Martin County Currents February 2014 Vol. 3 Issue #8

Volume 3 Issue 8 • February 2014

FREE

What county do Commissioners think they inhabit? Pg 12

Hobe Sound’s manufactured home debate now before magistrate. Pg 22

Flash Beach Grille's Robert Breinig,

between a rock and county rules

pg 14

Everglades Stormwater TreatmentArea (STA-1 West) to double capacity,keeping (a little) more water out of St. Lucie. Pg 5

Indiantown dream: A new medical center opens. Pg 28

Martin County CurrentsFebruary 20142

3Martin County CurrentsFebruary 2014 News Stream

14Robert and Anita

Breinig, owners of the Flash Beach Grille

in Hobe Sound, find themselves at a dead end with few choices

when it comes to theirfledgling business.

22Still the focus of controversy inHobe Sound, a manufacturedhome's owners wind up in a Martin County Magistrate's code enforcement hearing.

Features

All the articles and opinion pieces are authored and/or edited by Publisher Barbara Clowdus,except as otherwise noted. All the typos, mistakes, grammatical errors, omissions, andmisspelled words are hers alone, too. The good photos are taken by someone else. Allcontents are copyrighted 2013 Martin County Currents.

EDITOR BARBARA CLOWDUS772.245.6564 [email protected]@MartinCountyCurrents.com

ANNOUNCEMENTScalendar@MartinCountyCurrents.comSUBSCRIPTIONSwww.MartinCountyCurrents.com click on SUBSCRIBE

21A Hobe Sound Toastmasters

project takes members to prison.

ColumnistsMaya EllensonArt Kaleidoscope....30Suzanne BrileyHopscotch … 29Rich VidulichPompano Reporter … 31

Gordon BarlowOutside, Looking In... 13Barbara ClowdusUnfiltered... 13George KleineThe Right Bite …. 29

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cuRRentsMartin County

SUCCESS FEE SPECIAL

Commission will be discounted to 4.25%with 6 month listing agreement

and sold by Debra Parker

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Martin CountyCommission ChairSarah Heard maylearn on Monday, Feb. 24, if a judge will compel her tosubmit to a deposition regarding miss-ing emails from her private email ac-count. Attorneys for the Lake PointWater Restoration Project in westernMartin County asserted in motions filedin the 19th Circuit Court that Heard's se-cret correspondence with former com-missioner Maggy Hurchalla regardingLake Point are public records thatshould have been preserved.

Heard's private attorney, Scott Zap-polo, contended in a protective order hefiled in Palm Beach County last Augustthat Heard's private emails are not publicrecord, that she is not a party to LakePoint's case against former County Com-missioner Maggy Hurchalla, and that herservice provider, Yahoo, cannot releaseany information regarding a private ac-count unless it's part of a verified, officialcriminal investigation, which this is not.

Much of Zappolo's motion was de-nied by a Palm Beach County judge, andHeard was ordered to produce all heremail correspondence with Hurchalla. Ifshe was unable to do so, according tocourt records, then she needed to verifyher actions in her failed attempts to re-trieve the requested, private emails fromher personal computer.

The Martin County Growth Manage-ment Department staff provided infor-mation to the county commission in apublic meeting and in staff memos inJanuary 2013 that apparently verifiedLake Point's stance against Hurchalla'sclaims, including that no wetlands hadbeen destroyed and that there was noevidence its rock pits were deeper than20 feet, as required by the county's Com-prehensive Growth Management Plan.

The staff also produced a copy of the2008 Martin County resolution reclassi-fying Lake Point from a residentialhousing development, Lake PointRanches, to a public works project thatCommissioner Fielding said, “wasn'tworth the paper it is written on.”

Following the county's resolution,the Lake Point project was designatedpart of the Northern Estuary EvergladesRestoration Program.

According to court records, Lake Pointattorneys discovered that Heard had beenroutinely using her private, Yahoo ac-count to conduct county business as they

retrieved emails from the public emaildatabase referencing Lake Point, so theyexpanded their February 2013 publicrecords request to include Heard's emailsfrom her home computer, as well as hernotes during the Jan. 15, 2013, countycommission meeting, and her calendar ofappointments for the previous year. Theirrequest has been expanded again to in-clude text messages with Hurchalla.

Heard informed Lake Point that heremail account had been “hacked,” thusshe could not provide them all theemails they were requesting. After LakePoint requested Heard's permission toaccess her Yahoo account, Heard re-tained a private attorney.

Judge James McCann will preside atthe hearing Feb. 24 at the Martin CountyCourthouse to determine if Lake Pointmay depose Heard. ■

Martin County'shandling of publicrecords has comeunder scrutiny bya Sacramento-based public affairs lawfirm, the Pacific Legal Foundation, andalso led to charges being filed againstMartin County for tortious interference(interfering with a company's ability todo business).

After Martin County took no actionover the past year to fulfill the LakePoint Water Restoration Project's publicrecords request for public and privateemails between County Commissionersand former Commissioner Maggy Hur-challa that referenced the Lake Pointproject, attorney Ethan Loeb filed a tor-tious interference claim against MartinCounty for failing to comply withFlorida's Public Records Act.

Martin County immediately filed amotion to block the amended motion,however, in a hearing Jan. 28, CircuitCourt Judge James McCann dismissedthe county's motion and granted leaveto Lake Point to file their amended mo-tion, thus their tortious interferenceclaim against Martin County will standuntil ruled upon by Judge McCann.

Lake Point also charged tortious in-terference against Hurchalla a year ago.Hurchalla's attorney sought to have thecharge dismissed in October, howeverJudge McCann denied their motion.

According to court records, Loebclaimed that the secret email correspon-dence between the county commissionersand Hurchalla regarding Lake Point arevital to Lake Point's case against MartinCounty and the South Florida Water Man-agement District for breach of contract.

On Jan. 6, 2014, Lake Point ex-panded their public records request toinclude all public and private emails,all text messages and phone recordsfrom all commissioners in their com-munications with the Growth Manage-ment staff to and from Hurchallaregarding not only Lake Point, but anyreference to the proposed amendmentsto the county's Comprehensive GrowthManagement Plan.

Lake Point also is a party to the legalchallenges of the rewritten Comp Plan

amendments, which will be heard by anadministrative law judge beginningApril 14 in Stuart.

Pacific Legal Foundation attorneyChristina Martin sent a letter Jan. 14 toall five Martin County commissioners,County Administrator Taryn Kryzdaand County Attorney Michael Durhamsaying that PLF was tipped off about"allegations of public records violations"in the lawsuit between Martin Countyand landowner Lake Point.

According to the letter, "The plain-tiffs' Motion to Inspect Electronic De-vices to Determine if Evidence has beenSpoliated suggests that various commis-sioners have used private email accountsto conduct public business, and thesepublic records have not been preserved,posted on the county's public recordswebsite, and in some instances they havebeen altered or improperly manipulated.

"If the statements contained in the mo-tion are accurate, Pacific Legal Foundationis concerned about how such conduct im-plicates Martin County landowners, theirability to freely access the government onimportant property rights issues, and theirability to access government records with-out a fear that such records will be manip-ulated or destroyed."

Their public records request was formeeting transcripts and emails pertainingto the county's forgiveness of court-or-dered fees and sanctions for the MartinCounty County Conservation Alliance, allcommissioners' calendars, phone callsand text messages, public and private,used to conduct public business fromNov. 1, 2012, to the present; paymentsmade to Maggy Hurchalla, Virginia“Ginny” Sherlock, Howard Heims, ortheir firm, over the past 5 years; all docu-ments in which Maggy Hurchalla is men-tioned relating to the comprehensive planamendments for Martin County; and thecounty’s retention policy for emails, textmessages, phone records, and calendars.“If the County will not produce any of therequested documents,” Martin said,“please provide Pacific Legal Foundationwith the stated basis for the refusal.” ■

Martin County Tax-payers AssociationPresident RichardGeisinger put“the full weight” of his organization inthe middle of the Stuart City Commis-sion's decision to levy a universal fire fee,perhaps saving Stuart residents and busi-ness owners a blow to their pocketbooks.

In the Feb. 10 packed-house CityCommission meeting that lasted morethan four hours, Geisinger offered toanalyze an offer from Martin CountyCommissioner Ed Fielding to consoli-date police and fire services for effi-ciency and cost savings, which hadbeen part of the county's earlier strate-gic planning discussions.

The fire fee resolution passed, butwith a one-year sunset clause in order topursue possible consolidation with thecounty's services. Geisinger promised toreturn results of their research to the citywithin 60 days. ■

Martin County CurrentsFebruary 20144 News Stream

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Maggy Hurchalla Sarah Heard

Martin County CurrentsFebruary 2014 News Stream 5

Good news can befound regardingthe flow of water to the Everglades, although it's not coming from state law-makers and policymakers. It's comingfrom the South Florida Water Manage-ment District.

The SFWMD Governing Board an-nounced on Jan. 9 that it had approved aland exchange to expand StormwaterTreatment Area 1 West (STA-1W), justwest of Wellington, from 6,700 acres to11,300 acres of aquatic plants to removephosphorus and other nutrients fromwater flowing south into the Everglades.

The project is one of several compo-nents in the State's Restoration Strate-gies plan to improve Everglades waterquality. The STA will clean water flow-ing into the adjacent Arthur R. MarshallLoxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge.

By using lands adjacent to STA-1W,water managers have eliminated theneed for additional major constructionprojects to connect the STA from a re-mote location, saving approximately$32 million in construction costs.

To accomplish those objectives, ac-cording to officials, SFWMD will ac-quire a total of 4,604 acres of land in anagreement with Florida Crystals andGladeview Holdings company, with2,003 acres coming from Florida Crys-tals and 2,600 acres from GladeviewHoldings. The total 4,604 acres will beleased back to Florida Crystals tem-porarily based on construction of theSTA-1W expansion project.

Florida Crystals will provide an ad-ditional 2,865 acres to Gladeview, andpay $450,000 to the SFWMD for environ-mental restoration.

The SFWMD will pay $5,978,474 toGladeview for the company to relocateits agricultural operations on that site,and the District will extend two existingleases with Florida Crystals for approxi-mately 1,691 acres until 2019 at the cur-rent lease rate. The land exchangeclosing is targeted for mid-2014. ■

Construction isnow underway onthe 15 billion-gallon L-8 Flow Equalization Basin in Palm Beach County.With enough water to fill 34,000 footballfields one foot deep, the storage projectwill deliver consistent flows needed tooptimize the District's stormwater treat-ment areas, including STA-1W, that cleanEverglades-bound water.

In addition, construction has startedon the A-1 Flow Equalization Basinsouth of Lake Okeechobee, which isnow scheduled to be completed in2016–a decade after its original ground-breaking. With the capacity to hold

60,000 acre-feet of water, the project isdesigned to capture and store peakstormwater flows during the wet seasonor heavy rainfall events and also deliverconsistent flows to the stormwatertreatment areas.

Had the A-1 reservoir been com-pleted on time, according to officials, itcould have stored 62 billion gallons ofwater (the equivalent of more than 5million residential swimming pools)during the Lost Summer of 2013 whenrecord rainfall battered the St. Lucie andCaloosahatchee estuaries. The A-1 FlowEqualization Basin will incorporatework already completed at the site origi-nally planned to provide deep waterstorage, known as the Everglades Agri-cultural Area Reservoir.

All excavated material will be usedto build new levees and existing canalshave been incorporated into the newplan, and the original framework of theA-1 reservoir will be used to create adownsized, shallow-storage basin.

“Engineers from the South FloridaWater Management District were able touse ingenuity and hard work to designthis project” said Department of Envi-ronmental Protection Secretary HerschelT. Vinyard Jr., “the largest component ofGovernor Scott’s Everglades WaterQuality Restoration Plan.”

Vineyard also complimented the staffat Florida DEP and SFWMD “for mov-ing forward with projects that will im-prove water quality for the Everglades.”

It also means that as more watermoves into the Everglades, less water isheading east and west into the St. Lucieand Caloosahatchee estuaries.

Environmental officials also an-nounced that the success of the C-111Spreader Canal, which opened in Janu-ary 2013 near Florida City designed toplug an existing canal to keep millions

of gallons of water from seeping out ofEverglades National Park, is workingbeyond their expectations.

According to Audubon Florida offi-cials, the water is being redirected into aslough that flows through the park intothe Florida Bay, and as a result has rehy-drated wetlands, improved the healthand quality of habitat, and the salinitylevels measured in Florida Bay are drop-ping, critically needed for underwaterplant communities that shelter breedingfish to thrive.

SFWMD officials also announcedthat a science plan has been developed,and nine key studies are underway. Formore information on these and otherprojects, go to the South Florida WaterManagement District website at:www.SFWMD.gov. ■

The County Commission-appointed St. LucieRiver Inlet Dredging Advisory Committee may disband inMarch with no firm suggestions forfunding inlet dredging, just as the Cash-man Dredging & Marine ContractingCo. completes its Army Corps of Engi-neers-funded contract to dredge the StLucie Inlet.

The federal funding was in responseto impacts from Hurricane Sandy’s pas-sage in 2012, and is 100% federallyfunded under the Flood Control andCoastal Emergency (FCCE) program.

The Corps awarded the $6,465,000project contract to Cashman, whichstarted dredge operations in mid-No-vember to remove 200,000 cubic-yards

of sand from the inlet and the adjacentsettling basin, barging the beach-qualitysand via the Intracoastal Waterway toplace it on the beach at the Hobe SoundNational Preserve. ■

The Indian River Lagoon CountiesCollaborative,founded and chairedby Martin County Commissioner EdFielding, has endorsed the removal ofmuck sediments in the Eau Gallie River.In a letter to Florida lawmakers, Field-ing calls the water quality and benthichabitat restoration project within thecentral Indian River Lagoon importantto the health of the Indian River Lagoon.

Removing one of the sources of la-goon pollution by dredging also willcreate a sink, Fielding added, “to collectand concentrate future sediments to pre-vent their transport into the lagoon cov-ering important seagrasses.”

The Physical Survey and MuckDredging Feasibility Study of the EauGallie River and Elbow Creek com-pleted in 2013, identified 625,000 cubicyards of muck sediment with an aver-age depth of 9.6 ft., which needed to beremoved from the lagoon tributary. Ad-ditional permitting, geotechnical sedi-ment characterization and surveying,mapping of seawall and shorelineedges, environmental impact avoid-ance, pipeline routes and construction /dredging tasks will be required to com-plete the project.

Fielding proposed the appropriationof $10 million in each of the next twoFlorida state budgets (2014 and 2015)combined with funding assistance fromcooperating agencies and local govern-ments to fund the dredging project.

The next meeting of the Indian RiverLagoon Counties Collaborative will beMarch 7 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the In-dian River County Commission Cham-bers in Vero Beach. ■

SOUTH FLORIDA WATER MANAGEMENT DISTRICT PROJECTSSTA - STORMWATER TREATMENT AREAS WCA - WATER CONSERVATION AREAS

EFB - EQUALIZATION FLOW BASINS

Calling all River Kidz...or any kid who loves the river. Come to Harbour Bay Plaza onSewall's Point on Saturday, March1, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. to createyour own tye-dyed T-shirts withSt. Lucie River muck. The first 200youngsters will receive a free T-shirt, or bring your own white T-shirt to share in the fun. Therewill also be lots of lemonade,music and fun! ■

Martin County CurrentsFebruary 20146 News Stream

More questionsthan answers arisewhenever residentsbegin to questionthe details that are riding along the railsinto Martin County along with AllAboard Florida's privately owned, high-speed passenger rail service from Miamito Orlando. Answers from FECI railroadexecutives, partners of All-BoardFlorida, usually comprise only theneatly packaged ones on their website.

A public meeting, now tentativelyscheduled for Tuesday, March 4, at 6p.m. at the John F. Armstrong wing ofthe Blake Library on Monterey Road, hasbeen organized in hope of getting someanswers. County Administrator TarynKryzda will host, Kim Delaney of theTreasure Coast Regional Planning Coun-cil will make the initial presentation, andrepresentatives from Florida Departmentof Transportation and FECI will be pres-ent and onstage to answer questions—atleast, that's the expectation.

One of the most looming questionsabout the rail service is the time that willbe denied to large boat and barge trafficon the St. Lucie River due to the railroadbridge closings for a train that does notstop in Martin County.

All Aboard officials have said that 32trips per day will be made during the 14hours between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m., but thenumber of rail cars will be far fewer

than freight trains, thus taking less thana minute to pass most crossings. Thusfar, there's been no estimation of howlong it will take for the trains to crossthe railroad bridge, but County Engi-neer Don Donaldson informed thecounty commissioners, it takes 17 min-utes to open and close the draw bridge.

If the trains require two minutes tocross the St. Lucie River because theymust slow down to do so, then every 24minutes the bridge will be closed toboat traffic for 17 minutes and openonly for seven minutes—except when afreight train also must cross the river. Iffreight trains are forced to stop at somelocation north or south of the bridge toconcede right-of-way to a passengertrain—and no location as yet has beenidentified—then even more time will belost to boat traffic.

Although the cost of upgrading the27 railroad crossings in Martin Countywill be borne by FECI, the cost of main-tenance for the new double-trackedcrossings will be borne in the future forthe 18 that currently are maintained byMartin County, but no estimation as yetof what amount that might be.

The cost of installing additionalcrossing arms to create “quiet zones”through residential neighborhoods thateliminate train horns blasting two orthree times an hour also is unknown,but is estimated to be $200,000-$400,000per crossing. Who will pay for those?

Expect seats in the auditorium to fillearly and to capacity, and stay alert forchanges in the date. ■

Jensen Beach residents continueto complain aboutderelict and disabled boats in the waters off theJensen Beach Causeway. The “unnamed”storm that blew through the county un-expectedly in January, dumping severalinches of rain that flooded streets, alsoflooded this private boat, but not untilafter dragging its anchor across the In-dian River Lagoon bottom. “Where isour mooring field?” a Jensen Beach resi-dent asked. “Lots of Jensen Beach resi-dents are asking that question.” ■

The NeighborhoodAdvisory Committeemembers from theseven CommunityRedevelopment Areas, Hobe Sound,Port Salerno, Rio, Jensen Beach, OldPalm City, and Indiantown, will be as-sisting the county's Community Devel-opment Department in its on-goingeffort to create a community-based code.

“We have too many pieces of a codewhere the same piece can be interpretedby two different people in two differentways,” said Kev Freeman, director of theCommunity Development Department.“We want to change that—not changethe code, but to more precisely defineit—so that anyone can walk into thecommunity development department orthe building department, whetherthey're from Martin County or fromanywhere else, and see exactly what isrequired and what their project will looklike when completed...We all want to beon the same page, no surprises.”

Instead of just textual descriptions ofcode requirements, Freeman said thatgraphic illustrations also will be incor-porated. Although the staff began theproject more than two years ago as aform-based code project, the “situation”

in Hobe Sound when a manufacturedhome on stacked cinder blocks was in-stalled in a neighborhood of site-builthomes spurred the county to completethe project, now calling it a community-based code.

“We will be seeking communityinput throughout the process,” Free-man added. “Largely because of HobeSound's situation (with the installationof a manufactured home on stackedcinder blocks within the boundaries ofan established neighborhood withlargely historic, site-built homes),which clearly illustrated the need for acomprehensive community-based codesooner than later, this project has be-come a county priority.”

Three NAC meetings to continue at-tention on the code and on updating in-dividual CRA plans are scheduled inFebruary with Old Palm City NAC onMonday, Feb. 17, at 6 p.m. at LeightonPark, the Hobe Sound NAC onWednesday, Feb. 19, at 6 p.m. at thecommunity building and the Rio NACat the Rio Civic Center on Thursday,Feb. 27, at 6 p.m.

The complete NAC meeting scheduleis as follows: GOLDEN GATE – March10, June 9, Sept. 8 and Dec. 8. IN-DIANTOWN – April 9, July 9 and Oct.8. JENSEN BEACH – March 26, May 7,August 6 and Nov. 5. OLD PALM CITY– Feb. 17, May 19, August 18 and Nov.17. PORT SALERNO – March 20, June19, Sept. 18 and Dec. 11. RIO – Feb. 27,May 29, Sept. 4 and Nov. 13. HOBESOUND – Feb. 19, March 12, April 23,July 23 and Oct. 22. ■

After the CountyCommission abolished the Convention and Visitors Bureau in September for whatthey considered a lackluster perform-ance, its functions were moved to thecounty's Parks and Recreation Depart-ment directed by Kevin Abbate. Theyalso engaged the consulting services ofZeitgeist Consulting Inc., based inMadison, Wisc., that specializes in desti-nation marketing in order to assist indeveloping a new organizational struc-ture and update the county's tourist de-velopment by developing strategic planfor tourism.

The company has organized threefocus groups among industry leaderswho will meet with Zeitgeist consultantsat the Blake Library to provide theirthoughts and share ideas on current is-sues during the week of Feb. 24-28.

Representatives of therestaurant/dining sector will meet Mon-day, Feb. 24, from 9-10:30 a.m.; leadersfrom the attractions industry and StuartMain Street will meet Tuesday, Feb. 25,from 2-3:30 p.m., and a meeting with theTourist Development Council and repre-sentatives of the holeliers will also meetFeb. 25 from 6-7:30 p.m.

The meetings will take place in theJohn F. Armstrong Wing of the Blake Li-brary on Monterey Road. ■

An untended boat languishes near the JensenBeach Causeway, raising concerns amongresidents about the damage caused by its anchor and underlining the absence of an already funded mooring field project quashedlast year by the Martin County Commission.

OBITUARY NOTICE

Elizabeth J. Rademacher, 90, passed away on Dec. 14, 2013,in Corinth, Texas, in the compassionate care of Odyssey Hospice and AutumnOaks Assisted Living. Elizabeth was born to Margaret and Frederick Bench inBrooklyn, N.Y., on Oct. 6, 1923. She grew up in Staten Island, N.Y., and attendedMcKee Vocational High School, where she was a cheerleader and known as“Betty” Bench. She graduated from high school in 1942 and married her firsthusband, John T. Rademacher, that same year. After he returned from Burmaand China as a B-25 bomber pilot, John and Elizabeth spent the next 36 yearstraveling and living in many places, including California, Pennsylvania, Guam,Long Island, Georgia, Florida, Virginia, The Philippines, New Jersey, UnitedKingdom, and Germany.

Elizabeth, also known as “Liz”, was an avid golfer, a gifted artist, a great social organizer, and enjoyed playingthe piano. Her family and friends knew her as a beautiful woman, both inside and out. Her children, grandchildrenand great-grandchildren describe her as creative, mischievous at times, strong, and determined. They also sawher as generous, kind, and gracious with a playful sense of humor. She had a way of always making things fun.

Liz was widowed from her first husband, John, in 1979. She was divorced from her second husband, JosephDigney, in 2006 after a 15-year marriage. Elizabeth was predeceased by: her older brother Ernest, his wife Helen,and their children Bobby, Jerry, and Kenny; her older sister Margaret, her husband Kenneth Warner, and theirson Kevin, and surviving daughter Deborah Warner Russell; her daughter Laura Russell Cardaro, husband Johnand their two children Savanah and Jake.

Elizabeth is survived by her son, John Jr., his wife Joyce, and their three children; daughter Laura, her husbandSteve, and her son Joshua; daughter Sarah; and son John III: her daughter Elizabeth R. Covington, her husbandDon, her son Christopher P. Williams, his wife Christina, their children Makena, Pierce, and Walker; and her sonJames B. Williams: her daughter Lise Mainor, her husband Brett, and their sons, Brett Andrew and Charles Adam.

She is also survived by her brother, Theodore Bench, his wife Ethel, and their children; son Theodore Jr. andwife Eunice and their children; son Ronnie and wife Grace and their children; daughter Beth Fecteau, husbandMarc and their children: her nephews Billy Rademacher, his wife Marsha, and their children; Jesse Rademacher,his wife Diane, and their children; Glenn Rademacher, his wife Debra, and their children: her niece, Connie De-Leaver, and husband Roderick. She is also survived by her life-long friends Susan E. Schwarzman (70 years) ofVirginia and Alice Burgrabbe (50 years) of California.

Elizabeth’s cremated remains will be buried with those of her husband, John, in Spring 2014 at the ArlingtonNational Cemetery in Washington, D.C. Once a date has been set the family will communicate the date andtime to family and friends. For those wanting to make a donation in honor of her memory, the family suggestseither The American Heart Association (Go Red for Women) or the Alzheimer’s Association. The family wishes tothank all those who have expressed their condolences and loving thoughts, all those who were part of Elizabeth’slife, and all staff members of Autumn Oaks Assisted Living and the attending staff of Odyssey Hospice.

Martin County CurrentsFebruary 2014 7

An establishedcompany wants to expand its operations into Indiantown, however, the only suitablesite lies atop Indiantown's fresh watersupply—its water wells.

Martin County's Land DevelopmentRegulations, Article 4, prohibits the loca-tion of a business or facility on land situ-ated near water well fields if anyvolume of a hazardous substance orcontaminant that could impair publicpotable water supplies is on site.

Commissioner Anne Scott requestedduring a county commission meetinglast month that other commissionerssupport her request for a review of Mar-tin County's well field ordinances, con-tending that they are overly restrictive,outdated and do not consider technolo-gies available today.

The existing ordinance was written in1993, according to Anne Murray, hydro-geologist with Martin County Utilitiesand Solid Waste Department, who pre-sented the results of her research and staffrecommendations to the Local PlanningAgency at a public hearing on Jan. 30.

“I checked with all the surroundingcounties to compare their ordinances toMartin County's,” she told the LPA,“and what I found was that MartinCounty's criteria were already more re-strictive than neighboring counties, and,yes, they do all have special exemptions,which are similar to what Martin Countyrequires now (without the addition ofrules to meet exception requirements.)”

The county staff recommended thatMartin County consider adopting a spe-cial exemption as long as the permit in-cludes a facility site plan, a ground watermonitoring plan, and environmental andhydrological site assessments as part ofthe process, thus county two permitswould be required: an operational per-mit, and the other to meet the require-ments for a special exemption permit.They also are required to seek a con-sumptive water permit from the SouthFlorida Water Management District.

More than an hour of discussionamong LPA members ensued, all agree-ing that the obvious economic benefits

to Indiantown were an important con-sideration, as was taking what othersmight perceive as “extreme measures”to protect the water supply.

John Polley, director of environmen-tal services, reminded members thateach applicant is required to submit to“a thorough and rigorous applicationprocess and review,” including annualsite inspections and well monitoring.They also must demonstrate that up-dated technology exits and will be used.

“These are really high stakes,” saidLPA Chair Jim Moir, “and we need toproceed as carefully as we can.”

The board's final recommendationfor additions to the well field exemptionrequirements in addition to those rec-ommended by staff include a public no-tice to all utility customers enclosedwith their water bills; a certified letter inaddition to a mailed letter to owners ofthe well fields whose wells could be atrisk; an indemnification agreement plusa bond or additional insurance to coverenvironmental restoration in case of anaccident; more frequent than annual in-spections paid for by the company; andthe adoption of a high standard of legalreview during both the applicationprocess and review process (by thecounty commission) as each applicationis considered on a case by case basis.

“I'm sure if we'd had a hearing amonth ago (prior to West Virginia's re-cent chemical spill on the Elk River),”said Moir, “we probably wouldn't benear as concerned.”

The revised version of the proposedwell field exemption will come beforethe county commission for a publichearing, review and vote prior to finaladoption. ■

Martin Countytopped all othercounties in thestate in the number of Governor’s Innovators in BusinessAwards it earned during a Jan. 21 cere-mony in Tallahassee. Recognized inthree of five categories and with thegreatest number of awards overall, Mar-tin County's business image has beenwell polished.

“What a wonderful accomplishmentand a great representation for MartinCounty at this year's Governor's Innova-tors in Business Awards,” said TimDougher, executive director of the Busi-ness Development Board of MartinCounty. “Governor Scott said at the cer-emony that this was 'the most competi-tive group of nominations in manyyears.'"

A statewide program that recognizesFlorida companies in emerging andhigh-technology industries

for their contributions to Florida'seconomic growth, coordinated by Enter-prise Florida, the awards presentation ishosted by the Governor annually in Tal-lahassee.

Martin County's three Innovators inBusiness Award winners include Ecos-

Martin County CurrentsFebruary 20148 Business Buzz

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family factory outside Flo-rence, Italy, arrived in Janu-ary at the Juno Shoe GirlBoutique on Dixie Highwayin Hobe Sound.

“This factory makes shoesfor many designers in Eu-rope,” says Nina Gelardi,owner of Juno Shoe Girl, “butthey allowed me to be the soleimporter (pun intended) fortheir collection in the U.S.”

How did Gelardi arrangesuch exclusivity? She visited Florenceespecially to “reconnect” with the Ciachi

family after an absence of 15years while on a trip to Tuscanythis past fall.

“In 1998, I had designed acollection of Italian shoes,”Gelardi adds, “and had workedwith this family and their fac-tory for a summer. I did notknow if they would rememberme after all these years, andI was surprised when they gaveme a warm Italian welcome!”The finely crafted shoes may be

purchased exclusively at Juno Shoe GirlBoutique, now open every day! ■

A first-ever shipment of beautiful Italianleather shoes and sandals, designed byElisa Ciachi, and handmade in her little

Ciachi shoes from Tuscany.

Designer Elisa Ciachi

continued on PAGE 9

An establishedcompany wants to expand its operations into Indiantown, however, the only suitablesite lies atop Indiantown's fresh watersupply—its water wells.

Martin County's Land DevelopmentRegulations, Article 4, prohibits the loca-tion of a business or facility on land situ-ated near water well fields if anyvolume of a hazardous substance orcontaminant that could impair publicpotable water supplies is on site.

Commissioner Anne Scott requestedduring a county commission meetinglast month that other commissionerssupport her request for a review of Mar-tin County's well field ordinances, con-tending that they are overly restrictive,outdated and do not consider technolo-gies available today.

The existing ordinance was written in1993, according to Anne Murray, hydro-geologist with Martin County Utilitiesand Solid Waste Department, who pre-sented the results of her research and staffrecommendations to the Local PlanningAgency at a public hearing on Jan. 30.

“I checked with all the surroundingcounties to compare their ordinances toMartin County's,” she told the LPA,“and what I found was that MartinCounty's criteria were already more re-strictive than neighboring counties, and,yes, they do all have special exemptions,which are similar to what Martin Countyrequires now (without the addition ofrules to meet exception requirements.)”

The county staff recommended thatMartin County consider adopting a spe-cial exemption as long as the permit in-cludes a facility site plan, a ground watermonitoring plan, and environmental andhydrological site assessments as part ofthe process, thus county two permitswould be required: an operational per-mit, and the other to meet the require-ments for a special exemption permit.They also are required to seek a con-sumptive water permit from the SouthFlorida Water Management District.

More than an hour of discussionamong LPA members ensued, all agree-ing that the obvious economic benefits

to Indiantown were an important con-sideration, as was taking what othersmight perceive as “extreme measures”to protect the water supply.

John Polley, director of environmen-tal services, reminded members thateach applicant is required to submit to“a thorough and rigorous applicationprocess and review,” including annualsite inspections and well monitoring.They also must demonstrate that up-dated technology exits and will be used.

“These are really high stakes,” saidLPA Chair Jim Moir, “and we need toproceed as carefully as we can.”

The board's final recommendationfor additions to the well field exemptionrequirements in addition to those rec-ommended by staff include a public no-tice to all utility customers enclosedwith their water bills; a certified letter inaddition to a mailed letter to owners ofthe well fields whose wells could be atrisk; an indemnification agreement plusa bond or additional insurance to coverenvironmental restoration in case of anaccident; more frequent than annual in-spections paid for by the company; andthe adoption of a high standard of legalreview during both the applicationprocess and review process (by thecounty commission) as each applicationis considered on a case by case basis.

“I'm sure if we'd had a hearing amonth ago (prior to West Virginia's re-cent chemical spill on the Elk River),”said Moir, “we probably wouldn't benear as concerned.”

The revised version of the proposedwell field exemption will come beforethe county commission for a publichearing, review and vote prior to finaladoption. ■

Martin Countytopped all othercounties in thestate in the number of Governor’s Innovators in BusinessAwards it earned during a Jan. 21 cere-mony in Tallahassee. Recognized inthree of five categories and with thegreatest number of awards overall, Mar-tin County's business image has beenwell polished.

“What a wonderful accomplishmentand a great representation for MartinCounty at this year's Governor's Innova-tors in Business Awards,” said TimDougher, executive director of the Busi-ness Development Board of MartinCounty. “Governor Scott said at the cer-emony that this was 'the most competi-tive group of nominations in manyyears.'"

A statewide program that recognizesFlorida companies in emerging andhigh-technology industries

for their contributions to Florida'seconomic growth, coordinated by Enter-prise Florida, the awards presentation ishosted by the Governor annually in Tal-lahassee.

Martin County's three Innovators inBusiness Award winners include Ecos-

Martin County CurrentsFebruary 20148 Business Buzz

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family factory outside Flo-rence, Italy, arrived in Janu-ary at the Juno Shoe GirlBoutique on Dixie Highwayin Hobe Sound.

“This factory makes shoesfor many designers in Eu-rope,” says Nina Gelardi,owner of Juno Shoe Girl, “butthey allowed me to be the soleimporter (pun intended) fortheir collection in the U.S.”

How did Gelardi arrangesuch exclusivity? She visited Florenceespecially to “reconnect” with the Ciachi

family after an absence of 15years while on a trip to Tuscanythis past fall.

“In 1998, I had designed acollection of Italian shoes,”Gelardi adds, “and had workedwith this family and their fac-tory for a summer. I did notknow if they would rememberme after all these years, andI was surprised when they gaveme a warm Italian welcome!”The finely crafted shoes may be

purchased exclusively at Juno Shoe GirlBoutique, now open every day! ■

A first-ever shipment of beautiful Italianleather shoes and sandals, designed byElisa Ciachi, and handmade in her little

Ciachi shoes from Tuscany.

Designer Elisa Ciachi

continued on PAGE 9

phere Technologies Inc., Sol Inc., andSeatorque Control Systems. The Busi-ness Development Board facilitated ap-plications and wrote recommendationsto the Governor for each.

Ecosphere Technologies Inc. receivedan award in the "Rising Star" category,recognizing the innovations in a U.S.technology licensing and manufacturingcompany that develops environmentalsolutions for global markets through aportfolio of more than 35 patented, andpatent-pending products and technolo-gies. www.ecospheretech.com.

Seatorque Control Systems (SCS) wasrecognized for its continued success inthe "Export" category. SCS, a Stuart-based manufacturer of propulsive andfluid dynamic systems for the marine in-dustry, its main product line comprisesthe Seatorque enclosed shaft system,Seatorque power steering systems and avariety of special application hydrauliccylinders and actuators. SCS's principalshave diverse expertise, from patentedfluid dynamics technologies, to partici-pating in the America's Cup Races andcustom boat manufacturing, givingthem an edge in designing productsfrom a boat manufacturer's perspective.www.seatorque.com.

Sol, Inc., recognized in the "Innova-tion" category, is a U.S. lighting manu-facturer, a world leader in solar LEDoutdoor lighting with more than 60,000custom systems installed in more than 60countries on six continents. Founded in

1990, Sol develops, manufactures andmarkets commercial/industrial-gradesolar lighting applications including areaand security, street and roadways, signs,billboards, transit and shelter lighting. ■

Sometimes, thebest way to getthings done is todo them yourself. That could easily be the motto of somedowntown Hobe Sound merchants whogrew frustrated with the lack of “offi-cial” progress over the past 18 months toget some banners onto light poles to tellpassersby that a downtown shoppingand dining district exists on Dixie High-way in Hobe Sound. So they boughtspace on a billboard to tell the worldwhere they are.

“We're just an informal group,” saidNina Gelardi, of Juno Shoe Girl Bou-tique. “We want to bring visitors and

Martin County CurrentsFebruary 2014 Business Buzz 9

You're Invited to Tourthe Expanded Collections of the

11870 SE Dixie Hwy, Hobe Sound • www.theflagpainter.com • 772-341-1343

Acrylics, Oils, Watercolors

In the renovated MIdtown-Payson building

OPEN DURING THE 2014 HOBE SOUND FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS!

continued on PAGE 11

The new billboard on Federal Highway, merchants hope, will help shoppers discoverdining and shopping on Dixie Highway

owner of the Hobe Sound Art Gallery onDixie Highway in the former Paysonbuilding. He recently remodeled thebuilding, increasing and redesigning thespace inside, then filling all the roomswith an expanded and diverse collectionof fine art, from delicate pen and inkdrawings of nudes to an explosion ofcolor swirled with a pallet knife on can-vas like ocean waves.

One room brims with his own distinc-tive American Flag paintings. Another isfilled with his Florida compositions ofbeach, palm trees and sand with a depar-ture here and there for a lighthouse ortwo. Among the sunsets that dominatethe room is Highwayman artist Roy Mc-Clendon's painting of a poinciana tree onthe banks of the St,. Lucie River, givingvisitors just a glimpse of old Florida ren-dered in oil by the eldest of the remain-ing Highwaymen artists.

“Yes, I'm pleased with the way thegallery turned out,” Capt. Lumpp said,“and I'm particularly pleased to be rep-resenting Roy McClendon. I really like

him, and I hope soon to be offeringmore of his work.”

The former Mississippi River boatcaptain, who introduces himself as Capt.Bob, greeted a stream of Arts Festival vis-itors who had found his front door inspite of all the artists' booths outside. Thesame festival had brought Capt. Lumppto Hobe Sound for the first time as a festi-val artist just a few years ago, “so I'mrather partial to the event,” he added.

Many people have remarked thatthey'd never noticed the long-standingbuilding previously, which is on the southside of the Hobe Sound Veterinary Clinic,just a block north of his former gallery onDixie Highway. Perhaps it's the new painton the outside, or the new landscaping, oreven perhaps word-of-mouth aroundtown that there's more variety in stylesand artists, more choices in gifts andsculpture, and even some whimsical cre-ations that are bringing people inside theHobe Sound Art Gallery. Whatever thereason, Capt. Lumpp is liking HobeSound more everyday. ■

No one was more pleased with the HobeSound Festival of the Arts this monththan Capt. Robert Lumpp, artist and

Capt. Robert Lump, center, stops to talk with guests in his expanded Hobe Sound Art Gallery.

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Martin County CurrentsFebruary 2014 11Business Buzz

customers to our beautiful, historicDixie Highway, which will benefit all ofHobe Sound. It truly is a gift from ourgroup!” The billboard will be erectedmid-month on Federal Highway.

“We are so excited to see how muchtraffic it will drive to Dixie,” Gelardiadded. “We met so many locals at thefair who said they NEVER knew therewere any stores on Dixie. Hope this willchange things for the better.” ■

The Elite Salon &Gallery on FederalHighway in HobeSound recently

added a California-trained cosmetolo-gist and stylist, DebiHettZaug, a special-ist in haircuts, color,high-lites, low-lites,and long hairblowouts. A nativeof San Diego, shefirst came to theTreasure Coast onvacation from Texas

and decided to stay. She and her hus-band bought a home in Hobe Sound.

Although first licensed in 1988, sheleft the beauty business to start a careerin the airline industry, yet she could notstay entirely away from beauty salons.“I kept on working in them part time,”HettZaug says, “just because I missedbeing around the business, I guess.” In2008, she made the move back to thebeauty industry full time, and aftermoving with her husband to Texas, shegot a cosmetology license in the LoneStar state.

Then came the vacation, followed bya move to Hobe Sound and getting herFlorida license, because she and her hus-band plan to stay permanently in HobeSound, where they sail with friends andwalk their dog, Bella, on the beach. Anartist, she also enjoys making home-made soaps.

“But hair remains my favorite thingto do,” she adds. “I really like peopleand hair. They go great together!” ■

They need the public's help.Teenagers Elora(nicknamed Ellie) and Isabella (Bellie) Fucigna of HobeSound make a difference in the world.The sisters turned their love of art andliteracy into a card-making business,under the tutelage of their parents, Tomand Cindy Fucigna. The proceeds go tocharitable causes, which have includedthe Florida Oceanographic Society, theRiver Center (which currently carriestheir line of cards), Helping People Suc-ceed and the Boys and Girls Clubs ofMartin County.

Seen frequently at fairs, festivals andother gatherings, their “EllieBellie’s Sun-shine Shop” with dozens of creative, artfulcards displayed for sale is as bright andcheerful as the girls' smiles. Now, this iswhere they need a boost from the public.

The girls are building an “EllieBell-lie's Sunshine Shop Lending Library”bookshelf at the Hobe Sound Boys &Girls Club in Hobe Sound to be stockedwith books that kids can borrow....orkeep. They need donations of gentlyused or new books suitable for young-sters from age 6 to 18. They will main-tain the bookshelf after they've initiallystocked it as well, so the need for booksis on-going. Anyone with books to do-nate is urged to send an email to: [email protected], so theycan make arrangements to pick them upas you help two teens do good thingsfor others. ■

Both ends of thecounty will soonsee new resorts. At Jensen Beach,developers will breathe new life into thehurricane-ravaged former Holiday Innon Hutchinson Island, an eyesore forresidents and visitors since 2004. Theproposed Oceanside Resort got its finalsite plan revisions approved recently byMartin County planners on its path tothe Board of County Commissionersvote that—finally—will allow develop-ment to begin.

Nicki van Vonno, the county’sgrowth management director, said sheexpects final plans for the project to bepresented to the commission in March.

Robert Raynes, of Gunster, Yoakley &Stewart, anticipates the state Depart-ment of Environmental Protection willapprove a coastal permit for the projectin March as well, clearing the last re-maining obstacle to construction.

The 182-room hotel will be devel-oped on the site of the former HolidayInn Oceanside on A1A, south of JensenPublic Beach. The property was sold toOcean Properties by former Miami Dol-phins owner Wayne Huizenga in 2009.

Plans call for an removing the tenniscourts, expanding the parking lot, refur-bishing the hotel; and adding new

pedestrian crossing to link the parcelson both sides of A1A. The plans alsocall for a parking garage, a two-storyoceanfront pool area and a conferencecenter. The hotel’s two existing four-story guest wings will be incorporatedinto the design.

At the south end of the county nearTequesta, the Jupiter Pointe Marina on S.Federal Highway plans an expansion

that will add a new, 54-unit hotel in themain building, an attached restaurantbuilding and modifying the previouslyapproved club building.

It currently has an outdoor restau-rant adjacent to a swimming pool acces-sible by boat, paddleboard or kayak onthe Intracoastal Waterway, directlyacross the waterway from BlowingRocks Preserve. ■

Isabella and Elora Fucigna at their "EllieBel-lie's Sunshine Shop," a business they startedto raise funds for favorite worthly causes.

continued from PAGE 9

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THAT’S ALL THERE IS TO IT! You will begin receiving your copy each month sent directly to your email

inbox, along with periodic opinion pieces.

Development Council of St. LucieCounty, also was awarded the 2014 PeteHegener Leadership Award.

“I am proud to congratulate TomWilkinson for this honor and for all thework he does to help improve the livesof others in our communities,” saidDennis S. Hudson, III, Seacoast NationalBank’s chairman and CEO. “SeacoastNational Bank is privileged to have Tomas a great leader in our organization.”

The Pete Hegener LeadershipAward, established in 2013 with therecognition of Dr. Edwin Massey of In-dian River State College, is given to anindividual who understands economicdevelopment, what it takes to build acommunity, is a visionary, a risk-taker, adifference-maker; someone who helpspeople realize their full potential, andwho is well respected in the community.

This person displays the ability towork with the city and county govern-ment and elected officials, educators,and a variety of private sector profes-sionals, leading multiple disciplines tocollaborative successes, according toaward guidelines.

Seacoast National Bank is the operat-ing arm of Seacoast Banking Corpora-tion of Florida (NASDAQ: SBCF). Withmore then $2 billion in assets, 34 tradi-tional branches and five “accelerate”loan production offices, it is one of thelargest community banks headquartered

in Florida. Offices stretch from BrowardCounty, north through the TreasureCoast, into Orlando, and west to Okee-chobee and surrounding counties. Formore information, visit HYPERLINK"http://www.SeacoastNational.com/"www.SeacoastNational.com. ■

From left, Dr. Edwin Massey, President, Indian River State College; Seacoast NationalBank Treasure Coast President Tom Wilkinson,Chairman of the Board of Directors for theEconomic Development Council of St. LucieCounty and recipient of the 2014 PeteHegener Leadership Award; and Pete Tesch,President, St. Lucie Council Economic Development Council. Photo submitted.

Tom Wilkinson, president of SeacoastNational Bank, recently installed aschairman of the board of the Economic

cuRRentsMartin County

HAVING TROUBLE FINDING A COPY?

Debi HettZaug

Voices12

Editorial: What county do commissioners inhabit?


After record losses last summer, what’s in store for our manatees in 2014?

What county, or maybe planet, do our Commissioners believe they inhabit? The

disconnect between Martin County’s Board of County Commissioners and their constituents regarding economic development lies somewhere within the realm of the Twilight Zone. Our Commissioners are that far removed from reality.

The majority of residents feel quite strongly that our Commission has little interest in economic development, with the exception of Commissioner Doug Smith, but now it’s been verified by an outside consultant hired by the Commission at a cost of $30,000 to study Martin County’s economic climate, untapped strengths, and its shortcomings.

Based on its conclusions, the Balmoral Group was to recommend appropriate strategy, goals and objec-tives to improve Martin County’s economic base. Considering that the county’s revenue from impact fees is only 20 percent of what was budgeted this fiscal year, we’ve got some catching up to do.

The consultants surveyed residents first to determine a “benchmark” from which to proceed. Their findings, which they reported to the commission at its December 10 meeting, showed that two-thirds of the residents of the 750 they surveyed individually and in focus groups, which was representative of the entire community—not just the business sector or just the retired—reported that

our County Commission is “disinter-ested” in economic development. Two thirds of the population.

Commissioner Sarah Heard responded with denial and disbelief, rejecting the consultant’s findings on the basis that 750 people were insufficient to form such a conclusion, even though the number was more than double what the consulting firm usually surveys. Commissioner Smith observed that it would not have made a difference if 5,000 people had been surveyed. The results would have been the same...and Heard still would have rejected the results.

Interesting that at that same meeting, our Commission had erased from the Comprehensive Growth Management Plan all references to the Business Development Board as a “partner” in the economic health of this county. As far as the one roadmap we use to plot what is important to the citizens of Martin County, the Comp Plan, our economic health no longer deserves inclusion. Yet she somehow disconnects those actions from the public percep-tions of her intent?

Heard also has made her position clear that she wants the Business Development Board eliminated entirely. Hers was the lone dissenting vote in the Commission’s acceptance of a new BDB contract, even though it’s a sound contract, was lauded by commis-sioners and the public, and met all the parameters to correct what could have been flaws, which had fed slickly into

the Heard/Sherlock/Melzer highly successful public smear campaign to destroy its credibility, the first step to eliminating it altogether.

Except … the forensic audit of the BDB’s books—those deeply searching audits to uncover fraud, embezzlement, and mismanagement—uncovered only minor discrepancies, thus deflating Heard’s assertions of irresponsible, at the least, and more likely illegal use of taxpayer funds. Even civic activist Helen McBride of Stuart became a BDB supporter after she saw that these were the same men and women who were the volunteers, the coaches, the people deeply involved in their communities, thus she urged the commission to work with them, not destroy them.

We watched respect grow among both Commissioners John Haddox and Anne Scott, especially toward BDB President Jeff Sabin, who is particularly adept at saying “Yes, I see your point,” but it also grew among residents, who simply had been unaware of the broad responsibilities, wide range of tasks and effectiveness of this small staff of earnest, dedicated employees.

Does the County Commission really believe residents would not interpret Heard’s open hostility toward the BDB as indicative of her general disregard for business, or that her abject dismissal of Balmoral’s economic report--which was called too CRA-centric because it had identified the Community Redevelopment Areas as of greatest untapped

potential—would not also signal further disdain for business in general?

The Balmoral Report also reported that the land available within the urban boundaries had been found by county business leaders generally inadequate for industrial or manufacturing expan-sions—an idea rejected by Heard.

“We have a comprehensive inven-tory of properties available for develop-ment,” she insisted.

Heard also has proposed widely that the commission hire a financial advisor, but not from among our working busi-nessmen and women, certainly not from among the Business Development Board, or...horrors...the Economic Council of Martin County—a privately funded economic development organization comprising some of Martin County’s most successful businessmen and women.

Heard casts the Economic Council as the devil incarnate, with the Chambers of Commerce as his evil stepchildren.

Obviously she feels no one at any of those levels has the expertise she seeks. She turns instead to Jupiter Island, whose retired residents’ stated mission is to maintain its “seclusion, solitude and tranquility,” achievable only if the rest of Martin County remains primarily a bedroom community—or one primarily dependent on tourism—and whose jobs will serve primarily them.

How can she doubt residents’ convic-tion that our Commission lacks interest in economic development, unless, of course, she lives someplace else?

2013 went down in the manatee record books as the species’ worst-

ever year in Florida. In total, 829 deaths were confirmed of an endangered species whose last known minimum count was 4,831 in January 2014. That’s 17% of the known population dead in a single year.

The previous record number of deaths, 766, was set in 2010 and regard-ed as an anomaly – a rare occurrence caused by extended cold temperatures; a level of mortality not thought likely to appear again anytime soon.

Until recently, we’ve been dealing with the usual suspects that threaten manatees: water control structures, entanglement in or ingestion of marine debris, and watercraft, with some cold stress, and mortality of very young calves mixed in.

Red tide often loomed offshore of southwest Florida as a potential threat. And on the rare occasion would be the

Guest Columnist Katie Tripp, Ph.Dmanatee that had the privilege of dying of old age – a feat most in the popula-tion don’t achieve due to the threats they face.

In the past few years, attention has been focused on bigger, more nefarious threats that no one knows how to reme-dy. In the southwest, red tides are find-ing ample food when they blow inshore, and are persisting, killing large numbers of manatees and other marine life.

For manatees, these blooms are no longer considered an unusual mortality event (UME), but an ongoing mortality event – a sign of the times. On Florida’s east coast, no one has a clue what in the environment killed 127 manatees, in an on-again, off-again UME, which is now on-again, already killing several mana-tees in 2014.

Manatees, often regarded as robust for their ability to survive multiple watercraft strikes and continue to live on after losing flippers to entangle-ments, are no match for the strange cocktail of toxins that are plaguing their environment. So what can we do?

First, we need to keep@@ on trying to protect manatees from the usual suspects. Human-related causes of mortality remain largely preventable. In 2013, 85 fewer manatees would have died if we prevented human-related deaths.

Next, we all need to work more dili-gently to protect the flow of our ground-water and surface waters and prevent pollutants from entering waters.

One very easy thing to do is log on to www.wewantcleanwater.com and sign a petition. A coalition of Florida’s envi-ronmental groups are working to send a loud and clear message to Tallahassee that we are long overdue to get serious about our state’s water issues.

Finally, it’s important to realize that the next water quality crisis could be coming to your hometown.

If you haven’t experienced such a crisis yet, count your blessings, then get on the phone to your city and county council, and your state senators and representatives, and find out what they’re doing to ensure you never do.

So what can manatees expect in 2014? That’s really up to you. But one thing is for certain: they need our voices and our support now more than ever.

Dr. Tripp has been Save the Manatee Club’s Director of Science and Conservation since May of 2008. She received her Ph.D. in Veterinary Medical Sciences from the University of Florida, where she conducted research on manatee physiologyFor more information on manatees and to learn about the Club’s Adopt-A-Manatee® program, go to www.savethemanatee.org or call 1-800-432-JOIN (5646).

Editorial: What county do commissioners inhabit?

Publisher and Editor Barbara Clowdus

Website Design Sonic Fish Studios

Printer Southeast Offset Inc Hobe Sound Currents is published monthly by World Print Link, 8965 SE Bridge Road, Suite, 206, Hobe Sound, FL 33455. The entire contents are Copyright 2010 by World Print Link, and no portion may be reproduced in part or in whole by any means, including electronic retrieval systems, without the written permission of the publisher. Opinions expressed are those only of the writer. Letters to the editor are encour-aged, as differing opinions strengthen our democracy, but they may be edited for length and/or clarity. Register at www.hobesoundcurrents.com and post on-line or send via snail or emal. Phone: 772.245.6564hobesoundcurrents.comeditor@[email protected]

Gordon Barlow

Outside, Looking In

13Voices

Spell of Everglades lasts a lifetime


Barbara Clowdus

Unfiltered

My first stepmother, Frances, was 42 when she married my father and moved to Homestead

from downtown St. Louis. Formerly the manager of a bustling law firm, she gave up her career to become an instant moth-er to three children—3, 5 and 12 years old—whom she’d never met.

Most women ordinarily would be intimidated by inheriting so many of someone else’s children, but not Frances. Instead, her great fear was the proxim-ity of our house to the wild Everglades.

My father, an old-fashioned, country doc, assured her that we actually lived far from the Glades, much farther than the half-inch line implied on her map. Yes, he admitted, he loved to fish the back country in his flat-bottom boat and stalk frogs from an airboat in the dead of night, but she could stay safely at home in his concrete block house where alligators would never tread.

If only she would come to Homestead, he promised, she would never experience the wildness of sawgrass, mosquitoes and diamond-backs. He lied.

Much of the Glades wildlife spilled into sparsely settled, rural Homestead of the ‘50s. Cohabitation seemed as natural as the sunrise to anyone who’d lived there very long, which prompted Frances to call my father’s distinction between our house and the Glades as “splitting hairs.”

The bobcats’ and the occasional panther’s night time cries sent Frances scurrying in a panic to wherever my father was reading. She became a pris-oner, along with us, after our relentless rainy season released massive clouds of mosquitoes, so thick we could not breathe. But the snakes terrorized her most of all.

We had learned early which snakes we could pick up and those we couldn’t touch. We respected all of them, but feared none of them. Frances feared all of them.

The first morning after she moved into our house, she swung wide our wooden front door, startling the snake coiled on top that plopped onto her shoulder. The first hour of her first day, her screams woke the roosters. Her terror infected us at first, until we saw its cause was merely a corn snake now wriggling on the floor. My brother grabbed it and tossed it outside before Frances returned, armed with an ax, which she henceforth kept in the pantry.

We knew instantly that snakes were no longer safe inside our house, where we’d always ignored them. We feared especially for the Indigoes, which we could coil around our necks or our arms, their blue/black, iridescent scales transforming bits of sunlight into tiny, brilliant rainbows that danced across their cool skin.

They had no fear of humans; a snake

whose docile nature made it easy to slaughter and easy to love to death, all the way to near extinction.

After about two or three weeks, Frances stopped screaming at the sight of snakes. Maybe she grew accustomed to them, or perhaps my brothers and I had just gotten adept at spotting them first. Even after discovering that I had climbed an overgrown guava tree shared by a diamondback, she did not scream.

But she also did not accept my ratio-nale that the thick-bodied, poisonous snake coiled around a branch on the north side of the tree would not bite a child climbing on a different branch on the south side.

She stood under me, grabbed my ankle and pulled firmly, all the while keeping her eyes locked on the diamondback, until I loosed my grip and dropped to the ground. When we got to the house, she lit a Kent, her trem-bling hands causing smoky zig-zags in front of her face.

It had been a tough year for her as

she learned that our lives did feel the impact of the Everglades after all. She’d even been introduced to sawgrass and muck on a trip across the Tamiami Trail after she swerved our Buick from a sudden sneeze, dropping the sedan onto the narrow berm and popping off a hubcap. She lost her shoes in the muck retrieving it.

Tiny rivulets of blood ran down her white legs from sawgrass while she was yelling at us to watch for alligators, but she never mentioned any of it after we returned home.

Perhaps the last straw were the frogs my father brought home one morning after an airboat hunt. At dinner, Frances followed my father’s instructions to rinse the skinned legs, dredge them in salted flour, and drop them into a skillet of hot grease.

Within seconds, the legs began twitching around the pan, as if swim-ming underwater—typical of freshly caught frog legs. Frances fainted—splat—face down on the kitchen floor.

Soon after, we moved into the “city” to our new house on the east side of Homestead, where the “civilized” people lived. My younger brother and I, however, remained a little wild, forever enamored of the Everglades, both of us subsequently spending long hours and days within its bounds, captured by a beauty and a bounty that today is just a whisper of its past.

On a 70-foot yacht

Sometimes I fret about the world my granddaughters will live in. Of course they’re only young yet,

and one or both may work and live in foreign countries, like their father and I have done. But wherever they live, it might not be as comfortable for them as the world Linda and I have lived in, and I wonder how they’ll cope. Will they find work easily? Will they find what health-care they need? Will they have pensions to look forward to in their old age?

They are Norwegians, and Norway has a huge “sovereign fund” that can be called on in tough times. But will it be enough? Several European nations have already reduced their state pensions, or have stolen money from private pension funds; and several US cities have already stolen money from their former employees’ trust funds. Over-borrowing by greedy politicians has screwed everybody.

Will my girls be able to find work at all? Economic commentators tell us that the whole world economy is entering a long depression, in which employment opportunities will be severely limited. High rates of inflation may destroy the value of all paper currencies. What then?

Linda and I have never worked in any one country for long enough to

acquire government pension rights, and have never been forced to pay into company pension schemes. So now, we have no pensions at all. However, we also haven’t paid Income Tax since we left Canada in 1967, and working in offshore tax-havens has allowed us to salt our savings away. In effect, we financed our own pension fund, and are drawing on it now, in our retirement. (Note to self: persuade the granddaugh-ters to find jobs in offshore tax- havens.)

The most diligent of plans and hopes will never get it 100% right, though. I recall reading a comment made by some English woman in a newspaper interview, about how she and her husband had been forced to pull in their horns financially, after they both stopped working. “He always dreamt of spending his old age on a seventy-foot yacht with a seventeen-year-old companion,” she said. “Instead, the poor

old chap has had to settle for a seven-teen-foot boat with a seventy-year-old companion. Hah!”

Here’s a story from fifty years ago, from my time as an auditor with Touche Ross in London... I was the sole expat, and a newbie, being lauded for my reckless bravery in having struck out on my own to see the world. It was embarrassing.

“We could never do that”, one of the group said; “the company would never give us our jobs back.” “Never mind: there are plenty of other jobs”, I said. “I might not get my job back, when I get home.” “That’s all right for you”, he said: “but we’d lose all our pension rights!” They all paled at the thought.

I had no answer to that. English pensions weren’t portable in those days, and changing employers meant starting a pension programme on the bottom rung again, and walking away from however much had been paid into the old scheme. (Australia didn’t have compulsory pensions.)

Back in our Earls Court flat, my fellow wastrels and I marvelled that a bunch of 24-year-olds would worry about benefits that lay forty years and more into the future.

Ah well... I wonder . . .

““It's really hard to understand howthis could happen,” Robert says,shaking his head. “People would

come in here and tell us that we were atrue example of the American dream,and now we don't know what's going tohappen. It's like living with a hatchetover your head.”

A professional chef for more than 17years, Robert and his wife, Anita, startedwith a small catering business, Flash inthe Pan, that served Hobe Sound andJupiter Island residents. Demand fortheir fresh seafood dishes grew. Thebusiness grew. They were able to pur-chase a large catering truck.

Insisting that only freshly caught fishbe on their menu, the Breinigs boughtfrom local fishermen and supplemented

with what they caught them-selves. As demand increased,they began making plans fora brick-and-mortar restaurantin Hobe Sound--easy accessfor the residents who alreadyknew their catering.

They opened the FlashBeach Grille on Bridge Roadin 2006, in a building with aliquor store. They parkedtheir mobile catering truckwith its kitchen behind thebuilding, and continued togrow that business, as well. The restau-rant was open only four days a week toallow them time with their youngdaughter....and to fish.

“We started with breakfast andlunch,” Robert adds, “but Hobe Soundjust is not a breakfast town, I guess, so weswitched to serving lunch and dinner.”

Then new sewer lines were laid onBridge Road blocking access to therestaurant. Revenues declined by morethan 25 percent. “It almost put us out ofbusiness,” he says.

The owner of their building declinedto hook up to the sewer line, at whichtime the county's Health Departmentstarted pressuring the Breinigs either totie into the new line, or to start servingtheir meals on paper plates with papernapkins and plastic forks. “We're justnot a paper-plate place,” he says.

The former French restaurant nextdoor had not reopened after its last sea-son, and the Breinigs considered it anideal location and began negotiating itspurchase, envisioning the entire frontlawn as a beach. A formidable draw-back, however, was insufficient room in-side for the work area--no office space,no employee space, not even enoughfood storage space. They could see,however, enough room behind therestaurant to make do with the cementslab already there, and some pavers fortheir catering truck, until they couldadd onto the building.

They paid for a title search, got themortgage, which included nearly$30,000 the previous owner had paid totie into the sewer line, painted, reno-vated, and moved in. They also pur-chased a large, walk-in locker for theback lot to store their bulk, cannedgoods and non-perishables. Their new“office” is a computer that sits on thefront counter in the dining room.

“People kind of laugh when I say thisis my office,” Robert adds, “but, literally,

this is it. This is all there is.”Anita tells employees, who

range in number from three dur-ing the summer to 30 in season,to lock their personal belongingsin their cars. “I just don't haveany place to put their purses,”she says, with one of those grinsthat lights an entire room, evenwhen she's bearing bad news.

Typical of the couple's grit,however, they stayed focused ontheir long-range plans. They appeared be-fore the County Commission last year toobtain a liquor license, much requestedby their diners and needed in order tocompete with other restaurants. Alongwith the liquor license, however, camecounty inspectors.

Quite to their surprise, the Breinigswere cited for violating the terms of thePreserve Area Management Plan (com-monly called a PAMP) at the back oftheir property, and, although exception-ally small, is part of the upland preservearea as required by the county's Com-prehensive Growth Management Plan.

Property owners may not disturb thearea; therefore, the inspector instructedthem that their food storage locker had tobe removed, as well as their mobile cater-ing truck, their pervious pavers, andabout two to three feet of the concreteslab, which had been there when theypurchased the property. They also wouldneed to plant the area with native vege-tation in place of the weeds, whichthey're no longer permitted to mow.

When they appealed to the GrowthManagement Department, planners at-tempted two or three different configu-rations trying to meet the Breinigs' needsand still maintain the preserve area.

“Their reconfigurations will notprovide what we need in order to oper-ate our business,” Breining says. “We'dgo out of business....We would neverhave purchased this building if we'd

known about this preserve area.”An apparent flaw in the county's

property/growth management records,which since has been addressed, had not“connected” the mandatory preservearea to the property title, neither were theprevious code enforcement violations.

In November, Robert and Anita ap-peared before the County Commissionand asked for an exemption. TheCounty Commission is permitted toamend a preserve area, but not to elimi-nate it. After a heated discussion amongcommissioners, Commissioner AnneScott moved to suspend the daily codeenforcement fines while the GrowthManagement Department had time toconduct research to determine howmany and where these isolated, ratherineffective “micro-PAMPs” are locatedwithin the county. The report should beready within the next 12 months.

“We cannot really think about whatmight happen,” Robert says. “We've gotto keep looking forward; we have arestaurant to run, but I also don't knowhow we'd be able to sell it to anyoneelse, either, if...”

He does not finish his sentence. ■

--Barbara Clowdus

14 Martin County CurrentsFebruary 2014Cover Story

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Robert and Anita Breinig thought they were living the American dream. They worked hard, followed the rules, paid their taxes until they finallywere able to establish a business from scratch, the Flash Beach Grille inHobe Sound. Suddenly, they face losing it all.

Anita Breinig asks how their restaurant could operate without a place for their foodand supplies, which are stored in what theydiscovered is a preserve area, as is their mobile catering truck.

15Martin County CurrentsFebruary 2014 Festival Frenzy

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THE GREEK FESTIVAL — People drive from throughout south Florida to attend theGreek Festival in Hobe Sound, where they find authentic Greek food and traditionaldance...in a shady spot!

FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS — Visitors weregreeted with sculpture that set the tonefor the festival.

SEAFOOD FEST — Cooking and eatingseafood forms the heart of the PortSalerno Seafood Festival.

SEAFOOD FEST — Slurping fresh oysters--nothingbetter!

FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS — An arts festivalmay be the perfect venue for creating an-other work of art--except for the questions.

Three local festivals just oneweek apart gave residentsand visitors much to enjoy

as January edged into February.The annual Port Salerno SeafoodFest served a crowd estimated totop 40,000 people, with two venuesfor live bands, dizzying options inseafood entrees, and any beverageon your list. More than 100 crafterstopped the list of things to do,which this year, included somemidway rides.

Hobe Sound Festival of the Artsorganizers had their fingers crossedon Jan. 30 that the rains wouldstop, and they did. The weekendarts fest drew around 30,000 peopleto two, picture-perfect days for in-dulging in fine arts, an expandedKids' Zone, and to stop by localmerchants, too. Many of these festi-val-goers left Bridge Road only tostop at the Greek Festival at the St.John Chrysostom Greek OrthodoxChurch to enjoy an after-noon of Greek foodand dance.The perfectend to aperfect day.

FESTIVAL OFTHE ARTS —Sunlightadded sparkleand showedmost artworkat its best.

Martin County CurrentsFebruary 2014What ’n Where16

Saturday, Feb. 15Shade in the Sunshine State:Reflections on Segregation in FloridaIn honor of the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act and in partnershipwith Smithsonian's Journey Stories, author Elizabeth Coursen will presentfirst-person stories from her new anthology, Shade in the Sunshine State: Re-flections on Segregation in Florida, concerning what people observed duringthe times of segregation in Florida on Saturday, Feb. 15, at 3 p.m. at the Mor-gade Library on Salerno Road. It is a thoughtful exploration of segregatedFlorida, its laws and its customs. For more information, call 772-221-1403 orvisit the library website at www.library.martin.fl.us.

Sunday, Feb. 16A Conversation with Queen of Suspense

A Conversation with Mary Higgins Clark is a benefit forHouse of Hope. The Lyric Theatre will host a special mati-nee appearance by “The Queen of Suspense,” best-sellingauthor Mary Higgins Clark, at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 16.Regular-price tickets at $50 each are on sale through theLyric box office and at www.lyrictheatre.com; premium tick-ets are $75. Chairwomen are Connie Bass, Michele Trout andCatherine Heretick. The Education Foundation of Martin

County is a partner in the event. Widowed in 1964 and with five children tocare for, Clark decided to try her hand at books. Her first suspense novel,Where Are the Children? was an instant bestseller. Clark, former president ofMystery Writers of America, has an award named for her. She lives in SaddleRiver, New Jersey.

Wednesday, Feb. 19Tropical Garden Card Party A Tropical Garden Card Party/Luncheon, hosted by the Jensen Beach GardenClub, will be at 11:30 a.m., Wednesday, Feb. 19, at the Jensen Beach Women’sAssociation, 3550 Sugar Hill Road, in Jensen Beach. Tickets are $20, which willassist in providing scholarships for young campers to attend the Environmen-tal Studies Council and Martin County Parks & Recreation Department’s sum-mer camps. For tickets, call 772-232-9603. For more info, go towww.jensenbeachgardenclub.com.

Friday, Feb. 21Kinderblock 66The film, Kinderblock 66, will be shown at the Coastal Life Church, 460 SW34th Street, in Palm City on Friday, Feb. 21, at 6:30 p.m., followed by a Q&Aperiod with Alex Moscovic, a holocaust survivor.

Alex, as a 13-year-old, survived Mengele, the "Angel of Death;" in concen-tration camps: Auschwitz-Birkenau in Nazi-occupied Poland and the DeathMarch. After his release and coming to America, Alex led a successful life inthe film business winning 10 Emmys for editing the Olympics and ABC WideWorld of Sports broadcasts. After retirement he has spent much time visitingschools, organizations & community groups throughout south Florida.www.kinderblock66thefilm.com.

Saturday, Feb. 22Families Helping Heroes

The first Annual Families Helping Heroes will helpaddress the needs of returning combat veterans,help them reconnect with their families, and copewith symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disor-

der—even matching them with companion dogsrescued from local shelters—will be 2 to 8 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 22, at Paradise Park, 1 Main Street, inTequesta. Event attendees will enjoy a live demonstration by military person-nel, working dog demonstrations and a “Panther” kid zone featuring an obsta-cle course created by an Army drill instructor. Popular local bands SeagrapeSouljahs and Rouge Theory Band will perform. More than 15 food trucks willbe on hand with beer and wine available. For questions or additional informa-tion, contact Ike Crumpler at 772.201.9996 or Courtney Zanetti at 772. 486.7458.Proceeds benefit three non-profit organizations serving returning veterans.

Feb. 14-March 30 The Spark: Three Generations of InspirationThe Elliot Museum announced theopening of a compelling new art ex-hibit, The Spark: Three Generations ofInspiration-- John Calderwood Whorf,Nancy Whorf, Julia Whorf Kelly. Grand-father John Calderwood Whorf, motherNancy Whorf, and daughter Julia WhorfKelly explore the "spark" of artistic in-spiration and the evolution of the cre-ative process. The three artists,distinctively different in style and exe-cution, share commonalities in theirprocess capturing a moment in timefirst as a sketch and later as a paint-ing. This exhibit presents some origi-nal pencil sketches alongside finishedpieces, revealing the profound leap ofthe artists' creativity. All three are ex-hibited widely throughout the country.For ticket information or hours, con-tact Lisa Djahed, Marketing Coordina-tor, 772-225-1961 or go towww.elliottmuseumfl.org.

Feb. 14-March 22The 2014 MartinCounty Fair Everything you could ever ask from acounty fair—and more—will be at the2014 Martin County Fair on Old DixieHighway across from the Witham FieldAirport. Opening ceremonies will be4:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 14, for sweet-hearts who want a perfect evening ofcountry music, country crafts, and cot-ton candy. Exceptional livestockshows, a variety of gospel, country andLatin bands, including favorite localbands, a petting zoo, trained wolves, apie-baking contest, and a midway canbe found at the Martin County Fair-grounds, 2616 S.E. Dixie Highway,through March 22. Tickets: $3-$15.For more information, call 772-220-3247 or visit:www.martincountyfair.com.

Weekend, Feb. 22-23Downtown Stuart Art FestivalIt's the season for your pick of art festivals, andhere's the popular Stuart Festival of the Arts,which is set up along Osceola Street in Stuart’shistoric downtown area. This event brings to-gether some of the best artists in the nation,displaying life-size sculptures, spectacularpaintings, one-of-a-kind jewels, photographyand more. Admission is free and the festival isopen from 10 a.m.-5 p.m., on Saturday and Sun-day, Feb. 22-23, along Osceola Street in down-town Stuart. This year's show features theartwork of Susan Painter. Stop by Susan'sbooth for a chance to win the giveaway. Formore info, go to www.artfestival.com.

Saturday, Feb. 22American Tradition Piano Trio at BlakeSecond in the Atlantic Classical OrchestraChamber Concert Series, the American Tradi-tion Piano Trio will perform at 11 a.m. on Sat-urday, Feb. 22, at the Blake Library, 2351 S.E.Monterey Road, Stuart. Free and open to thepublic. No tickets or reservations required. Formore information, call 772-221-1403 or go towww.library.martin.fl.us.

Thursday, Feb. 27Sheriff Snyder to address IndiantownMartin County Sheriff William D. Snyder willbe guest speaker at the February IndiantownChamber of Commerce Breakfast on Thurs-day, Feb. 27, at the Indianwood Golf Recre-ation Hall. The Sheriff will review his first yearin office as Martin County’s eighth sheriff,touching on some of the changes he has in-corporated as well as highlight some of theevents he has faced in his first year in office.He will be accompanied by Osbaldo Salis, a4th grade student at Hobe Rural School, oneof several students who wrote stories as partof the “Museum on Main Street: Journey Sto-ries” traveling exhibition. Osbaldo wrote of hisdream to become a member of the MartinCounty Sheriff’s SWAT Team “to protect In-diantown, his country and the flag.” As a re-sult Sheriff Snyder, along with members of theSWAT Team, surprised Osbaldo in front of hisclassmates, by making him an honorary JuniorSWAT Team Member. Make reservations bygoing to the Indiantown Chamber website cal-endar at www.indiantownchamber.com.

Thursday, Feb. 27Food HistorianBarbara Haberat BlakeAn Uncommon Historyof American Cooks andMeals: Luncheon & Pres-entation featuring notable

Martin County CurrentsFebruary 2014 What ’n Where 17

Saturday, March 8 iphoneography atthe ElliottCurrently showing at The Studio isthe iPhoneography Exhibit runningthrough the end of February featur-ing work by students who took theBasic iPhoneography Workshop withLivia Kropf DeBonet in January. Stu-dents were invited to each submitone image either taken only withtheir iPhones during the course oredited on the iPhone with skillslearned in the class. The Basic iPho-neography Workshop will repeatMarch 8 from 1-4pm in the HeritageTheater at the Elliott, followedby iPhoneography: The Next Step onMarch 22. The Next Step, for studentswho took the first class, will taketheir iPhotos to the next level by fo-cusing on composition, cropping, and

presentation. Call the Museum or sign up on line to participate: www.el-liottmuseum.org, click on Education then The Studio. Class is filling quickly.Museum Members: $45; non-members: $65.

Saturday, March 8BookMania is Back!Martin County Library System's annual BookMania! festival, the most presti-gious book event on the Treasure Coast, will be Saturday, March 8, beginningat 9 a.m. at the Martin County High School, 2801 W. Kanner Highway, Stuart.The free event features panel discussions, readings and book signings with adozen nationally recognized authors of every genre–some favorites and somenew. A portion of book proceeds benefits the library system. Call 772-221-1409for additional information, or go to www.libraryfoundationMC.org.

Saturday, March 15 – StuartSunday, March 16 – Jensen BeachSt. Patrick’s Day Celebration & ParadeTake your pick: Saturday night, March 15, is the 2ndAnnual Shamrock Fest from 6-10 p.m. in Gazebo Parkwith live Irish music by Uproot Hootenanny, Irish StepDancers, Bagpipers, an Irish Whiskey Bar, Cold GreenBeer and delicious Irish fare. Admission is $5. Go tohttp://www.kaleidominds.com, or spend Sunday atthe Jensen Beach St. Patrick's Day Celebration from 11a.m. to 7 p.m., with a genuine St. Paddy's Day Paradeat 3 p.m. on Jensen Beach Blvd., courtesy of Mulligan'sBeach House Bar & Grill and the Jensen Beach Chamber of Commerce. Formore information, call 772-600-7377, 772-334-3444 or email:[email protected], or go to www.jbstpatricksparade.com.

Weekend, March 22-23Home & Garden Show

The 28th Annual Home & GardenShow, presented by the Stuart/MartinCounty Chamber of Commerce and theMartin County Fair Association, returnsto the Martin County FairgroundsMarch 22-23 for the area’s largest, mostcomprehensive home & garden show-case of local businesses. Admission isfree. More than 90 exhibitors showcaseeverything from cookware and fine art

to recreation & leisure, remodeling specialties, interior design and orchids.The Home & Garden Show weekend will kick off with a Chamber Businessafter Hours on Friday, March 21, 5:30-7:30, where members and exhibitors cansample food from area restaurants and get a sneak peek of the show. For moreinformation or to register, contact [email protected].

food historian Barbara Haber will beThursday, Feb. 27, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. at theBlake Library, 2351 S.E. Monterey Roadin Stuart. Tickets are $50, including theluncheon, and will benefit the TreasureCoast Food Bank. How appropriate! Toreserve your spot, email [email protected] or call 772-489-3034.

Weekend, Feb. 28-March 1Treasure Coast BBQ & BluesMarathon Festival

The 2nd annualJensen BeachBBQ & BluesFestival willcome alive withthe soulfulsound of bluesand the sweetsmell of barbe-

cue. This year, BBQ & Blues will alignwith The Marathon of the TreasureCoast to create a weekend festival onthe waterfront featuring mouthwater-ing BBQ, ear-pleasing blues, local arti-sans, half- and full-marathon roadraces, and a runners expo. A concertkicks off the BBQ festival Friday nightat Indian RiverSide Park, and roadraces will kick off Saturday & Sundaymornings, followed by a full day ofBBQ, great music and shopping alongthe Indian River at the Indian River-Side Park. For more info, go tobbqbluesfestivals.com.

Saturday, March 1Fashions in Paradiseat St. Luke'sCelebrate “Fashions in Paradise” at St.Luke’s Annual Fashion Show on Satur-day, March 1, 11 a.m. at the MilesGrant Country Club on Cove Road. TheFashion Coordinator of Evelyn andArthur’s in the Harbour Bay Plaza willhost models as they wear the latestfashions in St. Luke's annual celebra-tion of good works and community out-reach. Tickets are $45, and include thefashion show, lunch, door prizes andraffle baskets. Reserve with Vicki Zam-bardino at 221-8345.

Saturday, March 22Every Woman is My SisterFlorida’s former first lady, Columba Bush, willbe an honored guest at the annual EveryWoman Is My Sister event on March 22 at5:30 at Willoughby Golf Club. Bush has been achampion of domestic violence for many yearsand is actively involved with the Florida Coali-tion Against Domestic Violence. Tiffany Carr,President/CEO of the Florida CoalitionAgainst Domestic Violence, will be thekeynote speaker and tell her own personalsurvival story. Every Woman is My Sister ishosted annually to benefit SafeSpace, a localnon-profit organization and the only CertifiedDomestic Violence Center on the TreasureCoast. Tickets are $150. For reservations:772-223-2399, or go to www.safespacefl.org.

Weekend, March 22-23Secret Gardens Tour &Garden Ramble BazaarThe Garden Club of Stuart's Secret GardensTour happens only every two years, and 2014is the year! The self-guided tour of seven pri-vate home gardens and outdoor living spacesis Saturday and Sunday, March 22-23, from 10a.m.-4 p.m. and is the largest fund-raisingevent for the Garden Club. Tour tickets are$25, available at area garden centers and on-line at www.gardenclubofstuart.org. Free ad-mission to the Garden Ramble Bazaar at theAudubon of Martin County and Possum LongNature Center is part of the tour with numer-ous vendors selling garden-related items. Pro-ceeds goes toward youth gardening programs,high school scholarships, library books andyouth camp programs. The Garden Ramble isfree and open to the public.

Saturday, March 29Century in Review Gala:Celebration of Stuart'sCentennial

With ticketspriced at only$20 each, you'llwant to getyours early be-fore they're soldout! The Centuryin Review Gala:Celebration ofStuart’s Centen-nial will be Sat-urday, March

29, at 7 p.m. at the Lyric Theatre, 59 S.W. Fla-gler Ave. in downtown Stuart. A warning: Youmust be over 18 to purchase a ticket. A jointproject of the Stuart Heritage Museum andthe Woman's Club of Stuart—and we don'tknow whose members are having more funputting this event together—the entertain-ment gala celebrating the City of Stuart'sfounding 100 years ago, which coincides withthe founding of the Woman's Club of Stuart,will feature music, singing, dancing, skits, afashion show and a narrated photographic ret-rospective. For tickets or for more informa-tion, call 772-220-4600 or [email protected].

St. Luke's fashionistas, from left: Debbie Gilman, Gail St. Philip, Arlene Brammer,Edwina Dunworth, Pat Isaacs, Mitzi Slater, Vicki Zambardino, and Susan Auld.

Martin County CurrentsFebruary 201418 Jensen Beach Chamber

JENSEN BEACH CHAMBER’S

NEWEST MEMBERS

The Wooden Crayon1300 NE Jensen Beach Blvd.

Jensen Beach (772) 261-8211

www.thewoodencrayon.com

Setupabusiness.biz

10302 SE Federal HighwayPort St Lucie

(772) 405-7077www.setupabusiness.biz

Boys & Girls Clubs of Martin County11500 SE Lares AvenueHobe Sound, FL 35475

(772) 545-1255www.bgcmartin.org

Ocean Breeze Jensen Beach Carefree RV Resorts3000 NE Jensen Beach Blvd


[email protected]

Ocean Breeze Animal Hospital

1553 NE Jensen Beach BlvdJensen Beach

(772) 334-7387

Stuart Scoot, LLC255 SW Joan Jefferson Way

Stuart (772) 475-6761

www.stuartscoot.com

Treasure Coast Commercial819 S Federal Highway, Suite 200

Stuart (772) 812-5530

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Texium364 NW Alice Avenue

Stuart (561) 515-0062www.texium.com

Verizon Wireless to Go900 NW Federal Highway

Stuart 772.692.1172

www.wirelesstogo.biz

1315 NE Sunview TerraceJensen Beach

(772) 334-5901www.atlanticanimalhospital.com

Children's Services Council of Martin County

101 SE Central ParkwayStuart

772-288-5758www.cscmc.org

Right on the heels of the highlysuccessful “Taste of Jensen”event in December, came another

Jensen Beach Chamber of Commerceevent: the Jensen Beach Fine Art &Craft Show Jan. 11-12 in downtownJensen Beach.

With a reputation for offering exqui-site works in watercolor, sculpture, pho-tography, pottery, jewelry and othermedia from more than 100 artiststhroughout the state and beyond, theJensen Beach Fine Art & Craft Show dis-tinguished itself in another regard as well.No outside food vendors are allowed.

The food available during the festivalcomes only from local restaurants, butjudging by the record-breaking responseto the Taste of Jensen event in December,that's probably most appreciated by resi-dents and visitors alike who voted toaward first place to Tony Roma's for itsmenu of Filet Medallions, LoadedMashed Potatoes, Baby Back Ribs andBaked Potato Soup. The restaurant alsowon the Best Presentation and Best Fea-tured Entree during the popular event.

The Best Dessert was awarded toConchy Joe's for its key lime pie, andBest Beverage went to Baha Grill & Lati-tudes at Hutchinson Island Marriott for

its Goombay Smash. Roosters DaytimeCafe took the Best Soup award with itsPotato Leek and Chicken Noodle soups.

The Chamber also held its 64th An-nual Installation of Officers in January,sponsored by FPL, at Pietro's On TheRiver on Jan. 15. Its new board includes:President Todd Doss, Welcome HomeRealty International; Vice President P.J.Anson, Jr., STS Aviation Group; VicePresident Andres Castellanos, Safe &Sound Storage Center; Treasurer ChrisEgan, Vistana’s Beach Club; SecretaryJune Meehan. Directors include JasonCarr, WHLG Coast 101.3 fm; Dr. JewellChang, Osceola Optique; Cindy Collins,PNC Bank; Pat Caudill, Wenco South;Ed Griffith, Courtyard by Marriott,Hutchinson Island; Lorie Shekailo, St.Martin de Porres Catholic Church; SteveLeighton, Martin County Sheriff’s Of-fice; Sue Zachman, Harbor CommunityBank; Bill Reily, Pitchford’s RV Resort;Devin Teal, Welcome Home Realty Inter-national; Mike Winters, Bagel BreakDeli; John Yudin, Guy, Yudin & FosterLLP; U.S. Congressman Patrick Murphy;State Senator Joe Negron; State Repre-sentative Gayle Harrell; Martin CountyCommissioner Doug Smith and MikeBusha, Martin County School Board. ■

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Martin County CurrentsFebruary 201418 Jensen Beach Chamber

JENSEN BEACH CHAMBER’S

NEWEST MEMBERS

The Wooden Crayon1300 NE Jensen Beach Blvd.


www.thewoodencrayon.com

Setupabusiness.biz

10302 SE Federal HighwayPort St Lucie

(772) 405-7077www.setupabusiness.biz

Boys & Girls Clubs of Martin County11500 SE Lares AvenueHobe Sound, FL 35475

(772) 545-1255www.bgcmartin.org

Ocean Breeze Jensen Beach Carefree RV Resorts3000 NE Jensen Beach Blvd


[email protected]

Ocean Breeze Animal Hospital

1553 NE Jensen Beach BlvdJensen Beach

(772) 334-7387

Stuart Scoot, LLC255 SW Joan Jefferson Way

Stuart (772) 475-6761

www.stuartscoot.com

Treasure Coast Commercial819 S Federal Highway, Suite 200

Stuart (772) 812-5530

www.tccommercialre.com

Texium364 NW Alice Avenue

Stuart (561) 515-0062www.texium.com

Verizon Wireless to Go900 NW Federal Highway

Stuart 772.692.1172

www.wirelesstogo.biz

1315 NE Sunview TerraceJensen Beach

(772) 334-5901www.atlanticanimalhospital.com

Children's Services Council of Martin County

101 SE Central ParkwayStuart

772-288-5758www.cscmc.org

Right on the heels of the highlysuccessful “Taste of Jensen”event in December, came another

Jensen Beach Chamber of Commerceevent: the Jensen Beach Fine Art &Craft Show Jan. 11-12 in downtownJensen Beach.

With a reputation for offering exqui-site works in watercolor, sculpture, pho-tography, pottery, jewelry and othermedia from more than 100 artiststhroughout the state and beyond, theJensen Beach Fine Art & Craft Show dis-tinguished itself in another regard as well.No outside food vendors are allowed.

The food available during the festivalcomes only from local restaurants, butjudging by the record-breaking responseto the Taste of Jensen event in December,that's probably most appreciated by resi-dents and visitors alike who voted toaward first place to Tony Roma's for itsmenu of Filet Medallions, LoadedMashed Potatoes, Baby Back Ribs andBaked Potato Soup. The restaurant alsowon the Best Presentation and Best Fea-tured Entree during the popular event.

The Best Dessert was awarded toConchy Joe's for its key lime pie, andBest Beverage went to Baha Grill & Lati-tudes at Hutchinson Island Marriott for

its Goombay Smash. Roosters DaytimeCafe took the Best Soup award with itsPotato Leek and Chicken Noodle soups.

The Chamber also held its 64th An-nual Installation of Officers in January,sponsored by FPL, at Pietro's On TheRiver on Jan. 15. Its new board includes:President Todd Doss, Welcome HomeRealty International; Vice President P.J.Anson, Jr., STS Aviation Group; VicePresident Andres Castellanos, Safe &Sound Storage Center; Treasurer ChrisEgan, Vistana’s Beach Club; SecretaryJune Meehan. Directors include JasonCarr, WHLG Coast 101.3 fm; Dr. JewellChang, Osceola Optique; Cindy Collins,PNC Bank; Pat Caudill, Wenco South;Ed Griffith, Courtyard by Marriott,Hutchinson Island; Lorie Shekailo, St.Martin de Porres Catholic Church; SteveLeighton, Martin County Sheriff’s Of-fice; Sue Zachman, Harbor CommunityBank; Bill Reily, Pitchford’s RV Resort;Devin Teal, Welcome Home Realty Inter-national; Mike Winters, Bagel BreakDeli; John Yudin, Guy, Yudin & FosterLLP; U.S. Congressman Patrick Murphy;State Senator Joe Negron; State Repre-sentative Gayle Harrell; Martin CountyCommissioner Doug Smith and MikeBusha, Martin County School Board. ■

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Every detail of the 2014 Palm CityChamber of Commerce Installa-tion of Officers at Piper's Landing

Yacht & Country Club bore the personal,“southern comfort” stamp of Niki Nor-ton, the incoming president, whose nat-ural drawl reminded more than 150guests that with her presidency, she wasbringing the best of the South to sub-tropical Palm City.

With the assistance of Piper's Land-ing General Manager Brian Reich and abevy of Chamber volunteers, theevening's “Night of the Light” celebra-tion included a succession of venues,from the lounge, to the outside terrace,back inside to the dining room completewith a band and dance floor.

She toasted the year 2014, still new,with champagne under the stars asglowing lanterns floated into the night.

“This is a toast to your light, will itshine bright this year?” she said. “Thatlight comes from your passion, and that'show all of us are able to accomplish whatwe have....we step out of our comfortzones to follow our passion, to do whatwe feel passionate about....Ask yourself,what word are you: Bright light? Passion-ate? Bold? How about all three?”

Dancing paused only long enoughfor John Lass, president/CEO of theYMCA of the Treasure Coast, to installthe 2014 Chamber Board of Directors:President Niki Norton; President-ElectJon Campion; Vice-President Jenny Yin-gling; Treasurer John Fedorek; andboard members Michael DiTerlizzi,Mike Searle, John Fox, Stephen Wood,Don Cuozzo, Rick Hartman, BrandonTucker, Jeff Teach, Peter Wernick, BarrieBrown, and Barbara Essenwine.

Event sponsors included Piper'sLanding, Crossroads Architecture, TamiKarol Insurance, Seacoast NationalBank, A T & T, Florida Crystals, OculinaBank, Harbor Community Bank, Back inAction, European Kitchen & Bath, B & AFlea Market, Armellini on-Site Storage,Palm City Animal Medical Center,Kirchman Construction, Pharus Group,and Peter’s Hardware & Paint.

Martin Downs Florist designed ex-traordinary table arrangements, KaleidoMinds Marketing assisted in event plan-ning and Stone Photography providedphotography. ■

Martin County CurrentsFebruary 2014 Palm City Chamber 19

Palm City Chamber celebrates 'Night of the Light'

Niki Norton, new president of the 2014 Palm City Chamber of Commerce surrounded by the men in her life, the Chamber board members and officers: seated, from left, outgoing president Michael DiTerlizzi, on left, and board member John Fox. Back row, from left: Board members Mike Searle, Don Cuozzo, Jeff Teach, President-Elect Jon Campion, Board members Barrie Brown, Rick Hartman, Peter Wernick, and Stephen Wood.

Stuart-Martin Chamber of Commerce President/CEO Joseph A. Catrambone spinshis wife, Barb, around the dance floor.

The evening's favorite attire? The president'sBE BOLD message tee-shirt.

Chamber President Niki Norton, an architectwith Crossroads Architecture, offers a toastto each member's rekindling passion.

Outgoing President Michael DeTerlizzi gets'boutineered'

Martin County CurrentsFebruary 2014Palm City Chamber20

Best for your business: show up for 'Benefits'Like most chambers of commerce

in Martin County, the Palm CityChamber hosts a monthly net-

working breakfast (or luncheon) for itsmembers. At Palm City, all the mem-bers introduce themselves with a quick30-second narration about their busi-ness, which is why it's called: “Break-fast with Benefits.”

The Chamber itself assists you withintroductions, so instead of just one ortwo learning who you are and a bitabout your company—usually those atyour table—dozens hear about you andyour business.

Breakfast sponsors, as anyone wouldexpect, get a longer spot on the stage.Every now and then, however, PalmCity Chamber Membership & EventsCoordinator Florence Howe will changeit up a bit. One month she called foreveryone to tell the group somethingabout his or her personal life. Memberslearned about one who had adopted achild, a businessman who played in aband, another who skydived on week-ends. If all the chatter among membersas they were leaving was evidence of asuccessful event, that one qualified.

Niki Norton, the newly installedPalm City Chamber president remindedmembers of the Chamber's mission dur-

ing her installation, which is to serve asan advocate of the community and itsbusinesses, to promote the economic de-velopment of the Palm City area, stimu-late jobs, which in turn improves thequality of life for everyone.

“I'm reminded of what (Chambermember) Toby Overdorf said: 'Just showup.',” Norton reminded members. “Thatreally is all there is to it. Just show up.”

With more than 400 members andgrowing, the Palm City Chamber is theonly Chamber organization that rou-tinely offers private tours of their mem-bers' businesses. That's in addition to the

other events they organize and host, in-cluding the Fall Fest, the EverythingAround the Home Expo and More, andtheir premier event, a gala installationand awards dinner for their new officers.

Those are in addition to member rib-bon-cuttings and open houses, Chamber“After Hours” gatherings, and addi-tional exposure in the Palm City Spot-light, Out2Martin online blog and theMartin County Currents newsmonthly.

The next Palm City Chamber Break-fast with Benefits will beWednesday, Feb. 26, at the MartinDowns Golf Club from 7:30-9 a.m., 3801

SW Greenwood Way, in Palm City. Non-members always are welcome, too.

For more information about mem-bership benefits and events, call FloHowe at 772.286.8121, email her [email protected], or visit theirPalm City Chamber of Commerce officeat 880 SW Martin Downs Blvd. It's aninvestment in your business that is re-turned many times over—as long asyou show up. ■

PALM CITY CHAMBER’S NEWEST MEMBERS

Web Design, Internet Marketing

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Don Wood Palm City

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FELICE GIULIANIHARDSCAPE

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CHRIST FELLOWSHIP CHURCH, INC

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Cheryl Gallagher

2885 SE US 1 Stuart

772.288.4915 www.bafleamarket.com

Martin Downs Golf Club is site of next Palm City Chamber's Breakfast with Benefits on Feb. 26at 7:30 a.m.

2355 SW Martin Hwy Palm City

772-781-4296www.hurricanewings.com

Comfort Chiropractic P.A.

Sandy Potthoff, D.C. 750 SE Indian Street

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Doreen Barnes

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4 Skinny Lucy

Lucy Fowler4336 SW Bimini Circle

Palm City 561-758-4962

www.4skinnylucy.com

Palm City Chamber President Niki Nortonpresents the Ambassador of the Month award to Ildiko Haidacher at the chamber'sJanuary breakfast. Photo: out2Martin.com

Martin County CurrentsFebruary 2014 Hobe Sound Neighbors 21

Speech contest challenges best of two worldsThe gauntlet had been thrown

down—a challenge issued—to theHobe Sound International Toast-

masters Club by a club one of theirmembers had initiated, the CollectiveMinds Gavel Club of the Martin Correc-tional Institution near Indiantown.

The Gavel Club, an offshoot of theToastmasters that follows their sameprocedures and roles, proposed a speechcontest in December between the mem-bers of the two clubs—the inside clubchallenging its sponsoring outsideclub—to be held at the correctional facil-ity. No prizes, just for fun, and maybefor some bragging rights.

“We've never done this before,” saidRich Otten, a Toastmaster who hasearned the organization's highest level,the Distinguished Toastmaster. “This is afirst, maybe anywhere in the state. I wasa little surprised at the invitation, butthen I thought, well, why not?”

Otten, who led the formation of theCollective Minds, began a personal mis-sion a few years ago to share the oppor-tunity for personal growth thatToastmasters provides with a populationmost in need of it—the incarcerated.

He helped establish clubs in severalprisons, including Okeechobee, BelleGlade, Moorehaven, and Martin, androutinely treks across the state to ensurethat he “checks in” with the membersand prison officials at his own expense,putting hundreds of travel miles on bothhis own body and that of his truck.

“I don't mind the drives,” he said.“They're relaxing, and it's really impor-tant that a Gavel Club has someone onthe outside to ensure the members havewhat they need to function properly andfulfill the Toastmasters' mission,” Ottensays. “Otherwise, there's always achance that it will just get lost in the sys-tem and disappear.”

The aspect of the program, an arm ofToastmasters International, most toutedhas been the reduction in the recidivism

rate by about 90 percent amongthose who participate. Conse-quently, new clubs have beenlaunched at other correctionalfacilities throughout the state asmore Toastmasters Clubs beginto sponsor Gavel Clubs amongthe state's prison populations.The wardens have welcomedthem and are eager for more.

“It's amazing the difference itmakes in attitude and in reduc-ing discipline problems,” saidone Okeechobee prison official,“not just among the members ofthe club, but prison-wide, be-cause they treat our guards andofficers with respect. They set anexample for everyone else, andyou can see that it's because they havebegun to respect themselves....They lookyou straight in the eye; they're not shak-ing in their shoes anymore.”

Another Distinguished Toastmaster inthe Tallahassee area, Chuck Rabaut, hashelped start 17 clubs with about 450 ac-

tive members over thepast two years, andmore facilities, whichstruggle with over-crowding, are asking

for Toastmaster Clubs to step forwardand agree to sponsor a Gavel Club. It's aprogram that works, and requires no tax-payer funding, just community support.

“Our hope is that one day,” Ottenadds, “we'll have a Gavel Club in everyprison in the state to help provide someskills and some hope to these men. Forthe most part, they're good men whojust made a mistake, and who among ushas not made a mistake in judgment atsome time in our lives?...

“They've accepted responsibility forit,” he added, “and now they're just try-ing to improve their chances of stayingout of prison...to improve their livesboth inside prison walls and afterthey're released.”

The incarcerated men take theirmembership responsibilities seriously,which was revealed in the quality oftheir speeches, the effort they put intoconducting a well-organized event, anda cordiality toward the Hobe Sound clubmembers that had been somewhat unex-pected, according to Kathleen Gemme,an experienced member of the HobeSound Toastmasters making her firsttrip to a prison facility.

“I'm not sure what I expected,” shesaid, “but I wasn't expecting this...theseguys were good—really, really good.”

Gemme, who presented a humorousaccount of an around-the-state road tripwith her husband, was joined by fellow

Hobe Sound Toasters members CarolLabuhn, Marty Post and Jef Otten, whotook second place for his humorous ac-count of the consequences of skinny dip-ping off a boat without a plan to get back.

The Third Place Award went toJoseph Pasquince, who talked about thelessons learned as a father separatedfrom his young daughter.

The First Place award went toRodger Thomas, president of the Collec-tive Minds Gavel Club, who recounted alively story of searching for, then find-ing, his Christmas gift prior to Christ-mas, which he and his brother joyfullyplayed with until caught—acting outeach scene authentically—and sufferingthe consequences when his parents re-turned the toy to the store.

A Christmas memory that had influ-enced their lives was the theme of all thespeeches by the men in blue at the con-test held just before Christmas.

“I cannot imagine spending Christ-mas in this place with all this barbed-wire fencing and such,” said ChiefContest Judge Kristina Kihlberg, also aDistinguished Toastmaster, past District47 Director, and now the Toastmaster In-ternational Director for Region 8, whichincludes the southeastern U.S., theCaribbean islands and South America.

“I must say, I didn't know what toexpect,” she added, “yet what I foundhere among these men was inspiring.There is redeeming grace in this place,and it was worth the hour-and-a-halfdrive to get here.” ■

--Barbara Clowdus

Contest Master Mathew Adams, far right, of the Collective Minds GavelClub recognizes the winners, from left: Joseph Pasqulince, 3rd place; Jef Otten, 2nd place; and First Place went to Rodger Thomas, presidentof the Collective Minds Gavel Club.Region 8 Director of the International Toastmasters Club and

Contest Judge Kristina Kihlberg gives instructions to the otherjudges, from left, Charles Donaldson, Daniel Williams and DwightSams, of the Collective Minds Gavel Club, and standing behindthem, Rich Otten, of the Hobe Sound Toasters.

While the judges were compiling their scores, a member of the CollectiveMinds was called on to give a 2-minute, impromptu speech to a room ofabout 50 people.

Kathleen Gemme, HobeSound Toasters, tells of the"surprise" waiting for her atthe end of a long road trip.

Memorable quotes from the speech contest“Detroit is a great place to be…from. Period.”--Carol Labuhn, Hobe Sound Toasters

“We all huddled together on the mattress in front of the fire, my brother,mother, father and I, warm and cozy under a blanket, and that moment helpedme recognize that my dad—and myself—were not all bad. Sometimes that maybe all we need to cultivate the good.”

--Earl Hinson, Collective Minds Gavel Club

“Did you know that the number-one fear of 75 percent of all Americans isspeaking in front of a crowd? I was one of them.”

--Marty Post, Hobe Sound Toasters

“My husband sticks his head around the corner and says, 'We bought a Jeep!'We did? ...Do you really think I was born with hair like this?”

--Kathleen Gemme, Hobe Sound Toasters

“My daughter runs to me, grabs my leg, crying, 'My Joe, my Joe', that's whatshe calls me, not Daddy, then she crawls into my lap…What defines us are notthe lessons we learn, but what we do with them.”

--Joseph Pasquince, Collective Minds Gavel Club

“Yes, go for it! Jump in with both feet, but first check where the ladder is.”--Jef Otten, Hobe Sound Toasters

Martin County CurrentsFebruary 2014Hobe Sound Neighbors22

Hobe Sound's Bridge Road plans now obsolete?Perhaps no other project among the

county's seven Community Rede-velopment Areas had been more

studied or anticipated than the redesignof Bridge Road in the Hobe Sound CRA.Now, it appears, the community may berequired to start over.

Engineering plans were in theprocess of being drawn as the Commu-nity Development Department staff fi-nalized the last remaining right-of-waydonations to accommodate a safer, walk-able, pedestrian-friendly downtownHobe Sound. That was January 2013.

One year later—after a year of forcedinactivity—the new members of theHobe Sound Neighborhood AdvisoryCommittee, convening for the secondtime since reactivation of all sevenNACs by the County Commission,which dismantled them in February2013, were told the Bridge Road retrofitplans are now outdated and obsolete.

“What do you mean the plans areoutdated?” asked Angela Hoffman,chair of the Hobe Sound NAC. “Theywere approved; we had the drawings al-ready; we had community support. Weall thought we were ready to go. Noth-ing has changed.”

Hoffman turned to long-time NACmember Gretchen Reich, who confirmedHoffman's assertions to Kev Freeman,director of the Community Redevelop-ment Department.

“That was a year ago,” Freeman an-swered, “and in the interim, circum-stances have changed, costs havechanged, technology has changed, par-ticularly with how we treat roaddrainage...we still do not have all therights-of-way needed to complete theproject...What we must do now is to rec-oncile what the community wants to dowith the funds that are available to doit...The community must set its priori-ties, which could be the same, or therecould be new priorities.”

In order to proceed, Freeman added,the Community Development Depart-ment would need to convene communityworkshops and gather community input.

“We've had plenty of communityworkshops,” said Reich. “We knowwhat the community wants. We've hadopen meetings and plenty of commu-nity input, not for just a year, but overthe past 10 years. We've spent 10 years,or more, deciding that this plan is whatwe want.”

Freeman assured the NAC membersand about 15 members of the HobeSound community attending that theCounty Commission is ensuring onlythat the previous CRA plans are viableand that they match the communities'current priorities. All NACs are beingrequired to review their previous plansand reestablish priorities.

He also concurred that the BridgeRoad retrofit had been designed in mod-ules, so that sections of the project couldproceed without funding for the full

project, and that the design had alreadyincorporated updated stormwater tech-nology by incorporating perviouspavers. The right-of-way donations,however, had not been completed.

“I'm sure that after our propertyowners see some real progress from thecounty, after they some actual work get-ting done,” Hoffman interjected, “that

they'll be willing to do their part to seethe redesign completed. We can't verywell blame them for wanting to hold offon giving their property to the county.”

Hoffman requested that Freemanproceed immediately with securing per-mission from the County Commission toinstall banners on the Florida Depart-ment of Transportation light poles liningFederal Highway through Hobe Sound,which have brackets that do not con-form to the county's code.

“We don't need a workshop for that,”Hoffman said; however, an ordinancewould need to be written by county staffto change the county code, requiring apublic hearing before the Local PlanningAgency that requires a published publicnotice, before it goes before the CountyCommission for final approval, whichalso requires a public notice.

“I've been working on this for weeks,months,” Hoffman said. “I cannot be-lieve that no one ever took the time toexplain those steps...all I was told wasthat the County Commission had to ap-prove it.” The NAC committee requestedthat Freeman bring the proposed ordi-nance back to them in one month.

The next meeting of the Hobe SoundNAC is Wednesday, Feb. 19, at 6 p.m. atthe Hobe Sound Community Center. ■

Magistrate hears Apollo house building code caseIf you follow the rules, and the

county grants you a permit, how canthe same county say you didn't fol-

low the rules, and now wants to fineyou....for following their rules? But,oops, those are not the right rules.

The situation is more than frustrat-ing, according to Stuart Greenberg, whoalong with his wife, Jane Greenberg,own the manufactured home thatdropped like a bomb in the Zeus Parkneighborhood of Hobe Sound last fall.The federally protected manufacturedhome, built to withstand up to 170-mphhurricane-force winds, was moved intoHobe Sound and installed on dry-stacked cinder blocks on a lot at the cor-ner of Apollo Street and the Old PostOffice Alley.

The following day, the lot was sur-rounded by homemade signs from re-sentful neighbors who feared theirproperty values, already hard hit afterthe real estate bubble burst of 2008,

would again be hit hard by the presenceof a mobile home in their historic neigh-borhood of site-built homes.

At a community meeting attended byDistrict 3 Commissioner Anne Scott,County Attorney Michael Durham, andCommunity Development Director KevFreeman residents vented their outrageand voted to form the Olympia Plat De-fense Fund, to gather donations, and tohire attorney Virginia Sherlock to pursueremoval of the building, or at minimumthat it be required to be reinstalled on asolid concrete foundation. Soon after,Sherlock appealed the Building Depart-ment's decision to award the permit.

The county's Growth ManagementDepartment reviewed the building per-mit and concluded that it was issued inviolation of county code, since the codespecifies a “permanent foundation” formanufactured homes. The Greenbergswere ordered to remove the building orto install it on a poured concrete slab

within 30 days, after which time a fine of$100 a day could be levied. The Green-bergs appealed, and the case went beforeMartin County Code Enforcement Mag-istrate Paul Nicoletti on Jan. 29.

At issue is the definition of a “perma-nent foundation” required by the countycode; however, the “engineered founda-tion” with footer pads, dry-stacked con-crete blocks and tie-downs had beenapproved as an “alternative foundation”by Building Department staff, and ap-proved by county Community Devel-opment Department staff prior toissuing Greenberg's permit.

County Attorney Michael Durhamand Growth Management DepartmentDirector Nikki VanVonno, however, in-terpret the definition of a permanentfoundation as meaning one comprising apoured, concrete slab (or something simi-lar) that cannot be moved. Nicoletti mustdetermine if theirs is a “reasonable” in-terpretation of the code, and if so, then

the Greenbergs are obligated to follow it.According to Building Department

records, five other manufactured homesin the county were granted permits andCertificates of Occupancy over the pastyear, two of which (on Blue Heron Lane)are connected to a concrete slab with an-chors mechanically fastened to the slab,and three of which were installed (onMonterey and Kanner) as was theGreenberg's home on dry stacked, ma-sonry piers on pier pads, with tie-downstraps connected to ground anchors inundisturbed soil.

The Greenbergs' attorney had plannedto call Martin County Building OfficialLarry Massing as a witness, but the mag-istrate ran out of time. To avoid furtherdelay, the Greenbergs declined postpone-ment, so the hearing concluded withoutMassing's testimony. The attorneys onboth sides will submit written arguments,and a decision on the code violation is ex-pected by the end of March. ■

Hobe Sound NAC to meet monthlyOnly one of the Neighborhood Advisory Committees among the seven Com-

munity Redevelopment Areas successfully scheduled monthly meetings, yetnearly all have requested either monthly or bi-monthly meetings.

The Hobe Sound NAC chose Wednesday nights to conduct monthly meet-ings, and to set the dates according to the Community Development Departmentstaff schedule.

“Even if staff is not available to come to our meetings,” said Hobe SoundNAC Chair Angela Hoffman, “I think it's important that we meet monthly, be-cause there's so much that needs to be done, and quarterly meetings will not beeffective in getting anything accomplished anytime soon.”

The next three meetings will be Wednesdays, Feb. 19, March 12 and April 23 at 6p.m. in the Hobe Sound Community Center, 8980 Olympus Street, in Hobe Sound.

Perhaps one of the most anticipatedevents of each winter in HobeSound, in addition to the Hobe

Sound Festival of the Arts, is the unveil-ing of its “official” poster by a localartist. Some have been wildly received,others not so enthusiastically.

This year’s official festival artworkby artist April W. Davis of Jupiter easilywon the hearts of an appreciative HobeSound populace. Her depiction of mana-tees gathered near a dock jutting intothe Intracoastal Waterway could havecome straight from the photo albums ofdozens of Hobe Sound families.

“It is nothing short of spectacular,”said Hobe Sound resident GeorgeKleine, who attended the unveiling. “It'sa winner!”

The so-familiar scene struck at thehearts of many locals, and the skill ofthe artist spoke to dozens of others asthey eagerly bought a $5 raffle ticketduring the Festival of the Arts for achance to receive a high-quality, gicleeprint of the original painting.

The good news is that the HobeSound Chamber of Commerce still is of-fering tickets for sale at $5 each or threefor $10 through Feb. 12 at the Chamberoffice. Call 472.546.4724.

The drawing will be at the breakfastmeeting of the Hobe Sound Chamberon Thursday, Feb. 13. The breakfast be-gins at 8 a.m. at the Indian River StateCollege, Chastain Campus on SalernoRoad, in the Wolf Technology Center.Guest speaker is Suzanne Wentley ofthe Children Services Council, and thenew Hobe Sound Chamber videos willbe shown.

Davis, an award-winning artist whomoved to the area 15 years ago, gainedrecognition quickly for her lush tropicallandscapes, including depictions of theuniqueness of the Everglades, as well as

her cityscapes set in tropical locations,such as South Beach.

Chamber officials are asking that any-one who bought a raffle ticket at the Offi-cial Unveiling to bring it with them to theChamber breakfast; however, if you'renot attending the breakfast, call thechamber office with your ticket numberand the staff will record your name andphone number on the back of the ticket.You also may email Jan Otten at HYPER-LINK "mailto:[email protected]"[email protected] with the ticketnumber, your name, and phone number.

Tickets to the breakfast, sponsoredby the Fur Seasons Pet Resort, are $12for Chamber members and $15 for non-members. The public always is welcometo attend. For reservations or for raffleticket information, call 772.546.4724. ■

Martin County CurrentsFebruary 2014 Hobe Sound Chamber 23

Raffle tickets for giclee offestival art on sale till Feb. 13

NEWEST MEMBERS OF

THE HOBE SOUNDCHAMBER

Children’s Services Council of Martin County101 SE Central Parkway

Stuart 772-288-5758www.cscmc.org

4440 PGA Blvd., Ste. 600Palm Beach Gardens

561-623-5349www.jrcconsultinggroup.com

Pamela Sothern Antiques LLC

11764 SE Dixie Highway, Ste. 1Hobe Sound

[email protected]

7756 SE Needle Palm CircleHobe Sound

772-204-5347www.treasurecoastmedride.com

Massage & Facials By Pam

7124 SE Osprey StreetHobe Sound

772-285-0130www.ppbb.skincaretherapy.net

1050 SE Monterey Rd., Ste. 101Stuart

772-419-0560www.tcurgentcare.com

Jan DeMiranda of Illustrated Properties

9148 SE Bridge RoadHobe Sound

772-285-9670 www.ipre.com

Squeaky Clean Windows Hobe Sound

[email protected]

Social Members Brett and Katharina

Nordmann Palm City

[email protected]

Lou Ann Prestgard Hobe Sound

[email protected]

4890 Okeechobee Road, Ste. 101Ft. Pierce

772-461-1201www.egp.com

Artist April Davis, left, assists Yvonne Stutzke, R.N,, owner of Nightingale Private Care, presenting sponsor of the 2014 Hobe Sound Festival of the Arts, in the unveiling of the original artwork for the official Festival of the Arts poster. Raffle tickets for a giclee of Davis'painting will be on sale until Feb. 13 at the Hobe Sound Chamber office: 772.472.4724.Photo: Leo Arbeznik

A & B Aquarium Services LLC

7375 SE Craig StreetHobe Sound

561-756-1480www.abaquariumservices.com

Ken Geary, PresidentJacqueline Morgan, VP of Marketing

3669 SE Salerno RoadStuart

772-221-8698www.breathehealthierair.com

Eclectic Flooring & AccentsAnne Smith

8880 SE Bridge RoadHobe Sound

561-401-5850www.facebook.com/eclecticfloor

Perhaps the person most surprisedat the Hobe Sound Chamber ofCommerce installation dinner at

Mariner Sands on Dec.. 13 was MelindaBrault, of the Geminye Design Group,who won a $1,000 travel voucher fromThe Travel Gallery for being one of 100members who participated in the Cham-ber's 2013 member referral program.

No other surprises came during anevening set aside to recognize the contri-butions made by Chamber membersand to install the business organization'snew leaders for 2014.

“It was really nice to look out into theaudience and to see people's heads nodin agreement with each award,” said An-gela Hoffman, the Hobe Sound Cham-ber's executive director. “Not just once ortwice, but throughout the entire event.”

The Chamber hosted more than 100guests for the luncheon, which wassponsored by Dennis Root & Associates,Fenton Services, Jupiter Medical Centerand Metz Construction Company.

The companies selected as the 2013Business of the Year were Nightingale Pri-vate Care as Large Business of the Year

and Capps Roofing, which recentlycelebrated its 20th year in business,as Small Business of the Year, ac-cording to a Chamber press re-lease. Nightingale was recognizedfor its successful expansion andgrowth over the past year.

“The coveted Pelican Award,which is a Hobe Sound Chambertradition and honor,” Hoffmansaid, “was presented to EricWesel, owner of Jupiter IslandPools, in recognition ofhis participation with theHobe Sound CommunityChest, Habitat for Hu-manity, The Pine School,South Fork High Schooland his leadership rolesheld in the Hobe SoundChamber.”

Other awards in-cluded:

• Ambassador of theYear to Kim Toth, of Ed-ward Jones-Andy An-dersen’s Office, for hercommitment to helpingthe Chamber reach itsmission.

• Committee Chair-person of the Year toWayne Klick, of EyeMar-keting, for his leadershipwith chamber functions.

• Bette Evans was recognized as theVolunteer of the Year to acknowledgeher 25 years as a Hobe Sound Chambervolunteer.

• Philanthropist and Hobe Soundcommunity leader Trent Steele, of theLaw Offices of W. Trent Steele, was hon-ored as Sponsor of the Year.

• The Community Enhancement &Service Award was presented to HapHarrington, founderof the Hobe Soundnon-profit organization,Floridians Fight-ing Falls.

• The United Way of Martin County’sExecutive Director, Jim Vojcsik, presentedthe Unsung Hero Award toJim Freitas of Bottom’s UpBeverages for his behind-the-scenes help and donations tomultiple non-profit fundrais-ers in Martin County.

The new officers ofthe Hobe Sound Cham-ber were installed, in-cluding PresidentCharlene Oakowsky,Oakowsky Properties;Vice President Steve Fen-ton, Fenton Services;Treasurer Jennifer Ahern,Lesser, Lesser, Landy &Smith PLLC; SecretaryIke Crumpler, UpstairsCommunications.

Also on the board isPast President DanHulen, Fifth Third Pro-

cessing Solutions, and Historian Advi-sor Ralph Davino, Secure Storage ofMartin County LLC.

Chamber board members include:Kim Biancardi, Reelgraphics.com;Stacey Brandt, Jupiter Medical Center;Melinda Brault, Geminye Design Group;Jac Crawford, Strategic Realty Services;Michael Ennis, Michael Ennis Construc-tion; Mike McCoy, M&K Publishing;Bob McLean, Avalon Air, Inc.; PeteMorello, The UPS Store; Derreck Ogden,Word of Mouth Computers & Electron-ics, LLC; Dennis Root, Dennis Root &Associates; and Brandon Woodward,

The Law Offices of BrandonWoodward.

To become a member ofthe Hobe Sound Chamber,call 772-546-4724, or visitwww.hobesound.org. ■

Martin County CurrentsFebruary 201424 Hobe Sound Chamber

Blake Capps, of Capps Roofing and recipient of the Small Business of the Year Award.

The prestigious Pelican Award went to Eric Wesel, center, of Jupiter Island Pools, presented by Chamber Executive Director Angela Hoffman and 2013 President Dan Hulen.

Charlene Oakowsky, left, the new president of the Hobe SoundChamber, with Dan Hulen, immediate past president, and Angela Hoffman, executive director.

Suzy Hutcheson, CEO of Helping People Succeed, with Commissioner Doug Smith, who installed the new officers.

Hap Harrington, center, who was recognized forfounding the non-profit organization, FloridiansFighting Falls. All photos by Matt Stone Photography.

Come to your favorite diner for home-cooked, real food servedby friendly staff in a congenial, happy place in Hobe Sound.

WE'RE OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK11189 SE Federal Hwy

Regular hours: 6:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.Open Monday nights 5-8 p.m.

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Yvonne Stutzke, R.N., ownerof Nightingale Private Careand recipient of the LargeBusiness of the Year Award.

Exemplary HoSo businesses, citizens honored

Hobe Sound Chamber Christmas Parade won praise

Many of the 75 units comprising the 28th Annual Hobe Sound Christmas Parade were of such exceptionalquality and demonstrated such creativity that comments flowed constantly from the crowd of 4,000 onlook-ers in December: “Wow, look how high he can kick!” “Can you believe that's from an elementary school?”

“Anne Scott sure shows she's got a sense of humor...I'd never wear that.”The praise for the parade entries extended to the balcony of the Mancuso building on Bridge Road, where the

judges had gathered to observe and select winners. It's also where Chamber volunteer Lillian Johnson, who solicitsparade entrants each fall, stood next to the announcer to identify participants, whisper names in his ear and give thefacts that add color to the event.

Prior to the parade, Christmas music floated along Hobe Sound sidewalks compliments of DancenSound, addingsignificantly to the festive air.

The end of the parade was punctuated with the arrival of Santa and Mrs. Claus seated in a vintage wagon pulledby parade sponsor Scott Fey of Treasure Coast Irrigation/Rood Landscape like a period at the end of a sentence—ex-cept it wasn't the end. Following Santa and Mrs. Claus was the much-anticipated Treasure Coast Irrigation Truck,

spilling thousands of souvenir beach balls for parade goers.Several local businesses opened their doors to offer treats, snacks and beverages to visitors, and

the Kwik Stop parking lot teemed with laughing youngsters in the bounce houseand on the inflatable slide, while their parents enjoyed Kwik Stop's free craftbeer and wine tastings from among the store's vast inventory.

“Each year, this parade gets better and better,” said Moe Nasser, owner of KwikStop. “People just love coming here, not for an hour or two, but to spend the whole day.”

The parade awards included: Most Humorous to Sponge Bob Fan Club Float byMartin County Tax Collector Ruth Pietruszewski and her staff. Hidden Oaks Mid-dle School Band & Color Guard was selected the Best Marching Band. The Most

Original float went to the Girl Scouts of Southeast Florida, Martin County, led byMerribeth Manning. The Best Religious entry went to Kids Kickin’ for Christ; and

the Best Overall went to Hobe Sound Elementary School for its holiday float.Parade supporting sponsors included Bridge Boat and RV Storage, the Hobe

Sound Soccer Club, Coast 101.3 and the Stuart News. ■

Martin County CurrentsFebruary 2014 Hobe Sound Chamber 25

Kiwik Stop's bounce house and slide helpedkept youngsters distracted while waiting forthe parade to start.

The Art Stroll broughtlots of vendors toMars Street, includingDeb Aldrich of PalmCity, along with herAmerican Girl andBarbie doll clothes.

No one had more fun at the Kwik Stop partythan owner Moe Nasser.

One of the winning floats,Spongebob Squarepants, by ourTax Collector Ruth Pietruszewski.

South Fork High School Band. Hobe Sound Elementary Schoolfloat was a crowd-pleasing winner!

Presenting sponsor Scott Fey onhis little green tractor pulling theTreasure Coast Irriigation/RoodLandscape vintage wagon.

Jason Hoffman & Laney.

A parade sponsor, the Hobe Sound Soccer League.

Miss Indiantown Ashley Guerre.

Martin County CurrentsFebruary 201426 An Indiantown Christmas

Rural flavor reflected in Indiantown parade

Cast against a setting sun on Saturday, Dec. 7, the Indiantown Christ-mas celebratory kick-off included a parade full of surprises, laughter,swamp buggies, livestock, tractors and a long line of brightly decorated

golf carts. Schoolchildren donned costumes to sing Christmas carols, the Sail-fish Splash mascot handed out free passes to the waterpark, and a midway onWarfield Blvd. beckoned those attending the Christmas-tree lighting cere-mony in Post Family Park to linger a while longer. “It was a beautifulday,” said Hillary McKeich, executive director of the iTown Chamber ofCommerce, which organized the parade. “You just could not get a morebeautiful day than this in beautiful Indiantown.” ■

A decked-out swamp buggy from DuPuisWildlife Management Area.

A midway full of rides added more lights and sound to the Indiantown celebration.

Abel and Maribel Padilla enjoy theday with their children, Brianna,10, Anahi, 8 and Kamilla, 5.

Mike Pasqual and Jeffrey.

Even Santa rides a swamp buggy in Indiantown.

End of the day, the parade over, the crowds dispersed, but the lighted Christmas tree remains. Photo: Jennifer Dubey

Martin County Commissioner Doug Smith rides on the Indiantown Chamber of Commerce swamp-buggy float with Executive Director Hillary McKeich holding a young hitchhiker.

Hope Rural School Principal Sister Kate Kinnally.

FPL's new natural gas transmission linewill bring economic benefits to area

Nick Blount, FPL vice president,external relations, visited theIndiantown Neighborhood Ad-

visory meeting Jan. 8 to give the mem-bers an update regarding anunderground natural gas pipeline thatwill connect their Indiantown plant tothe Sabal Trail Transmission CentralFlorida Hub just south of Orlando.

The Florida Southeast Connectionproject will include approximately 126miles of interstate natural gas pipelinein Florida and is expected to cost ap-

proximately $550 million to construct.The pipeline will initially be capableof transporting 400 million cubic feetor more of natural gas per day fromSabal Trail’s Central Florida Hub toFPL’s Martin Clean Energy Center inIndiantown.

Construction of the 10-15 mileFlorida Southeast Connection throughMartin County is expected to begin in2016 and will provide an estimatedeconomic impact of around $17 millionduring construction. FPL customers,

however, will not see an increase in thebills in order to pay for construction.

FPL's current transmission lines arereaching near capacity, according toBlount, which will be relieved by theaddition of the new line, at the sametime improving the region's natural gasreliability. Construction of the FloridaSoutheast Connection line, as well asthe interstate line from Alabama, is ex-pected to be completed in 2017.

The Indiantown NAC voted to sup-port the project. ■

Martin County CurrentsFebruary 2014 Indiantown Neighbors 27

NAC members to consider proposed Heritage Center; public workshop Feb 15

Brian Powers, a former representa-tive of Indiantown on the now-disbanded Community

Redevelopment Agency, addressed theJan. 8 meeting of the Indiantown Neigh-borhood Advisory Committee like anold friend who's come back home.

“We've talked about preserving In-diantown's heritage for a long time,”he told the group, “but we had otherpriorities....710 was number one andpreserving our history and the CrackerHouse was about number four...nowwe have an opportunity to gather com-munity input and figure out how to geta path going forward.”

A community meeting, sponsoredby Indiantown Non-Profit Housing,will be Saturday, Feb. 15, from 10 a.m.to 2 p.m. at the Indianwood Clubhouseto get local input on how to renovateand incorporate the Cracker Houseinto a larger venue that might include achickee hut, in addition to other histor-ical buildings.

“This is a beginning,” said NACmember Donna Carman, of In-diantown Non-Profit Housing, “not anend...” Many residents interested in theCracker House have formed an histori-cal preservation committee, which hasmet with the Historical PreservationBoard of Martin County to seek theirsupport, as well.

“We'll discuss what we have,what we need, what we want,” Car-

man added, “and what's the plan toget there.”

Currently on Farm Road on landowned by the King Ranch, the CrackerHouse is one of the oldest structures inthe county, according to Powers. An-other building being considered forrenovation is the feed store, whichoriginally served Indiantown as awarehouse for the railroad.

“Our biggest piece of history is the'Cracker' piece,” Powers added. “Wejust want to get it on your radarscreen...we want you to come to themeeting, but please don't bring yourartifacts.”

Over the next few weeks, the In-diantown NAC will be reviewing theirCommunity Redevelopment Plans toupdate them, and will consider whetherto include the Indiantown HeritageCenter as an “official” CRA project.

“It must be part of the CRA plan ifit's going to be a CRA project,” said Ed-ward Erfurt, of the county CommunityDevelopment Department. He told thegroup that many of the original NOWvisioning plans had never been offi-cially incorporated into the CRA plans,which also must be in compliance withboth the county's ComprehensiveGrowth Management Plan and its LandDevelopment Regulations.

In some cases, such as the CarterPark development, Erfurt added, thecounty had to change its code in order

to permit the project. He recommendedthat the NAC hold a community work-shop to gather public input as to whatthey want established as priorities inthe CRA plan.

“We've already held a lot of work-shops,” said NAC Chair Art Matson,“and we pretty much feel that weknow what the communitywants...they've told us that already, butit sounds like we're being asked to goback to the beginning. I think we needto start first with the members of theNAC, to give us a chance to reviewwhat we have, then we'll have a work-shop with the community, if that'swhat it takes to get County Commis-sion approval....

“We have a lot of work to do,” Mat-son added, “and since we cannot talk toeach other about this outside of ourmeetings, we're going to need to meet alot more often than every three months.”

Matson requested that hard copiesof the CRA plans be provided to eachmember, as well as a monthly meetingdate; however, Erfurt responded thatthe county Community DevelopmentStaff, which now is one staff membershort following the resignation of plan-ner Nakeishea Smith, would prefer tocall for meetings as required.

The next meeting has been scheduledfor 6 p.m., April 9, by the Community De-velopment Department at the IndiantownCivic Center on Osceola Street. ■

Sign up now for iTown Business Expo on April 10

Chuck Barrowclough

PO Box 2596Stuart

772-475-5346 www.treasuredlands.org

Louise Murtaugh430 SE Osceola Street

Stuart 772-223-6659

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Kim Murphy Indiantown

772-342-6880www.petprotector.org

Marybeth Parker16205 SW Warfield Blvd.

Indiantown772-597-2337

Guyton Stone

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INDIANTOWNCHAMBER’S

NEW MEMBERS

Businesses and vendors arenow being sought by theiTown Chamber of Commerce

for its 2014 Business Expo on April10 at the Indiantown RecreationHall, from 5-7 p.m.

“We had a fantastic event last year,”said Hilary McKeich, “with dozens ofpeople attending from throughout thecounty, who got to visit booths hostedby 30 businesses. It's a great way to in-troduce your business to new markets

for as little as $100 and a door prize forthe drawing.”

Call the Indiantown Chamber ofCommerce for more information at772-597-2185, or visit their website:www.indiantownchamber.com. ■

PET PROTECTOR

Each time Indiantown com-munity activist Donna Car-man could get a county or

state official's attention over thepast decade, she pleaded the casefor establishing a medical centerin Indiantown, a community ofabout 11,000 people in westernMartin County who had at least a20-minute drive to reach the near-est medical facility.

As executive director of In-diantown Non-Profit Housing,Inc., a member of the IndiantownNeighborhood Advisory Commit-tee, the Indiantown Chamber andother organizations, Carmannever wavered in her advocacy,which was shared by other In-diantown residents, includingDavid Powers of Indiantown Re-alty Corp. and president of the In-diantown Non-Profit HousingBoard of Directors.

“This has been a long timecoming,” Powers told a gatheringof business and community lead-ers at a Dec. 12 luncheon hostedby the non-profit organization atIndiantown's Seminole Inn to an-nounce the iTown Medical Center'sopening.

“Now that we have it,” he added,“we've got to make sure we can keep itopen.”

Powers lauded Carman and othersfor their vision of purchasing and reno-vating the former Badcock Furniture Co.building on Osceola Street to create acenter for Indiantown's social services

Martin County CurrentsFebruary 2014Indiantown Neighbors28

The iTown Medical Center now open, finally

and affordable housing authority, theweatherization program, and, now,medical care for Indiantown residentsand employees whose income fallsabove the limit required to qualify forcare at the local health clinic.

“If you have not seen what has beendone with this building,” he added, “besure to stop by and see for yourself. It'sbeautiful....and having a medical centeris critical to the future of this commu-nity...we are relying on you, particularlyour large industrial partners in In-diantown, to help us.”

Powers recounted the incentives andattributes that Indiantown offers newbusinesses, which include its EnterpriseZone status, an already existing infra-structure that include broadband and amarina on the only waterway to link thestate's east and west coasts, a rail line, avariety of housing options, good schools,adequate workforce, parks, library, etc.

“We could check off all those boxesimportant to companies looking to relo-cate,” he said, “except for the box besidemedical.”

One of the first tasks of IndiantownNon-Profit Housing, owner and land-lord of the new clinic, was to survey thebusinesses with employees workingwithin a 15-minute radius of In-diantown, the potential patients whomay need medical services in In-diantown, the results of which will as-sist in obtaining grants to purchaseadditional medical equipment and sup-plies, said Carman.

"We have purchased much of theequipment," she added, "but there's stillmore that's needed...we'll be applyingfor additional grants."

The delay in the opening, which hadbeen anticipated in January, was due tothe electrical loads required by some ofthe new equipment, said a spokesper-son, consequently the building requiredupgraded electrical wiring.

Powers introduced the physi-cians who will staff the iTownMedical Center, M. Kamal Syed,M.D., a general practitioner onstaff at Martin Memorial Hospi-tals in Tradition and Stuart, aswell as at Raulerson Hospital inOkeechobee, and his brother,Muhammed Nooruddin, RPT, aphysical therapist who has servedthe Indiantown community parttime for the past three years.

“How fortunate is it that In-diantown's physical therapist hasa brother who is a medical doc-tor?” Powers added.

Educated at the privatelyowned Baqai Medical Universityin Pakistan, Dr. Syed graduatedin 1999 and established his firstpractice in Okeechobee.

“Being already on staff at Mar-tin Memorial,” he told the group,“allows me to offer a continuum ofcare for my patients here shouldanyone need hospitalization.”

The iTown Medical Center,which will accept all major healthinsurance plans, will be able tooffer medical, radiology and re-

habilitative services for primarycare, disease management, bloodworkups, women’s healthcare, X-rays,echocardiograms, EKGs, ultrasound, labservices, injections, cardiac and pul-monary rehabilitation, occupational andvestibular therapy and more.

The doctors will also offer servicesfor local employers including pre-em-ployment physicals, drug testing, andWorkers Compensation-related services.It is anticipated that the medical centerwill employ 14 full-time and 14 part-time workers with an estimated total an-nual payroll of more than $1.1 millionthat will include two part-time nursepractitioners, two full-time licensedpractical nurses, additional therapists,and other professional staff.

“I am so excited to move to a biggerplace and be open five days instead ofthree half days,” said

Nooruddin, who has 20 years' expe-rience in physical therapy. “The smalloffice space I had before limited whattherapies could be offered, and that's nolonger going to be the case.”

According to the clinic's press releaseannouncing the opening, an employ-ment and economic impact study byStrategic Development Initiatives foundthat the clinic would create a positiveeconomic impact of $1.48 million duringits development phase and an annualoperating budget of $1.5 million whenin full operation.

Indiantown residents expect that tobe multiplied by being more attractivenow to other new business.

“A company’s ability to attract askilled workforce is one of the top factorsfor business site selection,” Powers added,“and employees want to live in placeswith easy access to quality healthcare.”

That empty box beside “medical facili-ties” in Indiantown can now be checked. ■

–Barbara Clowdus

The Indiantown Community Service Center at15516 SW Osceola Street in Indiantown that will house the newiTown Medical Center.

Donna Carman, executivedirector, Indiantown Non-Profit Housing M. Kamal Syed, M.D. Muhammed Nooruddin, RPT

David Powers, of Indiantown Realty, president of IndiantownNon-Profit Housing, Inc.

FARMLAND AUCTIONMARTIN COUNTY

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Martin County CurrentsFebruary 2014 Lifestyle 29

Ah, the dreaded New Year's weightloss resolution

With the onset of the New Yearcomes the onset of resolutions.We all tend to make little (or not

so little) commitments—commitments toourselves. commitments to better our-selves, our lives, our health and, most as-suredly, our WAISTLINES!

We often resolve to eat better andhealthier. We resolve to exercise and to doso REGULARLY. In the heat of the moment,we are sincere in our resolutions. We reallyintend to follow through. But rememberwhat your grandmother said about goodintentions paving a certain road?

In the case of our ill-fated, yet seriousresolutions that road leads not to Perdi-tion, but to the health club, the gym or a“diet center.”

A friend of mine who managed ahealth club in Vermont said he wished hecould make his members’ cards out ofbarbell plates. That way, he said, hewould be sure they got some benefit fromcarrying the unused cards around dayafter day. He related that during the lastof January, and by the start of February,the parking lot, the gym and the lockerroom were all filled to capacity. Once the

winds of March blew in, however, thejust-born fervor of his new memberscooled, and the Ides of March saw themdrop as surely as Caesar fell at the “cru-elest blow” of Marc Anthony.

My question to myself—and to all ofyou who are making the same ill-fatedresolution you (and I) have made yearafter year—is this: How can the cycle ofdisappointment (I won’t say failure) bebroken? The first step, I have learned, isto make a firm commitment, not adreamy promise or a maybe commit-ment, but a hard-core promise to your-self: A promise to do your level best to berealistic, to be dedicated and to measureyour success in small steps.

If I had started out on my weight-lossjourney focusing on the total weight I wastrying to shed, I would have drownedmyself in tears of frustration within twoweeks, but because I focused on smallsteps, I needed only to shed three poundsthose first two weeks---and when I did, Iwas successful! That first success helpedto keep me motivated. I never focused onthe “BIG PICTURE” (and believe you me,it was a BIG picture) and could, instead,see even small results as success, and suc-cess breeds more success.

Next, and this is really important, doNOT forbid yourself anything. You can eatwhat you like----you just can’t eat a lot ofanything. Limit portions, eat logically andenjoy what you eat. Talk to your health-care provider about your general healthand your goals, and how best to achieve ahealthy balance between them. Ask about

your optimum caloric intake. Talk aboutan exercise program (but forget that nopain, no gain stuff). If you are pretty inac-tive even a few minutes of walking will bea good start. You’ll get stronger, and as itworks you’ll want to do more.

When I first started, I could walk forabout 15 minutes and never got very farfrom home. Now it’s an hour of walking,and I see the sights of Ridgeway, where Ilive, AND Cambridge, next door.

Here is a new recipe for a supper fa-vorite that I recently “discovered,” sharedand enjoyed. I think you will like it as well.It is low cal, low fat but high flavor. Try it!

POACHED CHICKEN BREAST ALA CREOLE The shining star of New Orleans

cooking is creole. A blending of French,Spanish and African cooking, it maxi-mizes flavor, and in this version, it epito-mizes healthy eating.

INGREDIENTS2 tsp. olive oil2 medium yellow onions, finely chopped1 green pepper, seeded and chopped1 celery stalk, finely chopped½ carrot, chopped1 can crushed tomatoes (14-16 ounce)½ cup chicken stock or broth (low sodium)2 TBS chopped fresh parsley1 tsp. ground thymeDash coarse salt2 or more drops hot sauce (to taste)4 four-ounce, skinless, boneless chicken breasts

Heat oil in non-stick skillet, add andsauté the onions, celery, peppers andcarrot until tender but not browned (5-7minutes). Stir in the tomatoes, broth,herbs, pepper sauce and salt. Do notadd salt if you are using packagedfrozen chicken breasts which a “flavorenhancing” solution injected, whichcontains sodium.

Bring the sauce to a boil, stir, reduceheat and add the chicken. Partially coverthe skillet (use a piece of wax paper or aloose fitting lid). Continue simmering thechicken and sauce 8-10 minutes, andcheck the temperature of the chickenwith an instant read thermometer. Re-move the chicken to serving platter at 160degrees and allow to continue “carry-over cooking” on the platter as the saucethickens in the skillet. You can add“gumbo file,” if you have it, to helpthicken the sauce. When sauce is reducedby half, spoon it over the chicken. Servewith a tossed salad and rice (1/2 cup).

There are approximately 180-190 calo-ries (chicken and ½ cup of sauce) in thedish. The rice adds another 110 calories,and the salad with a low-fat, low-cal dress-ing adds about 50 calories to the meal.

You look and feel better already! ■

George Kleine, a professional chef, writerand entrepreneur in Hobe Sound, recently losta few tons of extra weight. He won't say howmany pounds, but enough to make him an ex-pert on healthy cooking and eating. Send yourquestions, comments and recipes to [email protected].

GeorgeKleine

The Right Bite

Now I know: shingles turns your life upside down

Not long ago, a working manstopped in to see a doctor, signingin at the reception desk. He was

asked what he wanted. He answered, “Ihave the shingles.” He was then told towait. Later he was called into an examin-ing room and was told to remove hisclothes. He complied, and after waitingfor some time, a doctor appeared and en-quired about the purpose of his visit. Theman told him that he had the shingles,and the doctor asked where? The mantold him that they had been deliveredand were outside in his truck waiting tobe unloaded!

When I heard this story, I laughed, butmy own story of shingles is anything butfunny: Instead, it is a story of of pain, de-spair and one of extreme discomfort. I amrecovering from the shingles virus.

Anyone who has experienced chickenpox, has the herpes zoster virus alreadyin his or her system. As we age, we havea much greater possibility of it suddenlybreaking out and disrupting our lives.

I ignored the fact that I could havetaken the shingles vaccine as a preventa-

tive measure, thinking that I far toohealthy, even immune, to the virus. A fool,I was! Let me tell you how it happened:

One day, out of the blue, my head wason fire with electric pulses of pain, tin-gling through the nerves of my face, eyesand scalp. Blisters had appeared alongalong my hairline and across one eye andthe eyelid, down my face and into theside of my nose. The itching and painwere excruciating.

The “shingles” are actually tiny fes-toons of a rash that looks similar to poi-son ivy. Nothing would alleviate mypain, however. No cream, pill or any-thing else that I could find would help,forcing me finally to the emergencyroom, where I was vomiting from thedesperate pain. The physician prescribedan anti-viral medication to stop the shin-gles from spreading. (There is a seven-day window for this to be effective.)

I wound up living with the itchingand pain every second, minute, hour, dayand week for three months. It was devas-tating. There were times I wanted to die.Thankfully, my friends and neighborssupported me, bringing me food, givingme encouragement, and providing mewith transportation.

Now I am left with scars on thecornea of one of my eyes resulting in im-paired vision, as well as post-hermeticneuralgia, a nerve impairment causingconstant nerve tingling. Having been ashingles sufferer, I now hear the storiesof many other fellow sufferers. One

thing I've learned—and understand—isthat shingles sufferers commit the high-est number of suicides among the olderpopulation. The damage can last foryears. Shingles can occur in the brain,throat, and in other organs throughoutthe body. It needs to be taken muchmore seriously.

I can attest to the fact that my life hasdrastically changed since the onslaughtof shingles. Yes, the immunization costsaround $200, and most insurance planscover only a portion of that, but considerthat the cost of my medications to treat

shingles exceeded $900. The preventativeshot is a bargain in comparison.

Talk to your doctor when you getyour annual physical, if not before. Findout if you are a candidate for the immu-nization, which greatly reduces yourodds of ever having to go through what Ijust did. And don't procrastinate, becauseshingles is no laughing matter. ■

Suzanne Briley, who lives in Hobe Sound,is an artist, author, entrepreneur, environ-mentalist and world traveler. She may be con-tacted at hopscotch@ hscurrents.com.

SuzanneBriley

Hopscotch

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Martin County CurrentsFebruary 2014Lifestyle30

Helen Kagan’s “healing” art res-onates anywhere due to its dra-matic outburst of colors,

powerful pictorial syntax and auniquely unforgettable style, whichgives it universal appeal.Her paintings have beenfeatured nationally at nu-merous, prestigious art exhi-bitions and juried art showsand can be found at variousprivate collections in the USand Europe.

In December, Helen’s artwas exhibited at the “Spec-trum” during Art Baselweek in Miami, and her re-cent piece, “In Search ofMeaning,” won a frontcover contest in the “Art &Beyond” magazine. Herpainting, “Big City Light,”won second prize in a Ki-netic Pointillism contestheld recently at the coffeebar, Blue Door, in Stuart.

Beautiful as it is, her artis so much more than just afeast for the eyes. Imbuedwith a profound spiritual en-ergy, it connects us with ourinner self with its immensepotential for self-healing, mind-openingand creative growth, according to Helen.

“Communicating on subliminal lev-els,” she explains on her website, “my artdelivers this message through positivelycharged intention, healing frequencies ofcolor, and energetically balanced compo-sition. My 'Healing Art' is better experi-enced 'in-person' due to deep texture,large size and vibrant colors.”

Helen came to the United States in1990 as a refugee from Russia with aPhD in science and a master's degree inpsychology. She moved to Stuart a fewyears ago as a full-time artist from NewYork where she had worked for manyyears as a psychotherapist, although shehas been painting as long as she remem-bers, she says.

A rich Jewish heritage is intertwinedwith what is called the “Russian intelli-gentsia” for whom the art is as sacred asan icon for a religious person. She de-scribes her childhood as growing up

among physicists and lyricists who were“tuned into each other,” like her father, arenowned scientist, and mother, a tal-ented short story writer.

This deep cultural archetype of a cos-mic, holistic mindset with bits and piecesof collective planetary knowledge con-verging—rather than being ripped apartindividualistically—shaped Helen’s in-tellectual “venue” for both painting and

for healing, expressed in her recurringsymbol of a bridge, Helen’s “Holy ofHolies,” which unifies that which seemsdisconnected and broken.

Her painting, “Bridge to Hope,” wasdonated to the Treasure Coast Hospicelast January. During the unveiling cere-mony at the Osceola32 Gallery, Helensaid that “hope, no matter what, is al-ways there,” the words that invoke EmilyDickinson’s well-known stanza: “Hope isthe thing with feathers, That perches inthe soul, And sings the tunes without thewords, And never stops – at all.”

And neither does Helen’s art, whichtranslates the tunes of hope into a uni-versal language of mind-blowing colorsand vivid imagery. Even though we allrecognize the Roosevelt Bridge in herpainting, it appears totally transformed,ablaze with the purple-red sunset, neverseen before though we may traverse thebridge daily. Yet it's not just the colorsand the striking setting that stun theviewer utmost, but rather the pure cos-

mic energy the can-vas exudes withevery hue and theslightest detail, suchas the couple watch-ing the sunset fromthe deck and beingconsumed withsomething irre-sistibly powerful. AsStuart’s flaming sun-set drops its multi-hued feathers intodeep waters beneath,Helen’s bridgeseems to breathe abreeze of hope that“perches” every-where because of thetotality of its nature.

As a painter, Helen was in-spired by impressionism and ex-pressionism. In her art, these twoaesthetics are bridged withground-breaking novelty, al-though historically the two ex-cluded and somewhatdiminished each other. As a greatGerman expressionist, EmilNolde, stated, “Whoever paintsflowers paints their deeper-lyinglife, the soul.” For him, just thesheer fleeting beauty of a flower,trapped in the back-and-forth ofshade and light, right now andright here – the pictorial gram-mar cherished by impressionists -- was less meaningful than itsinner, everlasting essence.

For Helen, both tonalities areharmonized. Impressionist joiede vivre with its emphasis on thenow is gracefully entwined with

the inner, undying luminous essencevalued by expressionists.

In her recent “gothic” cityscapes ofstunning power and integrity, “InSearch of Meaning” and “Eternal Por-tal,” light as the ultimate manifestationof hope engulfs everyone who happensto view either from both inside and out-side the canvas, showing the way in andout. The deep, multi-layered meaning ofeach piece is conveyed through thedense texture and intense polyphony ofclose and contrasting values that re-leases a floating, healing aura we takewith us as we walk away.

The light as the apex of HelenKagan’s art is so strong that it remindsus of the sunshine that breaks throughthe closed window of our visions andcompels us to finally open it . . . for self-healing and self-discovery. ■

Russian-American Maya Ellenson, whoholds M.A. and PhD degrees in Russianlanguage and literature from Moscow StateUniversity, has lived in Martin County foreight years. A free-lance writer, she has aparticular interest in world culture and art.

Kagan provides us a healing symphony of colorMaya

Ellenson

Art Kaleidoscope

"In Search of Meaning" was the featured artwork on the cover of the Art & Beyondmagazine.

"Eternal Portal"

Artist Helen Kagan with her painting of the RooseveltBridge in Stuart, "Bridge to Hope."

Mark Perry, executive director ofthe Florida Oceanographic So-ciety, kicked-off the

free Florida OceanographicSociety's

Coastal Lecture Series at the Blake Li-brary that launched in January. Perrydiscussed the Society's past 50 years ofenvironmental stewardship, along witha display of photographs, and an expla-nation of Plan 6 to move water southfrom Lake Okeechobee.

The lectures, held in the library'sJohn F. Armstrong Wing, 2351 SE Mon-terey Road in Stuart in partnership

with the MartinCounty LibrarySystem, willfeature thearea’s leading

coastal expertson two

Mondays a month through April, be-ginning at 6:30p.m. Reservations arenot required.

The next lecture will be Feb. 10 withDr. Joshua Voss, assistant research pro-fessor at Florida Atlantic University’sHarbor Branch Oceanographic Insti-tute. He works to discover, character-ize and protect coral reef ecosystems.He has completed more than 1,100 sci-entific dives and led more than 30 sci-entific expeditions.

Feb. 24 - Gene Lemire, “MosquitoManagement”

March 10 - Blair and Dawn Withering-ton, “Florida’s Living Beaches”

March 24 - Nicole Kir-choff, “The Making of aHappy, Healthy Southern

Bluefin Tuna”April 7 - Scott Taylor, “Spe-

cialized Habitat and Adapta-tions of the Mangrove Rivulus”

April 21 - Gabby Barbarite,“Vibrio Bacteria in the Indian

River Lagoon”For more information, visit

FloridaOcean.org or call 772-225-0505. ■

It's a lovely, touristy 70-degree tropicalday in south Florida. That being said,are we really experiencing the phe-

nomena that we Floridite's call “winter”?I don't mind not having any snow any-more in my life, but couldn't Santa havebrought me something I would haveliked for Christmas? It didn't have to beunder my tree; I just wanted to open thedoor and feel chilly! Ho, Ho, Ho: NOcold air means NO cold seas, and NOpompano! And I used to believe....in-stead, we're back to “square zero.”

Since I have been forecasting the seatemps for the Florida region for years, Ifeel that I'm “regionally oriented.” Forexample, on Dec. 10, a lackluster localcatch indicated a definitive need to pullanchor and try to pull off a REELCATCH! Nothing like being the local“Pompano Reporter” and needing toprove—at least to myself—that I stillhave what it takes to be regarded as atrue, goateed mariner. A week of plan-ning for a pre-frontal harvest during ananticipated sea-temperature drop inNew Smyrna Beach panned out. Aphoto that captured the results becamemy Christmas card!

Indeed, my Ponce Inlet fishing bud-dies announced that the "Silver Arrival"

was igniting, but the "Final Jeopardy"questions included: Will I need live sandfleas, fresh sea clams, or live blue crabs?Fishing a natural seashore involves morepreparation than fishing local, as I do,with frozen fleas and shrimp, so the onlysolution was to arm myself with allthree. What a nightmare! The bait safariincluded two, late=evening partial moonrakes for fleas and having to await theCod and Caper deliveries for clams.

I've been at PonceInlet before and alreadyknew that my Fluorocar-bon Pompano CatcherRigs would not attractthose northern fish. Themental archives finallyawoke, and I settled onthe single-strand, lightleader with 5mm goldand yellow sparkle beads.They were the ticket.

The beach gatesopened at 7 a.m., andseeing 10 miles of anearly-sunlit horizon blewmy watery mind. Nu-merous trucks raced toareas of wider anddeeper troughs that resi-dent anglers well under-stood. I drove myTundra north towardsPonce Inlet, staked myparcel and quicklylearned that the bluecrab's meaty knuckleswas the off-the-walls bestbait that day! (And I'mtoo modest to offer an-

other photo of me with my pompanohaul from that “northern” beach.)

Meanwhile, my local fishing buddy,CJ, demonstrated in this photo of himwith a double header bonefish danglingduring a huge southeaster of 20 knots ofwhat is running the waters this winterfrom Jupiter to Sebastian, a mere 110miles of Key West fish.

The bones love pompano rigs adornedby blanched and or live fleas. I have to

admit they provide a wonderful, zippyfight pumping on the low water flats. Forthose of you who want to charter for theseguys in the Keys, save the gas and expenseand fish right around here! (My apologiesto the guides down south. I'm often a face-tious tiger shark with a one-track mind. Idon't much care about anything exceptcatchin' pompanooos, and helping otherslearn the where's and the how's.)

A cold winter is happening every-where but here, it seems. The extremelycold February 2014 forecast is weaken-ing, and the fishing reports are evolvinginto scribbles such as I have just scrib-bled. No, I'm not depressed, because I'moptimistic. I know these fish will showup out of the blue!

Come on, I dare you, Pompano.Don't remake me into the “Tropical Surf-Casting Reporter!” I defy you. Make allof us a believer again.

Now we've had a few REALLY colddays this month, and it's even colder inthe northeast. Will that make a differ-ence to our silver bullets? I'll be sure tolet you know next month. ■

Rich Vidulich, a commercial pompano surffisherman who traverses the beaches ofMartin County and points north for his"golden nuggets," lives in Jupiter. Sendcomments or questions to [email protected].

Martin County CurrentsFebruary 2014 Outdoors 31

What none of us got for Christmas in 2013

Coastal lectures continue at Blake

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Akios Long Cast Reels"Engineered to last and cast smoother

than any reel around"

Surf Fishing Charters targeting POMPANO Casting and Surf Fishing Seminars.

RICH VIDULICH, AUTHORIZED DEALERwww.pompanorich.com

[email protected]

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Rich Vidulich

Pompano Reporter

Surf fisherman, CJ, "smokin' the bones" two at a time at NorthFederal Preserve in Hobe Sound. Photo: Rich Vidulich

Mark Perry, executive director of FloridaOceanographic Society.Photo: Provided

Martin County CurrentsFebruary 2014An Indiantown Moment32

The voices of angelsThe holiday season in Indiantown was enriched by the December performance of youngest of holiday choirs, the kindergarten students of the HopeRural School of Indiantown. The private school students sang several traditional Christmas carols during the Christmas tree lighting ceremony atthe Homer Wall Gazebo next to the Elisabeth Lahti Library. The happy day was capped by more student performances under a setting sun.

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Martin County Currents February 2014 Vol. 3 Issue #8

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