my friend Dottiesent me $2 to buy myself a ticket for my birth-day. I had it in my pocket when I passed thelottery window at the Wellington Publix, but Ihad ice cream in my cart so I didn’t stop. Thenext day — my birthday — that very samePublix had a winner. Granted, it was not for$590.5 million like the single winner inZephyrhills, but it was for millions of dollarsnonetheless. The end result is that I neverbuy ice cream anymore. It’s just too costly.

So, the third time being the charm, I am chart-ing out my upcoming life as a multimillionaire.

The first thing I will do is buy a Powerballticket. The second thing I will do is go onlineto see how much I’ve won.

Then I will call my accountant, whose fees,I betcha, will suddenly go up.

With Big Plans For My Winnings, Perhaps I’ll Buy A Ticket

Then I will call my lawyer and have himrewrite my will. The lucky people who weregoing to inherit my stainless steel cutlery setand my ceramic pig collection will now get$500,000 apiece instead. Well, OK, they canhave the pigs, too.

Then the real fun starts.My husband, Mark, who has been with me

through thick and thin and has the wonderfulgift of not being able to differentiate betweenthe two, will finally get that live-aboard boathe’s been wanting. We will chart a path to-ward Greece, and I will put all thoughts ofpirates and walking the plank behind me. I willfocus instead upon eating fine cuisine, drink-ing fine wine and exploring 200-year-oldshops.

Once that’s checked off the list, we will visitAustria and Paris and Prague... and Paducah,Ky. Why Paducah? I don’t know, but the townhas been calling to me ever since I was a teen-ager. Now I have the time to go there and findout why.

When I’m all tuckered out from traveling, Iwill buy a couple of houses — maybe 10. Overthe years, I’ve been fortunate enough to ownseveral homes in several places, and thisproved to me that I am not one of those peo-ple who likes to hunker down in one spotcalled “home.” I’d rather flit between differenthouses in different cities, sort of like snow-birds but with even less of an attention span.

I’d keep my Florida house for winters, theMissouri house for summers, buy a “leaf peep-er” house in Vermont for autumns and maybesomething back in Wisconsin for springtime.I’d get one in California, one in Colorado, andthen I’d look beyond the United States —perhaps in the Keys (that’s a joke). I’d deco-rate them all in different styles and ask each ofmy friends if they’d like to stay in one for freeto keep an eye on the place while I’m gone.

I’d also spend a great deal of time decidinghow much money to give away. This seems to

be a big hassle for a lot of rich people. Thereare tax considerations, of course, and strang-ers who ask you for money just because theyneed it so badly. Oprah Winfrey once said onher show that she was starting to feel like“The First National Bank of Oprah.”

I think I’d do a reality TV show. Peoplewould send in a form with their name, phonenumber and request, and I’d put them all intoa big metal drum, turn the handle and pull outfour names. Those four people would be flownin for the next show, in which we would air avideo of their family and hometown and telltheir story. Then there would be some kind ofcontest between them to see which three get$250,000 each and which one gets $500,000.Maybe let the viewing audience vote. Oneweek we’d do Needs and the next week we’ddo Wants.

The fifth winner would be drawn from thestudio audience, and that person would get$500,000 as well. But to get into that audience,you have to be invited. And to be invited, youhad to have voted. It would be a terrific show.

Yeah, I have big plans for when I win thePowerball.

Now all I need is another $2 from Dottie.

The new Star Trek: Into Darkness is a greatfun ride of a movie. The action starts early; itopens with Kirk (Chris Pine) and Bones (KarlUrban) running through a wilderness chasedby a primitive tribe, while Spock (ZacharyQuinto) is dropped into an active volcano witha device to save the planet. The last of theaction scenes ends about two minutes beforethe end. There is no time to stop and reallythink about holes in the plot, while the subtlesalutes to previous Star Trek movies will makeit a treat for old-time Trekkers (not Trekkies,please!).

A character using the name James Harrison(Benedict Cumberbatch) begins the actionthrough a couple of acts of terror and flees toan uninhabited part of Kronos, the home planetof the Klingons. The Enterprise is sent to killhim using new long-range photon torpedoes.Spock and several others object to not usinga system of justice, but Fleet Admiral Marcus(Peter Weller) is clear in his intent. Kirk de-cides to capture Harrison, which leads to a lotof action, not to mention high-level betrayal.

Some of us, of course, will decide that there isno way a government would actually take se-cret actions that would harm others and find ita flaw. As always, however, Kirk is a moralman who makes his own (often slightly flawedbut correct in the long run) decisions.

There are, as mentioned earlier, great actionscenes, including a close-in action against theKlingons, some brilliantly executed battlescenes as the Enterprise faces its doom, andtwists and turns throughout. Harrison is notwho he seems; as a matter of fact, he turns outto be someone that all Star Trek fans knowwell.

There are many of these past salutes to thegreat Star Trek past: Dr. Carol Marcus (a verybeautiful Alice Eve) shows up in a pivotal role,and Leonard Nimoy as “old Spock” (you haveto have seen the first of the new Star Trekreboots to understand that one) makes a briefappearance. There is also a lovely “mirror im-age” salute, a scene that does a switch on oneof the most iconic of the great moments inStar Trek history, which moves us even as werecall its previous use.

The cast is excellent. Chris Pine makes afeisty Kirk; in this movie he faces up to moralproblems, dealing with many moral and polit-ical issues. Quinto is again really good asSpock; his confession of why he “choosesnot to feel” is worthy of Gene Roddenberry,the creator of the series. Zoe Saldana makes afun Uhura. She is tough, funny and more vul-nerable than is usually shown by the charac-ter. Simon Pegg is great fun as Scotty. Althoughhe disappears for most of the central part ofthe film, he becomes pivotal at the end. JohnCho as Sulu is appropriately solemn. AntonYelchin as Chekhov provides an expert comictouch as he is assigned to replace Scotty.

Cumberbatch and Weller, however, reallysteal the film. Playing the two sides of thebattle, both absolutely ruthless, they are acounterpoint of different views of terrorism.

Great Sci-Fi, Great Acting, Great Fun In New ‘Star Trek’ Film‘I’ On

CULTUREBy LeonardWechsler

Neither man is exactly what he first seems.The script writers, doing an excellent job, pro-vide a counterpoint. Marcus has secretly usedall Starfleet resources to arm for a major waragainst the Klingons, and Harrison has hisown agenda. Marcus, at first seems the kind-ly, although firmly moral, head of Starfleet. Har-rison is something else again. But the twoactors are both so strong as performers thatthey seem to take over the screen wheneverthey appear. And it works well within the script.

I admit to being a longtime fan of the series.I loved it back in the 1960s; it was one of thefirst series I went out of my way to never miss.It was a very different type of show than themovies we now see. The visual effects werecheesy and there was seldom much action,but I, like many others, liked the philosophicalinsights. In the movies, most of the discus-sions have been cut short since we alreadyknow what motivates the Enterprise officers.But the quickie discussions, mixed in betweengreat battle scenes ranging from ship battlesto a wonderful fight between Spock and Har-rison in San Francisco, add immeasurably toour pleasure.

This is great summer blockbuster. If youlike Star Trek, you’ll have a great time. Andif you’re not that big a fan, it’s still a lot offun.

Get your Sonic Boomer humor every day!Follow Deborah Welky on Twitter attwitter.com/TheSonicBoomer or stop by “TheSonic Boomer” page on Facebook.

DeborahWelky is

The SonicBOOMER

RosenbergClaudia

Campbell’sPony Camp

continued from page 23skills. It’s not just riding the pony and walk-ing away. I definitely, absolutely recommendher Pony Camp for any kids who have an in-terest in horses.”

Shanan Maisano’s 6-year-old daughteralso attends. “She loves it,” Maisano said.“It’s a lot of fun. She has been going fortwo years, and she has learned a lot. I’mquite comfortable with Claudia. She makessure the kids are safe. I like how accommo-dating she is. You can attend once in a while

or all the time, whatever works best for you.”Finnley Senese, 12, started going last year.“I heard about it from a friend who raved

about it,” Senese said. “I’ve done a lot ofriding, but Pony Camp is great. Claudia’s real-ly friendly and she teaches us a lot of newthings. I also like helping the younger kidslearn to groom and ride. Kids definitely learn alot there, even if they don’t know anythingabout horses. I like everything there.”

Campbell invites all interested horse fami-lies to give it a try.

“Pony Camp is a nice opportunity for kidsto learn about horses, have fun, and staysafe,” she said. “It’s a great place for childrenwho have a passion for horses, whetherthey’re rank beginners or experienced riders.”

For more information, call Campbell at (561)315-9516, or visit www.delmarfarm.net.

All it takes is compassion and a little time tobecome a volunteer for Vitas Innovative Hos-pice Care of Palm Beach. Hospice volunteersgive their time to terminally ill patients andtheir families during a critical time in life. Vol-unteers are trained in listening skills, familydynamics and the right words to say to termi-nally ill patients and their caregivers.

A volunteer orientation session will take

place Friday, May 31 from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. atthe Vitas office, 1901 South Congress Ave.,Suite 420, in Boynton Beach. Training materi-als and meals are provided for free.

To reserve your space, call Volunteer Ser-vices Manager Gayle Stevens at (561) 733-6332 or e-mail [email protected].

For more information about Vitas, visitwww.vitas.com.

Vitas Innovative Hospice CareSeeks Patient Care Volunteers


BUSINESS NEWS

Tony Borges and Diana Yanes, owners of A New Age of Senior Care.PHOTO BY JESSICA GREGOIRE/TOWN-CRIER

By Jessica GregoireTown-Crier Staff Report

At A New Age of Senior Care, residents ofthe assisted-living facility are treated like partof the family.

Located in Wellington, the nine-bedroom,six-bathroom, 4,500-square-foot facility recent-ly increased its bed capacity from 6 to 14.

The husband-and-wife team of Tony Borg-es and Diana Yanes opened A New Age ofSenior Care in December 2010 to provide qual-ity care to local seniors.

Prior to opening the facility, both were work-ing in different careers — Yanes for the BoneMarrow Foundation’s recruitment departmentand Borges as an accountant.

The idea to open their own assisted-livingfacility developed when Yanes needed a placefor her elderly parents and 98-year-old grand-father to live.

“My mother, who was taking care of mygrandpa, had a health issue,” Yanes recalled.“She was no longer able to take care of himalong with my dad.”

Yanes and Borges diligently looked for afacility for her parents and grandfather to live,but were unsuccessful in finding one that fittheir needs.

“We didn’t like what we saw,” Yanes said.“Either the place was way too big, where mygrandpa would get lost, and the small places,we just didn’t like the quality of care.”

Yanes and Borges believe that their facili-ty’s quality of care and service is what setsthem apart from others. “We try to make it likea home,” Yanes said. “So when residents leavetheir homes and come here, they don’t feellike they’re in a nursing home environment,but their own home.”

Friends who run assisted-living facilitiesencouraged Yanes and Borges in their mis-sion. “One owner told us that they were turn-ing people away because they did not haveenough space to meet the demand,” Borgessaid. “There is a great need in this communityfor quality care, and we knew we could giveit.”

To create A New Age of Senior Care, theybegan by remodeling a rental property theyowned. “We already owned this building, theeconomy wasn’t doing so good, and we justdidn’t want to be landlords anymore,” Borg-es said.

Everything from the décor to the meals isdesigned in a home-like atmosphere. “Every-one eats together at the dining room table likefamily,” Yanes said. “It’s really like a big fami-ly, and residents really enjoy that.”

A New Age of Senior Care maintains resi-dents’ health by bringing in doctors and nurs-es through their healthcare providers. The fa-cility also has nine caregivers on staff, pro-viding 24-hour supervision. “We have sup-plementary care such as labs and a dermatol-ogist,” Borges said. “Everything that the cli-ent needs for their health comes to the facili-ty.”

Being of Cuban descent, for Yanes andBorges, respect and proper care for the elder-ly is part of their culture. They applied thiscustom to their business. “They’ve becomepart of the family,” Yanes said. “Even our car-egivers become like family, and we have allthe same ones from the beginning.”

A New Age of Senior Care is located at 1074Hyacinth Place, Wellington. For more info.,visit www.newageseniorcare.com or call (561)847-4548.

Home-Like Assisted LivingAt A New Age Of Senior

Care’s Wellington Facility


BUSINESS NEWSWellington Chamber Welcomes Wellington Design Center

The Wellington Chamber of Com-merce recently held a ribbon-cuttingceremony for the Wellington DesignCenter (9312 Forest Hill Blvd., Well-ington), owned by Michael Gordonand Karen Paull. They offer a one-stop shop for people looking to de-sign or redesign their home.

Gordon was born and raised inNew York. He earned an associate’sdegree from Nassau CommunityCollege, followed by a bachelor’sdegree in psychology from QueensCollege and a master’s degree incounseling psychology in West Vir-ginia.

After school, he returned to

Queens and began his career as atherapist. Along the way, he taughtspecial education, worked at a resi-dential treatment center for emotion-ally disturbed boys, ran a grouphome and later opened a nurseryschool and day camp.

In 1991, Gordon and his wifemoved to Coral Springs and beganselling art items at area flea markets.Liking his new direction, he openedan artwork and framing store in Stu-art and then later in West PalmBeach. The Art Colony, as it was thencalled, was successful. In 2006, Gor-don took over an existing framingstore in Wellington while his daugh-

ter worked at the West Palm Beachstore.

When adjacent space becameavailable, Gordon teamed up withPaull to create the Wellington De-sign Center, with one side being aflooring center and the other sidebeing a design center. The flooringcenter is run by Joseph Leech ofWellington Wood Floors, who of-fers a variety of wood floors plusunique, hand-crafted flooring. Thenew business opened in January.

Paull and her husband ran fourshowrooms/design centers in NewJersey. With her 32 years of experi-

ence in the industry, it seemed to bea good move for them to partner inthe business.

“We offer an array of differentthings for the customer and design-er,” Paull said. “We do flooring, win-dows, design, we have designer fab-rics, we do wallpaper, we have cus-tom furniture, custom framing, cus-tom rugs, anything for the home thatthe customer needs. We can take anempty house and design it from floorto ceiling. We have ASID designerson staff who work for us. We alsohave professional installers. Our pric-ing is excellent. Because we have

Wellington Design Center — (L-R) Carmine Marino, Audra Leech, Jo-seph Leech, Karen Paull, Michael Gordon, Mark “Boz” Bozicevic, LauraJaffe and Denise Carpenter.

been in the business so long wehave very good connections withthe vendors and we get very goodpricing.”

The Wellington Design Center isinvolved in the community andhelps out local schools by framingteam jerseys. For more info., call (561)223-3709, e-mail [email protected] or visit www.wellingtoninteriordesigncenter.com.

For more information about busi-nesses in the Wellington area, callthe Wellington Chamber of Com-merce at (561) 792.6525 or visitwww.wellingtonchamber.com.

fy themselves with a three-digit“clerk ID” number and call fromphone numbers with a 561 area code.Clerk’s office employees do not havethree-digit identification numbers,and would never call to requestmoney in order to make a claim.

Jury Duty Text Scam — The sec-ond scam involves text messagesregarding jury duty. The texts comefrom a 704 area code and tell recipi-ents that they missed jury duty andnow must pay a $500 fine or facemisdemeanor charges. While thepenalty for missing jury duty is not$500, the consequences are serious.

Anyone who misses jury duty issubject to a $100 fine, ordered toappear in front of a judge and heldin contempt of court. However, clerkemployees do not call for money orpersonal information.

If you receive one of these callsor texts, make sure to write down asmuch information as you can aboutthe call and contact the clerk’s of-fice as soon as possible. Anyonewho sent money because of one ofthese scams also is urged to con-tact local law enforcement. For moreinfo., visit www.mypalmbeachclerk.com or call (561) 355-2996.

Palm Beach County Clerk & Comp-troller Sharon Bock is warning coun-ty residents of two scams in whichpeople are impersonating clerk’s of-fice employees to get personal in-formation such as bank accountsand Social Security numbers.

Timeshare Fraud Scam — Inone scam, people claiming to bePalm Beach County clerks are call-ing citizens around the country toinform them of money from a time-share fraud settlement. These fraud-sters tell their targets that they mustfirst wire money to claim a portionof the settlement. The callers identi-

Bock: Scammers Claiming To Be Clerk Employees


BUSINESS NEWS

WELLINGTON CHAMBER HOSTS RIBBON-CUTTING CEREMONIES

The Wellington Chamber recently held a ribbon cuttingfor Intramural Media (12230 W. Forest Hill Blvd, Suite110F1). Intramural Media offers complete creative sup-port with a focus on the needs of internal communica-tors: human resources professionals, compliance offic-ers, training specialists, sales managers, corporate sec-retaries and development directors. Owner Salvador DeAzua specializes in making dense, challenging informa-tion easier to assimilate. They are experts in digital pub-lishing for mobile devices and use interactive web tech-nology. For more info., call (561) 227-1544 or visit www.intramuralmedia.com.

The Wellington Chamber recently held a ribbon cuttingfor We Insure Florida (12230 W. Forest Hill Blvd., Suite206). Ana Cusell was in the banking industry for over 20years, most recently as vice president at a New York–based private wealth management firm where she ranthe banking operations for the Florida Division. Cusellnow looks forward to a new venture, joining her husband,who has been a licensed agent for 15 years, offering alllines of insurance from home owners, to auto and lifeand health as well as commercial products. For moreinfo., call Ana and Robert Cusell at (561) 371-5132 orvisit www.weinsurefl.com.

The Wellington Chamber recently held a ribbon cuttingfor Universal Living Sprouts (6238 Royal Palm BeachBlvd.). Owner Alberto Zizzi has a passion for a healthfullifestyle that began about 30 years ago when he startedlearning about good health. He attended nutritional healthseminars, participated in workshops and he started grow-ing his own organic greens. Universal Living Sprouts’ facil-ity is one of the largest certified-organic green houses inthe South Florida region. Universal Living Sprouts’ greensare harvested daily and can be delivered upon request.For more information, call (561) 795-2554 or visit www.ulsprouts.com.

Palm Beach County Tax CollectorAnne Gannon urges all delinquenttaxpayers to bring their accounts upto date before May 31.

Effective April 2, all outstand-ing 2012 real estate property taxesbecame delinquent. Property own-ers with unpaid 2012 property tax-es are urged to meet their property

tax obligation by 5 p.m. on Friday,May 31.

There are 28,931 properties thatare delinquent due to non-paymentof 2010, 2011 and 2012 taxes.

Failure to pay real estate propertytaxes by 5 p.m. on Friday, May 31,results in the sale of tax certificateson these properties. Local tax col-

lectors are required by law to holdan annual tax certificate auction toreplace uncollected revenues for lo-cal governments.

Delinquent properties are beingadvertised on May 17, 22 and 29.Effective June 1, the total amountdue on delinquent 2012 propertytaxes increases due to the addition

of advertising costs and interest ratecharges. The auction is scheduledfor June 1.

Mailed payments for delinquent2012 property taxes must be receivedin the tax collector’s office no laterthan 5 p.m. on May 31. Delinquenttaxes must be paid by cash, moneyorder, certified check, bank draft,

U.S. postal order, cashier’s check orwire transfer. Web site payments arenot accepted for delinquent real es-tate taxes. A postmark on a mailedpayment is not proof of timely pay-ment of delinquent taxes.

For more information, call the taxcollector’s office at (561) 355-2264or visit www.pbctax.com.

Gannon: Pay Delinquent Taxes By May 31, Before The Certificate Auction


#1 Education Place — #1 Education Place is a small, private Montessori school for studentsgrade one through 12. The school features a year-round academic year, flexible scheduling,individualized instruction and an accredited curriculum. Many of the school’s students arenow professional athletes or performers. #1 Education Place has been serving the westerncommunities since 2001 and is conveniently located in the original Wellington Mall at12794 W. Forest Hill Blvd., Suite 23. #1 Education Place is currently welcoming new stu-dents for the summer and fall terms. For more information, call (561) 753-6563.

Acreage Montessori — The goal of Acreage Montessori Academy is to maximize the potentialof toddlers and primary or elementary school children by providing hands-on materials, dedi-cated teachers, personalized curriculum and lifelong study skills to cultivate their intellec-tual, physical and social development in a safe and loving environment. The goal of AcreageMontessori is to provide children with a secure, loving and educational environment in whichto happily grow and develop and to be a place where learning is fun. Acreage Montessori is aparent’s partner for the highest wellbeing of the child. Free VPK 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. all year. Theschool accepts children ages six weeks to 12 years and has a loving, caring and professionalstaff. Acreage Montessori’s aftercare program has low student-supervisor ratios and struc-tured program hours, which run Monday through Thursday, 6:30 a.m. to 6:15 p.m. AcreageMontessori is located at 5700 140th Avenue N. For additional information, call (561) 784-0078.

Cambridge School — A quality preschool lays the foundation for a child’s future academicsuccess. At the Cambridge Schools, which have been serving South Florida for over 20 years,preschool is about much more than just learning ABCs and 123s. Cambridge strives tocultivate each child’s spirit, imagination and love of learning. This is achieved through theschool’s carefully crafted, hands-on, academic curriculum. “Our dynamic program encour-ages children to explore their world in a safe and loving environment,” said Denise Goetz,director of the Cambridge Schools’ Wellington campus. “By offering different age-appropriate,hands-on, brains-on activities, our students gain an understanding of math, science, writing,art and literacy.” The Cambridge Preschool at Wellington serves children from 2 years throughpre-kindergarten. School hours are 8:30 a.m. until 3 p.m., with early care and aftercareavailable. Flexible scheduling is offered. The school follows the Palm Beach County PublicSchool schedule. Enrollment is ongoing. The school is located at 1920 Royal Fern Drive. Formore information, call (561) 791-0013 or visit www.cambridgepreschools.com.


Cardinal Newman High School — Established in 1961, Cardinal Newman High School is a co-ed college-prep Catholic high school attracting students of all faiths from Palm Beach andMartin counties. Students may choose to challenge themselves in the International Bacca-laureate degree program, Advance Placement courses, honors classes and college-prep classes.Following the winning CNHS tradition, athletes participate in 15 sports and 22 organizations.Students are exposed to religious values and family life that guides their lives long aftergraduation. For more information, call (561) 683-6266 or visit www.cardinalnewman.com.

Huntington Learning Center —Whether a student is looking for a better report card, help witha specific subject or a higher score on a college entrance exam, Huntington Learning Centeris the tutoring solution. The center can help with academic skills, subject tutoring or examprep for SAT, PSAT and ACT. The Huntington Learning Center is located at 2655 State Road 7in Wellington Green Commons. For more information, call 1 800-CAN-LEARN or visit www.huntingtonhelps.com.

Ideal Elementary School and Dream Middle School — Ideal Elementary School and DreamMiddle School are premier private schools for innovative and gifted students. Serving theareas of Royal Palm Beach, Wellington, West Palm Beach, Boynton Beach, Lake Worth, PalmBeach and Loxahatchee, Ideal Elementary School and Dream Middle School offer students aninnovative learning environment beginning with preschool, continuing through elementaryand now middle school. Well known in Palm Beach County, the schools have been producingcritical thinkers and leaders since 1993, and this success is largely based on the incorpora-tion of Harvard Professor Dr. Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligence. As a privateschool, Ideal Elementary and Dream Middle schools consistently strive to change ordinaryeducation into extraordinary learning for understanding and critical thinking. For more infor-mation, or to schedule a tour of the schools, call (561) 791-2881.

The Learning Foundation — As a private school, the academic program of the LearningFoundation focuses on the diverse needs of students. The program for third through 12thgraders helps to build a student’s self-esteem in order for them to achieve their academicgoals. Elementary and middle school hours are Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.with aftercare from 2 to 4 p.m. High school hours are Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 2p.m. High school students are required to attend 5 hours each day. McKay and Step Up forStudents scholarships are accepted during the school year. The Learning Foundation’s motto,“Teaching our Youth How to Learn,” is intergraded into every lesson. For more information,call Debra Thornby at (561) 795-6886.


Noah’s Ark Preschool —Noah’s Ark Preschool offers care for infants and preschool childrenas well as after school care, free VPK and low rates and special registration for the fall. Noah’sArk is conveniently located at 14563 Okeechobee Blvd. Se habla Español. For more informa-tion, call (561) 753-6624.

Rosarian Academy —Offering a superior education from 12 months to grade 8, RosarianAcademy is committed to educating the whole person for life. The school fosters each student’sunique spiritual, physical, social, emotional and intellectual needs at every developmentalstage. Known for academic excellence and a welcoming faith-centered community, Rosarian’scurriculum is enhanced with 21st century technology and excellent athletic and fine artsprograms. Rosarian is the only independent, Catholic school in Palm Beach County. For moreinformation, or to schedule a tour, call (561) 832-5131 or e-mail [email protected].

Really Learning LLC —Really Learning serves high school students from all local high schoolsusing Brigham Young University Independent Study for credit recovery or to get ahead in aclass. Individual instruction is provided and students will love the ease and flexibility ofworking on a class at their own pace. Owner Pam Taplin has 25 years of experience in PalmBeach County schools. Really Learning LLC is located in Royal Palm Beach. For more informa-tion, call Mrs. Taplin at (561) 790-0508 or e-mail her at [email protected].

Sacred Heart School — Sacred Heart School in Lake Worth is now accepting applications forpre-kindergarten through eighth grade for the 2013-14 school year. State scholarships, VPK,McKay and Step Up for Students are accepted. The Cathleen McFarlane Ross Learning Lab,which teaches the Morning Star Program, opened in the fall of 2011 allowing children withlearning differences to receive a quality Catholic education. These children may have ADHD oran autism spectrum disorder, to name a few. Sacred Heart believes that all of God’s childrenhave a right to a Catholic education. The positive is accentuated to help the students recog-nize their potential. Building self-esteem and self-confidence is integrated into the curricu-lum of language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, physical education, computer,library, art and music, and Sacred Heart offers a technology-based curriculum. The school hasPromethean boards in all classrooms and 25 iPads. All the desktop computers, laptops andiPads are loaded with the Rosetta Stone program, which gives students access 30 differentforeign languages. For more information, call (561) 582-2242 or visit www.sacredheartschoollakeworth.com.


St. Clare Catholic School — St. Clare Catholic School has been educating and enrichingchildren’s lives for nearly 50 years. The school has a strong academic curriculum that pre-pares graduates to meet the rigors of a competitive college preparatory high school, learn avariety of skills, such as study habits, time management, organization, strong work ethic,active listening and independence. At St. Clare, students will also demonstrate growth andlearning from the joy of success and frustration of failure. For more information, call (561)622-7171 or visit www.stclareschool.com.Summit Christian School — Summit Christian School provides a distinctive quality Christianeducation founded on the Word of God. The school’s mission is to impact students by teach-ing them to think critically and Biblically and to act morally and responsibility while providingan environment that gives them security, significance and opportunity . Summit Christian ishappy to announce that Pastor Mark Davis from Calvary Christian Academy and HeadmasterJim Rozendal from DeMotte Christian School, formerly Lake Worth Christian, will be joiningthe school’s leadership team as the new pastor and new headmaster, respectively. Togetherwith Administrator Sheila Van Es, the team serves children through grade 12. It is located at4900 Summit Blvd., West Palm Beach. For more information, call (561) 686-8081, ext. 313.Temple Beth Torah Leonie Arguetty Preschool — Temple Beth Torah Leonie Arguetty Preschoolhas been in Wellington for over 20 years with a strong reputation for high-quality early child-hood education. The school is the only area preschool with NAEYC accreditation, assuringparents that their program meets high national standards for quality and professionalism.Temple Beth Torah Leonie Arguetty Preschool offers a variety of learning experiences thatprepare children for private and public elementary schools. The school provides caring teach-ers, warmth and sense of community to its students. Temple Beth Torah Leonie ArguettyPreschool is located at 900 Big Blue Trace in Wellington. For more information, call (561)793-2649 or e-mail [email protected] Academy — Wellspring Academy is a residential weight loss boarding schoollocated in Reedley, Calif., near Fresno, and is the first of its kind. The premier program servesstudents ages 11 through 25 years old. While continuing their middle school, high school orcollege education, students reside on campus and learn to live a healthy lifestyle. The Well-spring Academy campus is open year-round and accepts rolling enrollments. The academy isa clinically proven weight loss treatment program that trains students to transform theirbodies and change the way they think about diet and activity. The Wellspring Academy pro-motes a healthy lifestyle with simple, scientific and sustainable behavioral changes. For moreinformation, call (866) 277-0221 or visit www.wellspringacademies.com.


DINING & ENTERTAINMENTAnnual Culinary Creations Dinner June 3 At Kravis Center

The Phantom Recommends A Visit To Palm Beach Wax StudioOver the past 20-plus years, I have

reviewed over 1,000 restaurants, 200hotels, 100 museums and 20 cruiseships locally, nationally and inter-nationally, on four continents, andfor the first time I am reviewing awaxing studio. This turned out tobe an “out-of-my-body hair-raisingexperience.”

When you think of body waxing,you think of this service for a wom-an’s eyebrows, legs, bikini line andthe Brazilian — you don’t necessar-ily think of men’s waxing. However,now I do, and it was a very interest-ing and pleasant experience. Thereare a multitude of waxing servicesfor men and women at the lovelyPalm Beach Wax Studio. This su-perb studio is located on the groundfloor of the Sun and Surf Condo-minium at 100 Sunrise Ave. on theisland of Palm Beach. There is evencomplimentary valet parking for cli-ents of the studio.

Owner and master wax aestheti-cian DeeLisa Sacco has developeda “luxurious body waxing” tech-nique through her years of exten-sive experience and research, and

DeeLisa Sacco works on a client at Palm Beach Wax Studio.

she is an expert at customizing thegentlest and most effective pain-freewax for each client. Sacco pridesherself in stating, “Waxing is all Ido,” and she does it well. Also, herstudio is the only studio in PalmBeach County — and one of threelocations in Florida — to offer per-manent hair removal via the enzyme-based Depilar System.

The Depilar System requires suc-cessive treatments over the courseof 12 to 24 months, depending onthe area. The Depilar System is ap-plied at two- to six-week intervals,depending on the body part. Sacconoted that a decrease in hair growthwill be noticeable after the fourthtreatment with this progressive sys-tem.

Recently I had some cosmeticsurgery, and the pulling and tuck-ing moved my hair line under myeyebrows and around my ears,where it was uncomfortable, so Idecided to enter the waxing world.Sacco cleared up my problem andused three different premium waxesfor the different areas. It was a pain-free treatment, and everything went

smoothly! OK, the third area wasmy… got you! Like the 40-Year-OldVirgin, I decided to wax my chest,resulting in no pain and no hair. Myskin is smooth and it looks great.

My fiancée went along with meand had her legs waxed, as well as abikini wax. Wow — looking good! Ishould also mention there is a first-class barber shop operated by Den-nis Sacco, DeeLisa’s husband,along with a terrific hair salon. Wewill be visiting Palm Beach Wax Stu-dio monthly, along with the barbershop and the hair salon. I am alsoconsidering the permanent hair re-moval for under my eyebrows andaround my ears, via the Depilar Sys-tem.

It is also important for me to tellyou that Sacco is fastidious aboutcleanliness and uses sanitizers andautoclaves. Naturally, she wearsfresh gloves for each client (andchanges them for each body part oneach client), and she uses multiplesterile tongue depressors on eachclient — with no double-dipping —to apply the wax in a sterile and effi-cient fashion.

Finally, I was very impressed tolearn that Sacco donates a percent-age of profits to the ALS Associa-tion. Her grandmother died fromALS (also known as Lou Gehrig’sdisease), and Sacco feels stronglyabout giving back.

So if you are looking for wonder-ful, pain-free waxing and/or perma-

nent solution for unwanted hair, ora great barber and a fabulous hairstylist, call Sacco at (561) 833-9860or visit www.palmbeachwaxstudio.com. Palm Beach Wax Studiois open Tuesday through Saturdayby appointment. Please tell them thatthe Phantom recommended their su-perb services.

Joe Nasuti, the Phantom, is a featured writer for the Town-Crier, Forever Young and www.yournews.com. Comments & recommendations are welcome at [email protected].

The American Culinary Federa-tion Palm Beach County Chefs As-sociation will present the 14th an-nual Culinary Creations dinner June3 at the Kravis Center for the Per-forming Arts in West Palm Beach.The popular culinary dinner, in-spired by some of the region’s mosttalented chefs, will benefit QuantumHouse and the Palm Beach CountyChefs in Distress Endowment Fund.

Culinary Creations celebrates the

extraordinary talents of some of thefinest chefs in South Florida. Differ-ent from other food and wine eventsin Palm Beach County, guests canexpect the total foodie experiencebeginning with a marvelous cham-pagne reception featuring delecta-ble hors d’oeuvres. Then the “food-ie” themed evening flows into thesilent auction. Guests can bid onprivate chef dinners, wine tastingsand other items that speak to theluxurious side in all of us.

The once-in-a-lifetime dinner alsofeatures four courses served roundrobin style. Guests have the oppor-tunity to experience a dish from eachof the 25 chefs such as Smoked

Duck Breast Salad, Lamb Osso Buc-co Cannelloni and Crab-CrustedLocal Yellowtail Snapper. Some ofthe participating clubs and restau-rants include the Riverhouse, BocaGrove, the Breakers Palm Beach andCafé L’ Europe. Diners will leave witha full stomach and a full heart be-cause 100 percent of the proceedsfrom the dinner will benefit deserv-ing charities.

“The chefs do an astounding jobhighlighting their talents, and Quan-tum House is thrilled to be part ofthis fantastic event,” said Robi Jur-ney, Quantum House executive di-rector. “You’ll never have a chanceto have all of these award-winning

chefs under one roof preparing sucha gourmet feast.”

Tickets are on sale now with justa handful left. General tickets cost$125 per person or $1,000 per tableof 10. VIP tickets cost $175 per per-son or $1,500 and can be purchasedat www.quantumhouse.org.

Quantum House lessens the bur-den for families whose children arereceiving treatment in Palm BeachCounty for a serious medical condi-tion. The 10-suite hospital hospital-ity house provides lodging, meals,care and compassion to more than500 family members each year.

For additional information, visitwww.quantumhouse.org.

P.B. Dramaworks Continues Musical Theatre Masters Series

(Left) Breakers Palm Beach Ex-ecutive Chef of Banquets JeffSimms with Quantum HousePresident Julie Criser and Execu-tive Director Robi Jurney.

Following a sold-out engagementof Camelot in concert this past Jan-uary, Palm Beach Dramaworks hasannounced the next two musicals inits new Musical Theatre Mastersprogram. Man of La Mancha willkick off the summer series onWednesday, July 10 and run throughJuly 21, followed by Carousel Aug.7-18 at the Don & Ann Brown The-atre in downtown West Palm Beach(201 Clematis Street). Directed byClive Cholerton, the legendary mu-sicals will play two weeks of perfor-mances.

“The response to Camelot ex-ceeded our expectations,” Produc-ing Artistic Director William Hayes

said. “We discovered that audienc-es are delighted by our format be-cause they get to see full-lengthversions of classic shows in a newway. There’s very little staging, min-imal design and limited instrumentalaccompaniment. We really concen-trate on the book, the music and thelyrics, and when you’re dealing withtimeless shows like Camelot, Manof La Mancha and Carousel, thereare vast rewards to be had by pre-senting these pieces in such an inti-mate setting.”

The Tony Award–winning Manof La Mancha is inspired by Miguelde Cervantes’s 17th-century master-piece Don Quixote, about a madman

and self-appointed knight errantwho sets out to perform heroicdeeds. With a book by Dale Wasser-man, music by Mitch Leigh and lyr-ics by Joe Darion, the show takesplace in a Seville prison where Cer-vantes is awaiting trial, and is per-formed as a play within a play. Manof La Mancha opened in 1965, ranfor 2,328 performances, and has be-come one of musical theater’s mostenduring works, with four Broadwayrevivals and countless productionsall over the world. The show’s mostfamous song, “The ImpossibleDream,” beautifully captures thepiece’s message of hope. Caryl Fan-tel will serve as musical director.

Carousel (1945), the second showby the team of Richard Rodgers (mu-sic) and Oscar Hammerstein II (bookand lyrics), was named the bestmusical of the 20th century by Timemagazine. Based on Ferenc Mol-nár’s Liliom, a 1909 play about ane’er-do-well carousel barker, Rodg-ers and Hammerstein changed thelocale from Budapest to Maine andproceeded to write the most inno-vative and intricate show of theirentire collaboration. The beautifulscore includes standards such as “IfI Loved You,” “June is Bustin’ OutAll Over” and “You’ll Never WalkAlone.” Musical director duties willbe handled by Paul Reekie.

Performances are scheduledWednesdays through Saturdays at8 p.m., with matinees on Saturdayand Sunday at 2 p.m. All general ad-mission tickets cost $35. Studenttickets cost $10, and group rates for20 or more are also available.

The Don & Ann Brown Theatreis located in the heart of downtownWest Palm Beach, at 201 ClematisStreet. For ticket information, call thebox office at (561) 514-4042, openMonday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tues-day through Saturday from 10 a.m.to 6 p.m., and Sunday from 11 a.m.to 5 p.m., or visit the Palm BeachDramaworks’ web site at www.palmbeachdramaworks.org.

SPORTS & RECREATIONThe Town-Crier WWW.GOTOWNCRIER.COM May 24 - May 30, 2013

By Gene NardiTown-Crier Staff Report

The Royal Palm Beach High School varsityfootball squad recently started their springtraining in preparation for the coming fall sea-son.

Last season, the Wildcats made some noise,coming in as high as the No. 4 spot on PalmBeach County’s top 10 list.

The Wildcats entered district play last sea-son with one loss and six wins, but eventuallywere knocked from playoff contention and fin-ished 6-4 on the season.

RPBHS head coach Willie Bueno expectshis squad to continue to be a force in District13-7A. With district rivals Atlantic and Dwyerhigh schools waiting in the wings, it will makefor an interesting fall season for the Wildcats.

“We graduated five recruited seniors thisyear, but we have depth going into next year,”Bueno said.

Running back Jimmy Moreland has movedinto the starting quarterback position for the

fall, but will miss the Gardens game due to aninjury.

“Everything will be the same defensively,and offensively we’ll spread it out and run theball,” Bueno said. “It all depends on how ouroffensive line comes together.”

Bueno boasts a trio of running backs goinginto the fall: returning players Charles Perryand Demarcus Holloway, and Wellingtontransfer Shamar Jackson. Zeke Edmonds willbe moved to split and be used more as a re-ceiver.

When asked about plans for the Palm BeachGardens game, Bueno said he hopes to givethe entire team time on the field. “We’ll playour older guys for the first quarter, and thenwe’re going to try and play everybody,” hesaid.

Royal Palm Beach hosts Palm Beach Gar-dens on Friday, May 24 for a 7 p.m. game.

Wildcat Football SquadEnters Spring Training

(Right) RPBHS quarterback Trystan Drewstiff-arms a defender to avoid a tackle.

By Josh HyberTown-Crier Staff Report

Palm Beach Central High School’svarsity football team has increasedits win total each of the last threeseasons. In April, for the first time,the team saw an alumnus selectedin the first round of the NFL Draft.The Bronco program is as prominentas it has ever been.

On Friday, May 24, the team willplay its annual spring game, cappingthe brief spring season and puttingthe Broncos on a path toward nextyear. The Broncos will take on NewSmyrna Beach High School at homeat 7 p.m.

Palm Beach Central head coachRod Harris said spring practice andpreparation for the game has beengreat. The team has been implement-

ing its system, teaching youngerplayers the program’s expectations,and spending time in the weightroom. “Trying to get stronger for ourreal season in August,” Harris said.

Harris has been impressed by theteam’s leaders, as well as players try-ing to make a name for themselves.Since May 1, the team has practicedoutdoors Monday through Friday.

The prominent attraction on thePalm Beach Central roster is left tack-le Kc McDermott. The rising senioris one of the top linemen in the coun-ty and is signed to play at the Uni-versity of Miami.

Harris pointed to McDermott, aswell as running backs Kamar Down-er and Thomas McDonald, as of-fensive players who have stood outin spring practices. Harris also said

receiver Andrew Prince is having thebest spring of anyone on the team.

Defensively, strong safety/line-backer Jhnard Dorsett and JoshGutierrez have made positive im-pressions.

“We’ve seen some younger guysreally stepping up, some guys whoweren’t on varsity last year havedone a tremendous job,” Harris said.

The Broncos have mostly fo-cused spring practice on their owngame plan, rather than specific prep-aration for the New Smyrna game.But Harris did say the Broncos doknow the success of the New Smyr-na program and the skill set of quar-terback Marcus Johnson and run-ning back D’Cota Dixon.

Before taking on such a talented

By Gene NardiTown-Crier Staff Report

The Seminole Ridge High Schoolvarsity football team started springpractice this month, and the Hawksare preparing for their game Friday,May 24 against Treasure Coastpowerhouse South Fork HighSchool. Both teams will use thegame to assess where they will needthe most attention for the fall.

The Bulldogs finished 9-1 lastyear, but were unable to lock in thedistrict title. The Hawks have strug-gled over a few hurdles in the coach-ing department, with former headcoach Matt Dickmann relocating toGeorgia, and then the unexpectedresignation of Steven Humphrey.

New head coach Scott Barnwelljoined Dickmann and the Hawks in2012 to work with the quarterbacksand junior varsity offense.

Barnwell was the HollywoodHills High School head coach forfour years. During that time, theteam made two regional playoff ap-pearances and won a district titlein 2010.

The Hawks have had two appear-ances in the regional finals and threedistrict titles. They finished last sea-son with a 9-4 record.

Barnwell noted that the team willmiss the six Division I recruited se-niors who graduate this year, but heis confident that Seminole Ridge willbe a contender in the fall with many

returning players and new under-classman coming in.

“We’ve got a great bunch of kidscoming in, as well as the returningplayers,” he said. “We continue tohave strong freshman and JV pro-grams.”

Barnwell added that the Hawksplan to spread the formations outand throw the ball more than theydid last year, but will still maintain alot of what was successful about thelast season.

“Zack Dacosta returns as the quar-terback, but we have two other kids

Hawks Begin Spring Football Practice With New Coach

See HAWKS, page 45

(Right) A Hawk running back triesto avoid a tackle during practice.

Palm Beach Central High School head coach Rod Harrislooks on as players practice for this week’s spring game.

PHOTO BY LAUREN ALSINA

Bronco Football Program Keeps Eye On State Title Prize

See BRONCOS, page 45

PHOTO BY GENE NARDI/TOWN-CRIER

PHOTO BY GENE NARDI/TOWN-CRIER


SPORTS & RECREATION

The Wellington Wrestling Club competed at the Iron Sharpens Iron II Tournament onSaturday, May 18 at Western High School and came home with two medal winners.Wellington High School junior Briar Macfarlane placed first in the 138 Elite division andfour-year-old Tyler Gray placed third in the Tot 50-pound division. The Wellington Wres-tling Club will be starting a summer session Tuesday, June 11. For more information onjoining the club, e-mail [email protected] or call (561) 827-8595. Shownabove are Tyler Gray and Briar Macfarlane.

WELLINGTON WRESTLING CLUBMEMBERS CLAIM MEDALS

Bailey Williams

Royal Palm Beach High School freshmangirls volleyball player Bailey Williams hasbeen selected for the 2013 USA Volleyball Se-lect National A2 Invitational Team Program/Alternate A1 National Team Training Team totrain in Colorado Springs, Colo., this summer.

The National A2 Invitational Team Programis designed to give the country’s top athletesthe opportunity to work with national coach-es at a competitive event. Players who partic-ipate in the program will train for four days asa group, training in all skills and focusing onposition-specific area each day.

On the fifth day, players will be split into 16tiered eight-player teams in which they willtrain for a full day under international rulesand team opponent scouting. The final daysfeature an international-style tournament cul-minating in a tournament championship onthe final day. The Select A2 Invitational TeamProgram consists of a total of 128 athletesfrom the age group. They will train at the Uni-versity of Colorado Springs for the seven-day program July 5-11.

Williams has also been selected for the2013 Florida High Performance TrainingTeam (Girls Select Division), which she rep-resented as the captain in 2012-13 and wonthe bronze medal.

This year, she is competing again for thesame position and will have tryouts June 1-2in Orlando. Williams will find out if she makes

the Florida team in June after she returns fromattending the Girls Junior National VolleyballChampionship in Dallas.

A Busy Summer Ahead ForRPBHS Volleyball Standout


SPORTS & RECREATION

WHS basketball player Alex Peavler with his parentsFlip and Lauren Peavler, and coach Matt Colin.

Alex Peavler, a guard on the Well-ington High School boys varsitybasketball team, will continue hisbasketball career at the collegiatelevel, signing with NCAA DivisionIII Oglethorpe University in Atlan-ta, Ga.

Peavler led Palm Beach County in3-pointers made and 3-point per-centage, draining 60 treys for theseason and shooting a hot 47 per-cent from behind the line. Peavler

captained WHS to a 20-win seasonand Sweet 16 finish in the FHSAAClass 8A playoffs. He also earnedsecond team All-Conference honorsand All-Area honorable mention.

A member of the Southern Ath-letic Association, Oglethorpe com-petes in one of the more challeng-ing conferences in NCAA DivisionIII. Academically, it is considered oneof the most selective and challeng-ing institutions in the United States.

Wellington’s Peavler To PlayBasketball At Oglethorpe

The Wildcat Dancers Dance Team and Dance Director Michele Blecher from Royal Palm Beach HighSchool presented at New Horizons Elementary School’s recent Career Day. The dancers have been pre-senting “What is a dance instructor and a dance choreographer?” for the past ten years at the event.Along with Blecher’s talk about being a dance teacher and choreographer, the Wildcat Dancers DanceTeam performed four dance routines: “Dearly Beloved” lyrical group routine, “Everything You Want” con-temporary duet, “Tribute” hip-hop duet and “Hit the Floor” jazz group routine. Shown here is the WildcatDancers Dance Team with Pat Klammer’s f ifth period class.

Seminole Ridge High School isoffering basketball camps for localboys and girls ages 6 through 14.

Boys Basketball Camp — Ses-sion 1 takes place June 10-13 from 1to 4 p.m.; Session 2 takes place July8-11 from 9 a.m. to noon; and Ses-

sion 3 takes place Aug. 5-8 from 9a.m. to noon. The cost is $65/ses-sion. All skill levels are welcome. Forinfo., contact Kai Lee at (561) 379-9841 or [email protected].

Girls Basketball Camp — Ses-

sion 1 takes place June 10-13 from 9a.m. to noon and Session 2 takesplace Aug. 5-8 from 1 to 4 p.m. Thecost is $65/session. All skill levelsare welcome. For info., contact ScottO’Hara at (561) 818-5733 or [email protected].

Boys And Girls Basketball Camps At SRHS

WILDCAT DANCERS VISIT NEW HORIZONS


Join the Summer Junior Golf Camp at Okeeheelee Golf Course, Park Ridge Golf Course andJohn Prince Golf Learning Center through the Junior Golf Foundation of America Golf Camp.New or seasoned golfers will develop skills while having a blast doing so. The JGFA providesjunior golfers with the tools to enjoy the game for a lifetime. Professional PGA/LPGA golfinstructors, trained coaches and staff are carefully picked for their love of junior golf, teach-ing abilities and inspirational approach. The program emphasizes safety, fun, spor tsmanshipand personal attention. Camps run June 10 through Aug. 16 from 9 a.m. - 1 p.m., Mondaythrough Friday, with extended camp available until 3 p.m. at Okeeheelee. Written evaluationrepor ts, prizes/trophies, of ficial JGFA items, a certificate of completion and a pizza party onthe last day is included. Also available: camps for 3-5 year olds, camps for advance/tourna-ment golfers, Junior Golf tournaments, weekly programs and leagues, walk-up clinics andmore. Visit www.JGFA.org or call (561) 964-GOLF for more information.

The Lab/High Touch High Tech brings science to life with hands-on experiments provided byHigh Touch High Tech, the leader in science education for the last 18 years. Each day will bea new adventure, from interacting with real lab critters to launching rockets and panning forgems. Conveniently located off State Road 7 and Lantana Road, this unique facility offersaffordable pricing, experiments with lots of cool take-homes, arts and crafts, physical activi-ties and more. The Lab taps into children’s natural curiosity and provides them with safe andfun activities that help them learn about the world. Children can expect to have fun while theymake slime, erupt volcanoes, make ice cream, make tie dye t-shirts and more. Call (561) 444-3978 or visit www.thelabforkids.com for info.

The Little Place Pre-School has served the western communities for over 35 years. They arenow taking summer camp registration at their two convenient Wellington locations. TheLittle Place offers a pre-school program for children 2 to 5 years old, and a program forchildren ages 6 to 8. Various classes are offered as well as arts and & crafts and much more.The Little Place will make your child’s summer fun! Contact them at 1040 Wellington Trace(561-793-5860) or 2995 Greenbriar Blvd. (561-790-0808).

At Noah’s Ark Summer Camp, children will enjoy field trips and activities such as swimming,bowling, skating, South Florida Science Museum, movies and picnics. Tuition includes cam-era surveillance, creative curriculum, computers and all meals. Registration is now beingaccepted. Registration is free for new customers only. Noah’s Ark is located at 14563 Okee-chobee Blvd. in Loxahatchee Groves. For more information, call (561) 753-6624 or visit www.smallworldpbc.com.

Palm Beach Super Tae Kwon Do is a family -oriented martial arts school serving the westerncommunities for over 17 years. Headed by Grand Master Ki Sop Yoon (former Korean NationalChampion and World Tae Kwon Do Federation 8th Degree Black Belt), Palm Beach Super TaeKwon Do offers programs in Olympic-Style Tae Kwon Do, self-defense (Hap Ki Do) and weap-ons. It fields an outstanding demonstration team. The programs teach self-confidence, disci-pline and respect in a safe and positive learning environment. Palm Beach Super Tae KwonDo is located at 13860 Wellington Trace, Suites 24 and 25, in the Wellington Cour tyardShops, near Publix. Visit today to observe or participate in a class today. For more info., visitwww.supertaekwondo.net or call (561) 795-1199.

The Scientastic Institute is taking hands-on science to a whole new level. Developed exclu-sively for students entering grades 6 through 8, its Scientist-In-Training summer camp takesadvantage of the power of curiosity to turn everyday students into extraordinary scientists.Through a wide variety of activities — such as hands-on projects, edible experiments, creaturefeatures, DIY labs, scientist spotlights, dynamic demonstrations and much more — eachweek addresses an amazing new theme that relates to essential academic content. Studentscan have fun all summer and get a head start for the fall. The Scientastic Institute offerscompetitive rates, extended hours, organic lunch options and one amazing summer experi-ence in the heart of Wellington. Visit www.scientasticinstitute.com or call (561) 459-1724for more information.

Are you looking for a convenient and fun place to send your kids this summer? Look nofurther than Camp Eagle at Wellington Christian School. They offer an exciting 9-weekprogram for children ages 3-12, which includes VPK, local field trips for older campers, on-campus sports and group building activities, daily devotions, silly songs, crazy competitionsand much more. You can choose one of the themed weeks or come all summer long. For moreinformation, call (561) 793-1017.

Wellington Children’s Theater Camp invites campers to join them for Summer MusicalTheater Camp. Classes are offered in acting, voice, specialized dance, script writing, auditiontechniques, music theory, and much more. Campers will create their own props and back-drops. A revolving schedule has visiting guest artists leading special workshops daily. Camp-ers will rehearse and perform a fully staged Broadway musical production at the conclusionof camp. The program is open to ages 7 to 16. Rehearsals and classes meet at #1 EducationPlace in the original Wellington Mall at Forest Hill Blvd. and Wellington Trace in the heart ofWellington. For info., call (561) 223-1928, e-mail [email protected] orvisit www.wellingtonchildrenstheatre.com.


COMMUNITY CALENDAR

See CALENDAR, page 43

Saturday, May 25• John McCoy Pottery (13746 58th Court

North) will host a studio show and sale withguest artists Karla Walter and Nena Escobaron Saturday and Sunday, May 25 and 26from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Work will be on dis-play in porcelain, stoneware, wood fire andsculptural clay. Visit www.johnmccoypottery.com for more info.

• The Wellington library (1951 Royal FernDrive) will host “Equestrian Story Time Ex-travaganza” on Saturday, May 25 at 10:30a.m. Bring the family to celebrate all thingsequestrian with stories and a craft. Call (561)790-6070 for more info.

• Whole Foods Market in Wellington(2635 State Road 7) will host a SupportOur Troops Cookout on Saturday, May 25from noon to 3 p.m. Enjoy a hamburger, hot-dog or vegetarian burger along with a sideand choice of drink for a $5 donation to For-gotten Soldiers Outreach. Visit www.forgottensoldiers.org or call (561) 904-4000 for info.

• Wellington Counseling & Associates willsponsor a Family Celebration on Saturday,May 25 from 2 to 4 p.m. in the center courtof the original Wellington Mall at the cornerof Wellington Trace and Forest Hill Blvd. Ac-tivities include food, a teen girls band, freecounseling in English and Spanish for fami-lies and single parents, anger management,substance abuse counseling and creating alearning environment in the home for stu-dents. For more info., call Pastor WilliamMcGowan at (561) 225-4208.

• The Wellington library (1951 Royal FernDrive) will host a Chess Club meeting for ages8 and up Saturday, May 25 at 2:30 p.m. Prac-tice your strategy skills with other players.Basic game knowledge is required. Call (561)790-6070 for more info.

• Caribbean-Americans for Community In-volvement (CAFCI) will host Cultural Diver-sity Day on Saturday, May 25 from 3 p.m.until sundown at Veterans Park on RoyalPalm Beach Blvd., just south of Okeecho-bee Blvd. Enjoy food, fashion, history, arts,entertainment and cultural programs of di-verse communities. For more info., call theCultural Center at (561) 790-5149.

Monday, May 27• Wellington’s Memorial Day Parade &

Ceremony will take place Monday, May 27.The parade will begin at 8:15a.m., startingat the Wellington Municipal Complex andcontinuing down Forest Hill Blvd. to the Well-ington Veterans Memorial. The ceremony be-gins at 8:30 a.m. Call (561) 753-2484 or

visit www.wellingtonfl.gov for more informa-tion.

• Royal Palm Beach will hold its MemorialDay Observance on Monday, May 27 at 9a.m. at Veterans Park Amphitheater on Roy-al Palm Beach Blvd. A flag-raising ceremonywill be followed by motivational presenta-tions. Enjoy free refreshments and a livemusical performance by the Royal PalmBeach Community Band following the cere-mony. For more info., call (561) 790-5149.

Tuesday, May 28• The Wellington library (1951 Royal Fern

Drive) will host “Kids Create!” for ages 5 to12 on Tuesday, May 28 at 3 p.m. Bring cre-ativity and imagination and the library willprovide the materials. Call (561) 790-6070for more info.

• The Acreage library (15801 Orange Blvd.)will host Club Pokémon for ages 6 to 12 onTuesday, May 28 at 6:30 p.m. Bring your DSor Pokémon cards and get ready to battle,trade and make new friends. Call (561) 681-4100 to pre-register.

• Whole Foods Market in Wellington(2635 State Road 7) will feature a HealthyEating Tasting Tour on Tuesday, May 28 at6:30 p.m. Learn more about the Health StartsHere program and enjoy nutrient-dense sam-ples. There is no charge. Call (561) 904-4000to pre-register.

• The Wellington Village Council will meetTuesday, May 28 at 7 p.m. at the WellingtonMunicipal Complex (12300 W. Forest HillBlvd.). For more info., call (561) 791-4000or visit www.wellingtonfl.gov.

Wednesday, May 29• The Acreage library (15801 Orange Blvd.)

will host “Tween Game Day” for ages 8 to12 on Wednesday, May 29 at 4 p.m. Chal-lenge your friends to Wii and board games.Call (561) 681-4100 for more info.

• The Acreage library (15801 Orange Blvd.)will host “Book Discussion: Eat, Pray, Love”for adults Wednesday, May 29 at 5:30 p.m.Discuss Elizabeth Gilbert’s memoir whichtells how she left her American success tofind what she truly wanted from life in Italy,India and Bali. Call (561) 681-4100 to pre-register.

• The Wellington library (1951 Royal FernDrive) will host “Melissa Ganzi: Life as aChampion Polo Player” for adults Wednes-day, May 29 at 6:30 p.m. Ganzi will dis-cuss her professional life and share per-sonal polo stories. Call (561) 790-6070to pre-register.


COMMUNITY CALENDARCALENDAR, continued from page 38

• Whole Foods Market in Wellington(2635 State Road 7) will feature It’s Saladfor Dinner on Wednesday, May 29 at 6:30p.m. A salad for dinner will be substantialenough for even the biggest appetite whenit includes grilled shrimp and corn cakespaired with a warm and fruity granola fordessert. There is no charge. Call (561) 904-4000 to pre-register.

Thursday, May 30• State Rep. Mark Pafford will host a Town

Hall Meeting on Thursday, May 30 at 6 p.m.at Keiser University (2085 Vista Parkway,West Palm Beach). Pafford will provide infor-mation about critical issues facing the stateand offer a chance for the public to providefeedback on the 2013 legislative session.Call (561) 682-0157 for more info.

• The Wellington library (1951 Royal FernDrive) will host Teen Game Night for ages 12to 17 on Thursday, May 30 at 6 p.m. PlayNintendo Wii and board games. Food will beprovided. Call (561) 790-6070 for more info.

• The Acreage library (15801 Orange Blvd.)will host Teen Game Night for ages 12 to 17on Thursday, May 30 at 6:30 p.m. Challengeyour friends to Wii and board games. Snackswill be provided. Call (561) 681-4100 to pre-register.

• Whole Foods Market in Wellington(2635 State Road 7) will feature a Gluten-Free Shopping Tour on Thursday, May 30 at6:30 p.m. Tour the gluten-free productsaround the store and enjoy samples. Thereis no charge. Call (561) 904-4000 to pre-register.

Friday, May 31• Whole Foods Market in Wellington

(2635 State Road 7) will feature Mom’sMorning Escape on Friday, May 31 from 9 to11 a.m. Moms will receive a free coffee ortea and muffin from the coffee bar. Call (561)904-4000 to pre-register.

• Whole Foods Market in Wellington(2635 State Road 7) will feature Kids’ Club:Harvest Breakfast on Friday, May 31 fromat 3:30 p.m. Kids ages 6 to 12 will learn howto make a breakfast frittata and fruit tart-lets. There is no charge. Call (561) 904-4000to pre-register.

• The Royal Palm Beach Food Truck Inva-sion takes Friday, May 31 from 5:30 to 9p.m. at Commons Park (11600 PoincianaBlvd.). Call (561) 790-5149 or visitwww.royalpalm beach.com for more info.

Saturday, June 1• The Acreage library (15801 Orange Blvd.)

will hold “Acoustic Java Jam” on Saturday,June 1 at 2 p.m. Experience a caffeinatedcollection of local talent or bring your acous-tic instruments and jam out. Coffee will beprovided. Call (561) 681-4100 to pre-regis-ter.

Monday, June 3• The Royal Palm Beach library (500 Civic

Center Way) will host Crochet Club for ages9 and up Mondays at 5 p.m. Learn basicstitches and socialize while you work onprojects. Call (561) 790-6030 to pre-regis-ter.

Tuesday, June 4• The Palm Beach County Commission

will meet Tuesday, June 4 at 9:30 a.m. in thegovernment center’s Jane M. ThompsonMemorial Chambers (301 N. Olive Ave., SixthFloor, West Palm Beach). For more info., vis-it www.pbcgov.com.

• The Wellington library (1951 Royal FernDrive) will host “Hoot Owls” for ages 5 to 11on Tuesday, June 4 at 3 p.m. Make your ownowl, inspired by Carl Hiaasen’s book Hoot.Call (561) 790-6070 for more info.

• The Acreage library (15801 OrangeBlvd.) will host “Hot Summer Collage” onTuesday, June 4 at 5 p.m. Immerse your-self in fashion and nature magazines, col-lect fitting images, rummage through foundobjects, and transform it all into somethingunique. Call (561) 681-4100 to pre-regis-ter.

• The Loxahatchee Groves Town Councilwill meet Tuesday, June 4 at 7 p.m. at theLoxahatchee Groves Water Control Districtoffice (101 West D Road). Call (561) 793-2418 or visit www.loxahatcheegroves.org formore info.

Wednesday, June 5• The Acreage library (15801 Orange Blvd.)

will host “American Girl: Kirsten” for ages 6to 12 on Wednesday, June 5 at 4 p.m. Cele-brate Kirsten with games and crafts relatedto America’s pioneer days. Call (561) 681-4100 to pre-register.

• The Wellington library (1951 Royal FernDrive) will host “Hooked on Crochet” foradults Wednesdays, June 5 and 19 at 6:30p.m. Learn beginning techniques or bringcurrent projects to share and work on. Be-ginners can pick up a materials list whenthey pre-register. Call (561) 790-6070 formore info.

Send calendar items to: The Town-Crier,12794 W. Forest Hill Blvd., Suite 31, Well-ington, FL 33414. FAX: (561) 793-6090. E-mail: [email protected].


SPORTS & RECREATION

BroncosStrong Team

continued from page 37team, Harris said the Broncos stillneed to correct some offensive falsestarts and defensive tackling.

McDermott said he expects theteam to play as hard as it can onFriday, and he definitely wants towin. The left tackle, who will joinbrother Shane as a Hurricanes of-fensive lineman and will be the thirdMcDermott brother to play Division-

HawksNew Coach

continued from page 37coming in who are pretty good, andthat will be a pretty good battle,”Barnwell said.

E.J. Eliene returns in the backfieldto power the running game for theHawks, and a new underclassman,Dustin Austin, is also one to watch.“We’re expecting a lot from [Aus-

tin] running the ball for us as well,”Barnwell said.

With most of the linebackers andsecondary returning for the de-fense, the Hawks may be very toughto beat defensively. District 9-8Aremains the same with SeminoleRidge, Palm Beach Gardens, Jupiterand Wellington.

The Hawks will host South ForkHigh School for their spring gameFriday, May 24 at 7 p.m.

Hawk JV players working with the varsity during spring practice.PHOTO BY GENE NARDI/TOWN-CRIER

1 football, will be a major part of it.“He’s really self-motivated,

hardworking and dedicated, not justto his craft, but to the program,”Harris said. “He’ll be the last Mc-Dermott to wear 52 in the program.We will not give that out again.”

The increasing success of thePalm Beach Central program hasMcDermott thinking one thing be-fore he heads off the Miami. Hewants to win a state championship.He’ll put aside college distractionsand pressure to achieve that goal.

“To me it’s simple,” McDermottsaid. “I put my team first before anyof that. I put that first before focus-ing on Miami or college in general.”

Harris said that expectations arehigh. “But we have a long way to go’til we get to the final product,” hesaid. “I’d like to make it four straightyears where we have a better recordand go a little further in the playoffs.The ultimate goal is to win a statechampionship. We’re a lot closernow than we were five years ago.”

Bronco players in action during spring football practice.PHOTO BY LAUREN ALSINA

The Kevin Perkins Golf Academywill be starting its 19th annual Jun-ior Summer Golf Camp on Monday,June 10 at the Binks Forest Golf Clubin Wellington.

The Junior Summer Golf Camp isopen to boys and girls ages 7-17 and

will take place weekly from June 10through Aug. 16. Each weekly campis conducted Monday through Fri-day from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. daily.

The Binks Forest Golf Club is lo-cated at 400 Binks Forest Drive, justoff Southern Blvd. in Wellington.

For more information about theJunior Summer Golf Camp and otherprograms provided by the KevinPerkins Golf Academy, visit them onthe web at www.kevinperkinsgolfacademy.com or call (561) 301-3783.

Kevin Perkins Summer Golf Camp Starts June 10


PART-TIME LEGAL SECRETARY— for legal/accounting office. Faxresume 333-2680.

WANTED DRIVERS — Full-Timeor Part-Time. Wellington Cab/Wellington Town-Car. RetireesWelcome 561-333-0181

PART-TIME TEACHERS ASSIS-TANT NEEDED — for Pre-School.Mon.- Fri. 11:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.Experienced preferred 561-793-5860

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LARGE BRIGHT ROOM FORRENT — with private bath & privateentrance $450/mo or $125/weekly.Furnished 1 bedroom apartment forrent. Month to month rental largebright rooms with backyard, all utili-ties & cable included $700/monthInterested call [email protected]

TOWN-CRIERCLASSIFIEDSGET RESULTS

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LOOKING FOR VOLUNTEERSAGES 14 AND UP — to help outour non-profit animal sanctuary . 2days a week for 4 hours a day. Getcommunity hours and have fun. Call561-792-2666

COME & HELP SUPPORT CATSGYMNASTIC TEAM!!! SATURDAY,JUNE 1st 8 a.m. - 1 p.m. CATSGymnastics Multi Family Yard Sale12779 Forest Hill Blvd. Wellington,FL 33414 (in The Wellington Plazabehind Dunkin Donuts)

PARK PLACE COMMUNITY YARDSALE JUNE 1st 7 a.m. - NoonCorner of Forest Hill Blvd. & 12thFairway

Karen S. HolmePublish :Town-Crier NewspapersDate: 05-24-13

Legal Notice No. 566Notice Under Fictitious Name

Florida Statute 865.09 Public noticeis hereby given that the undersigneddesires to engage in business under

the fictitious name of:

4 A Better EducationLocated at:

1061 Summerwood CircleWellington, FL 33414

County of Palm Beach, Florida andintends to register said name with

the Division of CorporationsState of Florida,forthwith


JOHN C. HUNTON AIR CONDI-TIONING & REFRIGERATION,INC.—Service & new installationFPL independent participating con-tractor. Lic. CAC 057272 Ins. "Weare proud supporters of the Semi-nole Ridge Hawks" 561-798-3225.Family Owned & Operated since1996. Credit Cards Accepted

WE CLEAN OFFICES & PRIVATEHOMES — Licensed & Insured.Call for an estimate and to sched-ule your apartment. Discount forCentral Palm Beach County Cham-ber members and to all new clientsfor first cleaning. 561-385-8243Lic. #2012-252779

ALL AMERICAN HOUSE CLEAN-ERS — Residential , Commercial,Move-In/Move-Out, Organize. CallElizabeth for all your cleaningneed. 561-313-4086

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THE MASTER HANDYMAN — AllTypes of Home Repairs & Improve-ments. No job too big or small doneright the first time every time 40 yrsof satisfied customers. See me onAngies List. Tom (561) 801-2010 or(954) 444-3178 Serving Palm Beachand Broward Counties.

BILLY’S HOME REPAIRS INC.REMODEL & REPAIRS — InteriorTrim, crown molding, rottenwood re-pair, door instal lat ion, minord r y w a l l , k i t c h e n s / c a b i n e t s /countertops, wood flooring. Bondedand Insured U#19699. Call 791-9900 or 628-9215

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town-crier newspaper may 24,2013

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