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Town-Crier Newspaper January 23, 2015

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Volume 36, Number 4 January 23 - January 29, 2015 Your Community Newspaper Serving Palms West Since 1980 TOWN-CRIER THE WELLINGTON ROYAL PALM BEACH LOXAHATCHEE THE ACREAGE INSIDE DEPARTMENT INDEX NEWS .............................. 3 - 11 OPINION ................................. 4 CRIME NEWS ......................... 6 NEWS BRIEFS ........................ 8 PEOPLE ................................ 15 SCHOOLS ...................... 16 - 17 COLUMNS ......................18, 27 BUSINESS .................... 28 - 29 SPORTS ........................ 33 - 35 CALENDAR ........................... 36 CLASSIFIEDS ................37 - 40 Visit Us On The Web At WWW.GOTOWNCRIER.COM OPINION BRIGHT HORIZONS OPEN IN WELLINGTON SEE STORY, PAGE 7 WELLINGTON REGIONAL HONORS MLK SEE STORY, PAGE 4 The 103rd annual South Florida Fair kicked off last Friday at the South Florida Fairgrounds. The fun continues through Sunday, Feb. 1. The fair’s theme is “Las Vegas Exposition: A Jackpot of Memories.” Shown here is the Las Vegas on Ice show during the opening ceremonies. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 22 PHOTO BY DENISE FLEISCHMAN/TOWN-CRIER SOUTH FLORIDA FAIR HEADS TO LAS VEGAS By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report The Royal Palm Beach Village Council again turned down an re- quest by the new owners of the Cy- press Key mixed-use development last week for less office space and increased retail space, including a Walmart Neighborhood Market grocery store. The development is on the north side of State Road 7, just east of the Crestwood Square shopping plaza. The change in question was on the commercial part of the development only. The residential portion, purchased recently by K Hovnanian, is now under separate ownership. Royal Palm Beach Planning & Zoning Director Bradford O’Brien said the application was to change certain requirements of the vil- lage’s mixed-use regulations so that the uses could be more flexibly located, rather than having office space over retail uses in the two- story plan. Village planning staff recom- mended denial, and the Royal Palm Beach Planning & Zoning Commission, sitting as the Local Planning Agency, unanimously recommended denial at its Dec. 3 meeting. The originally approved project is vested because work had been started before the recession halted its progress seven years ago. “I don’t need to tell you this project has had a long history,” said attorney Marty Perry, repre- senting the developer. “It began in controversy that included litiga- tion. It resulted in an approval that is 125,000 square feet of office and retail.” Perry explained that the first amendment submitted by the new owner received a recommenda- tion of approval by staff, but was rejected by the council. “They are now recommending denial, and I understand the ratio- nale for that,” Perry said. “That’s based on recommendations that have been made subsequently by the council. When it went to the Planning & Zoning Commission it was recommended for approval. When it got to the council, it was rejected by a 4-1 vote. We went back to staff to see if we could revise the plan in some manner that could make it more acceptable not only to the council, but also to the residents. We’re here before you for two reasons, number one, in some ways to bid you adios, and in other ways just to make one final pitch here.” Consultant Fred Angelo said he had been reaching out to the community to gain support for the project, calling on 942 people, and found that 62 percent of the people support the newly proposed project, including a grocery store, which is not in the currently ap- proved project. He added that many of the people he surveyed would prefer a passive park along Southern Blvd., but that the traffic light at the entrance would not be warranted by the Florida Depart- ment of Transportation with just the residential element. Traffic engineer Kyle Duncan said traffic on Southern Blvd. was destined to increase with the developments that have been ap- proved to the west. “We need the commercial portion in order to meet that [traffic signal] warrant,” Duncan said. Perry reiterated that the project is vested with the approval granted 10 years ago. “We have a plan that we spent a great deal of time on,” he said. “It was well-intentioned and basically it got approved. It’s vested cur- rently, and it could stay that way for some time because construc- tion has commenced.” He also resubmitted a letter from commercial real estate expert Neil Merin indicating that the market does not exist for the amount of office space allocated for the site. “We are required to build 62,500 Royal Palm Council Rejects The Latest Cypress Key Plan See CYPRESS KEY, page 21 By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report Florida Department of Trans- portation District 4 Program Man- ager Stacy Miller gave an update on delays to the State Road 7 extension project at last week’s Royal Palm Beach Village Council meeting, and the reaction from council members was plain frus- tration. At the Jan. 15 meeting, Miller explained that FDOT recently re- leased its tentative work program for 2016 through 2020, and the plan had moved completion of the final SR 7 connection — 60th Street North to Northlake Blvd. — from 2016 to 2020. “That draft tentative work pro- gram has been presented to the technical advisory committees in Palm Beach County and also the Metropolitan Planning Or- ganization, and we held a public hearing for District 4 in Decem- ber to discuss the projects that were included in the tentative program,” Miller said. “All of our information has been provided to our central office in Tallahassee, and the next steps are for a public hearing with the Florida Trans- portation Commission, coming up in March. Included in that draft work program is the State Road 7 project.” In the previously adopted work program are two segments of State Road 7, the southern segment and the northern one. The northern segment goes from 60th Street to Northlake Blvd. The southern part, with two lanes already finished by the county, runs from Okeechobee Blvd. to Persimmon Blvd. That southern section is now scheduled to be made into four lanes next FDOT Report On SR 7 Delay Frustrates RPB Officials year, rather than starting work on the northern segment. Miller explained that the agency was unable to hold northern fund- ing in fiscal year 2017 and ulti- mately presented a draft tentative work program moving the project to fiscal year 2020, the last year of the tentative work program. “Originally, the northern piece was in fiscal year 2016, but it had to move to 2017 at a minimum because there is right-of-way ac- quisition involved in the northern project,” she said. “So, we had to first move it to 2017. Unfortu- nately, we could no longer afford it, and made every effort to move it to 2018 and 2019, and ultimately we funded the project in fiscal year 2020.” FDOT presented the work pro- gram at the MPO hearing in early See FDOT, page 21 By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report The Loxahatchee Groves Town Council approved the preliminary reading of an ordinance Tuesday to impose a moratorium on the processing and review of applica- tions to the town’s comprehensive plan relating to commercial uses on Okeechobee Blvd. The council had talked for sev- eral months about a moratorium after its denial of the Day family’s application for a project at the southwest corner of Folsom Road and Okeechobee Blvd. had led to litigation. In November, the council ap- proved a litigated settlement for a small-scale land use change and rezoning for the 10-acre parcel Lox Groves OKs Commercial Moratorium On Okeechobee See MORATORIUM, page 21 Event In Royal Palm Beach Honors Dr. King’s Legacy By Julie Unger Town-Crier Staff Report The Royal Palm Beach Cultural Center was filled to capacity Mon- day as the Caribbean-Americans for Community Involvement (CAFCI) and the Village of Royal Palm Beach presented the 13th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration. This year’s theme was “Love… The Most Durable Power in the World.” The event was organized by CAFCI’s Cultural Committee, led Cultural Director Elet Cyris and committee members Marjorie Aiken, Hope Francis, Margaret Granada, Shirley Morrison, Paul Baker, Hensworth Fergueson, Ernie Garvey, Winsom Martin and Geneive White. Sponsored in part by a grant from the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County, the celebration began with a continental breakfast from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m., where attendees gathered, chatted and got ready to enjoy an outstanding presentation and show. The presentation began with a flag ceremony led by Boy Scouts Troop 111, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance, and the national anthem sung by Demi Master and Lauren Galin. Father Willie Davila led the crowd in an invocation. Royal Palm Beach Councilman Pinto created a transition to the program, reminding attendees of the reason for the gathering. “Are you ready to celebrate a wonderful man who has meant so much to this country and so much to this world, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.?” he asked. The CAFCI initiative began 13 years ago, Pinto said, before recog- nizing local dignitaries, including former County Commissioner Jess Santamaria; Wellington Mayor Bob Margolis; Royal Palm Beach Mayor Matty Mattioli, Vice Mayor David Swift and councilmen Richard Valuntas and Jeff Hmara; County Commissioner Melissa McKinlay; and Riviera Beach Mayor Thomas Masters. CAFCI President Dennis See MLK IN RPB, page 7 Fill Wellington Council Vacancy With An Independent Thinker The appointment of former Wellington Councilman Howard Coates to a seat on the circuit court bench is a loss for the Village of Wellington. Coates was an independent voice and skilled consensus builder on a council that often found itself in the need of a voice of com- promise. These are qualities that will serve him well on the bench, but could very well be missing from council delibera- tions in the future, if the wrong person fills the vacancy. Page 4 Wright then took the podium and said, “Welcome to everyone today as you help us celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King’s Day, his birthday. It is an honor and a privilege to welcome you all to the 13th an- nual Dr. Martin Luther King Day Tribute Celebration.” Last year, he said, CAFCI pre- sented 17 scholarships to help students achieve their dreams. CAFCI has many programs, in- cluding some for seniors. “Many people remember Dr. King for his March for Freedom and his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech, but his legacy was much more than that. He provided the impetus and the leadership to end the fear of living, especially in the south, for African-Americans,” Wright said. “To many of us, that fear is over, but we know the battle has not yet been won. We must fight to end brutality. We must continue to fight to end economic injustice, for an end to the prison industrial complex that incarcerates some of POLO FOR A PURPOSE EVENT AT IPC On Monday, Jan. 19, more than 250 guests enjoyed a luncheon and silent auction at the Interna- tional Polo Club Palm Beach as part of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Polo for a Purpose event. The day also featured a star-studded polo match. Players Brandon Phillips, Jeff Blake, Sugar Erskine, Mariano Gracida, Jeff Hall, Kris Kampsen, Carlitos Gracida and Nic Roldan wowed the crowd as they played to benefit the organization. Shown here are Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Honored Heroes Bruce Steinberg and Piper Apfel with event chairs Visse Wedell and P.J. Rizvi. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 11 PHOTO BY JULIE UNGER/TOWN-CRIER east of the Red Barn property. The zoning changes the land use from rural residential, one unit per five acres, to commercial low to accommodate future develop- ment to a maximum of 5.3 acres of commercial use. The changes were the result of litigation between the town and the property owners after the council initially refused to approve com- mercial development on the land, although town staff had advised that under the comp plan and land use code as written, the Days were entitled to commercial develop- ment there. Town Attorney Michael Cirullo said the moratorium would be in effect until May 31, and the Loxa- hatchee Groves Planning & Zon- ing Board would begin discussing the necessary comprehensive plan changes at its next meeting. Mayor David Browning explained that the density on Okeechobee Blvd. is currently the same as on Southern Blvd., which was where council members had decided they wanted to focus on commercial development while developing the comp plan. “When we dealt with the project that was proposed on Okeechobee, we realized that we had a problem because we had the same floor area ratio on Okeechobee as we did on Southern, which was re- ally nobody’s intent to have that intensive commercial,” Brown- ing said. “This is why we put the Abasi Hanif performs with an African drum during Monday’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration in Royal Palm Beach. PHOTO BY JULIE UNGER/TOWN-CRIER Filing For Elections Opens On Jan. 27 In Royal Palm, Lox Groves The formal filing period gets underway Tuesday, Jan. 27 for the March 10 municipal elec- tions in Royal Palm Beach and Loxahatchee Groves. Page 3 Royal Palm Beach Elementary School Kids Salute First Responders On Friday, Jan. 16, Royal Palm Beach Elementary School held a special event to honor first responders. The school’s first grade classes prepared presen- tations and songs, while also enjoying the chance to meet real life heroes. Page 5 Western Business Alliance’s IPC Lunch A Sold-Out Success The Western Business Alli- ance held its first luncheon at the International Polo Club Palm Beach in Wellington on Wednesday, Jan. 14. The lun- cheon was the group’s first event in 2015 and coincided with the kickoff of the eques- trian season. John Wash, presi- dent of club operations at IPC, addressed the sold-out crowd. Page 9 Wellington Council Could Choose Coates Replacement Shortly The Wellington Village Council will hear presentations Monday from applicants seeking to fill the seat of former Councilman Howard Coates. Page 3
Transcript
Page 1: Town-Crier Newspaper January 23, 2015

Volume 36, Number 4January 23 - January 29, 2015Your Community Newspaper Serving Palms West Since 1980

TOWN-CRIERTHE

WELLINGTON • ROYAL PALM BEACH • LOXAHATCHEE • THE ACREAGE

INSIDE

DEPARTMENT INDEXNEWS ..............................3 - 11OPINION ................................. 4CRIME NEWS ......................... 6NEWS BRIEFS ........................ 8PEOPLE ................................ 15SCHOOLS ......................16 - 17COLUMNS ......................18, 27BUSINESS .................... 28 - 29SPORTS ........................ 33 - 35CALENDAR ...........................36CLASSIFIEDS ................37 - 40

Visit Us On The Web AtWWW.GOTOWNCRIER.COM

OPINION

BRIGHT HORIZONS OPEN IN WELLINGTONSEE STORY, PAGE 7

WELLINGTON REGIONAL HONORS MLKSEE STORY, PAGE 4

The 103rd annual South Florida Fair kicked off last Friday at the South Florida Fairgrounds. The fun continues through Sunday, Feb. 1. The fair’s theme is “Las Vegas Exposition: A Jackpot of Memories.” Shown here is the Las Vegas on Ice show during the opening ceremonies. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 22

PHOTO BY DENISE FLEISCHMAN/TOWN-CRIER

SOUTH FLORIDA FAIR HEADS TO LAS VEGAS

By Ron BukleyTown-Crier Staff Report

The Royal Palm Beach Village Council again turned down an re-quest by the new owners of the Cy-press Key mixed-use development last week for less office space and increased retail space, including a Walmart Neighborhood Market grocery store.

The development is on the north side of State Road 7, just east of the Crestwood Square shopping plaza. The change in question was on the commercial part of the development only. The residential portion, purchased recently by K Hovnanian, is now under separate ownership.

Royal Palm Beach Planning & Zoning Director Bradford O’Brien said the application was to change certain requirements of the vil-lage’s mixed-use regulations so that the uses could be more flexibly located, rather than having office space over retail uses in the two-story plan.

Village planning staff recom-mended denial, and the Royal Palm Beach Planning & Zoning Commission, sitting as the Local Planning Agency, unanimously recommended denial at its Dec. 3 meeting.

The originally approved project is vested because work had been started before the recession halted its progress seven years ago.

“I don’t need to tell you this project has had a long history,” said attorney Marty Perry, repre-senting the developer. “It began in controversy that included litiga-tion. It resulted in an approval that is 125,000 square feet of office and retail.”

Perry explained that the first amendment submitted by the new owner received a recommenda-tion of approval by staff, but was rejected by the council.

“They are now recommending denial, and I understand the ratio-nale for that,” Perry said. “That’s based on recommendations that

have been made subsequently by the council. When it went to the Planning & Zoning Commission it was recommended for approval. When it got to the council, it was rejected by a 4-1 vote. We went back to staff to see if we could revise the plan in some manner that could make it more acceptable not only to the council, but also to the residents. We’re here before you for two reasons, number one, in some ways to bid you adios, and in other ways just to make one final pitch here.”

Consultant Fred Angelo said he had been reaching out to the community to gain support for the project, calling on 942 people, and found that 62 percent of the people support the newly proposed project, including a grocery store, which is not in the currently ap-proved project. He added that many of the people he surveyed would prefer a passive park along Southern Blvd., but that the traffic light at the entrance would not be warranted by the Florida Depart-ment of Transportation with just the residential element.

Traffic engineer Kyle Duncan said traffic on Southern Blvd. was destined to increase with the developments that have been ap-proved to the west. “We need the commercial portion in order to meet that [traffic signal] warrant,” Duncan said.

Perry reiterated that the project is vested with the approval granted 10 years ago.

“We have a plan that we spent a great deal of time on,” he said. “It was well-intentioned and basically it got approved. It’s vested cur-rently, and it could stay that way for some time because construc-tion has commenced.”

He also resubmitted a letter from commercial real estate expert Neil Merin indicating that the market does not exist for the amount of office space allocated for the site.

“We are required to build 62,500

Royal Palm Council Rejects The Latest Cypress Key Plan

See CYPRESS KEY, page 21

By Ron BukleyTown-Crier Staff Report

Florida Department of Trans-portation District 4 Program Man-ager Stacy Miller gave an update on delays to the State Road 7 extension project at last week’s Royal Palm Beach Village Council meeting, and the reaction from council members was plain frus-tration.

At the Jan. 15 meeting, Miller explained that FDOT recently re-leased its tentative work program for 2016 through 2020, and the plan had moved completion of the final SR 7 connection — 60th Street North to Northlake Blvd. — from 2016 to 2020.

“That draft tentative work pro-gram has been presented to the technical advisory committees in Palm Beach County and also the Metropolitan Planning Or-

ganization, and we held a public hearing for District 4 in Decem-ber to discuss the projects that were included in the tentative program,” Miller said. “All of our information has been provided to our central office in Tallahassee, and the next steps are for a public hearing with the Florida Trans-portation Commission, coming up in March. Included in that draft work program is the State Road 7 project.”

In the previously adopted work program are two segments of State Road 7, the southern segment and the northern one. The northern segment goes from 60th Street to Northlake Blvd. The southern part, with two lanes already finished by the county, runs from Okeechobee Blvd. to Persimmon Blvd. That southern section is now scheduled to be made into four lanes next

FDOT Report On SR 7 Delay Frustrates RPB Officials

year, rather than starting work on the northern segment.

Miller explained that the agency was unable to hold northern fund-ing in fiscal year 2017 and ulti-mately presented a draft tentative work program moving the project to fiscal year 2020, the last year of the tentative work program.

“Originally, the northern piece was in fiscal year 2016, but it had to move to 2017 at a minimum because there is right-of-way ac-quisition involved in the northern project,” she said. “So, we had to first move it to 2017. Unfortu-nately, we could no longer afford it, and made every effort to move it to 2018 and 2019, and ultimately we funded the project in fiscal year 2020.”

FDOT presented the work pro-gram at the MPO hearing in early

See FDOT, page 21

By Ron BukleyTown-Crier Staff Report

The Loxahatchee Groves Town Council approved the preliminary reading of an ordinance Tuesday to impose a moratorium on the processing and review of applica-tions to the town’s comprehensive plan relating to commercial uses on Okeechobee Blvd.

The council had talked for sev-eral months about a moratorium after its denial of the Day family’s application for a project at the southwest corner of Folsom Road and Okeechobee Blvd. had led to litigation.

In November, the council ap-proved a litigated settlement for a small-scale land use change and rezoning for the 10-acre parcel

Lox Groves OKs Commercial Moratorium On Okeechobee

See MORATORIUM, page 21

Event In Royal Palm Beach Honors Dr. King’s LegacyBy Julie Unger

Town-Crier Staff ReportThe Royal Palm Beach Cultural

Center was filled to capacity Mon-day as the Caribbean-Americans for Community Involvement (CAFCI) and the Village of Royal Palm Beach presented the 13th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration.

This year’s theme was “Love… The Most Durable Power in the World.” The event was organized by CAFCI’s Cultural Committee, led Cultural Director Elet Cyris and committee members Marjorie Aiken, Hope Francis, Margaret Granada, Shirley Morrison, Paul Baker, Hensworth Fergueson, Ernie Garvey, Winsom Martin and Geneive White.

Sponsored in part by a grant from the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County, the celebration began with a continental breakfast from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m., where attendees gathered, chatted and got ready to enjoy an outstanding presentation and show.

The presentation began with a flag ceremony led by Boy Scouts Troop 111, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance, and the national anthem sung by Demi Master and Lauren Galin. Father Willie Davila led the crowd in an invocation.

Royal Palm Beach Councilman Pinto created a transition to the program, reminding attendees of the reason for the gathering.

“Are you ready to celebrate a wonderful man who has meant so much to this country and so much to this world, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.?” he asked.

The CAFCI initiative began 13 years ago, Pinto said, before recog-nizing local dignitaries, including former County Commissioner Jess Santamaria; Wellington Mayor Bob Margolis; Royal Palm Beach Mayor Matty Mattioli, Vice Mayor David Swift and councilmen Richard Valuntas and Jeff Hmara; County Commissioner Melissa McKinlay; and Riviera Beach Mayor Thomas Masters.

CAFCI President Dennis See MLK IN RPB, page 7

Fill Wellington Council Vacancy With AnIndependent ThinkerThe appointment of former Wellington Councilman Howard Coates to a seat on the circuit court bench is a loss for the Village of Wellington. Coates was an independent voice and skilled consensus builder on a council that often found itself in the need of a voice of com-promise. These are qualities that will serve him well on the bench, but could very well be missing from council delibera-tions in the future, if the wrong person fills the vacancy. Page 4

Wright then took the podium and said, “Welcome to everyone today as you help us celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King’s Day, his birthday. It is an honor and a privilege to welcome you all to the 13th an-nual Dr. Martin Luther King Day Tribute Celebration.”

Last year, he said, CAFCI pre-sented 17 scholarships to help students achieve their dreams. CAFCI has many programs, in-cluding some for seniors.

“Many people remember Dr. King for his March for Freedom and his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech, but his legacy was much more than that. He provided the impetus and the leadership to end the fear of living, especially in the south, for African-Americans,” Wright said. “To many of us, that fear is over, but we know the battle has not yet been won. We must fight to end brutality. We must continue to fight to end economic injustice, for an end to the prison industrial complex that incarcerates some of

PHOTO BY DENISE FLEISCHMAN/TOWN-CRIER

POLO FOR A PURPOSE EVENT AT IPC

On Monday, Jan. 19, more than 250 guests enjoyed a luncheon and silent auction at the Interna-tional Polo Club Palm Beach as part of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Polo for a Purpose event. The day also featured a star-studded polo match. Players Brandon Phillips, Jeff Blake, Sugar Erskine, Mariano Gracida, Jeff Hall, Kris Kampsen, Carlitos Gracida and Nic Roldan wowed the crowd as they played to benefit the organization. Shown here are Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Honored Heroes Bruce Steinberg and Piper Apfel with event chairs Visse Wedell and P.J. Rizvi.

MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 11PHOTO BY JULIE UNGER/TOWN-CRIER

east of the Red Barn property. The zoning changes the land use from rural residential, one unit per five acres, to commercial low to accommodate future develop-ment to a maximum of 5.3 acres of commercial use.

The changes were the result of litigation between the town and the property owners after the council initially refused to approve com-mercial development on the land, although town staff had advised that under the comp plan and land use code as written, the Days were entitled to commercial develop-ment there.

Town Attorney Michael Cirullo said the moratorium would be in effect until May 31, and the Loxa-hatchee Groves Planning & Zon-

ing Board would begin discussing the necessary comprehensive plan changes at its next meeting.

Mayor David Browning explained that the density on Okeechobee Blvd. is currently the same as on Southern Blvd., which was where council members had decided they wanted to focus on commercial development while developing the comp plan.

“When we dealt with the project that was proposed on Okeechobee, we realized that we had a problem because we had the same floor area ratio on Okeechobee as we did on Southern, which was re-ally nobody’s intent to have that intensive commercial,” Brown-ing said. “This is why we put the

Abasi Hanif performs with an African drum during Monday’sDr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration in Royal Palm Beach.

PHOTO BY JULIE UNGER/TOWN-CRIER

Filing For Elections Opens On Jan. 27 InRoyal Palm, Lox GrovesThe formal filing period gets underway Tuesday, Jan. 27 for the March 10 municipal elec-tions in Royal Palm Beach and Loxahatchee Groves. Page 3

Royal Palm BeachElementary School Kids Salute First RespondersOn Friday, Jan. 16, Royal Palm Beach Elementary School held a special event to honor first responders. The school’s first grade classes prepared presen-tations and songs, while also enjoying the chance to meet real life heroes. Page 5

Western BusinessAlliance’s IPC LunchA Sold-Out SuccessThe Western Business Alli-ance held its first luncheon at the International Polo Club Palm Beach in Wellington on Wednesday, Jan. 14. The lun-cheon was the group’s first event in 2015 and coincided with the kickoff of the eques-trian season. John Wash, presi-dent of club operations at IPC, addressed the sold-out crowd.

Page 9

Wellington Council Could Choose Coates Replacement ShortlyThe Wellington Village Council will hear presentations Monday from applicants seeking to fill the seat of former Councilman Howard Coates. Page 3

Page 2: Town-Crier Newspaper January 23, 2015

Page 2 January 23 - January 29, 2015 www.gotowncrier.com The Town-Crier

Page 3: Town-Crier Newspaper January 23, 2015

The Town-Crier www.gotowncrier.com January 23 - January 29, 2015 Page 3

NEWS

By Julie UngerTown-Crier Staff Report

Wellington’s Equestrian Pre-serve Committee met Wednesday, Jan. 14 to discuss the connectiv-ity of equestrian trails throughout Wellington, specifically regarding the improvements presented last month by Lucido & Associates.

Wellington Projects Manager Mike O’Dell provided a recap about the recommendations and traffic on the trails.

A count was taken of vehicles and horse usage at specific trail intersections to allow for estima-tions, with the usage reflected in one of the maps presented to the committee. The cameras did not differentiate as to direction, so a horse and rider could pass the cam-

era coming and going and it would count twice, O’Dell explained. Trail use counts were taken over 13 consecutive days at the end of March 2014, he said.

O’Dell then went over the counts on several dozen trails, noting the number of horses, four-wheelers and two-wheelers on each. For example, at the Pierson and South Shore camera, there were 590 horses recorded, 1,523 four-wheelers and 211 two-wheelers. Trail 25 logged the most trips at 2,523 horses, 2,803 four-wheelers and 828 two-wheelers. However, there were other trails with very little activity, such as Blue 7 with eight horses, 20 four-wheelers and no two-wheelers.

The trail surfaces include 30.34 miles on asphalt and 27.66 miles on shell rock within the Equestrian Preserve Area.

O’Dell noted that improvements are needed to the trail system. Specific improvements under ex-amination were to trails between Paddock Park II and Saddle Trail, in Palm Beach Little Ranches, as well as those between South Shore Blvd. and Pierson Road.

The committee discussed the safety, as well as options, of cross-ing major roads in order to connect trails, as well as the feasibility of doing so.

“If we cross at mid-point at any of these roadways, how do we make it safe for a rider to cross a four-lane road into a median?

Wellington Committee Discusses Improvements To Trail SystemThat’s another challenge,” O’Dell said.

“If you’re crossing on the south side of the canal on Forest Hill, as an example,” Committee Chair Linda Elie said, “unless you were to have a signal that would basi-cally stop all traffic... it would be difficult potentially to stop all of that.”

Between traffic on both sides of the road and turn lanes, the logistics might make such a cross-ing prohibitive and not feasible, she said.

“All of these things are consid-erations as we move through the process,” O’Dell said. “I’m not sitting here telling you we have got answers to all of this. I’m looking at the map, which is something that we aspire to develop.”

Discussions among the com-mittee included land with Florida Power & Light power lines and a now-defunct golf course at Palm Beach Polo with a street under-pass. “There are no easements. You basically would require the

cooperation and consent of [Palm Beach Polo owner Glenn] Straub, at this point,” Growth Manage-ment Director Bob Basehart said when Elie suggested using the underpass crossing.

Committee Member Michael Whitlow empathized with the desire for connectivity but argued that trail riding does not account for the majority of trail use.

“A lot of what people ride on bridle trails for and on the dirt roads and so forth is not so much for connecting to anywhere; it’s to get their horses off the show grounds and out of their paddocks and out of their stalls,” he said. “Actually having a destination is not all that big a deal for a num-ber of riders. They’re just getting their horses to shake a leg outside of their stall, outside of their little paddocks, outside of the riding ring so they don’t go ring-sour.”

Whitlow urged further develop-ment of the system, but stressed that connectivity is not everything.

“I applaud the idea of connect-

ing everything, but I think one of the things that we do have to keep in mind is that people are, like I said, just getting their horses out of their stalls,” he continued. “They’re not unhappy going one direction and coming back at the same spot and going home.”

Maintaining the trails, even if they don’t go anywhere, is where the focus should be placed, Whit-low said.

Elie suggested creating a survey about the trails, which Committee Member Maryjo Shockley sup-ported. The survey, as suggested, would be on the village web site, where the equestrian community could provide feedback and sug-gestions about trail use.

Committee Member Richard Ellis jumped aboard on the idea, noting that it is important to get a profile of everyone involved with the equestrian community. Publicizing the Wellington trail system was discussed, which the committee decided would be ad-vantageous.By Ron Bukley

Town-Crier Staff ReportThe Wellington Village Council

will hear presentations Monday evening from applicants seeking to fill the seat of former Councilman Howard Coates. The next day, at the regularly scheduled council meeting, council members will review the applicants, and possibly select Coates’ replacement.

As of Wednesday morning, four candidates had submitted applications for the position: Michael Drahos, Michael Vinci, Vincent Weber and Ernie Zim-merman. However, several more candidates are expected to apply

before the noon Friday deadline.The Monday review of candi-

dates is tentatively set for 6 p.m., following the council’s agenda review meeting at 3 p.m.

Coates submitted his resignation last week, effectively immediately, in preparation to accept an ap-pointment as a judge on the 15th Judicial Circuit Court. The council must appoint a replacement by Feb. 11, but the charter does not stipulates a specific process for making the appointment. Previous councils have used a variety of dif-ferent methods in the past.

At the last council meeting, Councilman Matt Willhite said

that after reviewing the candidates, a new council member might be selected at the Jan. 27 meeting. If a consensus is not reached at that meeting, the council could postpone a decision until the first meeting in February.

Whoever is appointed would serve one year until the March 2016 election, then the final two years of Coates’ term would be up for election. Anyone appointed to the post would have to seek elec-tion at that time.

Wellington is planning a special ceremony at the Jan. 27 meeting to honor Coates for his six years of service on the council.

Wellington Council Could Choose Coates Replacement Next Week

By Ron BukleyTown-Crier Staff Report

The formal filing period gets underway next week for the March 10 municipal elections in Royal Palm Beach and Loxahatchee Groves.

In Royal Palm Beach, filing opens at noon on Tuesday, Jan. 27 and closes at noon on Tuesday, Feb. 10.

Two Royal Palm Beach Vil-lage Council seats are up for election, and incumbents David Swift and Richard Valuntas have both indicated they plan to run

for re-election. While candidates still have two weeks to file, no challengers had announced plans to run as of Wednesday.

The filing period is shorter in Loxahatchee Groves. Like Royal Palm Beach, filing in Loxahatchee Groves opens at noon on Tuesday, Jan. 27, but closes just a week later, at noon on Tuesday, Feb. 3.

Two seats are up for election in Loxahatchee Groves, and incum-bents Ron Jarriel and Ryan Liang have both said that they plan to run for re-election.

Keith Harris, chairman of the

town’s Roadway, Equestrian Trails and Greenway Advisory Commit-tee (RETGAC), has announced plans to challenge Liang.

Harris, an outspoken critic of the Loxahatchee Groves Water Control District, was originally ap-pointed to RETGAC by Liang, but Liang tried to have him removed from the committee late last year. Harris was later reinstated when it was determined that the removal process was flawed.

The election is set for Tuesday, March 10 in both local munici-palities.

Filing For Council Elections Opens Jan. 27 In Royal Palm, Lox Groves

Among the opening weekend highlights of the 2015 South Florida Fair was the Miss South Florida Fair Scholarship Pageant. At the pageant, 18-year-old Anisa Kornegay of Loxahatchee, a senior at Seminole Ridge High School, was crowned Miss South Florida Fair. She will receive a $3,000 scholarship, $1,000 cash award and other prizes. She will also go on to compete in the Miss Florida Pageant in St. Petersburg this June. Kornegay’s career goal is to become a pediatrician and set up medical clinics in third world countries. Miss America-qualified judges selected the winner and three runners-up from the 13 contestants. The fair continues through Sunday, Feb. 1. Visit www.southfloridafair.com for more info. PHOTO COURTESY SOUTH FLORIDA FAIR

SEMINOLE RIDGE SENIOR CHOSENAS MISS SOUTH FLORIDA FAIR 2015

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Overactive BladderRESEARCH STUDY

Do you have an

Overactive Bladder?

Your frequent, urgent need to urinate may actually be a sign of overactive bladder – especially if you experience leakage.

Local doctors are testing an investigational combination of drugs for overactive bladder – to see if they provide more relief than when taken on their own.

You may qualify for this research study if you’ve experienced overactive bladder with leakage for at least three months.

Call or visit us online to see if you qualify.

Page 4: Town-Crier Newspaper January 23, 2015

Page 4 January 23 - January 29, 2015 www.gotowncrier.com The Town-Crier

Your Community NewspaperServing The Palms West Communities For 35 Years

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Wellington, Florida 33414Phone: (561) 793-7606

Classified Ads: (561) 793-3576 • Fax: (561) 793-6090World Wide Web: http://www.goTownCrier.com

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EDITORIAL STAFF/ Chris Felker • Denise Fleischman • Julie Unger

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POSTAL STATEMENTThe Town-Crier (USPS #021547) is published weekly by Newspaper Publishers Inc., 12794 W. Forest Hill Blvd., Suite 31, Wellington, FL 33414-7458. Period-icals Postage Paid at West Palm Beach, FL. POST-MASTER: Send address changes to: The Town-Crier, c/o Newspaper Publishers Inc., 12794 W. Forest Hill Blvd., Suite 31, Wellington, FL 33414-7458.

BARRY S. MANNINGPublisher

JOSHUA I. MANNINGExecutive Editor

JODY GORRANAssociate Publisher

DAWN RIVERAGeneral Manager

TOWN-CRIERTHE

OUR OPINIONFill Wellington Council Vacancy With An Independent Thinker

Founded In 1980 By Bob Markey Sr.Copyright 2015, Newspaper Publishers Inc.

The publisher reserves the right to refuse advertising.

MEMBER OFThe Central Palm Beach County Chamber of Commerce

The Wellington Chamber of Commerce

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

SEND IN YOUR LETTERSThe Town-Crier welcomes letters to the editor. Please keep letters brief (300 words). Submit letters, with contact name, address and tele-phone number (anonymous letters will not be published), to The Town-Crier, 12794 W. Forest Hill Blvd., Suite 31, Wellington, FL 33414; fax them to (561) 793-6090; or you can e-mail [email protected].

K-Park Analysis Was MisleadingAs one of the proposers (Wel-

lington Gardens) for the develop-ment opportunity at Wellington’s K-Park property, I read with in-terest your Dec. 26 article, which provided a brief summary of each of the six competing K-Park pro-posals. Thank you for providing this valuable service to the Wel-lington community.

Although the general narrative description of each project in the article was fairly accurate, there was an important part of the analysis of each project that had the potential to highly mislead. That related to the breakdown of land uses in each project between what was defined as “commercial use,” “residential use” and “open space.” I understand and acknowl-edge that the analysis provided was not your own and that it was

simply made available to the Town-Crier for use in the article.

On that point, we performed our own analysis of each proposal in terms of: 1) public open space/green space provided; 2) publicly accessible vs. private space; and 3) the type of residential use that is planned. I believe that this analysis is consistent with the public’s more general understanding of these concepts.

Based on the above (in alpha-betical order):

• Bainbridge/Brefrank (780 apartment units) provides for zero acres of public green, open space; zero acres of single-family resi-dential, 47 acres of multi-family (apartments); and 9 acres of public space (all commercial strip center).

• DiVosta/JKM provides for zero acres of public green, open space; 46 acres of single-family housing (may be largely senior housing); some multi-family; 16

RON BUKLEYManaging Editor

acres of public space (commercial mixed use);and a 90 bed assisted living facility.

• Lennar provides for ap-proximately one acre of public green, open space; zero acres single-family residential; 47 acres of multi-family duplexes; and 19 acres of public space (commercial strip with four outparcel restau-rants).

• Reinvent America offers one acre of public green, open space; zero acres of single-family resi-dential; 17 acres of multi-family residential; 30 acres of public commercial space; and 7 acres of assisted living facility.

• Stiles/Standard Pacific/Alle-gro offers zero acres of public, green open space; 49 acres of single-family residential; zero acres multi-family; 14 acres of public space (commercial strip center); and 7 acres of assisted living facility.

• Wellington Gardens offers 21 acres of public, green open space; 15 acres of multi-family residen-tial (condo and senior active adult apartments); and 55 acres of public space (34 of which are commercial use fronting on central park).

By this analysis, our Wellington Gardens plan makes approximate-ly 80 percent of the total site (55 of 70 total acres) accessible and usable by the public. That is com-pared to an average of less than 25 percent made publicly accessible in the other proposals. The least made available to the public in any proposal is 13 percent of the total land area.

An even more striking contrast exists among the proposals for what the public would likely con-sider “open space/green space.” Wellington Gardens’ plan devotes 21 acres to area specifically des-ignated public park and public gardens (approximately 30 percent

of the total site). By comparison, no other proposer dedicates more than 1.5 percent of the K-Park site to this valuable type of public open space. In fact, three of the proposals have offered zero public green open space.

Thank you, in advance, for the opportunity to share and clarify this information with our Wel-

lington residents. We welcome public interest and participation on K-Park at the Jan. 27 Wellington Village Council meeting. If anyone has further interest, comments or questions, I would be glad to personally respond to all inquiries via e-mail at [email protected].

Chuck MineoDeer Run

The appointment of former Wellington Councilman Howard Coates to a seat on the circuit court bench is a loss for the Village of Wellington. Coates was an independent voice and skilled consensus builder on a council that often found itself in the need of a voice of reason and compromise. These are qualities that will serve him well on the bench, but could very well be missing from council deliberations in the future.

There very well could be a new person on the dais by the end of the next Wellington Village Council meeting. Following Coates’ resignation last week, the council has until the middle of February to appoint a successor. Would-be council appointees have been given until Fri-day, Jan. 23 to submit applications. The applicants will get a chance to briefly address the council on Monday, Jan. 26, and the council will discuss the choices on Tuesday, Jan. 27. If a three-vote majority favors one particular candidate, that person could be on the dais before the night is out. We are not going to recommend any particular person for the job, but we will offer some completely unsolicited advice on what to look for.

While it would be trite to suggest that the council seek out another Howard Coates, it is not a bad idea for the four remaining council members to at least look for the qualities that Coates brought to council discussions when choosing his successor. An independent thinker, Coates was not strongly anchored one way or the other in the quasi-partisan disagreements that have dominated the council over the past several years. This made him someone who could offer outside-the-box compromise ideas that, while not settling all issues, at least often moved the discussion forward.

After a few agonizingly difficult years, the council has been on the right track over the past 18 months. In the coming days, the council could choose an independent voice and keep progress moving forward, perhaps tamping down the stakes of the March 2016 election, or put in a clear partisan, and almost assuredly create a bitterly fought, expensive and community dividing election with four seats in play.

The chess pieces are set up. It’s your move.

NEWS

By Ron BukleyTown-Crier Staff Report

Wellington Regional Medical Center celebrated the life and leg-acy of Dr. Martin Luther King on Monday with songs, speeches, and a dove and balloon release.

The Rev. Lee Sapp of the Shepherd’s Heart AME Church delivered an invocation and per-spective, and then vocalists and instrumentalists performed.

Yvette Grant sang “Impossi-ble Dream.” Pat Morley, Karen Pennell and Enid Waugh sang

Wellington Regional Observance Honors Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.“Think,” originally performed by Aretha Franklin. Mina Depompa and WRMC CFO Joe Paul sang “The Prayer,” and Chloe Paul played guitar as all the singers performed “If I Had A Hammer.”

Paul delivered the keynote speech, giving a personal recount of how he became aware of the civil rights movement, followed by a video on the life of Dr. King produced by Sharonda Brown.

At the end of the observance, doves and balloons were released, followed by refreshments.

Pat Morley, Karen Pannell and Enid Waugh sing “Think.”PHOTOS BY RON BUKLEY/TOWN-CRIER

Children release balloons in front of the hospital. The dove release is about to begin.

(Above) Yvette Grant sings “Impossible Dream.” (Right) Performers sing “If I Had a Hammer.”

Parents and students are invited to attend a free upcoming college planning workshop presented by College Planning Masters.

At the workshops, parents will learn how to maximize financial aid and minimize out-of-pocket expenses. Topics to be discussed will include: how to affordably send your child to his/her “first choice” school; creating a com-prehensive college search plan; debunking the most common college planning myths; under-standing how private “big ticket” universities can actually cost you less in the long run than a state college; how to manage time and avoid procrastination; learn about the new changes in Bright

Futures, FAFSA and Florida Pre-Paid that can actually cost you more money; how to avoid common financial aid application traps that lower aid eligibility; and discover strategies to dramati-cally increase free money from colleges, regardless of income or student achievements.

Students will benefit from a variety of additional topics, including strategies designed to enhance admissions opportuni-ties, “building” more effective college applications and charting their course for college admis-sions success.

Upcoming workshops are as follows: Saturday, Jan. 24 at the Crexent Business Center, 8461

Lake Worth Road. Registration 10:15 a.m., workshop 10:30 a.m. to noon; Tuesday, Jan. 27 at Sem-inole Ridge High School, 4601 Seminole Pratt Whitney Road, Loxahatchee. Registration 6:15 p.m., workshop 6:30 to 8 p.m.; and Wednesday, Jan. 28 at Lake Worth City Hall, 7 North Dixie Highway, Lake Worth. Registra-tion 6:15 p.m., workshop 6:30 to 8 p.m. A drawing will be held at each event for free SAT course.

To register for a workshop, call (800) 776-6445, ext. 302. RSVPs are required. For further informa-tion, and to register online, visit www.collegeplanningmasters.com or e-mail rona@college planningmasters.com.

Free College Planning Workshops

On Jan. 10, HomeSafe hosted its fifth annual Jump for HomeSafe at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center in Wellington. More than 80 guests enjoyed

$35,000 Raised For Abused Children At Winter Equestrian Festivalringside seating for the exciting, world-class equestrian “Battle of the Sexes” competition, while enjoying dinner, an open bar and a silent auction.

Co-chairs for the event were Hannah Patten, Lillie Keenan and Samantha Wight. All three are young competitive riders on the circuit. During the competition’s intermission, the co-chairs spoke about their visit to the agency and the importance of the services HomeSafe provides victims of child abuse and domestic vio-lence.

“We thank our co-chairs and sponsors who made our fifth annual Jump for HomeSafe an-other great success,” said Matthew Ladika, chief executive officer of HomeSafe. “We look forward to coming out here each year, and are so appreciative of the con-tinued support of the equestrian community.”

Since 1979, the nationally ac-credited nonprofit organization HomeSafe has protected Palm Beach County and South Florida’s most vulnerable residents — vic-tims of child abuse and domestic

violence. Through its results-driv-en approach, HomeSafe has grown into a leading provider of preven-

(L to R) Samantha Wight, Lillie Keenan and Hannah Patten.PHOTO BY TRACEY BENSON PHOTOGRAPHY

tion and intervention services, serving more than 16,000 infants, children and families each year.

For more information, visit www.helphomesafe.org or call (561) 383-9800.

Page 5: Town-Crier Newspaper January 23, 2015

The Town-Crier www.gotowncrier.com January 23 - January 29, 2015 Page 5

NEWSROYAL PALM BEACH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL KIDS SALUTE FIRST RESPONDERS

Principal Tracy Gaugler and Vice Principal Cristina Fong. Jada Carey, John Boike, Issac Carey and Michael Boike.

WOMEN OF THE WELLINGTON CHAMBER GATHER FOR NETWORKING EVENTThe Women of the Wellington Chamber held a networking event Thursday, Jan. 15 at India Grill + Bar in Royal Palm Beach. The topic was “Protecting Prosperity: Smart Women Making Sound Financial Decisions,” which featured a presentation by accountant Sherron Permashwar. To learn more about the Women of the Wellington Chamber, visit www.wellingtonchamber.com.

Sgt. Kennedy with daughters Hannah and Audrey.

Michael Jolicoeur presents his heromessage to Sgt. Mack Coleman.

Presenter Sherron Permashwar with Maryjo Shockley.Brittany Cartwright, Caroline Moham, Marcella

Ketcham, Kim Hernandez and Karen Galanaugh.

The first grade students with their heroes and school officials.

On Friday, Jan. 16, Royal Palm Beach Elementary School held a special event to honor first responders. The school’s first grade classes prepared presentations and songs, while also enjoying the chance to meet real life heroes.

PHOTOS BY JULIE UNGER/TOWN-CRIER

PHOTOS BY JULIE UNGER/TOWN-CRIER

Rebecca Gaugler presentsher hero message toLt. Michael Delrossi.

Capt. Nick Cinilia with students Nylah Rodriquez,Brianna Moore, Audrey Meister and Logan Lomax.

Staci Kessler, Maryjo Shockley and Michela Perillo-Green.

Nicholas Secord and Michael Jolicoeur lead the pledge.

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Page 6: Town-Crier Newspaper January 23, 2015

Page 6 January 23 - January 29, 2015 www.gotowncrier.com The Town-Crier

CRIME NEWS

By Julie UngerTown-Crier Staff Report

JAN. 17 — A deputy from the Wellington substation of the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office was called to Scott’s Place playground last Saturday afternoon regarding a vehicle burglary. According to a PBSO report, sometime between 4 and 4:25 p.m. last Saturday, someone broke into the victim’s 2007 Infiniti QX56 and removed a Coach purse, valued at $500, as well as $530 in cash and a diamond engagement ring valued at $7,800, which was in the purse. According to the report, the purse was left on the front passenger seat of the vehicle, and the victim was alerted that her vehicle had been broken into by another individual.

• • •JAN. 13 — A deputy from the

PBSO’s Royal Palm Beach sub-station was called to the Walmart store on Belvedere Road last Wednesday afternoon regarding a case of shoplifting. According to a PBSO report, at approximately 2:55 p.m., a loss prevention officer observed an unattended shopping cart with multiple appliances in it located in the garden area. According to the report, a short time later, an unknown male be-gan pushing the cart filled with merchandise toward the garden area exit, passing all points of sale without attempting to pay for the appliances. The man fled with the merchandise, valued at $753. According to the report, the man crossed State Road 7 and headed in the direction of the Bella Terra community. He was described as white or Hispanic, approximately 25 years old with short black hair, six feet tall and 175 pounds.

JAN. 14 — A deputy from the PBSO’s Royal Palm Beach substation was called to a home on Essex Court last Wednesday regarding a residential burglary. According to a PBSO report, sometime between 5 p.m. last Monday and 10 p.m. last Tues-day, someone entered the victim’s residence and removed a jewelry box containing several pieces of jewelry, valued at $10,700. There was visible damage to the front door. Fingerprint evidence was

Purse Stolen From Vehicle At Scott’sPlace Playground

collected at the scene. There were no suspects or witnesses at the time of the report.

JAN. 14 — A deputy from the PBSO’s Royal Palm Beach sub-station was called to the Walmart store on Belvedere Road last Wednesday morning regarding a grand theft case. According to a PBSO report, a loss prevention officer reviewing video discovered that $1,415 of cigarettes were sto-len from the store. According to the report, the officer has video of a man cutting a hole in the peg board where tobacco products are stored, then placing the cigarettes in a bag. The officer sent correspondence to other Walmart stores, and received a tip on a suspect. The PBSO is investigating the case.

JAN. 14 — A deputy from the PBSO’s Royal Palm Beach substation was conducting traf-fic control at the intersection of Victoria Groves Blvd. and Shoma Drive last Wednesday evening and observed a 1999 Mercury enter the Shoma Homes community by following someone through the private entrance gate. According to the report, the deputy conduct-ed a traffic stop and determined that the driver was not wearing a seatbelt. He also noticed the smell of marijuana on the individual. According to the report, the man, later determined to be 32-year-old Nedrick Boldin, was driving with a suspended or revoked license, was in possession of 14.7 grams of marijuana, and had Xanax, a controlled substance, without a prescription. Boldin was arrest-ed and taken to the Palm Beach County Jail.

JAN. 19 — A deputy from the PBSO’s Wellington substation was called Monday morning to the Wellington Parc construction site on State Road 7 regarding a theft. According to a PBSO report, sometime between last Friday at 6 p.m. and 7 a.m. Monday, someone cut and stole copper wire from the breaker boxes of two buildings under construction. Each building has seven townhouses, for a total of 14 units. It will cost at least $10,000, but perhaps as much as $100,000 to repair the damage, according to the report.

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

Crime Stoppers of Palm Beach County is asking for the public’s help in finding these wanted fugitives:

• Shian Bigby is a black male, 6’3” tall and weighing 164 lbs., with black hair, brown eyes and multiple tattoos. His date of birth is 12/20/94. Bigby is wanted on felony charges for the viola-tion of probation on robbery charges. His last known addresses were Shoma Drive in Royal Palm Beach and Reynolds Road in Lake Worth. He is wanted as of 01/15/15.

• Crystal Ibarra is a white female, 5’4” tall and weighing 140 lbs., with brown hair, brown eyes and multiple tattoos. Her date of birth is 10/13/86. Ibarra is wanted on felony charges for the violation of probation for possessing cocaine with the intent to sell. Her last known addresses were Parkwood Drive in Royal Palm Beach and 9th Street in West Palm Beach. She is wanted as of 01/15/15.

Remain anonymous and you may be eligible for up to a $1,000 reward. Call Crime Stoppers at (800) 458-TIPS (8477) or visit www.crimestopperspbc.com. Crystal Ibarra

Shian Bigby

On Sunday, Jan. 25, Crime Stop-pers of Palm Beach County will host its fifth annual Cruizin’ for Crime Stoppers Motorcycle Ride. The event is designed to bring awareness to the organization and raise money for the rewards pro-gram. All money raised during the fundraising event will go directly to replenish Crime Stoppers’ oper-ational fund, which helps to solve local crimes.

Crime Stoppers is expecting more than 600 motorcycle riders to attend this year’s event. The ride is being fully escorted by the Palm Beach County Sherriff’s Office Motors Unit and will take riders on a 50-mile journey throughout Palm Beach County.

The Cruizin’ for Crime Stop-pers Motorcycle Ride will have influential community leaders in attendance, such as former Congressman Allen West, chiefs of police, judges and local law enforcement officers. Gates open at 9:30 a.m. at the Village Shoppes in Royal Palm Beach, located on

the northwest corner of Southern Blvd. and State Road 7. Kick-stands go up at approximately 10:30 a.m. The event and ride will conclude at Abacoa in Jupiter.

Thanks to the event’s generous sponsors, attendee registration in-cludes many additions to the ride, such as breakfast and beverages. Lunch will also be provided by Cheney Brothers and J.J. Muggs Stadium Grill, while listening to music from the Southside Blues Band. The event is open to every-one in the community.

Crime Stoppers of Palm Beach County is a civilian volunteer non-profit organization created through the efforts of the Chiefs of Police Association and Crime Prevention Officers Association and led by a board of directors is made up of concerned citizens who actively help guide the program.

To purchase tickets to the Cruiz-in’ for Crime Stoppers Motorcycle Ride, visit www.crimestoppersp-bc.com or call event coordinator Alicia DeLuca at (561) 558-7258.

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Page 7: Town-Crier Newspaper January 23, 2015

The Town-Crier www.gotowncrier.com January 23 - January 29, 2015 Page 7

NEWS

By Julie UngerTown-Crier Staff Report

Learning is the key to a bright future at Bright Horizons Early Education & Preschool, located at 3220 S. State Road 7 in Wel-lington, sharing a parking lot with the Renaissance Charter School at Wellington.

This Saturday, Jan. 24, the smil-ing staff at Bright Horizons will host a grand opening celebration at the new facility. The school is able to accommodate up to 198 children from six weeks to 5 years old.

From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., there will be welcoming activities, a ribbon-cutting ceremony, circus acts, swim demonstrations, class-room demonstrations and more, as parents, children, teachers and administrators mingle. Everyone is welcome to the free celebration, and there will be plenty of fun activities for children of all ages.

Regional Manager Randy Netko and Center Director Penny Wen-man are looking forward to the grand opening celebration.

Netko said Bright Horizons is excited to open in the Wellington area. “It’s a vibrant young com-munity that matches our striving for excellence, because that’s what we provide,” she said.

Wenman explained that the de-mographics of Wellington are ideal for the Bright Horizons program.

“We’re represented in neighbor-ing cities, but this city actually is a good match for the program that we’re providing — a young, vibrant, educated population,”

Wenman said. “We hope that we’re able to demonstrate what our program can offer families by providing hands-on activities.”

At the grand opening, parents will learn how the school’s cur-riculum, housed within its 13 classrooms, gym, art studio, me-dia center and four playgrounds, works together with children and parents to foster learning. Stu-dents at various ages and levels learn social skills, how to play together, numbers, letters, math skills, writing skills, science skills and preparation for kindergarten. Bright Horizons students even learn yoga.

“The program is individualized to meet the child’s needs,” Wen-man said. “We assess each child individually, continually, and we use that information to build our lesson plans week by week.”

Combining fun and learning is a key part to the customized cur-riculum at Bright Horizons, where activities and lessons are catered to individual children’s needs, interests and abilities.

Bright Horizons utilizes the World At Their Fingertips curricu-lum that engages students in learn-ing and make every opportunity a learning experience.

For example, during a recent visit, one class read a book about insects, learned and discovered about insects on double-sided cards, used magnifying glasses to get a closer took, matched the insects to their images and identi-fied physical characteristics of the insects, such as how many legs

Grand Opening Celebration Saturday At New Bright Horizonsthey have or the shapes of their bodies.

Programs are divided by age: infant, toddler, two-year-olds, preschool and kindergarten prep, and are available with a flexible schedule. The center is open Mon-day through Friday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., and children are able to be enrolled for anywhere from a few days a week to the entire week, and from sections of the day to the entire day. This way, the facility allows parents the opportunity to balance their family and work lives through flexibility.

With its indoor gym with a rock climbing wall and a ballet barre, along with other accessories, stu-dents are able to be active no mat-ter what the Florida weather may bring. The pool, with swimming lessons, is also a unique amenity.

“Parents don’t have that stress of having to picking up their child and having to take them for an activity during the witching hour,

when they’re exhausted from the day, because we do that for them during the hours that they’re here,” Netko said.

Wenman is excited about the grand opening celebration and invites families to come and visit.

“We want to partner with them in the care and education of their child. It’s not something we just say,” she said. “That’s really what we set up as our focus. Parents are their children’s first teacher, and we want to partner with them.”

Enrollment fees vary, depending on the program. There are part-time and full-time options, as well as part-day and full-day options. Potty training is not a require-ment for the school. Currently, parents pack and send snacks and lunches, but organic, all-natural catering will be available as the school grows.

For more information, call (561) 753-9140 or visit www.brightho-rizons.com.

(Above) Bright Horizons Wellington Center Director Penny Wenman invites everyone to the Jan. 24 open house. (Below) The “Move-ment Matters Zone” at Bright Horizons.

One of the classrooms at Bright Horizons in Wellington.

PHOTO BY JULIE UNGER/TOWN-CRIER

MLK In RPBDr. King’s

Legacycontinued from page 1

our youngsters today. It is critical that we continue to fight for new rights and to maintain the ones that we already have.”

Mattioli said he was honored to participate in the celebration of King’s legacy.

“It is time for the nation to remember the injustices Dr. King fought. A time to remember his fight for freedom, equality and dignity of all races and people. A time to remember the message of change through nonviolence. Dr. King guided us to the moun-taintop, in which all Americans, regardless of skin color, live to-gether in mutual respect and brotherhood,” Mattioli said.

Faith Place Center’s Steel Drum Team played a selection, dancing along to the music, drumming and energizing the crowd. Next up was Wellington High School’s Blue Diamond Step Team, which presented a performance starting with various dancing styles, end-ing in what is often thought of as step dancing. Ten-year-old Kate Deviney wowed the crowd with her violin abilities both times that she performed.

Following Deviney was another youngster, Tehya Morris, who at 7 years old performed a dramatic poem on her first turn at the stage and a praise dance on her second run. Morris has been part of the event since she was 3 and was completely comfortable on stage.

The keynote address was given by Eric Gordon of the Royal Palm Beach Rotary Club. He introduced the mission and accomplishments of Rotary with the audience.

“We’re here today to celebrate a great man and a visionary,” he said. “More importantly, his ideas, and a vision for a better and less complicated community for all, locally and globally.”

Broadway singer Avery Som-mers captivated the audience as she belted out hit after hit in true star fashion, then Master was joined by the rest of the C.A.S.T. performers as they sang and danced to selections from Matilda. Later, Master returned to the stage, where she sang mul-tiple selections, including “Stupid Cupid.”

Other performers included Af-rican drummer Abasi Hanif, who entertained the crowd with a fast-paced interactive demonstration, and Virtuoso Violinists Sons of Mystro performing multiple se-lections in a dynamic, responsive manner that entertained the crowd.

Cyris closed the program by thanking her committee, which has helped put together the event for the last 13 years. She also thanked the CAFCI board, sponsors, of-ficials, speakers and performers for making the event what it is. “I would like to thank all of you for spending this morning with us,” she said. “See you all next year!”

Valuntas took the microphone after Cyris and ended the event by quoting Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to a cheering crowd.

For more information about CAFCI, visit www.cafcipbc.org.

Royal Palm Beach Councilman Fred Pinto and MayorMatty Mattioli with CAFCI Cultural Committee members.

PHOTOS BY JULIE UNGER/TOWN-CRIER

Event Organizer Elet Cyris with RPB Mayor Matty Mattioli. CAFCI President Dennis Wright. RPB Councilman Fred Pinto. Nadine White-Boyd.

Broadway singer Avery Sommers.Sons of Mystro perform

violin selections. Rotarian Eric Gordon.Seven-year-old Tehya Morris

performs a dance.

Kate Deviney with her violin.Tehya Morris performs a poem.

The Wellington High School Blue Diamond Step Team.

Lauren Galin and Demi Master sing the national anthem.

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Page 8: Town-Crier Newspaper January 23, 2015

Page 8 January 23 - January 29, 2015 www.gotowncrier.com The Town-Crier

Fred Astaire Dance Show At

WHS Feb. 7Join Fred Astaire Dance Studio

of West Palm Beach for a celebra-tion of dancing through the magic of time travel, and don’t miss your chance to be photographed with a replica of the most famous movie car in time travel history: the De-lorean from Back to the Future.

“Travel Through Time” will be held at the Wellington High School Theatre (2101 Greenview Shores Blvd., Wellington) on Saturday, Feb. 7 at 7 p.m. To order a ticket, call (561) 478-1400 or visit www.fredastairewpb.com/tickets.

Garden Club Meeting Feb. 2The Wellington Garden Club

will meet Monday, Feb. 2 at Wel-lington’s Village Park on Pierson Road. A business meeting will start at 10:30 a.m., followed by lunch at 11:30 a.m. and a program at 12:15 p.m. on vultures presented by Sydelle Dombrowsky.

Dombrowsky is a docent of the Green Cay Wetlands Nature

Center, where she is on the board of directors. She will entertain and educate the group on the ancestry, anatomy, habits, flight and myths about vultures. Florida is home to a wide variety of birds important to environmental health, and vultures are natural garbage disposals help-ing to eliminate costly cleanup of roads. Come learn about vultures and gain a new awareness, under-standing and respect for Florida’s natural world.

Guests are welcome, but seating is limited. To reserve a seat, call Carol Coleman at (561) 792-2290. For more information, visit www.wellingtongardenclub.org.

LGLA To MeetOn Jan. 29

The Loxahatchee Groves Land-owners’ Association will meet Thursday, Jan. 29 at 7 p.m. at the Palms West Presbyterian Church (13689 Okeechobee Blvd.).

The program will include a presentation by Masie Ross from the Palm Beach County Extension Service on “Protecting Yourself from Identity Theft.”

“Identity theft has been the top consumer complaint to the Federal

Trade Commission for the past 13 years,” Ross said. “This is proof that it’s just as important as ever for consumers to be aware of the risks and understand how to pro-tect themselves.”

It will be an open meeting where residents will get a chance to discuss issues of concern that they may have related to things that are going on in the town. The meeting is open to the public, but only LGLA members with 2015 paid dues can make motions and/or vote. For more information, contact Marge Herzog at (561) 818-9114 or [email protected].

Grief Support Group At

Local ChurchBeginning Jan. 26, Community

of Hope Church is offering a free 13-week GriefShare series on Mondays from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the church, located on the northwest corner of Okeechobee Blvd. and E Road.

The death of a loved one brings pain and confusion. GriefShare is a faith-based seminar and support group for those grieving the loss

of someone close. Videos of grief experts and discussion guided by trained facilitators help par-ticipants move through their grief journey in a healthy way.

Participants can join at any time during the 13-week series. For more information or to register, call (561) 753-8883 or e-mail [email protected].

Greyhound GroupPlans Fundraiser

Forever Greyhounds will pres-ent its second annual “FUNdraiser: Out of the Ordinary into the Ex-traordinary” from 1 to 4 p.m. on Sunday, March 8 at the Palm Beach Improv, featuring Peter Fogel, a silent auction, raffles and more. Tickets are $10. For more info., or to order tickets, visit www.forevergreyhounds.com, call (561) 574-7756 or e-mail [email protected].

Singer David Phelps At Dolly

Hand Jan. 29David Phelps will perform in

concert at the Dolly Hand Cultural

Arts Center on Thursday, Jan. 29 at 7:30 p.m.

A graduate from Baylor Uni-versity, Phelps is among today’s most spectacular voices. His seem-ingly endless vocal range, which extends more than three octaves, coupled with his gift for commu-nicating a song, has brought the house down in the world’s most prestigious venues. As a member of the Gaither Vocal Band, he has received Dove Awards, Grammy Awards and multiple platinum-selling projects.

The Dolly Hand Cultural Arts Center is located on Palm Beach State College’s Belle Glade Cam-pus at 1977 College Drive. For more info., call (561) 993-1160 or visit www.dollyhand.org.

Apply Now For Golden Grove’s Tech Program

Located in The Acreage, Gold-en Grove Elementary School is proud to be a choice school in technology. Those wishing to at-tend Golden Grove’s technology program should apply as soon as possible at www.mypbchoiceapp.

com/apply. The Jan. 30 deadline for choice school applications is fast approaching.

Families with students entering pre-kindergarten through grade 12 have the opportunity to choose from an array of theme-based cur-ricula offerings at the elementary, middle and high school levels. These programs engage students and provide them with a pathway to post-secondary educations and career options.

For more information about Golden Grove’s program, e-mail Principal Adam Miller at [email protected]. To schedule a tour of the school, call (561) 904-9700.

PCAHU Lunch Feb. 4 In WPB

The Palm Coast Association of Health Underwriters is holding a luncheon on Wednesday, Feb. 4 from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the West Palm Beach Embassy Suites Hotel at 1601 Belvedere Road. Harold Blotcher will be the guest speaker. He will be discussing the Affordable Care Act. For more info., or to RSVP for the luncheon, e-mail [email protected].

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Page 9: Town-Crier Newspaper January 23, 2015

The Town-Crier www.gotowncrier.com January 23 - January 29, 2015 Page 9

NEWSWestern Business Alliance’s First Luncheon A Sold-Out Success

John and Toy Wash with WBA board members. (L-R) Mario Cama-cho, Ron Tomchin, Maureen Gross, Claudia Camacho, Toy and John Wash, Hope Barron, Selena Smith, Martha Webster, Eric Gordon and Don Gross.

ROYAL PALM BASSMASTERS CELEBRATE SUCCESSFUL YEAR WITH PICNICThe Royal Palm Bassmasters held its annual awards picnic at Robiner Park in Royal Palm Beach on Saturday, Jan. 17. The fishing enthusiasts enjoyed an afternoon of food and drinks while honoring members for the past year’s accomplishments.

Toy Roxanne Wash withKeith Jordano, who won a bottle of Veuve Cliequot.Anne Erdman, Lynne Keane and Jolene Reiter.

Board members Mike Addie, Phil and Irene Northrop,Punk Duff and Rick Rickenbach. Not shown: Chris Smith.

Winners Rick Rickenbach, Bill Latham, Phil Northrop, Punk Duff and DeDe Duff. Not shown: Patrick Gonzalez and Crystle Smith.

PHOTOS BY JULIE UNGER/TOWN-CRIER

PHOTOS BY JULIE UNGER/TOWN-CRIER

Eric Gordon with Nancy Cook, who won a gift basket.

Tim Chance, Lorrie Browne, Galina Kogan,Hope Barron, and David and Kimberly Leland.

Club members celebrate after a great year of bass fishing.

IPC’s John Washaddresses the WBA.

The Western Business Alliance held its first luncheon at the Inter-national Polo Club Palm Beach in Wellington on Wednesday, Jan. 14. Guests were greeted at the door by board members and refreshing beverages.

The luncheon was the group’s first event in 2015 and coincided with the kickoff of the equestrian season. John Wash, president of club operations at IPC, addressed

the sold-out crowd. He covered the many aspects of IPC, from the private club, the golf course, the off-site catering and, of course, the high-goal polo.

Guests, seated in the Pavilion, enjoyed a delicious, three-course luncheon presented by Internation-al Polo Club Catering, Powered by Aaron’s Catering, as they learned more about the impact that the equestrian industry has on our

local business community. “The Western Business Alliance’s first luncheon certainly kicked off the year with a bang,” said Maureen Gross, event co-chair.

All in attendance received two tickets to a polo match, and trivia winners received great prizes. The luncheon wrapped up with a 50/50 raffle and gift basket give-a-way. For more information, visit www.thewesternbusinessalliance.com.

Angelo and Kathy Valverde, Patti Neri,Antonio Prieto and Claudia Camacho.

Front row, L-R: Jeff Kurtz, Toy and John Wash, and Tim Gersley;back row: Claudia Camacho, Keith Jordano and Mario Camacho.

This four-bedroom, two-bath pool home on a quiet cul-de-sac in central Welling-ton is a rare find. With 2,330 square feet under air, a split floor plan, a two-car garage and a covered patio, the well-maintained home sits on a third of an acre with municipal water/sewer.

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• Nice-sized formal living and dining rooms.

• Newer washer/dryer.

• Wired security system protecting all doors and windows.

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• Not a foreclosure or short sale.

Page 10: Town-Crier Newspaper January 23, 2015

Page 10 January 23 - January 29, 2015 www.gotowncrier.com The Town-Crier

Page 11: Town-Crier Newspaper January 23, 2015

The Town-Crier www.gotowncrier.com January 23 - January 29, 2015 Page 11

NEWSLEUKEMIA & LYMPHOMA SOCIETY PRESENTS ‘POLO FOR A PURPOSE’ AT IPC

Olexa Mandelbaum, Stacy Martin and Leah Paterson. Nic Roldan, Bruce Steinberg and Brandon Phillips.

ANNUAL JUSTWORLD INTERNATIONAL GALA RAISES FUNDS AND AWARENESSOn Friday, Jan. 16, JustWorld International took a step back in time to ancient Greece and a huge step forward in support of the nonprofit’s mission. More than 600 guests came from around the world for the 12th annual JustWorld International Gala at Belle Herbe Farm in Wellington. The 2015 gala raised well over $300,000 for JustWorld. Presented this year by Caryl Phillips and Frank Zeiss, the event is JustWorld’s largest annual fundraiser. The money raised allows the organization to continue its mission of acting as a catalyst for positive change in the developing world.

Polo teams and sponsors gather on the field.

Hostess Maria Newman with presentingsponsors Frank Zeiss and Caryl Philips.

Sophie Simpson, Luke Dee, Rory Lenehan,Suzanne Macheski and Ed Copeland.

Jeff Hall and Brandon Phillips with Kinleigh and Piper Apfel.

On Monday, Jan. 19, more than 250 guests enjoyed a luncheon and silent auction at the International Polo Club Palm Beach as part of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Polo for a Purpose event. The day also featured a star-studded polo match. Players Brandon Phillips, Jeff Blake, Sugar Erskine, Mariano Gracida, Jeff Hall, Kris Kampsen, Carlitos Gracida and Nic Roldan wowed the crowd as they played to benefit the organization. The event was chaired by P.J. Rizvi and Visse Wedell with Brandon Phillips as honorary chair. For more information, call the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society at (561) 616-8682 or visit www.lls.org/pb.

PHOTOS BY STEVEN MICHAEL KING & PHELPS MEDIA GROUP

PHOTOS BY JULIE UNGER/TOWN-CRIER

Annabelle Garrett andStephanie Von Guttenberg.

JustWorld founder Jessica Newman speaks to the crowd.

Event chairs P.J. Rizviand Visse Wedell.

Jessica Gasparo, Penny Bradley, Jenn Dahlberg, P.J. Rizvi,Sharmila Seth, Mary Vasen and Diane Fellows.

Guest of honor Juan Pablo Romero Fuentes, CNN Hero

and Los Patojos founder.

Page 12: Town-Crier Newspaper January 23, 2015

Page 12 January 23 - January 29, 2015 www.gotowncrier.com The Town-Crier

Jess R. Santamaria

invites you to

his January 28th

COMMUNITYFORUM

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28th, 20157:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

at the “Original” Wellington MallSoutheast corner of Forest Hill Boulevard and Wellington Trace

UPDATE ON CURRENT

COUNTY ISSUES

Page 13: Town-Crier Newspaper January 23, 2015

- Paid Advertisement -

Why Audubon Is Fighting for Sound Development Practices in the

Agricultural Reserve

The Audubon Society of the Everglades, serving Palm Beach County for over half a century, is asking the public to join the fight to save the Agricultural Reserve. This is an area of unique farmlands which also provides wildlife corridors to the endangered species and year-round wildlife at the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge – the western border of the Agricultural Reserve.

Under Palm Beach County law, the Ag Reserve is to be “preserved primarily for agriculture.” The long-established objective is to protect large tracts of farmland in the area where fertile, warm, sandy soils allow for multiple plantings of vegetables in winter. Our Ag Reserve is an economic engine in Palm Beach County as a major source of winter vegetable production for the eastern United States.

Biologists from the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge have spoken repeatedly at public hearings over the past two years to explain why those open farmlands are also critically important to the species that live year round and migrate through the Refuge.

In 1999, county voters ratified the preservation of this land by a vote of two to one and agreed to tax themselves in order to buy $100 million of farmland in the Ag Reserve to ensure it remained undeveloped forever. Those lands are under lease to the highly productive farmers who keep the Ag Reserve alive, but bordering farmlands in the Ag Reserve are either already developed or under threat.

County law contains detailed provisions to which developers must adhere to build a residential community in the Ag Reserve. The provision that has been used by GL Homes to build thousands of homes in more than 10 gated communities in the Ag Reserve is called the 60/40 option. That option requires that 60 percent of the total area of the development to be set aside as a “Preservation Area.” Our county law, the Unified Land Development Code (ULDC), defines Preservation Area as: “Land contained in the preservation pod preserved in perpetuity to bona-fide agriculture, fallow land, water preserve areas, wetlands or uplands.” (Article 1, Definition 36, ULDC).

The clear intent to hold the Preservation Parcels “in perpetuity,” is further enshrined in the ULDC with this requirement: “Prior to recording the first plat for a Development Area, the Preservation Area shall be established in perpetuity in a form acceptable to the County Attorney.” Our lawyers have now discovered that our County’s Attorney’s office has allowed the insertion of language in the Conservation Easement for the Preservation Area which permits the easement to be “revoked” by written agreement between the parties. Thus, the developer and the county commissioners can, and have been, overriding the overarching principle of preserving the Ag Reserve.

As one of our members testified at the January 8 hearing before the County Commissioners, in 2012 the County Attorney’s office allowed the revocation of previously recorded Preservation Areas on 318 acres in the Ag Reserve so that GL Homes could build 698 homes in Valencia Cove. On January 8 of this year, the Commissioners (with the exception of Paulette Burdick who voted against the proposal) voted to release another large 264-acre Preservation Area so that GL Homes could expand Valencia Cove to 1,408 homes in the Ag Reserve.

This vote permitted GL Homes to turn a Preservation Area worth at least $30.6 million in the open market, which was in active row-crop production, into a residential development. In exchange, GL Homes swapped 22 small, inferior land parcels as Preservation Areas. With the exception of 7.5 acres, the entire Valencia Cove development is built on former Conservation Easement Preservation Areas.

Since September, we have felt compelled to make multiple referrals to the County’s Inspector General, John A. Carey, seeking an investigation of the development practices in the county’s treasured Ag Reserve. You can help us bring urgency to what is happening in the Ag Reserve by contacting your County Commissioner today to demand an independent accounting and economic impact study on these development practices in the Ag Reserve. Once these farmlands are built on, their economic and environmental values are gone forever.

Sincerely,

Audubon Society of the Everglades

The Town-Crier www.gotowncrier.com January 23 - January 29, 2015 Page 13

Page 14: Town-Crier Newspaper January 23, 2015

Page 14 January 23 - January 29, 2015 www.gotowncrier.com The Town-Crier

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Page 15: Town-Crier Newspaper January 23, 2015

The Town-Crier www.gotowncrier.com January 23 - January 29, 2015 Page 15

PALMS WEST PEOPLE

Performance Coach Laura King Speaks At Robert Dover Horsemastership ClinicLaura King has been called the

“secret weapon of competitive dressage riders.” Her skill at guiding athletes, from golfers to high-performance equestrians, to tap into their own subconscious power was a big bonus for the talented teenaged equestrians who participated Jan. 3-7 in the fourth annual Robert Dover Horsemas-tership Clinic, sponsored in part by Dressage4Kids, at the Van Kamp-en Arena of the Adequan Global Dressage Festival in Wellington. “Thought equals outcome,” King told her audience.

The Robert Dover Horsemas-tership Clinic guided participants through riding and less-obvious skills integral to becoming — and maintaining — a place as a top professional in the horse industry.

Joining King as featured speak-ers were Charlie Tota of the Dres-sage Connection on saddle fitting, Beth Haist of the Horse of Course on bridle fitting, Janet Foy and Charlotte Bredhal from the judge’s

Programs Through Seagull ServicesHelp Area Teen Zachary Weber Thrive

Ellen Shapiro To Be Crohn’s & Colitis

Foundation Honoree

perspective, farrier Don Later on shoeing for performance, Lisa Slade of The Chronicle of the Horse on handling media, and veterinarian Dr. Shana Chase.

King is a seasoned speaker and teacher who describes her lifelong goal as sharing her training in hyp-nosis to create positive and lasting change. She credits hypnosis with saving her own life and instilling a deep passion to help others over-come their challenges.

“I grew up riding,” King said. “This has been a great group. I loved helping the students learn about their brain and how hyp-notherapy can help performance. It’s so satisfying to see people enjoy riding more because they’re performing better. It’s about taking all that positive energy you feel for your horse and holding on to it when you ride.”

King has appeared on the Ra-chael Ray Show and has published four books on hypnosis and neu-ro-linguistic programming, includ-

Laura King, certified hypnotist and performance coach.

The Crohn’s & Colitis Foun-dation of America (CCFA) is marking a quarter century of its signature fundraiser with a look back at the achievements of three long-time supporters.

The 25th annual Book of Hope Luncheon takes place Thursday, Feb. 19 from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Boca Raton Resort & Club. The luncheon will honor Marlene Bluestein, Marcy Falcone and Ellen Shapiro, and will feature a fashion show from the collec-tions of Neiman Marcus.

The three Women of Distinction honorees have all been personally affected by digestive diseases, and have worked throughout the years to raise awareness and funds toward finding a cure.

Wellington resident Ellen Sha-piro’s involvement with Crohn’s Disease has been life-long. Her mother suffered from the debili-tating digestive disease, and her son Kevin was diagnosed with it at age 9. During that time, she became involved with the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America’s Gold Coast Chapter and was the active president when it merged to become today’s CCFA Florida Chapter. She is not only past pres-ident of the chapter, but has been involved with the Book of Hope Luncheon during its entire 25 years, including as past chairman.

The other honorees, Marlene Bluestein and Marcy Falcone, are

both longtime CCFA volunteers as well. The luncheon begins with a silent auction, followed by food and a fashion show.

Sponsors of the event are Apol-lojets and JELMAR. Tickets are $135 per person. To attend, or the become a sponsor, contact Jennifer Wieczorek by e-mail at [email protected] or by calling (561) 218-2929.

The Crohn’s & Colitis Founda-tion of America’s mission is to cure Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, and to improve the qual-ity of life of children and adults affected by these diseases. More than 82 cents of every dollar the foundation spends goes to mis-sion-critical programs. For more information, call (800) 932-2423 or visit www.ccfa.org.

Ellen Shapiro

Zachary Weber is an intern at City Cellar inWest Palm Beach through Seagull Services.

Zachary Weber is like a lot of teens. The 17-year-old plays sports year-round after school, and on weekends, he works a part-time job. Every day, his father, Jim, drives him from their Loxahatchee home to his charter school, the Seagull Academy for Independent Living.

“After we found SAIL Acade-my, we never even thought about a different school,” Jim Weber said. “The staff there is dedicated to kids with special needs. For me, there’s no distance I wouldn’t drive.”

SAIL is one of the many pro-grams provided by Seagull Ser-vices, an agency that provides numerous programs for individ-uals with disabilities. Zachary is one of many people from the western communities in Seagull’s programs, which in addition to the charter school include vocational training, life skills, residential housing, job skills and job place-ment services.

Zachary is an intern at City Cellar in West Palm Beach through a program that pairs Seagull’s stu-dents with students from Suncoast

High School in on-the-job training.“The manager there is amaz-

ing,” Jim Weber said. “The kitchen staff is great. For City Cellar to [participate in] a program like that is awesome. It gives Zachary a great sense of accomplishment. This entire work apprentice pro-gram is pretty special.”

Seagull was founded in 1979 as Seagull Industries for the Disabled by families just like the Webers who were seeking to improve the education and quality of life for their children and others with in-tellectual and other developmental disabilities.

Celebrating 35 years in Palm Beach County, Seagull Services is launching its inaugural fundraiser this year. Infusion Palm Beach is an evening of entertainment through the arts designed to cel-ebrate the accomplishments of every individual whose life has been enriched by Seagull.

The event on Friday, Jan. 30 is headlined by the Jake and Elwood Blues Revue. The show captures the spirit of the iconic Blues Brothers duo.

ing The Power to Win. She has also produced a CD series called The Keys to Winning Dressage.

Learn more about King at www.summitpress.net or call (561) 841-7603.

Infusion Palm Beach will take place at the Borland Center for the Arts (4885 PGA Blvd., Palm Beach Gardens). VIP tickets are $125 and general admission tickets

are $48. Sponsorship opportunities are available. For tickets, or more information, contact Elizabeth McDermott at (561) 842-5814, ext. 111, or [email protected].

Mitton Graduates U.S. Army TrainingArmy Pvt. Christopher F. Mitton

has graduated from basic combat training at Fort Benning, Ga.

During the nine-week training period, the trainee received in-struction in drill and ceremony, weapons, rifle marksmanship and bayonet training, chemical warfare, field training and tactical

exercises, armed and unarmed combat, military courtesy, military justice, physical fitness, first aid, and Army history, traditions, and core values.

Mitton is the son of Marie Michelle Mitton. He is a 2013 graduate of Seminole Ridge High School.

Alex Malsbury of Loxahatchee was among 564 students named to the Dean’s List at Saint Vincent College for the fall 2014 semester, according to Dean of Studies Alice Kaylor.

Malsbury On Saint Vincent Dean’s List

In order to qualify for the Dean’s List, a student must achieve a semester grade point average of 3.5 or better out of a possible 4.0. Malsbury is a senior psychology major.

Page 16: Town-Crier Newspaper January 23, 2015

Page 16 January 23 - January 29, 2015 www.gotowncrier.com The Town-Crier

SCHOOL NEWSFRONTIER STUDENTS

PLACE IN POSTER CONTEST AT FAIR

Frontier Elementary School’s science fair coordinator Molly Harding and art teacher Steve Miller are proud to announce that three Frontier students placed in the 2015 Conservation Poster Contest, sponsored by the Palm Beach Soil & Water Conservation District and the South Florida Fair. More than 153 students from seven schools competed in the contest this year. First graders Josie Molodowitz and Lizdrey Diaz-Norma placed first and sec-ond, respectively, in the kindergarten and first-grade division. Fifth-grader Kelly Snarski placed fourth in her division. All three posters will be on display at the South Florida Fair. The students were also awarded free fair tickets and vouchers to use at the fair. Shown here are (front) Lizdrey Diaz-Norma, Kelly Snarski and Josie Molodowitz; and (back) Molly Harding and Steve Miller.

Loxahatchee Groves Elementary School recently held its school wide spelling bee. Congratulations to the winners: Anthony Mar-tinez in first place, Madeline Pedraza in second place and Sarah Kilby in third place. Shown here are the winners with Principal Richard Myerson.

LOX GROVES STUDENTS SPELL SPECTACULARLY

Whole Foods BlockParty A WHS Project

Graduation FundraiserWellington High School Project

Graduation is hosting a Pre-Game Block Party at Whole Foods Mar-ket in Wellington on Tuesday, Jan. 27 starting at 5:30 p.m.

Stop by the store at 2635 State

Road 7 for food and beverage tast-ings. Tickets are $10 and the event benefits Wellington High School Project Graduation 2015. For tickets, e-mail wellingtonhighpg @gmail.com.

Students at Wellington Elemen-tary School recently participated in Florida First Responder Appreci-ation Week, which was observed Jan. 5-9.

WES teachers reminded stu-dents about the sacrifices that are made daily by policemen, firemen and paramedics to help keep us all safe.

Students created class posters, wrote cards and letters of apprecia-tion and went on the school news in the morning to read poems for the much appreciated first responders.

(Right) West Palm Beach police officers proudly display cards, posters and letters received from Stacey Oswald’s first grade class.

The SECME (Science Engineering Communication Mathematics Enrichment) Club students at New Horizons Elementary School recently built individual water bottle rockets of their own design. The top six students with the best “hang time” will represent New Horizons on two different teams when the SECME Club competes at the annual district competition in February. Shown here are club members holding their rockets with teacher Jennifer Schuler.

Comcast Honors SRHS Senior Anisa KornegaySeminole Ridge High School

senior Anisa Kornegay has been selected as a $1,000 recipient in the Comcast Foundation Leaders & Achievers Scholarship Program. The Comcast Foundation recog-nized Kornegay’s efforts to help

make the community stronger. Seminole Ridge High School ap-plauds Kornegay’s achievements and wishes her the best of luck as she pursues her goals.

• Financial Aid Workshop Feb. 4 — SRHS seniors should take

the first step in getting money for college and complete the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Stu-dent Aid) form. Hawk seniors and their parents are invited to attend a FAFSA completion workshop 8 a.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 4 and

complete the application with the help of a guest speaker from the Office of Student Financial Assis-tance. Seniors must register at the SRHS Edline page under “School Info,” then under “Guidance.” Seats are limited, so register today.

NEW HORIZONS KIDS LAUNCH ROCKETS

Wellington Elementary School Students Participate In First Responder Week

Page 17: Town-Crier Newspaper January 23, 2015

The Town-Crier www.gotowncrier.com January 23 - January 29, 2015 Page 17

SCHOOL NEWSBEREAN CHRISTIAN

SCHOOL CHOIR SINGS AT LOCAL NURSING HOME

EMERALD COVE HONORS FIRST RESPONDERS

A group of Berean Christian School choir students, under the di-rection of Kimberly Kauffman, had an opportunity to serve others through song at the Arbor Oaks nursing facility in Greenacres on Dec. 4. Junior Lexi Torres and freshmen Amaya Charles, Gabriela Martin and Madisyn Nevad enjoyed the time spent there per-forming Christmas songs, making homemade decorated posters and personal Christmas cards. The students found the visit to be very heartwarming, as evidenced through the participation by the residents. They sang along with the students and spent time visiting with them afterward. The students agreed that it would be an activity that they would engage in again. For more information about Berean Christian School, visit www.bcsbulldogs.org.

PBC Students Receive A Record Number Of Scholarships, Admissions At Recruitment Tour

A record $2.6 million in college scholarships and 1,162 college admissions were delivered to students who attended the School District of Palm Beach Coun-ty’s Historically Black College/University and Hispanic Serving Institution Recruitment Tour.

There were 1,142 students from all of the district’s high schools attending the two-day recruitment

tour at the Palm Beach County Convention Center on Jan. 13 and Jan. 14. Transportation was provided to the convention center for the recruitment tour, which also included an evening event that allowed parents, guardians and community members to learn more about the opportunities avail-able at these institutions.

“We are extremely proud that

so many students attended the tour and walked away with col-lege admissions and scholarship money,” said Eunice Greenfield, the district’s high school counsel-ing program planner who helped organize the tour.

Twelve colleges and universi-ties sent recruiters and financial aid representatives to the tour. Students came with their high

school transcripts, and many walked away with admissions and scholarship offers.

There are 106 historically black colleges and universities in the United States, including public and private institutions. Hispanic-serv-ing institutions are colleges and universities where total Hispanic enrollment is at least 25 percent of the institution’s total enrollment.

Jan. 5 through 9 was First Responder Appreciation Week in Florida, and Emerald Cove Middle School students recognized Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue Station 30, located on Stribling Way, for its service to the community and school. Shown here are Kimberly Kovacs’ sixth-grade art students, who designed a banner for the fire station lobby.

RPBHS DEBATERSSHINE AT NOVA EVENT

Palm Beach State College’s Center for Applied Ethics will present “Ethics and the Transfor-mation of Health Care in America” from 9 to 10:30 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 23 at the Public Safety Train-ing Center conference room on the Lake Worth campus at 4200 Congress Ave.

Keynote speaker Dr. Otis W. Brawley, chief medical and sci-entific officer of the American Cancer Society, will talk about the contemporary health scene, how medicine is practiced, and his prescription for policies, providers and patients.

Brawley is the author of How

We Do Harm: A Doctor Breaks Rank About Being Sick in Amer-ica, and he will sign copies at 10:30 a.m.

“As a courageous champion of the rational use of healthcare, Dr. Brawley provides an unflinching guided tour of the back rooms of American medicine and a personal call to action for change,” said Kim Ardila-Morgan, director for the Center of Applied Ethics.

The event is free. Advance registration is required. Register online at www.palmbeachstate.edu/CAE. For more info., call the Center for Applied Ethics at (561) 868-3545.

Rosarian Students Help Plant Tree AtPark For Arbor DayOn Wednesday, Jan. 13, the

Garden Club of Palm Beach made a presentation to the Rosarian Academy’s third grade classes on Arbor Day and its history. They discussed different types of trees, with focus spent on the silk floss tree, which the garden club planted Jan. 15 in Bradley Park.

The speakers also brought in a few types of seeds from various trees. Florida celebrates Arbor Day the third Friday in January.

Third graders Layna Steele, Lulu Lang, Nicholas Stewart and

Brewer Rehm helped the club plant the silk floss tree.

The Garden Club of Palm Beach focuses its attention on conversa-tion, civic improvement and horti-culture. It plants a tree annually in conjunction with Arbor Day.

Founded in 1925, the Rosarian Academy educates students in early childhood through eighth grade. The private, coeducational Catholic school is located on Flagler Drive in downtown West Palm Beach. For more info., visit www.rosarian.org.

Rosarian Academy third graders Layna Steele, Lulu Lang, Nicholas Stewart and Brewer Rehm help the Garden Club of Palm Beach plant a silk floss tree at Bradley Park in honor of Arbor Day.

The Royal Palm Beach High School Speech & Debate Team re-cently competed at the Sunvitational National Speech & Debate Tournament at Nova Southeastern University. Among 1,200 competitors from 32 states, Alaa Kaki and Nikita Grant placed third in Duo Interpretation, while Narrelle Gilchrist placed sixth in Congressional Debate. The team is coached by Christina Calaluca.

PBSC Healthcare Ethics Lecture Jan. 23

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FEATURES

I have always wondered about charisma — who has it, how they get it and why I don’t have any. As a student of humanity, it’s easy to see that some people stand out more than others — sometimes in a bad way, through misbehavior or downright stupidity, and sometimes in a good way in that others are simply drawn to them.

But is this attraction born or made? And when, exactly, does it happen? Does a kid suddenly decide to become the class clown or does constant encouragement by appreciative classmates make it so?

I got a firsthand look at charisma in its infancy last week at the ice-skating rink, and I’ll tell you right now: it’s born. You

either have it, or you don’t.I hadn’t intended to go ice skating.

In fact, I hadn’t intentionally slid across the ice for decades. But suddenly I had a chance to show my 2.5-year-old grandson Skippy what it was all about and, before I

knew it, we were heading off to skate. (We had only intended to eat lunch at a nearby restaurant, but one thing led to another.)

I must admit the little guy was intrigued from the moment I told him we’d be wearing shoes with knives on the bottom. I mean, you have to present these new experiences in their best light. He turned in his shoes; I strapped us into the skates, and he wobbled across the rubber mats, astonished at first that the art of walking had become difficult again.

I held his hand (so he wouldn’t fall) and the railing (so I wouldn’t fall) and off we went, both of us tentatively sliding along. In time, my confidence came back, and I

was able to hold both his hands, enabling him to slide more on the bottoms of the blades than the sides. Not wanting to over-do it, I suggested we take a break.

Skippy clomped right over to a small picnic table that held a gaggle of 10-year-old girls and all their accoutrements — feathery headbands, glittery sweaters and satiny leggings. Even a raccoon would’ve been attracted to them. But as he wedged himself into their midst, I said, “No, Skippy. This is their table. They were here first.”

The girls immediately protested. “Aww, no! He can stay! He’s so cute!”

And so it began. My lesson in charisma.

The seas parted and Skippy was now in the place of honor in the center of the group. He took this in stride, patiently answering their questions and requests.

“I’m Brianna. Can you say my name?”“Bri. Ann. Uh.”“Aww! So cute!”“Now say mine. Say Jessica.”“Jess. Sic. Uh.”“Aww!”After 10 minutes of this, I asked Skippy

if he wanted to go back onto the ice. He did. After all, there were puddles out there. He stood up, and the entire flock of girls stood with him. On the ice, I took one hand

Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper is an old-fashioned tough movie about war. The only film heroes when it comes to violence anymore seem to be superheroes or people bent on revenge or rescue. Chris Kyle was a super soldier and, more to the point, a sniper. He killed people often without warning and from a distance.

Men like this are often the villains. But Eastwood turns the story around and encourages views of heroism in this more or less biographical film.

Kyle (Bradley Cooper) is far closer to Dirty Harry than to many of the more recent heroes of Eastwood films. While many of us cheered Harry as he blew away bad guys, it was also clear that they were indeed bad guys. The directors made certain we saw the villainy before they got killed. In this movie, things are far less clear. Kyle is not out for revenge; he is far more assassin than direct warrior.

The movie is fairly straightforward,

covering much of the Kyle’s life. He does not fit well in our society. He seems out of place everywhere but with his comrades. But once he is sent to Iraq after the 9/11 attacks, he quickly becomes the most famous of America’s snipers, nicknamed “The Legend.”

And throughout the times in battle, he struggles to be a good family man. In one particularly effective sequence, he is on the phone to his wife Taya (Sienna Miller) just as a battle breaks out. She is back home in Texas, has just found out

she’s pregnant, and in the middle of the call, communications break off because a battle has begun.

The film also has one of the most har-rowing sequences I have seen in recent movies. In the opening scene, American soldiers walk through the streets of a shat-tered Iraqi town. Like a protective angel, Kyle watches over them, ready to protect them from afar. But then a woman and a child appear. He can see the woman hand the child something through his rifle’s scope. He realizes, as we do, that it appears to be an explosive. The child runs toward the soldiers he is tasked to protect.

We can see and even feel the adjust-ment of the rifle’s sights, the very slight movements as it calibrated, how his breath slows. There is an incredible build-up of tension as we move to the moment of de-cision. And then the movie goes into some of his life story before getting to the time of decision. That decision has a lose-lose

immediacy. Kill the kid and mother, or his comrades die. He does what he has to, and a bit more of his soul seems gone.

How accurate the story is can be debated. But there is no doubt he was decorated many times, and his official “kill count” was 160. (Although Kyle claimed more than 250, many could not be confirmed, which is normal in wartime circumstances.)

Eastwood, who often focuses heavily on morality, is more straightforward than normal, allowing the viewer to decide morality. We can see how Kyle’s decisions impinge on his own feelings of self-worth. He clearly does not enjoy the work he does. He killed more people than a serial killer and often agonizes over the work, but also understands that he is protecting his fellow warriors.

Another effective scene has one of the soldiers thanking him for saving his life. He understands the importance of what

he does but also recognizes how it has stripped away a lot of his humanity. He is not Dirty Harry; he is a true soldier.

Cooper gives a brilliant portrayal. He looks and acts nothing like his normal self. Most times when we see a star, we begin by thinking of the actor, not as the part but as the persona we expect from previous performances. Cooper avoids that; he becomes Kyle. He has been nominated for an Oscar for his work, and he deserved it. Miller is also excellent as his wife. We can empathize watching her worry as he fights and agonizing when he’s with her in body but not in spirit.

I found this a strong and disturbing movie. Kyle was a hero (he was murdered about a year and a half ago in Texas), but not in a way we want to glorify. But in terrifying days, it rings with an elemental truth about the nature of war. It is strong and well-made; one of the best pictures of the year.

Skippy Has Developed Plenty Of Charisma At A Tender Age

‘American Sniper’ Is A Strong, Yet Disturbing Movie About War

DeborahWelky is

The SonicBOOMER

‘I’ OnCULTUREBy Leonard Wechsler

See WELKY, page 21

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POLO & EQUESTRIANMerchant Hub Notches First Win, Defeating Flex Jet 11-8 At IPC

By Alex WebbeMerchant Hub (Scott Swerdlin,

Marianito Obregon, Facundo Obregon and Luis Escobar) re-corded its first win of the season in Joe Barry memorial Cup competi-tion at the International Polo Club Palm Beach last Sunday afternoon by downing FlexJet (Melissa Gan-

zi, Guille Aguero, Miguel Novillo Astrada and Juan Bollini) 11-8.

The 19-goal Merchant Hub team received one goal by hand-icap, but FlexJet scored the first goal of the game on a 30-yard penalty conversion from Aguero for a 1-1 tie. Astrada made it 2-1 on a goal from the field with 1:34 left in the chukker.

Merchant Hub came alive in the second chukker with goals from Marianito Obregon and his brother Facundo Obregon for a 3-2 edge. Astrada leveled the score at 3-3 with a goal in the final 48 seconds of the chukker.

Escobar scored the go-ahead goal in the opening 30 seconds of the third chukker for a 4-3 Mer-chant Hub advantage. Astrada con-verted a 40-yard penalty shot for a 4-4 score. Bollini and Marianito Obregon traded goals to end the first half deadlocked at 5-5.

The fourth chukker remained scoreless until Marianito Obregon found Facundo Obregon with a pass that he redirected to a streak-

ing Escobar, who scored, giving the lead to Merchant Hub, 6-5. With 1:28 on the clock, Marianito Obregon scored to give Merchant Hub a 7-5 lead.

Fifth chukker action got under-way with Marianito Obregon scor-ing the first goal of the period, and his brother adding the second as Merchant Hub stretched its lead to four goals, 9-5. Astrada got FlexJet on the scoreboard with a 40-yard penalty conversion, 9-6, adding a goal from the field moments later to cut the Merchant Hub lead to two goals, 9-7. Facundo Obregon closed out the chukker by scoring from the field with nine seconds on the clock. With one chukker left to play, Merchant Hub held a 10-7 advantage.

FlexJet pressed the attack in the sixth, with shots being blocked or going wide of the goal. Astrada converted a 30-yard penalty shot with nearly six minutes left to play, but that was where it ended. Escobar scored on an impressive angle shot from just off the end

line that gave Merchant Hub the security goal they needed as they rode on for the 12-8 victory.

Facundo Obregon led the Mer-chant Hub offense with four goals and earned MVP honors. Escobar and Marianito Obregon scored three goals each, and the team received one goal by handicap. Astrada scored a game-high six goals (three on penalty shots). Bollini and Aguero scored single goals in the loss. Halo Polo’s Oro (played by Juan Bollini in the fifth chukker) was named Best Playing Pony.

Villa Del Lago 15, Lechuza Caracas 10 — In earlier Joe Barry Memorial Cup action Villa Del Lago (Jim Zenni, Agustin Obre-gon, Polito Pieres and Julian de Lusarreta) remained undefeated (3-0) as the team bounced back from a 7-3 halftime deficit to defeat Lechuza Caracas (Peke Gonzalez, Marcos Alberdi, Juan Martin Nero and Martin Espain) 15-10.

Enigma 14, Coca-Cola 13 — Enigma (Jerome Wirth, Jeff

Hall, Matias MacDonough and Carlucho Arellano) registered its second win of the season, improving its record to 2-1 as they downed Coca-Cola (Gillian Johnston, Sugar Erskine, Julio Arellano and Mason Wroe) 14-13

in a hard-fought match last Sunday morning at IPC.

Joe Barry Memorial Cup action continues this weekend at IPC with the final slated to be played on Sunday. Learn more at www.internationalpoloclub.com.

Merchant Hub outlasted Flex Jet to win Sunday’s featured match.PHOTO BY ALEX PACHECO

Ian Millar And Dixson Win Wellington Equestrian Realty Grand PrixCanada’s Ian Millar was the

winner of last Saturday night’s $50,000 Wellington Equestrian Realty Grand Prix CSI 2* aboard Ariel and Susan Grange’s Dixson during week two of the 2015 Win-ter Equestrian Festival.

In a five-horse jump-off, Millar and Dixson topped the class by two one-hundredths of a second over Brianne Goutal aboard Re-markable Farms LP’s Zernike K.

Course designer Luc Musette set a challenging track for the 45 starters in Saturday night’s class under the lights of the Interna-tional Arena at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center. Only five entries were able to advance to the jump-off, but all went on to clear the short course. The top four were separated by just fractions of a second.

Paige Johnson and Salamander

Farm’s Dakota set the pace in the jump-off at 40.99 seconds to finish fourth. Cian O’Connor and Adena Spring’s Quidam’s Cherie upped the time in 40.27 seconds to place third. Millar and Dixson followed with the winning round in 40.10 seconds. Ljubov Ko-chetova and Veyron jumped into fifth place in 42.40 seconds, and Goutal wrapped up the night with a time of 40.12 seconds aboard Zernike K.

A 10-time Olympic veteran for Canada and one of the sport’s most illustrious stars, Millar had a fan-tastic 2014 season with Dixson, including a big win in the $1.5 Million CP International Grand Prix at Spruce Meadows and a trip to France for the Canadian show jumping team at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. Millar said that the 12-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding never missed a beat coming back into competi-tion after a short rest at the end of the season.

“He had been off since the third week of September, and I didn’t start him until December again be-cause he lives with Mrs. Grange,” Millar noted. “He had a nice break, and when I got going with him, his conditioning came right

back because they use a treadmill with him... It is so interesting with these horses how they remember; they don’t forget a thing.”

Dixson is related to Millar’s great mount Big Ben and has al-ways been special to the rider for that reason alone, but has proven his own talent in recent years.

“The greatest horse I ever had was Big Ben, and this horse is related to Big Ben on the moth-er’s line,” Millar said. “I felt very strongly about him when I saw him.”

Millar enjoyed Saturday’s course design. “Luc is one of my favorites because he is so subtle. He takes course design to an art form,” Millar said. “That first course was extremely interesting. A course designer like that will find weaknesses in a horse and rider.”

Although the time to catch was very fast, Goutal was just off the winning mark for her second place finish with Zernike K and was very happy with her mount’s performance.

“He’s amazing,” she said. “He is just a really classical little guy with great style. He tries really hard. He has been a little up and down. He was a little bit inconsis-

tent last year, but all summer long and fall up until now, he has been very consistent. He is wonderful, and he really gives it his best shot each time. I felt he was super smooth tonight.”

O’Connor also had a great night with his mount, Quidam’s Cherie, and was happy take home the third place prize.

“She is a nice mare. She placed third in the grand prix of Nations Cup week last year. She jumped really well. I only gave her one 1.40m class the first week and she jumped the WEF [Challenge Cup] well this week and went double clear tonight, so I was very pleased with her,” O’Connor said. “It wasn’t even one fifth of a sec-ond between the top three. It was a very competitive class.”

The top riders all thanked spon-sors Wellington Equestrian Realty for its support of the week’s com-petition. Wellington Equestri-an Realty representatives Craig Martin and Matt Varney were impressed with the evening’s competition.

“It was truly an honor to watch Ian go,” Martin said. “I have grown up watching him. He is a complete technician when it comes to this sport. I thought

Brianne was nearly going to catch him at the end there, but it was a great class.”

“We have been involved in some exciting grand prixs since we have been in town, which has been five years now,” Varney added.

Millar and Goutal each noted the great turnout for this year’s competition and the wonderful crowd that was at PBIEC to cheer them.

“I think traditionally the busiest time for the facility is somewhere in the middle weeks, and it is up over last year,” Millar said. “Whether that is a reflection of the economy, or our sport is getting more popular, or this particular venue is drawing more and more, I don’t know. It is probably a combination of all of them be-cause this venue is unrecognizable compared to what it was a decade ago.”

For her consistent performances this week, Johnson was presented with the Leading Lady Rider award from Martha Jolicoeur of Illustrated Properties in memory of Dale Lawler.

For more information, and a full schedule of events, visit www.equestriansport.com.

Canada’s Ian Miller aboard Dixson.PHOTO BY SPORTFOT

The lead bounced back and forth until Merchant Hub took control of the match in the fourth chukker.

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NEWS

WelkySkippy’s Charismacontinued from page 18

and Brianna took the other. Jessica pleaded with me, and I turned over control to the 10-year-olds. My reasoning was that they were closer to the ground and easier for him to hold on to.

Skippy was in heaven. Plodding along, he was surrounded by nine — nine — girls. He couldn’t have fallen if he’d wanted to.

“I’m back-spotting him!” one

called out as she cradled her hands just behind his head.

Back at the picnic table, the girls allowed him to admire their cell phones — loaded with bling — and he quickly took a selfie. (“Aww!”)

When it was time to leave, I bought all the girls chocolate chip cookies and thanked their mothers for allowing them to teach Skippy how to skate.

But they had taught me more. They had taught me that Skippy’s mother has her work cut out for her.

FDOTRPB Council Not Happy

continued from page 1December, where MPO members formally objected to the change.

“We understand that the proj-ect is the Metropolitan Planning Organization’s No. 1 priority, and that our goal would be during the development of the next work program, fiscal years 2017 through 2021, we would make every effort to try to advance the project as much as possible,” Miller said. “We’ve actually informed our cen-tral office that we will be working with that during the next tentative work program to advance the project. Unfortunately, during this process, we did not have enough funding to do the project in fiscal year 2017.”

Vice Mayor David Swift asked whether, if Palm Beach County went to the state legislature and found money, the northern exten-sion could get built any faster, and Miller said the earliest it could be-gin is 2017. She added, however,

MoratoriumFuture Of

Okeechobee continued from page 1

moratorium. This is why the com-mittee is working on it and trying to come up with something that is more reasonable for that corridor that we can all live with.”

Councilman Ryan Liang made a motion to approve the ordinance, which carried 4-0 with Council-man Tom Goltzené absent.

In other business:• The council gave preliminary

approval to an ordinance to amend the unified land development code to delete references to aviaries and wildlife sanctuaries where local laws conflict with state laws.

Cirullo said he had contacted the Florida Fish & Wildlife Con-servation Commission, which has specific regulations for those uses that would supersede local regulations.

“It does not affect any other items that may generally apply to those uses,” Cirullo said. “The state gives them licenses, and that’s how they would be regu-lated.”

Browning explained that the town cannot have laws that conflict with the state’s laws.

“A town cannot have conflict-ing statutes, so basically this says we’re just going to go with what the state does,” he said. “We still

Cypress KeyDeveloper:

Current Plan Not Realisticcontinued from page 1

square feet of professional office space, and that’s part of the prob-lem here,” Perry said. “I suspect that’s a significant part of the reason that this project has never been built previously. Granted, we went through a recessionary period that started in 2007 or 2008, but we’ve been out of it for a few years and there haven’t been any real takers to build the project as approved. The problem with this project, as Mr. Merin stated, is it needs an anchor.”

Perry said the Walmart grocery

that construction could not begin until right-of-way acquisition was finished and the Federal Highway Administration approved the envi-ronmental study.

Miller explained that FDOT had submitted the study, and it was returned with comments. FDOT is in the process of responding to those comments. “That process would take us to fiscal year 2017, so yes, we would be ready by that time frame,” she said.

Indian Trail Improvement Dis-trict Supervisor Michelle Damone, who is the SR 7 liaison for the Western Communities Council, said that the MPO had objected to the shift in financing, and understood that FDOT could not change the plan without legislative approval.

“We have a commitment throughout the entire western com-munities, including the Village of Royal Palm Beach, to oppose that shift in funding, and it concerns me to hear the words ‘we’ll try’ and ‘hopefully.’ We’ve all been working on this for well over a decade,” Damone said. “We can’t afford to wait until 2017, never

mind 2020. That is detrimental to our community.”

Swift pointed out that during the recent Western Communities Council meeting, Wellington had committed $10,000 to continue employing a lobbyist to keep working on the completion of SR 7, and asked that Royal Palm Beach also pitch in $10,000.

“We do need to put pressure on the legislature to get this thing done,” said Swift, who made a mo-tion to approve another $10,000 for lobbying fees, which carried unanimously.

Damone said that she would arrange to have lobbyist Terry Lewis with Lewis, Longman & Walker give the council an update on progress with the effort.

Councilman Jeff Hmara said he would be interested in hearing how the lobbyist money is being spent.

“We all collectively, with the Western Communities Council, have pitched in and pitched in, and one of the things that occurred was, I think the word is, we got ‘surprised,’” Hmara said. “My experience with lobbyists is that we hire people who know what’s

going on and who to talk to. Gen-erally speaking, they don’t get ‘surprised.’ I guess that would be my concern at this point.”

Palm Beach County Engineer George Webb told council mem-bers that the county is still com-mitted to working with the west-ern communities to see the road completed to Northlake Blvd. “We work shoulder to shoulder, but it seems like it goes on forever,” Webb said. “It is frustrating, this process.”

He said that Palm Beach County Day in Tallahassee, March 3 and 4 during the upcoming legislative session, will be a key opportunity to visit elected officials and staff in the state capital.

“We have a new FDOT sec-retary, who I think needs to hear from elected officials,” Webb said. “Many of you have gone up in the past for Palm Beach County Day to make your positions known. I want to encourage that to happen.”

Webb said that the county’s lobbyists are ready to help out. “I think that this is a major focus for Palm Beach County to do what we can to get commitments,” he said.

store is not the typical big-box store that people think of, but a 42,000-square-foot neighborhood market.

Perry said that Councilman Fred Pinto had suggested previously to move the grocery store to the west side, but there is no way they could make that work and, as an alternative, offered extra buffering to shield the store from homes to the east. “I think those are good compromises,” he said. “There’s not much more that we can do here.”

Perry said that residents in the area have complained about hav-ing to look at traffic on Southern Blvd. “That’s going to continue for some time to come,” he said. “I suspect that any commercial developer who takes a look at this site is… going to see what the history has been for this past year, all the difficulties it has

are able to complain about noise and some of those things that are in our code, but as far as controlling those animals, that jurisdiction is the state’s, and we can’t step on their toes.”

Councilman Jim Rockett made a motion to approve the ordinance, which carried 4-0.

• During his report, Town Man-ager Bill Underwood said progress was being made on an agreement with the Loxahatchee Groves Water Control District for mainte-nance of town roads. “I expect to see a new draft of the agreement in the very short future, and we will bring that to you for your concerns,” Underwood said.

• Negotiations for the purchase of the Central Palm Beach County Chamber of Commerce building are also moving forward, espe-cially for the town’s acquiring the land the building occupies, which is owned by the county and leased to the chamber for $1 a year.

“We did a significant amount of discussion,” Underwood said. “We did submit a formal propos-al to the county administrator, offering $20,000 and agreeing to the stipulations wherein they retain three-quarters of the mineral rights, and the property will remain in the public purpose usage.”

Underwood said he will meet with County Commissioner Me-lissa McKinlay on Jan. 26, and it is on the Palm Beach County Commission’s agenda for Feb. 3.

gone through. They’re not going to come in here with the idea of wanting to build what you already have here because that would have happened before.”

He said the only other alterna-tive might be that someone will come back with a multi-family residential plan.

Village Manager Ray Liggins said the current approval received a traffic light warrant 10 years ago with the signal at the center of the project, with interconnectivity that would bring traffic to that light.

“It was designed, permitted and bonded at one time,” Liggins said.

Councilman Richard Valuntas said that there were some positive aspects to the amended site plan request, mainly in the reduction of commercial, but that the negative aspects outweighed the positive.

“Unfortunately, the retail isn’t really changing at all, and this

would allow them to put two-thirds of the retail right in the corner,” he said. “My thought process is it was bad when it was created, but it’s there, and it was created for a reason. These changes really gut the entire reason for the mixed-use district.”

Councilman David Swift re-minded everyone that what was under consideration was a compre-hensive plan change and pointed out that they had been talking primarily about the site plan.

Councilman Jeff Hmara said he appreciated everyone’s effort but added that he thought the new plan was not a good one. “Unless there’s a compelling reason, I’m not disposed in the direction of changing,” Hmara said.

Valuntas made a motion to deny the change, which carried 3-2, with Swift and Mayor Matty Mattioli dissenting.

The Hanley Center Founda-tion’s annual Family Picnic will celebrate its 20th anniversary this year. The event includes VIP seats for world-class equestrian show jumping, animal encounters, crafts, adult and kid-themed silent auctions, children’s activities and a buffet luncheon. The benefit takes place on Sunday, Feb. 22, from noon to 2:30 p.m., and raises mon-ey for substance abuse prevention programs in local schools.

Held under a ringside tent at the Palm Beach International Eques-trian Center in Wellington, the ben-efit offers the perfect opportunity

for families to come together for a day of fun — a key activity for preventing future substance abuse, according to Hanley Center Foun-dation CEO Dr. Rachel Docekal.

“We know that spending time with your children today helps you stay connected tomorrow,” Docekal said. “Seventy-two per-cent of kids in families who don’t eat dinner together are more likely to use tobacco, alcohol and drugs. We are so grateful to this event’s great leadership of all ages, and we hope families will see the picnic event as the perfect opportunity to spend a really fun day together and

reinforce that family time is time well spent, all while benefiting an important cause.”

The Family Picnic committee is led by chairs Val Perez and Denise Groo, with niece Madeline Perez; Dena and Bill Foman with chil-dren Jackson, Walter and Xavier Foman, and Clayton Gause; and Michelle and Bob Diffenderfer with daughters Hope and Lily. Honorary chairmen are Sheriff Ric and Dorothy Bradshaw, with grandsons Landon Branch and Noah LoFaso; and honorary media chairs are WPTV NewsChannel 5’s Roxanne Stein and Sunny

107.9FM’s Deena Lang.The Hanley Center Foundation

provides scholarships for patients who could not otherwise afford addiction treatment. In addition, the foundation supports substance abuse prevention and education programs for parents, caregivers and school-aged children.

Tickets to the event are $195 for adults (18 and over), $50 per child (4 to 17 years of age), and children 3 and under are free. To purchase tickets, call (561) 309-1930 or visit www.hanleycenterfoundation.org/familypicnic. Sponsorships for the event are still available.

Hanley Center Foundation To Host Family Picnic Feb. 22 At PBIEC

Bill and Dena Foman with children Xavier, Walter and Jackson.PHOTOGRAPHY BY LILA PHOTO

Sheriff Ric and Dorothy Bradshaw with grandson Noah LoFaso.

Michelle and Bob Diffenderfer with daughtersHope and Lily, joined by Merannus from the Palm

Beach County Sheriff’s Office Mounted Unit.Denise Groo and Val Perez with Dakota, from thePalm Beach County Sheriff’s Office Mounted Unit.

Page 22: Town-Crier Newspaper January 23, 2015

Page 22 January 23 - January 29, 2015 www.gotowncrier.com The Town-Crier

NEWS103RD ANNUAL SOUTH FLORIDA FAIR KICKS OFF WITH LAS VEGAS THEME

Bootsie Meyer of Lighthouse Oasis sets up theLas Vegas Vintage Showgirl costume exhibit.

WATERCOLOR DEMONSTRATION AT WELLINGTON ART SOCIETY GATHERINGThe Wellington Art Society met Wednesday, Jan. 14 at the Wellington Community Center. There was an artist meet and greet, followed by a brief meeting and a watercolor demonstration by member Bobbin Salisbury. An Art in Public Places reception took place prior to the meeting. The current exhibit features a number of paintings. For more info., visit www.wellingtonartsociety.org.

Arabella Bumbplays hopscotch.

Cake walk winner Janice Nalis withDebbie Hulen and Roxy Coleman.

Dakota Nicole with her acrylic painting Horse andTalia Fradkin with her photo Woodsy Wonderland. Bobbin Salisbury shows one of her watercolor paintings.

Jack Frost cuts the ribbon opening the 2015 South Florida Fair.

The 103rd annual South Florida Fair kicked off last Friday at the South Florida Fairgrounds. The fun continues through Sunday, Feb. 1. The fair’s theme is “Las Vegas Exposition: A Jackpot of Memories.” For more info., call (561) 793-0333 or visit www.southfloridafair.com.

PHOTOS BY DENISE FLEISCHMAN/TOWN-CRIER

PHOTOS BY DENISE FLEISCHMAN/TOWN-CRIER

Taylor Lamerson with Tootsie.A friendly card game at Yesteryear Village turns

serious when a player is caught cheating.

Wellington Community Programs Manager Michelle Garveywith artists Rania Assi, Talia Fradkin, Joanne Baker MacLeod,

Dakota Nicole, Lorenzo Laiken and George McGowan.

Loxahatchee Groves Mayor David Browning, PahokeeMayor Colin Walkes and Greenacres Mayor Sam Ferreri.

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The Town-Crier www.gotowncrier.com January 23 - January 29, 2015 Page 23

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Page 24 January 23 - January 29, 2015 www.gotowncrier.com The Town-Crier

Photography by LILA PHOTO

3667 120th Avenue SouthWellington, Florida 33414

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Page 25: Town-Crier Newspaper January 23, 2015

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The Town-Crier www.gotowncrier.com January 23 - January 29, 2015 Page 25

THIS WEEK’S INDEXTAILS FROM THE TRAILS ............................ 27BUSINESS NEWS .................................. 28-29SPORTS & RECREATION ....................... 33-35COMMUNITY CALENDAR ............................ 36CLASSIFIEDS .........................................37-40

BusinessThe Tackeria To Present StablingAward At Global Dressage FestivalFor the past 40 years, the Tackeria, a complete eques-trian shop with a unique history in Wellington, has been supporting the local equestrian community. This year, the store will also sponsor the Adequan Global Dressage Festival, which happens to take place across the street from the store. In celebration of the busi-ness’s 40th anniversary, the Tackeria will present the “Tackeria Stabling Award.” Page 28

SportsPBCHS Basketball Girls Defeat RivalSeminole RidgeOn Thursday, Jan. 15, the Palm Beach Central High School girls basketball team hosted Seminole Ridge High School and bested the Hawks 54-11. The sev-enth-ranked Lady Broncos jumped out to a 15-4 lead in the first quarter. It was a lead that they never gave up, overpowering the Seminole Ridge defense. Page 33

Mesmerizing Experience At Battle Of The SexesThe stands at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center were crammed with nearly 4,000 spectators, including many families, young children and dogs. The jumps were set, and the horses and riders more than ready to begin the $75,000 Battle of the Sexes. Ellen Rosenberg’s Column, Page 27

WHS Soccer Girls Defeat Boca 4-1 To Win DistrictThe Wellington High School girls soccer team defeated Boca Raton High School 4-1 on Friday, Jan. 16 to claim the District 11-5A crown. WHS students and alumni gathered to watch the championship match. The second-seeded Wolverines had eliminated Park Vista High School 2-0 in the semifinals. Page 33

A TOWN-CRIER PUBLICATION

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The Town-Crier www.gotowncrier.com January 23 - January 29, 2015 Page 27

FEATURES2015 Battle Of The Sexes A Mesmerizing Experience

Tales From The Trails

By Ellen Rosenberg

The weather report had called for rain, but luckily for all, Saturday night, Jan. 10, remained clear and cool. The stands at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center were crammed with nearly 4,000 spectators, including many families, young children and dogs. The jumps were set, and the horses and riders more than ready to begin the $75,000 Battle of the Sexes. Would the women win again, as they had the past six years?

Ten men and 10 women, wearing blue and pink polo shirts (respectively), battled it out head to head, the two teams vying for top honors. Candice King captained the women’s team of Erynn Ballard, Nicole Bellissimo, Amanda Derbyshire, Margie Engle, Abigail McArdle, Catherine Pasmore, Alison Rob-itaille, Debbie Stephens and Kelsey Thatcher.

Charlie Jayne led the men. His team also included David Beisel, David Blake, Daniel Bluman, Mark Bluman, Alex Granato, Angel Karolyi, Darragh Kenny, Samuel Parot and Andrew Ramsay.

The three-phase competition got underway at 7 p.m. with the speed round. Debbie Ste-phens rode out first on Swagger, a lovely gray. The horn sounded, and she was off, trying to go fast and clear. The first two lines were long and straight, but the rest of the course zigged and zagged, requiring a land and turn,

Get updates all week long... follow Ellen Rosenberg on Twitter at twitter.com/Horse TalkFL or stop by the Tales from the Trails page on Facebook and click “like.”

land and turn. Debbie made it through clear in 60.74 seconds. Darragh Kenny followed, also going clear in a faster 56.61 to win the first point for his team.

And so it went, alternating sexes, each woman paired against a man, some clear, some with jumping and/or time faults, even a couple of refusals when the riders tried to shave off a few seconds by turning a little too tight. The crowd cheered as each rider tried to outdo his or her partner.

The last four men to ride had the fastest clear times: Samuel Parot at 55.52, Mark Bluman at 56.43, Andrew Ramsay at 54.32 and Alex Granato, who flew around on Zenith Dance, another amazing gray, in a blazing 52.77. The men won that round, 6-4.

The only slightly annoying part of the evening was the announcing. Although there was constant commentary, the acoustics were poor, which made most of it unintelligible. The Jumbotrons in each corner, however, depicted each rider’s time and faults.

There was a 20-minute break while the course was reconfigured. Crazy fast tractors

zoomed around, dragging the arena dirt. Ground crews dismantled and rebuilt jumps. A live band played, and kids danced to the music, some of them showing up on the Jum-botron. Fire jugglers and tall ladder walkers entertained the crowds ringside.

Back along the shop area, there was tasty food and a variety of goods to be examined, including stuffed ride-on ponies that rolled. For the kids, there was a pair of live minis to be petted, the carousel, and other games and rides. If you had kids, or just enjoyed watching

them, this was a very good place to be.Finally, the second phase, and in my

opinion, the most fascinating one, began: the side-by-side match race. The arena now held two identical courses. Two riders approached a man holding a red flag, and when he waved it, they turned and raced over the fences, each one again aiming for fastest clear round.

Of any class offered at the Winter Eques-trian Festival, this one lets you really see how diverse riding styles can make the difference

See ROSENBERG, page 35

Crowds fill the show grounds for the Battle of the Sexes competition.

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Page 28 January 23 - January 29, 2015 www.gotowncrier.com The Town-Crier

BUSINESS NEWS

For the past 40 years, the Tackeria, a complete equestrian shop with a unique history in Wellington, has been supporting the local equestrian community.

This year, the store will also spon-sor the 2015 Adequan Global Dres-sage Festival, the world’s largest international and national dressage circuit, which happens to take place across the street from the store.

The Tackeria has long been a pop-ular tack shop, but for horse owners and equestrians, it has also become a central meeting place and a land-mark destination in the international center for equestrian sports.

A warehouse-sized inventory dis-played in a boutique fashion, along with highly personalized customer service, makes the Tackeria the go-to store for all horse owners.

The Tackeria has also become a

favorite place for Adequan Global Dressage Festival attendees from all over the world looking to find tack and horse care supplies.

In celebration of the business’s 40th anniversary, the Tackeria is bringing something new to the 2015 festival: the “Tackeria Stabling Award.” The award will be present-ed throughout the 10-week compe-tition, running through March 29.

Award winners will be equestrians who have the most attractive and efficient stabling setup on the show grounds. As is obvious after a stroll through the Tackeria, having qual-ity equipment presented in a neat, effective way is important to the tack shop. The business is eager to recognize show competitors for their efforts to have eye-catching and practical stabling setups at the show.

The Adequan Global Dressage

Festival features eight CDIs, the only non-championship CDIO Nations’ Cup in the Western Hemi-sphere and weekly national events. In 2015, competition prizes over the entire circuit will offer more than $650,000, making the Adequan Global Dressage Festival the richest dressage circuit in the world.

Festival attendees looking to spruce up their stabling setup will find a wide selection of quality tack items, as well as equestrian-themed gifts, at the Tackeria, located at 13501 South Shore Blvd., Suite 107. The shop carries a complete selection of equestrian equipment, importing goods from all over Europe, the Far East and South America.

To learn more about the store, visit www.tackeria.com or call (561) 793-2012.

Tackeria To Present Stabling Award At Dressage Festival

Xfinity To Celebrate New Wellington StoreComcast is marking the grand

opening of its new Xfinity Store in Wellington with a special event celebrating HBO’s series Game of Thrones.

The event will take place Satur-day, Jan. 24 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the new Xfinity store, located at 2815 State Road 7, Suite 300, in Wellington.

Fans of the hit HBO series will have the chance to get their pictures taken on the iconic throne from the show, plus compete for great prizes in a trivia contest, enjoy free give-aways and create their own crowns and shields in a special kids’ craft corner.

Event attendees will also get to experience all the new location has

to offer. The Wellington Xfinity Store showcases the innovation and speed of Xfinity products and is designed entirely around the needs of customers, offering them the opportunity to explore and interact directly with the latest Xfinity prod-ucts and services.

For more about Xfinity services, visit www.comcast.com.

Tackeria’s Tony Coppola (left) and Lou Cuthbertson (right) prepare to present a Tackeria cooler to winners of the Tackeria Stabling Award at the 2015 Adequan Global Dressage Festival.

Michael Reynolds Opens NewAllstate Office In Wellington

Allstate Insurance Co. is proud to announce the opening of a new of-fice owned and operated by Allstate Agent Michael Reynolds. The office can be found at 13873 Wellington Trace, Suite B13, in Wellington.

Reynolds’ office opened its doors on Jan. 1 and sells auto, property and life insurance, as well as protection

for motorcycles, boats, motor homes and recreational vehicles. Agency staff members can offer guidance and counseling to customers about those products, helping them to choose the insurance coverage that best meets their needs.

To find out more about the new office, call (561) 790-5906.

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The Town-Crier www.gotowncrier.com January 23 - January 29, 2015 Page 29

BUSINESS NEWSScripps, PNC To Host ‘Food For Thought’ Lunch Series

Scripps Research Institute and PNC Wealth Management are host-ing the PNC “Food For Thought” Lunch Series.

These monthly events, sponsored by PNC Wealth Management, will take place Feb. 9, March 6 and April 24 at 11:30 a.m. at Scripps Florida’s O’Keeffe Founders Suite.

The PNC “Food For Thought” Lunch Series will be thought-pro-voking luncheons with world-re-nowned scientists from Scripps Florida. The presentations will include topics such as obesity, healthy aging, natural products and infectious diseases.

Tickets for the series cost $500, or $1,000 at the benefactor level. To request tickets, or for more in-formation, call (561) 228-2015. All proceeds will support the research of the scientists presenting at the luncheons.

The event chair is Nancy Hart,

and the committee includes Jeffrey Barr, John Cross, Louise Cross, Jo-sephine Faso, Ileene Fisher, Jeffrey Fisher, Irv Geffen, Dr. Stephen Got-tlieb, Joel Hart, Suzanne Holmes, Todd Huffman, Leanna Landsmann, Kristin Lidinsky, Laurie Luskin, Joanne McQuigg, Andy Pargh, Jil-lian Percella, Joanne Pinciss, Ellen Tansey and Peter Weisz.

The Scripps Research Institute is one of the world’s largest indepen-dent, not-for-profit organizations focusing on research in the biomed-ical sciences. Over the past decades, Scripps Research has developed a long track record of major contribu-tions to science and health, and has laid the foundation for treatments for cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, hemo-philia and other diseases.

The institute employs about 3,000 people on its campuses in La Jolla, Calif., and Jupiter, where its re-nowned scientists — including three

Nobel laureates — work toward their next discoveries.

The institute’s graduate program, which awards doctoral degrees in

Anidea Engineering Attends Career Day At Suncoast High School

The ‘Food for Thought’ luncheon series is being organized by an event committee led by Nancy Hart.biology and chemistry, ranks among the top 10 of its kind in the nation.

Anidea Engineering Inc., a design and engineering firm specializing in the development of products and prototypes, participated in Career Day at Suncoast High School on Dec. 11.

Gabriel Goldstein, founder and owner of Anidea Engineering, met

with and spoke to young, aspiring engineers and scientists about the future of the industry and how to take a project through the various steps needed to go from concept to completion.

“I always look for opportunities to meet kids these days and help

inspire them the way that I was inspired at a young age,” Goldstein said. “You can always tell the kids that know they want to be engineers. They come right up and start asking the hard questions. It’s pretty cool to see.”

The visit is part of Anidea’s ini-

tiative aimed at fostering excitement and enthusiasm and encouraging local youth to enter the fields of engineering and entrepreneurship.

Anidea Engineering works on various projects, such as the Cyto-wave Equine Therapy System, the Firefighter Telemetry System, Gate

Controller for Vehicular Access, the LED Marine Lamp and many more tangible systems that merge together technology, engineering and science. To learn more, call (561) 383-7311, visit www.anidea-engineering.com, or visit Anidea’s new office at 8020 Belvedere Road, Suite 1.

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Page 30 January 23 - January 29, 2015 www.gotowncrier.com The Town-Crier

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The Town-Crier www.gotowncrier.com January 23 - January 29, 2015 Page 31

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SPORTS & RECREATION

Lady Broncos Basketball Team Defeats Seminole Ridge

PHOTOS BY GENE NARDI/TOWN-CRIER

WHS Soccer Girls Defeat Boca 4-1 To Win District Title

PHOTOS BY GENE NARDI/TOWN-CRIER

By Gene NardiTown-Crier Staff Report

The Wellington High School girls soccer team defeated Boca Raton High School 4-1 on Friday, Jan. 16 to claim the District 11-5A crown.

WHS students and alumni gath-ered to watch the championship match. The second-seeded Wol-verines had eliminated Park Vista High School 2-0 in the semifinals, while the third-seeded Bobcats upset the top seed, district favorite Palm Beach Central High School, 4-3. Wellington and Boca had met earlier in the regular season, with the Wolverines taking that contest by a score of 5-2.

Wellington last won the district title in 2009 under coach Mike Ko-zlowski. His return to the Wellington pitch as the Wolverines coach has returned the soccer buzz to the area.

“We preached to them all season that it’s not the little me, it’s the big we,” he said. “I know it’s corny, but the fact that four girls scored is testa-ment to our team attitude. They have the attitude that they put themselves second and the team first.”

Wellington (19-2) scored first in the 28th minute. Megan Cebollero capitalized on Boca being unable to clear a deep ball, which gave the Wolverines the 1-0 lead. Thirty-four seconds before the end of the first

half, midfielder Kassidy Hannum added to the Wellington lead by launching a shot from 25 yards out that sailed over the hands of the Boca keeper and found the back of the net for the 2-0 advantage.

In the 49th minute, Boca cut into the Wellington lead by scoring on a breakaway. The Wolverine goal-keeper Lynn Sobczyk came off her line to block the shot, managing to get a hand on the ball, but the deflect-ed shot still found the back of the net to make it a one-goal game at 2-1.

Less than two minutes later, fresh-man midfielder Samantha Sullivan took a shot from 22 yards away that went past the fingertips of the Boca

Wellington midfielder Kassidy Hannum takes a shot on goal that found the back of the net for a 2-0 lead in the first half.

goalkeeper to extend the Wellington lead to 3-1.

In the 59th minute, freshman Samantha Jenkins sent a rocket in the shape of a soccer ball to the net from 30 yards out that soared over the Boca goalkeeper for the 4-1 advantage and the district title. Wellington tallied 17 shots on goal, to Boca’s eight.

“We knew their goalkeeper was short, but it wasn’t something we talked about, it just happened,” Kozlowski said.

“This is amazing,” Wellington defender Kayla McCauley said. “All of the hard work this season has paid off for the girls.”

The two teams could meet again, in the regional semifinal match, but the Wolverines must first host Stoneman Douglas High School, Kozlowski’s alma mater, and Boca must travel to Taravella High School, the District 12-5A cham-pion, on Thursday in regional quar-terfinal play. The winners will face each other in the regional semifinal.

By Gene NardiTown-Crier Staff Report

On Thursday, Jan. 15, the Palm Beach Central High School girls basketball team hosted Seminole Ridge High School and bested the Hawks 54-11.

The seventh-ranked Lady Bron-cos jumped out to a 15-4 lead in the first quarter. It was a lead that they never gave up.

The Palm Beach Central offense proved too much for the Seminole Ridge defense. In addition, the Broncos tallied 22 rebounds to the Hawks’ six and capitalized on them, striking the net with surgical-like accuracy, including a total of five three-pointers.

Palm Beach Central totaled 16 points in the second period, limiting the Hawks to just seven points, en-tering the break with a commanding 31-7 advantage.

Palm Beach Central closed out the third period 49-8, maintaining a stingy defense to limit the Hawks nearly the whole game to a sin-gle-digit score. Seminole Ridge,

The Wellington Wolverines soccer team members grin as one with their districtchampionship trophy after their 4-1 victory over the Boca Raton Bobcats.

Seminole Ridge’s Hanna Hernandez tries to pressurethe goal and get by Palm Beach Central’s Lyric Fedrick.

Wellington defenderKayla MccCauley goes

up for a header.

PB Central’s Daijah Brown leaps up for a two-point score.

Bronco Sydney Jonesfinds a lane and moves

toward the basket.See BASKETBALL, page 35

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SPORTS & RECREATIONWHS Wrestlers Fourth At Gateway

The Wellington High School wrestling team placed fourth with a 6-3 record at the 24-team Troy Smith Duals at Gateway High School last weekend.

Wellington’s three losses were twice to South Dade (returning state champions and ranked No. 7 in the nation) and in the third-place match to Lake Highland Prep (cur-rently ranked No. 1 in the state’s 1A rankings).

It was a great tournament for

the WHS wrestling team, starting out Friday night in a six-team pool with wins over North Port, Manatee, Admiral Farragut and Golden Gate, before falling to tournament cham-pions South Dade.

In the 16-team bracket, Welling-ton advanced to the semifinals with wins over Deland in the first round and Freedom in the quarterfinals, again losing to South Dade in the semifinals. After the second loss, the Wolverines met with Lake Highland

Prep in the team’s final match.Top competitors for WHS were: 106 Pound: Freshman Jared

Abramson, 6-3.120 Pound: Junior Colton Mac-

farlane, 8-1.132 Pound: Sophomore Eric

Reid, 8-1.The Wellington team came into

the tournament with a No. 19 state ranking and the coaches were glad to to see some of the state’s (and nation’s) top competition in action.

Front row (left to right): coach Travis Gray, Bailey Laster, Quentin McCauley, Eric Reid, Andrew Mitchell, Jared Abramson, Colton Macfarlane and Cameryn Townsend; back row (left to right): coach Zach Pin-cus, Ian Posada, Elroy Taylor, Christian Goss, Michael James, Roland Kupoluyi, Josue Arce, Eric Saber, Anthony Pata, A.J. Lopez and coach Chris Forte.

Only open two years, Epic Gym-nastics of Palm Beach has already made headlines for the team’s ac-complishments.

Epic is the Level 5 USAG Florida champions, earning the first-place team title. The Level 3 team won third place in the state, while Level 2 took fourth place. The Epic gym-nasts in levels 1 through 5 compet-ing last season won 57 gold medals, 41 silvers and 35 bronzes. The Level 5 team was undefeated at all meets, and now the girls will be competing

at Level 6. With the optionals season (levels 6 though 10) about to begin, Team Epic is hard at work training for meets across the state under head coach Boris Ponce De Leon and coach Becky Langmeyer.

Several of Team Epic’s gymnasts are residents of Wellington, Loxa-hatchee and Royal Palm Beach. Epic also offers an excellent recre-ational program with fun and safe instruction for children at any level. For more information, visit www.epic-gymnastics.com.

Epic Gymnastics Ready For SeasonThe team from Epic Gymnastics won many medals last season.

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The Town-Crier www.gotowncrier.com January 23 - January 29, 2015 Page 35

SPORTS & RECREATIONRosenberg

Battle OfThe Sexes

continued from page 27between winning and placing. We watched as these elite riders started from the same point, jumping iden-tical courses in real time, and yet, within the first seconds, one was slightly ahead, and by the end of the round, one was often ahead by a lot. The men won some, the women won some, but I didn’t care about that. I was mesmerized by how those tight turns made all the difference.

And there was a chance for the riders to have some fun with each

other. As the ninth pair rode, Mark Bluman knew he’d never beat out Abigail McArdle, so he abandoned his course and rode over to her side, darting in front of her as she headed for the last jump. It didn’t work, and she finished clear. In the end, the men won once more, 6-4, making the team totals 12-8.

More tractors, more entertain-ment and the jumps vanished. Last came the six-bar competition to determine the ultimate winner. Six jumps marched in a diagonal line down the center, two strides be-tween each one. The starting height was 5-foot-3, and four riders from each team took turns trying only to go clear and win the right to come

back and jump again. Mark Bluman rode first and had the last rail down, followed by Candace King, Sam-uel Parot and Nicole Bellissimo, who were all clear. David Beisel rode next, going clear as well and somehow making it look easy. It wasn’t, and the next rider, Kelsey Thatcher, had four rails down. Alex Granato and Alison Robitaille also went clear.

The last two fences were raised, and the riders returned. Alison had the only clear ride, so she alone jumped two more clear rounds over a shortened, four-jump course to earn more points. The last fence was set at 5-foot-9.

With the two teams tied at 18

points, one rider from each came back to try the four jumps, the final one raised to a height of 6 feet. Alex Granato rode for the men and Can-dice King for the women, but both dropped a rail at the final jump. The team captains briefly deliberated and decided to let the class end in a tie.

The audience didn’t seem to mind. They stamped, applauded and whistled. It had been an exciting competition.

To watch some of the action, visit the WEF Facebook page at www.facebook.com/winterequestrian festival.

BasketballBroncos Defeat

Sem Ridgecontinued from page 33

however, erased that stat by adding three fourth-period points to slightly close the gap, then Palm Beach Cen-tral added a couple of three-pointers of its own.

The Hawk defense stepped up their play in the fourth quarter, but it was too late to rally, and the Broncos took the contest 54-11 in convincing fashion.

The Hawks fell to 5-12 on the season, while Palm Beach Central improved to 14-4.

Brooke Steinbauer put up 18 points for the Broncos. Daijah Brown is credited with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Brianna Solis and Hanna Hernandez each had a three-point goal for the Hawks.

Seminole Ridge’s Brianna Solis tries to maintain possession.

PHOTO BY GENE NARDI/TOWN-CRIER

Wellington High School senior Matthew Miller has just returned from his trip to the 2015 Under Armour All-American Tournament at Cubs Park in Mesa, Arizona. The event was held Jan. 16 through Jan. 18 at the Chicago Cubs Spring Training Facility.

Miller was one of approximately 300 high school baseball players from across the United States, Puer-to Rico and Latin America selected by Under Armour to participate in the nationally recognized tourna-ment.

Miller went 6 for 8 (.750 batting average) over the weekend and was truly a standout at the plate. Many current and past Major League Baseball players, coaches and scouts attended the event.

Kansas City Royals General Man-ager Dayton Moore was the keynote speaker and shared valuable infor-mation that the players will be able to take with them for their futures, both on and off the baseball field.

Miller is now back in Wellington preparing for his upcoming varsity season.

WHS Player Attends Under Armour Baseball Tourney

Matthew Miller at CubsPark in Mesa, Arizona.

Page 36: Town-Crier Newspaper January 23, 2015

• The Wellington library (1951 Royal Fern Drive) will host Writers Live: Field to Feast for adults Thursday, Jan. 29 at 2 p.m. The authors of the bestselling cookbook will talk about the book and do a cooking demonstration with a book signing will follow. Pre-register by phone at (561) 790-6070, in person or online at www.pbclibrary.org/writers-live-2015.

• The Wellington Amphitheater (12100 W. Forest Hill Blvd.) will host food trucks and a free concert on Thursday, Jan. 29 from 5 to 9:30 p.m. Food trucks will be on hand starting at 5 p.m., and the Jamie Mitchell Band will play at 6:30 p.m. Call (561) 753-2484 for more info.

• The Palm Beach Zoo (1301 Summit Blvd., West Palm Beach) will present the Conservation Leadership Lecture “Mermaids & Manatees: 40 Years of Manatee Research” on Thursday, Jan. 29 at 6 p.m. Guests can enjoy cocktails, hors d’oeuvres and animal encounters from 6 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. before the lecture presentation. To pur-chase tickets online, visit www.palmbeachzoo.org. Call (561) 547-WILD, ext. 285, for more info.

• The Wellington library (1951 Royal Fern Drive) will host Super Bowl Trivia for adults Thursday, Jan. 29 at 6:30 p.m. Make friends and compete in a friendly pre-game competition. Refresh-ments will be served. Call (561) 790-6070 to pre-register.

Friday, Jan. 30• The Royal Palm Beach library (500 Civic

Center Way) will host Decorative Tiles with Mod Podge for ages 18 and up Friday, Jan. 30 at 10 a.m. Create ornamental tiles using Mod Podge and paper with a variety of techniques. Bring a photocopy of a picture that is 4 inches by 4 inches or smaller and a pair of scissors. All other materials will be provided. Call (561) 790-6030 to pre-register.

• Wellington Children’s Theatre will present the family-friendly musical Annie Jr. on Friday, Jan. 30 at 7 p.m., and Saturday, Jan. 31 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Performances will take place at Trinity West Church at 16569 Southern Blvd. Tickets are $17 for adults and $12 for children and students. Limited tickets will be available at the door. For more info., visit www.wellingtonchildrenstheatre.com or call (561) 223-1928.

• Royal Palm Beach Commons Park will host a movie night and food truck invasion Friday, Jan. 30 at 7:30 p.m. with the family fun movie Grease and more than 20 food trucks. Call (561) 790-5149 for more info.

• A play once banned in Brazil, Miss Margari-da’s Way, returns to the Bhetty Waldron Theatre at Actor’s Workshop and Repertory Company (1009 N. Dixie Highway, West Palm Beach) opening Friday, Jan. 30 at 8 p.m. and continuing with performances on Saturday, Jan. 31 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 1 at 2 p.m. For more info., visit www.actorsrep.org or contact Bob Carter at (561) 833-7529 or [email protected].

Send calendar items to: The Town-Crier, 12794 W. Forest Hill Blvd., Suite 31, Wellington, FL 33414 or e-mail [email protected].

stories and silly songs about tools, construction and building. Wear your favorite pajamas. Call (561) 790-6030 to pre-register.

Tuesday, Jan. 27• Kravis on Broadway will host Flashdance The

Musical from Tuesday, Jan. 27 through Sunday, Feb. 1. The pop culture phenomenon is now live on stage. For tickets, call (561) 832-7469 or visit www.kravis.org.

• The Wellington library (1951 Royal Fern Drive) will host Teen Game Night for ages 12 to 17 on Tuesday, Jan. 27 at 6 p.m. Play Nintendo Wii and board games. Call (561) 790-6070 for more info.

• The Acreage library (15801 Orange Blvd.) will host Card Gamers Club for all ages Tuesday, Jan. 27 at 6:30 p.m. If you like collectible card games, this is your place to be. Bring your deck, box or binder and come with a friend or make a new one, then get ready to play. Call (561) 681-4100 to pre-register.

• The Wellington library (1951 Royal Fern Drive) will host Wonders of the Night Sky: Telescope Viewing Session for adults Tuesday, Jan. 27 at 7 p.m. Join the Astronomical Society of the Palm Beaches and learn about constellations as you stargaze from sunset to 8:30 p.m. Call (561) 790-6070 for more info.

Wednesday, Jan. 28• The award-winning comedy show Celebrity

Autobiography will be at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts (701 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach) Wednesday through Sunday, Jan. 28 through Feb. 1. Visit www.kravis.org/celebrityautobiography for more info.

• The Clicking In Forum will present Comedian Jane Condon on Wednesday, Jan. 28 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Colony Hotel (155 Hammon Ave., Palm Beach). Condon’s topic will be “How To Get To Happy: A Comedian’s Take on Stress, Life & Things That Drive You Crazy.” To reserve a seat, visit www.clickingin.org.

• The Acreage library (15801 Orange Blvd,) will host “Groundhog, Can You See My Shadow?” for ages 3 to 5 on Wednesday, Jan. 28 at 11:15 a.m. Learn about shadows and read some sto-ries about groundhogs. Call (561) 681-4100 to pre-register.

• The Wellington library (1951 Royal Fern Drive) will host Not Your Grandma’s Bingo for ages 5 to 12 on Wednesday, Jan. 28 at 3:30 p.m. Create your own card and see if luck is on your side. Call (561) 790-6070 for more info.

• The Acreage library (15801 Orange Blvd,) will host Game Time for ages 6 to 12 on Wednesday, Jan. 28 at 3:30 p.m. Play some Wii games, board games or card games with friends. Call (561) 681-4100 to pre-register.

Thursday, Jan. 29• The Acreage library (15801 Orange Blvd.) will

host Catch Super Bowl Fever for ages 6 to 12 on Thursday, Jan. 29 at 1:30 p.m. Enjoy a fun-filled afternoon of relay races and other indoor sports games, snacks, prizes and activities designed to get you in the spirit for Sunday. Call (561) 681-4100 to pre-register.

Sunday, Jan. 25• Registration begins Sunday, Jan. 25 for the

ninth annual photography contest at Mounts Bo-tanical Garden (531 N. Military Trail, West Palm Beach). People are invited to enter the finest photographs that they’ve taken at the garden. Official rules and entry forms are available at www.mounts.org or pick up the contest brochure. Come to Mounts on March 1 from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. for the judges’ critique of the contest entries and the announcement of the winners. The entry fee is $5 per photograph with a maximum of three photographs per individual. Entries will be accepted through Feb. 25. Call (561) 233-1757 for more info.

• The Audubon Society of the Everglades will hold a bird walk at Pondhawk Natural Area on Sunday, Jan. 25 at 8 a.m. Visit www.audubonev-erglades.org for more info.

• The Royal Palm Beach Green Market & Bazaar will take place Sunday, Jan. 25 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Royal Palm Beach Commons Park. For more info., visit www.rpbgreenmarket.com or call (561) 792-9260.

• The Acreage Green Market will take place Sunday, Jan. 25 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Acreage Community Park (6701 140th Ave. North). For more info., visit www.acreagegreenmarket.com or call (561) 723-3898.

• Congregation L’Dor Va-Dor continues its Sun-day morning Origins Series on Sunday, Jan. 25 at 10:30 a.m. at Village Square at Golf Center (3475 Woolbright Road, Suite 19, Boynton Beach). This session will feature a discussion of Moses. The discussion group is free and open to all. Bagels and coffee will be served. Call (561) 968-0688 for more info.

• The International Polo Club Palm Beach (3667 120th Avenue South, Wellington) will continue the 2015 polo season on Sunday, Jan. 25 with the 20-goal Joe Barry Memorial Cup. For more info., visit www.internationalpoloclub.com or call (561) 204-5687.

Monday, Jan. 26• The Kravis Center for the Performing Arts

(701 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach) will present lunch and learn event Woody Allen’s Women: In Film and In Life, a tell-all conversa-tion with Julie Gilbert and Lee Wolf, on Monday, Jan. 26 at 11:30 a.m. Call (561) 832-7469 or visit www.kravis.org for more info.

• The Wellington library (1951 Royal Fern Drive) will host Lego Bricks for ages 6 and up Monday, Jan. 26 at 3 p.m. Create vehicles or buildings out of Lego bricks. Call (561) 790-6070 for more info.

• The Royal Palm Beach library (500 Civic Cen-ter Way) will host Around and Around We Go for ages 7 to 10 on Monday, Jan. 26 at 3:30 p.m. Use everyday items to create a circular masterpiece. Materials will be provided. Call (561) 790-6030 to pre-register.

• The Royal Palm Beach library (500 Civic Center Way) will host Pajamarama Story Time for ages 3 to 6 and siblings Monday, Jan. 26 at 6:30 p.m. Grab your tool box and tool belt for lively

Saturday, Jan. 24• The 103rd annual South Florida Fair contin-

ues through Sunday, Feb. 1. The fair’s theme is “Las Vegas Exposition: A Jackpot of Memories.” For more info., call (561) 793-0333 or visit www.southfloridafair.com.

• Holden Luntz Gallery (332 Worth Ave., Palm Beach) will host a photography exhibition “Americana: Picturing America’s Changing Landscape” opening on Saturday, Jan. 24 and running through Saturday, Feb. 21. Admission is free. For more info., call (561) 805-9550 or visit www.holdenluntz.com.

• The Audubon Society of the Everglades will hold an all-day trip to Three Lakes on Saturday, Jan. 24. Contact Rick Schofield at [email protected] or visit www.auduboneverglades.org for more info.

• The Wellington Green Market will take place Saturday, Jan. 24 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Wellington Municipal Complex (12300 W. Forest Hill Blvd.). Call (561) 283-5856 for more info.

• Mounts Botanical Garden (531 N. Military Trail, West Palm Beach) will host “The Art of Macro Photography: Butterflies” on Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 24-25 from 9 a.m. to noon with Alan Lee, who led the Butterfly Rainforest project for the Florida Museum of Natural History. This program is appropriate for beginners or profes-sional photographers. The cost is $5. Call (561) 233-1757 or visit www.mounts.org for more info.

• The Royal Palm Beach library (500 Civic Cen-ter Way) will host Teeny Tiny Art Time for ages 2 to 5 on Saturday, Jan. 24 at 10:30 a.m. Little ones can strengthen their eye-hand coordination as well as their fine and gross motor skills by engaging in multi-sensory art activities. Dress to get messy. Materials will be provided. Call (561) 790-6030 to pre-register.

• The Palm Beach Zoo (1301 Summit Blvd., West Palm Beach) will present Story Time at the Zoo: Diary of a Wombat by Jackie French on Saturday, Jan. 24 at 10:30 a.m. The event will encourage kids to connect with wildlife through reading. It is included in the cost of zoo admis-sion. For more info., visit www.palmbeachzoo.org.

• The Acreage library (15801 Orange Blvd.) will host Teatime Trivia for adults Saturday, Jan. 24 at 2 p.m. Form a team or compete alone in a stimulating game of trivia. Bragging rights and prizes will be awarded. Call (561) 681-4100 to pre-register.

• The Royal Palm Beach library (500 Civic Cen-ter Way) will host Acoustic Java Jam for adults Saturday, Jan. 24 at 2:15 p.m. Experience a caffeinated collection of local talent or bring your acoustic instruments and jam out. Coffee will be provided. Call (561) 790-6030 to pre-register.

• The Kravis Center for the Performing Arts will present Steve Ross in “I’m in Love with Vienna” on Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 24-25 at 7:30 p.m. Ross explores the connections between the Viennese and German composers and the American Songbook. Call (561) 832-7469 or visit www.kravis.org for more info.

Page 36 January 23 - January 29, 2015 www.gotowncrier.com The Town-Crier

COMMUNITY CALENDAR

Page 37: Town-Crier Newspaper January 23, 2015

BOOKKEEPER NEEDED — part-time, experienced in QuickBooks, flexible hours. Please fax resume to 561-791-0952

HUNTINGTON LEARNING CENTER IN WELLINGTON — Now hiring certified teachers.$10-$15/hour. Call 561-594-1920 E-mail: [email protected]

DRIVERS: $5,000 Sign-On Bonus! — Great pay! Consistent Freight, Great Miles on this Regional Account. Werner Enterprises: 1-855-517-2488

P.T. TEACHING ASSISTANT for Preschool in Wellington — 1:30-6:00 Monday - Fri-day. F.T. TEACHING ASSISTANT needed 9-5 Monday-Friday Call 561-790-0808

A/C AND REFRIGERATION

JOHN C. HUNTON AIR CONDITIONING & REFRIGERATION, INC.—Service & new installation FPL independent participating contractor. Lic. CAC 057272 Ins. “We are proud supporters of the Seminole Ridge Hawks” 561-798-3225. Family Owned & Operated since 1996. Credit Cards Accepted

CLEANING - HOME/OFFICE

WE CLEAN OFFICES & PRIVATE HOMES — Licensed & Insured. Call for an estimate and to schedule your apartment. Discount for Central Palm Beach County Chamber members and to all new clients for first cleaning. 561-385-8243 Lic. #2012-252779

COMPUTER REPAIR

D.J. COMPUTER — Home & office, Spy-ware removal, websites, networks, repairs, upgrades, virus removal, tutoring. Call Jeff 561-333-1923 Cell 561-252-1186 Lic’d Well. & Palm Beach. We accept major credit cards.

DRIVEWAY REPAIR

D R I V E WAY S — F r e e e s t i m a t e s A & M ASPHALT SEAL COATING com-mercial and residential. Patching pot-holes, striping, repair existing asphalt & save money al l work guaranteed. Lic.& Ins. 100045062 561-667-7716

ERRANDS

PICKUP GROCERIES HOME AND PET SUPPLIES — Kitchen organizing wait for appointments in your home, etc. References avai lable. 561-707-2834

FLOORING C O M P L E T E F L O O R I N G R E M O V-AL! BEST RATES! ALL TYPES OF FLOORS! — Your local flooring store and more. www.buyithereflooring.com 561-333-2306 [email protected]

HOME IMPROVEMENTS

ANMAR CO.—James’ All Around Handy-man Service. Excellent craftman Old time values. Once you’ve had me! You’ll have me back! Lic. Ins. Certified Residential Contractor CRC1327426 561-248-8528

LAWN SERVICE

YELLOWHAMMER LAWN SERVICE — High Quality, affordable yard maintenance serving the Loxahatchee area. NO CONTRACTS!. Locally Owned & Operated. 561-320-1118

NEW FLOORING

BUY IT HERE FLOORING — Kitchen and Bath. Now available. Complete one stop shopping. Stop on By! Pike Road - Be-tween Southern and Belvedere. West Palm Beach - Open 7 Days!!! 561-333-2300

PAINTING

J&B PRESSURE CLEANING & PAINTING, INC. — Established 1984. All types of pres-sure cleaning, roofs, houses, driveways, pa-tios etc. Commercial & Residential. Interior & Exterior painting. Certified pressure cleaning & painting contractor. Lic. #U21552 Call Butch 3 0 9 - 6 9 7 5 o r v i s i t o u r w e b s i t e a t www.jbpressurecleaningandpainting.com

JOHN PERGOLIZZI PAINTING INC. — In-terior/Exterior - Repaint specialist, pressure cleaning, popcorn ceiling, drywall repair & roof painting. Family owned/owner op-erator. Free Est. 798-4964 Lic. #U18473

COLORS BY CORO, INC. — Int./Ext. residen-tial painting, over 20 yrs exp. Small Jobs wel-come. Free est. Ins. 561-383-8666. Owner/Op-erated. Lic.# U20627 Ins. Wellington Resident

PET SITTING

BEST IN THE WEST PET SITTING — your house or mine in 1 1/2 acres. Fenced in yard. Day, Week, Monthly. Former Animal C r u e l t y O f f i c e r . 5 6 1 - 2 1 5 - 4 7 2 4

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

PLUMBING

JEREMY JAMES PLUMBING — Licensed plumber, legitimate estimate. Water heaters, new construction. CFC1426242. Bond-ed Insured. CFC1426242. 561-601-6458

PRESSURE CLEANING

J&B PRESSURE CLEANING & PAINT-ING, INC. — Established 1984. All types of pressure cleaning, roofs, houses, drive-ways, patios etc. Commercial & Residential. I n t e r i o r & E x t e r i o r p a i n t i n g . Cert i f ied pressure cleaning & paint-i ng con t rac to r. L i c . #U21552 Ca l l Butch at 309-6975 or visit us at www.jbpressurec lean ingandpa in t ing .com

ROOFING

ROBERT G. HARTMANN ROOFING — Spe-cializing in repairs. Free estimates, Bonded,in-sured. Lic. #CCC 058317 Ph: 561-790-0763.

ROOFING REPAIRS REROOFING ALL TYPES — Pinewood Construction, Inc. Hon-est and reliable. Serving Palm Beach County for over 20 years. Call Mike 561-309-0134 Lic. Ins. Bonded. CGC-023773 RC-0067207

SECURITY

SECURITY — American owned local se-curity company in business 30 plus years. Protection by officers drug tested. 40 hour course. Licensed & Insured. 561-848-2600

SCREENING

JOHN’S SCREEN REPAIR SERVICE — Pool & patio rescreening. Stay tight,wrin-kle-free,guaranteed! CRC1329708 call us 798-3132. www.poolscreenrepair.com

SPRINKLER SYSTEMS

AQUATIC SPRINKLER, LLC — Com-p l e t e r e p a i r o f a l l t y p e s o f s y s -t e m s . O w n e r O p e r a t e d . M i c h a e l 561-964-6004Lic.#U17871 Bonded & Ins. Serving the Western Communities Since 1990

TIRES/AUTO REPAIRS

TIRES/AUTO REPAIRS— Located behind Al Packer West off Southern Blvd. Tires for autos, trucks and commercial vehicles. 561-790-7228. 587 105 Ave. N. Unit 28, Royal Palm Beach.

TREE SERVICE

TREES TRIMMED AND REMOVED — 561-798-0412 D.M. YOUNG TREE SERVICE. Family Owned & Operat-ed Lic. & Insured 1992-12121 Visit our websi te at dmyoungtreeserv ice.com

WALLPAPERING

PAPERHANGING BY DEBI — Profession-al Installation,Removal. Repair of Paper. Neat, Clean & Reliable. Quality work with a woman’s touch. 30 years experience. No Job too big or too small. Lic. & Ins. References avai lable. 561-795-5263

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES EMPLOYMENT

IDEAL FOR SUBCONTRACTOR FRONT-AGE ON BELVEDERE — LOCATED IN THE WELL-KEPT BELVEDERE WEST INDUSTRIAL PARK UNIT 102 IS IN MINT CONDITION. — This unit consists of 1300 sf on the first floor with a glass store front entry and restroom, plus 400 sf mezzanine,. One10 X 12 ft roll-up door and 22 ft ceiling height. The unit has 420 sf of office space that is fully-air Conditioned. Three parking spaces included. Electric,120/208 V, 3 phase, 225A. The busi-ness park is fenced, gated, lighted, with fire and access alarm security for al-l tenants and each unit. Belvedere Road is heavily traveled by 45,000 cars per day. Zoned Industrial Light. Located just 1/2 mile from Florida’s Turnpike on Stinson Way, between Benoist Farms Road and Sandsbury Way. For More information please call Pat at 561-714-1023

FOR RENT - GREENACRES

ROOMMATE TO SHARE — 2 bedroom 2 bath apartment - Purdy & Jog Road. $550 per month. Looking for under 35 years old. 954-296-3748

REAL ESTATE

The Town-Crier www.gotowncrier.com January 23 - January 29, 2015 Page 37

TENNESSEE LAND FOR SALE

TENNESSEE LAND — 12 Ac res for sale in Equestr ian neighborhood with 3 miles of riding trails. Call Dixon Team Kel ler Wi l l iams 423-883-0656

OPEN HOUSE

BUENA VISTA JANUARY 25 & FEBRUARY 8

1 P.M. - 4 P.M. Lakefront 2 bedroom plus den.

2 Bath professionally landscaped. Peaceful long lake views.

Just Listed $399,900. For further info and access to

Open House Call Jackie Desantis. 561-436-9844

Hudson Realty of Palm Beach

OFFICE/WAREHOUSE SPACE

Page 38: Town-Crier Newspaper January 23, 2015

HERE’S MY CARDPage 38 January 23 - January 29, 2015 www.gotowncrier.com The Town-Crier

561-308-4774www.deborahrassocounseling.com

Lic & Insured CFC057392, CAC1817688

SEPTIC & DRAINFIELD SPECIALISTS

Page 39: Town-Crier Newspaper January 23, 2015

The Town-Crier www.gotowncrier.com January 23 - January 29, 2015 Page 39

HERE’S MY CARD

Page 40: Town-Crier Newspaper January 23, 2015

PALMS WESTTHIS WEEK’S WELLINGTON • ROYAL PALM BEACH • LOXAHATCHEE • THE ACREAGE

WE DO NOT SELL CHEAP FLOORING CHEAPER

WE SELL THE BEST FOR LESS!766 Pike Road • West Palm Beach, FL 33411

(Between Southern Blvd. & Belvedere)

TOLL FREE: 855-808-8555

New Location! New Showroom!

CALL FOR FREE ESTIMATE!

561-333-2306

Page 40 January 23 - January 29, 2015 www.gotowncrier.com The Town-Crier

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The Town-Crier www.gotowncrier.com January 23 - January 29, 2015 Page 41

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The Town-Crier www.gotowncrier.com January 23 - January 29, 2015 Page 43

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Page 44 January 23 - January 29, 2015 www.gotowncrier.com The Town-Crier

Watch The Equestrian ActionVisit WEF during the day from Wednesday through Sunday, take in the exciting scene of several thousand horses and riders competing in 12 arenas.

Stroll the grounds at your leisure, grab a bite to eat and shop till you drop at our unique boutiques, art galleries, jewelers, high-end fashion and so much more.

Grab a Bite to EatA variety of Food Vendors are located throughout the property, including:

Coliano’s Pizza

Tito’s Tacos: Margaritas, Tacos, Burritos, Chips, Salsa

Tiki Hut: Grilled Chicken, Variety Burgers, Grilled Fish, Salads

Oli’s Fashion Cuisine: in the Vendor Village

Take a Lunch & TourSee the world-renowned equestrian competition, vendors, stables and various venues that Palm Beach International Equestrian Center has to offer, followed by a catered lunch with your group. Your tour will allow you to explore twelve of the competition rings, the stabling area where horses prepare for competition, and a stroll through Vendor Village. The tour will be both exciting and informative, and there is a good chance you will see some Olympic riders gearing up for competition! Equestrian Lunch & Tours are available by appointment Wednesday through Sunday during the WEF season.

Present this coupon to receive

$5.00 OFF the WEF Boutique

$5.00 value. valid FOr One persOn. FOr use january 23-25, 28-29, 2015minimum purchase OF $20.00.

InternatIonal ShoppeSLugano Diamonds

Forré Fine Art Gallery Hunt LTD

Equiline Equestrian FashionKarina Brez Jewelry

American Gator Handmade GoodsAriat

Engel & Völkers RealtyEva Jewelry

Eyes of WellingtonGhurka Fine Leather Goods

HermèsLa Mundial Boots

Michelle Farmer - FashionZadeh NY Men’s Jewelry

Shopping Around the Show GroundsYou are invited to shop in a variety of locations throughout the PBIEC, including the Vendor Village, Hunter Hill, and The Bridge Deck, the outdoor courtyard oasis filled with exquisite shops and boutiques offering fashion, jewelry, home design, fine art, photography, horseware and more.

Visit a new Vendor area each week!

WWW.equestriansport.CoM

January 7 - March 29, 2015Join Us Every Wednesday through Sunday to Experience Equestrian Sport at Its Best!

Main Grounds at PBIEC 3400 Equestrian Club Drive, Wellington, FL 33414561.793.JUMP (5867)

welcome to tHe winter equestrian festivalheld at the Main Grounds at Palm Beach International Equestrian Center

EquestrianSportProd_PWTW1_23_15.indd 1 1/15/15 3:52 PM


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