T H U R S D A Y A P R I L 1 2 , 2 0 1 2 V O L . 2 , I S S U E 2 St. Ed’s, Masters to play at DodgertownPage 34 26 CALENDAR 32 TO ADVERTISE CALL MARTINE FECTEAU 772.696.2004 MARK SCHUMANN 772.696.5233 Inside FORUM DINING REVIEW 20 STAFF PHOTO Police Chief David Currey (right) with Lieutenant Kevin Martin and Captain Brian Conway. Meet Vero’s new police chief E D S CHLITT R EALTORS® History is the difference. Knowledge is the difference. Global is the difference. We’re everywhere you want to be along the Treasure and Space Coasts. See Page 5 FLColdwellBanker PREVIEWS.com FLColdwellBanker.com Finding common ground Merger of ARC and Sun Up means new vision, new opportunities for mentally challenged Page 3 Finding funding for fishing Coastal Conservation Association fundraiser helps group advocate for sport fishermenPage 22 David Currey asked to do more with less Page 18 Jake returns As promised Jake Owen plays at his alma mater and fills the bleachers at the Citrus Bowl Page 15
Transcript
T H U R S D A Y A P R I L 1 2 , 2 0 1 2 V O L . 2 , I S S U E 2
St. Ed’s, Masters to play at Dodgertown Page 34
26CALENDAR32
TO ADVERTISE CALL
MARTINE FECTEAU 772.696.2004
MARK SCHUMANN 772.696.5233
Inside
FORUM
DINING REVIEW
20
STAFF PHOTO Police Chief David Currey (right) with Lieutenant Kevin Martin and Captain Brian Conway.
Meet Vero’s new police chief
ED SCHLIT T REALTORS®
History is the difference. Knowledge is the difference. Global is the difference.
We’re everywhere you want to be along the Treasure and Space Coasts. See Page 5
F L C o l d w e l l B a n k e rPREVIEWS. c o mF L C o l d w e l l B a n k e r. c o m
Finding common groundMerger of ARC and Sun Up means new vision, new opportunities for mentally challenged Page 3
Finding funding for fishingCoastal Conservation Association fundraiser helps group advocate for sport fishermen Page 22
David Currey asked to do more with less Page 18
Jake returnsAs promised Jake Owen plays at his alma mater and fills the bleachers at the Citrus Bowl Page 15
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BY IAN LOVEVERO BEACH NEWSWEEKLY
INDIAN RIVER COUNTY -- Af-ter years of work in the community to provide services to help those with developmental disabilities, the Abilities Resource Center and Sun Up have joined forces to provide a single agency that will serve clients from infancy to old age.
“We started talking some time ago and what we had in mind was to put together one organization that will provide a full range of services to the developmentally disabled,” said Chuck Bradley former executive director of ARC
who will head up the new entity. “We thought we could be most ef-fective by doing it this way.”
ARC operated with a $2 million budget and ran four group homes in Indian River County. Te agen-cy also ran a sheltered workshop with adult clients -- some with se-vere disabilities -- to develop so-cial and life skills to gain their own level of independence and in some cases paid work.
Sun Up owned a 10-acre cam-pus on Fifth Street Southwest and concentrated on early interven-tion from new-born to 6 years old.
Local NewsARC, Sun Up merger a clearer path to helping clientsTwo organizations with similar mission to support developmentally disabled now have common goal
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CONTINUES ON PAGE 4STAFF PHOTO
Dominick StaBeri and Tom Edgeworth work on a project at the ARC.
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4 LOCAL NEWS
Ye agency also provided services in the form of life skills classes to adult students and had the long-term goal of building an on-site residential facility.
Since there was some overlap of services there was confusion in the philanthropic community about the distinctions of the two agencies; now as single organi-zation, there is a single message about the mission of Sun Up ARC.
“By uniting I think we are clarify-ing for the donors that we are one agency,” said Dennis Bartholomew, former executive director of Sun
Up who will serve as developmen-tal director. “Before when I would go out to talk to people I would always hear, how are you different from ARC? Chuck Bradley would hear the same thing. Now we are not different, it is one agency pro-viding the spectrum of services and we are able to cover every service from newborns to seniors.”
Ye ARC as we know it today was established 30 years ago. Be-fore that there were few services available to help families with children with special needs to gain independence as they grew into adulthood and wanted to gain their own sense of independ-
ence when the day came in which their parents could no longer able to serve as their caretakers.
A group with children in similar situations formed the Vocational Sheltered Workshop in 1975. At the time, the ARC (called then the Association of Retarded Citizens) was in existence, but it served only infants.
By 1982 those two groups real-ized their similar goals and the Vocational Sheltered Workshop folded into the ARC. Over time, ARC’s focus and funding became centered on older children and adults leaving a void for parents of infants with special needs.
Yus Sun Up was established in 1994 and has grown over time to provide services for infants as well as training for adults at its facili-ties. Sun Up operates on a budget of about $275,000 raised mostly from private donations, fundrais-ers and other charitable organiza-tions.
But with two organizations serv-ing the same type of client and at times competing for the same do-nations, it became clear that the two agencies needed to merge.
“We feel as one agency we are stronger and can go to the com-munity with the united message
CONTINUES ON PAGE 6
ARC, SUN UPFROM PAGE 3
STAFF PHOTOChuck Bradley looks on as Melissa Rodgers helps Lynn Fenzau and Isiah Stewart with their project.
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Celebrate. Remember.Fight Back.
VERO BEACH -- In a workshop held recently to consider a pro-posed ordinance relaxing zoning regulations in Central Beach, the
Planning and Zoning Commission heard from a number of residents concerned with the ordinance’s
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that we are one organization,” said Mary Beth Villar, who will serve as chairman of the new board. “Now we can say we are working for the same goal.”
Bradley and Bartholomew have been talking about the merger going back three years and made a presentation to both boards, which voted unanimously for combining the agencies. a e offi-cial merger took place March 31, but initially there will not be sig-nificant changes in how the two organizations have operated.
ae long term goal for the former directors is to use the Sun Up cam-
pus to build a residential facility that will expand residential oppor-tunities and programs for those with developmental disabilities.
ARC has raised about $700,000 toward a $3.25 million capital cam-paign to tear down one of its build-ings in favor of a new facility. a ecampaign may now focus on ex-panding residential opportunities as well as facility improvements.
“Our original capital campaign was for $3.25 million and that won’t change,” said Reese Brack-ins who served as chairman of the ARC Board of Directors. “Hope-fully we can raise the $3.25 mil-lion, but I think the board may direct some of the money into a different avenue than we had orig-inally planned.”
Brackins stressed that the new board has not met yet so any dis-
cussion of how money will be spent is premature. However, one of Sun Up’s long term goals had long been to begin to build out on its acreage to provide long-term housing.
ae new agency provides serv-ices to about 180 clients, but it has been estimated that there could be 3,300 people in Indian River County with a wide range of de-velopmental disabilities.
“Between ARC, Sun Up, Good-will and the school district, I think we can account for about 1,200 of those people,” Bartholomew said. “a e rest of them have fall-en through the cracks somehow. aat is where I think the benefi t
of this comes from. For over 37 years ARC has been in existence providing services in the county. Sun Up has been in the county for 18 years. We have provided diff er-ent things and we do it a little bit differently.
“But I think that is where the beauty of the merger comes in. By putting the two agencies to-gether we are going to have eve-rything for every person. It will range from everything from early intervention for little children all the way up to services for seniors, plus everybody in between.”
ae new group will hold its fi rstjoint fundraiser, the Spring Swing golf tournament at Sandridge golf course on April 14. Call (772) 562-6854, ext. 215, for more informa-tion, to register to play, or to be a sponsor.
Atlantic Ocean
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CONTINUES ON PAGE 13
ARC, SUN UPFROM PAGE 4
A proposed ordinance under consideration by the Planning and Zoning Board would depart from the Vision Plan and Master Plan for Central Beach by creat-ing an additional layer of zoning for the area. The new rules would allow for buildings of up to two and three stories on the east and west sides of Ocean Drive and Cardinal Drive.
“But I think that is where the beauty of the merger comes in. By putting the two agencies together we are going
to have everything for every person. It will range from everything from early intervention for little children all the way up to services for seniors, plus everybody in between.”
– Dennis Bartholomewdevelopmental director of Sun Up ARC.
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Residents upset over proposal easing barrier island height restrictions
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BY STEPHANIE LABAFFVERO BEACH NEWSWEEKLY
While City of Vero Beach em-ployees are part of a pension plan that is seriously underfunded, county workers are part of a state system that county budget direc-tor Jason Brown says “is a very healthy fund.”
However, there are signs that the state pension fund could be in trouble in the coming years if officials do not continue to take steps to keep the plan on that healthy footing.
County workers are part of the statewide Florida Retirement System which is currently 86 percent funded, meaning it is 14 percent short of having the assets it needs to fully fund the plan. be city, on the other hand, is 67 percent funded, a shortfall that will have to be shored up through taxpayer contributions in the coming years.
“bis is a very healthy fund,” County Budget Director Jason Brown said of the state plan. “be state manages the FRS and
it is in a good position.” All county and state employ-
ee pensions fall under the FRS fund. A Pew Center study shows Florida operates the fourth larg-est pension plan in the country behind the California public em-ployees, California state teachers and New York State.
be city is beginning to look for ways to make up the deficit cre-ated as a result of the stock mar-ket crash and record-low interest rates. be hard fact city lead-ers are facing is they don’t have nearly enough money to pay their coming pension obligations.
In the past, most government pension plans were defined-ben-efit plans. bis type of pension plan guarantees the annual pay-ment upon retirement based on years of service and rate of pay. Ninety percent of all state and local government workers are currently covered by a defined-benefit plan.
However, to manage costs many governments, including the state of Florida, are starting new em-
ployees on defined-contribution plans such as 401(k)s. With this type of plan, the beneficiary only receives what was contributed plus any interest accrued.
Private corporations, under federal law, must start putting money into their pension plans once the value of the plan’s assets dips below 80 percent of its lia-bilities. bere is no law directing the governance of state and local plans.
Despite the rosier outlook for county workers, Indian River County employees are not en-tirely in the clear. A report by the National Institute on Retirement Security indicated that most public retirement plans won’t be in trouble for 30 years, but noted state and local governments need to make adjustments in plan pro-visions and new contributions now in order to avoid future fund shortages.
be most common method to address the shortfalls created by the recent crisis in the finan-cial market is the step Florida Gov. Rick Scott took last year of increasing employee contribu-tions to 3 percent and reducing benefits for new employees. be alternative to increasing employ-ee contributions is to increase taxpayer contributions into the fund.
In Florida, county and state em-ployees paid into their pension funds until 1974 when, because the state coffers were so flush with cash, a law was passed put-ting an end to employee contri-butions. Since that time all pen-sion funding has been taken care of by the state.
City of Vero Beach employees never enjoyed that luxury, having always paid into their pension fund, which incurred a mandato-ry worker contribution increase from a rate of 2.25 percent to 3.25 percent last year. be employee contribution changes proposed by the Florida Legislature will bring the state system more in line with private retirement plans and the current Vero Beach plan.
“It is reasonable to expect county employees to contribute to their own pension fund,” said Brown.
According to Beth Weather-stone, president of the Indian River County Education Associa-tion, “be FRS is a good program. be aspect we are concerned with is the bill that Gov. Scott signed that requires all FRS par-ticipants to pay 3 percent of their salary into the pension fund. Most educators made the choice to take the lower paying jobs as public employees because of the good pension program that was offered by the state. It’s not fair to change the rules on us now.”
be Florida Education Associa-tion has filed a lawsuit on behalf of its 556,296 employees claim-ing that the pension changes are unconstitutional and violate the teachers’ contracts. Circuit Judge Jackie Fulford ruled the legisla-tion adopted last year was un-constitutional.
Florida lawmakers have vowed to make changes to the mandato-ry payment plan in hopes of hav-ing Judge Fulford’s ruling over-turned.
Gov. Scott claimed at the time
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CONTINUES ON PAGE 9
County worker’s pension plan in better shape than city employeesBut without close scrutiny increased taxpayer contributions could be on the horizon
News Analysis
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of his proposal to require em-ployee pension contributions, “If we did nothing, every household in Florida would have to contrib-ute more than $800 of their hard-earned money every year for the next thirty years, just to meet our pension obligations for state and local government retirees.”
Scott originally proposed a 5 percent pay-in by county and state employees to help bridge the gap. But in order to get the bill passed, he compromised with the Legislature and signed the law enacting the 3 percent em-ployee contribution.
Solutions do exist that can prevent the next generation from bearing this financial bur-den of underfunded pensions. Shifting all new employees into defined contribution plans, in-creasing taxes and decreasing employee benefits are at the top of the list of possibilities being considered.
A few years ago the FRS had a surplus, but that has since been depleted as a result of the recent financial crisis. Without contin-ued scrutiny on the part of law-makers in monitoring the plan, taxpayers could be called upon in coming years to bail out the state pension fund as well.
BY STEPHANIE LABAFFVERO BEACH NEWSWEEKLY
VERO BEACH – After a pub-lic outcry against a proposed revamping of the Beachland El-ementary School pick-up and bus loading area, school district of-ficials have come up with a new plan they say will save money, trees targeted for removal and al-leviate the daily traffic congestion.
`e new plan will be presented at a public meeting scheduled for April 25 at 7 p.m. at Beachland El-ementary.
According to a notice put out by the school district, the revised plan will “spend fewer taxpayer dollars, save all of the existing trees and resolve the existing safe-ty and traffic concerns.”
If the plan is approved, the cur-rent 2nd to 5th grade pick-up area located on the west side of the school will now serve as the bus loading area and all students will be dropped off and picked up us-ing the Mockingbird entrance.
Cars will line up going north on Mockingbird Drive and along Date Palm Road.
The bus pickup, according to the proposal, would be located in Sharks Cove (the existing grades 2 to 5 student pickup) and the current Mockingbird bus pickup drive entrance will be closed off.
`e new plan is expected to al-leviates traffic backups on Indian River Drive and allow for buses to safely pull onto the campus dur-ing drop-off and pick-up.
`e first traffic proposal was presented at a March 27 meet-ing at Beachland that generated an outcry against the destruction of the hardwood hammock that lies next to the school. `e origi-nal plan required the removal of 21 trees, but residents were con-cerned about the displacement of native birds and animals.
Facilities coordinator Susan Olson met with school board of-ficials, Beachland Principal Carol
Wilson, as well as the architects and engineers involved in the pro-ject after that meeting to look for an alternative to the original plan.
While the new proposal saves the trees and alleviates traffic con-gestion on Indian River Drive, it may raise other concerns. Among
them, how much will traffic in-crease on Mockingbird Drive and Date Palm Road during pick-up and drop-off times; where will parents and visitors park when going to school and can one small drive handle the traffic for a school of 600 students?
School district revises Beachland Elementary tra@c plan
PENSIONFROM PAGE 8
LISA RYMERVERO BEACH NEWSWEEKLY
INDIAN RIVER COUNTY -- On any given afternoon in Indian River County, about 500 school age chil-dren are dropped off at Boys and Girls Clubs in Vero Beach, Sebastian and Fellsmere.
ee clubs are an affordable alter-native to after school care, providing homework supervision, recreation and programs that help build char-acter and prepare club members for a lifetime of community involve-ment.
In the span of 11 years, the local Boys and Girls Club has grown from a classroom at eompson Elemen-tary into an organization that serves a total throughout the year of 1,500 area students, ages six to 18, in three state of the art facilities.
“Our goal was to make sure that every child in the county had access to a Boys and Girls Club,” said Execu-tive Director Elizabeth eomason, ex-plaining that about half the youth who attend are from single family homes, with 75 percent of them on the free or reduced school meal program.
eomason, who had previously been the organization’s marketing director, took over the club leader-ship when former President and CEO Ronnie Hewett was stricken with pancreatic cancer.
Hewett passed away last August after a 40-year-career with the Boys and Girls Club, six of which were spent locally helping to raise capital to build the club’s facilities.
“We have a very strong board when it comes to fundraising,” said eomason of the 17-member board of directors, crediting board Presi-dent Jay McNamara for much of the organization’s success.
“He’s the heart and soul of this or-ganization,” she said. “His philoso-phy is we’re a business that also hap-
pens to be a nonprofit.”McNamara, a John’s Island resi-
dent who has been involved with the local club almost since its inception, has been president of the board for eight years.
He has been so instrumental in helping to guide the organization through two aggressive fundraising campaigns which raised $6 million that the board decided to name the brand new Vero Beach facility the “Jay McNamara Club.”
“Everything starts with the board,” said McNamara, a former Marine who retired as chairman of Mc-Cann-Erickson, a global advertising agency based in New York.
Among his board members are Edwin Mellett, retired president of Coca-Cola, North America; Sam Difeo, retired president of Penske Automotive Group; Donald Shrop-shire, retired founding executive of Lexmark International; and Roger Lynch, retired managing director of Goldman Sachs.
“We develop strategies and plans how to grow the organization, how to raise the money to achieve that
growth and we set the long term goals.”
McNamara became involved with the organization because of its his-tory, which traces back to Hartford, Conn. during the Civil War.
“ee first clubhouses opened dur-ing the Lincoln administration,” said McNamara. “Dad was off at war and we needed something to get the kids off the streets, keep them out of trouble.”
Now, there are approximately 4,000 clubs across the U.S., its terri-tories and its military bases.
“ee last survey conducted by the national organization asked former club members about the principal benefit from attending the Boys and Girls Club. Fifty nine percent said, ‘it saved my life,’” said McNamara.
erough its programs and men-toring relationships, the clubs work to decrease drug abuse, juvenile crime and instances of teenage preg-nancy while increasing school at-tendance, grade point averages and job readiness.
“ee Sebastian police chief says that the Boys and Girls Club saved
her life,” said McNamara about the opening of the Sebastian club in 2006.
ee building is owned by the club, but the land on which it sits belongs to the city.
“ee county and the various mu-nicipalities saw a need in the com-munity that we were providing,” said McNamara, explaining that the three local clubs have 50-year leases on the land at a rate of one dollar a year.
ee organization used the Sebas-tian club to showcase for potential donors the organization’s accom-plishments in order to raise $6 mil-lion for the construction of two more facilities.
In 2010, the Fellsmere club opened its doors in the newly renovated his-toric schoolhouse that it now shares with the city.
Also in 2010, the organization moved out of its rental facility on 27th Avenue Southwest, where it had been located since 2001, and into a new 13,500 square-foot structure on 17th Avenue adjacent to the Vero Beach Recreation Department.
Because it is centrally located, the administrative offices are at the Vero Beach club.
More than 50 volunteers, includ-ing board of director members Shei-la Mills, Jean Oglethorpe and Vir-ginia Powers help tutor students in their schoolwork, math and reading.
Volunteers also lead special pro-grams, such as a recent etiquette class coordinated by the organiza-tion’s Society of Angels.
“ee kids loved it because it gave them exposure to new things and the volunteers made it fun,” said eoma-son. “ee kids really respond to small group activities with a mentor or a volunteer; they receive more atten-tion and so the impact is greater.”
ee cost of attending the club is
LOCAL NEWS
PHOTOS SUPPLIEDElizabeth Thomason with Charity
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Boys and Girls Club changing lives one child at a time
$30 per month per student, or $50 a month for two or more from the same family. Scholarship opportuni-ties are also available.
On weekdays, the youth arrive by school bus and have a snack provid-ed by the school district. ]ey also recite the pledge of allegiance and the Boys and Girls Club code.
All three clubs are fully equipped with computers and other technolo-gy to provide students with the tools for academic achievement.
]e programs are developed at a national level and adapted for each community, so “programs in Dubu-que, Iowa; Oakland, California and Vero Beach, Florida are similar,” said McNamara.
]ere are art programs, physical fitness activities and opportunities to have fun with foosball, billiards and other games. ]e clubs stay open until 6:30 pm.
“In some ways, staff members be-come surrogate families; that’s the level of bonding happening with the kids,” said ]omason. “]is is not a babysitting service. We reinforce what they learn in school and teach them about being good citizens.”
]e club also operates a teen com-munity service outreach program, called the Youth Volunteer Corps,
which strives to enrich the lives of club members through service and volunteering.
]e efforts put forth by club mem-bers during the year are recognized by the organization through the Youth of the Year award, the highest achievement in the Boys and Girls Club.
Nominees are judged on service to home and family, moral character, community service, school leader-ship and service, academic perfor-mance, service to the Boys & Girls Club, life goals, two written essays and public speaking ability.
In February, Noah Bogard, 14, a freshman at Sebastian River High School, was named Youth of the Year for his community service in the Keystone Club.
Bogard will compete for a $10,000 scholarship if he is one of five region-al winners. ]e national winner re-ceives an additional $50,000. And in a fairly recent development, Bogard is eligible to apply for a full-tuition scholarship through a partnership between the Boys and Girls Club and Marquette University in Michigan.
“We have the chance to change people’s lives,” said McNamara. “]e younger they are, the greater the
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CONTINUES ON PAGE 12
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chance to redirect them.”On its website, the organization has
gathered data indicating the positive infl uence of the Boys and Girls Club on its members. Between 80 and 90 percent of attending youth complete their homework every day, improve or maintain their grades and improve or maintain their conduct.
^e organization also hosts week-end programming and a 10-week summer camp, which serves about 850 youth for 11 hours a day.
^e cost of the camp is $500 per child, consisting mostly of recrea-tion, fi eld trips and arts and crafts. About 40 part-time employees are
hired by the organization during the summer.
With an annual budget of $1.3 mil-lion, the Boys and Girls Club held steady during this economy due to the dedication of the board and the generosity of the community, said ^omason.
“Membership fees only cover about eight percent of the budget, with donors being the largest source of funding at 30 percent,” said ̂ om-ason, pointing out that the club car-ries no debt because of the board’s prudent management.
Grants are another source of fund-ing, both from government agencies and private organizations, such as the John’s Island Community Ser-
vice League, Children’s Services Ad-visory Council, Quail Valley Chari-ties and the United Way.
Moreover, two fundraising events, a golf tournament and a gala dinner help to meet the organization’s fi -nancial needs.
^is year, said McNamara, “the board filed an application with fed-eral and state governments to form a foundation as an ongoing way to raise more money for the club.”
If approved, the foundation can help structure the fi nances so the or-ganization will be able to operate in perpetuity.
“ ̂ e kids are here year round; the donors are not,” said McNamara, emphasizing the impact of the com-
munity.Next year, the organization is plan-
ning to implement an employment program, starting with preparing for the job interview.
Another program that is being dis-cussed is a task force for manhood, which focuses on good decision making in males.
“ ̂ is is not just something nice to do in your free time,” he said. “We’re aff ecting the child, the sibling and the mothers, who have peace of mind that their children are safe. A lot of ripples go out into society be-cause of the Boys and Girls Club.”
For more information about the organization, call 299-7449 or visit them online at www.BGCIRC.org.
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BOYS AND GIRLS CLUBFROM PAGE 11
Partnering with Christian Families To Prepare Students for Life
772.794.4655 • www.mastersvb.org1105 58th Avenue, Vero Beach, FL
SAT Scores Above the National, State & Local AveragesHigh School Honors Classes · Foreign Languages
Performing & Visual Arts ProgramGrammar, Middle School & Varsity Athletics
Serving Students in Pre-K3-12th Grades
OPEN HOUSE APRIL 23rd 6:45 P.M.
Each student is uniquely created and distinctly gifted.
“Old Fashioned Service”
1212 23rd St., Vero Beach, FL 32960 (772) 569-1410 www.verobeach.com
Superior Auto Service employs ASE Master Mechanics to provide diagnostic and repair services on all American, European & Asian vehicles. We install premium and original equipment parts only!
Owner Bill Marion, a certiFed ASE Master Mechanic, has been repairing vehicles in Vero Beach since 1987 at the same location.
Family Owned and OperatedSuperior Auto Service
We Specialize in Mechanical Restoration of Classic Cars, including:Mercedes BenzRolls RoyceMuscle Cars
Imports & Domestics
(left to right) Brisely, Lizbeth, Mariana Elizabeth Thomason, Executive Director, with Jay McNamara, Board President
Camile and Christopher
VERO BEACH -- The City of Vero Beach Utilities Commis-sion voted unanimously Tuesday to have the city outsource labo-ratory testing of its water, which is currently being conducted within the Water and Sewer De-partment.
The commission voted to ac-cept the bid of Flowers Chemi-cal Laboratories, which is based in Altamonte Springs, but which also has a facility in Port St. Lu-cie. Utilities Commission mem-ber Jane Burton said it was es-timated that the city could save $250,000 to $350,000 by out-sourcing the lab testing.
The city currently employs six workers to conduct the water lab tests.
The recommendation will be passed to the City Council which will make the final determina-tion on outsourcing the testing or keeping the work within the Water and Sewer Department.
She also said the testing is mandated by the state and fed-eral government to insure the purity of the water.
The outsourcing of the lab tests came out of an optimiza-tion study presented by GAI Consulting. GAI estimated that, including the outsourcing of the lab testing, the number of workers in the Water and Sewer Department could be reduced by 21 people over a 12-year pe-riod as new systems are put on-line.
departure from the Master Plan.Ital Veron and George Christo-
pher, both participants in devel-opment of the city’s Vision Plan and Master Plan, were among a number of speakers who told the board they didn’t want to see the Master Plan set aside.
“This (ordinance) is an affront to the many hours of community input and the $200,000 spent on the Vision Plan,” Veron said.
In addition to allowing taller buildings west of Ocean Drive and east of Cardinal Drive than is presently called for in the Master Plan, the commercial overlay district would also relax parking requirements and re-duce open space by allowing for a greater floor area to lot size ratio.
Planning Director Tim Mc-
Garry explained the purpose of the commercial overlay district is to encourage more mixed-use development in the Central Beach area than would be al-lowed for in the Master Plan. That plan calls for buildings to be no more than two stories west of Ocean Drive and west of Cardinal Drive.
In the area where a third story would be allowed, it would have to be built for residential or ho-tel use. According to McGarry, both uses are not practical when built on a second floor over a restaurant. Allowing for a third floor will encourage more resi-dential development in the area, he said.
The Planning and Zoning Commission will hold anoth-er workshop on the proposed commercial overlay district in May.
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Y13LOCAL NEWS
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CENTRAL BEACHFROM PAGE 6 City Utilities Commissions recommends
outsourcing of water lab services
Flights available for Ford Trimotor at Vero Beach Airport April 16-18
VERO BEACH -- A 1929 Ford Trimotor airplane will be at the Vero Beach Airport April 16-18, courtesy of the Environmental Aircraft As-sociation Chapter 99.
ge EAA´s Ford Trimotor is touring the country raising awareness about the group and giving people a chance to get a feel for what air travel in 1929 was like. Interested parties can take a 15-minute fl ight at Vero Beach Municipal Airport for $80. Reserve your seat by calling 1-877-952-5395.
McKee to oT er summer campfor children in July and August
VERO BEACH — McKee Botanical Garden will conduct a summer camp for children ages 5 to 9 in two weekly sessions, July 23 to 27 and Aug. 6 to 10 from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily.
Campers will enjoy a variety of crafts and activities with an emphasis on nature and the outdoors. Cost is $200 per week and includes lunch, snacks and activities.
For more information or to register, call (772) 794-0601.
Applications for Vero Beach Opera’s piano scholarship due by May 1
VERO BEACH — Applications for the 2012-2013 Vero Beach Opera piano scholarship program will be accepted through May 1, 2012.
Any student under the age of 18, or older but actively enrolled in a college music study program, is eligible to apply. An audition will be required as a fi nal step in the process, and scholarships will be awarded by June 1.
Study with Dr. Jose Daniel Flores will begin shortly thereafter and will be customized to the scholarship recipient’s abilities and goals.
ge piano scholarships are funded by contributions from individual donors. To make a tax deductible donation to the fund, send a check payable to “Vero Beach Opera, Inc.” with “piano scholarship” in the memo field, and mail to Vero Beach Opera; P. O. Box 6912; Vero Beach, FL 32961.
A copy of the application with submission instructions can be down-loaded from Vero Beach Opera’s website at www.VeroBeachOpera.org., or requested by phone at (772) 569-6993.
Jim Kaat to speak at SalvationArmy beneS t dinner April 14
VERO BEACH — Jim Kaat, former major league pitcher and New York Yankees announcer, will be the keynote speaker at the Salvation
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PHOTO BY SAM WOLFEHometown hero Jake Owen played to a packed house at the Citrus Bowl last Saturday night. During the show he proposed to his girlfriend Lacey Buchanan. She said yes.
COMMUNIT Y NEWS
At a World Class Private Golf Club in Vero Beach – Indian River Club
SUMMER GOLF MEMBERSHIPS AVAILABLE
Contact Christine Papke at 772.770.0757 or visit www.indianriverclub.comFamily - $1,000 · Individual - $800 · May 15 through October 15, 2012
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Army of Indian River County benefit dinner on April 14.fe event will be held from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at fe Oak Harbor Club-
house.No tickets are sold for this event, but reservations are going fast. fe
Salvation Army will ask for a donation at the end of the event which will be matched.
For more information or to make a contribution to fe Salvation Army of IRC benefit dinner, send an email to [email protected] or mail your matching contribution to fe Salvation Army of IRC; PO Box 2864; Vero Beach, Fl 32961. To RSVP, call (772) 978-0265 x104.
United Way accepting applications for incubation center opening
VERO BEACH -- With the recent “graduation” of Big Sisters Big Brothers from the Robert F. and Eleonora W. McCabe Foundation Non Profit Incubation Center, United Way is accepting applications for its next tenant.
fe qualifying organization will receive a free or sliding scale re-duced rate office space, completely furnished, with computer, desks, bookcases and free wi-fi. Tenants are obliged to acquire their own telephone service. Organizations wishing to be considered need to be an established 501(c) 3 nonprofit organization with a presence in Indian River County.
Organizations wishing to apply can send a letter of intent detailing their current programs, their board of directors, their plans for ex-pansion or growth, and why they would be a good candidate for the Incubation Center to Michael Kint, United Way Incubation Center; 1836 14th Ave.; Vero Beach, FL 32960.
Autism Speaks fundraising walkto be held at Riverside Park
VERO BEACH -- Autism Speaks, the world’s leading autism science and advocacy organization, has announced the Fourth Annual Treasure Coast Walk Now for Autism Speaks fundrais-ing and awareness event will take place on April 21 at Riverside Park.
All event proceeds will support Autism Speaks’ work, both lo-cally and nationally, to increase awareness about the growing autism health crisis, fund innovative autism research and family services and advocate for the needs of individuals with autism and their families on the Treasure Coast and beyond. Autism spectrum disorder is now diagnosed in one in every 110 chil-dren, including one in every 70 boys, making it the fastest-grow-ing serious developmental disability in the United States.
For more information about the 2012 Treasure Coast Walk Now for Autism Speaks, visit www.walknowforautismspeaks.org/treasurecoast or contact [email protected].
BY BARBARA YORESHVERO BEACH NEWSWEEKLY
Vero Beach Police Chief David Currey came to a fork in the road and took it.
Xe recently appointed chief took his career path to one of criminal justice rather than teach-ing and coaching physical educa-tion. And now Currey has come to another junction as he must decide how to lead his depart-ment of 52 sworn offi cers through challenging budgetary times.
Currey, 47, a 22-year veteran of the department since his hiring as a patrolman, was sworn in April 3 as police chief and is immediately scrutinizing his department’s $7 million budget for ways to pare
expenses without negatively im-pacting the levels of service city residents have come to expect and depend upon.
Less than one week after being officially sworn in as Vero Beach Police Chief, Currey met with Vero Beach Newsweekly to recap his career to date and discuss his department’s commitment to the city and its residents.
When one enters the police de-partment building, a plaque in the lobby lists the “offi cial police de-partment values:” integrity, ser-vice, loyalty and education. It is this mantra to which Currey and his offi cers pledge themselves no matter how diffi cult the task.
According to Currey, nearly all
of his officers hold associates or bachelor’s degrees and a few, like him, hold graduate degrees.
With a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and a master’s degree in public administration as well as serving in many ranks and roles within Vero’s police department, Currey is perhaps ideally suited to be “top cop” and realistically meet the need for fiscal conservatism while at the same time, make sure city residents’ public safety needs are met.
To that end, Currey said that while his own former post as deputy chief won’t be refilled, the department doesn’t plan to cut uniformed personnel, but will likely need to restructure the department’s organizational chart by demoting half of the presently held lieutenant posi-tions and corresponding salaries downward in what would have a ripple effect on other officers
currently in the ranks of ser-geant and corporal.
“We’ve never had to reduce the rank of officers to the best of my knowledge and I’ve worked with all these officers for many years,” Currey said. “We understand the shortcomings on our budget but it’s not an easy thing to do to re-duce rank and salary.”
According to Currey’s present plan, three of his present six lieutenants are slated to be re-duced to the rank of sergeant. There are currently seven ser-geants and four corporals who will also be affected by rank reductions, he said. The demo-tions would follow the most recent budget cut-backs by the city but Currey said it would not reduce manpower.
“In October, everyone work-ing for the city making $70,000 a year (or more) took at 4.62 percent reduction,” Currey said.
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CONTINUES ON PAGE 17
LOCAL NEWS
Vero’s new police chief pledges service, > scal care
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Police chief David Currey was sworn in on April 3.
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STAFF PHOTO
CHIEF CURREYFROM PAGE 16
CONTINUES ON PAGE 18
Currey, who has been on the Vero police force 22 years, has worked with or supervised all divisions within the department.STAFF PHOTO
“Qe restructuring within our ranks will save money but we’ll still have the same amount of of-ficers on the road.”
Police pledge to retain high service levels
For Currey, actions speak louder than words and the de-partments’ commitment and pride in providing high-quality and responsive service to its
residents is more than lip serv-ice.
“We pride ourselves on the level of service to the commu-nity but we don’t just say it, it’s what we do. We have a good clearance rate for crime and we respond to everything,” Currey said.
Unlike many municipal police departments, Vero Beach police officers respond to all EMS/par-amedic calls, Currey noted.
“Our response time is under five minutes for the average call. We pride ourselves on that and we can back it up,” Currey said.
Shortly after becoming in-terim police chief after last No-vember’s resignation by former Police Chief Don Dappen, Cur-rey and his officers found them-selves investigating two shock-ing city homicides within one week. Within six days of the commission of those homicides,
police had made arrests in the cases.
Qe path which ultimately led to his police chief ’s desk in the sec-ond story corner office of the city police headquarters was not un-like the yellow-bricked one used by Dorothy on her way to the Em-erald City: it was, as the Beatles once sang, “the long and winding road that leads to your door.”
Born in Baltimore and raised in
and do all foot patrols. “My mother and sisters moved
to Vero Beach in the mid 1980s and I decided to come to the warm weather to start my law enforcement career. ^is posi-tion in Vero was my first real job. (And) I stayed.” Currey said with a broad smile.
Helping him “stay” was the fact that he met his wife Melanie in Vero Beach and the couple are raising three beautiful and sports involved children here.
Currey came to Vero Beach in August 1989 and was hired by the city in 1990 as a patrolman. He steadily and regularly moved
the Egg Harbor Township area of southern coastal New Jersey’s Atlantic County, Currey was a student athlete who played quarterback and who wanted to major in physical education and coach football.
But it was an intra-squad bas-ketball game injury to his knee that ended his sports goals and which led to an alternate career path.
“I always had an interest in law enforcement and then I tore out my knee playing basketball,” Currey said.
Stockton State College in Pomona, NJ had a criminal jus-tice degreed program and Cur-rey enrolled.
“In the summer of 1986, I took a police job in Ocean City (NJ) where they walk the boardwalks
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CHIEF CURREYFROM PAGE 17
LOCAL NEWS
up through the ranks to become a detective sergeant in 1995; a road patrol lieutenant in 1998; a captain in 2001; deputy chief in 2005 and interim chief last No-vember.
In March, City Manager Jim O’Connor appointed Currey as permanent police chief, citing
his confidence in Currey’s abil-ity and willingness to get the job (and budget) done.
“David has fulfilled what my expectations of a police chief are both from the police work side and the budgetary side. He has taken ownership of it and he will work through the difficult
“David has fulAlled what my expectations of a police chief are both from the police work side and the budgetary side.” - City Manager Jim O’Connor
solutions to problems. It will be painful but it will get done,” O’Connor said this week.
During his 22-year career with the city, Currey has worked within and/or supervised all the department’s divisions and now as chief will continue to oversee the department’s detective divi-sion.
When asked if he regretted the injury which ended his compet-itive sports aspirations and a ca-reer as a phys-ed teacher, Cur-rey did not hesitate to answer.
“I’m very fortunate to be here right now. ^is ended up better than the other and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I met my wife here.
“As far as this position – I’m honored to be chief here. It was a dream of mine. I took a fork in the road and dreams do come true,” Currey said.
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Community Forum
Negotiating the power sale: time takes timeAnd it’s time for both persistence and patienceMARK SCHUMANN
In a scene from the move “Get-tysburg,” Confederate General George Pickett dismisses the the-ory of evolution by challenging any of his colleagues to step for-ward who would dare claim Gen-eral Robert E. Lee was descended from an ape. General Lou Armi-stead responds, “George, all sci-ence trembles before the searing heat of your fi ery logic.”
I am sometimes reminded of this exchange between Pickett and Armistead when I hear partisan arguments in favor or in opposi-tion to a sale of the city’s electric system. For example, former City Attorney Charles Vitunac recently argued the city should end its ef-fort to fi nd a way to sell the elec-tric system, but he did so without acknowledging the estimated $20 million a year rate diff erential be-tween the Vero Electric and Flori-da Power & Light.
Vitunac went on to suggest that Vero Electric is operating at a modest fi ve percent “margin,” or profi t. He is confusing a profi t
earned at competitive rates with a government’s ability to generate an operating “margin” by charging whatever it wants. Currently the city’s electric rates are at least 20 percent higher than FPL – a dif-ferential that will likely continue to grow.
Suggesting that Vero Electric earns a modest 5 percent margin without also explaining it has to set its rates some $20 million over FPL in order to be “profi table” isn’t exactly putting forth a case built on fiery logic.
Last year, not wanting to further increasing rates, Vero Electric drew $7 million from its reserve fund to subsidize operations. In essence, the city’s electric system lost $7 million last year, despite the fact that it charged its cus-tomers $20 million more than they would have paid as custom-ers of FPL. Opponents of the sale conveniently avoid acknowledg-ing this huge drain on the local economy.
On the other side of the argu-ment, some who have apparently
made it their life’s mission to divest the city of its utilities make a com-pelling case for selling the electric system to FPL, but they do so with a selective use of the facts. ] ey seem unwilling to acknowledge the minefield the city must negotiate if it is to get out of the electric busi-ness without also landing on the verge of bankruptcy.
In his guest column in last Sat-urday’s Press Journal, Vitunac explained well the almost insur-mountable obstacles the city faces in selling its electric system, in-cluding contractual obligations with the Florida Municipal Power Agency and the Orlando Utility Commission that will very likely cost a minimum of $50 million to settle.
During the darkest days of his presidency, Abraham Lincoln of-ten told the story of a man who wanted a fox. ] e fellow fi nally caught a fox and was last seen holding it by the ears yelling, “Somebody come help me let go of this thing!”
Vero Beach is in much the same
predicament as the man who had a fox by the ears. He could not fi g-ure out how to let go of it without getting hurt.
City leaders are trying to fi nd a way to let go of an electric system that is bolstering city spending and holding down taxes, but is at the same time costing its 32,000 customers an estimated $20 mil-lion a year in high electric rates. ]e $6 million advantage to the city set against the $20 million cost to its customers can hardly be justifi ed.
Still, simply criticizing the city for its dependence on transfers from its electric operations to pay for general fund expenses does nothing to move anyone closer to a solution. ] e city is hardly helped by those who off er simplistic so-lutions, such as “just let go.” And the public is not aided in more ful-ly understanding the issues when arguments for or against a sale are put forward without acknowledg-ing the many complexities to be worked through.
Vero Beach Newsweekly is distributed throughout Vero Beach and the barrier island.
Visit us on the web at www.VeroBeachNewsweekly.com
LETTERS WELCOMEVero Beach Newsweekly invites you to send Letters to the Editor on topics of interest pertaining to Indian River Coun-ty. Letters should be 250-300 words and may be edited for length. We encourage an open dialogue, but reserve the right to refuse publication of letters that do not meet our editorial standards.
E-mails may be sent to [email protected] or by regular mail to Letter to the Editor, Vero Beach Newsweekly, 1801 U.S. 1, Vero Beach, FL 32960.
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BY MILT THOMAS
In the middle of my annual spring cleaning ritual, I decided to throw out some things that have been cluttering my mind as well.
First of all, while most attention seems to be focused on the haves versus the have nots this political season, there is the ongoing bat-tle between generations. For peo-ple of the “senior” generation, the argument seems to be over how society has declined since their day. eey refl ect sadly that back then people were more respect-ful, less self-centered, more law-abiding and more religious. e ey see the younger generation today as less respectful, more self-cen-tered and immoral.
Here is where I think the prob-lem lies. e e older folks didn’t worry about what they did not know. Most crime and corrup-tion on the part of politicians and public offi cials were only
exposed behind closed doors, never to the pub-lic. e e same with sexual and financial abuse by religious lead-ers. Family se-crets were always kept within the family and rarely even discussed there, things like children born out of wedlock, drinking prob-lems and sexual orientation. Yes, there were rumors, but today rumors have been replaced with television exposés followed by rehab, reality shows and family conferences. Yes, bad behavior has always existed regardless of the generation. e e diff erence is today everyone knows because of 700 cable stations, the National Enquirer and the internet.
I’m tired of hearing that the movie John Carter was a nuclear meltdown. But as a writer, it is
easy for me to understand why it failed so miserably at the box of-fice. Special eff ects are really vis-ual adjectives, used to add color to cinematic storytelling just as written adjectives add color to novels. But a book full of descrip-tive adjectives without accom-panying nouns, pronouns, verbs and more importantly, plot, will not sell, nor will it be interesting.
So, it was easy to predict that John Carter would fail. However, Mr. Carter is not alone. Remem-ber Waterworld, the most expen-sive flop of its day? And then the movie that was the most expen-sive flop ever (in 2012 dollars), Cleopatra. Yes, even Liz Taylor’s décolletage couldn’t save that one.
Locally, I can understand peo-ple being upset when they must give up or pay extra for the privi-lege of having their trash picked up by their back door. We are always upset when our rights
or privileges are taken away by “big” government, no matter how petty they may be. But look at it this way – rolling your trash cans the extra 30 or 40 feet is good for your health. So, in that way, the change could actually save lives. So, instead of complaining, we should be thankful that our local government has our best inter-ests at heart.
While we’re at it, I don’t know what all the fuss is about the Vero Beach City Council deciding to impose a 25 mph speed limit on residential streets. It is apparently already in eff ect on main roads and highways. At least I seem to drive behind people who think so.
Milt I omas is a Vero Beach resident and an experienced free-lance writer/author with a 20-year background in the music industry. He currently writes bi-ographies, blogs, lectures, travels extensively and is an active mem-ber of the National Press Club.
A few things to get o@ my chest this spring
ee proverbial elephant in the room, of course, is the public’s addiction to a city property tax rate half that of many Florida cit-ies. No one seems willing to have a serious discussion about how a $4 million increase in taxes might be a reasonable trade off for some $8 million in electric savings. And that savings is just for the 13,000 customers of Vero Electric within the city limits. e e city’s 20,000 customers outside the city limits stand to gain $12 million a year by switching to FPL.
While the legal cost of negoti-ating with the OUC, the FMPA and FLP continues to mount and is likely to top $500,000, it would
be nothing short of foolish to not continue making every eff ort to find a way for the city to let go of the electric system.
The city cannot forever justify over-charging 32,0000 electric customers some $20 million a year just so it can transfer $6 mil-lion to its general fund. It also does not make sense to continue masking the real cost of operat-ing the city by reaching into the electric system cookie jar every year. And, without leaning on the electric system for trans-fers to the general fund, the city simply cannot long survive on a property tax rate just half that of comparable cities.
Solutions will come from working creatively to resolve the
city’s contract issues with OUC and FMPA. In tandem with these efforts, the city needs to figure out how to cut expenses and raise revenues. Anyone wanting to be a part of the so-lution, rather than a part of the problem, can support city lead-ers in their effort to identify any and every reasonable opportu-nity to cut expenses.
As Councilman Richard Wing-er has frequently observed, if the city is to have any chance of mak-ing the numbers work it must insist FPL pay a fair price for the electric system. e at number may prove to be something more than FPL’s initial off er of $100 million.
Though FPL cannot be expect-
ed to pay whatever it would take to get the city out of debt and off the hook with FMPA and OUC, it may well make business sense for the city and FPL to settle on some number between FPL¹s initial offer and the system¹s ap-praised value of closer to $180 million.
Finally, rather than dismissing an increase in the city’s tax rate as unreasonable, it’s time for leaders to be honest with the public about the tax rate the city needs to as-sess in order to be able to provide services the public demands.
Working through these issues will take time. Prematurely call-ing for the city to abandon this ef-fort is ultimately not in anyone’s best interest.
MILT THOMAS
POWER SALEFROM PAGE 19
Service Directory
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Y21COMMUNIT Y FORUM
BY REV. SCOTT ALEXANDER
Decades ago, I graduated from a wonderful and academically-demanding university where I was taught to be skeptical of sure and absolutist conclusions of any sort.
With all the great intellectual and moral questions of the day, our pro-fessors encouraged us to be keenly critical and discerning, and insisted that before we settled on any per-sonal conclusions that we weigh all facts and considerations in the light of both reason and principle. In the decades since, I have always been grateful for this rigorous edu-cation, even though the demands of this approach often make for rather tortured decision-making.
Such is the case for me now, as I consider the death penalty, and the
fate of David Lee Gore, the Treasure Coast’s most noto-rious and heinous serial murderer, who is facing ex-ecution. If there was ever a “poster child” for society’s harshest punish-ment, it would be this unremorseful criminal. Back in the 1970’s, Gore and his Cousin Fred Waterfi eld hunted, raped and mur-dered young women, strictly for their own twisted pleasure. T ey have sub-sequently failed to show any remorse.
Still, as social policy, I don’t think the case for the death penalty has been entirely or convincingly made. Yes, I am signifi cantly persuaded by
the moral argument that a civilized society has the right and obligation to protect – through punishment and example – the decency and goodness of the whole social order.
But I am also signifi cantly per-suaded by the moral and theologi-cal argument – which my own reli-gious faith makes – that all human beings have a divine nature and po-tential within them, even when they have fallen from that birthright.
As is the case with all the persist-ent moral controversies which di-vide our society, the death penalty involves competing moral princi-ples, and on-the-ground facts, that make it diffi cult for thoughtful and concerned citizens to come to swift and sure judgments. At the present time, I am not personally sure that
the death penalty serves the great-er good -- either in terms of social progress or the valuing and preser-vation of human life and dignity.
All of this is by way of my saying that if David Lee Gore is soon ex-ecuted by our state government, I will be much sadder on that day than certain. Sad that our society is capable of producing such depraved and despicable individual and sad that so many people are certain that he must be killed for justice, human worth and society to be served.
Rev. Scott W. Alexander is the min-ister of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Vero Beach, and has been a minister, author, and educa-tor for almost 40 years. He is an avid cyclist and outdoor enthusiast who loves living in Vero Beach.
What is the right punishment for David Lee Gore?
REVERENDSCOTT ALEXANDER
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Vero Beach Canine Country Club, Inc.
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PHOTOS BY CHRISTINA TASCON President of the Indian River Coastal Conservation Association Lange Sykes with Carolyn Lange, Leslie & Mike Swan
Social | Lifestyle
Sebastian Blackman and John Brenner with the raLe ladies, Nicki Guest and Laura Schooley
BY CHRISTINA TASCONVERO BEACH NEWSWEEKLY
Te Coastal Conservation Association raf-fled off aquatic-themed artwork, vacations and fishing gear at Te Moorings Club to support its goal of balancing the rights of fishermen with the need to protect the en-vironment.
Te club’s beautiful riverfront setting was the perfect backdrop to the annual sport fisherman’s auction and raffle.
Lange Sykes is the current Treasure Coast chapter president and said his passion for the water stems from “growing up having access in Indian River to the best fishing, diving and water recreational activities in the world.”
“I could see the decline of the river’s and ocean’s ecology,” said Sykes, “and I decided to take a proactive call to duty to do my part. Te CCA is the voter voice on hot but-ton issues which affect the saltwater angler.”
“If it wasn’t for the Association’s magazines and emails,” said member and attorney Brian Conelly, “many of us would not know what was going on to directly affect our rights out on the water. Te CCA advocates a balance between government regulation and the sport fishermen’s rights which is why we live here in the first place.”
Attendees were asked to bid on auction items and buy chances on everything from fishing poles to an excursion to Africa val-ued at approximately $10,000.
Approximately 150 guests were bidding furiously on items with major angler appeal. Guest Will Collins was throwing his tickets in the bucket for a clear commode seat with fly fishing hooks. “I got one last year and it needs updating,” he laughed as he bid con-trary to the wishes of his girlfriend, Ashleigh Whitfield.
Country music filled the room adding to the backyard picnic atmosphere with an up-scale twist as bidders chowed down on lob-ster corn dogs, tasty barbecue and tuna rolls.
“I am very happy with the turnout,” said Sykes. Te event raised over $60,000 for the Association.
Sport 4shermen come out for Coastal Conservation ra5e
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Y23SOCIAL | LIFEST YLE
Help Keep the Beach Beautifuland Safe for Everyone to Enjoy.
Come and join us. It’s a great way to meetnew people while helping the environment.
10 AM – 11 AM – Beach Clean Up11 AM – Noon – Lunch
Noon – 4 PM – Live music by St. John’s Woodd
Charity Bar available with Budweiser products and voodoopunch. ALL proceeds from the bar go to Mother Ocean
50/50 rafGeTo learn more,
volunteer or donate,visit MotherOcean.org.
In honor of
Earth Day
are hosting a
On The Beach BehindWaldo’s Restaurant
TCN2691803
To advertise callMartine Fecteau at 772-696-2004Mark Schumann at 772-696-5233
Doug & Jodi Eiseinger with Todd Marchant
Marvin Simer, Suzy Block and Tom Collins
Danielle Albertson, Frank Hinzman and Dru & Rick Smith
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24 SOCIAL | LIFEST YLE
BY CHRISTINA TASCONVERO BEACH NEWSWEEKLY
It was all about fabulous food, the latest clothes and fashionable accessories offered by local businesses at the Wine, Women and Charm benefit for the Homeless Family Center.
Charm Magazine hosted the benefit at The Mandarin Restaurant owned by Winncy and Joey Schlitt.
“We were happy to open our restaurant for the event to support the Homeless Family Center,” said Joey Schlitt.
The main dining room offered a cozy atmosphere enhanced by elegant floral displays provided by Lara Fiorelli of Lara’s Theme as guests let their hair down and relaxed as they shopped.
Hosted by Charm, a women’s oriented magazine which celebrates today’s trends
Fans of fashion come out for Wine, Women and Charm
and the topics about which women are most passionate, the event offered wonderful raffle chances throughout the evening.
The night also featured a stylish fashion show by Labels and Pamper of the Treasure Coast offering lovely summer attire and unique accessories.
In addition to nibbling on an assortment of Asian inspired hors d’oeuvres, guests were treated to a sexy Salsa dance by Swingsations’ Shari and Joe Tessier. After an exhilarating exhibition, they took the ladies, including our Mayor Pilar Turner, through the steps of a high energy Salsa.
“I am just excited to come here after a long day of work and unwind,” said Jane Coyle, “as we support the Homeless Family Center.”Karen Diegl and Cindy Schiefer
Crystal Lemley, Monica Smiley, Lara Fiorelli and Nicole Dugan PHOTOS BY CHRISTINA TASCON
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Shari & Joe Tessier of Swingsations 14th Avenue Dance Studio teach Salsa dancing to the attendees
Reetu Haave and Alyssa McKenzie
Angela Stakikas, Tanja McGuire, Julia Carter and Kristen Dayton
Regina Hawkins and Dee Shelton of Hibiscus Children’s Center
SOCIAL | LIFEST YLE
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26 Community Calendar
EVERY FRIDAY` Farmer’s Market3-6 pm, downtown Vero, corner 14th Ave. & 21st St. 772-480-8353.
EVERY SATURDAY` Oceanside Business Association’sFarmer’s Market, 8 am-noon. Ocean Dr. & Dahlia Ln. 772-532-2455.
FIRST FRIDAY OF THE MONTH` Downtown Gallery Art StrollArt galleries and businesses open house receptions. Free. 772-299-1234.
THROUGH APRIL 30` Sculpting Nature30 large scale art pieces in McKee Botanical Gardens, 350 S US1, $5-$9, 772-794-0601.
APRIL 12` Love of Literacy LuncheonWith Martyn Lewis “the Walter Cronkite of the BBC”, Vero Beach Country Club, 11:30-1:30, $50. 772-778-2223.` Navy League Dinner5:45 p.m. Heritage Center, 2140 14th Ave., $28 pp. Guests welcome, speaker Frank Partell author of modern naval fiction. 772-231-6101.
` Indian River Neighborhood Assoc.Luncheon honoring retiring County Commissioner Gary Wheeler, CJ Cannons, Vero Beach Airport. $15. 772-794-4762.
` “Big Composer, Little Pieces”Chamber Concert, VBHS Per-forming Arts Center, 7 pm, $10-$12. 772-564-5537.
APRIL 13` An evening with Marc Kaufman je Washington Post editor, at
Harbor Branch Johnson Education Center, 7 pm, autographs and book signing, $10/$15. 772-242-2559.
` Miss Hibiscus PageantHeritage Center, 7 pm. 772-480-8353.
APRIL 14` Hibiscus FestivalDowntown Main Street (14th Ave.), 9 am-8:30 pm, live music, fine art show, vendors, food & ac-tivities to benefit MSVB & Herit-age Inc. 772-480-8353.` Salvation Army Beneat DinnerOak Harbor Clubhouse, speaker will be Major League’s Jim Kaat, cocktails at 5 pm. 978-0265 x104.
APRIL 15` Art in the ParkVero Beach Art Club members’ exhibition, Humiston Park, free. 3000 Ocean Dr. 772-231-0303.
` VBHS OrchestraPerforms Mozart’s Symphony #41, “Jupiter” and Mendelssohn’s Symphony #4, “Italian.” VBHS Performing Arts Center, free, 7 pm. 772-234-6713.
APRIL 16` Newsboys Concert7 pm, VBHS Performing Arts Cent-er, 1707 16th St., $20/$35 in advance,
$5 more at door. iTickets.com.
APRIL 17` Pinnacle Award Breakfast5th Annual, Honoring J. Vincent Boyle, Quail Valley River Club, 8-9:30 am, no charge, by Estate Planning Council. 772-978-5574.
APRIL 21` Heli-Drop Ball Bash & BBQFor Youth Guidance, Vero Beach Sports Village, 3901 26th St., 4:30-10 pm, $25. 772-770-5040.
` Titanic Memories LuncheonHistory & fashion, 11 pm, Oak Harbor Country Club, 4755 S. Harbor Dr., benefits Divine Mercy Catholic Radio, $50. 866-650-7717.
APRIL 22` Floridays: Tales Told Under the Sun By Janie Hoover, Hallstrom House, 2 pm, $15/$20 by the Historical Society. 772-778-3435.
APRIL 28` Children’s Art FestivalVero Beach Museum of Art, 10 am-3 pm, free celebration, chil-dren’s arts, activities, perform-ances. 772-231-0707.
` Charity ShootWindsor’s Gun Club, 3125 Wind-sor Blvd., to benefit Education Foundation, $15, includes lunch, shells, clays, etc. 772-564-0034.
` Kenny Beers BandFree Christian music concert at Vero Christian Church, 3250 Oslo Rd., from 4-6 pm. 772-567-1368.To submit your calendar listing please email: [email protected]
STAFF PHOTO
This 1929 Ford Trimotor airplane will be at the Vero Beach Airport April 16-18. To take a 15-minute Xight call 1-877-952-5395.
THURSDAY, APRIL 12 FRIDAY, APRIL13 SATURDAY, APRIL 14 SUNDAY, APRIL 15 MONDAY, APRIL 16 TUESDAY, APRIL 17 WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18
78O
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Winds: ENE 13 mphChance of Rain 20%
Winds: E 15 mphChance of Rain 20%
Winds: SE 14 mphChance of Rain 0%
Winds: SE 12 mphChance of Rain 20%
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PHOTOS BY LISA RYMERDelaney Mcmann, Donnella Aldrich, Noah Lanier, Matt Stott (VBHSO Director), Marissa Rollins, Vincent Marroquin, Lauren Douglas, Jacob Heglund, Hannah Binford, Sawyer Hendrix, Cooper Hendrix, Sam Miller, Steven Coll, Chloé Bain , members of the Vero Beach High School orchestra attend a concert by the Atlantic Classical Orchestra.
CONTINUES ON PAGE 28
Arts | Entertainment
BY LISA RYMERVERO BEACH NEWSWEEKLY
[e Atlantic Classical Orchestra, an ensemble of 35 international musicians that performs concerts in Vero Beach and Stuart, now has a whole new fan base.
For the past two seasons, the ACO, established in 1991, has ex-tended an open invitation to or-chestra students from Vero Beach High School to attend concerts, lectures and even opportunities to dine with the musicians.
About 30 students have attended free concerts at the Waxlax Center for the Performing Arts at Saint Edward’s School, where the ACO performs about once a month dur-ing season.
[e following night, the orches-tra performs at the Lyric [eatre in Stuart.
“Before the performance, Con-ductor Stewart Robinson talks about the music, about the com-poser… so when you hear the con-
cert, you have this history,” said Jill Douglas, a Vero Beach resident whose 17-year-old daughter, Lau-ren Douglas, is first chair violin in the high school orchestra.
Douglas and her daughter, who has been playing violin for more than half her life, attended an ACO concert for the first time last year.
“Both of us came out from the concert in absolute awe. We couldn’t believe we had this qual-ity of music just down the street,” said Douglas, explaining she reached out to ACO Executive Director, Matthew Stover, about discount tickets for the students.
Little did Douglas realize that the $55 cost for regularly priced tickets is only $5 for students. Nonetheless, the ACO made an even sweeter offer.
“Part of our mission is to provide opportunities to underserved popu-lations, such as children,” said Stover, who came on board last April after accomplishing record ticket sales for
Professional orchestra inspires student musicians
772.231.6990 OR RIVERSIDETHEATRE.COM3250 RIVERSIDE PARK DRIVE, VERO BEACH
Producing Artistic Director, Allen D. Cornell
Producing Big City Theatre for a Great Small Town!
Music & Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book byBurt Shevelove &
Larry Gelbart
April 12 - May 6
Presenting SponsorSpringHill Suites
by Marriott
• Do you enjoy great musicals performed by Broadway actors?
• Isn’t it amazing you are within 15 minutes of a Broadway experience for nearly half the cost?
• Do you enjoy side-splitting laughter
One of Broadway’s greatest farces, AFunny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is light, fast-paced, witty, irreverent and one of the funniest mu-sicals ever written. Featuring a stellar cast, including Dana Snyder (Max Bialystock) and Ron Wisinski (Franz Liebkind) from The Producers whoreturn in the roles of Pseudolus and Marcus Lycus.
OPENING WEEKEND!
5e Atlantic Classical Orchestra enjoying its mission to reaching out to children in need
an orchestra in Jackson, Tennessee. “g e push of an orchestra should be ‘How do we make important our-selves in the community?’ We are beginning by providing enhanced opportunities for high school kids.”
ge ACO, which is actually based in Fort Pierce, is supported by a foundation of fundraising friends in Indian River County, as well as in Stuart.
ge orchestra developed organi-cally from a single all-Mozart pro-gram performed at the Vero Beach Museum of Art’s Leonhardt Audi-torium in 1991.
Conducted by local resident and professional conductor, Andrew Mc-Mullan, the ensemble grew into a full blown professional orchestra with an ever-increasing artistic quality.
In contrast to the Indian River Symphonic Association, which partners with the Brevard Coun-ty Orchestra in bringing musical performances to the Community Church in Vero Beach, the ACO has its own resident orchestra.
ge musicians, many of whom also play for other musical compa-nies, come from across the globe, with a large number originat-ing from Eastern Europe, Central America and South America.
For instance, Aura Trevino, the company’s principal bassoon-ist, commutes from Venezuela to perform with the ACO. Violinist Sha Zhang hails from China. And Russian Ian Maskin, principal cel-list, has performed with Sting, Gloria Estefan, Andrea Bocelli and Snoop Dogg.
Orchestra conductor, Stewart Robertson, who in the past has been nominated for a Grammy Award, brings to the area artistic leadership of world renowned mu-sical organizations, such as Glim-merglass Opera, Royal Scottish National Opera, the Florida Grand Opera, and orchestras such as the BBC Scottish Symphony, Nether-
lands Symphony, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, and others.
“ge students come out from a concert so inspired,” said Douglas. “We are so fortunate to have such good music a town so small.”
Last year, about ten high school students attended two concerts. gis year, an average of 12 stu-dents attended each performance and even some of the parents got involved by volunteering in the ticket office and helping usher.
“I promoted it on Facebook,” said Douglas, a professional photog-rapher whose other two children, Corbin, 9, and Aubrey, 10, play clas-sical guitar and piano, respectively.
Because many of the orches-tra students come from single-parent or low income families, Douglas picks the youth up from school after orchestra rehearsal on a gursday evening and brings them to her house for a monthly pre-concert supper club.
“gey get to get dressed up in con-cert attire,” said Douglas, who talks about music as being a lifestyle.
Lauren Douglas plans on con-tinuing studying music in college and eventually making a career of her passion.
“I wouldn’t necessarily say I want to be part of an orchestra profession-ally,” said the high school junior who
has also been studying piano for the past three years. “I love classical mu-sic, but I like other styles too.”
Douglas performs every Saturday at the Farmer’s Market Oceanside with guitarist, Trevor Klutz, a sen-ior at Vero Beach High School who also plays the violin in the school’s orchestra. Sophomore Alex Barker, another violinist in the orchestra, recently joined their group, Elle and the Rootabega Boys.
Two weeks ago, the students were invited to join the ACO musicians for dinner in the Saint Ed’s cafeteria.
After meeting Arthur Grossman, a 90-year-old violinist with the ACO who performed on Broadway with Julie Andrews in “g e Sound of Mu-sic,” senior Vincent Marroquin, 18, a cellist, had a change of heart.
“I’ve completely reconsidered my college plan,” said Marroquin, who has received numerous scholarships and will be attending the University of Central Florida in the fall to study to become a music educator.
“It gives them hope that their passion can become a fulfi lling ca-reer with longevity,” said Douglas. “Maybe, one day we’ll see some of these kids on the Waxlax stage in ten or 15 years.”
For information about the 2012-2013 season, call (772)460-0850 or vis-it them online at www.acomusic.org.
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ACOFROM PAGE 27
ARTS|ENTERTAINMENT
Distinguished Lecturer Series
April 16, 201249th Governor of the State of Indiana
Added LecturerGovernor
Mitch daniels
RiversideTheatre.comBox Office 772.231.6990
• Lectures at 4pm & 6pm
• Reception with speaker between lectures
Tickets Now on SALE!
Phil Horrocks, Patton Horrocks, Marissa Rollins, Ian Maksim (ACO), Lauren Douglas, Hannah Binford, Sam Miller , ochestra students from Vero Beach High School attend a pre-lecture and concert by the Atlantic Classical Orchestra at the Waxlax Center for the Performing Arts.
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BY BARBARA YORESHVERO BEACH NEWSWEEKLY
ne title of Bridge & Tunnel, an Obie and Tony Award-winning play written and originally per-formed by Sarah Jones, refer-ences a less than flattering term for working class commuters of certain ethnic and racial makeup coming into Manhattan from New York City’s outer boroughs of Queens, the Bronx, Brooklyn and Staten Island.
nink Snooki and “ne Situa-tion,” those Jersey Shore Guidette and Guido stereotypes or perhaps swarthy-skinned, turbaned Sikhs, veiled Islamic women in burkas or dreadlocked Rastas.
You know, those people, the ones not like us; the ones with funny ac-cents and weirdo religions or even more outrageous attire for whom Park or Madison avenues are like-ly to be where they work in menial jobs as janitors, cleaning women or convenience store clerks.
And although it is true that Man-hattan, like the rest of America, is and always has been a “melting pot” do we really want to associ-ate with this motley assortment of humanity?
Yes, we do. nis brilliantly and humanely
crafted one-woman play starring award-winning actress Karen Stephens takes us on an insightful and enlightening multi-cultural/racial journey which ultimately reveals that for all our differences, we are the same: human beings seeking life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Performing on the Waxlax Sec-ond Stage at Riverside neatre from April 19-29 and presented by the theatre’s Patron Sponsors,
Bridge & Tunnel: lessons from those not like usBridge & Tunnel offers 14 different characters of varying age, ethnicity and gender who reveal what Amer-ica and Americans are truly about despite increasing real-life anti-im-migrant sentiment.
Taking to the stage during an open-mike poetry reading for im-migrants at a joint in “beautiful South Queens,” the characters of Bridge & Tunnel reveal through humor and pathos their struggles to become part of the fabric of America which has been tradition-ally woven with threads of many different colors and types.
Prior to commencing rehears-als for the show, Karen Stephens shared with the Vero Beach News-weekly some thoughts about the show and her many roles within it.
Stephens, who grew up in South Florida and graduated from the University of Florida with a fine arts degree in theatre, performed the southeastern premiere of Bridge & Tunnel at Sarasota’s Flor-ida Studio neatre and again at the Fort Lauderdale Women’s neatre Project. She received a Carbonell award nomination and was named the 2011 Best Actress by the Bro-ward-Palm Beach New Times for those efforts.
She also starred in a one-woman show Loquacious & Bodacious, the Life and Times of Zora Neale Hurston and most recently ap-peared as Lorraine Hansberry in ne Women’s neatre Project’s Chitterling Heights.
When asked about the show’s title, Stephens confirmed that its meaning is tied to commuting met-ro New Yorkers.
“New York (City) is such a melt-ing pot and people move about and commute in and out of the
city (Manhattan) via bridges and tunnels. Many of them are immi-grants,” Stephens said.
Because the play involves por-traying 14 diverse character parts, Stephens said she was initially daunted by the prospect of taking on a one-woman show.
“I was terrified to audition for the show although I had heard about it and Sarah (Jones) and the show being on Broadway. I thought how could I do it, but people kept en-couraging me and I’m honored to be the first person to do it after Broadway,” Stephens said.
Although she has yet to meet the show’s creator, Stephens said “Sa-rah and I are Facebook friends and she’s aware I’ve done the show and has acknowledged me. It would be great to meet her.”
Stephens characterized the play as “timeless” because America is a nation of immigrants.
“And because of that, I find the anti-immigrant sentiment that’s flourishing now to be curious. I think its fear-based angst. ne show takes the nebulous entity of ‘immigrant’ to that of real people with a story to tell,” Stephens said. “nis play humanizes these people – people who want a better life like everybody.”
Through her portrayal of 14 male and female characters, Stephens conveys those lives and multiculturalism as well as the dreams and hopes which con-tinues to bring immigrants to America.
“After about 80 minutes, they are no longer strangers; they have become people you can care about and its story resonates,” Stephens said. “It’s a wonderful piece of theatre that’s funny, en-
tertaining and can be a real roll-ercoaster ride, but a fun ride.”
Directed by Allen Cornell, pro-ducing artistic director of River-side neatre who also designed the set, Bridge & Tunnel’s produc-tion team includes Marc Dodon (costume design); Michael Bell (lighting design); Craig Beyrooti (sound design) and Bob Miller Jr. (stage manager).
Bridge & Tunnel performs April 19-29 on the Waxlax Second Stage at Riverside neatre located at 3250 Riverside Park Drive in Vero Beach. Tickets are $40 and may be purchased by calling the box office at (772) 231-6990 or by visiting online at www.riversi-detheatre.com.
Thursday, April 19 – 7:00 p.m.
Florida Stories with Latino Sabor (Flavor)
Carrie Sue Ayvar, a descendant of Eastern European Jews, grew up in Pittsburgh and Mexico surrounded by family stories. Combining her childhood stories with those she gathered from both locations, Ayvar has developed an impressive repertoire of bilingual, cultural, folk and historical tales.
A Cinco de Mayo Celebration
Free – No Tickets Required.For more information, visitwww.TheEmersonCenter.org
(772)778-52491590 27th Ave., Vero Beach, FL 32960(On the SE corner of 16th St. & 27th Ave. at theUnitarian Universalist Fellowship of Vero Beach)
Funding for this program was provided through a grant from the Florida Humanities Council with funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings,
conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the Florida Humanities Council or the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Presented inPartnership
with
Sponsored inpart byp y
THE EMERSON CENTERFLORIDA HUMANITIES SERIES
Riverside Theatre Review
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30 ARTS | ENTERTAINMENT
BY LISA RYMERVERO BEACH NEWSWEEKLY
Ze fear of being a starving artist keeps many talented people in rank and file jobs. So when Regina Stark, a painter, opened an art gallery last year, she knew she was taking a risk.
“It is not an easy path to follow, but it runs through my veins,” says Stark, 58, owner of Regina Stark Gallery at 1110 Old Dixie Highway.
Stark paints every day. Her piec-es are impressionistic acrylics on canvas, capturing ethereal images of mermaids, angels and other divinely inspired forms. She also works in watercolor and teach-es abstract art and multi-media composition at the Vero Beach Museum of Art.
In fact, it was the museum that was the deciding factor in Stark moving to Vero Beach two and-a-half years ago from New York, where she had been a decorative painter for 20 years with clients on Park Avenue and in the Hamptons.
“I began painting at age three,” said the Long Island native, whose father was a fine artist and taught her the fundamentals. “He taught me how to see with an artist’s eye,” she said.
She studied with master artists and attended some college in New York, but raising a family took priority. When her children were older, she began to paint again and her talent became well known among interior decorators.
“I came to Vero to get off the treadmill,” said Stark. “Zere had to be an easier place to live where I could paint more.”
But, it was difficult breaking into the local art market, both because Stark was a newcomer and had no established relationships, and also she did not incorporate Florida’s landscape into her creations.
“I don’t paint palm trees, at least not often” said Stark, who produc-es pieces for her gallery, as well as commissioned pieces, often from a photograph.
She discovered there actually is
a local market for her style of art when Karen Fulchini, who co-owns Baci Trattoria on 14th Ave-nue, hung Stark’s canvases on the wall and they began to sell.
Ze Friday night Gallery Stroll
in downtown Vero Beach has pro-vided yet another opportunity for Stark to meet local art aficionados.
Again, Fulchini graciously al-lowed her to set up an exhibit in the restaurant, where belinis and
STAFF PHOTO
Regina Stark’s art captures ethereal images of mermaids, angels and other divinely inspired forms.
Painter Regina Stark follows her dreams“I believe in the work, the message, I know the feeling that is put into it.”
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Entertainment Calendar
I T ’ S H A P P E N I N G A T T H E
mersonCenter
1590 27th Avenue, Vero Beach(772)778-5249
www.TheEmersonCenter.org
FLORIDAHUMANITIES
SERIESSix Speakers · October-April
COMMUNITY CHURCH OF VERO BEACHCommunity Concert Series 1901 23rd Street772-778-1070 Apr 15: Brevard Symphony Orchestra, 7:30 pm, $50Apr 17: Chanticleer, 7:30 pm, $35/$15 studentsMay 20: Spring Sing and Ring, Atlantic Childrens’ Chorale & Bell Ringers, 4 pm, suggested $15/$5
EMERSON CENTERat the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship1590 27th Avenue 772-778-5249TheEmersonCenter.orgApr 19: Carrie Sue Ayvar, Florida Humanities Series, FreeApr 21: SoulFege, Jazz, benej ts Academy for the Performing Arts music scholarship, 7 pm, $5-$15Apr 29: “Forever Kitten”, A Father Knows Best Remembrance by Lauren Chapin, 5 pm, $25/$30.
RIVERSIDE THEATER3250 Riverside Park Drive772-231-6990riversidetheatre.com
Stark Main Stage: Apr 12-May 6: A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum, 2 pm, 7:30 & 8 pm, $57-$73 Apr 9: Distinguished Lecture Series, Charlie Cook of the Cook Report, 4 & 6 pm, $65-$75
Second Stage: Apr 19-26: Bridge and Tunnel, 2 pm & 8 pm, $40
Comedy Zone:Apr 13-14: Johnny Millwater and Jodi White, 7 pm & 9:30 pm, $15
Children’s Theatre:Mar 23-Apr 15: Rapunzel and Me, the Muzical, 3/23, 7:30 pm, 3/24, 3/25, 4/1, 4/14 & 4/14 1:30 pm, $10-$16Apr 13-15: School House Rock, Ages 4 +, $5-$16
SPACE COAST SYMPHONYVarious Locations321-536-8580SpaceCoastSymphony.orgApr 21: Rodgers & Hammerstein at the Movies, Trinity Episcopal Church, 7 pm, 2365 Pine Avenue, 7 pm, $20
SUNRISE THEATRE 116 South 2nd Street Fort Pierce772-461-4775sunrisetheatre.comApr 13: Jimmy Thackery & The Drivers, 8 pm (Black Box), $30Apr 18: International Dance Sensation, “Burn the Floor,” 7 pm, $55/$49Apr 21: One Night of Queen, 8 pm, $45/$39May 6: Ziggy Marley, Wild and Free Tour, 7 pm, $39
VERO BEACH CHORAL SOCIETY Trinity Episcopal Church2365 Pine Avenue772-494-5011VeroBeachChoralSociety.orgApr 13 & 15: Songs of Spring, Concert & Art Debut, Men’s Ensemble Chorus with Music Inspired Art, $20 ($5/$10). Reception and concert on 13th at 7:30 pm; Concert on 15th at 3 pm, art on exhibition in Great Hall after concert. Art auction Apr 27 at Northern Trust.
VERO BEACH MUSEUM OF ART3001 Riverside Park Drive772-231-0707Apr 21: Children’s Art Festival, 10-3 pm, music, art activities, free admissionMay 3: Warm Nights--Cool Music, Concert in the Park, Hard Bop Jazz with James Archer, $10
VERO BEACH OPERA verobeachopera.org772-569-6993Box Oice: 772-564-5537verobeachopera.orgApr 14: Live at the Met: Verdi’s La Traviata, 1 pm, Majestic Theatre, $20-$25
SPONSORED BY
ARTS | ENTERTAINMENT
homemade muffi ns were served, while Stark sold giclees of her original canvases.
“I fi nally opened my own gallery because I knew I had to stand on my own. I believe in the work, the mes-sage, I know the feeling that is put into it. And if I can do this in New York, I can do it here,” she said.
Re gallery, which is open by appointment only, aff ords Stark a private studio to paint, a space to teach classes, and an exhibit hall to show her work and the work of her students.
Using email and direct mailings to communicate with fans of her work, Stark hosts a gallery show every other month.
“R e gallery shows have been the most effective, because you get people to come in the gallery and see your work, and maybe they’ll buy something.”
She teaches both private and group art classes, charging modest rates to encourage more people to try their hand at artistic expres-sion. Stark also helps art students prepare college portfolios.
Stark’s own artistic process is deeply personal and demonstrates the association between her crea-tive life and her spiritual life.
Each day, she begins with a pe-riod of meditation followed by
a yoga practice, which she also teaches at the museum.
Ris “opens me up so the crea-tive energy fl ows through me like a stream of consciousness,” she said.
Beautiful things certainly do come through Stark, whose body of work is eclectic, sensual, feminine yet bold. Sometimes, she includes writing in the paintings, words that she feels the painting speaking.
“Abstract painting is feeling work. You start with a blank can-vas, no preconceived notion; a blank mind. R en you take the colors and move them across the canvas, it’s very visceral, turning color into form,” she explained.
Rese days, Stark opts for water based paints over oil based paints because of the toxicity, which can impact health. While she favors watercolors, most of her work is done in acrylics.
“I work in layering; acrylics dry fast so they’re a better medium,” she said.
Stark encourages people to seek out creative outlets to give voice to parts of themselves that they may have yet to discover.
“R ere is a creative spark inside all of us that needs to be ignited. Your creativity makes you come alive, so others can experience you,” she said.
Regina Stark Gallery 978-1697.
RIVERSIDE CHILDREN’S THEATRE PRESENTS
Anne Morton Theatre 3280 RIVERSIDE PARK DRIVE, VERO BEACHBox Office: 772.231.6990 • RiversideTheatre.com
April 14 & 15 at 1:30 p.m.Tickets:
Adults $10-$16, Students $5-$8 Recommended for ages 4 & up
Sponsored byThe Wild Family and Barre Fusion Fitness
The classic tale retold by Kevin Quillinan and Ken CliftonBook by Kevin Quillinan
Music and Lyrics by Ken Clifton
To advertise in the only weekly newspaper
serving the island and the mainland call
Martine Fecteau at 772-696-2004
BY MARK JOSEPHVERO BEACH NEWSWEEKLY
Having received good news, we were in a celebratory mood and immedi-ately thought of one of the prettiest and romantic spots in Vero, Maison Mar-
tinique in South Beach.Driving into the parking lot of
this exquisite property it looks more like a large Spanish villa hid-den away on a Mediterranean is-land.
Surrounded by lush tropical plants and tall greenery, Maison Martinique is located in the Car-ibbean Court Hotel, at 1601 S. Ocean Drive, in a prestigious, se-cluded area of Vero’s South Beach. Considered as a getaway destina-tion, this elegantly appointed bou-tique hotel houses a restaurant with a menu that’s French inspired with a Caribbean theme.
It was an early Tuesday evening so fortunately we had our choice of seating in one of several beauti-ful dining rooms or out by the gar-den patio and pool area. We chose a nice comfy booth in the hallway
For appetizers we chose the soft-shell crab and shrimp curry and chose to pair them both with a nice glass of house Cabernet.
While enjoying our wine and bread, we were able to see the beautiful dining rooms of Mai-son Martinique. Bathed in dark salmon and rich, dark woods with a Caribbean theme, the sophis-ticated and luxurious feel of the restaurant seem to transport us back to an era when women wore long gloves and gentleman sport-ed tailored suits.
When the appetizers arrived, we could not have been more pleased.
Q e soft-shell crab was a treat and this beautifully prepared creature arrived steaming hot to perfection. Swimming in a but-tery garlic sauce, this deliciously crisp crustacean was fresh and tender and the highlight of the entire meal. Q e crab was so good I would have easily chosen this as a main course.
Qe shrimp curry prawns were generous in size and portion and each shrimp was cooked just until tender. Q e curry sauce was thick and rich with a lively fl avor but still tame enough for most pal-ates.
We chose to enhance our meals with a soup and a salad and know-ing that fresh beets with goat
cheese has always been a favorite here, the beet salad continued to live up to its reputation. Sweet chunks of beets on crisp greens and highlighted by chunks of re-ally good goat cheese made for a great salad.
Qe soup was asparagus vichy-ssoise -- a cold soup with fresh asparagus. For a warm evening the soup proved to be cooling, re-freshing and delicious.
Qe list of entrees for the even-ing included several choices of fresh fi sh and we ordered the striped sea bass stuff ed with crab-meat and the tuna au poivre. With steak au poivre being a long time favorite and having never expe-rienced this dish done with fresh tuna, the choice was a no-brainer.
Qe tuna was prepared with a cool red center and a delicious
crust. Qe sweet creamy sauce in contrast to the peppercorns was the perfect complement to this wonderful sushi grade tuna. Ac-companying this dish were four small sides of veggies, including sweet fresh carrots, tender aspara-gus spears and a small steamed po-tato. Q e side dishes were carefully cooked and thoroughly enjoyed.
Qe striped sea bass stuff ed with crabmeat was similar to stuff ed flounder, both in appearance and texture. Q e bass was so fresh that it could have easily come from the ocean, located just across the street from this beautiful restau-rant and hotel. Moist fi llets of fi sh encased in sweet, succulent crab-meat, this dish was fi nished in an equally delicate beurre blanc sauce. Q e sea bass also included the same wonderful side dishes.
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32 Dining
Maison Martinique: French meets the Caribbean at South Beach
Yough quite full, yet still in a celebratory mood, we decided to top off the evening’s festivities with two dessert selections and since we were celebrating, cham-pagne was in order.
Ye signature dessert of Maison Martinique is the three-tier al-mond crisp, with crème Chantilly, fresh berries and raspberry coulis. Ye confection consisted of a tall stack of paper thin, incredibly del-icate waffl e-like sheets of almond, lightly fried to a beautiful golden brown. Tucked in between each
almond waffl e was sweet, rich cream, fresh berries and a won-derful raspberry sauce. Perhaps the best word to describe this fabulous dessert is spectacular! Ye three tier almond crisp will definitely appear of my list of best desserts of Vero.
Our champagne choice was a bubbly rose and since I was in the mood for something diff erent than the usual sweets, I chose the assorted cheese tray with Stilton, Manchego, and house boursin cheese. Y e cheese tray was a gen-
erous assortment of wonderfully aged, imported cheeses and fresh fruit and served with a traditional port wine. Y ough too full to fi n-ish after a huge meal, I sadly had to leave some of the delicious cheese morsels on my plate.
A fantastic meal from start to finish in a beautiful, romantic at-mosphere was the perfect way for us to celebrate this evening and Maison Martinique at the Carib-bean Court Hotel was exactly the way we wanted to enjoy this very special occasion.
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Cuisines of Vero
3500 Ocean DriveVero Beach, FL 32963772.469.1060
NEW YEAR, NEW DAILY DEALS AND EVENTS
Monday Sweet Start: $5 chef’s choice dessertsTuesday Half off all bottles of wine priced $100 or less
Wednesday Wine Down Wednesday: all house wine glass pours $5 all dayThursday Thirsty Thursday: extended Happy Hour drinks until 6:30pm
Friday Mr. Motown Curtis Hill playing at 7pm in the Cobalt LoungeSaturday $6 Bloody Marys during brunch
Friendly, clean, excellent food and service.Beer and Wine.
Homemade soups and desserts.Children’s menu available.
Breakfast: Mon.-Sat. 7 am - 11 amLunch: Mon.-Sat. 11 am - 2:30 pmSunday Breakfast: 7:30 am - noon
Dinner: 5 pm - ’til close
3125 OCEAN DRIVE, VERO BEACH | 772.231.0858WWW.LEMONTREEVERO.COM
Lemon Tree – Love it!great breakfast, great lunch, great dinner
Dinner and wine for two before tip: $270
Masion Martinique at the Caribbean Court Hotel
Fine dining with full bar and wine1601 S. Ocean Drive, Vero Beach FL 32963
772 231-7299
Hours: Tuesday thru Saturday,6 p.m. till close
Proper attire requestedMost major credit cardsReservations suggested
BY MIKE BIELECKIVERO BEACH NEWSWEEKLY
VERO BEACH – be St. Ed-ward’s (12-5) and Master’s Acad-emy (10-3) baseball teams will meet for the first time at Holman stadium April 16 at 7 p.m. Both teams are eying berths in the state playoffs in what should be a play-off-type atmosphere.
be Pirates, behind the leader-ship of fifth-year head coach Jim Peters, are anchored by college pitching prospects senior Jared Jillson (4-1, 0.46 earned run aver-age), junior Wes Walton (3-0, 1.53 ERA), and junior Anderson Proc-tor (1-2, 1.05 ERA).
Proctor, a 6-foot-4, 220-pound right-hander, will take the hill against the Patriots when the two teams square off at Holman Sta-dium.
Master’s Academy second-year head coach and athletic director Charles Brown is familiar with Proctor.
Brown, a former pitching pros-pect with the New York Yankees, has worked with the St. Edward’s pitcher in the off-season and sees true talent in him.
“be first time I saw him pitch
it was at John Carroll,” Brown said. “He stacks up nicely with most Division-I prospects, and has prototypical size for a start-ing pitcher. By the time Anderson graduates, he’ll be throwing 93 to 94 miles per hour.
For Proctor, the game as an op-
portunity get in touch with his inner-fan, and appreciate the his-tory of the former spring training home of the Las Angeles Dodgers.
“It’s pretty amazing to be able to throw off the same mound that Sandy Koufax once did,” Proctor said.
For someone known for his pitching, Proctor has been tear-ing it up at the plate to the tune of a .442 batting average with four home runs.
Senior Jay Schulte leads the team with a .460 average and 17 runs batted in, Walton is hitting a robust .361 and junior Billy Egn-ezzo is batting .347.
Master’s Academy, in just its second year of fielding a varsity baseball team, brings a very young team into Holman Stadium to face
St. Edwards.“We have no seniors and only
two juniors on the team,” Brown said. “We have three sophomores, five freshmen, three eighth-grad-ers and a seventh-grader on our team.
We still start some of these seventh- and eighth-grade play-ers. I feel we can go and compete against the other schools. Every game we’ve played, we’ve been in. Sometimes our inexperience kind of pops up, and we’ve lost close games late because of it. As a coach all of it is very exciting.”
One of his juniors, starting cent-er fielder Ville Ewar, is in just his second year playing baseball.
“Ville is learning as he goes, and it is good to be coaching a raw athlete like him,” Brown said. “Everything he does it is natural, we can take that and mold him by showing him fundamentals. His defense is already great, and his hitting is really coming along. be sky is the limit for a kid like that.”
Behind the pitching of Austin Dean pitching and Mason Smith, the Patriots have been showing well against much bigger schools. Smith, in fact, threw a two-hit shutout against Fort Pierce West-wood a few weeks back.
Dean and Smith also pace their team’s offense, with Jacob Fowler, Michael Dean and Jeffery Stabe providing additional offensive firepower.
“I’m very proud of the boys, and they’ve done everything I’ve asked them to,” Brown said.”
“We have a chance, even being this young, of winning our district next year.”
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PHOTO BY MIKE BIELECKISt. Edward’s second baseman Zach Taylor and his teammates recently posted an easy 11-1 home victory over Orlando Christian Prep.
Sports
St. Ed’s, Master’s Academy to play at Holman Stadium
BY MICHAEL BIELECKIVERO BEACH NEWSWEEKLY
VERO BEACH -- ee Salvation Army of Indian River County’s annual benefit dinner at Oak Har-bor on April 14 will have a decid-edly ‘baseball’ feel to it this year. Former Major Leaguer Jim Kaat headlines the 5 to 8 p.m. event, where he will be the featured speaker.
Executive Director John Cora-pi was able to get Kaat, who in a 25-year career posted a 283-237 record with a 3.45 earned run av-erage, to donate his time for the dinner.
“It was my job to get another speaker, and that is a job that is al-ways easier said than done,” Cora-pi said. “We discussed who we wanted, and we decided on trying to get an athlete. I knew Jim Kaat lived in Stuart, and that we were basically in his back yard. I con-tacted the MLB alumni associa-tion, and through them he said he would speak at our benefit dinner with no charge.”
Two anonymous donors have pledged $10,000, and they will match any donations totaling up to $20,000 before or the night of the dinner.
“If people come to the dinner to donate, now is the great time to do it because their donation will be matched,” Corapi said, whose goal for the dinner is $50,000. “If they don’t make it to the dinner, they can just earmark it to the dinner. If they are out of town, they can mail a donation to our post office box and it will be matched.”
Light hors d’oeuvres and cock-tails will begin the event, which will be held at the clubhouse in Oak Harbor. A surf and turf din-ner will follow, with Kaat speaking on his 50 years in baseball, his ef-
forts with the Salvation Army and also his philanthropic experiences over the years.
Kaat, 73, enjoyed as much suc-cess in the broadcast booth after retiring as a player he has won seven Emmy Awards for his work as an announcer.
He is one of 29 baseball players to have played in four different decades, and is the only player to have played during seven presi-dential administrations. ee left-hander’s 16 consecutive Gold Gloves were a record when he re-tired in 1983.
“We don’t sell tickets to the din-ner, as it is open to the public,” Corapi said. “Since Jim is donat-ing his time, the Alumni Associa-tion is bringing in baseball memo-rabilia for our silent auction. ee event will definitely have a little baseball flair to it.”
Vero Beach resident and former MLB umpire Dutch Rennert, who called a number of Kaat’s games, said he would attend the event last week and that has snowballed through Vero Beach’s baseball community.
“ee dinner is set up to help sustain our programs through the summer time, because once summer hits, our donations drop off drastically,” Corapi said. “It will go toward the expenses of our summer day camp program, which helps people who can’t af-ford to send their kids to camp during the summer. Money will also go to our mobile feeding pro-gram‚ which goes to homebound individuals, and also our social services program to help prevent homelessness.
ee mission of the benefit din-ner is about sustaining people through the year and helping get them through summertime with-
out us getting into our trust mon-ey.”
For more information about this event or to make a contribution to ee Salvation Army of Indian River County benefit dinner, send
an email to [email protected], or mail match-ing contribution to the Salvation Army of IRC, P.O. Box 2864, Vero Beach, FL 32961. To RSVP call 978-0265 ext. 104.
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Jim Kaat to speak at Salvation Army bene;t dinner
MIKAEL
MIKAEL
PHOTO SUPPLIED Jim Kaat is one of 29 baseball players to have played in four diFerent decades.
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36 Obituaries
Edward Michael Bacon Jr.Edward Michael Bacon Jr., 81,
died March 27, 2012, in Greenwich, Conn. He was born in New York City, moved to Greenwich in 1946 and also lived in Vero Beach. He worked for more than 40 years on Wall Street. His last 20 years were spent as a partner at Kidder-Peabody and as a floor partner on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. He was a lector at St. Michael the Arch-angel in Greenwich and Holy Cross Church in Vero Beach. He was a member of the Bent Pine Golf Club in Vero Beach.
Survivors include his wife of 55 years, Isabelle; brother, Jack; sister, Missy Ahrens; sons, E. Michael III and fomas H., both of Green-wich; daughters, Cary Winslow of Far Hills, N.J., and Beth Bacon of Brooklyn, N.Y.; and 12 grand-children. Memorial contributions may be made to the Inner-City Scholarship Fund, 1011 First Ave., Suite 1400, New York, NY 10022. A guestbook is available at www.leopgallaghergreenwich.com.
William James “Jim” HaegerWilliam “Jim” James Haeger, 68,
died March 27, 2012, at VNA Hos-pice House. He was born in Mil-waukee, moved to Gainesville at age 3, then lived in Homestead, Sanibel Island and moved to Vero Beach in 1953. He worked in the plant nurs-ery business and grew poinsettias at Christmas time for local churches and flower shops. He was a veteran of the Army, having served from 1964 to 1967. He graduated from Vero Beach High School in 1961 and attended Indian River State College. He was an active member of the Community Church of Vero Beach and spent many years vol-unteering in the sound booth each Sunday. He was a member of the Model T Club and Indian River An-
tique Car Club. Survivors include his wife of 17 years, Karen Reams-Haeger of Vero Beach; sons, James T. Haeger and Jeffrey Haeger, both of Orlando; stepson, Calvin Reams of Vero Beach; and four grandchil-dren. Memorial contributions may be made to Community Church Music Department, 1901 23rd St., Vero Beach, FL 32968. A guestbook is available at www.lowtherfuneral-home.com.
Mary Ann HallauerMary Ann Hallauer, 84, died
March 28, 2012, at Indian River Medical Center, Vero Beach. She was born in Dennison, Ohio, and lived in Vero Beach for 10 years, coming from Toledo, Ohio. She was a pioneer in public health dental hygiene. Survivors include her husband of 65 years, Dr. J. Miller Hallauer of Vero Beach; daughter, Pat Hallauer of Mon-treal; son, George Hallauer of DeKalb, Ill.; sister, Joan Jacobs of Bloomington, Ind.; and three grandchildren. Memorial con-tributions may be made to VNA Foundation, 1110 35th Lane, Vero Beach, FL 32960. Services: Ar-rangements are by Cox-Gifford-Seawinds Funeral Home in Vero Beach. A guestbook is available at www.coxgiffordseawinds.com.
Eugene William KellyEugene William Kelly, 92, died
March 27, 2012, at Consulate Health Care of Vero Beach. He was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., and lived in Vero Beach for 10 years, coming from White Haven, Pa. He was em-ployed by Franklin National Euro-pean Bank, New York office, for 35 years, retiring as vice president. He served in the Army Air Forces dur-ing World War II. He was a mem-ber of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion and Knights of
Columbus-3rd Degree. Survivors include his sister, Henrietta Pruszyn-ski of Sebastian. Memorial contri-butions may be made to the Visiting Nurse Association & Hospice Foun-dation, 1110 35th Lane, Vero Beach, FL 32960. A guestbook is available at www.strunkfuneralhome.com.
Neil Joseph AronneNeil Joseph Aronne, 79, died
March 28, 2012, at Indian River Medical Center. He was born in New York City and lived in Vero Beach since 1982, coming from Rhode Island. Before retirement, he worked as a teacher for more than 35 years in Bristol, R.I. He served in the Army during the Ko-rean War. He was a parishioner at St. Helen Catholic Church in Vero Beach, where he taught CCD classes and served as an usher. He also was a member of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Bris-tol. He volunteered at local soup kitchens in Vero Beach and Bristol. He was a longtime member of the Vero Beach Codgers Softball club. Survivors include his sons, David and Tim; daughters, Jane and Beth; sister, feresa; wife, Sandra Spoto; and three grandchildren. Memorial contributions may be made to sup-port local soup kitchens to the St. Helen Catholic Church Outreach Center, P.O. Box 2927, Vero Beach, FL 32961. A guestbook is available at www.coxgiffordseawinds.com.
John L. BratcherJohn L. Bratcher, 64, died March
25, 2012, in Vero Beach. He was a lifetime resident of Vero Beach. Survivors include his son, Michael Hunter of Vero Beach; daughters, Brandy Siles of Derry, N.H., and Julie Torres of Waterbury, Conn.; and five grandchildren. A guest-book is available at www.strunk-funeralhome.com.
Olga CummingOlga Cumming, 90, died March
29, 2012, in Vero Beach. She was born in Irvington, N.J., and lived in Vero Beach for 11 years, com-ing from Washington’s Crossing, Pa. She worked for many years at Sandoz Pharmaceuticals as execu-tive assistant to the chief execu-tive of the U.S. company. She was a member of the Vero Beach Coun-try Club and an avid scratch golfer, winning numerous senior tourna-ments, and was a longtime member of Old York Road Country Club, Abington, Pa. She volunteered with Indian River Medical Center, Vero Beach, and tutoring children in the public school system. Survi-vors include sons, John Cumming of Washington, D.C., and Robert Cumming of Yardley, Pa.; daughter, Barbara Cumming Tiesi of Tewks-bury, N.J.; sister, Estelle Gilbert of Ponte Vedra; and six grandchil-dren. Memorial contributions may be made to the Wounded Warrior Project. A guestbook is available at www.lowtherfuneralhome.com.
Franklin DunningFranklin Whittier Dunning,
83, died March 24, 2012, at his home in Vero Beach. He was born in Amsterdam, N.Y., and was a winter resident of Vero Beach since 1979 and lived year-round for nine years, coming from Ith-aca, N.Y., and Painesville, Ohio. He was a senior executive with Cleveland Crane and Engineer-ing, later known as Shepard Niles, for 50 years before his retirement in 1999. He was a member and former president of the Materials Handling Institute and a member of GYRO International. Survivors include his wife of 61 years, Judy Dunning of Vero Beach; sons, John Franklin Dunning of Needham, Mass., and Bradley Paul Dunning
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Y37OBITUARIES
of Hobe Sound; daughter, Jenny Dunning of Watertown, Mass.; sister, Florence Dunning Savage of Laurens, N.Y.; and three grand-children. Memorial contributions may be made to a charity of one’s choice. A guestbook is available at www.strunkfuneralhome.com.
Virginia HendricksonVirginia Hendrickson, 81, died
March 29, 2012, at the VNA Hos-pice House in Vero Beach. She was born in Baltimore and lived in Vero Beach for 15 years, com-ing from Philadelphia. She was an homemaker. She attended St. Augustine of Canterbury Episco-pal Church. Survivors include her daughter, Kathleen Hendrickson of Sebastian; sons, Joseph Hen-drickson of Englewood, David Hendrickson of Tampa and Ri-chard Hendrickson of Marmora; six grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren. Memorial con-tributions may be made to VNA Hospice House, 1110 35th Lane, Vero Beach, FL 32960. A guest-book is available at coxgifford-seawinds.com.
Kennedy, 76, of Vero Beach Flor-ida, passed away Sunday March 25, 2012, from complications as-sociated with pneumonia. He was married in Norman, Okla., to Caroline McDermott for 44 years until her death in 2002. He is sur-vived by daughter Blain Kennedy and son Gilbert Kennedy, and siblings Ellen Kennedy and John Kennedy, and four loving grand-children. He started his working career at Morgan Stanley in New York City and moved on to nu-merous other venture capital en-deavors in the medical, comput-ing and most notably petroleom industry founding Plains Resourc-
es. In his later years he was chiefly concerned with environmental issues and sustainable aquacul-ture farming. Memorial Contri-butions may be made to Marine Resource Council, 3275 Dixie Highway Northeast, Palm Bay, FL 32905. Online condolences may be sent through www.coxgifford-seawinds.com.
Darwin SmithDarwin Smith, 83, died March
31, 2012, at VNA Hospice House in Vero Beach. He was born in Hazard, Ky., and lived in Vero Beach since 1979, coming from Whitesburg, Ky. He was a mem-ber of the American Legion, Vet-erans of Foreign Wars, Veterans of Vero and the Eagles all of Vero Beach. He served in the Army during the Korean conflict. Be-fore retirement, he was the owner and operator of Baker Maytag Co. for many years in Whitesburg. Survivors include his two step-daughters, Susie Day-McGuigan of Venice and Beverly Day Bolling of Spotsylvania, Va.; sisters, Fre-da Brown of Orlando and Hilda Smith of Winter Haven; six grand-children; and three great-grand-children. Memorial contributions may be made to the VNA Hospice Foundation, 1110 35th Lane, Vero Beach, FL 32960.A guestbook is available at www.coxgifford-seawinds.com.
Violet E. WoofterViolet E. Woofter, 89, died
March 30, 2012, at Atlantic Health Care Center in Vero Beach. She was born in Clendenin, W.Va., and lived in Vero Beach for 46 years, coming from Cleveland. She was a graduate of Clendenin High School in Clendenin and Bliss Business College in Colum-bus, Ohio. She was a legal sec-retary, working for law firms in Ohio, West Virginia and Mary-
land. She was a member of the Vero Beach Country Club, where she was an avid golfer. Survivors include her husband of 67 years, Darrell Woofter of Vero Beach. Memorial contributions may be made to Visiting Nurse Associa-tion & Hospice Foundation, 1110 35th Lane, Vero Beach, FL 32960.
Roland G. ‘Gil’ GuilbaultRoland G. “Gil” Guilbault, 77,
died April 6, 2012, at his home in Indian River Shores. He was born in Providence, R.I., and moved to Vero Beach 12 years ago from Washington, D.C. After graduating from the University of Montreal, he attended Officer Candidate School in Newport, R.I., and was com-missioned an ensign in May 1959. For the next 34 years, he served in the Navy, retiring as a rear admiral in 1994. He commanded a battle force from the aircraft carrier USS Eisenhower CVN-69; commanded Cruiser-Destroyer Group 12 out of Mayport; commanding officer of the first Aegis cruiser, USS Ticond-eroga CG-47; commanded the USS Tattnall DDG-19; and was on the commissioning crew of the nucle-ar-powered destroyer USS Bain-bridge DLGN-25, which saw action off Vietnam. He obtained a mas-ter’s degree in computer systems from George Washington Univer-sity, graduated from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces and attended the Naval Post Graduate School. His last tour of duty was served in the Pentagon as deputy director of Space and Electronic Warfare, overseeing the chang-ing information warfare needs and operational requirements. He volunteered his experience to the Treasure Coast Council of the Navy League, where he served as president for three years; Gifford Youth Activity Center board of di-rectors and the Homeless Family Center of Indian River County. He
was one of the founding members of the Indian River County Demo-cratic Executive Council. He also was a member of the Armed Forc-es Communication and Electronic Association, and the Military Of-ficers Association of America. He was a member of the Vero Beach Yacht Club. Survivors include his wife, Huguette; sons, Marc and Paul; daughter, Michelle; stepsons, Lance eomson and Kim Davis; brother, Raymond; and 12 grand-children. Interment will be at a later date at Arlington National Cemetery. A guestbook is available at www.strunkfuneralhome.com
Dr. Robert BallDr. Robert Ball, 99, died April
3, 2012, at home. He was born in Elyria, Ohio, and moved to Vero Beach 10 years ago, coming from Okemos, Mich. He served in the Army. Prior to his retirement, he was a limnologist and the director of the Institute of Water Research at Michigan State University. Sur-vivors include his wife of 70 years, Betty Ball of Vero Beach; daugh-ters, Bunny Anderson of Okemos and Sue Stair of Fort Pierce; four grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren. Memorial con-tributions may be made to VNA Hospice House, 1110 35th Lane, Vero Beach, FL 32960. A guest-book is available at www.coxgif-fordseawinds.com.
Herman D. BeckHermann D. Beck, 87, died April
3, 2012, at Indian River Medical Center. He was born in Freiberg, Germany, and moved to Vero Beach in 1987 from Los Angeles. Survivors include his sister, Maika Wuessloek of Germany. He was preceded in death by his wife, Ur-sula Margot Beck, in 2009. Serv-ices: No services are scheduled. A guestbook is available at www.lowtherfuneralhome.com.
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38 Real Estate
Barrier Island Real Estate Sales – March 29-April 43515 Savannah Pl. N Windsor 11/28/11$2,485,000 3/29/12$2,200,000 Windsor PropertiesBetsy Hanley Windsor PropertiesBetsy Hanley
Address Subdivision List Date List Price Sell Date Sell Price Listing Broker/Agent Selling Broker/Agent 1830 Cayman Rd. E Summerplace 1/24/09 $469,500 3/30/12 $412,000 Dale Sorensen Real Estate Inc./Beverly DeShay Dale Sorensen Real Estate, Inc./Christine Hughes436 Fiddlewood Rd. Veromar 8/3/11 $475,000 3/30/12 $395,000 Alex MacWilliam, Inc./Jane Johnson BREC Properties, Inc./George Nagy1911 Mooringline Dr., #D Pointes 10/16/11 $415,000 3/30/12 $375,000 Dale Sorensen Real Estate Inc./Elizabeth Sorensen The Moorings Realty Sales Co./Judy Hargarten1700 Ocean Dr. Sea Cove 1/14/12 $399,000 3/29/12 $365,000 Alex MacWilliam, Inc./Joan Chesley Dale Sorensen Real Estate, Inc./Stephanie Elliott2115 Via Fuentes River Mews Condo 8/17/11 $399,900 4/3/12 $357,500 Norris & Company/Debbie Bell The Moorings Realty Sales Co./Terri McConnell2175 Seminole Shores Ln. Seminole Shores 1/26/12 $359,000 3/29/12 $345,000 Alex MacWilliam, Inc./Lange Sykes Dale Sorensen Real Estate, Inc./Sharon Raphaeli1491 Smugglers Cove Smugglers Cove 9/1/11 $359,000 3/30/12 $330,000 Norris & Company/Debbie Bell Real Living All Florida Realty/Christopher Young1480 Ocean Dr., #2 D South Cove Condo 2/21/11 $339,000 4/2/12 $300,000 Seaside Realty of Vero Beach/Mac Thompson Norris & Company/Bob Faller1538 Sabal Ct. Sea Oaks 2/14/12 $199,900 3/30/12 $179,000 Treasure Coast Sotheby’s Intl. Realty/Fran Smyrk Treasure Coast Sotheby’s Intl. Realty/Fran Smyrk1815 Mooringline Dr., 3H Harbour Side West 11/5/10 $198,000 3/29/12 $170,000 The Moorings Realty Sales Co./Daina Bertrand The Moorings Realty Sales Co./Daina Bertrand600 Riomar Dr., #12 Bayou Condo 9/5/11 $175,000 3/30/12 $165,000 Dale Sorensen Real Estate Inc./Elizabeth Sorensen Dale Sorensen Real Estate, Inc./Christine Hughes5151 Hwy. A1A, #104 Vera Cruz Condo 8/23/11 $200,000 4/2/12 $165,000 Clib Norris Real Estate/Clib Jr Norris Daley & Company Real Estate/Sally Daley5601 Hwy. A1A, #308-S Robles del Mar 2/8/12 $169,000 3/30/12 $159,500 Dale Sorensen Real Estate Inc./Christine Hughes NMLS/NMLS AGENT109 Park Shores Cir., W #39 Park Shores 9/5/11 $175,000 3/30/12 $159,000 Dale Sorensen Real Estate Inc./Christine Hughes Coldwell Banker Ed Schlitt VB/Bob Dion5100 Hwy. A1A, #72H Pebble Beach Villas 11/16/11 $168,000 3/30/12 $146,500 Treasure Coast Sotheby’s Intl. Realty/David Ashcroft Vero Coastal Homes/Allan Grieve
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