12/03/2020 ISSUE 49

John’s Island tennis pro moving
to Sea Oaks. P9

County may cut back
on places to vote. P14
Pianist Brandon Sturiale
waits for Riverside to reopen. P8

First responders For breaking news visit
to be vaccinated
as soon as possible Will third surge of
COVID-19 find us
better prepared?

BY LISA ZAHNER BY MICHELLE GENZ
Staff Writer Staff Writer

With Indian River County’s Three surges into the COV-
COVID-19 case count passing
the 5,000-case mark on Mon- ID-19 pandemic, Indian River
day, public safety agencies are
preparing to vaccinate their County would appear to be
personnel as soon as one of
the three vaccines in the ap- hoping that this round is the
proval process is available.
most survivable.
According to state and lo-
cal officials, healthcare work- But have we learned from the
ers and first responders will
be among the early adopters prior two surges? How much
of the new COVID-19 vaccine
due to their frequent contact better supplied are our hospi-
with the public, and the need
to keep them healthy and on tals and nursing homes with
the job to support the county’s
healthcare infrastructure. gowns, gloves and masks? And

Indian River Shores Public most important, how willing
Safety Chief Rich Rosell said
are we to hole up in our homes
CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
again, forgoing socialization
Vero abandons idea
of creating test site and starving businesses of
for city residents
Sisters Cindy Merling, left, of Owosso, Michigan, and Lorraine Szappan of Vero Beach shop at Beach Planet. PHOTO BY BRENDA AHEARN customers, all for the sake of
BY LISA ZAHNER
Staff Writer Despite pandemic, island tourism not bad in late summer the vulnerable?
Today, as the third surge
What seemed like a simple
project – setting up a conve- takes hold and Florida’s total
nient, quick and free COV-
ID-19 testing location for Vero BY STEPHANIE LABAFF due to Hurricane Dorian, the at Costa d’Este Beach Resort & cases pass the 1 million mark,
Beach residents – turned out Staff Writer uptick was a pleasant sur- Spa, according to general man- Indian River County saw to-
to be too expensive and com- prise, and many island busi- ager Chad Olson, and he ex- tal cases since the start of the
plicated for the City of Vero
Beach to tackle. When Indian River County nesses say the good times pects an increase in bed tax rev- pandemic top 5,000. Hospital-

CONTINUED ON PAGE 7 issued its end of the fiscal year continued into October. enue for October as well, when izations here doubled over the

tourism tax report last week, Compared to last year, guest those numbers are calculated. weekend to 21, a frightening

there was less bad news than numbers were up in September CONTINUED ON PAGE 3 CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

many feared and some unex-

pected good news. 98 percent of Grand Harbor members vote to
After everything the state, take over ownership of club from Carl Icahn

country and world has been
through in 2020, including

travel and business restric-

tions, overall revenue from the BY RAY MCNULTY yearlong saga that produced
county’s 4 percent bed tax for Staff Writer sometimes-contentious ne-

the year ending Sept. 30 was gotiations, threats of legal

down less than 10 percent. Grand Harbor members action and a shuttered club-

And revenue from tourism in have voted overwhelmingly house and golf course.

September was actually up 30 to assume ownership and Although the 10-day vot-

percent compared to last year. control of the community’s ing period officially end-

Even granted that tourism New General Manager Michael Gibson. Golf & Beach Club, ending a CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

was slow in September 2019

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2 Vero Beach 32963 / December 3, 2020 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Grand Harbor weighted based on membership level, Chris Hull as the club’s general man- vote results Monday, the board said
such as full golf, tennis and social. ager. “many of the recently resigned mem-
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 bers have asked to rejoin the nearly 600
The new board was constituted when Gibson previously worked as the gen- members who belong to the club,” and
ed at midnight Monday, more than the members association and Icahn eral manager at the Old Marsh Club in that many Grand Harbor staffers have
enough members had voted in favor reached an agreement-in-principle ear- Palm Beach Gardens and Boca Grove begun returning to their jobs as Gibson
of the takeover by Monday morning lier this month – the agreement mem- Golf & Tennis Club in Boca Raton prior oversees a staged reopening of facilities.
to make the result clear, approving an bers have now approved. to holding the same position at The Golf
agreement reached last month with Club at Turner Hill in Ipswich, Mass. Sweeny said Gibson plans to reopen
Icahn Enterprises, which owned and “It’s done,” board member Doug the Beach Club and offer dining ser-
operated the club for 16 years. Sweeny said Monday. “We’re already Sweeny said Gibson has decades vice there soon. He wasn’t sure when
well past the number of votes needed of club-management experience and clubhouse dining would resume.
According to Grand Harbor’s new, to pass. We’re ready to roll.” brings to Grand Harbor a strong back-
member-run Board of Governors, 98.8 ground in club turnarounds – a qual- After reaching an agreement with
percent of the club’s members who had The new five-member board has ity that should prove valuable after the billionaire businessman Carl Icahn’s
cast ballots by Monday morning vot- already reopened Grand Harbor’s tumult of the past year, when more negotiators last month, the board dis-
ed for the proposal. The ballots were two golf courses, tennis complex and than 160 members resigned. covered through financial disclosures
clubhouse pool, and Michael Gibson that the club had $4.3 million in re-
was hired last week to replace Icahn’s In its public announcement of the serve accounts to fund its operations.

In addition, Sweeny said many of
the members who had held off paying
their annual dues to Icahn Enterprises
during the negotiations have begun
paying them.

“We’ll have plenty of money to oper-
ate the club,” Sweeny said. “Everyone’s
optimistic, excited and feeling good
again.”

On Nov. 21, in fact, as word spread
through the Grand Harbor com-
munity that an agreement had been
reached with Icahn Enterprises, more
than 200 masked and socially dis-
tanced members gathered in the club-
house parking lot for a spontaneous
tailgate party.

Despite a late-afternoon drizzle, the
members celebrated by toasting to the
club’s future. Then, just as members
of the negotiating team began making
impromptu speeches, the rain stopped,
and a rainbow appeared overhead.

The crowd cheered what board
members called a “harbinger of good
times to come.”

Such feelings were difficult to imag-
ine early last month, after 85 percent
of the club’s members voted against
Icahn’s initial proposal, which was not
supported by the Grand Harbor Mem-
ber Association’s board.

The member association had been
trying to negotiate the transfer of the
club to its members for more than a
year, but the talks became heated at
times and stalled on several occasions.

Even after the members soundly re-
jected the developer’s first proposal,
Icahn did nothing to financially sweet-
en his take-it-or-leave-it ultimatum.

The accepted proposal, though, elim-
inates a series of restrictions – includ-
ing those regarding the use of the golf
courses and recreational areas – im-
posed on members in the initial “Agree-
ment to Sell,” drawn up when the club
was founded in 1988 and transferred to
Icahn Enterprises when it acquired the
property in 2004.

Also, the membership no longer is pre-
vented from filing legal claims against
Icahn; the club may continue to use the
Grand Harbor name and logo; and it
now owns all of the club land.

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / December 3, 2020 3

NEWS

Sweeny called the proposal the seems to want to sit outside. It’s been a Third surge of COVID-19 demands for community-wide self-dis-
“best deal” the membership was going lot better than in previous years. We’ve CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 cipline are met with resistance by many.
to get from Icahn Enterprises, which been fortunate, considering every-
had threatened to declare the subsid- thing.” jump though well below the numbers So far, testing supplies here appear
iary operating the club “insolvent” and in the summer surge. to be adequate.
seek Chapter 7 protection in bank- Steil said he’s noticed quite a few
ruptcy court, where the club’s assets first-time visitors from out of town, But with vaccines likely unavailable “We are constantly monitoring sup-
could have been purchased by a third along with more locals who don’t usu- to the general public here until at least ply levels,” said Cleveland Clinic Indi-
ally come to the island for lunch. He spring, the anxiety, isolation and bore- an River Hospital’s president, Dr. Greg
party.  attributes this influx to the fact that dom are bound to continue. Increasing Rosencrance, adding that testing has
remained steady in recent weeks.
people want to sit outside. 
CONTINUED ON PAGE 4

Island tourism

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

“October was very healthy for us,”
Olson said. “November has been a lit-
tle bit off, but I think it’s more weather-
related. This whole year, people have
booked last minute. If the weather is
nice, people are still traveling. They
want to be outside.”

Olson said he expects a good De-
cember. “This is our premier weather
time of year. People want to be out-
side. I’m not worried.”

At the Driftwood Resort, manager
Zach Zebrowski said business at the
resort was up in October compared
to the prior year and that November
is neck and neck with last November.

He said the hotel is getting busier
as high season approaches and that
guests are starting to stay for a little
longer, and more are beginning to
travel from farther away. “Weekends
are very, very good, and it’s quieter
during the week.”

According to Boris Gonzales, Carib-
bean Court Boutique Resort owner,
his hotel was 98 percent as busy this
July, August and September as in the
prior year. October was soft, but the
hotel was fully booked for Thanksgiv-
ing until news of an increase in COVID
cases began to scare people into stay-
ing home.

“November was looking fantastic
until we started to get cancellations,”
Gonzalez said. “People are a little hes-
itant. I think everybody is waiting for
the vaccine.”

South Beach Place manager Nikki
Barroso says her hotel is holding its
own, despite the pandemic. “We were
busier from August to November this
year than last year due to an increase
in domestic tourists from South and
Central Florida.”

Beach Shop owner Martin Bireley
said he had a good October but a slow
November.

“Overall, I couldn’t be more pleased
with coming through this craziness
of COVID and being shut down. I
couldn’t ask for a better rebound from
all that,” said Bireley, attributing sales
at beachside shops to people support-
ing local businesses.

At Casey’s Place, owner Casey Steil
said his business has been booming.
“With everything going on, everybody

4 Vero Beach 32963 / December 3, 2020 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Third surge of COVID-19 es in hospitalization and deaths by viders across the country are focused people let their guards down. We un-
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3 Christmas. on and we continue to do everything derstand that during this holiday sea-
possible to assist our caregivers.” son, it will be difficult to change long-
Rosencrance said the hospital also To frontline healthcare workers, this held traditions with family and friends.
has ample Dexamethasone, a corti- prospect is daunting. The county’s Last week, Cleveland Clinic in Ohio We ask that the community help us with
costeroid that has shown significant health department has around the made news when an official said 1,000 decreasing the spread of COVID-19 by
improvement in survival rates in hos- same staffing as in the second surge employees were out due to COVID-19.
pitalized COVID-19 patients. Another over the summer, according to spokes- At the Vero hospital, as of last week, limiting their activities.” 
drug, Remdesivir, is also readily avail- person Stacy Brock. there were 15 caregivers out as a re-
able. sult of COVID-19 or under quarantine Vaccination plans
“Staff levels are similar to what we while awaiting test results, he said. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
The hospital is not using the latest had in July,” said Brock.
drug, Bamlanivimab, a monoclonal Public schools are another arena that he and Capt. Mark Shaw devised a
antibody employed in the early stages Regarding contact tracing, Brock has so far kept COVID-19 mostly at bay. mass-vaccination plan five years ago
of the disease that recently received said the department is reaching “100 Monday, the school system got word when he joined the agency. But that
Emergency Use Authorization from percent of positive cases. the state will continue remote learning plan was intended for a really bad in-
the FDA. through another semester, though in- fluenza season where doses of flu vac-
“Contact tracing has always been person learning must also continue as cine would be widely available to ev-
“We are working with state health and continues to be an essential func- currently required by the state. eryone, so the Shores is tweaking that
officials to provide the vaccine as soon tion of the Florida Department of plan for the COVID-19 vaccine.
as available,” Rosencrance added. Health, and every county health de- In this third surge, though, parents
Healthcare workers are slated to be partment has staff who continue to will get a warning if their children “Ideally we would want to vaccinate
among the first to get the vaccine, as perform contact tracing daily. There show signs of struggling, and the stu- all of our public safety officers and per
well as first responders, Rosencrance are no plans to stop contact tracing,” dent will have to return to in-person diem personnel so we can keep serving
confirmed. Brock said. school unless the parents specifically the public, and in our plan we would
opt out. Also, school districts are now also encourage the family members of
State and federal officials are hoping As for frontline workers at Cleveland required to have a plan to make up for our officers to get the vaccine,” Rosell
that initial batches may be distributed Clinic Indian River, Rosencrance says the academic gaps turning up in re- said, thereby creating a vaccinated
to states sometime this month. staffing levels are adequate for now. mote learning. buffer zone to keep his agency as COV-
ID-free as possible.
As hospitals, first responders, com- “We are currently using nurses from Since schools here reopened, nor-
munity clinics and nursing homes agencies to supplement staffing in malcy has roared back, so far, at a pace But Rosell said he did not know
wait for the seemingly inevitable a few clinical areas,” he said, adding ahead of the coronavirus. whether or not the employees’ fami-
post-Thanksgiving spike in cases, that there are fewer agency nurses in lies would be eligible in the distribu-
health officials are looking three recent months because positions have Unemployment is down to around 6 tion system for COVID-19 vaccines.
weeks down the road, when the fall- been filled. percent after hitting a high of 14 per- Also up in the air is whether it would
out of a spike could turn to increas- cent in the first surge. A county mort- be safe for officers to remain on the
“We have not seen levels of attrition gage and rent assistance program cut job should they develop a fever or oth-
that differ significantly from previous off applications this week, though FPL er symptoms after being vaccinated.
years,” he said. “However, caregiver is still offering breaks on electric bills.
fatigue is something healthcare pro- “There are so many things we still
The county’s small business grant don’t know about the vaccine, or even
program is taking applications through which vaccine we will get,” Rosell said.
Dec. 8. But along with nearly all busi- “I have faith in Chief Tad Stone and
nesses and offices – apart from those Etta LoPresti from Emergency Servic-
that never reopened after the lockdown es and in Miranda Hawker from the
– libraries are open, parks are open, ten- county health department, and in the
nis courts are open for singles play only, guidance we’ll get from the county.”
and pools are open for laps.
As of Monday morning, no briefing
Whether the holidays trigger a ma- had been scheduled this week for gov-
jor outbreak here will soon be clear: ernment officials on the COVID-19
the coronavirus takes 2 to 14 days to situation or details of vaccine distri-
infect its victim. As of last weekend, bution, according to Chief Stone. “We
Florida’s daily cases are steadily going do not have an estimated date as of
up but at a rate half the national av- when the vaccine shipment will be re-
erage, 27 per 100,000 compared to 46 ceived,” he said.
per 100,000.
County firefighters and paramedics
Rosencrance seems to accept that would be vaccinated on their shift day,
the third surge has both more advan- to avoid overtime and to give them 48
tages and more hurdles than the first hours off-duty in case they experience
two: advantages in terms of better side effects with either the first dose,
tools for treatment and prevention; or the second “booster” dose required
and hurdles in terms of mitigation. to achieve the strongest immunity to
“The pandemic has evolved since it the virus.
began and it will continue to do so,
particularly once a vaccine is intro- “We have polled our staff to get a pos-
duced on a large scale,” he said. sible number of those that may want to
get the vaccine when it arrives,” Stone
Until then, he continues to promote said. “We would do the vaccinations for
mask-wearing and social distancing, those that may want it while they are on
saying “it will be essential to limit so- duty and we would cycle them through
cial gatherings” this holiday season. the system. We would then cycle those
that got the first shot back through the
“We implore the community to system 21 days later for the second
continue their efforts with social dis- round,” Stone said.
tancing, hand washing and wearing
masks,” said Rosencrance.

“We have seen increases in cases
after holidays and events where large
gatherings of people take place and

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / December 3, 2020 5

NEWS

Vero Beach must give the health Monday, Currey said he had not been Emergency Management,” he told as possible, as 40 percent of Florida’s
department a list of essential work- given a target date for starting vacci- Vero Beach 32963. “All of your ques- fatal cases of COVID-19 have occurred
ers to be immunized, which will in- nations, or worked out the logistics of tions were talked about, but have not among nursing home and assisted-
clude certain utility workers and po- how, when and how many would re- been decided as of now.” living facility residents. Next, he said,
lice. Vero Beach Police Chief David ceive the two-dose vaccination. would be seniors not in long-term care
Currey is still developing his plan to Gov. Ron DeSantis said Monday he with at least two co-morbidities. De-
vaccinate Vero’s police force. As of “We have met once with the Indian definitely wants residents of long-term
River County Health Department and care facilities to be vaccinated as soon CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

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6 Vero Beach 32963 / December 3, 2020 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Vaccination plans Based upon the county’s initial plans,
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5 Falls said he expects there will be walk-
through vaccine clinics with enough
Santis said he expects the first doses space for people to wait the required
of the vaccine to go out “in a couple of 15 minutes while being appropriately
weeks” to front-line healthcare work- distanced. “You don’t want to give them
ers and first responders. the vaccine and then have 500 people
standing on top of each other,” he said.
Vero City Manager Monte Falls told
the city council last Tuesday that the Federal and state officials have said
Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are the they will use military resources such
brands set to arrive in Vero, according as National Guard units to get up to
to information he received from the 40 million doses of the vaccine out
county. around the country quickly. Depend-
ing upon the brand of vaccine, the
In terms of administering the vac- injectable liquid may need to be kept
cine to the general public, Falls said very cold, or even frozen in transit to
the county is looking at setting up remain effective, and have a shelf life
three main vaccine distribution cen- once thawed of only about six hours.
ters – one at the Indian River County That means the chain of custody will
Fairgrounds in Wabasso, one in Fells- be tight, and speed will be required, as
mere and one in Sebastian – and the well as safety.
vaccine would not be a drive-through
service like some COVID-19 testing Locally, if extra skilled hands are
has been. required to vaccinate residents when
the vaccine is widely available, Indian
“The limiting factor is that once you River County firefighters will pitch
get the vaccination, you have to re- in, as they have with testing in nurs-
main on site for 15 minutes for medi- ing homes, and with contact tracing
cal observation before they let you go,” of infected people. “If needed, at the
Falls said. “If it weren’t for that, they request of the Health Department, we
could do a drive through and give you would assist with mass vaccinations in
the vaccination in your car.”
the community,” Stone said. 

St. Helen’s reopens after COVID-19;
scattered positives at other area schools

BY GEORGE ANDREASSI One person, the school’s night cus-
Staff Writer todian, tested positive for COVID-19
at St. Peter’s Academy, a charter school
St. Helen Catholic School in Vero in Gifford, state records show. It was
Beach reopened Monday after taking a the only case at the school this year.
two-week Thanksgiving break because
seven students and three staff mem- School Administrator Ruth Jeffer-
bers tested positive for COVID-19. son said the custodian had no contact
with students or other staff members.
“Currently, there are no positive CO- Consequently, no one had to quaran-
VID-19 cases of students or staff [at St. tine.
Helen school],” said Jennifer Trefelner,
a spokeswoman for the Diocese of In addition, a teacher tested posi-
Palm Beach. tive for the virus at Glendale Christian
Academy, state records show. It was
The K-8 school plans to continue in- the only case at the school this year.
person classes until the start of Christ-
mas break on Dec. 21, Trefelner said. Administrators at the private school
Custodians cleaned and sanitized the for students in pre-school through
campus in anticipation of 260 stu- 12th grade did not respond to tele-
dents returning to class. phone and email messages left Mon-
day.
The state Health Department direct-
ed the quarantining of those who came Two students and an unknown per-
in contact with the COVID-19 positive son at Imagine at South Vero, a char-
individuals, Trefelner said. But she ter K-8 school, also tested positive for
didn’t say how many. COVID-19 during the week of Nov. 15-
Nov. 21, state records show.
The diocese closed the school and
transitioned to at-home learning af- A total of five students and two staff
ter positive test results started coming members have tested positive for CO-
back on Nov. 12, Trefelner said. VID-19 so far this school year, Imagine
Principal Chris Rock said Monday. An-
There were scattered positive test other 12 students and two staff mem-
results at other private and charter bers have quarantined.
schools in the county during the past
two weeks. Meanwhile, the reopening of In-
dian River County’s regular public

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / December 3, 2020 7

NEWS

schools after a week off for Thanks- Vero abandons city test site results. Without insurance coverage, the if the city already had an employee
giving went smoothly, school district CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 cost would be $115 for next-day results health clinic, Falls said.
spokeswoman Cristin Maddux said or $155 for same-day results.
Monday, with 10,000 students and Vero City Manager Monte Falls said “You can see that locally we’re do-
2,000 educators returning to class- he researched the issue, looking for a CVS Pharmacy could provide the ing about what’s being done nationally
rooms. viable plan, but he found testing ca- test site, but that route, too, would be in terms of testing. It’s not a matter of
pacity is still limited in Indian River costly. “They would want us to commit manpower or resources or dollars. It’s
COVID-19 testing results during the County eight months into the corona- to 12 weeks of use if they set up a test- just availability of testing supplies go-
Thanksgiving break, Nov. 21 through virus pandemic. ing center for us,” Falls said. ing forward,” Falls said.
Nov. 29, indicated six students and
two staff members at six schools had Because there are not enough tests With one rapid-testing machine, Based upon those options, the city
contracted the virus, School District to cover all asymptomatic people who CVS could process 30 tests per day, five decided the best course of action right
records show. have not been exposed to an infected days per week at a cost of $5,100 per now is to educate the public about
person, Centers for Disease Control day, which comes out to $170 per test. where tests are available locally. Hu-
Another 87 students were directed and Prevention criteria still limit who “That would cost more than $300,000” man Resources Director Gabrielle Ma-
to quarantine. gets tested. for the 12-week time period, Falls said. nus compiled a list of testing locations,
which is now up on the city’s website
Altogether, 88 students and 30 staff “We just haven’t gotten there yet, Falls said he also looked into pur- – www.covb.org – under the heading
members have tested positive for even nationally with the number of chasing home test kits, but the kits Residents.
COVID-19 since the new school year tests,” Falls said. that are widely available now are not
started Aug. 24. A total of 1,092 stu- rapid tests. Rapid tests being used in Falls and McManus advise residents
dents and 29 staff members have been Local clinics and testing sites are major metropolitan areas cost $140 to drive up to Eastern Florida State Col-
quarantined. already using their share of test kits, per kit. lege in Palm Bay in Brevard County if
so Falls reached out to CVS Pharmacy they want a rapid test from a State of
More than 61 percent of the school and a testing service in Orlando about If the city wanted to go it alone and Florida operated testing site.
district’s 118 positive cases – 52 stu- the prospects of setting up a private not use a commercial provider, it would
dents and 21 staff members – have testing site in Vero. Both of those pro- need to apply for and be approved for “So rapid testing is available, we just
come in November, records show. viders would be expensive and require a CDC point-of-test center designation did not know it,” Vice Mayor Rey Nev-
minimum numbers of tests daily to called a Clinical Laboratory Improve- ille said.
Educators will enforce health and justify the test site. ment Amendment.
safety measures to prevent the spread Councilman Joe Graves, Council-
of COVID-19 in the three weeks lead- “They would look for 150 persons to “Those are for healthcare services man Bob McCabe and Mayor Robbie
ing up to the Christmas holiday break, test daily, six days a week,” Falls said of that already do that kind of work,” Brackett said whatever the city can do
Maddux said. COVID Testing LLC, the Orlando com- Falls said, adding that the city would to get testing information out to the
pany. need to show it had trained personnel, public would help alleviate confusion.
“As always, if students or staff mem- testing machines, facilities and prop-
bers feel sick, or have symptoms of With insurance, a test would cost $35 er storage capacity for the vaccines “It’s all about the communication.
COVID-19, they should stay home for next-day results or $75 for same-day – which it does not. Vero would have In this environment we’re in right now,
and seek medical attention,” Mad- a better chance of getting approved the only thing we know for sure is that

dux said.  CONTINUED ON PAGE 10

8 Vero Beach 32963 / December 3, 2020 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

MY Pianist Brandon Sturiale waits for Riverside Theatre to reopen
VERO

BY RAY MCNULTY Brandon Sturiale at his home in Vero Beach playing the piano as his wife Veronique looks on. PHOTO BY BRENDA AHEARN “Ultimately, I’m hoping I write a
Staff Writer song that gets recorded by someone of
he was worried about having enough cause I was going to be the assistant note, or I write a musical that gets to
Ask Brandon Sturiale about the im- money to survive, especially since he musical director, play every show, pro- Broadway,” he said. “Performing is a lot
pact the coronavirus pandemic has and his wife, Veronique, had bought a gram the keyboardists – and it was a fun, but I’ve been doing it a long time.”
had on his life, and he’ll tell you: “My home here. five-digit salary,” Sturiale said.
tennis game is getting better.” Growing up a “nerdy loner with no
“Closing ‘La Cage’ was disappoint- “They ended up paying me 25 per- friends” in small-town Oklahoma, Stur-
You have to press to find out that, ing, but I was really bummed when cent of what I would’ve gotten,” he iale was introduced to the piano at age
despite his keyboard talents and off- they canceled ‘The Bodyguard,’ be- added, “but it was still a big loss.” 12, when his father bought him a tiny
Broadway credentials, he has been keyboard for Christmas.
unemployed since March, when COV- It didn’t take long, though, for Stur-
ID-19 shuttered the musical theater in- iale to find something positive amid Sturiale was captivated by the sounds
dustry across America – including here. his circumstances. In fact, the more he of Billy Joel, Elton John and the Beatles,
thought about them, the less dire they and he’d spend hours in his bedroom,
On March 15, Riverside Theatre, where became. learning how to read music and teach-
Sturiale was plying his trade, closed the ing himself how to play the piano.
curtain on “La Cage aux Folles,” sudden- He soon saw Riverside’s COVID-
ly and prematurely ending the show’s prompted shutdown as an opportunity A year later, he was given a bigger
planned three-week run. At the same – to recharge himself after 16 years of keyboard, which sufficed until the
time, the theater announced it was can- grinding out a late-night living in New following year, when he had mowed
celing its scheduled production of “The York, focus on other work-related proj- enough lawns to buy his first piano –
Bodyguard.” ects and, yes, play a lot of tennis. and had it placed in his bedroom.

Less than two years after Sturiale left “I love to play,” said Sturiale, 43, who That’s when he discovered musical
New York to continue his piano-play- became a member of The Boulevard theater.
ing and musical-directing career here, Tennis Club earlier this year, “and I try
a pandemic had put him out of work. to play every day.” “My dad had an 8-track tape of ‘Je-
sus Christ Superstar,’ which was ev-
But you won’t hear him complain. Apparently, he can afford to. erything I thought musicals couldn’t
Oh, he’s not happy about losing those His wife is a successful yoga instruc- be,” Sturiale said. “So, I started going
paychecks. And, when it first happened, tor who has retained many of her New to the local record store, where I found
York-based clients and has grown her ‘Tommy’ and ‘Rent’ and ‘The Phantom
student base here, continuing to teach of the Opera.’
classes remotely during the pandemic.
Sturiale, meanwhile, has devoted “I wasn’t much of a singer, so I knew
more of his time to All Ears Promos, I was never going to be Billy Joel or El-
his two-year-old company that sells ton John,” he added, “but I could play
promotional merchandise – some- piano and rock out and be a part of
times known as “swag” – used by busi- these shows.”
nesses to market their brands.
He also generates income from the He never joined his high school’s
sales of two self-produced albums on band or orchestra, and he opted to not
iTunes and Spotify. One features only pursue a college degree, much to the
piano music; the other utilizes a full dismay of his father, who was a phar-
band and 12 different vocalists, in- macist. Instead, at age 22 – having nev-
cluding platinum-selling artist Lauren er taken a piano lesson, Sturiale moved
Allred. to New York City to chase a dream.
Sturiale said he also writes, produces
and records jingles for different com- He struggled, of course, as so many
panies, including the local Mattress musicians do, taking day jobs to sup-
Market stores. He’s also writing a play. port himself while performing in com-
munity theater productions.

It took Sturiale four years to build a
musical reputation to a point where he
was hired to tour regularly with pro-
ductions and no longer needed day
jobs to support himself.

His New York gigs included off-
Broadway productions of “Iron Curtain”
(music director/keyboard I), “The Mar-
velous Wonderettes” (assistant music
director/keyboard II) and “Trip of Love”
(substitute keyboard II), as well as audi-
tion/rehearsal pianist for the Universal
Pictures film “Mamma Mia 2.”

He also performed on national and
regional tours of nearly 20 shows, in-
cluding “Les Miserables,” “Waitress,”
“Gypsy,” “Urban Cowboy: The Musi-
cal,” “Xanadu” and “Cabaret.”

And his resume includes stints with
Riverside Theatre productions, dating

CONTINUED ON PAGE 10

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / December 3, 2020 9

NEWS

John’s Island tennis pro moving to Sea Oaks to replace retiring director

BY RAY MCNULTY to work here. While visiting in 1993, “Craig started the exhibitions 30 years of the 1,800-member Florida chapter
he was hired by Craig Wittus, a former ago, and we’re up to 22 of them every of the United States Professional Ten-
Staff Writer All-America player at Miami University year,” Leu said.“They showcase the club nis Association, which offers certifica-
in Ohio and top-100 tour pro who was as a flagship for tennis in Vero Beach.” tion to and governs the nation’s teach-
After 28 years on the Har-Tru courts Sea Oaks’ tennis director from 1991-97. ing pros.
of Sea Oaks – the past 24 as tennis di- Leu’s local legacy goes beyond the
rector – Brad Leu will leave the island It was Wittus, in fact, who created Sea Oaks gates: He created the Indi- He also served on the USPTA’s Exec-
club at the end of January and move to the wildly popular tradition of local an River County Tennis Association, utive Committee for eight years, com-
North Carolina. pros playing weekly exhibition match- where teams from area clubs compete pleting his final term earlier this year.
es at Sea Oaks on Wednesday after- in league play on multiple levels.
But not for another job. noons during the season. “Every once in a while, I’d think about
“I’m retiring,” Leu, 58, said last week- In addition, Leu is a past president
end. “I’ve been teaching tennis for 35 CONTINUED ON PAGE 12
years, and I’m getting near retirement
age, anyway. So, it was time.”
Divorced and now engaged to a
woman who lives in Raleigh, Leu said
he and his fiancée no longer wanted to
travel back and forth to spend time to-
gether and he decided to move north.
Leu will be replaced by Joe Bieden-
harn, 55, who spent the past 12 years
as the head pro at John’s Island and
previously worked at The Boulevard
Tennis Club, Indian Trails and Sea
Oaks, where he was an assistant pro
from 1996 to 2000.
Biedenharn, scheduled to start his
new job on Jan. 15, will oversee the
Vero Beach area’s busiest tennis club –
as many as 300 players fill the 16-court
complex each day during the busy sea-
son – where a $1.5 million set of up-
grades will be completed next month.
The project, which Leu began pitch-
ing 10 years ago, included rebuilding
all 16 courts and equipping them with
a state-of-the-art, underground wa-
tering system.
“My timing is pretty good,” Bieden-
harn said. “The courts are magnificent.
I’m already pretty familiar with the
club. It’s a new challenge for me, for
sure, but it’ll be fun.”
Leu said the decision to leave the
tennis-crazy Sea Oaks community was
difficult – mostly because of the people
he’ll leave behind.
“When you’re there for 28, you get to
know the people pretty well and build
relationships with them,” Leu said.
“They see you go through your life. You
see them go through theirs. You get to
know them; you get to know their kids.
You become friends, and they mean
something to you.
“Sea Oaks is a closed club – you have
to live there to be a member – so you
see these people all the time, not just
on the tennis court,” he added. “It’s a
deeper relationship than you’ll see at
clubs where people drive in to play
and leave when they’re done.
“It makes it harder to say goodbye.”
Leu said he was working at clubs in
Connecticut when a member who lived
at John’s Island told him about Vero
Beach and suggested he might want

10 Vero Beach 32963 / December 3, 2020 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

My Vero Riverside Theatre was seeking a No. 2 Sturiale said. “I had turned 40, gotten “Actually, it’s been a pretty nice va-
keyboardist for six weeks for a produc- married. We had a dog, and our lease cation.”
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8 tion of “How to Succeed in Business was up. So, we started looking around.
Without Really Trying.” Sturiale now spends more time
back to 2015, when he first found his “I already had a relationship with working on his tennis game than prac-
way to Vero Beach – a town he said he It was the dead of winter in NewYork. Riverside Theatre, my wife loved the ticing on his piano.
had “never even heard of” until a friend The Florida weather was warm and in- area and the thought of living near the
suggested he might find work there. viting. “It was good timing,” he said. beach sounded nice,” he added. “It “I’m past the point of needing to
was very serendipitous.” practice just to practice,” he said. “In
“I was working in New York, bounc- It was also the start of a theater-mu- normal times, I’ll practice specific
ing around and playing different gigs in sician relationship that would prompt Then the virus arrived. songs for shows. Now, I just sit down
different theaters, but not doing any- Sturiale to leave New York after more Sturiale, though, said he has no re- and play whatever music I want to
thing great or anything permanent,” than 16 years and move to Vero Beach grets – nor is he looking for another job. play, or whatever my wife wants to
Sturiale said. “That’s when a buddy 18 months ago. His other gigs here in- “There’s nowhere to look,” he said. sing.
told me he had heard there was a the- clude: “Mame,” “Hello, Dolly,” “Swing- “Besides, we love it here. Obviously,
ater in Florida that needed a keyboard- ing on a Star,” “The Bikinis,” “Mamma nobody expected a pandemic to hap- “Life is pretty good.”
ist for a show.” Mia” and “Legally Blonde: The Musical.” pen and we’ve had to make some ad- As of now, musical theater is sched-
justments. But how can you not like uled to resume at Riverside in early
Sturiale made a call and learned that “New York was my home base for a living in Vero Beach? 2022, when the theater’s production
long time, but I was getting tired of it,”
of “Carousel” opens on Jan. 3. 

Brightline constructing another railroad bridge in South Vero Beach

BY GEORGE ANDREASSI River Railroad Bridge linking north- July and are expected to continue on cently invited Brightline officials to
ern Indian River County to southern the 1,625-foot-long bridge through make a presentation to the City Coun-
Staff Writer Brevard County. 2022. cil summarizing the work planned in
2021 on the railroad tracks bisecting
Brightline has announced plans Pile-driving operations started in Behind the scenes, Vero Beach re- the city, including safety upgrades.
to start construction of another rail-
road bridge in South Vero in mid- Public Works Director Matt Mitts
December as part of its expansion asked Brightline and FECR officials
north from West Palm Beach through for a meeting to discuss who will pay
Indian River County to Orlando. to maintain and repair the railroad
crossing improvements needed to
In Vero, the train company plans to handle high-speed passenger trains.
mobilize a construction crane in two
weeks to start work on the expansion There are seven railroad crossings
of the 125-foot-long South Canal in the city, but the Florida Depart-
Railroad Bridge, Brightline disclosed ment of Transportation is responsi-
in its weekly construction advisory. ble for the 20th Street West and 19th
Place East railroad crossings that are
A concrete bridge will be built part of State Road 60.
next to the steel railroad bridge that
spans the South Relief Canal, which Mitts also asked Brightline officials
runs under the tracks a block north to meet to discuss the possibility of
of 1st Street. Contractors last week establishing a passenger train stop in
completed a second railroad bed and Vero Beach.
drainage facilities nearby at the busy
4th Street railroad crossing. So far, Brightline officials have not
responded to his Oct. 22 letter re-
Pile-driving operations are expect- questing the meetings, Mitts said.
ed to start on the South Canal Rail-
road Bridge by the end of December “Our latest information is that
and continue into 2021 for the instal- crossing improvements will ramp
lation of a temporary work trestle up sometime during 2021, but a
east of the railroad bridge. specific date has not been set,” Mitts
told Vero Beach 32963. “We have
Brightline plans to start work on not been given an official timeline
new concrete bridges across the by Brightline.”
Main Canal and North Canal in In-
dian River County later in 2021. Brightline expects to be running
as many as 34 passenger trains per
Elsewhere in Indian River County, day through Indian River County at
Brightline is spending $33 million to speeds of up to 110 mph by late 2022,
replace the 94-year-old St. Sebastian
records show. 

Vero abandons city test site mask-wearing requirements in the said, advising residents to keep send- There was no draft policy on man-
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7 city limits. ing emails to voice their opinions. datory facemasks, or even discussion
of a facemask policy, on the Dec. 1 city
it’s a moving target,” Brackett said. Brackett said the city has heard from Even if the city council approved some council agenda. However, residents
“We need to be able to keep the com- numerous people with strong opinions sort of mask mandate, enforcing it could must wear face coverings when taking
munication going.” on facemasks and that he prefers poli- be tricky as a state executive order pro- care of business at City Hall or when at-
cies that “allow the citizens to do the hibits law enforcement from punishing tending a council meeting, and many
Vero officials have also been con- right thing,” instead of handing down or fining individuals for simply refusing county businesses require employees
sidering whether they need to expand mandates. to wear a mask, if there are no other in-
fractions of state law or city code. and customers to wear masks. 
“We appreciate the input,” Brackett



12 Vero Beach 32963 / December 3, 2020 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

John’s Island tennis pro receive a pay increase, to be his last.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9 “I really thought I was never going to

doing something else,” Leu said, “but leave John’s Island voluntarily,” said Bie-
I’ve been either a head pro or tennis di- denharn, who played tennis at Flagler
rector the entire time, and it was hard College. “I knew about the job at Sea
to find something that paid as well.” Oaks for a few weeks before I actually
pursued it. As much as I have a won-
Leu said he might eventually teach derful job right now, the more I thought
tennis again, but not on a full-time basis. about it, the more it seemed like the
thing to do.
Biedenharn, meanwhile, expects
his new job at Sea Oaks, where he’ll “Change can be good,” he added.

“I’m excited about it.” 

County loses $3.3 million appeal in
Ocean Concrete property rights case

BY GEORGE ANDREASSI A concrete batch plant was a per-
mitted use in light industrial zones
Staff Writer when Ocean Concrete filed a develop-
ment application for the property in
A businessman who sued Indian December 2006, the complaint says.
River County in 2007 for changing
zoning regulations to block a project But a group of Sebastian area resi-
he was developing won a major victo- dents organized to stop the project
ry last week when a state appeals court and pressured county commissioners
upheld a $3.3 million final judgment to change the development rules to ex-
against the county. clude concrete batch plants from light
industrial zones, the complaint says.
The Fourth District Court of Appeals
ruled last Wednesday that Judge Ja- Commissioners amended the de-
net Croom acted properly during the velopment rules in July 2007 to limit
September 2019 jury trial in the 19th concrete batch plants to general com-
Circuit Court where George Maib and mercial zones, triggering the lawsuit
his company Ocean Concrete were and ensuing 13-year legal battle.
awarded millions in damages.
County Attorney Dylan Reingold
The three-judge appellate panel said county officials are reviewing the
unanimously ruled Judge Croom was opinion and considering their options.
correct in allowing Maib to testify about
the value of the property at 11085 Old Maib and his lawyer could not im-
Dixie Highway, south of the Sebastian mediately be reached for comment.
city limits.
Last week was the second time the
The West Palm Beach-based appeals Fourth District Court of Appeals ruled
court also rejected Indian River Coun- in favor of Maib and Ocean Concrete
ty’s claim the judge improperly exclud- in the long-running lawsuit.
ed the testimony of an economist and
a property appraiser from the trial. In May 2018, the appellate court
threw out a prior jury verdict that went
Indian River County had appealed in the county’s favor and ordered a new
Croom’s final judgment awarding trial for damages.
Maib $2 million in damages, which a
jury set in a Sept. 26, 2019 verdict, plus In that decision, the appeals judges
$1.3 million in pre-judgment interest. ruled the trial judge mistakenly con-
cluded Maib and Ocean Concrete
Maib and Ocean Concrete filed were not entitled to relief under the
suit against the county in November Bert J. Harris Jr. Private Property Rights
2007 claiming county commissioners Protection Act, which “provides for re-
changed land development regulations lief to private landowners when a law,
to prevent him from developing a con- regulation, or ordinance inordinately
crete batch plant on an 8.5-acre tract burdens, restricts, or limits private
zoned for light industrial uses. property,” according to the Florida Bar

Association. 

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14 Vero Beach 32963 / December 3, 2020 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

COUNTY MAY CUT POLLING PLACES
IN FAVOR OF SUPER VOTING CENTERS

BY RAY MCNULTY “It probably would save money.”
Swan said she’d need “maybe five su-
Staff Writer per centers” to accommodate the coun-
ty’s voters. The Panhandle counties uti-
Fewer than 16,000 county residents lized a variety of buildings, including
cast ballots in person this past Elec- conference centers, community cen-
tion Day, while nearly 46,000 opted to ters, hotels, churches and fire stations.
vote by mail – but that’s not the reason In the meantime, Swan said she ex-
you might find fewer polling places pects voting by mail, which increased
here in the future. dramatically this year because of the
pandemic, to remain popular.
“The more likely reason would be “When residents received their vote-
the success of the super voting centers by-mail certificates, there was a box
in the Panhandle,” county Supervisor they could check to tell us they want
of Elections Leslie Swan said. “We’ll to continue to vote by mail,” Swan
just have to wait and see if the Legis- said. “So, at least for the next couple of
lature wants to do it in other places years, we’re going to get a lot of them.”
around the state.” If the Legislature doesn’t embrace
the super-voting-site concept for the
Gov. Ron DeSantis authorized su- entire state, Swan said it’s too soon to
per voting sites in Bay and Gulf coun- know if there will be a change in the
ties last year in the wake of Hurricane number of polling places in the county
Michael, which devastated the Flor- due to fewer people voting in person.
ida Panhandle in 2018 and damaged “We just had the census and, even
traditional polling places to a point with so many people choosing to vote by
where they were unsafe for public use. mail, we have to take into account how
fast the county is growing,” Swan said.
Under the governor’s executive or- “The Legislature will also do redistricting
der, the counties’ registered voters in 2021, and that could change things.
were able to cast ballots at any of the Swan said she doubled her staff to
super voting sites, regardless of their keep up with the surge in vote-by-mail
home precinct, just as they did during ballots, which she called “a lot more la-
the early voting period. bor intensive” to process. Most of the
increased costs were offset by federal
“To add super voting centers in the CARES Act funds the county allocated
other counties, the Legislature would
have to approve it, and the state su- to her office. 
pervisor of elections is pushing to see
if they’ll go for it,” Swan said. “They
tend to make changes in non-election
years, so it could come up in 2021.

Cnoeustnitnygreopnorbtas rarbioevreiasvlaernadg’essbeaeatuchrteles

BY SUE COCKING Green turtles, which nest in a cycli-
Staff Writer cal pattern of up-and-down years, laid
many more nests than expected.
The 2020 sea turtle nesting season
on Indian River County beaches didn't “During the 2020 season, we would
set any records but green turtles dug have expected around 250 nests,” Berg-
many more nests than expected and man wrote in an email to Vero Beach
leatherbacks dug the most nests in a 32963. “We were happily surprised to
decade. record a total of 1,154.” That compares
to 2,378 in 2019 and 235 in 2018, an off
Overall, the endangered marine year like 2020 was expected to be.
reptiles dug higher numbers of nests
than long-term averages. As for leatherbacks, the largest and
least common species on our beach-
Between April 1 and Oct. 31, logger- es, there were 73 nests – again, a “sur-
head sea turtles – the most common prise,” according to Bergman.
of three species that lay eggs on our
beaches – dug 6,217 nests. That’s 58 “With the 16-year average being 52,
more than last year and well above the we expected around 30-40 nests,” he
16-year average of 4,955, according wrote, adding this was the most since
to figures provided by Quintin Berg- 2010 when leatherbacks dug 87 nests.
man, the county’s sea turtle coordina-
tor. The county record for loggerhead The sea turtle species live in the open
nesting is 7,197, set in 2016. ocean and may travel thousands of
miles to lay their eggs on the Treasure

Coast beaches where they were born. 

Olivia Hoyos, Abigail Andujar,
Vicki Hoyos and Bev Shea (front).

TURKEY TROTTERS PUT BEST LEG
FORWARD TO FIGHT POVERTY P. 20

16 Vero Beach 32963 / December 3, 2020 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

‘United’ in praise for Kint as nonprofit’s CEO retires

PHOTOS CONTINUED ON PAGE 18
Jeff Schlitt, Jeff Petersen, Jeff Smith, Joseph and Rosemary Flescher.

Michael Kint. PHOTOS: KAILA JONES Jessica Parrish, Deana Shatley, Esperanza Morales, Louise Hubbard and Bruce Cady.

BY SAMANTHA ROHLFING BAITA shows, building kids’ programs and with pride various programs made There must be collaboration, coordi-
some marketing.” possible through the United Way, in nation, cooperation. Michael’s ap-
Staff Writer some cases by providing temporary of- proach to our work is always with
During a short stint with the school fice space to get them up and running. this lens, as he quickly identifies
Michael Kint, United Way of Indian district, the superintendent enlisted ways community partners can work
River County CEO, was showered with him to administer a federal grant. Al- Among them, the School Readiness together.”
accolades and congratulations at a re- though told he could continue with the Coalition, Early Learning Coalition,
cent surprise party held at the Jackie district when the grant sunsetted, the Kindergarten Readiness Collaborative, The respect of his staff is obvious
Robinson Training Complex. He will feds cut the grant, the superintendent Volunteer Income Tax Assistance and as his departure approaches.
be retiring at the end of the year after moved, and Kint was out of a job. the Mental Health Collaborative.
25 years of dedicated service to the re- “Michael’s theater background
spected, successful non-profit. While volunteering on the United Of the latter, COO Meredith Egan, has been the office joke,” Egan ob-
Way Citizens Review committee, Kint who will become CEO on Jan. 1, calls serves. “However, it’s the foundation
The road to Kint’s association with befriended Sam Block, then chair of Kint’s work to establish the collabora- of his leadership style. He stays in the
the United Way was an unexpected the new UW Foundation board. After tive tireless. wings and lets his cast shine; he gives
and circuitous one. receipt of a major, unexpected wind- gentle, constructive feedback that al-
fall, the board needed to fill the newly “It’s become the blueprint for all the ways helps us find our talent.”
A native of Illinois, Kint was headed established staff position of Founda- collaborative efforts that have come af-
for a teaching career. After earning an tion Development Officer. ter,” says Egan. Eve Balance, community impact
undergraduate degree, then a masters coordinator, adds that Kint “shows
in Theatre Performance from Northern “Why not apply?” Block suggested. Kint takes great pride in the growth appreciation for your work, makes
Illinois University, he took a position Kint did, and thus began an entirely of the annual campaign, recalling “we you want to achieve quality results.”
teaching theater at Lincoln College in unexpected, but immensely fulfilling hit the magic $3 million mark three And Melissa Ogonoski, finance direc-
Lincoln, Ill., where he soon found that 25-year career. and four years ago.” tor, says she regards him as a “mentor,
he “loved directing.” “I was remarkably lucky,” he states. team leader and wonderful person.”
To luck and experience, Kint added When COVID hit in March and put
In December 1984, a job opportu- his ebullient personality, unflappable a halt to the 2019-2020 campaign, the “It was tough to stump Michael
nity at Riverside Theatre brought Kint, nature, patience, positive attitude, United Way instead raised $1.4 million with an issue,” says Nate Bruckner,
wife Sandy and their young daughter sense of humor and not inconsiderable in emergency response funds. community impact director.
Jonna to a little oceanside community charm and congeniality.
in Florida they had never heard of – In that first position, Kint oversaw Over the past decade, Kint says the “He’s been through it all and was
Vero Beach. the establishment of a separate 501(c)3 focus has been on community engage- calm and deliberate under pressure.
to manage and grow the endowment ment. Except for the Cubs. Michael could
“We had to look on the map,” Kint fund. Over the years, the skill sets ac- always get excited over the Cubs.”
says, recalling that Jonna did not want quired through the theater served him “While member agencies are the
to uproot her life or leave her friends. well, as he guided his team through backbone of United Way, we’re doing “I feel good. The agency’s in good
“It took her a year to forgive me.” Now, projects and programs, smooth sailing any number of county-wide projects hands,” Kint says. “Twenty-five years
married with two sons, “she loves it.” and bumpy roads. with non-member organizations,” says … I never would’ve thought.”
“Having a good team is everything,” Kint. “We want to get the community
Kint remained at Riverside for a Kint consistently asserts. He recalls as a whole to focus on and bring to the So, what’s next?
decade, working two half-jobs; one table (such issues as) mental health.” “No definitive plans. Not for at least
through a grant to grow the children’s six months. I’ve always been fascinated
theater, and the other “directing Egan considers Kint’s legacy as by those hospital volunteers who cud-
“rooted in his belief that no one per- dle babies. Maybe I’ll do that.” 
son or organization can do everything.



18 Vero Beach 32963 / December 3, 2020 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

PHOTOS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 16 Michael Kint and Peggy Cunningham. Jessica Schmitt, Brooke Flood and Judi Miller.
Melissa Ogonoski, Eve Ballance and Caitlin Puppo.

Mary Beth Vallar and Barbara Pearce. Dr. Nicholas Coppola and Brett Hall.

Chad Morrison and Simon Caldecott. Mary Graves and Susan Chenault.

Amy Wagner and Sheana Firth. Winnie Wilcox, Emily Wilcox and Isabella.

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / December 3, 2020 19

PEOPLE

Much food for thought at Impact 100’s Virtual Brunch

BY MARY SCHENKEL
Staff Writer

Indian River Impact 100 was the Gladys LaForge and Kris Rohr.
first local nonprofit to host a major
event in the virtual world, when its Michelle Jacobus, Suzanne Bennett, Christine Dean, Barbara DiMarzo and Lynn Byrnes. Toby Hill and Chris Hill. PHOTOS: KAILA JONES
members selected the five $100,000
High Impact Grant Award recipients cept, explaining that skills, outcomes
and three Merit Award winners this and passion create the momentum
past April. Then in September, they to create purpose, worthwhile work
hosted a virtual Nonprofit Informa- and make a difference. The concept
tion Session, and recently presented provides not only the ability to make
what current board president Gladys an impact, but to also search out the
LaForge described as “our first, and problems that need to be solved in or-
hopefully our last,” Virtual Kick-off der to build a healthy community.
Brunch.
“When we have the passion and the
Dee Locke, director of board ad- ability, we see the benefit of what we
ministration, worked her technical do,” said Ritchie, adding that while
magic and provided a way for the la- empathy is a feeling, compassion is
dies to see one another and hear from an act.
the guest speaker from the safety of
their own homes. At one point, they In a quick poll she asked members
could even break out into virtual host why they had elected to join Impact
groups, offering an intimacy akin to 100. The leading answer was High Im-
in-person events. pact Giving, giving participants the
ability to make larger grants collec-
The event sponsors were the Hill tively than they could on their own.
Group, Florida Power & Light and Closely tied for second were: Commu-
Cindy Galant, and the technology nity Impact, keeping donations local;
sponsors were Audiohouse and Pilar and Effective Philanthropy, that 100
Turner. percent of membership dollars are
granted.
“It is clear the world is in a much
different place than a year ago. It “Never underestimate the differ-
needs help. Now, more than ever, our ence that you can make,” said Ritchie.
communities need unwavering lead-
ership and hope,” said Chris Hill, Hill Tracy Sorzano, Indian River Impact
Group president. “It is through your 100 president-elect, thanked every-
actions that lives are forever changed, one for their continued commitment
a community is strengthened, and and remarked that the nonprofit has
new and higher standards continue to date granted $4.6 million to local
to be set.” nonprofits.

LaForge noted that unlike other “I know this can be the year we sur-
funders, who choose grant recipients pass that $5 million threshold,” said
via committee or board, she called Sorzano.
Impact 100 the “consummate egali-
tarian funder,” with grant determina- To become a member, or for more in-
tions decided by the membership fol- formation, visit impact100ir.com. 
lowing a simple formula: one woman,
$1,000 and one vote, equaling one big
difference.

“We are more powerful as philan-
thropists together than we are as in-
dividuals; we see the power of team
philanthropy,” said LaForge.

She reminded members of the 65
organizations who have received
High Impact and Merit grants over
the years, and the direct impact they
have had on the community, com-
menting that despite all the issues
the pandemic has put in their way, all
have continued to operate.

This year’s guest speaker was Deb-
bie Ritchie, president of the Studer
Group and founding president of the
Pensacola Bay Area Impact 100, which
boasts nearly 1,200 members.

Ritchie shared a Flywheel con-

20 Vero Beach 32963 / December 3, 2020 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

Turkey Trotters put best leg forward to fight poverty

BY MARY SCHENKEL
Staff Writer

Aided by generous sponsors and George Cooper, Lindsey Carson, Nicole Jewell, Arianna Larkey and Jessica Mitchell. PHOTOS: KAILA JONES Szilvia Gulyas and Cheri Strazzulla.
an abundance of volunteers, a Kate and Theresa Bounassi.
smaller than usual but no less en- the plate with COVID. When other Jacob Bardwell and Julia Flaming.
thusiastic crowd turned out for the organizations weren’t able to keep
13th Annual Thanksgiving Day Trot their doors open, we took on some
Against Poverty at Riverside Park to of their roles so people could be
benefit United Against Poverty. ser ved.”

Considering the pandemic, UP As an example, she said the De-
offered a virtual 5K option through partment of Children and Fam-
the Thanksgiving weekend, for the ily Services, which has its office in
first time inviting those who didn’t their UP Center, has been closed
feel comfortable participating in since March 1.
person, or who were visiting out-of-
town family members, with an op- “So, we set up a safe and secure
portunity to support the cause. computer lab and manned it with
knowledgeable people, so people
“It’s not as large this year, but had access to benefits. That was a
everybody is social distancing and huge help,” said Lowry.
people are respectful of one an-
other,” said board member Bar- When the pandemic hit, UP pur-
bara Butts, as roughly 740 partici- chased a refrigerated Mobile Market
pants milled about before the race. truck, which they have been taking
“They’re happy to be outside, to to communities where people have
be together and it’s Thanksgiving. limited access to food.
Everybody’s involved; it’s a family
day.” “Our biggest challenge is that we
have more and more people com-
Tiny tots, some assisted by their ing for crisis care. We have people
elder siblings, were the first group who have never needed assistance
to “shake their tailfeathers,” start- before coming to our campus. We
ing things off with the Children’s need to direct them to the proper
1/4-mile race for ages 6 and under. places to fulfill their needs,” said
Runners took their mark soon after, L ow r y.
with joggers and walkers pushing
strollers or striding alongside their
pups, bringing up the rear.

As a reward, participants enjoyed
another delicious Sweet Potato Pan-
cake Breakfast, whipped up by UP
volunteers using donations of batter
from Marsh Landing, and sipping
juice from Natalie’s.

“We’re very grateful that we could
do it; we’re excited,” said Barbara
Lowry, board member. “United
Against Poverty really stepped up to

“United Against Poverty does not space to keep people safely distanced,
provide cash. However, due to COVID, they have restarted their in-person
there have been many funders who classes.
are providing financial assistance and
they rely on us to qualify the appli- Proceeds from the event support
cants. So that’s another role that we’ve the mission of United Against Poverty
taken on that we didn’t do before.” to “inspire and empower people living
in poverty to lift themselves and their
Additionally, Lowry said their families to economic self-sufficiency.”
Member Share Grocery is now open
seven days a week, and with ample For more information, visit upirc.
org. 

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / December 3, 2020 21

PEOPLE

Dan and Andrea Kaupas with their sons. Jean, Joanna and Janice Peppers. Ryan Glaab and Sherri Glaab with Haley and Chris Chammoun.

Jeremy, Beckey and Madison Kimball.

Tina and Cody Clark.

Ashley, Earl and Kate Robbins.
Rania and Grayson Stewart.

22 Vero Beach 32963 / December 3, 2020 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

Let’s give it up for ‘Philanthropy Day’ award winners

BY STEPHANIE LaBAFF Ginny Powers and Jeff Powers. PHOTOS: KAILA JONES Gladys LaForge and Mary Ellen McCarthy. Way of IRC, is retiring at the end of
Staff Writer the year.
cates, ambassadors, advisors, am- recently bestowed on the late Alma
A community of goodwill lead- plifiers, agitators, accelerators and Lee Loy and Dan K. Richardson – Taking on the role of emcee, Kint
ers, who through their deeds and allies.” two pillars of philanthropy. provided a snapshot of each of the
actions have demonstrated that we 25 honored leaders, all of whom had
are “Better Together,” were honored Shannon McGuire Bowman, cur- “The President’s Award is a spe- previously been selected as a win-
during the 15th annual National rent AFPIR president, had the honor cial tribute to an individual or a ner. To embrace this year’s “Better
Philanthropy Day Awards Celebra- of introducing Michael Kint as the group who has demonstrated car- Together” mindset, none were sin-
tion presented by the Association of recipient of the President’s Award. ing, giving and a nurturing philoso- gled out.
Fundraising Professionals, Indian phy in support of the nonprofit cul-
River chapter. Visibly moved, Kint humbly ture in Indian River County,” said Interspersed throughout the cere-
shared his reluctance to accept the Bowman. Kint, CEO of the United mony, stories of impact were shared
With the pandemic in mind, the rarely presented honor. It was most by Kate Maingot, Sabby Hightower
AFPIR thought to host a Drive-In and Staff Sgt. Bryce Saint-Vincent,
Celebration at Riverside Park but, whose lives have been positively
on par with a tumultuous 2020, impacted by this community’s phil-
plans were stymied when the park anthropic culture.
was deemed too wet from recent
rains. “They have kindly and coura-
geously agreed to offer their unique
A change in venue to the Commu- perspective as to what the generos-
nity Church of Vero Beach turned ity of hundreds of people in Indian
the celebration into an intimate River County, most of whom they
gathering of honorees, their loved will never meet, has meant to them
ones, and representatives from and their future,” said Kint.
nominating nonprofits.
Their stories included a COVID-
Kerry Bartlett, event chair with related need for aid, a decade’s
Elizabeth Thomason, said it was worth of community support, and
clear that these committed, phil- the heartfelt appreciation for a
anthropic leaders “are askers, advo- piece of home delivered to soldiers
on the other side of the world. 

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Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / December 3, 2020 23

PEOPLE

Shotsi Cain Lajoie and Bill Stewart. Ted and Dawn Michael. Phil and Debbie DeLange. Andrea Berry and Karen Franke.
Ashima Wild.
HONORED LEADERS: Ralph and Connie Poppell with Eve Kyomya.
Dean and Ann Marie Suriano.
Carol Buhl Cheryl and Bill Michel.
Childcare Resources of Indian River

Tim Buhl
Environmental Learning Center

Mary Cimonetti Burkins
Center for Spiritual Care

Linda Colontrelle
Military Moms Prayer Group

Phil and Debbie DeLange
The Buggy Bunch

Joan Edwards
Indian River State College Foundation

Karen Franke
IRC Healthy Start Coalition

Dr. Harry Hurst
St. Francis Manor

Dr. Vaughan Judd
Substance Awareness Center

Don Mann
Literacy Services of IRC

Dawn Michael
Senior Resource Association

Cheryl Michel & Elisa Sielinski
Treasure Coast Community Health

Ray Oglethorpe
The Learning Alliance

Andrew R. Paul
Veterans Council of IRC

Connie S. Poppell
Indian River Habitat for Humanity

Jeff Powers
Boys & Girls Clubs of IRC
Gifford Youth Achievement Center.

Quail Valley Charities
Youth Guidance Mentoring Academy

Lin Reading
Friends After Diagnosis

Gavin Ruotolo
Youth Sailing Foundation

Steve and Rose Sadlek
Sunshine Physical Therapy Clinic

William “Bill” Stewart
VNA & Hospice Foundation

Marie Stiefel
Laura (Riding) Jackson Foundation

Ann Marie Suriano
Mental Health Collaborative

Ashima Wild
Keep Indian River Beautiful

Bonnie Wilson
Big Brothers Big Sisters

24 Vero Beach 32963 / December 3, 2020 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

‘Outdoor Movie Nights’ proves
a big (screen) hit for St. Helen’s

Kurt and Stephany Sanders with children Madison, Makenzie and Mason.

Bob Schlitt, Amanda Berwick and Trevor Frederick. PHOTOS: KAILA JONES

The St. Helen’s Harvest Festi-
val took on a new look this year.
The church traded in what would
have been its 56th fall festival
at the Jackie Robinson Training
Complex for St. Helen’s Outdoor
Movie Nights, a multi-evening
triple feature affair held on the St.
Helen’s Field. “The Wizard of Oz,”
“Jumanji” and “Dolittle” rolled
across the big screen as familial
groups snuggled under blankets
in their own socially distanced
movie boxes – a pandemic re-
vamping of an old-fashioned
drive-in movie. But some favorite
carnival foods were continued,
the scents of popcorn, cotton
candy and corn on the cob waft-
ed through the air, along with
steamy goodness from boxed
dinners. Adding to the excite-
ment was a nightly drawing of
the Patron Saint Raffle. Proceeds
from the annual event support
the St. Helen Catholic School. 

Edward Nicolace, Shelby Jackson and Maureen Nicolace.

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / December 3, 2020 25

PEOPLE

Lily Stirrat, Grace Dermody, Chris and Rachelle Dermody.

BonLnuikeeSacnhdlitJtowseitphhcGhiialdmremnaDttaeni.iel, Fr. Nicholas Zrallack and Richard Schlitt.

Briana Sukhu with children Adelyn, Alina and Aniyah. Daniel Giammattei, Hayden Schlitt and Ali Schlitt.

Pepper Stevens, Jerry and Jenni Czernewski and Sherry Stevens.

26 Vero Beach 32963 / December 3, 2020 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

ELC honors extraordinary legacies of Loy and McCabe

BY MARY SCHENKEL had been involved with numer-
Staff Writer ous charitable organizations, these
awards acknowledged their stead-
Each in their own way, Alma Lee fast support of environmental edu-
Loy and Robert (Bob) F. McCabe, cation and the ELC.
who both passed away in April,
were well known for their innumer- County Commissioner Laura
able contributions to the communi- Moss called Loy a delight to work
ty they loved. Loy and McCabe were with, and recalled meeting McCabe
recently recognized posthumously through the Mental Health Collab-
by the Environmental Learning orative, which was co-founded and
Center with inaugural ELC Envi- co-funded by the Robert F. and El-
ronmental Education Champion eonora W. McCabe Foundation.
Lifetime Achievement Awards for
their significant accomplishments Commenting that the ELC was the
and commitment to the environ- perfect place to be in these stressful
ment. times, Moss added, “I think today
with COVID, we’re more aware than
“We have chosen to start this tra- ever of the importance of mental
dition by honoring two very spe- health. Tie the two together and re-
cial members of our community,” ally it is the perfect union; you have
said Barbara Schlitt Ford, ELC ex- the environment, and you have
ecutive director. The presentation mental health. And if you come here
was streamed live and can still be you will feel better. I guarantee it.”
viewed on the ELC Facebook page.
Don Barr, ELC board chair, said
Because of the pandemic, she that one of Loy’s many triumphs
said the community was not given was as co-chair of the original ELC
a proper chance to “celebrate their board more than 30 years ago. “She
amazing lives,” and that while both had amazing careers both in the
public sector and private sector.”

Ellie McCabe and Melissa Blizman. PHOTOS CONTINUED ON PAGE 28

PHOTOS: MARY SCHENKEL AND KAILA JONES.

Barr said that he had served ognized Loy and McCabe as true
with McCabe on the ELC Founda- champions of the environment and
tion board, of which McCabe was said the City of Vero Beach had is-
a founding member, and said Mc- sued similar proclamations. After-
Cabe was among those who estab- ward, Moss read letters of recogni-
lished an investment committee tion issued by the county for their
that subsequently created a “nice tireless commitment to the people,
little war chest” for the ELC. businesses and quality of life of In-
dian River County.
“He was a really neat guy and I
thought he was a hoot,” said Barr, “Bob isn’t here physically but his
referencing McCabe’s well-known spirit is here, and if his spirit could
humor. talk, he would say thank you so
much for this honor,” said his wid-
Barr read proclamations that rec-

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / December 3, 2020 27

PEOPLE

ow, Ellie McCabe. “And another thing lifelong achievement is that she saw we realize we can be better than what we’re all about here – environmental
he would say is that the place looks opportunities and she took them, and we even imagine ourselves to be.” education,” said Schlitt Ford. Engraved
great. It really looks wonderful so keep she left the place in better shape than boardwalk planks will also be dedicat-
up the good work.” she found it. She had a talent for mak- In addition to framed documents, ed to them as a part of the TLC for the
ing the county take a look at itself and each family was presented with hand- ELC program to revitalize the campus.
“If she were here, she would be hon- say, ‘I can do better.’ And I think she af- made wall art of a mangrove tree.
ored and humbled,” said Donna Mor- fected individuals that way, such that For more information, visit discov-
ris, first cousin to Loy. “I think her true “It’s representative of the tree of life, erelc.org. 
the tree of knowledge, and that’s what

28 Vero Beach 32963 / December 3, 2020 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

PHOTOS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 26
Donna and Ed Morris.

Tim Buhl and Jim Sourbeer.

John Daniels, Laura Moss and Don Barr.



30 Vero Beach 32963 / December 3, 2020 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT COVER STORY

Bombay Beach gleams aside the Salton Sea.
Even before the pandemic, unemployment
in Imperial County typically ran to 15%.

Dust storms laced with toxins sweep away across a jumble of mountains, Most of that lithium now comes from water into steam to generate electric-
across California’s Imperial County, but it might as well be another world. Australia, China, and South America. ity.
where mud volcanoes spit and hiss near The U.S. badly wants its own supply.
the shores of the slowly shrinking lake Yet this overlooked moonscape may All that’s needed is a way to strip out
known as the Salton Sea. The county is hold the key to America’s clean-car fu- There’s no doubt the lithium is there. the lithium before pumping the rest of
one of California’s poorest, most of its ture. Hot brine trapped beneath the The brine containing it already flows the brine back underground. A March
jobs tied to a thin strip of irrigated land desert floor contains potentially one of to the surface day and night through a 2020 report from research organization
surrounded by desert. the world’s biggest deposits of lithium. series of 11 geothermal power plants, SRI International estimated that the
clustered around the southeastern Salton Sea area could produce 600,000
San Diego and the Golden State’s Demand for the metal is soaring as edge of the Salton Sea. The plants, op- tons of lithium a year, almost eight
prosperous coast lie only 100 miles automakers worldwide shift to electric erating for decades, convert the 500F times last year’s global production.
cars powered by lithium-ion batteries.

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / December 3, 2020 31

INSIGHT COVER STORY

But it’s one thing to extract lithium years studying the idea, don’t merely that could make the U.S. a force in a They’ve even started using the
from the region’s brine as a test and see Imperial County as a glorified battery industry that China dominates. name “Lithium Valley” to brand the
another to do so in bulk, at a reason- mine. The lithium, they say, could be- They want as many future jobs to be idea. Because the lithium is there,
able cost. come the foundation of a local market clustered in California as possible. they reason, why not make the batter-
ies there, too, at factories powered by
“This is not alchemy,” says Jonathan clean geothermal energy? And if the
Weisgall, vice president for government batteries are made there, why not the
relations for Berkshire Hathaway En- whole electric car?
ergy Co., which owns 10 of the region’s
geothermal plants. “The lithium’s there, “The infrastructure is there, the
and we have recovered it in the labora- workforce is there,” says Rod Colwell,
tory. The question is, can it be done in a chief executive officer of Controlled
commercial way?” Thermal Resources Ltd., which plans
to build a new geothermal plant, com-
Deep-pocketed Berkshire is one of plete with lithium extraction, at the
three companies developing facilities lake. “If we manage to snag one battery
to pull lithium from the brine. Else- plant, you’re talking 3,000 jobs. That’s a
where in California, mining giant Rio big deal for Southern California.”
Tinto Group has been pulling the met-
al from old mine tailings. Tesla Inc. has It would be a bigger deal for Impe-
announced plans to produce its own rial County, where even before the
lithium from Nevada clay – something coronavirus pandemic the unemploy-
never done at commercial scale. ment rate often ran to 15% or 20%.
The county, 85% Latino, suffered one
Six years ago startup Simbol Mate- of the state’s worst Covid outbreaks
rials LLC claimed to have cracked the this summer. Its two hospitals were so
code at its Salton Sea demonstration overrun that some patients were air-
plant, attracting a $325 million buy- lifted 500 miles away to San Francisco.
out offer from Tesla, the Desert Sun
newspaper reported. The deal didn’t go “This pandemic has only uncovered
through, and Simbol collapsed in 2015, what many people were not aware of,”
shuttering its plant. says state Assemblyman Eduardo Gar-

California officials, who have spent CONTINUED ON PAGE 32

A campground in Mecca Beach, by the Salton Sea.

California’s Salton Sea
area might yield 600,000
tons of lithium a year.

Red Hill lies in the distance. A plan to

fill the area with pumped water from
the Alamo River to suppress habitat
dust is progressing slowly.

32 Vero Beach 32963 / December 3, 2020 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 31 INSIGHT COVER STORY

cia, who grew up in the area and now Left: The 52-mile-long Alamo River runs
represents it in Sacramento. “We who from Baja California to the Red Hill area
live here and have been living with the along the Salton Sea.
economic challenges have been ring-
ing the bell for years now.”

Governor Gavin Newsom in Sep-
tember signed a bill written by Garcia
creating a committee to explore how
best to develop the county’s lithium
resources. Garcia calls the opportunity
a “Wayne Gretzky moment,” citing the
hockey great’s famous method of skat-
ing to where he thought the puck was
going to be. “You can say this is where
the puck is going, in terms of our need
for lithium batteries and the electrifi-
cation of our nation,” Garcia says.

The Imperial Valley straddles the
Mexican border. In 1905 the levee of an
irrigation canal bringing water from
the Colorado River about 60 miles to
the east burst open. Water poured into
a depression in the desert, the Salton
Sink, creating a lake whose surface lies
more than 200 feet below sea level. It’s
slowly drying and shrinking, growing
saltier by the year. Pesticides from ir-
rigated fields nearby settled in the lake
bed and now sit exposed to the winds,
to be swept aloft during dust storms.

Beneath the lake, a bubble of magma
– partially molten rock – heats the wa-
ter that the geothermal plants use. That
water, far from pure, holds a sizable

What was once the Red Hill Bay Marina,
in the sea’s southeast, must regularly
be cleared of sand.

chunk of the periodic table. When the Gates’s Breakthrough Energy ventures
power plants were built in the 1980s, (Michael Bloomberg is also an inves-
no one gave the lithium much thought; tor in Breakthrough Energy), and Con-
the first commercial lithium-ion bat- trolled Thermal Resources plans to use
teries didn’t hit the market until 1991. Lilac’s technology at the Salton Sea.

The plants at the Salton Sea draw “Lithium is particularly hard to sepa-
their superheated brine from wells rate,” Snydacker says. “If you tried to use
thousands of feet deep, let it turn to conventional exchange technologies,
steam inside the plant, use the steam you’d just end up with a lot of sodium.”
to turn turbines and generate power,
then pump it back underground to Each company with projects at the
reheat. Removing the lithium before lake – Controlled Thermal Resources,
reinjecting the brine would add a few Berkshire Hathaway, and EnergySource
steps to the existing cycle, giving the Minerals LLC – has its own approach to
plants a new product worth far more the technology, and each insists reach-
than the electricity they sell. ing full-scale production won’t require
further breakthroughs. The pandemic
It’s not easy to extract commercial came at an awkward time, when the
quantities of lithium from the brine, companies had intended to be final-
which is packed with potassium, iron, izing plant designs and raising money.
manganese, and sodium. In part that’s
because lithium and sodium atoms be- EnergySource, whose sister com-
have similarly, says David Snydacker, pany operates one of the area’s existing
founder and CEO of Lilac Solutions. His geothermal plants, needs about $400
startup in Oakland, Calif., has devel- million for its facility, says Chief Oper-
oped its own version of ion-exchange ating Officer Derek Benson. The com-
technology – the same concept behind pany expects to begin construction in
water softening – that uses ceramic- a year or so and enter production in
based beads to collect the lithium, late 2023. It’s been running a pilot proj-
without the impurities. ect at its plant, off and on, for about
four years, he says. The full-scale facil-
Lilac in February won $20 million in ity would yield a little less than 20,000
funding from investors including Bill metric tons of lithium per year.

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / December 3, 2020 33

INSIGHT COVER STORY

If the plants open as planned and tric vehicles sold in the United States. a battery manufacturing cluster with “California has some of the high-
work as advertised, California offi- Despite its reputation as an expen- Imperial County as its base would est standards of labor relations and
cials anticipate parlaying them into help the EV makers thrive, lure in- environmental regulations,” Assem-
something far bigger. With its eco- sive place to build anything, the state vestment from Detroit as U.S. au- blyman Garcia says, “so we really
conscious population and aggressive boasts a growing number of EV manu- tomakers shift to electric transport, want to tout the idea that we’re go-
climate change policies, California facturers, including Tesla and would- and bring good jobs to a corner of the ing to do it, and we’re going to do it
has become home to half of all elec- be rival Lucid Motors, Zero Motorcy- state that desperately needs them. right.” 
cles, and bus maker Proterra. Creating

34 Vero Beach 32963 / December 3, 2020 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT OPINION

We hardly need reminding about sinations, and riots that burned cities. But many, many other expressions of Civil War. On Oct. 3, 1863 – just weeks
this year – COVID-19, lockdowns, lay- None of which compares to 1348, gratitude took the form of generosity, before he would go to Gettysburg to
offs, economic distress, hurricanes, of trying to give back or pay it forward. give his famous address – he issued a
street violence, politics turned tribal. when the Black Death was killing a proclamation that thanks “should be
third of Europe’s population. In New York, Sauce Pizzeria provid- solemnly, reverently and gratefully ac-
Not the best of times. ed up to 400 pizzas a day to hospital knowledged as with one heart and one
But was it the worst? Before 2020 But the truly worst of the worst? That staff. When Sauce’s landlord found voice by the whole American People,”
was even half gone, headlines had be- would be 536, when an Icelandic volca- out, he gave the pizzeria free rent and and that it should be done on the last
gun either asking that question or as- no released so much ash that Europe, $20,000 to underwrite more pies. Thursday of each November.
serting the answer. By July Fourth, the the Middle East, and parts of Asia were
T-shirts had arrived. Since then, the darkened for two years. Global tem- Gratitude has always been a salve According to Arthur Brooks, who
media speculations, themed apparel, peratures plummeted, crops failed, during moments of great affliction. In teaches a course on happiness at Har-
and Twitter memes have only prolifer- famine spread. Not long after, bubonic the early 1940s, at the nadir ofWorldWar vard Business School, “Psychologists
ated – 2020, our annus horribilis. plague caused the loss of as many as II for the U.S. abroad and at home, radio have found that many of the most
In July, the COVID Response Tracking 100 million people. They were called was the cultural lifeline that convened meaningful experiences in life are
Study, conducted by the nonpartisan the Dark Ages for a reason. the nation. The most-listened-to broad- quite painful.”
research organization at the University casts were the famed fireside chats by
of Chicago, found that the year 2020 The lesson, say historians: We hu- President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Yet the question remains: Can people
was unfolding as the “unhappiest in 50 mans have been through some stuff – The second most popular programs feel grateful under dire circumstances?
years.” and still, here we are. were by Harry Emerson Fosdick. “Not only will a grateful attitude help –
Fair enough, then. A person could it is essential,” writes Robert Emmons,
be forgiven for feeling more than a Behavioral scientists tell us that view- Mr. Fosdick was a renowned theo- a University of California, Davis psy-
little blue. ing history unsentimentally will help logian. By the 1940s, he’d founded and chologist.
Of course, as many historians have curb our “nostalgia bias,” and enable us led the massive, nondenominational
taken pains to remind us, 2020 is not the to reframe the present as better than we Riverside Church in New York City. “It is precisely under crisis condi-
worst year ever. There have been some thought. tions when we have the most to gain
bad ones! “This is a ghastly time to be alive,” by a grateful perspective on life. In the
The year 1919, for instance. That But perhaps that’s off-target. Wheth- he said in one of his best-loved war- face of demoralization, gratitude has
was when the Spanish flu was still on er the litany of anni horribili beyond time sermons. “Nevertheless it is also the power to energize. In the face of
its way to killing half a million Ameri- our living memories provides us per- a great time to be alive” – a time call- brokenness, gratitude has the power
cans and 50 million people worldwide. spective or not, it may not matter. Our ing for “wisdom and courage to face to heal. In the face of despair, gratitude
Inflation skyrocketed and unemploy- current times feel plenty bad. And per- and create momentous change,” and has the power to bring hope.”
ment shot to 20%. Race riots and mas- haps, just perhaps, that’s when grati- for “realistic appraisal of our false reli-
sive labor strikes racked the country. tude is most potent. ances.” Hard times are a blessing, Mr. Harvard’s Dr. Brooks advises: “[Don’t
Or consider 1863, when half the coun- Fosdick argued, because they make it let] your disappointment interfere with
try was a war zone and 51,000 soldiers The people applauding out their urgent that we separate what matters what you can affect. Resolve that while
were killed or wounded at Gettysburg. windows for emergency responders, in our lives from what doesn’t. you don’t know what will happen next
Or, more proximately, 1968, which the heart signs, the food deliveries to week or next month, you do know you
saw 100,000 Americans and 200,000 essential workers, the looking-in on So it has always been, this idea of hard- are alive and well right now, and refuse
Vietnamese killed or wounded in Viet- elders. Online platforms have been ship as a whetstone for which thanks are to waste the gift of this day.” 
nam, the My Lai massacre, two assas- flooded with counted blessings. due.
A version of this column appeared
People gave thanks for simple things, It’s easy to forget that the official first in the Christian Science Monitor. It
mostly – their families, video chats, the Thanksgiving holiday did not even exist does not necessarily reflect the views of
“tall green trees that are older than me,” until Abraham Lincoln created it during Vero Beach 32963.
a hummingbird, the ocean, soup. (“Yep, that hardest of national hardships, the
soup,” says a California, man.)

During the coronavirus crisis, our Pelican Plaza office is closed to visitors. We appreciate your understanding.

Mitral Valve Regurgitation  The oxygenated blood leaves the lungs and returns to
the heart through the pulmonary vein.
The heart has four valves – aortic, pulmonic, tricuspid and  It enters the left upper atria, then descends through
mitral – and four chambers. The two upper chambers are the mitral valve into the left lower ventricle.
the right and left atria; the two lower chambers are the  The ventricle pumps blood through the aortic valve
right and left ventricles. Healthy valves keep blood moving into the aorta, the artery that feeds the rest of the
through the chambers of the heart in the right direction. body through a system of blood vessels.
Each valve has flaps (called leaflets or cusps) that open and
close with every heartbeat to allow blood to flow through IHNeaArtHvaElAveRlTeaBfEleAtsT, made of strong, thin tissue, open to
the heart, to the lungs to get oxygenated, and back out to
the body. The mitral and tricuspid valves are located be- let blood move forward through the heart during half of
tween the upper and the lower chambers; the aortic and the heartbeat, and then close to keep blood from flowing
pulmonic valves are situated between the ventricles and backward.
the major blood vessels leaving the heart. The aortic, pulmonic and tricuspid valves each has three
Valve disease may be congenital (you are born with it) or leaflets; the mitral valve (also called the bicuspid valve) has
acquired (it develops later in life). Common causes of ac- two. Leaflets in the mitral valve are supported by a tough,
quired valve disease include an infection of the lining of fibrous ring called the annulus that’s attached to the leaf-
the heart (infective endocarditis) and rheumatic fever, as lets to help support and maintain the valve’s proper shape.
well as changes to the valve that develop over time. Tough, fibrous strings called chordae tendinea, colloquially
known as “heart strings,” that resemble tendons connect
GAsOblWooIdTtHraTveHlsEthFrLoOuWgh the body, oxygen is used up and to papillary muscles inside the ventricles.
All parts of the mitral valve must work synchronously for
the blood becomes oxygen poor. Oxygen-poor blood re- the valve to effectively open during diastole (when the
turns from the body to the heart through two main veins heart muscle relaxes and allows the chambers to fill with
called the superior vena cava and inferior vena cava. blood) and close in systole (when the heart muscle con-
In this order: tracts and pumps blood from the chambers into the arter-
 Blood enters the right upper atria. ies). If the valve doesn’t close and seal completely, blood
 It flows through the tricuspid valve into the right lower leaks backwards in the heart resulting in mitral valve re-
ventricle. gurgitation. 
 The ventricle pushes blood through the pulmonic valve
into the pulmonary artery. —To be continued—
 The pulmonary artery carries blood to the lungs where Your comments and suggestions for future topics are al-
oxygen is put in and carbon dioxide is taken out during ways welcome. Email us at [email protected].
the process of breathing.
© 2020 Vero Beach 32963 Media, all rights reserved

36 Vero Beach 32963 / December 3, 2020 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT BOOKS

When Michael J. Fox told the world, in NO TIME LIKE THE FUTURE: pandemic – and that we, just like Fox, are still
1998, that he had been fighting Parkinson’s AN OPTIMIST CONSIDERS MORTALITY struggling to see a way out.
disease for the past seven years, it felt devas-
tating to me in many ways. For one thing, like BY MICHAEL J. FOX | FLATIRON. 256 PP. $27.99 Occasionally the many registers of the memoir
a lot of people of my generation, I had been a REVIEW BY POROCHISTA KHAKPOUR, THE WASHINGTON POST fall into disharmony thematically: The dad jokes
big fan of the hit ’80s TV sitcom “Family Ties” work well in the voicey-ness of the prose but dis-
– obsessed with Alex P. Keaton without fully in various series; here we see him as a loyal husband tract when in, say, chapter-title placement. The
understanding the implications of his role as and the father of four who are grappling with their introduction, for instance, is called “Fall Guy”
a weird Reagan-stanning surly Republican. unwavering devotion; here we see him in precarious but the harrowing fall it describes isn’t one that
mental health facing his first terrifying episode of feels right for word play. Similarly, “Exile on Pain
Fox’s disclosure was doubly shocking as psychosis. Street,” “Breaking Dad” and “Homeland Secu-
not only was he just 29 when he was diag-
nosed, he was also not the kind of celebrity Fox makes it through all this with both light hu- rity” feel slightly crass given the gravity of Fox’s
who seemed vulnerable at all. To imagine him mor and deep introspection: The entire book is anecdotes. Fox’s writing is at its best when it’s
compromised in any crisis seemed impossible. well woven in a rich tragicomic tapestry. We make barreling into the demons. A phrase like “I’m
For a while I had no idea how to process his it through all the obstacles only for the book to be taking my time. Time isn’t taking me” works far
struggles, though I was amazed he was still sur- most heartbreakingly tagged with what will likely be better than a chapter called “Double Bogey”
viving as the years went by. I assumed wealth a standard of 2020 memoirs: The epilogue that ad- that begins with the cheeky but ultimately ton-
and celebrity were part of what kept him alive. dresses the fact that the book launched amid one ally challenged introduction, “Why me? Why
Those privileges might have been a piece of it, of human history’s greatest afflictions to date – our did this happen? I have a wife and children,
but it wasn’t until I got sick myself, with late-
stage Lyme disease, that I realized how much a life that I love. So why was I afflicted with
one’s attitude can also factor into one’s health, golf?”
and that while a positive outlook can’t save you,
a very strong drive to live certainly counts for Some of the most engaging parts are the
something. ones where Fox’s past fame and his current
fame intersect in awkward ways – the actor
I used this thinking anyway to justify my own vs. the illness activist. “Don’t worry, he’s not
survival all these years (whether true or not), and taking your picture,” his wife tells him when a
I thought about it a lot reading Michael J. Fox’s patient at the hospital takes out a cellphone
recent memoir, his fourth book, “No Time Like near him. It’s not the only time Fox has anxi-
the Future: An Optimist Considers Mortality.”
The book joins his other works in showing what ety about being recognized. At one point a
attitude means to the illness equation. But unlike friend asks him to join him at a cafe in Mar-
his other memoirs, here he is not just walking us tha’s Vineyard, and Fox groans: “I wasn’t in
through his diagnosis and the subsequent trau- the mood to run across Alan Dershowitz
mas of living publicly with a degenerative disorder. holding court with his entourage, but it was
That piece of it is well known by now, and in fact a drippingly hot afternoon, and a frozen
there are many young people who know Fox more coffee held appeal.” Notable names very
for his illness than for his acting. organically appear throughout: Harry Reid, George
Stephanopoulos, Denis Leary, Larry David, Spike
This time Fox’s story is focused on something Lee, Paul Simon and Ronald Reagan of course! We
more unthinkable – the other things that can go also get locations, from Manhattan and Long Island
wrong with a body that’s still carrying a devastat- to Bhutan and Tanzania.
ing disease, whether it is just the wear and tear of But what makes the book a page-turner is its
aging or other, more serious afflictions. This book tenor: drolly conspiratorial, affably best-friend-y,
centers on life going on for better or for worse, piv- infectiously convivial and unapologetically pensive.
oting ultimately on a particularly impossible 2018, This a book you really hear whether you have the
Fox’s “annus horriblis” as he calls it. Fox underwent audiobook or not. The quality of the prose, the care
major spinal surgery after a tumor had been found in the pacing, the delight in storytelling, all made
to on his spinal cord – unrelated to his Parkinson’s me reexamine why I read and write in this genre in
– and he had also taken a very bad fall – related to the first place. In sharing so much of himself beyond
his Parkinson’s. The combination gave him and his buzz words and headlines, Fox has given us a gift
family a whole new set of hurdles. Not to mention we didn’t know to ask for, a gift that isn’t anywhere
here we see him in his late 50s, dealing with career close to diminishing with his years. You get the feel-
predicaments, as he continues to take on guest roles ing that even with these memoirs behind him and
inevitable health hurdles ahead of him, many more
chapters are yet to come. 

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / December 3, 2020 37

INSIGHT BRIDGE

WITH TWO SUITS, BE MORE OPTIMISTIC WEST NORTH EAST
J 10 9 4 87 32
By Phillip Alder - Bridge Columnist AKJ96 10 8 Q753
83 AK94 10
Don Marquis, a dramatist, humorist, journalist and poet who died in 1937, said, “I 92 QJ653 A K 10 8 7 4
never think at all when I write. Nobody can do two things at the same time and do
them both well.” SOUTH
AKQ65
That is interesting — but how did he decide what words to put onto the paper? 42
QJ7652
At the bridge table, having two long suits is usually better than one. If you hit a fit —
with partner, you will win more tricks than the combined point-count would normally
suggest — and doubly so if you have a double fit. Dealer: South; Vulnerable: East-West

In this deal, do you agree with South’s one-diamond opening? What should East The Bidding:
do over North’s two-heart cue-bid showing diamond support and at least game-
invitational strength? SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST OPENING
2 Hearts ??
Since I held the South hand, I agree with one diamond! Even though the hand had 1 Diamonds 1 Hearts LEAD:
only 12 high-card points, it had a lot of winners, and I was happy to bid up to four A Hearts
spades next in the hope that partner would have some fit. Here, I immediately found
out that partner had diamonds.

Over North’s two hearts, East jumped to four hearts. I prefer four clubs, a fit-showing
jump in competition in principle announcing game values in hearts with at least 4=5 in
those two suits.

Over four hearts, I rebid four spades, and partner corrected back to five diamonds.

West took two heart tricks, then shifted to a club, but I ruffed, drew trumps and
claimed.

Interestingly, I said that East could have made a fit-jump in clubs; so could North!
Over one heart, North might have bid three clubs, showing game-invitational values
with at least 4=5 in the minors. Describing both suits helps partner to assess the fit.

Established 18 Years in Indian River County

(772) 562-2288 | www.kitchensvero.com
3920 US Hwy 1, Vero Beach FL 32960





40 Vero Beach 32963 / December 3, 2020 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT GAMES

SOLUTIONS TO PREVIOUS ISSUE (NOVEMBER 26) ON PAGE 66

ACROSS DOWN
1 Look for (4) 1 Sailor (8)
3 Movement of air; empty talk(4) 2 For all time to come (8)
9 Angry (5) 4 Affront (6)
10 Gemstones (9) 5 Undress (7)
11 Small thrush (5) 6 Young sheep (4)
12 Bony-plated animal (9) 7 Signify; stingy (4)
15 Fascinated (6) 8 Outhouse (4)
17 Bring to mind (6) 13 Evergreen shrub (8)
19 Infamy (9) 14 Broadsword (8)
21 Trainee (5) 16 The Pope (7)
23 Confused situation (9) 18 Building for horses (6)
24 Bundle (5) 20 Chess piece; bird (4)
25 Touch; sense (4) 21 Truncheon (4)
26 Stun; stupor (4) 22 Profound; sunk low (4)

The Telegraph

How to do Sudoku:

Fill in the grid so the
numbers one through
nine appear just once
in every column, row
and three-by-three
square.

The Telegraph

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / December 3, 2020 41

INSIGHT GAMES

ACROSS 91 Paper Moon stars 39 The whole ___ (everything): The Washington Post
93 1990 Jack Nicholson film abbr.
PUZZLE NOTE: For some of 96 High time? VIDEO COUNTDOWN By Merl Reagle
these answers you will need 98 Sangria container 41 Blame
to use numbers 100 El Dorado’s riches 43 Spotted, as a horse THE Art & Science
101 1982 Coppola film 44 African antelope
1 Contributes 105 Actor Crowe 45 Like sockeye salmon of Cosmetic Surgery
7 Former co-owner of Prodigy 109 Poet Teasdale 47 Piano piece
10 Nitwit 110 Happy times 48 Storage places SPECIALTIES INCLUDE:
13 Caron classic 111 Dog heard at the end of 49 Thus far • Minimal Incision Lift for the
17 Three-word ultimatum 51 “0 ___ in 5.6 seconds”
18 Classical intro? Family Ties episodes Face, Body, Neck & Brow
19 Place with a pool 113 Dog diagnoser (acceleration stat) • Breast Augmentations
20 Valhalla VIP 114 Outburst or fit 53 What Jenny calls Oliver
21 1983 Charles Bronson 118 1987 Peter Falk film & Reductions
123 “My Way” penner throughout Love Story • Post Cancer Reconstructions
film (and the start of the 124 Boston’s bus syst., once 55 Waters of the world • Chemical Peels • Botox
countdown) 125 Little guy 58 Barbershop quartet member • Laser Surgery • Tummy Tucks
23 T.S. Eliot creation 126 Gaudy gambler 59 “___ questions?” • Obagi Products • Liposculpture
25 Alias letters 127 Cool it 60 “Incoming!” • Skin Cancer Treatments
26 Particle of a sort 128 Potato bud 62 Bones used in typing
27 Reactions to spectacles 129 Org. involved in the 63 Tarry
29 Doing zip 64 Sudden move
30 Actress McCarthy Iran-Contra affair 66 Awaken
34 1992 Sandra Bullock film 130 Supports with money, as a 67 Verb concerns
40 Tennis divider 69 Golf club
41 Tennis decider college 70 Irregular, as a leaf’s edge
42 Madcap 71 Bond creator Fleming
43 1933 MGM classic DOWN 73 “Right away, OK?”
46 Religious crime 77 Highest rating
50 Rainy aftermath 1 Flower part 79 Vanity
51 Lid for a lad, perhaps 2 Morale-boosting org. 80 First Christian martyr
52 Way back (for a pass) 3 Jones or Wolfe 81 Carbon dioxide
53 ___ Xing 4 Hindu Mr. 82 Jewel or trinket
54 1973 Roy Scheider film 5 Home to many a Hindu 84 ___ oil
56 Contrasting wd. 6 Playing with matches, 85 Starting
57 Kick in 86 Othello, for one
58 Rural dance hall e.g. 87 Root or Yale
60 Minimal sing-alongs 7 Gerund finish 88 German article
61 1982 Kenny Rogers movie 8 Be good 92 Congo denizen
63 Lose intensity 9 Overly protective one 93 Mon. ___ Fri.
64 Naomi or Ashley 10 Lethal snake 94 Excited
65 Hit the buffet 11 Mast extension 95 Flattens, briefly
68 ___-podrida (stew) 12 Certain Arab 97 Slangy negative
69 1970 Jack Nicholson film 13 The Boys from Syracuse 99 Cello great
72 Territory 102 Utmost, for short
74 Pierced place lyricist Hart 103 “Go ahead, ask”
75 Novelist Murdoch 14 Life-changing words 104 Rash
76 Picnic setting 15 DMV issuance: abbr. 105 Unfortunate encounter
77 1940 Don Ameche film 16 Mark of a confident 106 Medgar of Decatur
78 Ross who ran in 1992 107 Having less fat
80 Dish depository solver 108 Bit of mail: abbr.
81 A network 17 Oxen connector 112 Computer unit
83 Springsteen’s birthplace in 21 SNL’s sign-off hr. 114 Ballet step
song 22 Small bay 115 Mound builder
84 1986 comedy 24 Showman Ziegfeld 116 Desilu bought it in 1953
87 Vacation time, 28 The rate you’re going 117 Wild West
in Rouen 31 Place to stay 119 One below a cpl.
88 “Just ___” 32 Kids’ author Maurice 120 Wrap up
89 Short mo. 33 Count’s mount 121 Reporter’s question
90 Tope opener 35 Pieces ___ 122 Cry of pain

(old dollars)
36 Above, to a bard
37 Killer whale of moviedom
38 The Jeffersons theme, “Movin’

___”

The Telegraph Proudly caring for patients over 28 years.

3790 7th Terrace, Suite 101, Vero Beach, Florida

772.562.5859

www.rosatoplasticsurgery.com

Ralph M. Rosato
MD, FACS

42 Vero Beach 32963 / December 3, 2020 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT BACK PAGE

Father of bride barks ultimatums from the doghouse

BY CAROLYN HAX I have learned that she has invited them. Any sug- just to take your banishment bravely and carry on.
Washington Post I hear you.
gestions on how to handle this situation? I don’t
Hi, Carolyn: After a long mar- But no matter the specifics of how you got there:
riage, the last dozen years of which think I can pay for this, go, and grin and bear it. When you’re in the doghouse, you don’t order room
lacked any true partnership, my service.
ex-wife and I divorced two years – Anonymous
ago. Although we had lived apart That’s basically what you did when you tried to tell
for years, the divorce was surpris- Anonymous: I could have done a lot more to help your daughter whom to cross off her guest list.
ingly acrimonious. I’m not sure what my ex-wife you if you had asked me before you put in your spe-
told everyone, but my adult children wouldn’t talk cial guest-list request. Again, it could be entirely unfair that people
to me for months, my brothers have never invited turned on you, and your ex-wife may well have fabri-
me for holidays – but invited my ex-wife and her I understand that you’re in the doghouse; that, cated horrible things to turn everybody against you.
boyfriend – and friends of 40 years have completely whether you were sent there fairly or not, you were But the fact remains that your relationship with your
cut off contact without telling me why or hearing utterly blindsided by it; that you’re doing your best daughter is – quite clearly, yes? – precarious enough
“my side.” that she could be one bad conversation away from
I’ve reestablished relationships with my adult changing her mind on including you at all.
children, but they still treat me as if I’m to blame for
the divorce and spend significantly more time with So this was not the time to make demands of her,
their mother than with me. of any degree of validity. Your role was to decide you
My daughter will marry next summer. I’m happy could, in good conscience, play the role your daugh-
for her. While my daughter would like me to walk ter asked you to play – or decide you couldn’t. Period.
her down the aisle, I have not been included in any No substitutions.
of the planning. I asked what their expectations
were for financing the wedding, and my daughter That’s still your role, actually. But you complicated
said it would be nice if I contributed. it by making a demand before thinking through how
I also asked about the guest list, and mentioned you’d respond if it was denied. Before, your choice
that I would find it very hurtful and awkward if was either to suck it up and deal with whomever
three couples – former longtime friends of mine who the bride put on the guest list, or boycott at the risk
have treated me exceptionally poorly – are invited of losing your daughter (again). Now your choice
and attend. I asked her not to invite them. is to go with the full knowledge that your daughter
included people you asked her not to, or boycott at
the risk of losing your daughter (again). The same
choice, only harder.

Before I go – aren’t your brothers the ones to ask
why people sided against you? 

JON KRAL’S ‘INSIGHT’:

RIVETING IMAGES AT THE BACKUS

44 Vero Beach 32963 / December 3, 2020 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

ARTS & THEATRE

JON KRAL’S ‘INSIGHT’: RIVETING IMAGES AT THE BACKUS

BY ELLEN FISCHER | COLUMNIST

An exhibition at the A.E.

Backus Museum in Fort

Pierce, up now through

Jan. 3, features the

work of Fort Pierce

native son Jon Kral,

a photographer who

for decades docu-

mented the land and

people of Florida for

the Miami Herald

and other Florida

papers, as well as a

private citizen.

Titled Insight:

Photography of Jon

Kral, the show fea-

tures a selection

of Kral’s black and

white pigment

prints in the ro-

tating exhibitions

gallery.

Over his 18 Herald, Kral amassed notable honors, Marshall Adams.
including a citation in 1998 from the And although the images in it range
years as a staff Robert F. Kennedy Foundation’s annu-
al Journalism Awards for his series on from the 1970s to the present year, Ad-
PHOTOS BY KAILA JONES photographer teen gangs in Miami. ams says that the exhibition “is not a
for the Miami true retrospection of Jon’s career,” be-
Many of his images from Hurricane cause it includes none of Kral’s inter-
Andrew were included in the Herald’s national work.
entry that earned it the 1993 Pulitzer
Gold Medal for public service. Before they began to correspond
about the show via telephone and
In addition to the photos he took in email, Adams knew Kral only by name,
south Florida, Kral traveled all over and learned about the man himself
the world on assignment, including courtesy of several of the Backus mu-
the volatile Middle East in the 1980s seum’s board members who remember
and 1990s. Kral was a Pulitzer finalist Kral fondly.
in 1995 for a series about conditions in
Venezuela’s notorious prisons. “There is a connectedness still,”
says Adams, who put together the
Today he is happily retired and liv- show as a last-minute response to the
ing with wife Beth in the mountains of COVID-19 crises.
North Carolina, where he splits wood
to heat his home in the winter and rev- “When we were considering this
els in not having to go anywhere. show in the early part of 2020, we knew
we could work with Jon to select im-
“This show was put together specifi- ages that people living nearby would
cally for the Backus,” says its director, J. respond to,” he explains.

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / December 3, 2020 45

ARTS & THEATRE

liams. In Kral’s picture, Williams is Titled “Uncle Bill” (Kral grew up a short
shown strapped into the cockpit of his distance from the Summerlin home),
crop-dusting plane as it races above the the grizzled subject appears to be a
regular rows of a huge citrus grove. The hard-boiled type with a squint born of
image documents one of Kral’s first as- many a sun-blasted day at sea.
signments as a Fort Pierce News pho-
tographer. To get the shot, Kral allowed When it comes to characters, many
Williams to tie him to the top of the of the photos in the show attest to Kral’s
fuselage of the one-seater plane, just focus on Florida’s cattle culture, par-
in front of the cockpit. The title of this ticularly the cowboys – er, cowhunt-
print, “Happy,” refers to the nickname ers – who continue to work on ranches
Kral bestowed on his gruff pilot friend. scattered about the state.

Another local personality in the show “Rush Hour” of 1995 shows six
is found in a 1979 portrait of fisherman mounted men splashing through a
William Summerlin, shown in profile, tranquil, watery expanse on Alico
and draped in the netting of his trade. Ranch in LaBelle, Florida. From the

CONTINUED ON PAGE 46

After Adams decided which imag- congratulated him, saying “the cream
es he wanted to see in the show, Kral always rises to the top.”
had prints made and shipped them
with ample time for the museum to A 1984 photo, “Bean + Art,” shows
frame them. Backus and his friend, musician Art
Pottorff. The latter is shown in the act
Beautifully mounted under glazing of giving Backus a big smooch on the
in substantial black frames, many of cheek as Backus, gaping, grins at the
the prints are displayed, alongside title camera. The label on this one recalls
and date information, with brief remi- the trumpet lessons that grade-school-
niscences about their subjects, sup- aged Kral took from Pottorff in Backus’
plied by Kral. previous studio (located, prior to 1960,
in the now-vacant block south of the
As you might expect, three of the Platts-Backus House). Kral wrote that
prints in the exhibition depict the Back- he “would be blowing a lot of sour notes
us Museum’s founder, painter Bean as Beanie painted in the other room.”
Backus. A shot from 1983 shows him re-
laxing in a corner of his Fort Pierce stu- “Bean’s Kitchen,” also from 1984,
dio, which was located on East Backus captures a thoughtful-looking Back-
Avenue in what is now known as the us seated in front of his stove that he
Platts-Backus House. The double name decorated in paint with Pollock-like
refers to the home’s original owners, as abandon. That very stove can be seen
well as that of the artist. a few steps away in the gallery devoted
to Backus’ work. The photo shows the
Long before photography became order in which Backus kept his spices,
his career, a 12-year-old Kral met Bean saucepans and cooking utensils, lined
Backus, who cheered on the lad’s blos- up like soldiers at attention left, right
soming interest in picture-taking. and above the stove.
Years later, when Kral signed on as staff
photographer with the Miami Herald, Snapped in 1970, one of the earliest
Bean was still around and beaming images in the exhibition is of another
with pride. According to Kral, Backus memorable character, Harold Wil-

46 Vero Beach 32963 / December 3, 2020 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 45 ARTS & THEATRE

same shoot, “John and Dogs” is the im-
age of a cowhunter leaning down from
the saddle to pat the heads of his hope-
ful looking hounds.

Closer to home, on Adams Ranch in

child in a summery dress, frilly ankle
socks and saddle shoes stands staring
through her home’s front door with a
moue of impatience on her pretty face.

“Jon made some broad selections for
me to choose from,” says Adams, who
admits that he did not always pick the
artist’s personal favorites for the show.

And although the show is about a
specific set of people, the places that

St. Lucie County, Kral’s dignified por-
trait of Bud Adams shows the rancher’s
head and shoulders silhouetted against
a bright sky. Although there is no trace

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Elise Geary Margaret Goembel of a horse in this photograph, you can formed them and Kral’s relationship to
“Impact”- 48” x 48” “Blue Tide” - 35” x 24” bet there was one under him when the them, Adams is confident in its aesthet-
1995 photo was taken. Kral’s 1979 pho- ic appeal. w“You don’t have to know all
Andrea Lazar Gail Fayerweather to, “Follow the Leader,” shows Adams the stories to respond to the universal-
“Last Legs” - 15” x 30” “Chop Chop” - 4.5” x 6” on his horse leading a herd toward a ity of these images,” he says.
hammock-lined horizon.
3349 Ocean Drive, Suite 8, 2nd Floor (Above Posh) When asked to point out his fa-
Corner of Ocean Drive & Beachland Blvd.  772-579-7667 The grueling work, mud and blood vorite in the show, Adams “ers” and
of life on the ranch-end of the cattle “ums” for a few seconds; he is hav-
Elevator Access Located on Beachalnd Blvd. behind Lyra Home industry is nowhere to be seen in the ing trouble deciding from among the
works on display. That would be out of riches on display.
sync with the gentle tone of this show,
which tends toward affectionate ob- Finally, he asserts: “My favorite one
servations of people in environments for today is ‘Mending Fences,’ with the
familiar to them. old cowboy leaning in to repair the
cattle fence. There is something about
For instance, in “Late for the First the act of repairing and making things
Day of School,” a little shorts-clad girl whole that appeals to me.”
is shown knocking at the closed door
of her classroom; and in “Waiting,” a As it also may to wistful visitors at the
close of this long and difficult year. 



48 Vero Beach 32963 / December 3, 2020 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

ARTS & THEATRE

COMING UP! Wheels up for family-friendly fun at Vero airport

BY PAM HARBAUGH because it’s all paved and flat as bly come away with a deeper under- Guild and Riverside Theatre.
Correspondent Florida, it’s perfect for those who standing of the play and the tragic
use wheelchairs as well as the en- characters. “Death of a Salesman”
1 Load in your supply of masks tire family (think little ones in staged reading opens Friday, Dec. 4 3 First Friday Gallery Stroll runs 5
and hand sanitizer, because strollers). The run, presented by and runs through Sunday, Dec. 13 at p.m. to 8 p.m. this Friday, Dec. 4.
the Indian River County Chamber Vero Beach Theatre Guild, 2020 San
of Commerce, is a professionally Juan Ave. Tickets are $10 to $20. Call These lovely events are always popu-
“chip-timed” event, which means 772-562-8300 or visit VeroBeachThe-
a slew of activities is on the radar. results will be extremely accurate. atreGuild.com. While drama opens lar, but because of the pandemic-
Cost to enter is $25, with proceeds at one theater, it’s all laughs at Riv-
No question that a couple of events benefiting the Indian River County erside Theatre’s Comedy Zone when induced isolation plus the holidays,
Chamber of Commerce. The “After standup comics Frankie Paul and
registering pretty high in the “un- 5K” begins 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Ken Miller hit the intimate stage. expectations are running high that
Dec. 9. Go to RunSignUp.com to The shows are held in Riverside’s
usual” meter will be held at the Vero register. black box theatre, which is turned this month’s Gallery Stroll will be
into a great little sophisticated com-
Beach Regional Airport. The first is edy club setting, complete with table pretty popular. However, don’t expect
service of both bar food and drinks.
the Sunrise Rotary Vero Beach “Re- Shows start at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. this the traditional atmosphere with hors
Friday, Dec. 4 and Saturday, Dec.
verse” Christmas Parade. This will 5. Tickets are $18. There’s also free d’oeuvres and wine. Nevertheless,
“Live in the Loop” music before the
also no doubt be the most comfort- shows. This week, the musical acts there should be plenty of bonhomie
are Collins and Company on Friday
able parade you’ll ever experience and the Jacks Band on Saturday. to go around. The Vero Beach galleries
Riverside Theatre is at 3250 River-
because you stay in your car and side Dr. Call 772-231-6990 or visit involved with the stroll include Raw
RiversideTheatre.com. Masks are
drive by stationary floats. You need required at both Vero Beach Theatre Space at 1795 Old Dixie Highway (772-

to stay in your car, and no food or 2 For more traditional entertain- 410-9126), Artist Bungalow at 1905
ment, head to a couple of area
alcohol will be permitted on the 14th Ave. (772-205-7631), Artists Guild

parade route. The Reverse Christ- theaters. The Vero Beach Theatre Gallery at 1974 14th Ave. (772-299-

mas Parade runs 6 p.m. to 8:15 p.m. Guild will present a staged read- 1234), Flametree Clay Art Gallery at

Saturday, Dec. 5 at the Vero Beach ing of “Death of a Salesman.” The 2041 14th Ave. (772-202-2810), Gallery

Regional Airport, 3400 Cherokee Pulitzer Prize-winning drama will 14 at 1911 14th Ave. (772-562-5525),

Dr. There is no cost to view the pa- be presented as part of the the- Main Street Vero Beach Studios & Gal-

rade, but neither bikes nor walkers ater’s Apron Series Productions. The lery at 2036 14th Ave. (772- 643-6782)

are allowed. For more information, staged reading is directed by Art and Vero Beach Art Club Annex & Gal-

visit VBChristmasParade.com. The Pingree. One of the fascinating and lery at 1903 14th Ave. (772- 217-3345),

second event at the airport is also illuminating aspects in staged read- which will also be opening its Holiday

an unexpected one – the “After 5K” ings of great works is the emphasis Showcase and Mini Festival of Trees

run on the airport’s tarmac. And on the written word. You will proba- Auction. 

LESSONS LEARNED
WHEN THE DOCTOR
BECOMES THE PATIENT

50 Vero Beach 32963 / December 3, 2020 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

HEALTH

Lessons learned when the doctor becomes the patient

BY KERRY FIRTH Dr. Marc Lieberman. Lieberman had the MRI. On the fol- Dr. Lieberman considers himself
Correspondent lowing morning he got a call from blessed for a rapid diagnosis.
PHOTO: KAILA JONES both the radiologist and the doctor
The transition from a healer to a and was told it wasn’t an injured disc Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma is can-
patient was a humbling experience GUM SURGERY causing his pain. Instead, the doc- cer of the blood system, specifically
for one local physician whose diag- WALK-INS WELCOME tors had found a mass that required the lymphocytes – a type of white
nosis with non-Hodgkin’s lympho- FINANCING AVAILABLE more testing. blood cell. The cancer is rarely found
ma pushed him into the unfamiliar in just one area of the body, and in
role of a patient relying on experts to “My immediate reaction was to Dr. Lieberman’s case, it was in his
achieve remission and save his life. get this worked up and diagnosed as neck, bones, bone marrow, lungs
fast as possible,” Lieberman says. “I and abdomen. Untreated, the dis-
Dr. Marc Lieberman has been called my wife, who was in Mexico at ease is fatal.
practicing ENT (ear, nose and the time, and told her what was hap-
throat) and facial plastic surgery in pening. She managed to find a flight Although Dr. Lieberman occasion-
Vero Beach since 1987 and is highly home and was with me that Thurs- ally diagnoses lymphoma in one of
respected throughout the medical day when I went to Vero Radiology, his own patients, it isn’t a disease he
community. When he had a persis- where they performed nine MRIs, treats. Rather, it’s a world away from
tent pain in his neck so severe that three CT scans and a PET scan. common ENT problems like ear, si-
he couldn’t sleep at night, he saw a nus and throat infections and plas-
doctor and tried some conservative “I am very aware that if it weren’t tic surgeries like eyelid lifts, facelifts
treatments like oral steroids and for my connections in the medical and skin cancer reconstructions
exercises. When he got no relief, a community, I never would have had that he does routinely.
nerve block was performed. When these procedures done so expedi-
that didn’t help, his orthopedist ently. Lining up those tests would One might think a doctor with
recommended an MRI. “I honestly take the average person six weeks or such a diagnosis would bury himself
thought I had neck arthritis or a disc more.” in research and read up on every-
issue,” Lieberman explained. That thing regarding the disease, but that
visit started his journey down the Dr. Lieberman went to Cleveland wasn’t the case with Lieberman.
frightening cancer rabbit hole. Clinic Indian River Hospital on Fri-
day for nine CT guided needle bi- “I put all my faith in my doctors
The Tuesday before Memorial Day, opsies of the neck, a bone marrow and was willing to do anything they
aspirate and two bone biopsies. By said to recover and beat this cancer,”
$79 Saturday he received the devastat- he recalled. “I honestly didn’t want
ing news from the pathologist that anything to interfere with my focus
NEW PATIENT the mass was a lymphoma of some on fighting and recovery. I didn’t
SPECIAL type. read anything. I didn’t ask questions.
I didn’t look at the numbers. I didn’t
*CLEANING, COMPREHENSIVE Because of his long-term relation- want any unsolicited advice from
EXAM & X-RAYS ships, his final diagnosis took less friends, acquaintances and family.
than two weeks. Since earlier treat- I didn’t even want to know the side
*Not to be used with other offers or ment is linked to better outcomes, effects of the treatment I would be
reduced fee plans. X-rays non-transferable. undergoing.

(D0150) (D1110) (D0210) (D0330) “I know all too well that patients
often develop side effects through
DENTAL LAB the power of suggestion, and I didn’t
ON PREMISES want negativity of any kind to en-
ter my mind. My only question was,
COSMETIC DENTISTRY ‘When do I start?’”

GENERAL DENTISTRY Lieberman’s wife, Nancy Gould,
on the other hand, was a tenacious
DENTAL IMPLANTS advocate for her husband through-
out the process. “Marc was very stoic
Locally Owned for 25 Years JULIE A. CROMER, DDS about the diagnosis and seemed to
Call 772-562-5051 bury his head in the sand, just focus-
ing on the eventual recovery. It was
CromerAndCairnsDental.com hard sometimes as I was the one who
had to ask all the questions and deal
The patient and any other person responsible for payment has a right to with all the concerns from family
refuse to pay, cancel payment, or be reimbursed for payment for any other and friends,” she says. “We made it
services, examination, or treatment that is preformed as a result of and through as a team, however, and we
within 72 hours of responding to the advertisement for the free, discounted both strongly believe that his posi-
fee, or reduced fee service, examination, or treatment. tive attitude contributed to his re-
cover y.”
1225 US HWY 1, VERO BEACH, FL 32960
Dr. Lieberman entrusted his care
to oncologist Dr. Jennifer Byer with
Florida Cancer Specialists. Coinci-
dentally, she had been his patient
since she was about 3 years old and
reminded him that he had pierced
her ears when she was 5. “Talk about
a role reversal,” he said with a laugh.