STAFF PHOTO Color your world: In the hour or so before turning in for the night, the sun often paints local skies pink Elephant escapade? T H U R S D A Y S E P T E M B E R 1 5 , 2 0 1 1 V O L . 1 , I S S U E 2 4 Council restores hours for beach lifeguards Page 5 12 20 SPORTS 28 TO ADVERTISE CALL MARTINE FECTEAU 772.696.2004 MARK SCHUMANN 772.696.5233 Inside FORUM OBITUARIES We still remember Weekend ceremonies mark the decade since the tragic events of 9-11 Page 8 Charting a new course Charter High School offers education with an emphasis on the arts Page 23 Questions surround proposed Fellsmere sanctuary Page 3
Transcript
STAFF PHOTO Color your world: In the hour or so before turning in for the night, the sun often paints local skies pink
Elephant escapade?
T H U R S D A Y S E P T E M B E R 1 5 , 2 0 1 1 V O L . 1 , I S S U E 2 4
Council restores hours for beach lifeguards Page 5 12
20SPORTS28
TO ADVERTISE CALL
MARTINE FECTEAU 772.696.2004
MARK SCHUMANN 772.696.5233
Inside
FORUM
OBITUARIES
We still rememberWeekend ceremonies mark the decade since the tragic events of 9-11 Page 8
Charting a new courseCharter High School offers educationwith an emphasis on the arts Page 23
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Established in 1998, the Indian River Charter High School now has an enrollment of nearly 700 students grades 9 through 12
in education.“We’re working diligently to get the
funding our students are due,” says Aversa.
ee land on which the school issituated is leased from the college.David Sullivan, provost of the Muel-ler Campus, was another foundingboard member who had access toa 36-room building that in the pastwas used to house prison guardsduring area training sessions. eatbuilding, located on the east side ofthe school’s campus, was renovat-ed with a state grant and leased toIRCHS in 1998.
In 2002, with the school operating at a capacity of 250 students, and 400 more on a waitlist, the performing arts program was launched.
One of the reasons that drove the decision to establish a performing arts program at IRCHS, says Wad-dell, was the lack of importance the other schools placed on the arts.
According to Waddell, the faculty at VBHS voted in ’03 or ’04, to do away with seventh period, which was the time for elective classes.
When Gary Miller, the award-win-
ning choral director at VBHS, an-nounced he was leaving to work at IRCHS, the school realized what it had lost. A subsequent vote reversed the decision to cut the arts, and the next year the school district voted to build a $10 million performing arts center.
“Competition, pure and simple, has helped elevate the arts programs,” says Waddell.
In 2002, IRCHS leased another five acres from the college and applied for a mortgage with which to build the performing arts campus. ee school uses a portion of the money from the state to pay the $30,000 per month mortgage.
A clause on the lease says that if the current board defaults on the mort-gage or wants to close the school, the college has the first right of refusal to continue the charter, says Waddell.
Currently, there are about 350 stu-dents who declare a performing arts major, but other students can also participate in the fine arts programs. Performing arts majors are required to take classes in their elected disci-pline each semester, as well as regular
curriculum courses. Up to this point, there has been no
proper stage at the school. Perfor-mances are held at one of the other auditoriums in town, including the Vero Beach eeatre Guild which has a reciprocal arrangement to expose students to all aspects of production in exchange for the use of its stage.
eere is some discussion about constructing a cover for the school’s courtyard, which would permit per-formances even when it’s raining.
Recently, John Schumann ex-pressed an interest in donating seed money to the school that would en-able the construction of a perma-nent performance venue. Adams is researching various grants and other types of support to help with con-struction costs.
Some of the IRCHS alumni who are performing on a larger stage in-clude Alexa Bartol, a former drama student, who is scheduled to appear on “Desperate Housewives” this sea-son. Previously, Bartol has appeared on episodes of “CSI: NY,” and several of the courtroom shows (in case you didn’t know, the people who appear
on those shows are, indeed, actors.)Another drama alumna, Hayley
Bruce, has made appearances on epi-sodes of “ee Glades.” And, Isabelle Power, a former IRCHS Valedictorian and dance major, is slated to appear on the new television series, “Char-lie’s Angels.”
Gary Zanello, a music major, re-ceived a scholarship to attend Berklee College of Music in Boston, placing in the top 40 out of 6,000 guitarists who auditioned for admission.
Former world champion ten-nis player, Ivan Lendl, enrolled his daughter, Daniela Lendl, in the golf school at IRCHS. Chosen as a pre-Olympics team member, she com-peted in South Africa last summer, and signed with the University of Alabama’s golf team.
And, Jermaine Jackson, an early graduate of IRCHS, has achieved na-tional acclaim as a music producer with a recording studio in Miami.
For more information about the IRCHS and its efforts to build a theat-er, please call:
(772) 567-6600, or visit them on-line: IRCHS.org.
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Local News
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BY LISA RYMERVERO BEACH NEWSWEEKLY
While news last week of a 225-acreelephant sanctuary was championedby Fellsmere city officials, a closer lookreveals a fast-track approval processthat muted any chance for opponentsto voice concern about the deal.
^e National Elephant Center, a col-laboration of 73 zoos accredited by theAssociation of Zoos and Aquariums,received approval by the city of Fells-mere on Sept. 9 to build an elephantsanctuary in a former citrus grove pre-viously slated for residential develop-ment.
However, just three weeks prior,project engineers were writing to theSt. John’s Water Management District
asking them to hurry along its requiredapproval before word leaked to localmedia. ^ere was, in fact, no public in-put of any sort from any group for whatwill be a unique enterprise in northwestern Indian River County.
Additionally, Fellsmere CommunityDevelopment Director Mark Mathes,who approved the deal within 24 hoursof receipt of the engineering plans,once worked for a firm hired by theland company that will make a profitleasing its unused acreage to the sanc-tuary.
^e sanctuary is designed to pro-vide a place to breed Asian and Afri-can elephants for zoos to conserve theelephant population in the wild, saidCraig Piper, vice chair of the center’s
board and CEO of the Denver Zoo.Officials hope to break ground by the
end of this year and open in mid to late2012.
“We are very enthusiastic about thisproject,” said Fellsmere City ManagerJason Nunemaker, who points out thatthe center will create four new jobsand the current agricultural zoning ofthe land will remain intact. “^is useof land is consistent with our vision ofFellsmere.”
And, in fact, though approval wasgranted with no public scrutiny, localofficials apparently followed all rulesand regulations required in authoriz-ing the sanctuary.
Local animal protection groups,however, are less enthusiastic about the
center’s presence in the area. ^ey areparticularly concerned after sanctuaryofficials walked away from a similar326-acre elephant haven that had beenapproved by St. Lucie County in Janu-ary, 2010.
In that deal, conditions regardingoversight, land density and a prohi-bition on using a bull hook (a metalprobe used to control the animals),were added by local officials to ensurehumane treatment of the elephants.
“We were very involved in the St.Lucie County proposal,” said Nick At-wood of the Animal Rights Foundationof Florida, an organization based in Ft.Lauderdale.
Fellsmere soon to be up to its ears in elephantsQuestions remain how deal was struck for elephant sanctuary
With Atwood’s organization’s input,St. Lucie County commissioners ap-proved plans for a ten-elephant-max-imum facility.
In Fellsmere, the center will openwith two or three elephants and holdup to 30, said Piper.
Although the sanctuary is 100 acresless than the proposed St. Lucie Coun-ty facility, Fellsmere applied no condi-tions to the center’s site approval.
“One thing we don’t get into is mi-cro-managing agriculture,” said Nune-maker, who added there are enoughagencies to regulate the center. “Wedon’t tell cattle ranchers how to raisecows. We’re not going to tell them howto manage elephants.”
Nonetheless, there are valid con-cerns including the transportation ofelephants over public roads, securityissues relating to adequate contain-ment of the animals and disaster plans
in the event of hurricanes and wild-fires.
fere are also other issues that raisered flags about the way the deal washandled.
In a letter dated Aug. 22 to the St.John’s Water Management Districtregarding permitting, David Tom ofConstruction Engineering Group, theproject’s engineers, wrote, “Apparently,the press has found out about this pro-ject and we want to make sure this per-mit is in hand before there is a publicannouncement in the paper.”
Tom declined to speak to Vero BeachNewsweekly about his intent as statedin the letter.
Permit requests in the unincorpo-rated area of St. Lucie County wereapplied for by fe National ElephantCenter, while permitting for the facilityin Fellsmere has been done under thename of Sunshine State Wildlife Con-servation, LLC.
Despite working closely with St.
John’s Water Management District of-ficials since July, Tom’s application nev-er mentions the word “elephant,” norwas it ever mentioned by Tom in anyof his correspondence with the agency.
“Public notices were published, butsince they were applied for under adifferent name, we were never givenan opportunity to voice our concerns,”said Atwood, whose organization isnow exploring other opportunities toensure protection of the elephants des-tined for the facility.
According to state records, SunshineState Wildlife Conservation, LLC wasregistered in September, 2010 by In-corp Services, Inc. fe same corpora-tion also registered Hard to Treat Dis-eases.
Both of these corporations were reg-istered after the St. Lucie County com-missioners placed limiting conditionson the center’s plan.
fe elephant center’s land is leasedto Sunshine State Wildlife Conserva-tion by Fellsmere Joint Venture, LLC, apartnership between citrus executivesGregory Nelson and Richard Carnellof Bernard Egan and Company, andJeffrey Hurwitz. According to Nune-maker, the center will sub-let the tractfor 40 years.
Fellsmere Joint Venture owns about18,540 acres of land that was annexedby Fellsmere in 2007. Development ofthe land, involving state and countyplanners, has been ongoing, with ap-proval for 8,141 to 19, 750 residencesin an area about three miles south ofthe elephant center Mathes said.
In the area immediately surround-ing the elephant center, a hamlet ofapproximately 250 residences will bebuilt, he said.
Mathes was hired by the city in Feb-ruary 2010, after working as the plan-ning director for Stuart-based Lu-cido & Associates. fat firm workeddirectly for Fellsmere Joint Venturesand created the development of hous-ing clusters and business centers inFellsmere.
Mathes approved the elephant cent-er’s site plan one day after it was sub-mitted by project engineer Tom.
According to Mathes, the state re-quires almost half the land slated for
development to be designated as openspace. fe agricultural zoning of theelephant center satisfies a portion ofthat requirement.
“What’s wrong with the ownersmaking money on that land?” askedMathes. “You can only have so manylakes.”
Open space is defined as “unpavedland,” said Peter Merrit, assistant di-rector of the Treasure Coast RegionalPlanning Council, a state- mandatedagency that mediates between variousgovernment agencies.
His council did not know about theelephant center because “somethingwould have had to trigger” a notifica-tion, he said, “such as a change in theland use.”
Nor has anyone from the BrevardCounty manager’s office or planningdepartment been notified about the el-ephant center, which is situated a mere250 feet south of their county line.
fe Brevard Zoo is part of the con-sortium seeking the sanctuary andofficials there said they may conductprograms connected with the facility.However, there are no plans to add el-ephants as part of the zoo’s regular ex-hibit of animals.
fere has also been some concernexpressed about disposal of elephantwaste. Piper explained the method ofcomposting the center aims to employis commonly used in agriculture.
“With only 30 elephants, we’re tak-ing the land to a less intensive use thanits current use (of citrus),” said Piper.
In explaining the range of activityplanned at the elephant center, Pipersaid that research will be conducted ona type of herpes virus that is commonin elephant populations in the wild andin zoos.
Piper estimates there are 35,000Asian elephants and 600,000 Africanelephants in the wild.
“We are active in conservation ef-forts around the world,” said Piper.“We’re also firm believers that havinga stable population in our care is justgood policy. We should invest in boththese baskets.”
Piper also said the center would notbe working to breed, train and provideelephants to circuses.
LOCAL NEWS
ELEPHANTSFROM PAGE 3
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Faced with the unpalatable choiceof leaving some of Vero’s beachesunguarded one day a week for mostof the year, the City Council restored$9,000 to the Recreation Depart-ment budget to cut the down timeby more than half.
Council members voted 5-0 lastweek to add the money back to theRecreation Department at its firstpublic hearing on the 2011-2012budget. At that meeting, the councilgranted tentative approval to a 4.6percent tax rate increase.
]e City Council tentatively ap-proved a tax rate of $2.03 per $1,000valuation compared with $1.94 thisyear. Declining property tax values,however, will mean on average, tax-payers should not be paying moreproperty taxes to the city.
]e final vote on the rate andbudget will be Sept. 20.
When that vote is taken it appearsresidents and tourists will be afford-ed more lifeguard protection thanfirst envisioned by Recreation Direc-tor Rob Slezak when he was askedto cut 8 percent or $75,000 from hisbudget.
Slezak pointed out this is thefourth year he has been told hisbudget would be slashed. ]e firsttwo years department cuts had nothit the lifeguard corps. Last year,however, he had to reduce hours atone of the three lifeguard stationswithin the city limits.
“We had tried to avoid cutting thelifeguards and we had been prettysuccessful, but it has come up on usnow,” Slezak said.
Slezak last year cut the lead life-guard position and this year he saidhe will probably have to trim one ortwo part-time positions despite theextra funding from the council.
In looking at his options for next
year’s budget, Slezak’s initial planwas to institute six-day per weekcoverage at the three city beacheswith lifeguard towers -- Humiston,Jaycee and South Beach.
City Manager John O’Connor,hired in the middle of the budgetprocess, said he reviewed Slezak’soriginal proposal and was comfort-able with the reasoning as necessi-tated by the reduced dollars in thebudget.
“After it was explained to me I hadno problem with what we were do-ing,” O’Connor said. “I thought itwas justified to have less manpowerin the offseason. However, after fur-ther direction from the council wedecided to further refine that.”
]e message from council wasthat millions of dollars were be-ing spent on beach renourishmentand promotion by the Chamber ofCommerce of Vero Beach and In-dian River County as a beach resortdestination. Council did not want tomix that message of warm, friendlybeaches with unmanned lifeguardtowers.
]e new council-backed plan re-duces the one-day-a-week unguard-ed towers from three to two andshortens that time from 38 weeks to17 weeks.
“Last year we had Humiston Beachguarded from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. for38 weeks,” Slezak said. “Jaycee andSouth were open from 9 a.m. to 5p.m. And for the other 14 weeks,which were basically the spring andsummer breaks, they were all open 9to 5 every day.”
]e revised plan has HumistonBeach open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.Saturdays and Sundays and 10 a.m.to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday.Jaycee and South Beach towers willbe closed one day a week (Wednes-day or ]ursday) for 17 weeks. ]ose www.NORRISandCOMPANY.com
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CONTINUES ON PAGE 8
Vero City Council puts moneyback in budget for lifeguards
BY BARBARA YORESH vero beach newsweekly
Barrier island resident Richard “Dick” Winger is a man for all sea-sons.
ge congenial vice chairman of the city’s Finance Commission – who was first to announce his candidacy
for a City Council seat in the Nov. 8 election -- is a well-organized, suc-cessful business man; former U.S. Army Intelligence veteran posted at the Pentagon; president of his home-owners association; a leader of his church; a 2010 Census supervisor; a certified sailing instructor and he has
been known to give gifts of honey as testament to his beekeeping skills.
Married and the father of four grown sons, Winger is also a gentle-man who believes in and practices ci-vility (and thinks others should, too) and wants to give back to his com-munity a portion of the good fortune he has enjoyed.
“I suppose I’m a do-gooder and I want to give back because I’ve had a long and blessed life,” he said. “Far too few do that in this country but in the final analysis, it’s better if we live in a village supported by neighbors and friends. It enriches everyone’s life.”
Winger, 73, filed papers in July for the City Council race – beating the official Aug. 25 – Sept. 9 qualifying period for the Nov. 8 election. Wing-er will face incumbents Tracy Carroll and Brian Heady as well as a bid by former councilman Ken Daige.
Selling the utilitiesWinger supports keeping taxes
low and stabilizing city finances,preserving Vero Beach’s quality oflife and insisting that a fair price bepaid for the city’s power plant andwater and sewer utility if they areto be sold. He pledges to provide“proven leadership to resolve com-plex problems.”
“I would sell both utilities for afair price. So what’s a fair price? Oneboth parties can accept. In the caseof the city, one that allows city gov-ernment and services to continuewithout major adjustments and taxincreases. I am dedicated to see thatthese are not put at risk because ofpoor financial decisions,” Wingersaid.
ge city’s consultant GAI Con-sultants of Orlando which evaluatedboth the electric and water and sew-er plants valued both utilities con-siderably higher than any initiallyproposed purchase prices by FloridaPower & Light and the county, re-spectively.
FPL tentatively offered to buy the
city electric plant for up to $100million which was valued in the GAIConsultants draft appraisal at $191.3million or $184.9 million when alltransactional costs are satisfied. geconsultant’s draft appraisal of thecity’s water and sewer utility was$100 million – far in excess of thecounty’s discussions to take over thecity’s current $24 million debt onthe system plus pay about $28 mil-lion to connect the city’s system tothe county’s.
“I believe the water utility is worth$100 million and we should get $100million for it,” Winger said. “I’m formoving the sewer plant from the In-dian River Lagoon to the airport andeven for merging with the countybut not for giving it away. It’s a well-managed facility.
“And I do not believe you have cityvoters who would take an $80 mil-lion loss (on an electric plant saleto FPL at the offered price). But theway it was put out for bid, we en-couraged only one bidder.”
Avery real threat of financial diffi-culty exists for the city if poor deci-sions are made, Winger asserts, and
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Winger vows to not ‘give away’ city utilities
StAff PHOtOwinger wears his slogan on his back.
it is his decades of experience ana-lyzing, managing and salvaging busi-nesses, coupled with his love of thecity that brought him into the race.
“I’ve watched the city grow overthe years and see it now at a cross-roads. Frankly, if a fair price is notachieved, the City of Vero Beachmay risk financial default. I believethe people of our city do not wantthis to happen and done properly, itwill not happen.
“ais is what I bring to this cam-paign; my experience and leader-ship, my record of success analyz-ing complex situations, my skillsto bring about a more harmoniousworking environment and my dedi-cation to a secure future for our city,”Winger said.
However, that passion isn’t wide-spread and Winger admitted manyresidents “just want to be left aloneas long as things are working forthem. I don’t think they’re engagedenough.”
But last year’s election upheaval,which resulted in a change of fourcouncil seats, probably re-awak-ened interest in city affairs, he not-ed.
“With all the falderal over every-thing, people are much more inter-ested (in the upcoming Nov. 8 elec-tion) than two years ago. And I havea maybe naïve belief that all of uscan and should make a difference.
“If I’m elected, I would join themayor as a vote for civility and in-depth financial analysis to makesound decisions for the interest ofthe taxpayers,” Winger said.
Can’t we just all get along?Winger believes local government,
like business, works best when con-ducted in an atmosphere of mutual respect and support.
“I stand for civility and don’t believe in bickering because I don’t think it’s useful. We need to start with positive publicity. It’s time to put Vero Beach back on its course to greatness in-cluding the use of civil dialogue.
“My vision for Vero is to keep Vero, Vero. aat doesn’t mean it doesn’t change. ae city has grown and ma-
tured. It’s better than it was and we need to keep the spirit of it while making it better,” Winger said.
Instances in which some council members snipe from the dais at the public, city staff or each other are un-acceptable and counter-productive, Winger said.
“’Management is getting things done through others’ said (manage-ment consultant) Peter Drucker. My experience is I’ve been able to make a difference and right chaos in man-agement. I’ve been doing that for 49 years and you can’t change things overnight but you can in several years,” Winger said.
Winger’s experiences in business and his personal life taught him pa-tience and problem-solving skills as well as the ability to recognize and utilize the abilities of others. He also knows how to diplomatically deliver bad news: while posted at ae Pen-tagon in the late 1950s as a classified communications specialist, he beat news media press reports and sent a message to President Eisenhower informing him that the Russians had just beaten the U.S. into space.
He noted that there is an almost unlimited resource of individuals with high-level business and educa-tional backgrounds living in the city who should be invited to offer their expertise and insights toward solving city problems.
“I’ve learned to be a good listener and do my homework. And within the City of Vero Beach, we figura-tively have all the brains in the world; all the money in the world. ae chal-lenge is to inspire people to keep Vero as Vero. When all is said and done, it’s very complicated. What are at risk are city services and taxes and we need to find solutions to many problems.
“If you have good leadership on the Vero Beach City Council, we can make good decisions and act like la-dies and gentlemen. Leadership turns things around. If we can tone it down we’ll have a city council and govern-ment that behaves civilly and gets down to day-to-day business,” Wing-er said.
Qualifications and ExperienceWinger’s professional career has
been in senior business management. He has bought, sold and reorganized large U.S. and Fortune 500 compa-nies. He obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree (cum laude) in econom-ics and accounting from Ohio Wes-leyan University and his Master de-gree in English from Cleveland State University.
Currently serving as vice Chairman of the City of Vero Beach Finance Commission, Winger has since 1992 lived permanently in Vero Beach with his wife Bobbie. ae couple first vis-ited the area in 1971.
Winger is active in the SaintMark’s Anglican Church Vestry andas an Acolyte. He is a certified sail-ing instructor at the Youth SailingFoundation and serves meals at aeSource. He is president of the Casta-way Cove IV and V HomeownersAssociation; is a former poll workerand served as a supervisor for the2010 Census.
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Winger speaks to the city council.
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BEACHESFROM PAGE 5
closures would run basically frompost-Labor Day to December.
“\e impetus of this was fromthe Tourist Development Counciland that the four months of Janu-ary through April are when about48 percent of our hotelier dollarsin the city of Vero Beach are occur-ring,” said Council member TracyCarroll. “We cannot have a situationoccurring where on that Wednesdayor \ursday we have no lifeguardswhen a big percentage of our tour-ists are using our beaches.”
O’Connor said the additional life-guard coverage would add about$9,000 back into the Recreation De-partment budget. He is anticipatingsome additional revenue to be gener-ated by the police department, but ifthat does not materialize, O’Connorwould charge each city departmentabout $850 from their bottom line.
Unlike last year with the IndianRiver County Commission, therewas little public outcry about thepossibility of reduced lifeguard cov-erage in Vero Beach. At the county
budget meetings last year it was de-cided to shutter the lifeguard towerat Treasure Shores Beach Park.
\at decision was made over theprotests of scores of people whoshowed up in chambers to speak outagainst the closure and thousands ofothers who signed a petition drive.
City Manager O’Connor noted thebudget process was too far alongfor him to do much about lifeguardmanpower in Vero Beach this year.However, he understands the direc-tion the council expects him to taketo protect Vero’s beaches.
“You have to remember that the fi-nance director (Cindy Lawson) andI have been dealing with this in theshort term,” O’Connor said. “Nextyear’s budget I think will have moreof how we expect to accomplish thegoals of the council and will have alot more detail from our perspec-tive.
“Based on input from councilmembers, they have set the goalthat we do not want to impede ourtourism draw. One of our main at-tractions is our beaches. \e councilhas made it clear that we project theimage of safe beaches.”
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STAFF PHOTODespite budget cuts for a fourth straight year, the council voted to keep more lifeguards on duty at city beaches.
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Indian River County fire fighters and paramed-ics joined with law enforcement officials to host three 9/11 observance ceremonies in Vero Beach this past Sunday. Qe events marked the 10th an-niversary of the terrorist attacks which took nearly 3,000 lives, including several hundred members of the New York City police and fire departments.
At least 200 people gathered at Veterans Memo-rial Island early Sunday morning for the first of three local 9/11 observances, featuring the Navy Southeast Band, and guest speaker Navy Lt. Cmdr. Michael Welz.
Qe Firefighters Association presented two ad-ditional concerts Sunday evening at the Riverside Qeatre.
Vero Beach observes 9/11
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Indian River Shores Council adopts‘break-even budget’
INDIAN RIVER SHORES — ee Indian River Shores Town Council adopted a property tax rate of $1.47 per $1,000 of assessed value last week during the first public hearing on the proposed 2011-12 budget.
For a $200,000 home with a $50,000 homestead exemption, the home-owner would pay about $220.50.
eis was less than the maximum property tax rate of $1.60 per $1,000 of assessed value the council ap-proved in late July, but 2.14 percent higher than the current rollback rate of $1.44 per $1,000 of value.
ee tax rate funds a tentative gen-eral fund budget of $4.67 million, an increase over the 2010-2011 ap-proved budget of $4.36 million. In-cluded in the new budget are a road and offsite drainage fund of $74,443 and a planning, zoning and building fund of $232,134.
Councilwoman Fran Atchison asked Town Manager Richard Jeffer-son if the $1.47 tax rate would give the town “any wiggle room” with ex-penses for 2011-12.
“It’s a break-even budget and it pays the bills,” Jefferson said. “We’ve done all the facts and figures and we’re sure it’s going to cover it. It’s basically the same rate as we had from 2002 to 2007.”
Councilman Richard Haverland said he is still concerned that the town’s pension fund for employees is underfunded.
ee final public hearing on the 2011-12 budget is set for Sept. 22 at the Fred R. Tuerk Municipal Center, 6001 North Highway A-1-A, Indian River Shores.
Field set for Vero City Council race
VERO BEACH — Incumbents Tra-cy Carroll and Brian Heady will face two challengers for their Vero Beach City Council seats.
ee qualifying period for the city council race ended last Friday. ee
election will be held on Nov. 8.Finance Commission Vice Chair-
man Dick Winger will join former council member Ken Daige in pur-suing one of the seats now held by Carroll and Heady. As with past elec-tions, the possible sale of the city’s electric system to Florida Power & Light is expected to be the key issue.
Carroll’s name will be at the top of the ballot as determined by a random drawing. Winger will be placed sec-ond, followed by Heady with Daige’s name appearing last.
Also on the city ballot will be a ref-erendum asking voters whether they approve of the lease of the power plant site for the purpose of selling the electric utility if the Council finds such a sale beneficial to city residents.
ee city will retain ownership of the land.
Early voting begins Oct. 29 and runs through Nov. 5, including Sat-urdays and Sundays, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Early voting only will be held at the Supervisor of Elections office.
Absentee voting is also available and a request for an absentee ballot can be made in person, by phone,
by mail or online at voteindianriver.com.
Absentee ballots must be delivered to the elections office before 7 p.m. on Election Day. ee last day to request an absentee ballot by mail is by 5 p.m. Nov. 2, although people can pick one up at the election office through Elec-tion Day.
Vero , FPL electric ratesexpected to rise next yearVERO BEACH — As city officials
work on the deal to sell the electric utility to Florida Power and Light, rates for both electric companies are expected to go up in 2012.
ee city’s current electric rate is $113.14 per 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity. Next month, the rate is ex-pected to rise by about 1.2 percent to $114.43, not counting the local taxes or franchise fees.
City Manager Jim O’Connor said that because of scheduled, as well as some unforeseen, increases from the city’s wholesale power supplier, Or-lando Utilities Commission, the rate could go up another 6 to 7 percent in
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STAFF PHOTOAbout 50 dancers appeared at the Sunset Saturday Night concert as a “?ash mob.” Organizers used social media to entice dancers to show up for the event.
Flash mob convenes at barrier island concert
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GUEST COLUMNBY RICHARD WINGER
After studying the preliminary report by GAI Consulting on “Optimization and a Potential Sale of the City of Vero Beach Water and Sewer System,” both the Finance and Utility commissions recommended the Council cease all talks unless Indian River County makes a written offer at a fair price.
ee reason is the proposed $24 mil-lion is not a fair price.
In a June 7th presentation to City Council, I estimated $74 million was what taxpayers owned. I said it was not credible to ask taxpayers to give up at least $50 million plus the $1 million annual transfer to the Gen-eral Fund supporting City services.
It turns out that I was low, for GAI appraised the assets for $100.9 mil-lion. Yet, I expect voices will contin-ue to be raised asking City residents to contribute to Indian River County the roughly $75 million difference ($7,400 per resident).
Some proponents of the $24 million County offer add in the $28 million it would cost the County to intercon-nect sewer systems. How does that benefit us City taxpayers? ee claim is the County will move the sewer plant off the lagoon. But on June 7th, I pre-sented a plan for the City to move the
plant to the airport site utilizing the ex-isting interconnect pipe to the deep injection well. eis relocation can be done with on-going revenue and no rate increases. A new City plant would cost $18 to $20 mil-lion which is considerably less than the $28 million County pipe.
Rate comparisons between the County and City are apples and or-anges because the City uses the older meter size billing while the Coun-ty uses the ERC method. ee City should adopt ERC billing and garner the additional $1.2 million with the change. By going to the County bill-ing system, we remove the argument of who costs more.
GAI presented an Optimization Plan to take a very good City Utility and lower costs so that the City would need no rate increase for many years. eis will take time to implement, so as not to unfairly harm our City employees, but the City W&S employees would go from 71 to 51 by making small capital investments leading to efficiencies.
GAI said that as long as City Coun-cil does not give away the right to
service in South Beach, and the ap-proximately $10 million worth of appraised assets the City Taxpayer’s own , the expiration of the franchis-ing agreement is meaningless. ee City continues to own, and provided service under the Service Agreement which has no expiration. Caring about our neighbors to the south, af-ter conversion to ERC billing, Coun-cil should consider either charging rates no higher than the higher of County or inside the City rate; or make a bulk sales agreement and let South Beach have their retail bill pro-vided by whomever they wish.
ee City is negotiating with St. Lucie County, and has the excess capacity to serve North Hutchinson Island with a profitable bulk water sales agree-ment. eerefore the City is likely to continue to have water mains through South Beach. ee City is intercon-nected to a web of municipal water providers (excluding the County with a different method of sanitation). Hav-ing interconnection provides reliabil-ity, regardless of our county.
How did this “merge with the Coun-ty dialogue” begin? ee County could not plan for a housing bust which followed the large expansion in the County system to serve the building boom. So the County has end up with
excess capacity and has lost roughly $28 million in total, beginning with 2007. Remember, we Vero Beach resi-dents are also County taxpayers, and helping lower County costs and taxes is good. However, it is not good giv-ing away many tens of millions of City taxpayer dollars for no appreciable improvement in rates or service.
It has been suggested that the prop-er way to amalgamate water and sew-er is a Regional Authority. eis would be with the County, City and our four sister cities, having proportional rep-resentation.
ee County may not want to offer a fair price to buy out the City, but if we all pooled our assets, we could pool our employees, continue with our respec-tive revenue streams, and have one uni-versal billing system at lower total cost.
eis is the most economical and equitable solution. Plus an Author-ity, in all probability, moves the Sewer Plant off the lagoon faster than either the City or County.
(Endnotes)1. Note the County has not yet
made a formal written offer.2. Based upon the 2010 Census of
City Residents.Richard Winger is vice chairman of
the city’s Finance Commission and is running for a seat on the city council.
RICHARD WINGER
Why city should hold o= talks to sell water and sewer
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 REVEREND SCOTT ALEXANDER
“I have traveled a good deal in Con-cord,” wrote Henry David aoreau in 1845 of his time seeking simplic-ity and wholeness in the environs around Walden Pond.
“I lived alone, in the woods, a mile from any neighbor, in a house which I had built myself, on the shore of Wal-den Pond…I have my horizon bound-ed by woods all to myself; a distant view of the railroad where it touches the pond on the one hand, and of the fence which skirts the woodland on the other…As I walked in the woods to see the birds and squirrels, so I walked in the village to see the men and boys…It is as much Asia and Africa as new England. I have, as it were, my own sun and moon and stars, and a little world all to myself.”
aoreau’s spir-itual point is that whether we fre-quently travel worldwide, or rou-tinely stay close to home, amazing worlds of intricacy and joy are open to us – as long as we truly pay atten-tion to the world right where it touches us. ae whole world’s richness is always at hand.
I am an avid cyclist who, like aoreau at Concord, “Have traveled a good deal on the Treasure Coast.” I am very fa-miliar with my local surroundings, passing the same places and scenery again and again, all without venturing terribly far from home. I am especially
familiar with the Indian River Lagoon, which I bike up and down every day.
One might think I would tire of the routine and repetition of looking at the lagoon and its environs again and again and again. But aoreau was right about familiar old haunts. If you are paying attention (even for the hundredth, or thousandth time) they are rich with infinite variety and intricate beauty. ae truth is the la-goon is never the same two days in a row. Each day it comes alive in vari-ety, intricacy, subtlety and charm.
But for you to see the remarkable in the familiar, you must regularly cultivate all your senses in a keen at-tentiveness. To be blessed, you must pay keen attention, even in places you think you know perfectly well. In every moment you must tell your
eyes to see as though they have never seen this before.
Yes, some are lucky enough to regu-larly travel the world far and wide, be-ing charmed by the world’s countless, exotic surprises. But those who are nearer to home can also be charmed and blessed. Whatever your familiar haunts, be open and alert to the ever-changing tapestry of life that is spread out before you. Wake up to what is at hand wherever you are…for there are untold worlds of richness right here, close to home.
Rev. Scott W. Alexander is the min-ister of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Vero Beach, and has been a minister, author, and educator for almost 40 years. He is an avid cy-clist and outdoor enthusiast who loves living in Vero Beach.
Learning to see the remarkable in the familiar
REVERENDSCOTT ALEXANDER
BY MILT THOMAS
An uninformed visitor to our coun-try would think the next presidential election is six weeks away given the amount air time and print already given to candidates competing for that office. I say six weeks because that is more typical of election cam-paigns in advanced societies, unlike the two year media onslaught now common here.
You can blame it all on Christmas. Christmas shopping season used to start after aanksgiving. Now it be-gins after Independence Day. Politi-cians know a good thing when they see it.
All this media hype about the can-didates places a great deal of pressure on average voters like myself. How are we supposed to decide which candidate is best for the country and the entire free world when we vote in November of next year, assuming the Mayan end-of-world prediction does not come true?
Actually, it is relatively easy. First of all, we only have to worry about se-
lecting a Republican candidate because the Democratic choice is a foregone conclusion. So let’s look at the most important qualities in selecting a Re-publican candidate to run against Presi-dent Obama.
First of all, looks are at the top of the list. ae candidate must be tel-egenic because we are going to have to watch him or her on television and other media for at least the next five years. No one wants to look at an ugly president. Among the female candidates, of which there is one so far, Michele Bachman is certainly at-tractive.
However, Bachman can’t seem to open her mouth without inserting one or both feet. Now, if she wasn’t attractive but still prone to gaffes, one wonders if she would have ever been considered a top tier candidate if even for a short while.
Among the male candidates, we can scratch off the “niche” candi-dates, niche meaning they are un-distinguishable from Fred the local Honda salesman. So that leaves the front runners, Rick Perry and Mitt Romney. Both are handsome men, so they meet that standard.
aey are also not prone to gaffes. Rick Perry tossed out one live gre-nade, telling Florida voters that So-cial Security is a Ponzi scheme when most of them depend on Social Se-curity to live. (Actually, there can be a comparison made here. A Ponzi scheme benefits the first investors and insures there will be no money left for future investors, just like so-cial security. )
So, if Perry and Romney pass the most important tests, their looks and their ability to speak intelligently, we are left with sorting through all the secondary qualifications and their views on what they would do if elect-ed. aey share the most important of these secondary qualification – neither of them agree with anything
President Obama has done. In fact, they didn’t agree with him
even before he did anything, except for Romney and his Massachusetts healthcare program. Although it was successful and a model for Obama’s healthcare program, it is his greatest liability because it was a model for Obama’s healthcare program.
Other issues that will decide the future of our great nation, like jobs, national security, our mammoth debt, Planned Parenthood and gay marriage, will serve as campaign talking points, but by the time No-vember 2012 rolls around, all can-didates will sound the same and we will be left with making our decision on who looks the most presidential in the ads tearing down all the other candidates.
Milt Lomas is a Vero Beach resident and an experienced freelance writer/author with a 20-year background in the music industry. He currently writes biographies, blogs, lectures, travels ex-tensively and is an active member of the National Press Club.
Blame the extended political season on Christmas
MILT THOMAS
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Social | Lifestyle
BY CHRISTINA TASCON VERO BEACH NEWSWEEKLY
Dr. Rob Callery will tell you that it was the right thing to do to sponsor a team to participate in the upcom-ing American Cancer Society’s Mak-ing Strides against Breast Cancer 5kwalk
Dr. Callery’s wife, Cathie, loved the idea of this year’s theme of walking for Breast Cancer awareness while sporting pink bras. Cathie Callery
was attracted by the glitter and glitz so her team got out their glue guns to work on their wardrobe for the Oct. 15 walk.
Ye office workroom at Ocean Oaks Dental Group was filled with pink bras and lots of bangles, bau-bles and feathers as the team stepped it up to bring on the bling for their team.
When Cathie and Rob Callery began working with the American Cancer Society 14 years ago, they
never thought that “supporting the cause” would be by “sporting a bra.”
But once they decided their ward-robe, Cathie found the volunteers to walk in the event. Ocean Oaks Dental’s team includes Cathie Call-ery, Arielle Noble, Kathy Hart, Ta-mara Welcome, Robin Selzer, Kristi White, Jean Leifhelm, Roxanne Mar-tin, Valerie Mae Miller and Heather Anderson.
Where there are women decorat-ing pink bras with sequins, lace trim
and feathers, there are always a few male supporters who are good heart-ed enough to supply pizza and cock-tails.
Dr. Callery and another of the team, Randy Wytrval, were there to cheer the team on and mix and serve chocolate martinis and buy the hard-working women some pizza to keep up their strength. Just what a festive decorating party requires.
Wytrval, who owns Synergy Ar-chitectural Design never thought he would see the offices being used as a lingerie shop when he designed the luxurious Ocean Oaks Dental Group’s offices, but he did not seem to think it was a bad thing at all. He will be at the 5k and although he will not be wearing one of the sparkly bras, he did dye his moustache pink to support the team.
Ye decorating party was filled with laughter but when Dr. Callery was asked how he came to be in-volved he became serious.
He recently became the new Chair-man for the local Cancer Society af-ter his dental assistant, Robin, who had been with Ocean Oaks for 14 years, had two rough bouts with breast cancer.
Callery said, “One out of eight women will experience breast can-cer and having someone who worked so closely with me and my partners made it more personal.” Ye Call-ery’s are huge supporters of numer-ous charities, but this one is especial-ly close to both their hearts.
Ye walkers will begin at 9 a.m. on Oct. 15 from the Sebastian River Medical Center. Team Ocean Oaks will be there strutting their bras (over t-shirts of course).
All proceeds will benefit Mak-ing Strides Against Breast Cancer’s programs to educate, support and facilitate the medical treatments of the women and men who have been diagnosed with the disease.
PHOTOS BY CHRISTINA TASCONDr. Rob Callery, DDS, pours out the Chocolate Martinis to support the Team eEorts
Pink bras, bling help promote breast cancer awareness
SOCIAL | LIFEST YLE
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Arielle Noble,Tamara Welcome, Randy Wytrval, Kathy Hart, Kristi White, Jean Leifhelm, Cathie Callery and Robin Selzer make up Team Ocean Oaks
Arielle Noble gets creative Tamara Welcome takes it up a notch with boa feathers and gems
gess of St. Pe t e r s b u r g , daughter of Tom and Ca-ron Burgess of St. Petersburg, is engaged to Eric Bartolucci of Jacksonville.
Bartolucci is the son of Greg and Amy Bartolucci of Vero Beach and Sandy and Don Wright of Vero Beach.
Burgess graduated from St. Peters-burg High School in 2004, from the University of Florida Gainsville in 2008 with a Bachelor of Science in Finance and from Stetson University College of Law in St. Petersburg in 2011 with a Juris Doctor and a Master of Business Administration..
She is employed by the State Attor-ney’s Office in St. Petersburg as As-sistant State Attorney.
Bartolucci graduated from Vero Beach High School in 2004 and from the University of Florida Gainsville in 2008 with a Bachelor of Science in Sport Management.
He is employed by Jacksonville Jaguars NFL Team in Jacksonville as Senior Sales Executive.
ce couple plan to marry April 21, 2012.
Prescott-HaysVERO BEACH — Jody Prescott of
Vero Beach, daughter of Christine Prescott of Westville and the late Jerry Prescott, is en-gaged to Pete Hays Jr. of Vero Beach.
Hays is the son of Pete and Linda Hays of Fort Pierce.
Prescott graduated from Ponce de
Leon High School, Ponce de Leon, in 1997; the University of West Florida, Pensacola, in 2006 with a degree in exceptional student education; and Florida Atlantic University in 2009 with a masters degree in educational leadership. She is employed by St. Lu-cie County School District as a pro-gram specialist.
Hays graduated from John Carroll High School, Fort Pierce, in 1997, and the University of Florida, Gainesville, in 2001 with a degree in food and re-source economics. He is vice presi-dent of Hays Harvesting Inc.
ce couple plan to marry Oct. 8.
WEDDINGSFarmer-MannyMIDDLESBORO, Ky. — Roseanne
Frances Manny of Vero Beach, daugh-ter of David Manny Sr. of Kenansville and Cheryl Manny of Vero Beach, was married to Richard Damon Farmer of Middlesboro, Ky., on June 18, at Covenant United Methodist Church in Middlesboro with the Rev. Samuel Johnson officiating.
Farmer is the son of Richard and Crystal Farmer of Tazewell, Tenn.
Melissa Davenport of Vero Beach was maid of honor, with Jennifer Muncey, Amanda Cooper, Megan House and Brooke Tabor as brides-maids. Brylea Tabor and Mia Daven-port were flower girls.
Brandon Banks of Pineville, Ky., was best man, with Randy Lambert and John Davenport III as ushers. Landon Davenport was ring bearer.
A reception at Middlesboro Coun-try Club followed the ceremony.
ce bride graduated from Vero Beach High in 2003 and from Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tenn., in 2009 with a degree in veteri-nary science.
She is employed by Powell Animal Hospital in Powell, Tenn., as a li-censed veterinary medical technician.
ce groom graduated from Bell County High School in Pineville, Ky., in 1999 and from Lincoln Memorial
University in 2005 with a degree in communications.
He is employed by TEKsystems Inc. in Knoxville, Tenn. as a contract man-ager.
After a wedding trip to Key West, the couple reside in Maynardville, Tenn.
Henderson-CollierTara Collier of Vero Beach, daugh-
ter of Brian and Tyna Collier of Vero Beach, was married to Chris Hend-erson of Vero Beach on May 28 at Mead-owood Golf & Tennis Club, Fort Pierce, with Michael Carter offici-ating.
Henderson is the son of Hiram and Judy Henderson of Vero Beach.
Megan Collier of Vero Beach was maid of honor with Holly Wood, Audra Espich, Kristi Odon, Jessie Porter, Mandy George, Nicole Del Tufo and Ashley Darnell as brides-maids. Kirra Henderson and Gabri-elle Espich were flower girls.
Jon Poole of Vero Beach was best man with Adam Sherako, Kelly Gold-en, Kenny Darnell, Hiram Hender-son, Victor Harrell and Jason Pomar as ushers. Ethan and Bryson Darnell was ring bearers.
A reception followed the ceremony at the Club.
ce bride graduated from Vero Beach High in 2001 and from Florida State University in 2005 with a bach-elor’s degree in criminology and a minor in psychology. She is a parale-gal with Hoskins, Turco, Lloyd and Lloyd, Fort Pierce.
The groom graduated from Vero Beach High in 1990. He is an ocean rescue EMT for Indian River Coun-ty.
Following a wedding trip to Jamaica, the couple will reside in Vero Beach.
ANNIVERSARIES50th AnniversaryWalter and Connie Allen of Vero
Beach celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on July 16 on an eight-day cruise to Bermuda on the Holland American Veendam out of New York.
ce couple was married in Morich-es, N.Y., at her parents home.
cey have been residents of Florida for 10 years.
Children include Robin Goldsmith of Lakewood Park and Cindy Dubicki of Remsenburg, N.Y.
cey have two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
50th AnniversaryRev. William
T. and Elgene Stone of Vero Beach cel-ebrated their 50th wedding anniversar y on July 29 on an eight-day Alaskan cruise on the Norweigian Pearl Cruise ship.
ce couple was married at Bethel Temple United Pentecostal Church in Decatur, Ill.
cey have been residents of Florida for 33 years.
Children include the late Will Stone.cey have two grandchildren.
BIRTHSLAWNWOOD REGIONAL
Harper Monroe Cheston, a daugh-ter, was born to Daniel and Megan Cheston of Vero Beach on July 25.
INDIAN RIVER MEDICAL CENTER
Adam comas Pfahler, a son, was born to Eric and Laurel Pfahler of Se-bastian on July 4.
Kaley Michelle and Ryley Jules Neal, twin daughters, were born to Adam and Michelle Neal of Vero Beach on July 15.
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Arts | Entertainment
Ivo David: bringing ‘Fusionism’ from Italy to Vero Beach
PHOTOS BY CHRISTINA TASCONIvo David goes through the process of how he works on his paintings which start out as charcoal sketches
BY CHRISTINA TASCON VERO BEACH NEWSWEEKLY
Ivo David carries more than just his sketchbook with him when he travels. David takes the his-tory of art along every time he
picks up his pen or charcoal pencil to rough out a sketch of a beautiful scene before his eyes.
Rarely will he go anywhere without a tablet or something to draw in as he enjoys a cup of coffee at the Vero Beach and Fort Pierce cafés where he is well known by the staff and regular patrons. Sometimes he is working on a piece that is still in his head, but mostly he draws what he sees around him -- faces, figures and familiar lo-cal landmarks.
Ivo David (pronounced eye-vō) isa classically trained artist from Flor-ence, Italy. Following in the footstepsof his father, Arduino David, he stud-ied art at University as a master painterand teacher. Many pieces of his work
are in the permanent collection ofthe Biennale Internazionale delle’ArteComtemporanea in Florence.
David has recently returned fromItaly where he was invited by the Mu-seum of Fine Art of Casa Di Dante inBellonzi, Pescara, Italy to exhibit a se-
ries of work based on Dante’s DivineComedy called the “Illustrations ofthe Divine Comedy-Inferno, Purgato-rio y Paradiso.”
His work has appeared in celebratedshows from New York and Washing-ton D.C. He has also been chosen formany of the permanent collections atmuseums in his homeland of Italy aswell as Paris, and other internationalgalleries. He is registered in the Li-brary of Congress; has a book writtenabout him called @e Fusionism of IvoDavid: A Search for Freedom; is in theWho’s Who in American Art, Ency-clopedia of Living Artists, and Who’sWho among the Italian Americans.
In fact, his work appears in manyartistic publications and encyclope-dias as the founder of a style called‘Fusionism’, which he began in 1956.David describes Fusionism as the pro-cess of “fusing the classical with anartistic dream to balance between ab-straction and reality.” It is the intuitiveblending and layering of color, form,scale, space and time, forming fantas-tic, fabulous abstractions.
Although David has traveled theworld as a renowned painter andpoet, this internationally recognizedartist chose Vero Beach as his Ameri-can port. David says moving here wasfor a simple reason, “It is a beautiful,quiet city with lots of amenities andclose to art, like a cultural island. depicturesque corners of the city are
interesting and drew me paint andsketch them.”
His love of the area not only madehim buy a home here and set up a stu-dio, but also get involved with localactivities and events. His 2010 entryinto the Hibiscus Festival not onlywon first place in the Poster contest torepresent the show, but also won firstplace in their Downtown Banner con-test and may be seen on the bannersthat appear along 14th Avenue.
David believes that people buy hisart “because there is a message inthem.” He said that people tell himthat his work is soothing to the souland brings them peace while the vi-brancy and colors in his work givesthem hopefulness and uplifts theirspirit.
Last year, David participated in theVero Beach Art Club’s Art Trail andbroke all previous sales records for theevent. He says 2010 to 2011 has beena banner year and feels the economymust be getting better.
David has shown his local art at theA.E.Backus Gallery at a featured ex-hibit and at the Art by the Sea Showheld at the Vero Beach Museum ofArt for the last two years. He is cur-rently working with Alessandro Van-nini, a painter and coordinator at theBiennale Internazionale delle’ArteComtemporanea for a large exhibi-tion in 2013.
His paintings of local landmarkssuch as South Beach, Riverside Park,Jaycee Beach and Conchy Joe’s aresnatched up as fast as they are exhibit-ed. Many are proudly featured on thewalls in homes from Stuart to Brevardand also bought by winter residentsto take back a piece of the TreasureCoast to their Northern residences.
So if you catch a glimpse of an art-ist at the next table or park bench whois sketching furiously, smiling andchatting, with a big Italian accent andfriendly manner, it may well be IvoDavid.
Who knows, you might just find asketch of your profile or a neighboror two as they strolled the beachesor parks of Vero Beach that David soloves to paint.
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18 ARTS | ENTERTAINMENT
Ivo David with his painting depicting a scene at South Beach
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Every Saturday: Oceanside Busi-ness Association’s Farmer’s Market, 8 am-noon. Located in the parking lot just south of Humiston Park on Ocean Drive. www.VeroBeachOBA.com, 772-532-2455.
Every Sunday: Farmer’s Market from 9 am-2 pm in downtown Vero at the corner of 14th Ave. & 21st St. Contact Eric Hessler by email: [email protected] or call the Main Street office, 772-480-8353.
Sept 15: “Cha-Cha and Pizza” to kick off National Ballroom Week. USA Dance, Heritage Center, 2145 14th Ave., 7 pm, $8-$10, 772-770-9684, verodance.org.
Sept 15-25: “All My Sons” at the Vero Beach keatre Guild, 2020 San Juan Ave. Visit their web site at www.VeroBeachkeatreGuild.com for var-ied show times and cost or call 772-562-8300.
Sept 16: Lifestyle & Media Auc-tion: Springhill Suites Marriott, 5115 Indian River Blvd., Opportunity to bid for advertising & publicity at auc-tion. Proceeds go to the Sebastian River Chamber of Commerce. $10 members - $20 non-members in-cludes hors d’oeuvres. 772-589-5969.
Sept 16-17: Comedy Zone, River-side keatre, comedians Ken Evans and Lucas Bohn, Riverside keatre, 6250 Riverside Park Dr. Tickets $15, go to riversidetheatre.com or call 772-231-6990.
Sept 17: “No Flea Market” at the Humane Society’s Education Room from 8 am-2 pm, 6230 77th St. ke best donated items from their thrift shop are available for sale for this once a year fundraiser. 772-567-2044.
Sept 18 & 25: Riverside keatre Open House, 6250 Riverside Park Dr., free event and refreshments as you
take a fascinating tour of the “back and front of the house.” See what it takes to put on live theatre perform-ances and the practical aspects to put on a show. 772-231-6990.
Sept 22: Vero Beach Book Cent-er presents Stuart Woods with his book “Son of Stone” from his series of Stone Barrington books at 7 pm, autograph and Q & A. You must purchase the book at the event or online for autograph. 772-569-2050, VeroBeachBookCenter.com
Sept 23: Treasure Coast Human Resources Association, “Creating a Culture of Safety to Prevent Bullying, Harassment and Bias.” IRSC Mueller Center lecture from 7:30 am-1 pm. $50, contact [email protected].
Sept 23-25: Treasure Coast Mu-sic Festival at the IRC Fairgrounds, 3 stages of music, 100 vendors and
food booths. Dr. Hook, Molly Hatch-et, Blackfoot, Pat Travers and more. Tickets $15 in advance and $20 at gate. 954-205-7813.
Sept 24-30: Registration for “Scarecrows in the Garden at McK-ee Botanical Gardens,” 10 am-4 pm, Monday - Friday. Free entry cost for non-profit or a family. $25 for busi-ness organizations. 772-794-0601. For registration forms and rules go to www.mckeegarden.org.
Sept 28: Florida’s Research Entre-preneur’s Summit with Congressman Bill Posey at Indian River State Col-lege, 6155 College Ln., 8 am. Register at irscbiz.com.
Sept 29: “Warm Nights Cool Music in the Park” - Vero Beach Museum of Art, Alice & Jim Beckwith Sculpture Park, 5-7 pm. Jazz guitar, Latin and flamenco music by the Don Soledad Group. $10 ticket, free hors d’oeuvres
and cash bar for wine and mixed drinks. 772-231-0707, verobeachmu-seum.org.
Sept 30: Llama, Llama, Red Pajama Sleepy time Story Hour with Miss Ju-lie. Kids get to dress in fun PJ’s as they listen to the story, enjoy refreshments and meet the story character, Llama. 6:30 pm, Vero Beach Book Center’s Children’s Store, 2145 Indian River Blvd., 772-569-6650.
Oct 1: Special Olympics State Aquatic Championship, North Aquatic Center, 9450 95th St., Se-bastian. Saturday, 9 am-4:30 pm; Sunday, 8:30 am-1 pm. Food vendor on-site, no alcohol allowed. IRC Rec-reation Department is now recruiting volunteers. 772-226-1732.
Oct 2: Jeane Graves Charity Cup-cake Challenge to benefit the Michael J. Fox Foundation. Incredible baking contest and sale. Buy, taste and vote for the best cupcake on the Treasure Coast at this charity event. $10 entry. Heritage Center, 14th Ave., 3-6 pm. 772-473-3410 or email [email protected].
Oct 6: Poetry reading by artist and Vero Beach pioneer Sean Sexton at the Tiger Lily Art Studios & Gallery at 7 pm, 1903 14th Ave., no admit-tance fee. Light refreshments. 772-778-3443.
Oct 8: Family Jamboree at the In-dian River County Fairgrounds with games, shows, music, contests, food, crafts and so much more. Vendors may call 772-563-0430.
Oct 10: Senior Activities Fair, 2-4 pm at the Schumann Hall Senior Center, 686 14th St., 30+ vendor ta-bles and instructors. Call 772-469-2062, [email protected].
STAFF PHOTO
If you’d like to see one of your photographs published in Vero Beach News-weekly, please send them to us at [email protected]. Photos need to be at least 200 dpi and in jpeg format.
be Vero Beach High School boys’golf team is in the very early stages ofmaking a name for themselves alongthe Treasure Coast.
Okay, they aren’t ready for their ownshaving cream commercials (heck,most of them don’t need to shave asof yet anyway), but this is possibly themost talented team of prep golfers tocome through the Treasure Coast—ever.
Led by co-captains, junior Fre-drik Gutafsson and freshman JakeLeffew, Vero Beach won Monday’sOkeechobee Invitational over MartinCounty, John Carroll, Treasure Coast,Sebastian River, and Fort Pierce Cen-tral High Schools. Gustafsson’s 73 andLeffew’s 77 were paired with freshmanNick Cammarene’s 74 and sophomoreJordan Payton’s 78 to earn the teamvictory. Junior Sean Keeby carded an82 and sophomore Brad Wonka shotan 84, but only the top four scores foreach team were taken.
“Last year, the team made it to re-gionals and we missed states by threeshots—I shot an 80,” Gustafsson said.“My goal for the team this year is tocontend for the state title at the statetournament. For me, I would like tomake the All-Treasure coast team andcontend for the individual title.”
Like most every young, talentedball-striker in Florida, Gustafsson
would like to play Division-I golf for aSouth Eastern Conference or AtlanticCoast Conference school and eventu-ally play on the PGA Tour.
“We have an extremely talentedteam, and a lot of that talent is young,”Gustafsson said. “Jake Leffew is spe-cial for his age, to say the least. He hasa great head on his shoulders and is aborn leader, and I believe that is whyhe is a co-captain with me.”
While Gustafsson and Leffew arethe unquestioned leaders of the team,it is a topic of debate who is actuallythe most talented golfer on the team.College football prospect and fellowjunior Connor Moore shared his opin-ion.
“Fred is the man,” Moore said. “Heexpects to shoot a 72 or 73 every timeout and only gets visibly excited whenhe breaks 70,” he said of his friend.“But Jake plays beyond his years. Andbeside, he’s a Leffew—they’re good ateverything.”
Moore was talking about the fresh-man’s older sister, Harvard lacrossestar Jenn Leffew, who was a talentedstudent and high school All-Americanduring her time at Vero Beach HighSchool.
Point West head PGA golf pro-fessional Mark Cammarene, whoseson Nick is the team’s other fabulousfrosh, offered his professional opinion.
“Payton had a real good year lastyear as a freshman, but Brad might
have the most talent of anyone outhere,” the elder Cammarene said. “Hedoesn’t have the head and maturity ofJake Leffew, as he’s only been playingcompetitively for about three years.He was a baseball player who onlyplayed a little bit of golf as a child. He’sjust starting to learn how to think outthere and hit shots, and I only see himgetting better and better.”
Wonka finished fifth in a FloridaJunior Tour event over the summerand placed second in the Sam ParksInvitational in Tampa two weeks ago,where he missed first-place by just astroke.
“He’s almost got a long and lazyswing, kind of like (1992 MastersChampion) Freddie Couples,” Cam-marene said. “He’s strong, he hits it320 off the tee—the ball just jumpsright off his club face.”
As for Cammarene’s son, Nick,his 74 at Monday’s tournament putshim in the conversation as the team’smost talented golfer (even if the el-der Cammarene refuses to play thepart of the proud papa).
What is certain, however, is thethat Fighting Indians golf will be ateam to watch for the next severalyears—with or without their owncommercials.
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20 Sports
STAFF PHOTOSSophomore Payton Taylor
“Old Fashioned Service”
(772) 569-14101212 23rd St., Vero Beach, FL 32960 · www.verobeach.com
Family Owned and Operated
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 certiHed ASE Master Mechanic, has been repairing vehicle in Vero Beach since 1987
at the same location.
Superior Auto Service ValvolineExpresscare
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Under New Management
Vero Beach High School boys’ golf is young and talented
Co-Captain, Junior Fredrik Gustafsson
Freshman Nick Cammarene
BY MIKE BIELECKIVERO BEACH NEWSWEEKLLY
Tim Tebow’s visit to Master’s Acad-emy this past May left an enduring impression on the 800 people who at-tended his fundraiser for the school’s burgeoning athletic program.
He spoke not only of his fabled football college career at the sold-out event, but also of his love of God and belief in the importance in strength of character.
Master’s Academy’s request for a Tebow visit in 2012 was fast-tracked once the former Gators star heard of the nature Master’s Academy’s re-quest and gathered an opinion of its faculty.
“You can see that they’re top-notch people,” Tebow said at the time.
To say Tebow left an impression on headmaster Dr. Grant Powell and the rest of the faculty at Master’s Acad-emy would be an understatement.
“It was exciting to hear an individ-ual of Tim Tebow’s stature talk about the importance of character,” Powell said. “`ere are a lot of athletes today saying, ‘I’m not a role model.’ And he said, ‘Well, those athletes are, they’re just not very good ones.’
“We want to see young men and women being groomed and culti-vated to the place where what we see on the field or on the court isn’t just sportsmanship, but it emanates from an internal character.”
First-year athletic director Charles Brown shares Powell’s vision for the athletic program at Master’s Acad-emy.
`e former John Carroll standout and AA Yankees pitching prospect sets the highest standards for his pro-grams and student-athletes.
“What we expect from our student athletes isn’t just winning on the field, it is winning on the field in a Christ-like manner,” Brown said. “We’re obviously not a big 6A school, but I feel we are very competitive in our sports. I want our kids to be suc-cessful down the road, whether as an athlete, a congressmen, or a CEO in
business. Whatever they choose to do in the future, I would like to think that Master’s Academy pushed them to that success.”
After an eight-year professional baseball career, Brown coached at his alma mater for another eight years, sending off several Golden Rams offto play college and professional base-ball over that period of time. When given a shot at starting a baseball pro-gram at Master’s Academy, Brown jumped at the opportunity.
“I knew I wanted continue my coaching career in the right place and with the right kids, and be a part of starting a (baseball) program,” Brown said. “When I walked through the door, before meeting anybody, I knew this was the place I wanted to be because it felt like home.”
`e school was already competi-tive in varsity softball, having won a district title in 2010 and repeating in 2011.
`en, with momentum built up within the athletic department after
adding varsity baseball, volleyball, golf, tennis, and soccer, Master’s Academy had an eye on the most competitive of Florida high school sports.
“`ere was this hint, late in the winter, about football,” Powell said. “`at was very controversial, as there were a lot of people thinking we were
too small to have a football program. I never thought I would be so jazzed about a football program, myself.”
Master’s Academy was defeated, 35-0, it its inaugural game against Merritt Island Christian. `e Patri-ots ran just 14 or their 26 plays for positive yardage, showing their inex-perience against a competitive oppo-nent.
“We gave Merritt Island Christian School a fairly good competition, I think, for our very first game,” Powell said. “(Our players) were very, very green, but we gave them a respect-able competition. We play to win, but even if we lose, we want to behave like a winner.”
`e score was all but insignificant to Powell, though, as he saw his stu-dent-athletes conducting themselves with a great amount of character.
“What threw me most, was the an-nouncer from Merritt Island Chris-tian saying our guys by name, and how he appreciated their sportsman-like conduct,” Powell said. “We would knock ‘em down, but then help them back up. `at’s who we are.
“We want people to see Godly character in all we do, and that is what we are all about – training young men and women to think and reason from truth and to manifest that kind of Godly character in eve-rything they do.”
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3500 Ocean DriveVero Beach, FL 32963772.469.1060
LOYAL TO THE LOCALSMonday: Sweet Start, complimentary dessert of your choice with dinner entreeTuesday: Complimentary glass of Chardonnay or Cabernet with dinner entree
Wednesday: Free Corkage, bring in your own bottle of wine at no additional costThursday: Thirsty Thursday! Extended happy hour drinks until 8pm.
Friday: Frozen Friday! Complimentary frozen cocktail at Heaton’s Reef with any food itemSaturday: Early Bird Happy Hour. Vero’s greatest happy hour a half hour earlier, at 4PMSunday: Sunday Treat, complimentary mimosa with the purchase of a brunch entrée
Show your I.D. with a Vero Beach address and receive:
Monday: Extended Happy Hour Drinks until 7:30pmTuesday: Half off bottles of wineWednesday: Wine down with all house wine poursfor $5 all day
Thursday: Happy Hour at Heaton’s Reef from 6pm-close
Friday: Mr. Motown in the Cobalt Lounge,Curtis Hill at 7pm
Saturday: Live music at Heaton’s Reeffrom 1pm-4pm
Sunday: Bloody Mary Bar from 10am-2pm
Don’t Forget About Our Daily Happenings As Well
Character trumps wins and losses at Master’s Academy
STAFF PHOTOMaster’s Academy Head Coach Dan Smith walks his team through plays as theyprepare for their second game of the season against Vero Beach’s Junior Varsity.
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22 SPORTS
PHOTO BY SAM WOLFEVero Beach High School quarterback Nick Madden follows the block of running back Dentist Hall past a Martin County defender last week.
Who: Vero Beach High School vs. Fort Pierce WestwoodWhere: Billy Livings Field at the Citrus BowlTime: 7:30 p.m.What they did last week: Vero Beach High School defeated Martin County at home, 42-14. Fort Pierce Westwood lost at Treasure Coast, 41-18.What you should know: Ft. Pierce Westwood lost former All-State quarterback Traveres Copeland to Treasure Coast High School when he transferred after last football season. Current Westwood starting quarterback Karnal Davidson transferred to Vero Beach briefly in 2010 before transferring back. Westwood has lost its first two games by a total of 102-18. Current Vero Beach quarterback Nick Madden trans-ferred from John Carroll in the spring and has thrown for 563 yards and 4 touchdowns through two games. Vero Beach High School threw for a total of 666 yards and 6 touchdowns in 11 2010 contests.
This week at Vero Beach High School This week at St. Edward’sWho: St. Edwards vs. Upperroom Christian AcademyWhere: Pirate StadiumTime: 7:00 p.m.What they did last week: St. Edward’s lost at Trinity Christian, 14-13. Upperroom lost at Miami Day 2-0.What you should know: ^e Pirates are coming off their second straight loss, but showed improvement in Week 2. Cortez Brown ran for 98 yards and 2 touchdowns in defeat, and should have a big game against an overmatched Upperroom team. ^e offense will be without starting QB Anderson Proctor, but should be fine if Brown breaks off a couple of long runs. Upperroom plays a class below St. Edwards, against 1B competition. ^e school had just 22 high school students at the start of the 2010-2011 school year, so the Pirates will have a rare advantage in personnel numbers.
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CONTINUES ON PAGE 24Zachary Hilberer and Patrick Haas work together on a musical composition
SchoolsIndian River Charter High School: A model of success
STAFF PHOTOSMichael NaJziger’s Musical Theatre Class prepares for a production of Roger and Hammerstein’s Cinderella
BY LISA RYMERVERO BEACH NEWSWEEKLY
Xe Treasure Coast may not be known as a bastion of academic achievement, nonetheless Indian River Charter High School is starting to make a name for itself turning out well-rounded students with a talent for the arts.
With another “A” grade pending from the state, a low administration to student ratio, and graduates who are consistently achieving national fame, the school continues to make waves and chart the course for other institutions in its wake.
As a respite for students who buck the norm – be it their appearance, a passion for the arts or an outlying ac-ademic acumen – IRCHS offers an al-ternative to the traditional education curriculum. A college-styled campus, small class sizes, flexible schedules, and a formal visual and performing arts program create an ideal environ-
ment for students to realize their po-tential in a variety of disciplines.
Xis year, there are 675 students en-rolled at IRCHS and for the first time since opening in 1998, the school had to hold a lottery to fill a limited number of available spots. A second lottery is scheduled in January for ad-mission in the winter semester.
“We capped enrollment at 650 to 700 students,” says Gene Waddell, a current board member of IRCHS and a founding father of the school. “Otherwise we could lose what got us here.”
IRCHS was formed by a grass roots effort of a handful of educators, busi-ness people and parents concerned that the two public high schools were not serving the needs of the entire community. In ‘99, as far back as the records are accessible, Vero Beach High School was given a “D” grade by the state; Sebastian River High
School received a “C.”Waddell and his board members
rightfully believed that a good dose of competition would raise the bar for everyone.
A local insurance broker, Wad-dell was a school board member for the district in the late ‘80s. Later, he helped establish a performance-based high school diploma program and he served on the board of the county’s adult education program.
\en, in ’97, the state approved leg-islation pertaining to charter schools. A charter school is based on a con-tract with the school district, which oversees the goals, standards, and mission statement of the institution.
Although IRCHS is a public school, it differs from other public schools in the area in that there is no teacher’s union, no tenured positions and it has an employment-at-will policy.
“Charter takes between $10 and $12 million from the district’s budg-et,” says Waddell.
Charter schools receive from the
state the same amount per student of the full time equivalency as other public schools. However, because charter schools are not eligible to ap-ply for other kinds of funding availa-ble to traditional public schools, they receive on average 11.4 percent less per student.
In traditional public high schools, the state’s class size amendment prohibits more than 25 students per class. Charter schools are bound by a class size average of 25 students.
Moreover, charter schools only receive one-fifteenth of the cost per student from capital outlay funds from the state. \at means the mon-ey available to charter schools to meet the growing demand for enroll-ment is significantly less than tradi-tional public schools.
Although funding for IRCHS is not the same as for public schools, “the laws are requiring charter schools to become more and more like tra-ditional schools,” says IRCHS prin-cipal, Cynthia Aversa. “\ey have to take all the same tests and meet all the same requirements as public schools.”
Nonetheless, the school has achieved an “A” grade from the state for three years in a row, based on its advance placement program and dual-enrollment at adjacent Indian River State College, combined with test scores and graduation rates.
On average, says Aversa, who has worked for the school since 2002, and before that for the school dis-trict for 15 years, IRCHS consist-ently scores the highest in the county on the FCAT, as well as on the ACT test for college admissions. In fact, IRCHS scores higher than the na-tional average on the ACT, which she explains “lends itself to the school’s integrative curriculum.”
\e integrative curriculum is a teaching technique that connects all subject matters to reinforce learning. Every semester, Charter introduces a new time period -- ancient world, Middle Ages, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Post Mod-ernism and Modernism -- with all course work focusing on the subject’s
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IRCHSFROM PAGE 23
Yaritza Arquieta, Christine Aguirre, Kadija Holder, Amineh Bell working in the reading lab
David Mundy’s percussion class
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Indian River Charter High School Principal Cynthia Aversa and Assistant Principal Dr. Ray Adams
Front Row: Michael Perrault, Madison Ware, Selina Flores, Kayleen Ridout, Back Row: Karen Suaez, Tatiana Cooley,Shelby RossCONTINUES ON PAGE 26
relevance to that time in history. On the other hand, IRCHS scores
are lower than the county average on the SAT, which, Aversa says, aligns it-self more with a conventional teach-ing approach.
Universities accept both the ACT and SAT for admissions. Most edu-cators will recommend which test to take according to the strengths of an individual student. Vree years ago, the district stopped administering the PSAT as a practice exam, says Aversa. Now, “Ve Plan,” a pre-cursor to the ACT is administered to every tenth grader in the district.
Last year, says Waddell, 48 percent of IRCHS graduates received Bright Futures Scholarships, earning a B grade point average or better. Every year, between five and seven students earn their AA degree from the college at the same time they receive their high school diploma.
Other requirements for graduation include attendance of cultural events, government meetings and a mini-mum of ten hours volunteer work every semester. Also, twice a year stu-dents are offered the opportunity to travel to other countries to broaden their understanding of the world.
In addition to Spanish, French and the language courses available at the college, IRCHS now has a Chinese language program with a full-time teacher funded through a Fulbright grant. Ve teacher of Chinese is also involved in community outreach, teaching at the public library and at Imagine School, an elementary char-ter school in south county.
Moreover, there are currently 15 in-ternational students attending IRCHS through a program Aversa coordi-nated that both elevate the cultural aspects of the school and provide an innovative avenue of additional fund-ing.
International students can apply for an I-20 form from Homeland Securi-ty and receive a one year student visa to attend IRCHS. Ve students must provide an acceptance letter from the school to the American embassy in their own country, and have funding
equal to the amount the state would pay the school for attendance of an American student.
Now, Aversa has launched yet an-other new project that generatesfunding for the school with Educa-tius International, which brings 15-20 students from across the globeto IRCHS for an English and GolfLearning Experience (EAGLE).
Working in conjunction with Pointe West, whose golf pro, Mark Cam-marene, runs the IRCHS golf school, international students spend a few hours each day learning English, and the remainder of the day learning golf.
\e students “cannot be a burden on the system,” says Aversa, citing the law.
IRCHS has a limited administrative department, consisting of Aversa, as-sistant principal, Ray Adams, who from the start has been an integral part of the school’s arts program, and a business manager who handles ac-counting and personnel functions. In addition to these three administra-tors, there are six support positions at the school and 40 instructors, for a total student to employee ratio of 675:49, or 17 students for every one staff.
Even the task of cleaning the school is handled by students and staff.
In contrast, the school district of Indian River County counts 15,645 non-charter school students, with a total of 2,012 employees, which equates to eight students for every one staff.
Not all charter schools are like the locally run and locally managed IRCHS. Imagine School, one of five charter schools in the county, is man-aged by an organization based out of Arlington, Virginia, providing ad-ministrative and financial support that supplements the shortfall from state funding.
In the meantime, Aversa sits onseveral state boards and commit-tees, such as the Florida Consor-tium of Public Charter Schools, tokeep apprised of the laws and trends
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IRCHSFROM PAGE 25
SCHOOLS
Erik Martin, Victoria Zuckert, Blake Burrell, Aurora Rollins relax in “Home Base”
Art class
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Established in 1998, the Indian River Charter High School now has an enrollment of nearly 700 students grades 9 through 12
in education.“We’re working diligently to get the
funding our students are due,” says Aversa.
ee land on which the school issituated is leased from the college.David Sullivan, provost of the Muel-ler Campus, was another foundingboard member who had access toa 36-room building that in the pastwas used to house prison guardsduring area training sessions. eatbuilding, located on the east side ofthe school’s campus, was renovat-ed with a state grant and leased toIRCHS in 1998.
In 2002, with the school operating at a capacity of 250 students, and 400 more on a waitlist, the performing arts program was launched.
One of the reasons that drove the decision to establish a performing arts program at IRCHS, says Wad-dell, was the lack of importance the other schools placed on the arts.
According to Waddell, the faculty at VBHS voted in ’03 or ’04, to do away with seventh period, which was the time for elective classes.
When Gary Miller, the award-win-
ning choral director at VBHS, an-nounced he was leaving to work at IRCHS, the school realized what it had lost. A subsequent vote reversed the decision to cut the arts, and the next year the school district voted to build a $10 million performing arts center.
“Competition, pure and simple, has helped elevate the arts programs,” says Waddell.
In 2002, IRCHS leased another five acres from the college and applied for a mortgage with which to build the performing arts campus. ee school uses a portion of the money from the state to pay the $30,000 per month mortgage.
A clause on the lease says that if the current board defaults on the mort-gage or wants to close the school, the college has the first right of refusal to continue the charter, says Waddell.
Currently, there are about 350 stu-dents who declare a performing arts major, but other students can also participate in the fine arts programs. Performing arts majors are required to take classes in their elected disci-pline each semester, as well as regular
curriculum courses. Up to this point, there has been no
proper stage at the school. Perfor-mances are held at one of the other auditoriums in town, including the Vero Beach eeatre Guild which has a reciprocal arrangement to expose students to all aspects of production in exchange for the use of its stage.
eere is some discussion about constructing a cover for the school’s courtyard, which would permit per-formances even when it’s raining.
Recently, John Schumann ex-pressed an interest in donating seed money to the school that would en-able the construction of a perma-nent performance venue. Adams is researching various grants and other types of support to help with con-struction costs.
Some of the IRCHS alumni who are performing on a larger stage in-clude Alexa Bartol, a former drama student, who is scheduled to appear on “Desperate Housewives” this sea-son. Previously, Bartol has appeared on episodes of “CSI: NY,” and several of the courtroom shows (in case you didn’t know, the people who appear
on those shows are, indeed, actors.)Another drama alumna, Hayley
Bruce, has made appearances on epi-sodes of “ee Glades.” And, Isabelle Power, a former IRCHS Valedictorian and dance major, is slated to appear on the new television series, “Char-lie’s Angels.”
Gary Zanello, a music major, re-ceived a scholarship to attend Berklee College of Music in Boston, placing in the top 40 out of 6,000 guitarists who auditioned for admission.
Former world champion ten-nis player, Ivan Lendl, enrolled his daughter, Daniela Lendl, in the golf school at IRCHS. Chosen as a pre-Olympics team member, she com-peted in South Africa last summer, and signed with the University of Alabama’s golf team.
And, Jermaine Jackson, an early graduate of IRCHS, has achieved na-tional acclaim as a music producer with a recording studio in Miami.
For more information about the IRCHS and its efforts to build a theat-er, please call:
(772) 567-6600, or visit them on-line: IRCHS.org.
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Ann McDonaghAnn M. McDonagh, 77, died Aug. 29,
2011, at Sebastian River Medical Cent-er. She was born in Dublin and lived in Vero Beach for 25 years, coming from New York City. She was an artist. Sur-vivors include her sons, Gerry McDon-agh and Donogh McDonagh, both of Vero Beach; daughters, Siobhan Danks of Vero Beach and Sheelagh Maiolo of Pittsburgh; sisters, Eve Kavanagh of New York City, Mona Lawless of Ireland and Marie Gulick of Arizona; brothers, Frank Kavanagh of Ireland and Tony Kavanagh of Oregon; seven grandchildren; and three great-grand-children. Memorial contributions may be made to VNA Hospice House, 1110 35th Lane, Vero Beach, FL 32960. A online guest book is available at www.lowtherfuneralhome.com.
Mark McShurleyMark M. McShurley, 94, died Aug.
28, 2011. He was born in New Castle, Ind., and lived in Vero Beach for five years, coming from Stuart. He was an FBI agent and also worked as a finan-cial supervisor. He was a member of St. John of the Cross Catholic Church, Vero Beach. Survivors include his wife, Esther McShurley of Vero Beach; daughter, Suzanne Landre of St. Louis; sons, Mark C. McShurley and Mike D. McShurley, both from Virginia; 12 grandchildren; and two great-grand-children. A guestbook is available at www.lowtherfuneralhome.com.
John L. “Whitey” NemethJohn L. “Whitey” Nemeth, 69, died
Aug. 25, 2011, at his home. He was born in Easton, Pa, and lived in Vero Beach for 10 years. Before retirement, he was a senior manager with 37 years of service at Air Products and Chemi-cals Inc. MIS-International. He was a member of St. gomas More Church in Allentown, Pa., and St. Helen Cath-olic Church in Vero Beach. Survivors include his wife, Marlene; sons, Carey and Michael; sisters, Shirley Bus-senger and Donna Curcio; brother, Barry; and five grandchildren. Me-
morial contributions may be made to St. Helen Catholic Church, 2025 20th Ave., Vero Beach, FL 32960. A guest-book may be signed at www.weber-funeralhomes.com.
Pamela J. RochowiakPamela J. Rochowiak, 63, died Aug.
18, 2011, at Indian River Medical Center in Vero Beach. She was born in Chicago and moved to Vero Beach in 1970 to begin her career in education. Before retirement in 2000, she was an English, speech, drama and debate teacher for the Indian River County School District, including the Vero Beach junior and high schools and Se-bastian River High School. She direct-ed and performed in plays and musi-cals throughout South Florida, and was a member of the geatre Guild, Pineapple Playhouse, geater-Go-Round; Encore Alley, Treasure Coast Opera Society and Riverside geatre. She was a member of the St. Helen’s Parish and Choir. Memorial contribu-tions may be made to the Humane So-ciety of Vero Beach and Indian River County, P.O. Box 644, Vero Beach, FL 32961. A guest book may be signed at www.lowtherfuneralhome.com.
Bruni Luchessi TroxellBruni Luchessi Troxell died Aug.
27, 2011, at VNA Hospice House in Vero Beach. She was born in Salinas, Puerto Rico, and lived in Vero Beach for 11 years, coming from Cincin-nati. Before retiring, she worked as an elementary school teacher for two years and for Eastern Airlines as a flight attendant for six years. She attended St. Sebastian Catholic Church, Sebastian, and was a mem-ber of Orchid Island Golf and Beach Club and Community Bible Study. Survivors include her husband of 40 years, William Troxell of Vero Beach; daughter, Kimberley Hollingsworth of Fayetteville, N.C.; son, Michael Trox-ell of Phoenix; sister, Myrna Calcagni of Yardley, Pa.; brother, Luis Luches-si of Ponce, Puerto Rico; and three grandchildren. Memorial contribu-
tions may be made to VNA Hospice of Indian River County, 1110 35th Lane, Vero Beach, FL 32960; www.vnatc.com. A guest book is available at www.lowtherfuneralhome.com.
Pamela WaddellPamela J. Waddell, 64, died Aug. 30,
2011, at the VNA Hospice House, Vero Beach. She was born in Byesville, Ohio, and lived in Vero Beach for 50 years, coming from her birthplace. Survi-vors include her husband of 44 years, Donald A. Waddell of Vero Beach; daughters, Karie A. Stefanacci, Donna J. Waddell and Mia R. Rayburn, all of Vero Beach; mother, Ruth Ann Couch of Vero Beach; sister; three brothers; six grandchildren; and one great-grand-son. Memorial contributions may be made to Visiting Nurse Association & Hospice Foundation, 1110 35th Lane, Vero Beach, FL 32960. Services: A guestbook is available at www.strunk-funeralhome.com.
Gordon GreerGordon Greer, 90, died Aug. 30, 2011,
at VNA Hospice House, Vero Beach. He was born in Buffalo, N.Y., and after liv-ing in various eastern U.S. cities, he lived in Vero Beach for 10 years, coming from St. Bart’s. Before retiring, he worked for the Spencer-Kellogg Co. where he became East Coast Division vice presi-dent. Survivors include his wife of 65 years, F. Ernestine Holland Greer of Vero Beach. A guestbook is available at www.strunkfuneralhome.com.
Sandra NovikSandra Novik, mother of Eric
Platt and the late Diana Platt Fren-kel, passed away on Aug. 22. She was raised in New York City, lived in Bethesda, MD, Glen Clove, NY and most recently Vero Beach, FL. She is survived by her son, sister Marilyn Pollans, daughter-in-law Linda Roth Platt and grandchildren Samantha and David. Donations can be made to the Diana Platt Frenkel Genetic Counseling Research Fund, PO Box 9110, Waltham, MA 02454.
Arthur L. WilliamsArthur L. Williams, 82, died Aug.
27, 2011. He was born in Dawson-ville, Ga., and lived in Vero Beach since 1996, coming from Brooklyn, N.Y. Survivors include his daughters, Margrette Smith of Howell, N.J., and Lily Rollins of Almara, N.Y.; stepsons, James Earl of Eastman, Ohio, and John Green of Plainfield, N.J.; broth-ers, David Williams and Joseph Wil-liams, both of Dawsonville; and sister, Armelia Williams.
Walter BernholdWalter Bernhold, 90, died Aug. 31,
2011, at VNA Hospice House, Vero Beach. He was born in Java, Dutch East Indies, and lived in Vero Beach for 17 years, coming from Long Island, N.Y.
Survivors include his wife, Freddie Dudding-Bernhold of Vero Beach; daughter, Catherine Procaccini of Long Island; stepdaughters, Danni Kegaries of Hollywood Hills, Calif., and Lynn Dudding-Back of Orlando; sister, Hannah Brenkman-Bernhold of Arnhem, Netherlands; half sisters, Maarta and Leis, both of the Nether-lands; and two grandchildren.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Visiting Nurse Asso-ciation & Hospice Foundation, 1110 35th Lane, Vero Beach, FL 32960. A guestbook is available at www.strunkfuneralhome.com.
Elizabeth FlowersElizabeth Flowers, 96, died Aug.
30, 2011, at the VNA/Hospice House in Vero Beach. She was born in Van Wert, Ohio, and lived in Vero Beach for 31 years, coming from Mishawa-ka, Ind.
Survivors include her sons, Wayne Flowers of O’Brien, David Flowers of Orlando and Joel Flowers of Vero Beach; brother, Bill Billman of Pana-ma; sister, Ann Louise Konkel of Tuc-son, Ariz.; seven grandchildren; and six great-great-grandchildren. Me-morial contributions may be made to VNA/Hospice House, 3901 37th St., Vero Beach, FL. 32960.
Obituaries
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Steven M. HrabovskySteven M. Hrabovsky, 49, died Sept.
2, 2011, at Indian River Medical Cent-er in Vero Beach. He was born in Dan-ville, Pa., and lived in Vero Beach for 28 years, coming from Numidia, Pa. He was cafeteria supervisor at Indian River Medical Center and had worked at Disney’s Vero Beach Resort.
Survivors include his companion of 26 years, Buster Owsley of Vero Beach; sister, Chris Billig of Sebastian; and brother, Joseph Hrabovsky of Fayet-teville, N.C. Memorial contributions may be made to the American Heart Association, 237 E. Marks St., Orlando, FL 32803. A guestbook is available at www.seawindsfh.com/obituaries.php.
Jeanne A. EberlyJeanne A. Eberly, 90, died Sept. 2,
2011, at Indian River Medical Center. She was born in Chicago and moved to Vero Beach 20 years ago from Au-rora, Ohio. She was a graduate of Mil-likin University, Decatur, Ill. She re-tired as a teacher of mathematics and science in Warrensville Heights, Ohio. She was an elder of the First Presby-terian Church of Vero Beach and was past president of PEO, Chapter HB.
Survivors include her husband, John; daughter, Carol feis of Aurora, Ohio; sons, John A. Eberly of Auburn Township, Ohio and Mark Eberly of Carmel, Ind.; six grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. Memorial contributions may be made to the First Presbyterian Church, 520 Royal Palm Blvd., Vero Beach, FL 32960. A guestbook is available at www.lowtherfuneralhome.com.
June Faulkinham FrankJune Faulkinham Frank died Sept. 2,
2011, at Indian River Medical Center. She was born in Augusta, Maine, and lived in Vero Beach since 1971. She was a former reference librarian at the Indian River County Library.
Survivors include her husband of 10 years, Edward Frank of Vero Beach; sister, Gloria Snow; daughter, Cindy Krupp; son, David Roberts; four grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.
Memorial contributions may be
made to VNA Hospice of Indian River County, 1110 35th Lane, Vero Beach, FL 32960. A guestbook is available at www.lowtherfuneralhome.com.
Joanne GabrieleJoanne Gabriele, 69, died Sept. 5,
2011, at Sebastian River Medical Cent-er. She was born in Philadelphia and moved to Vero Beach six years ago from Margate. Survivors include her daugh-ters, Sheri Forman and Michele Cain, both of Vero Beach, and Dana Sussman of Sebastian; son, Albert Gabriele of Melbourne; sisters, Dorothy Lavell of Coconut Creek and Judith Diliberto of North Wales, Pa; and eight grandchil-dren. A guestbook is available at www.seawindsfh.com/obituaries.php.
Aaron Michael HoytAaron Michael Hoyt, 47, died Aug.
31, 2011, at the VNA Hospice House, Vero Beach. He was born in Muncie, Ind., and moved to Vero Beach 18 years ago from his birthplace. He worked at Piper for seven years as an experimental aircraft assembler. Sur-vivors include Zora Bechdolt of Vero Beach. A guestbook is available at www.coxgiffordseawinds.com.
Nancy Jane JohnsonNancy Jane Johnson, 77, died Sept. 6,
2011, at VNA Hospice. She was born in Johnstown, Pa., raised her family in Pound Ridge, N.Y., and lived 10 years in Cleveland before moving to Vero Beach in 1998, living in Grand Harbor. She worked for Sigrid’s of Vero for many years, as well as other area boutiques. She was a member of the Community Church of Vero Beach. Survivors in-clude her husband of 55 years, Edward Johnson; daughters, Jeanette Johnson of Dallas and Linda Scheuer of Mason, Ohio; son, Keith Johnson of San Anto-nio; sister, Janet DaGrosa of Mount Lau-rel, N.J.; and two grandchildren. Memo-rial contributions may be made to VNA Hospice, 1110 35th Lane, Vero Beach, FL. A guestbook is available at www.coxgiffordseawinds.com.
Willis Alexander NewboldWillis Alexander Newbold, 61, died
Sept. 4, 2011, at the VNA Hospice
House, Vero Beach. He was born in Nassau, Bahamas, and moved to Vero Beach 30 years ago, coming from his birthplace. He had worked in construction as a marble finisher. Survivors include his wife of 10 years, Mary; daughter, Vonna Newbold of Nassau; and sister, Eddie Newbold of Nassau. A guestbook is available at www.coxgiffordseawinds.com.
John Michael “Mike” Ohler Sr.John Michael “Mike” Ohler Sr., 62,
died Sept. 5, 2011, at Indian River Medical Center. He was born in Leavenworth, Kan., and lived in Vero Beach for 37 years, coming from Kan-sas City, Kan. He was a master build-er. He received numerous awards for his carpentry including the Most Promising Carpenter Award in 1971. He was a member of Tabernacle Min-istries, Vero Beach.
Survivors include his wife of 41 years, Phyllis Elaine Ohler of Vero Beach; sons, John Michael Ohler Jr., Matthew Ohler and Michael Wayne Ohler, all of Vero Beach; daughters, Michele Brillhart of Vero Beach and Cheri Estevez of Royal Palm Beach;and 16 grandchildren.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Tabernacle Christian School Scholarship Fund, 51 S. Dix-ie Highway, Vero Beach, FL 32962. A guestbook is available at www.strunkfuneralhome.com.
Jeannette M. SchoenJeannette M. Schoen, 80, died Sept.
4, 2011, at VNA Hospice House, Vero Beach. She was born in Dayton, Ohio, and lived in Vero Beach for 25 years, coming from Morristown, N.J. She was a volunteer for the Vero Beach Humane Society frift Shop. Survivors include her sons, Steven Schoen of Honolulu, Michael Schoen of Bryn Mawr, Pa., and Eric Schoen of Vero Beach; daughter, Nancye Fal-zon of Morristown; brother, William Baldiga of Falls Church, Va.; sisters, Florence Manning of Falls Church and Juanita Smith of Vero Beach; and seven grandchildren. A guestbook is available at www.lowtherfuneral-home.com.
Janet Marie SnellJanet Marie Snell, 62, died Sept. 5,
2011, at VNA Hospice House, Vero Beach. She was born in Richmond, Calif., and lived in Vero Beach for 22 years, coming from Hollywood. Sur-vivors include her daughter, Angie Regan of Sebastian; mother, Alberta Ball of Vallejo, Calif.; sisters, Nancy of Vallejo and Debbie of Reading, Calif; and three grandchildren.
A guestbook is available at www.seawindsfh.com/obituaries.php.
Nuna Gean StuckeyNuna Gean Stuckey, 70, died Sept.
3, 2011. She was born in Ozark, Ala., and lived in Vero Beach. Survivors include her sons, James Stuckey, Jack Stuckey, Mackerl Stuckey and Jerry Stuckey, all of Vero Beach; daughter, Annie Jean Stuckey-Shelly of Vero Beach; sisters, Eddie Mae Comer and Recia Taylor, both of Panama City; 31 grandchildren; 70 great-grandchildren; and one great-great-grandchild.
Merle Everett JacksonMerle Everett Jackson passed away
on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2011 in Vero Beach, at the age of 100. He led a varied and successful business career which included work for Packard Motor Car Co. and F.W. Woolworth Co. During World War II he became a CEO of J.T.Wood Co., a parachute and gun brush manufacturer fol-lowed by work in industrial engineer-ing as V.P. of Krippendorf Calculator Co. In 1970 Merle retired and moved from Marblehead, MA to the Treas-ure Coast of Florida residing first in Ft. Pierce and then Vero Beach. One of his many retirement activities was as a member of the Florida Shuffle-board Association.
He leaves his daughter Linda Jack-son and his close friend Rosemary Callahan of Vero Beach, who cared for him with love and humor in their home.
Memorial contributions in his name may be made by check to Schepens Eye Research Institute Massachusetts
A guestbook is available at www.lowtherfuneralhome .com.
OBITUARIES
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30 Real Estate
Barrier Island Real Estate Sales – September 1-September 7
Mainland Real Estate Sales – September 1-September 7
653 Lake DriveRiomar Bay2/3/2011$1,300,0009/6/2011$1,200,000Dale Sorensen Real Estate Inc.Coldwell Banker Ed Schlitt
Address Subdivision List Date List Price Sell Date Sell Price Listing Broker Selling Broker13135 79th Street Fellsmere Farms 4/21/2011 299,500 9/6/2011 260,000 Sebastian Realty, Inc Billero & Billero Properties
Address Subdivision List Date List Price Sell Date Sell Price Listing Broker Selling Broker902 Sandpiper Lane Ocean Corp 4/21/2006 $205,000 9/7/2011 $175,000 Alex MacWilliam, Inc. Alex MacWilliam, Inc.
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Indian River County fire fighters and paramed-ics joined with law enforcement officials to host three 9/11 observance ceremonies in Vero Beach this past Sunday. Qe events marked the 10th an-niversary of the terrorist attacks which took nearly 3,000 lives, including several hundred members of the New York City police and fire departments.
At least 200 people gathered at Veterans Memo-rial Island early Sunday morning for the first of three local 9/11 observances, featuring the Navy Southeast Band, and guest speaker Navy Lt. Cmdr. Michael Welz.
Qe Firefighters Association presented two ad-ditional concerts Sunday evening at the Riverside Qeatre.
