T H U R S D A Y J U L Y 1 2 , 2 0 1 2 V O L . 2 , I S S U E 1 5 Standards set high at Sandridge Golf CoursePage 25 24 CALENDAR 26 TO ADVERTISE CALL MARTINE FECTEAU 772.696.2004 MARK SCHUMANN 772.696.5233 Inside FORUM OBITUARIES 17 How will city pay for services? Spectacular stroll Even in summer Downtown Art Stroll is attracting patrons each monthPage 19 Thinking about China Milt Thomas returns with some thoughts about our most important trading partnerPage 24 3 Council members talk about life after Vero ElectricPage 4 Delightful dance Riverside Theatre hosts the inaugural Summer Dance FestivalPage 21 E D S CHLITT R EALTORS® History is the difference. Knowledge is the difference. Global is the difference. We’re everywhere you want to be along the Treasure and Space Coasts. 6HH 3DJH FLColdwellBanker 35(9,(:6.com FLColdwellBanker.com PHOTO BY CHRISTINA TASCON Indian River County celebrates the Fourth of July in style. See story and photos on Page 12.
Transcript
T H U R S D A Y J U L Y 1 2 , 2 0 1 2 V O L . 2 , I S S U E 1 5
Standards set high at Sandridge Golf Course Page 25
24CALENDAR26
TO ADVERTISE CALL
MARTINE FECTEAU 772.696.2004
MARK SCHUMANN 772.696.5233
Inside
FORUM
OBITUARIES
17
How will city pay for services?
Spectacular strollEven in summer Downtown Art Stroll is attracting patrons each month Page 19
Thinking about ChinaMilt Thomas returns with some thoughts about our most important trading partner Page 24
3 Council members talk about life after Vero Electric Page 4
Delightful danceRiverside Theatre hosts the inaugural Summer Dance Festival Page 21
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PHOTO BY CHRISTINA TASCON
Indian River County celebrates the Fourth of July in style. See story and photos on Page 12.
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Fellsmere, county settle natural gas service area disputeBY J.G. WALLACEVERO BEACH NEWSWEEKLY
INDIAN RIVER COUNTY -- Since late June, it appeared a legal confrontation was imminent be-tween the City of Fellsmere and Indian River County officials over the municipality’s plan to create a massive natural gas service area far exceeding the existing city limits.
Last week, in what appeared to be the spirit of cooperation, city officials voted to amend their original ordinance to confine the service area to within the city lim-its, with County Administrator Joe Baird vowing county officials would support Fellsmere’s efforts to obtain an economic develop-ment grant that is crucial for de-velopment of a nearby aquacul-ture operation that is in the works.
^e averted confrontation un-derscored the fact that beneath Fellsmere’s folksy Old Florida feel and reputation as a farming community with a widely popular Frog’s Leg Festival, there is a city with ambitious plans for future development.
If a compromise hadn’t been reached it wouldn’t have been the first time that Fellsmere officials stood toe-to-toe with the county on a legal dispute, with the last tiff over fire hydrant maintenance fees having been decided in the city’s favor.
A city official who was not au-thorized to the discuss the mat-ter publicly said council members were concerned that opposition from the county might jeopard-ize both the pending gas service
agreement with Florida City Gas and prospects for obtaining the additional grant funds to extend service to the proposed aquacul-ture site.
Fellsmere was seeking to estab-lish a natural gas utility service reserve area under provisions of Chapters 180 and 166 of the Florida Constitution. Presently, there is no natural gas service in the city, but Florida City Gas has committed to bring service into the downtown area. Anticipat-ing that service, the city has been seeking grants to extend service to a proposed aquaculture project and commerce park to be located on County Road 512 about three miles west of City Hall.
Councilman Joel Tyson said he was not happy with the outcome,
but a last minute recommenda-tion from outside legal counsel was made to amend the service boundaries. Tyson said he want-ed to maintain some momentum because he is concerned about pending development.
“We’ve got five major real estate developments on hold in addition to the Villages at Fellsmere out at the Sun Ag property,” Tyson said. “So I’m thinking this would be the ideal time to get your infrastruc-ture in and then if these new peo-ple are going to build their houses and want gas it would be there for them.
“^e county has never even suggested running a gas line any-where, and that is what aggravated me. ^at they didn’t step up and
CONTINUES ON PAGE 8
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In anticipation of a sale of the city’s electric system in 2014, City Manager Jim O’Connor is proposing spending cuts for the 2012/2013 fiscal year of nearly $800,000 out of a total General Fund budget of nearly $20 mil-lion.
\e general consensus is that for the city to balance its budget af-ter selling its electric system more cuts in spending will be needed in future years.
\is week the Vero Beach City Council is holding workshops that will lead to the adoption of a budget for the coming fiscal year. \e positions each council mem-ber takes on possible spending cuts may give clues to their think-ing about what the city’s govern-ment will look like in 2014 and
beyond.In hopes of getting a sense of
how city leaders see a sale of the electric system impacting city services and taxes well beyond 2014, the Newsweekly on June 28 posed the following six ques-
tions to each of the five members of the City Council. Below are the responses offered by Mayor Pilar Turner, and Councilmen Jay Kramer and Richard Winger. Vice Mayor Craig Fletcher and Council member Tracy Carroll did not respond despite repeat-ed attempts to contact them for their input.
1. Do you believe a sale of the electric system will necessitate adjustments in expenses and revenue for the city’s General Fund?
Mayor Pilar Turner: If the electric utility is sold, adjust-ments to the General Fund will be required. The sale of the electric system provides the cat-alyst and opportunity to reduce the size of government to those services the citizens deem es-sential.
Councilman Jay Kramer: \ere is no doubt in my mind that there will be a very large adjustment in expenses and revenue for the General Fund, I believe it consti-tutes a fundamental change in the way the City will do business in the future.
Councilman Richard Winger: \ere is no question the sale of Vero Electric will require some combination of revenue increases and expenses cuts. Our citizens will need to decide how much of an ad valorem tax they want to pay, balanced against what dimin-ishment of services they will toler-ate.
Vero Beach provides premium services of all kinds, some of the best in the state. That is why Vero Beach is a special com-munity! We have favorable po-lice crime closure rates, beauti-ful parks, twice daily beach rest room cleaning, exemplary life guard service, and recreation programs for the less advan-taged -- especially children.
Consider the concept of the “regular city” under Florida home rule. Cities provide everything the state and the county sub-units do not, plus cities must provide for public safety. \at means many cities do the bare minimum in police, parks, streets, recreation, support of community functions, waste collection and so on.
Most of the cities in Florida are “regular cities” and choose what few extras they will support. Vero Beach has chosen to be different and to provide premium environ-ment, support, and amenities. \at costs money. Yet we have one of the lowest city tax rates in Florida.
The cost of the people em-ployed to provide amenities is where the money is. Better po-lice protection costs money, in our case one-third of the city’s general fund expense budget. The extras the city provides goes on and on. I do not see us want-ing to forfeit being a “premium
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CONTINUES ON PAGE 6
CouncilmanRichard Winger
CouncilmanJay Kramer
MayorPilar Turner
Some on Council o=er insight into post-FPL budget
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and beautiful city,” as a result of losing the electric transfer to the general fund. To be cliché, the prediction is we “will not choose to throw out the baby with the bath water.”
cere are some that say if tax-es go up, the electric bill will go down enough, and a balance will be achieved, but this is a rocky road. Winners and losers would result. If a home owner has be-come more energy conservative, or if that homeowner is seasonal, some property owners could pay more in total electric and tax. Others would pay less.
ce reality is the city has been receiving approximately 25 per-cent of its budgets from the elec-tric transfer, and using it to serve all Indian River County citizens. Estimates are that city residents
represent only about 32 per-cent of those using our beaches, streets, parks, recreation and so on. Something will have to give.
2. If so, what is your estimate of the gap the city will have to bridge in expenses and reve-nue once it is no longer making transfers from an electric enter-prise fund to the General Fund. Oose transfers currently total just under $7.5 million a year.
Mayor Pilar Turner: It is pre-mature to evaluate the impact of a sale on the City fi nances until the costs and benefi ts of the transac-tion are clarifi ed.
To date, however, we know we will receive $1 million for fi veyears for the power plant lease; $1.7 million in franchise fees; $170,000 in FPL taxes, and City government will save over $1 mil-
lion in electric costs. c ese rev-enues and savings should help close the gap.
Councilman Jay Kramer: ce$7.5 million fi gure is going to be very close, however there are quite a number of adjustments that will need to be made to get to the real number, I am estimat-ing around $7.72 million cur-rently, which of course will vary depending on the settlement date of the transaction date and how much money we pay in advance to make this deal go through which we are doing now.
Councilman Richard Winger: We will have a better fi x on the looming after-sale budget gap after the budget meetings being held this week. However, we will still lack what is really needed, and that is the details of any po-tential deal with Florida Power and Light.
Will there be cash left over in the sales price to invest after de-feasing our obligation? What are the values of any payments from FPL in lieu of taxes? How long will the existing plant be rented?
cat is to name just a few of the important questions to which we do not yet have answers. With that said, I believe the gap that will need to be closed with spending cuts and/or increases in taxes will be $2 million to $4 million.
3. If a sale of the electric sys-tem is successfully negotiated, are you prepared to approve a property tax increase as part of a solution to balancing the city’s budget? If so, what is the maxi-mum percentage of property tax increase you would be willing to support?
Mayor Pilar Turner: ce sale of the electric utility will allow
taxpayers to determine the size of their city government. Gov-ernment costs have been masked by the electric utility transfers al-lowing a bloated city government to exist. c e benchmarking ex-ercise, comparing Vero Beach to comparable cities, clearly shows an overstaff ed organization. With a high employee count, no performance standards or ap-praisals, we have an ineffi cient system. Excluding the electric utility, Vero Beach has 338 posi-tions. We have 1 city employee for every 45 residents. c e aver-age benchmark city ratio is 1 city employee per 70 residents.
Raising taxes should be a last re-sort. I will work towards effi cient use of taxpayers’ dollars. It will be Vero’s citizens who determine the level of service they wish to support. I will continue to be an advocate for limited government providing essential services in a cost effi cient manner.
Councilman Jay Kramer: Ifthe sale is successfully negotiated the maximum the City Council could approve would be about 38 percent, which they tried to get through last year (I was the only one who voted no on that), anything more then that you would need to go to referendum, although I believe a super major-ity can go higher then 38 percent, but if we are talking over 100 per-cent tax increase it may have to go to referendum. c e maximum property tax I would support would be a property tax increase that is signifi cantly off set by the savings in the utility bills. I cur-rently do not see this, and do not see this in the future especially with FPL’s 16 percent base rate increase.
Councilman Richard Winger: As to tax increases, that can be put
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in perspective in two ways. First, if the net after-sale revenue gap were $4 million, and if that was all replaced with an ad valorem tax, then city taxes would double.
That is because city tax rev-enue is now approximately the $4 million dollars. So if the tax-able value of a property were $350,000, the city portion of the owner’s tax bill would go from approximately $750 to $1,500. With that said, I believe that when the details of a final deal are known, and when we have done the work to cut cost, the voters must be asked via a refer-endum to approve the sale at a known price, with known terms, with full awareness of exactly how services will be reduced and taxes increase.
Something has to give. _e citi-zens cannot have the lower power rates advertised with a potential sale, plus the current “regular” or really “sub -regular” city tax rate of $2.03 per $1,000 in value, as well as premium city services. _is city belongs to all of us, and the citizens should make this de-cision, but only when they can be presented all the facts.
4. Assuming the gap between expenses and revenue cannot be closed exclusively with tax increases, what is your estimate of how much General Fund ex-penses can be reduced?
Mayor Pilar Turner: Before looking at a tax increase, General Fund expenses should be reduced. It is premature to determine what the gap may be without the terms of the sale.
Councilman Jay Kramer: _eonly other choice would be to go after the large funding expen-ditures such as Parks and Rec-reation and the Police. I would
imagine the public would have something to say about this. Re-ducing the General Fund right now is not about cutting the fat, but rather what services can you do without.
Councilman Richard Wing-er: _e city has been constantly shrinking and is committed to become more efficient. My edu-cated guess is that the lowest we can take city expenditures over the relevant years is something like 8 percent. _is is because the city has nearly as many re-tired people receiving benefits as active employees, and a result-ing significant unfunded benefit costs. _is city, like almost all cities, has to face and fund these obligations.
5. If you have an estimate in mind for possible expense cuts, can you be specific about where those those cuts can be made?
Mayor Pilar Turner: _e Coun-cil sets policy. _e details of im-plementation are the responsibil-ity of the Charter Officers.
Councilman Jay Kramer: _ere has been suggestions about merging the Police force in with the Sheriff ’s office as a budget cut, the idea has been floating around for awhile, however that solution is not going to be free and more then likely to cover $7.5 million you would have to cut both Police and Parks & Recreation.
Councilman Richard Winger: It is too early to be specific.
6. Are you prepared to sign a purchase and sale agreement with FPL before a detailed fi-nancial model has been devel-oped revealing in detail exactly how the city will compensate
for the loss of revenue from the electric system?
Mayor Pilar Turner: I think the question should be, “Are you pre-pared to sign a purchase and sale agreement with FPL before a de-tailed financial model showing the net impact of the sale of the electric system would have on the City?”
I would not.
Councilman Jay Kramer: Ab-solutely not! I believe the deal with FPL is just one option, we need to look at all the options and choose the best option. Without any type of competition we will never know for sure if this is the best solution to the situation.
Councilman Richard Winger: No.
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say maybe we can work with you, that’s not the attitude they took,” Tyson said.
Fellsmere City Manager Jason Nunemaker said he understood the county’s reluctance to back such a sprawling service area, but hopes that county offi cials advo-cate providing gas to residents who would have been served un-der Fellsmere’s plan.
“b ere’s always a lot of talk about what government shouldn’t do,” Nunemaker said. “But we don’t talk about what government should do.”
Fellsmere currently has a $700,000 grant application pend-ing which would extend natu-ral gas to the proposed Florida Organic Aquaculture site, along with another $500,000 grant ap-plication to develop roads for the
project site and adjacent com-merce park.
be company hopes to develop a site with a 114,000-square-foot grow-out building where organic colossal shrimp would be raised, along with an outdoor oyster bed area and a mangrove and sea grass production area.
Cliff Morris is a South African businessman and the president and founder of Florida Organic Aquaculture. Morris said he antic-ipates breaking ground on the fa-cility by the fall, but the project will be more economically viable with natural gas service. “b e benefi tto having natural gas at the site is signifi cant,” Morris said. “Without natural gas, I’m not sure the site would be as attractive to us.”
Nunemaker said the company would save more than $650,000 in annual energy costs by using natu-ral gas instead of electricity. He
added the downtown area should be connected by October, and until service is extended to the aquacul-ture site, the company plans to run off an alternative energy source – either electric or propane.
“I think overall we have had a positive eff ect because we have gotten people’s attention,” Nune-maker said. He believes that the county should take an active stance on gas service because of the potential future benefi ts of vehicle fl eet use for GoLine, law enforcement and other agencies. Nunemaker noted that Waste Management is in the process of transitioning to a natural gas fl eet.
Nunemaker said a protracted battle with the county wouldn’t have served the city’s long term interests.
“b at wasn’t going to serve our immediate interest of getting natural gas here,” Nunemaker said. “Getting it here to facilitate economic development but also getting it to our mom and pops, because if they can reduce their energy costs that is profi t these days. It’s still exciting.”
For many county offi cials, the possibility of Fellsmere creating a natural gas service area that would encompass nearly two-thirds of the unincorporated areas of the county and stretch almost ten miles south of the city limits was an unpalatable consideration.
Under Fellsmere’s original plan, the service area would have in-cluded the city’s 5,183 residents, plus an additional 16,740 resi-dents living in unincorporated areas running from the Indian River-Brevard County line south almost to State Road 60, and east from Blue Cypress Lake to Vero Beach and Sebastian, without en-croaching on those cities.
be battle lines were drawn over the possibility of “taxation with-out representation,” in the form of a six percent franchise fee pro-posed by Nunemaker. Chapter 180 only permits cities to estab-lish utility service areas. County commissioners took up the mat-ter as an emergency action item at their June 19 meeting.
County Finance Director Ja-son Brown stated in a memo that the proposed action could allow Fellsmere to levy fees on property owners outside the city, and, “such fees levied on unincorporated area property owners are essen-tially taxation without represen-tation.”
Brown also sent an additional memo to Baird saying he viewed the proposal as an active step by Fellsmere to, “charge a tax on un-incorporated residents without providing any services.” Brown categorized Fellsmere’s proposal as, “a fl eecing of unincorporated residents,” and, “a cynical scam by
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the City of Fellsmere to levy a tax on property owners outside their city limits and fund city opera-tions with the money.”
Fellsmere had approved the ordinance on first reading, with both Brown and County Attorney Alan S. Polackwich, Sr., present. Both county officials asked the City Council to delay action at the request of the county com-missioners. Polackwich said he understood why Fellsmere would want natural gas in the city lim-its, but “I scratched my head and asked, ‘why is Fellsmere going ten miles south of Fellsmere and cre-ating an exclusive area?’”
Mayor Susan Adams encour-aged Nunemaker and county of-ficials to engage in discussions on the matter, but opposed the idea of delaying action, saying, “I be-lieve most of the problems you guys are having is really misin-formation and misunderstanding what we’re trying to do.”
“We could argue the constitu-tionality of laws that have been on the books for decades,” Ad-ams said. “I don’t think that’s for us to get into an argument about whether (Chapter) 180 is valid or not. Vat really defeats the pur-pose.”
“I also believe the comments about taxation without represen-tation are a bit heavy handed,” Ad-ams added. It was also Adams who urged compromise two weeks later on July 5, saying she believed the city was acting within its legal rights, but suggested an amended service area to only include the existing city limits.
Baird, who attended the meet-ing and urged Fellsmere officials to adopt the limited service area, said he was pleased with the out-come.
“We want to thank council for doing that,” Baird said. He said the county would work to help the city
obtain the economic development grants needed for the aquaculture project and commerce park.
Nunemaker said the consensus on council was to maintain for-ward momentum rather than en-gage in a protracted dispute with the county. Nunemaker said the county’s description of the fran-chise fee as ‘taxation without rep-resentation,’ was “sound bite poli-
tics.”Nunemaker said some of the
county commissioners have ex-pressed a willingness to work with Fellsmere on a less aggressive service area if it will foster eco-nomic development in unincor-porated areas. Nunemaker said, “I know several of my council mem-bers got feedback from county residents saying, ‘good job, we’d
like access to (gas)’.”Nunemaker said one of the posi-
tive things that stemmed from the recent situation was the start of a dialog with the county over ex-panding gas service.
“For these folks in the large lot, estate-type developments, I think they will benefit from natural gas. A lot of these folks are using pro-pane now.”
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BY J.G. WALLACEVERO BEACH NEWSWEEKLY
INDIAN RIVER COUNTY -- Bea Gardner didn’t plan on mak-ing another run for County Com-mission.
After all, she has enjoyed being a voice for, “small government con-servatives,” and a popular local blogger and radio commentator. It’s a role well suited for Gardner, 71, who is never lacking an opin-ion or interesting observation.
Her blog, www.BeaGardner.com, which has been suspended during the campaign, was well known for community discus-sions that often ranged from light-hearted to caustic commentary by Gardner, and more often by her participants. Her observations, long known as “Bea-isms,” some-times drew fi re and ire from cur-rent and former political players.
Her bid for offi ce in 2008 was a marathon in a three-way race in which Gary Wheeler prevailed. So Gardner said her intention was to sit 2012 out. at notion end-ed when Wheeler decided not to seek another term and announced plans to move to Tennessee.
“I ran four years ago and at that time I had planned on running,” Gardner said. “And there was a very heated issue four years ago.
`at was the charter government issue.” Gardner said the divisive nature of that issue pitted Wheel-er and her other opponent Gary Parris against each other, leaving little room for Gardner’s message.
“`e commissioner that is va-cating the seat right now is the only who created the divisiveness in the community over charter government,” Gardner said. “Gary Wheeler -- he and his IRNA (In-dian River Neighborhood Asso-ciation) cronies.
“It became such a divisive issue and they really pitted (those) two candidates pro and con on that is-sue in the last election and it put me in a non-issue oriented place,” Gardner said. “I sort of chose to let the two of them battle it out.”
Gardner said a primary factor that motivated her to run again is her belief that Wheeler will try to revive the charter government is-sue from the sidelines.
“Charter government was vot-ed down by the commission four years ago because it was a bad idea then and it is still a bad idea,” Gardner said. “I fear the fact that it may rear its ugly head again.”
Gardner said she thinks Wheel-er’s support for Tim Zorc, a local builder and her opponent in the District 3 Republican primary, may
result in the IRNA and Wheeler bringing the issue back up again.
“It just dawned on me maybe as a back door thing they may bring this issue up again; we may not ac-cept it, we may not think it’s go-ing to happen, but it scares me, “Gardner said. “ e INRA has been quiet on this election and Gary Wheeler is leaving town. So they may plant a seed.”
Gardner said she strongly op-poses charter government be-cause, “It takes a lot of the autono-my away from the individual cities and municipalities. I believe that would be a very unfortunate situa-tion if they became a non-entity in order for the county to take over.”
Gardner said she really doesn’t see there being another issue in this year’s primary. She said she doesn’t detect a lot of public in-terest in either contested race for County Commission, but she won-ders why Wheeler is working so hard to get her opponent elected.
“He wants to have a stake in the game,” Gardner said.
Gardner said she thinks the cur-rent tone of the County Commis-sion is positive for the most part, and off ered praise to all the Com-missioners including Wheeler.
“Wheeler is good and smooth, and a pleasant person to be around
as a politician,” Gardner said. “I never felt there was any problem with the tone of the Commission in the first place. Either they are all good actors or they really mean what they say.”
“I think they have done extremely well in trimming the budget and be-ing the budget hawks that they had to be during this horrible recession. I believe the whole board deserves kudos for what they have been able to do and they have been able to do it in a gentlemanly sort of way,”Gardner said. “ ey never strong-armed anybody, any of the depart-ment heads, ‘you do this or else.’”
“It just happened and I think it was done well,” Gardner added.
Gardner has a mixed opinion on the cuts made to various commit-tees.
“`e area of concern that I have is their broad brush approach to getting rid of their committees. `ey trimmed 13 of them in the past year,” Gardner said. “ ey are so proud of it and they try to act like they are saving the govern-ment money but they are not.”
Gardner said she supported the decision to end the Land Acquisi-tion Advisory Committee.
“`ey operated for close to 20 years and used to have millions of dollars of funds to preserve envi-
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Gardner seeks to add her voice to County Commission
To learn more, call Martine Fecteau at 772-696-2004or Mark Schumann at 772-696-5233.
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ronmentally sensitive land, which was necessary during growth boom to ensure land preserva-tion,” Gardner said. “All of a sud-den, the committee became ob-solete. cey had no money; there was no need to meet.”
Gardner takes the flip side on the decision to eliminate the Utility Advisory Committee, saying her main issue would be to reinstate that committee if she is elected.
“I have clearly stated when I’m elected I intend to reinstate the Util-ity Advisory Committee,” Gardner said. Gardner said the issue involv-ing Vero Utilities is the most impor-tant issue in the county at present.
Gardner said by not allowing themselves a citizen’s advisory committee in the face of such an important issue, county commis-sioners are essentially saying they don’t want the public’s input or opinions.
“cere is a plethora of talent in the community that we could tap into for an advisory committee,” Gardner said. “It’s a way of having government by the people and for the people in our community. Peo-ple want to weigh in on this issue.”
“Why would you turn to an ex-pensive consultant before you have the advice of the people?” Gardner asked, explaining that an advisory committee would bring transparency to government. “cese advisory committees in the sunshine work better than consultants behind closed doors,” Gardner added.
Gardner rejected the idea that maintaining the committees was too costly. “cey need a person to take minutes. Period,” Gard-ner said. “I don’t think that is an expense at all for the benefits you get out of these committees.”
Never lacking in an opinion, Gardner offered a mixed bag of assessments on what the county is doing well and what could be
improved, saying she believes the Chamber of Commerce is re-ally the main entity trying to bring jobs into the county, and question-ing what the County Commission really has done besides vow they are open for business.
“What are they doing to bring in companies?” Gardner asked. “cey never say what they are doing.”
Gardner pointed to the much discussed Michigan-based am-munition manufacturer said to be moving to Gifford.
“As always, it’s not in the sun-shine what we’re hearing,” Gard-ner said. “If it happens, good for them, who wouldn’t appreciate anything that will give us jobs. We’re dangling a carrot because it’s political season. cat’s what it sounds like to me.”
Gardner said she thinks the county is probably not doing enough for the environment be-cause, “they haven’t gone into the same approach that the mu-nicipalities have because they
have passed ordinances about the chemicals that go onto the lawn.”
“ce municipalities took a strong approach but the county wouldn’t do it,” Gardner said. “Maybe we do need to take a stronger approach to protecting the lagoon while we can.”
Gardner said she is confident she will win and is ready to serve.
“I’d be up and running from day one,” Gardner said, “and that is for sure.”
cat confidence isn’t undermined by the Republican primary bat-tle with Zorc, or the pending gen-eral election challenge by Anthony Donadio, a Vero Beach architect running with no party affiliation.
“It’s very unordinary for Indian River County not to decide a race at the Republican primary level,” Gardner said. “I’d say (Donadio) is the frontrunner in the sense that whoever wins the primary will have a race on their hands. Eve-rybody is sitting back wondering if it’s going to be me or my oppo-nent who wins the primary.”
Gardner believes the strong GOP base in a hotly contested Presidential election will eventu-ally elect the party candidate, say-ing Donadio may have support from former members of the or-ganization Common Ground, but even if he was to become a Repub-
lican, it would be as a “R.I.N.O.,” or Republican in Name Only.
Gardner grew up in Canton, Ohio, with three brothers and a sister, all close in age.
“You get a tough skin when you grow up in a large family,” Gard-ner said.
She is married to architect Steve Blum and has three adult sons. Gardner has lived in Florida for 25 years, with the past 22 in Indi-an River County. She has worked in retail, interior design and as a recruiter for an IT company. She served as a member of the Vero Beach Parks and Recreation Com-mission from 1995-2011.
Gardner is a current Republican committee member, past president of the county Republican Execu-tive Committee, a former board member of the Republican Club of Indian River County and a former board member of the Indian River County Taxpayers Association.
District 3 covers much of the southern half of the county, south of State Road 60, including the western part of Vero Beach. While county commissioners live in districts, they are elected by voters countywide. Because Donadio is running as a non-affiliated candidate in the gen-eral election, the primary is only open to Republican voters.
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Bea Gardner
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by Christina tasCon VERO BEACH NEWSWEEKLY
Young or old, local resident or for-eign tourist, the Fourth of July 2012 was a celebration of the American spirit for all.
Pousands gathered as they do every year to watch the fireworks over the Indian River Lagoon at both Sebastian River and Riverside parks.
Sebastian offered a full day of fun beginning with a parade along Indi-an River Drive with floats and walk-ers as kids and adults showed their colors...red, white and blue.
Vero Beach held a separate event which began later in the day with family oriented entertainment and music supplied by 93.7 Pe Breeze radio station.
Across from Memorial Island, boaters filled the lagoon and the crowds filled every nook and cranny for the fireworks show by Zambelli Internacionale.
(Editor’s Note: @ree of the photo-graphs on page 13 were taken by lo-cal photographer Geoff Powell.)
Fourth of July was a celebration for everyone
Photos by CHRISTINA TASCON
Jacob celebrates his three-month birthday with his dad Justin BassThe Breeze Team Kelsey McCord, Hamp Elliott, Kenny Huling, Maryann Wolonowski and Alicia Marshall
Jaime Henderson and Ish Hau get patriotic with Bentley and Lynx
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PHOTOS BY CHRISTINA TASCON
93.7 The Breeze radio station gets the crowd dancing at the pavilions at a pre-Rreworks celebration in Riverside ParkJohn Ashcraft enjoys his sparklers as he plays near the river
PHOTOS BY GEOFF POWELL
“This year I wanted to capture more than just the isolated light show of the Rreworks against the black night sky. I used a super wide angle lens to be able to capture both Memorial Island and the illuminated waters of the Indian River in my images.” – GeoS Powell
BY MILT THOMASVERO BEACH NEWSWEEKLY
My wife, Sandy, and I agree on most things, but not on how to travel. She likes destination trips and I like adventure trips. So, when she let me select China for my birthday, she made the ar-rangements – including half the time on a Yangtze River cruise.
Oh, did I mention she also dis-likes long fl ights? After the long-est fl ight we have ever taken to-gether, we arrived in Shanghai. Pudong Airport is huge, modern, crowded, and handles 16 million international passengers a year (a second major Shanghai airport
handles domestic fl ights). Shanghai is China’s largest city
(23 million people today, 16 mil-lion just ten years ago) that looks brand new. e roads are all at least four lane, skyscrapers tow-er up to 102 stories (a 130-story building is underway), 40-story apartment houses in 24-building clusters are everywhere, streets are fi lled with endless crowds of people dressed in western cloth-ing, and traffi c is jammed up, with no car or truck more than a few years old. `e most amazing fact is that Shanghai is located at the mouth of the Yangtze River on a soft alluvial plain. All those sky-
scrapers were built with deep con-crete pilings to prevent them from sinking into the ground.
It is interesting to note that back home in the U.S. we buy so many Chinese made goods but there ap-pears to be little Chinese infl uence in our culture (outside of Jackie Chan and takeout restaurants). In China, however, there are 13,000 McDonald’s, 4,000 KFC restau-rants and Buick is the most popu-lar American car, produced at a Chinese Buick plant and outsell-ing Buick here in the U.S.
China is certainly an econom-ic miracle and it didn’t happen overnight. No, it did happen
overnight! Twenty years is but a speck in time, yet just about eve-rything we saw in Shanghai and Beijing did not exist twenty years ago. Yes, we Americans had a lot to do with their success, at least consumers did. But when Deng Xiaoping decided to begin imple-menting a market economy back in 1992, he unleashed a passion to succeed that had been repressed for centuries.
However, that success is still to be experienced by half the 1.4 billion population who still live on farms like their ancestors. Also, the semi-authoritarian ruling communist party clings to power as the rising
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14 FEATURE
PHOTOS BY MILT THOMASThe Great Wall, China’s most famous landmark.
A once in a lifetime visit to China
capitalist class erodes its infl uence. eat confl ict simmers beneath the surface for most Chinese, but no one is willing to complain openly to a government that historically forced radical changes in direction if tested.
Our stop in Shanghai was all too brief. e e day after we arrived, we visited YuYang Garden, once home to a Ming Dynasty fi nance minister. It was beautiful and sur-rounded by a shopping area that included Starbucks. e ere are almost 800 Starbucks in China now with another 600 planned by 2014. So much for traditional Chi-nese ambience.
We then visited the historic Bund, formerly a British occupied Concession that was the banking center for all the Far East until the Japanese and then the communists took over. We had lunch in a build-ing that also housed a carpet fac-tory. e ere’s one in every exotic country, but this one had a barrel of silkworm cocoons to give it an air of authenticity (one cocoon produces almost 1,000 feet of silk). Of course they sold carpets there,
too. e e typical line was, “I give you 20 percent off , but I can do better if you don’t tell anyone else.”
After lunch we went to the Shanghai Museum with its ex-quisite collection of centuries old art. e ey also exhibited clothing typical of each of the 56 diff erent Chinese ethnic groups. I always thought of China as homogenous ethnically, but not so. e e dialects are so diff erent in each area that our guide, who was from Beijing, had to hire a Shanghai local as his aide to communicate with offi cials and vendors along the way.
ee next day we fl ew to Wuhan, another massive, modern, crowd-ed, yet effi cient airport and city. ee Chinese seem to keep every-thing pristine clean, except for the air and water, which are polluted beyond hope. In Wuhan we went to the Hubei Provincial Museum, with artifacts as much as 2,400 years old. I fi t right in.
By evening, we fi nally boarded the Viking Emerald, our home for the next six days, and for Sandy, the best leg of our trip. e e Em-erald is only a year old, fi nely ap-
pointed and much more intimate than an ocean liner, built to han-dle 265 guests. e e staff , nearly all Chinese, had an uncanny ability to remember your name and they all adopted English names so we could remember theirs. e e crew was effi cient, courteous and al-ways friendly. Our cabin was the same size as an ocean liner. e efood was the best of our trip. Al-though we ate plenty of Chinese food in our off -ship meals, little of it was as good as what we have locally in Vero Beach. I did try all the local delicacies as I am wont to do, including chicken feet, jel-lyfi sh salad, 1,000-year old eggs, pig tail and ear, fi sh heads and in the best meal we had off the ship at Quanjude Peking Duck Restaurant in Beijing, duck head. Most of the people on this trip did not even try those foods. My motto is “If An-thony Bourdain eats it, so do I.”
ee Yangtze River is China’s longest. Our cruise took in sev-eral hundred scenic miles, but the highlight was traveling through the famous e ree Gorges. e e eree Gorges are a magnifi cent series of
towering natural ridges, not unlike cruising through the Norwegian Fjords, but a lot warmer (tempera-tures on the entire trip averaged in the high 80s). However, the best I can say about the e ree Gorges Dam is that is it the largest in the world. Check out a video at the li-brary and you can judge for your-self if it is an engineering marvel or environmental disaster.
One of our last stops was at the Shibaozhai Temple, a 12-story, red pagoda-style structure built in 1819 on the side of a steep, craggy, 700-foot hill. Legend has it that the higher one climbs in the temple, the more likely your wish will come true. As you climb up through each story, the temple is smaller until you reach the top, only accessible to about six people. It was built entirely without nails, which is evident as you climb the creaky ladders to the top. Once I reached the top, my only wish was to come back down and that wish was granted.
We disembarked from our cruise in Chongqing, home of the zoo
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CONTINUES ON PAGE 16
Beijing tra@ c jam, a common sight.There are 800 Starbucks in China and up to 1400 are expected by 2014.
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that houses giant pandas. _ey were delightful creatures, so cute and innocent it was hard to believe they could tear your head off with the swipe of a claw. _e only thing that bothered me though was the fact that their diet is almost ex-clusively bamboo. _ey eat 20-30 pounds of it a day and generate up to 20 pounds of waste. _ey sleep eight hours a day and only mate 10-15 days a year, so I assume the rest of the time they are eating and wasting away.
To Sandy’s dismay, we boarded yet another flight on a fully packed A320 Airbus for Xian. It is anoth-er modern, clean and overpopu-lated city and airport, but Xian is most famous for something that happened over 2,000 years ago. In 1974 some farmers were dig-ging a well and 25 feet down they came across a huge deposit of clay shards. _ose shards, when reas-
sembled, created the figure of a Chinese soldier six feet tall in full armor. As archeologists dug up the area, they estimated that there were 8,000 of these terra cotta war-riors, along with 130 chariots and 670 horses. It was a clay army, de-signed to guard the tomb of Em-peror Qin Shi Huang in the third century B.C. His tomb was actu-ally a mile away under what locals thought was a hill. Xian itself was the ancient Chinese capitol.
Our next flight was to Beijing (formerly Peking), capitol city of China and home to 19 million people. It would have taken weeks to explore, but we saw the most famous sites.
_e Great Wall is one of the world’s Seven Wonders, with esti-mates of its length anywhere from 4,000 to 6,000 miles. We toured the best preserved section at Ba-daling. _is section was built at an average altitude of 3,200 feet during the Ming Dynasty (1368-
1644). _e day we went, I think the number of tourists equaled the population of Beijing. It is an impressive structure, especially when you consider one million people worked to build it, many of them dying in the process.
_e next day we visited iconic Tiananmen Square, scene of the now famous student protest in 1989. A power struggle ensued between the liberal leaning lead-ers who sided with the students and their conservative counter-parts who felt this entire free mar-ket thing was getting out of con-trol. _e conservatives won and no one knows how many students died. Our guide, Terry Lei, was 11 years old at the time and lived in Xian. He said the protests weren’t limited to Tiananmen Square but were held in many cities around China. _e most positive out-come was that the country’s rulers knew they could not continue do-ing things as before. Nothing on
that scale has happened since. Tiananmen Square, which can
hold up to one million people, was originally the front yard of the Forbidden City palace, en-closed behind a wall that has since been torn down. Even without it, the Forbidden City is a palace of immense proportions. Built in the 15th century, it covers more than seven million square feet and includes 980 buildings. It is the world’s largest surviving pal-ace complex. Its grounds include opulent palaces, pavilions, court-yards, imperial gardens, wind-ing, concrete lined streams and 26-foot high walls. If you have not seen the epic film, +e Last Emperor, which was filmed in the Forbidden City, go rent it.
Everyone should visit China once in their lifetime. As the fo-cus of our culture gradually turns east, it is important to know the country that will likely rival our own for dominance in the future.
FEATURE
cutline
Shibaozhai Temple o=ers a tortuous climb with a breathtaking view. Three Gorges Dam, the world’s largest.
CHINAFROM PAGE 15
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To the Editor:I am writing regarding a recent
story in the Press Journal dealing with real estate signs in the city of Vero Beach.
Re changes to the sign ordi-nances for the city of Vero Beach were developed and approved be-cause the prior ordinances were unenforceable the way they were written and there was a desire to limit the proliferation of the tem-porary stick signs. Regretfully po-litical signs are exempt from the ordinance so we will have to live with them until after the election.
Re new ordinance as approved did not change the regulations for residential real estate signs placed on private property. R e prior ordi-nances have for a long while restrict-ed residential real estate signs to 1-foot-by-1-foot. R e new ordinanc-es simply continue that tradition.
Rere was a proposal to change the size rules for all signs on residential properties in the city to 2-feet-by-2-feet when the new ordinance was proposed to the City Council.
Re Board of Directors of the Oceanside Business Association, the organization that runs the Beachside Farmers Market, Con-cert Series and Christmas parade, sent a letter to the City Council requesting that the size of residen-tial real estate signs in the city on the island not be changed. R eirreasoning was the current sign size very adequately did the job and aesthetically fi t in the area.
At the City Council meetings I represented my own real estate brokerage company, Vero Beach-
side Sales-Rentals and the Ocean-side Business Association. I spoke in support of retaining the current rules for the size of residential real estate signs. I also mentioned fi veor six other beachside brokers that felt as I did that changing the size would distract from the beauty of
the area and there was no busi-ness reason for larger signs.
I have heard that the county board of Realtors was going to bring suit against the city over this issue be-cause they felt Realtors were be-ing discriminated against. I have also personally been warned by the
Chief executive of the board and the board’s president elect, in the pres-ence of other board members, that I may be violating antitrust laws if I continue to discuss and oppose a change to the size of residential real estate signs with fellow beachside brokers. R is belief was expressed because I stated that one of the rea-sons that the Realtor association is pushing this issue is because Real-tors who do not normally list prop-erties in the city did not want to buy special signs for the occasional list-ing they get in the city. I can there-fore no longer discuss this issue to confi rm that the brokerages I men-tioned at two city council meetings are also still in opposition to this unnecessary change.
I and many other businesses con-tinue to believe it is in the best in-terest of both the scenic beauty of our wonderful little town and our businesses to keep the current real estate sign sizes. Attached is a pic-torial representation of the current sign size and the one that has been proposed and was eliminated.
Al BenkertVero Beach
Community Forum
Keep island real estate signs their current size
Vero Beach Newsweekly is distributed throughout Vero Beach and the barrier island.
Visit us on the web at www.VeroBeachNewsweekly.com
It wasn’t supposed to be like this. A generation ago – with the
introduction of computers, cell phones and other time-saving, efficiency-orientated communi-cation technologies – we were promised that the problem for Americans would soon become how to spend all the increased leisure time that would be at our disposal.
However, something has gone wrong. As social commentator Jay Walljasper puts it, “As a kid in the 60’s, I remember hearing that one of the biggest challenges of the future would be what to do with all our leisure time. Amaz-ing inventions were going to free up great stretches of our days for what really matters: friends, fam-ily fun. But just the opposite has happened.”
Indeed recent studies indicate that Americans are working long-er and harder, sleeping less, and spending less and less time on vacation with their families. I was shocked to recently read that the
average American family has only nine days a year to spend together on vacation -- while the highly-productive Ger-mans receive, on average – seven weeks (a total of 49 days) of paid vacation leave to enjoy with their families. As a society, we Ameri-cans are witnessing a demise of leisure.
My Merriam Webster diction-ary defines leisure as: ”freedom, or spare time, provided by the cessation of activities…free time as the result of temporary exemp-tion from work or duties…time at one’s own command that is free of engagements or responsibilities…one’s own time, at one’s conven-ience.” I am persuaded that regu-lar and purposeful doses of leisure and vacation time in one’s life are essential for human health and happiness.
Last week, I was on vacation
with my extended family in the Adirondack region of New York State. We spent a languid sev-en days at a rustic home on the Schroon River, where our cell phones would not work, and there was no internet or compu-ter access. So rather than spend our time distracted by the usual clutter and demands of modern American life, we dove into a world of pure leisure and relaxa-tion -- sleeping without alarms until the sun and the song birds awakened us, cooking and eating non-hurried meals outdoors, vis-iting with one another for hours on the back porch, tubing on the gently flowing river and enjoying bonfires at night.
Of all these wonderful, restora-tive activities, the one that most symbolizes the purity of leisure to me is tubing down the river. Each day, seven or eight of us would walk a mile or so upriver with our huge, inflated tubes, and then en-ter the river at a sandy beach spot. We would then simply float down the river together, letting the cur-
rent of the warm and welcoming water take us downstream at its own natural pace.
As we floated together em-braced by the towering pine trees and cloud-dappled sky, there was a mixture of conversation, quiet, and horseplay between us. Each day, I could feel my blood pres-sure (and any angst I might have still been harboring in my body or soul) drop as I gently floated along with the river and my family.
In these complicated and de-manding times, Americans are working harder and longer than ever, and taking less restorative leisure time with those they love. I pray that you will be intentional about structuring healthy doses of leisure time in your life. It is essential to your well-being as a creature in this wonderful world.
Rev. Scott W. Alexander is the min-ister of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Vero Beach, and has been a minister, author, and educa-tor for almost 40 years. He is an avid cyclist and outdoor enthusiast who loves living in Vero Beach.
To the Editor:Perhaps Mr. fomas is correct
about the Twin Pairs study not be-ing a “waste of taxpayer dollars”. I can only relate my memories re-garding downtown Vero Beach.
My first trip to Indian River County came in 1977 when in-vited to do so by a couple living in Vero Beach. After spend-ing two winter seasons here, the decision was made to make this home. My recollections of downtown Vero are that during those first few years here, many
of the stores were already mov-ing to other locations. Wodtke’s moved to the Miracle Mile; An-thony’s also moved to that area. Loy’s Men’s Wear found a new home in the mall located on U.S. 1 and 12th Street. I remember attending what I believe to be the final movie - James Bond in “Octopussy”at the Florida fea-tre. As I recall, there was no air conditioning that night and the exit door was propped open. Du-Bose Jewelers was right on 14th Avenue. Can’t recall when they
gave up and moved.One reason to visit downtown
was the marvelous Christmas dis-play on the lawn in front of the radio station on 21st Street, west of 14th Ave. A large number of American flags took center stage on that lawn on other occasions. I don’t remember the years, but it was once possible to visit at least four charity thrift shops along 14th Avenue, including the Hu-mane Society.
I’m not against change down-town. It’s been in the process of
changing all along. Do we want it to revert to what it was? fat’s wishful thinking in my mind. Downtown Vero will have to de-cide just what it wants to be. Art district? Restaurant mecca? What? Just slowing down the traf-fic is not going to make me visit more often. Providing more park-ing won’t tempt me if what beck-ons from that area is not some-thing I can resist.
Yours truly,Catherine Katrovitz
Vero Beach
Taking the time to simply Joat down river
Community needs to decide what it wants downtown to be
REVERENDSCOTT ALEXANDER
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
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19Social | Lifestyle
BY CHRISTINA TASCONVERO BEACH NEWSWEEKLY
We Downtown Art Strolls are now a monthly year-round event and the decision seems to be paying off.
As the sun fell and the soft breezes blew this past weekend, 14th Av-enue became a pleasant place to meet friends and view amazing art-work at the galleries.
“Were may be fewer people but sales were as good as ever,” said Fla-metree Clay Gallery’s Maria Sparsis.
Visitors seemed to be evenly mixed from beachside to mainland residents.
Hugo and Pamela Scala and Jane and Jim Faraco came from the beach and made the event their “evening’s entertainment” as they dined at Avanzare and attended the gallery stroll.
“We stroll gives us a chance to enjoy each other’s company while we support the artists at the same time,” said Jane Faraco.
Not only do the galleries benefit but so do the downtown restau-rants. Kilted Mermaid owner Rick Norry was happy that most of his restaurant was occupied. “We defi-nitely get more people afterwards,” he said.
Many of his guests had also at-tended the stroll. “I live all the way in Summerplace,” said Tricia Burke, “but we came for the event and de-cided to get a bite to eat here too.”
It was Peter and Janet Hammer’s 26th anniversary and they came to the event before going to din-ner. “We just love art and want to support the artists,” said Janet Ham-mer.
Wey both said it was a perfect way to celebrate.
Art stroll still a big hit for downtown galleries
Pauline and Don Morris view Al Gustave’s intricate boxes carved from a single piece of wood
Judith Ragusa, Judy Burgarella, Susan & Tim McGarry and Rita Ziegler at Artist Guild Gallery
PHOTOS BY CHRISTINA TASCON
CONTINUED ON PAGE 20
Service Directory
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20 SOCIAL | LIFEST YLE
Permanent Make UpBy Carolyn
772-257-60583006 20th Street, Vero Beach, FLAt Spa 60
Residential and CommercialVictoria’s Cleaning ServicesVictoria’s Cleaning Services
Barbara duPont and Barbara Landry view a Raku piece at Gallery 14 1/2 by artist Dianne Miera
Terry and Ed Green consider a pottery piece by Glenda Taylor at Tiger Lily Studios
Jane Faraco, Pamela Scala, Min Faraco and Hugo Scala (in car) came to support the artists and enjoy the stroll
Sharon Sexton works on tile samples as visitors look on and ask questions about her work at Tiger Lily Studios
ART STROLLFROM PAGE 19
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21Arts | Entertainment
BY CHRISTINA TASCONVERO BEACH NEWSWEEKLY
In what will hopefully become the first of an annual event, the Riverside Yeatre presented a summer Dance Festival on the Stark Stage.
Instead of multiple perform-ances on the Anne Morton stage at Riverside Children’s Yeatre, the Stark Main Stage at Riverside Yeatre gave the Festival a chance to play to a larger audience for one performance Saturday evening.
Dancers auditioned locally as well as at a Boston tryout. Yey also brought in one student, Julia Lemick, from a YouTube audition.
Ye professional choreographers and dancers were Erika Overturff and Matthew Carter who came from Ballet Nebraska to perform
as well as teach the student danc-ers.
At an afternoon dance rehearsal, festival Director Adam Schnell said that all of them had at one time worked together at either Ballet Trocadero or at other dance companies.
“I tell our dancers that the world is a small place,” said Schnell, “but dance is an even smaller world so never burn your bridges.”
Camilo Rodriguez is a dance in-structor at RCT and worked with the students for the Festival.
“I am so impressed by these dancers’ commitment,” said Rod-riguez. “I watched them step up to the plate and keep up the pace even through injuries and being tired.”
Even the professionals said they
were impressed by the level of tal-ent they saw when they came here.
“We have danced and taught all over the country and some of the kids are not very talented,” said Carter, “but this group is a good one.”
Ye performance included 10 dance numbers with a small in-termission. Ye first perform-ance was a dance by Overturff and Carter entitled “Blue Without You” which set the “barre” for the night.
Ye students were exceptionally skilled at not only dance but also gave exceptionally strong emo-tional performances as well.
After the afternoon dance re-hearsal, invited guests were able to ask questions about the process and the dances.
One audience member pointed out that each dance number dif-fered and expressed a multitude of styles.
“We started them off with Mod-ern the first two weeks and then when Erika and Matthew came, we began teaching them the bal-let,” said Schnell. Each of the in-structors brought something dif-ferent and uniquely their own to the choreography and choices of music.
Ba Stone’s granddaughter, Char-lotte Getz, (10), sat in the audi-ence in high anticipation waiting for the Festival to begin. Visiting from Darien, Conn., where she takes gymnastics, Charlotte at-tends summer camp dance classes at the RCT.
“She loves to dance,” said Stone.
Summer Dance Festival delivers incredible variety
The cast performs ‘Dinner Party’ choreographed by Matthew Carter PHOTOGRAPHS BY CHRISTINA TASCON
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22 ARTS | ENTERTAINMENT
The cast completes a performance of ‘Ella’ choreographed by Erika OverturE inspired by the music of Ella Fitzgerald
The professional dancers included Erika OverturE, Matthew Carter, Camilo Rodriguez and Dance Festival Director Adam Schnell
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23ARTS | ENTERTAINMENT
Dancers get ready in the dressing room before the dress rehearsal
Professional dancers and instructors Erika OverturK and Matthew Carter begin the show with ‘Blue Without You’
The Dance Festival was made up of 20 dancers who auditioned locally, on YouTube and in a Boston tryout
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24 Community CalendarEVERY FRIDAY` Farmer’s Market3-6 pm, downtown Vero, corner 14th Ave. & 21st St. 772-480-8353.
EVERY SATURDAY` Oceanside Business AssociationFarmer’s Market, 8 am-noon. Ocean Dr. & Dahlia Ln. 772-532-2455.
JULY 9-13` Missoula Children’s TheatrePresents Rumpelstiltskin work-shop, $100, 10am, performance July 13 at 7pm, Tickets: $10, Sun-rise ieatre. 772-461-4775.
JULY 12` Harbor BranchShowing of Dolphin Tale plus mammal rescue speaker, Johnson Center 1-3 pm, free, hot dogs & popcorn. 772-242-2559.
JULY 13 & 27, AUG 3 & 10` Sunset Boat TourCruise Indian River’s native man-grove coves with Capt. Chop, Ft. Pierce City Marina, $15-$20, res-ervations. 772-464-4445.
JULY 13` “State of the County” luncheonWith Gary Wheeler and Joe Baird, hosted by IRC Chamber, Execu-tive Courthouse Center, noon, $15. 772-567-3491 x110.
JULY 14` Comedy CornerFlip Schultz, Sunrise ieatre, 117 South 2nd St., Fort Pierce, 8:30 pm, $15. 772-461-4775.` Camp]re SaturdaysVero Beach Book Center, Chil-
dren’s Store with Miss Julie, sto-ries, guitar sing-a-long, snacks and more, 11 am. 772-569-6650.
JULY 20-22, 27-29` Summer StageAt Riverside Children’s ieatre, Little Shop of Horrors, Anne Mor-ton ieatre, 6280 Riverside Dr., $6-$9/$12-$18. 772-231-6990.
JULY 21` Vero Beach Community CenterIndoor Air Conditioned Garage Sale, over 50 tables, sign up to participate or come to shop. 8 am-12:30 pm. 772-770-6517.` Bioluminescent Kayak TourAt Merritt Island National Wild-life Refuge, depart Vero Cracker Barrel at 4:30 pm, return mid-night, $35. Reservations, 772-242-2559.
` Indian River NOWHost Candidates Forum, lunch-eon, CJ Cannons, noon-2 pm, $18 in advance, $20 at door, reserva-tions required. 772-473-3037.
JULY 21 & 22` Christmas in JulyAt Waldo’s Driftwood Resort to benefit the Love Doctors Chari-ties, Toy Drive, Poker Run, Pub Crawl and Golf Tournament. 772-231-7091.` Treasure Coast MarineFlea Market & Seafood Festival, Indian River Fairgrounds, 8 am-4 pm. Under the Sun Productions, 954-205-7813.
JULY 22` Treasure Coast Twins Meet-UpHumiston Park, 3 pm, 3000 Ocean Dr. 772-473-3163.
` Space Coast Symphony OrchestraRachmaninoff’s 2nd Symphony, 3 pm, Trinity Episcopal Church, 2365 Pine Ave., $20. 855-252-7276.
JULY 22, AUG 5 & 19` Dancing in the StreetsSongs of the 60’s, ieatre-Go-Round, Joey’s Bistro, 2075 Indian River Blvd., 4 pm, $45. 772-252-9341.
JULY 27 & 28` In the Ru^ Golf TournamentBenefits HALO Rescue and Stray No More, Cocktail party 27th at 6:30 pm, Tournament 28th at 8 am, Indian River Club. 772-360-9294.
` Comedy Zone SUMMER NIGHTS!Grilled food from Hale Groves and treats from Kilwin’s avail-able. CeeJay and Chris Cope, 7:30 & 9:30 pm, $15 plus food, prices vary. 772-231-6990.
JULY 28 & 29` Tour de TurtlesMigration Marathon, Barrier Island Center, 8385 South Hwy. A1A, (just north of Sebastian Inlet), $20/$35, Saturday cocktails & hors d’oeuvres 6 pm; Sunday 8 am for Sea Turtle Release. 321-723-3556.
AUGUST 2-4` “The Jacksons” Aerial AnticsYouth Circus, Recreation Dept. Performing Arts gymnastic per-formances, 7 pm, St. Edward’s School, $5-$6. 772-567-2144.
AUGUST 3` Downtown Gallery Art StrollHistoric Mainstreet art district, art galleries and businesses, open house receptions. Free. 772-299-1234.To submit your calendar listing please email: [email protected]
PHOTO BY JOE SCOPINO
THURSDAY, JULY 12 FRIDAY, JULY 13 SATURDAY, JULY 14 SUNDAY, JULY 15 MONDAY, JULY 16 TUESDAY, JULY 17 WEDNESDAY, JULY 18
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If you’d like to see one of your photographs published in Vero Beach Newsweekly, please send them to us at [email protected]. Photos need to be at least 200 dpi and in jpeg format.
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25SportsSandridge as challenging as some private coursesBY MICHAEL BIELECKIVERO BEACH NEWSWEEKLY
INDIAN RIVER COUNTY -- Sitting squarely in the middle of Indian River County, Sandridge Golf Course is many things to many people. For some, it is their regular golf course and its central location lends itself as a conven-ient place to play. For others, it is a superior fi nancial alternative to paying a fi ve-figure membership fee for golf at a private club.
With greens outfi tted with the same variety of grass used at elite golf courses like PGA Golf Club in Palm Beach, and with one of the most challenging par-4 island greens in the state -- hole 14 on the Lakes course -- a round at In-dian River County’s largest public golf facility off ers a complete golf experience for everyone.
“I hate the word “muni”, and I don’t ever consider us a municipal course,” said fi rst-year Director of Golf Bela Nagy. “We may be owned by the county, but I don’t consider this place to be a munici-pal course -- I cringe at the nega-tive connotations that go along with being called that.”
Typically, municipal courses suf-fer from not being well kept. g ey tend to play on the easy side with very little thought given to either upkeep or improvements.
“g e two golf courses here are maintained awfully well,” said In-dian River Golf Foundation Presi-dent Roger Van Dyke. “g e group they have in here, International Golf Maintenance, does a fantas-tic job. g ey really have an eye for detail and it shows.”
From May 1 to Sept. 30, rates plummet to as low as $22 for 18 holes with tax and cart after 11
a.m. On occasion, the course runs a $35 special for two golf-ers and a cart. Rates like that are hard to find on even the shoddi-est of nine-hole courses, let alone a course like Sandridge that hosts events like the May’s AAU Golf Championships (in conjunction with g e Club at Pointe West) and the 15th annual Treasure Coast Father/Son Championship.
Never one to rest on the lau-rels of his course, Nagy is always planning the next project that will improve the golf experience San-dridge off ers. g e greens were outfitted with the same Champi-on Grass used at top-fl ight private clubs around Florida in the Lakes course fi ve years ago and on the Dunes course two years after that. gis year, he’s expanding the driv-ing range to meet the needs of lo-cal youth golfers.
Nagy, who took over for longtime Sandridge head man Bob Komari-netz this spring, has continued to
focus on enticing more children to learn the game since his arriv-al at Sandridge 17 years ago after graduating from Mississippi State University’s golf management pro-gram. He was selected to the 2005 and 2009 US Kids Magazine Top 50 Teachers in America and also won the 1999 Junior Golf Leader of the Year for the Southeast Chapter
of the South Florida PGA.“Bob and I did everything togeth-
er; now I’m just fi lling his shoes,” Nagy said “It is the job I had been doing and trained for, and hope-fully I’ll be able to carry the torch and keep making people happy. Making people feel welcome -- like they are at a private club -- has al-ways been our goal at Sandridge.”
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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!
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We Specialize in Mechanical Restoration of Classic Cars, including:Mercedes BenzRolls RoyceMuscle Cars
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PHOTO SUPPLIED
The 18th hole on the Lakes course is a long par-5 that features sand traps which H ercely guard the green.
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26 ObituariesJean Frances WatkinsJean Frances Watkins, 73, died
June 13, 2012, at Indian River Medical Center, Vero Beach. She was born in Vero Beach and was a lifetime resident. A guestbook is available at www. stonebrothers-funeralhome.com.
Herbert Arthur WeismillerHerbert Arthur Weismiller,
91, died June 13, 2012. He was a resident of de Moorings in Vero Beach. A guestbook is available at www.coxgiffordseawinds.com.
Darlene Mae AbramsDarlene Mae Abrams, 80, died
June 21, 2012, at Harbor Chase of Vero Beach. She was born in Daw-son, Iowa, and lived in Vero Beach for 40 years, coming from North Palm Beach. A guestbook is avail-able at www.strunkfuneralhome.com.
Paul Christian ‘Chris’ AlbrechtPaul Christian “Chris” Albrecht,
59, died May 16, 2012, at Uni-versity Hospital in Augusta, Ga. He was born and raised in Vero Beach and recently lived in North Augusta, S.C.
Jennie Lou BroomJennie Lou Broom, 64, died
June 23, 2012, at VNA Hospice of Vero Beach. She was born in Fort Pierce and lived in Fort Pierce before moving to Vero Beach 55 years ago. A guest-book is available at www.sarahs-memorial.com.
Bryan Davis Bryan Davis, 91, of Vero Beach,
died June 17, 2012. Memorial gifts may be made to: VNA & Hospice Foundation 1110 35th Lane Vero Beach, FL 32960 800.749.5760 x.5569.
Maria Louise FriersonMaria Louise Frierson, 47, died
June 22, 2012, at Indian River Medical Center. She was born in Miami and lived in Indian River County since 2004. A guestbook is available at www.stonebrothersfu-neralhome.com.
Salvatore GiammancoSalvatore Giammanco, 87, died
June 22, 2012, at Indian River Medical Center in Vero Beach. A guestbook is available at www.aycock-hillcrest.com.
Richard E. HooverRichard E. Hoover, 83, died
June 27, 2012, at his home. He was born in Canton, Ohio, and lived in Vero Beach to 20 years, coming from of Canton. Memo-rial contributions may be made to VNA Hospice, 901 37 St. Vero Beach, FL 32960. A guestbook is available at www.aycock-hill-crest.com.
George David HornerGeorge David Horner, 75, died
June 22, 2012, at Indian River Medical Center in Vero Beach. He was born in Knoxville, Tenn., and lived in McDonough, Ga., for 28 years and was part-time resident of Vero Beach. BA guest-book is available www.coxgifford-seawinds.com.
died June 18, 2012. She was born in Detroit and lived in Vero Beach since 1976, coming from Boca Raton. Memorial contributions may be made to Humane Society of Vero Beach and Indian River County, P.O. Box 644, Vero Beach, FL 32961-0644. A guestbook is available at www.coxgifford-seawinds.com.
Christ James 'Chris' PolezoesChrist "Chris" James Polezoes,
72, died June 25, 2012, at the VNA/Hospice House, Vero Beach. He was born in Chicago and lived in Vero Beach for 10 years, com-ing from Fort Pierce. Memorial contributions may be made to the VNA/Hospice Foundation, 1110 35th Lane, Vero Beach, FL 32960. A guestbook is available www.seawindsfh.com.
Charles T. PulliamCharles T. Pulliam, 69, died
June 14, 2012, at his home. He was born in Martinsville, Va., and lived in Vero Beach for eight years, coming from Punta Gorda. Memorial contributions may be made to Senior Resource Asso-ciation, 694 14th St., Vero Beach, FL 32960. A guestbook is avail-able at www.coxgiffordseawinds.com.
Richard A. Ralph Jr.Richard A. Ralph Jr., 61, died
June 20, 2012, at his home. He was born in Summit, N.J., and lived in Vero Beach for five years, coming from Fort Lauder-dale. Memorial contributions may be made to Humane So-ciety of Vero Beach and Indian River County, P.O. Box 644, Vero Beach, FL 32961. A guestbook is available at www.strunkfuneral-home.com.
Dr. Joseph Forest Sherer, JrDr. Joseph Forest Sherer, Jr., 93,
of Vero Beach and Little Comp-ton, R.I., died June 20, 2012. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in his honor to the United Congregational Church, PO Box 506, Little Compton, RI 02837. Online condolences may be sent at www.coxgifford-seawinds.com.
Barbara Hill WhiteBarbara Hill White, 80 of Vero
Beach, died Friday, June 22, 2012 at St. Barnabas Hospice, Long Branch. She was a long time Rum-son, NJ resident prior to moving to Vero Beach 10 years ago. Memo-rial contributions may be made to St. Barnabas Hospice, 300 Second Ave., Long Branch, NJ 07740.
Elizabeth Allred WildmanElizabeth Allred Wildman, 83,
died June 23, 2012. She was born in Wilder, Tenn., and lived in Vero Beach and Crossville, Tenn. Me-morial contributions may be made to Cumberland House, 140 Kate's Korner, Crossville, TN 38555.
Robert L. SlavinRobert L. Slavin, 95, died June
25, 2012, at his home. He was born in Athol, Mass., and lived in Vero Beach for 28 years, com-ing from Winchendon, Mass. Memorial contributions may be made to Eugene M. Connor Post 193, P.O. Box 116, Winchendon, MA 01475; or to VNA/Hospice, 1110 35th Lane, Vero Beach, FL 32960. A guestbook is available at www.stone-ledeau.com and www.strunkfuneralhome.com.
Charles E. WilliamsCharles E. Williams, 83, died
June 27, 2012, at his home. He was born in Pittsburgh, Pa., and lived in Vero Beach for 42 years, com-ing from Broadview, Ill. Memorial contributions may be made to the National Stroke Association, 9707 East Easter Lane, Centennial, CO 80112. A guestbook is available at www.strunkfuneralhome.com.
Christine L. 'Chris' WilliamsonChristine L. "Chris" Williamson,
81, died June 26, 2012, at VNA/Hospice House in Vero Beach.
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27OBITUARIES
She was born in Providence, R.I., and was a winter resident of Vero Beach for 25 years, and full-time in 2005, coming from Cape Cod, Mass. A guestbook is available at www.strunkfuneralhome.com.
James John NeH YoungJames John Neff Young, 89, died
June 28, 2012, at VNA Hospice House, Vero Beach. He was born in Vandergrift, Pa., and lived in Vero Beach for 27 years ago, com-ing from Erie, Pa. Memorial con-tributions may be made to VNA Hospice Foundation, 1110 35th Lane, Vero Beach, FL 32960. A guestbook is available at www.coxgiffordseawinds.com.
Julia Bruce CoyleJulia Bruce Coyle, 87, died June
28, 2012. She was born in New York City and was a longtime winter resident of Vero Beach for more than 20 years.
Janice M. BentlageJanice M. Bentlage, 69, died June
29, 2012, at her home in Vero Beach. She was born in Highland, Ill., and lived in Vero Beach for 14 years, coming from Walshville, Ill. Me-morial contributions may be made to the Lutheran Church of the Re-deemer, 900 27th Ave., Vero Beach, FL 32960. A guestbook is available at www.strunkfuneralhome.com.
Maxine Jones BelvinMaxine Jones Belvin, 89, died
June 29, 2012, at Atlantic Health Care. She was born in Lake City, coming from there to Indian River County five years ago. A guest-book is available at www.stone-brothersfuneralhome.com.
Virginia L. BlivenVirginia L. Bliven, 87, died June
28, 2012, at VNA Hospice of Vero Beach. She was born in Sink-ing Spring, Pa., and lived in Vero
Beach for nine years, coming from Islamorada.
Hainsley A. Cuddon Sr.Hainsley A. Cuddon Sr., 50, died
June 30, 2012, at Indian River Medical Center, Vero Beach. He was born in St. comas, Jamaica, and lived in Vero Beach for five years, coming from Queens, N.Y. A guestbook is available at www.coxgiffordseawinds.com.
Antoinette DelissioAntoinette Delissio, 86, died
July 5, 2012, at VNA Hospice House, Vero Beach. She was born in Hartford, Conn., and lived in Vero Beach for 10 years, com-ing from Port St. Lucie. Memo-rial contributions may be made to VNA Hospice Foundation, 1110 35th Lane, Vero Beach, FL 32960. A guestbook is available at www.coxgiffordseawinds.com.
Rosemary F. GagliardiRosemary F. Gagliardi, 75, died
July 6, 2012, at Indian River Medi-cal Center, Vero Beach. She was born in West Haven, Conn., and lived in Vero Beach for 30 years. Memorial contributions may be made to H.A.L.O. Rescue & Stray No More, 710 Jackson St., Sebas-tian, FL 32958. A guestbook is available at www.lowtherfuneral-home.com.
Betty S. LloydBetty S. Lloyd, was born on the
Fourth of July in Spokane, Wash-ington, and died on the Fourth of July 2012 at the VNA Hospice House in Vero Beach. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Salvation Army, the Houston, TX, SPCA, the Nature Conservancy, or the charitable organization of your choice. An online guest book is available at www.coxgifford-seawinds.com.
Cheryl Ann MannyCheryl Ann Manny, 53, died
July 5, 2012, at Indian River Medi-cal Center, Vero Beach. She was born in South Weymouth, Mass., and lived in Vero Beach for 25 years, coming from Kenansville. A guestbook is available at www.coxgiffordseawinds.com.
Marie R. MessaMarie R. Messa, 94, died July
5, 2012, at Indian River Medical Center, Vero Beach. She was born in Bellaire, Ohio, and lived in Vero Beach for 34 years, formerly of Ri-dley Park, Pa. Memorial contribu-tions may be made to St. Helen Catholic Church, 2025 20th Ave., Vero Beach, FL 32960. A guest-book is available at www.aycock-hillcrest.com.
Daniel Anthony MuscaraDaniel Anthony Muscara, 89,
died July 4, 2012, at Willowbrook Court in Indian River Estates, Vero Beach. He was born and raised on Long Island, N.Y., and moved to Stuart in 2005 and then to Vero Beach. A guestbook is available at www.coxgiffordseawinds.com.
Charles Ernest Roberts Jr.Charles Ernest Roberts Jr., 89,
died June 29, 2012, at the VNA/Hospice House. He was born in Worcester, Mass., and lived in Vero Beach for 34 years, coming from Fort Lauderdale. Memo-rial contributions may be made to the Veterans Victory Center, 6200 20th St., Suite 160, Vero Beach, FL 32966. A guestbook is available at www.coxgiffordseawinds.com.
Audrey SandsAudrey Sands, 78, died July 4,
2012, at the Hospital of the Uni-versity of Pennsylvania, Philadel-phia. She was born in Newark, N.J., and lived in Vero Beach for five years, coming from Clearwa-
ter. Memorial contributions may be made to Faith Baptist Church Ministries, 7966 20th St., Vero Beach, FL 32966. A guestbook is available at www.aycock-hillcrest.com.
died July 4, 2012, at his home. He was born in West Helena, Ark., and lived in Vero Beach since 1989, coming from Memphis, Tenn. A guestbook is available at www.lowtherfuneralhome.com.
Raymond ShurtleHRaymond Shurtleff, 77, died
June 29, 2012, at VNA Hospice House in Vero Beach. Memorial contributions may be made to VNA Hospice Foundation, 1110 35th Lane, Vero Beach, FL 32960. A guestbook is available at www.coxgiffordseawinds.com.
Lyla Lee WeinerLyla Lee Weiner, 82, died June
21, 2012, at Palm Garden of Vero Beach. She was born in Brook-lyn, N.Y., and lived in Vero Beach since 1982, coming from Willing-boro, N.J.
Alfrida M. StansburyAlfrida M. Stansbury, 47, died
June 29, 2012, at VNA Hospice House, Vero Beach. She was born in Aberdeen, Md., and had been a resident of Indian River County for 36 years. A guestbook is avail-able at www.stonebrothersfuner-alhome.com.
Elizabeth Mary WylieElizabeth Mary Wylie, 93, died
July 2, 2012, at the Indian River Estates Medical Center in Vero Beach. She was born in Boston and lived in Vero Beach for 20 years, coming from Miami. A guestbook is available at www.strunkfuneralhome.com.
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28 DiningMr. Manatee’s: fresh 5sh with an accent on casual
BY MARK JOSEPH VERO BEACH NEWSWEEKLY
Hungry, with no desire to dress to impress, we chose to have an early dinner at one of the most casual places that came to mind, so we slipped on our flip-flops and headed off to Mr. Manatees in Royal Palm Pointe.
At Royal Palm Pointe on a quiet canal lies one of the area’s most popular places. Mr. Man-
atees has been serving up seafood in classic Florida style and in the same location for quite a number of years. Pulling up to the parking lot of Mr. Manatee’s you’re immediately greeted by a large sign featuring “Woodrow,” a carved character of the restaurant’s well-known mascot, which is actually a friendly face of a manatee waving, with the phrase ‘A Casual Grille’ underneath.
Walking into the dining room, their slogan holds true to its name; hard bench-style booths, linen-less tables and walls decorated with beer signs and typi-cal Florida kitsch, we knew we had dressed appro-priately for this dining occasion.
We were seated in a booth by the window with a nice view of the handicapped parking space. Note that Mr. Manatees does have a rear dining room overlooking a beautiful boat-lined canal, however we were not given that seating option on this early bursday evening.
Our server was a nice young lady who immedi-ately informed us that all appetizers were half-price this day and after giving her our beverage orders, we perused the menu and saw something very inter-esting on the appetizer list which was fried pickles. Intrigued, we decided to try the pickles along with coconut fried shrimp and an order of beef teriyaki mini skewers.
All three appetizers arrived in a reasonable amount of time and since we were sharing, our serv-er brought side plates and quickly helped us make room on the table for all three items.
be fried pickles were actually a basket of thin slices of ordinary crinkle-cut bottled variety, rolled in what appeared to be Panko breading and then deep fried to a crisp golden brown. be contrast of
the tart pickles, together with the thin crisp coat-ing made for an unexpected delight. be basket of fried pickles included a plastic ramekin of regular ranch dressing for dipping. be dressing was tradi-tional and satisfactory, however the delicious basket of fried pickles should have been accompanied by something a bit more interesting, perhaps a kicked-up sauce of some sorts?
be coconut shrimp were four large prawns deep fried in a coconut batter and though the shrimp were fairly tender and not over-cooked, the bread-ing was too heavy. It seemed they were either dou-ble dipped or the batter itself was far too thick. be fried shrimp was served with a side of sweet and sour sauce - again your bottled variety.
be beef teriyaki skewers unfortunately were chewy and not very fresh. Aside from the glaze, the other redeeming thing about this dish was the side of tangy dipping sauce with a hint of horseradish.
be list of entree choices included mahi-mahi and grouper and each with a choice of two side vegeta-bles. Whenever fresh grouper is offered on a menu - especially at a restaurant that specializes primarily in seafood -- I rarely pass it up and this time was no exception.
be grouper was offered deep fried, broiled or blackened, I chose the latter and was happy I did. be fish was indeed fresh and perfectly cooked and the blackening seasoning was a kicked-up version that was definitely spicy. be squash medley and side tossed salad were nothing special, though I did enjoy the side of homemade dressing.
be mahi-mahi was also ordered blackened and included two large pieces of fish. be white, flakey
fillets were moist and tender and a very generous portion at that. be side broccoli was adequate; however the coleslaw was not. Coleslaw is a com-mon staple at many seafood restaurants and though often prepared different ways, this particular ver-sion was very disappointing. be slaw was far too wet, swimming in too much sauce and much too sweet. Less sugar and less dressing would have suf-ficed.
be service throughout the meal was above aver-age. Our friendly waitress removed finished plates promptly and beverage glasses were never empty. be list of desserts sounded tempting as sweets of-ten do, but after such a huge meal of shared appetiz-ers and entrees, we had to pass.
Mr. Manatee’s is owned by the same company that operates the Lobster Shanty, a sister restaurant located just down the street. Jack Baker - the com-pany’s founder - opened the first Lobster Shanty in Point Pleasant Beach, N.J some 30 years ago. After moving to Florida, Baker open up the Lobster Shan-ty at the end of Royal Palm Pointe and eventually opened up Mr. Manatee’s as well.
Like its sister restaurant Mr. Manatee’s has re-mained a popular spot with both tourists and locals for many years. be seafood restaurant features some of the freshest fish available including a full bar and with atmosphere that’s definitely casual. In addition, Mr. Manatee’s offers a view of one of the tranquil ca-nals that runs through Royal Palm Pointe and they say if you’re lucky, you may actually see one of Flor-ida’s famous sea-cows making its way up the canal before heading back to the river.
If not, you’ll always see the smiling face of the restau-rant’s friendly mascot, waving you into one of the most well-known restaurants for fresh fish and at one of the most popular spots for manatee watching.
Dinner for two before tip: $55.
Mr. Manatee’sRestaurant with full bar30 Royal Palm Pointe,Vero Beach, FL 32960
772-569-9151Hours:
7 days, 11a.m. to 10 p.m.Most major credit cards accepted
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Cuisines of Vero
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 7pm
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 the following:
Monday: $5 Drink special, bartender’s choiceTuesday: Half off all bottles of wine priced $100 or lessWednesday: Wine Down Wednesday: all house wineglass pours $5 all day
Thursday: Extended Happy Hour drinks until 7:00pm
Friday: Mr. Motown Curtis Hill playing at 7pmin the Cobalt Lounge
Weekly Ice Cream SpecialsWaf=e ConeWednesdayBuy 1 Get 1 FreeTopping it offThursday
FreeToppingMilkshake Sunday
Buy 1 get 2nd 1/2 price
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The legendary JACK BAKER’S LOBSTER SHANTY combines extraordinary value and an unmatched waterfrontsetting. Full course meals including soup or garden salad, choice of 13 entrées, dessert and beverage starting at just $13.
VERO BEACHOne Royal Palm Point • Vero Beach, FL 32960
871 River Tr. Indian Trails 9/27/11 $2,300,000 6/28/12 $2,000,000 Dale Sorensen Real Estate Inc.Matilde Sorensen Dale Sorensen Real Estate, Inc.Darrow Jackson
Mainland Real Estate Sales – June 28-July 44880 Coventry Court Coventry Island 8/8/10$650,000 7/2/12$515,000 Alex MacWilliam, Inc.Stacey Clawson Alex MacWilliam, Inc.Patty Valdes
Address Subdivision List Date List Price Sell Date Sell Price Listing Broker/Agent Selling Broker/Agent 9066 Castle Harbour Cir. Bermuda Club 10/1/11 $545,000 6/29/12 $500,000 Coldwell Banker Ed Schlitt VB/Deborah Lyon Daley & Company Real Estate/Sally Daley1150 Reef Rd., #22 Sabal Reef Condo 12/5/11 $499,900 6/28/12 $465,000 The Moorings Realty Sales Co./Judy Hargarten Norris & Company/Lucy Hendricks430 Arrowhead Tr. Indian Trails 5/27/11 $350,000 7/2/12 $350,000 Dale Sorensen Real Estate Inc./Elizabeth Sorensen Dale Sorensen Real Estate, Inc./Dick Davis716 Iris Ln. Orange Park Estates 1/16/12 $364,000 6/29/12 $325,000 Alex MacWilliam, Inc./Charlotte Terry Dale Sorensen Real Estate, Inc./Mara McAulide645 Iris Ln. River Oaks Estates 1/25/12 $298,000 6/29/12 $275,000 Norris & Company/Peggy Hewett Vero Realty LLC/Margot Sadler3500 Ocean Dr., #301 Vero Beach Hotel & Club 2/22/10 $495,000 7/3/12 $270,000 Vero Beach Hotel and Spa/Beverly Spark Vero Beach Hotel & Spa/Beverly Spark3500 Ocean Dr., #201 Vero Beach Hotel & Club 7/15/10 $499,999 6/28/12 $250,000 Vero Beach Hotel and Spa/Beverly Spark Vero Beach Hotel & Spa/Beverly Spark2717 Ocean Dr., #9A Ocean Towers 3/30/12 $229,000 6/28/12 $215,000 Alex MacWilliam, Inc./Stuart Kennedy Alex MacWilliam, Inc./Karen Abell300 HARBOUR DR 201D Porpoise Bay Villas 10/25/10 $159,900 7/2/12 $135,000 The Moorings Realty Sales Co./Judy Hargarten Alex MacWilliam, Inc./Craig Von Kohorn5400 Highway A1A, #I-11 Vista del Mar 3/23/11 $150,000 6/29/12 $120,000 Dale Sorensen Real Estate Inc./Grier McFarland Starcsh Real Estate - Vero/Lois Sferra
Address Subdivision List Date List Price Sell Date Sell Price Listing Broker/Agent Selling Broker/Agent 20 Starcsh Dr. Vero Isles 1/1/12 $409,000 7/2/12 $362,000 Norris & Company/Lucy Hendricks Peters, Carlton & Mugford RE/Brad Shearer13510 83rd. St. Fellsmere Farms 2/8/12 $315,000 7/2/12 $290,000 RE/MAX Crown Realty/Sherri Sproch NMLS/NMLS AGENT122 Prestwick Cir. Bent Pine 9/16/11 $290,000 6/29/12 $280,000 Dale Sorensen Real Estate Inc./Grier McFarland Norris & Company/John Glorieux1476 56th Sq. E Kingswood Estates 9/12/11 $299,000 6/29/12 $275,000 Dale Sorensen Real Estate Inc./Suzanne Ledew RE/MAX Classic/Bill Carroll455 12th Pl. SE River Shores Estates 4/20/12 $235,000 6/29/12 $228,000 Dale Sorensen Real Estate Inc./Georgann Schreiber Dale Sorensen Real Estate, Inc./Debbie de Montigny1755 Belmont Cir. SW Millstone Landing 4/10/11 $235,000 6/29/12 $225,000 Real Living All Florida Realty/Bob Lewis Real Living All Florida Realty/Renee McConnell4799 Wood Duck Cir. Grand Harbor Wood Duck 4/25/12 $229,000 7/2/12 $213,000 Dale Sorensen Real Estate Inc./Sally Baskin Dale Sorensen Real Estate, Inc./Holly Gorman450 Greystone Ct. SW Greystone 12/19/11 $219,900 7/2/12 $210,000 RE/MAX Classic/Kelly Fischer Dale Sorensen Real Estate, Inc./Tripp Hernandez449 Mark St. Sebastian Highlands 5/30/12 $209,900 6/29/12 $206,000 RE/MAX Crown Realty/Ronnie Preuss Santana Real Estate LLC/Vicky Lee Santana6214 Dorchester Way Woodceld 5/24/12 $200,000 6/28/12 $200,000 Prudential Sterling Properties/Lynn Raymond Dale Sorensen Real Estate, Inc./Al Sipes3134 Ashford Sq. Brookceld at Trill 4/25/12 $210,000 6/29/12 $200,000 Dale Sorensen Real Estate Inc./Debbie de Montigny Norris & Company/Peggy Hewett
Honoring those committed to healing and helping.PRESENTED BY
Treasure Coast Newspapers and Seacoast National Bank are giving YOU, the community, the opportunity to nominate your “champion” for this year’s Health Care Champions Awards.
For the third year in a row, Health Care Champions will recognize health care leaders, professionals, volunteers, organizations and many more for their dedication to excellence in the health care field. Your nominations will be carefully reviewed by a panel of distinguished judges made up of the Treasure Coast’s health care leaders and CEO’s.
16 Finalists will be recognized at our awards luncheon and eight will take home Health Care Champion awards.
Award categories are: Emergency Medical Services Award Advancement in Health Care Research Award Innovation in Health Care Award Quality of Care Lifetime Achievement Award Community Outreach Award Physician’s Excellence in Health Care Award Non-physician’s Excellence in Health Care Award Administrative Excellence Award
