01/10/2019 ISSUE 02

Pelican Island open despite
federal shutdown. P10
Kids hoop it up
with Lady Yalies. P15
Few wear masks to help

stop spread of flu at clinics. P8

Little League return For breaking news visit
seen setting off new
youth baseball wars Lagoon Council
has ‘roadmap’ to
restore estuary

BY RAY MCNULTY BY SUE COCKING
Staff Writer Staff Writer

When it comes to youth PHOTOS BY LEIGH GREEN The Indian River Lagoon
baseball leagues in the Vero Council has created a detailed
Beach area, more isn’t neces- MY Deputies would ‘run to the sound of a gun’ at schools here “roadmap” for restoring the
sarily better – and three might VERO ailing estuary to health over
be too much. the next 10 years which re-
BY RAY MCNULTY High School, where two heav- response from law enforce- quires the help of all five coun-
That’s why Derek Muller, Staff Writer ily armed teens slaughtered 13 ment where the police, in- ties, 38 cities, and some 1.6
president of the Indian River people – 12 students and one cluding a S.W.A.T. team, million residents in the region.
Cal Ripken Baseball League, For nearly 20 years, we’ve teacher – and wounded 21 oth- failed to immediately inter-
said last week he can’t em- been told that everything ers before killing themselves. vene and appeared unpre- After spending months
brace the return of Vero Beach changed after the massa- pared to handle such a crisis. drafting and re-drafting the
Little League, which is at- cre at Colorado’s Columbine We were told we would comprehensive, 186-page con-
tempting a comeback after a never again see the delayed CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 servation and management
six-year absence. plan entitled “Looking Forward
to 2030,” the council submitted
“The thought of provid- the document to the Environ-
ing kids with another choice mental Protection Agency for
might sound good,” Muller review, with final adoption ex-
said, “but by further dividing pected around June.
the pool of available play-
ers and diluting the local tal- The plan lays out an array
ent, it’s going to weaken both of 32 “vital signs” of lagoon
leagues and probably will kill health, characterizing six
one of them, eventually. of them – impaired waters,
wastewater, stormwater, sea-
“Remember: The county grass, harmful algae blooms,
Recreation Department has a
CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

Wes Davis seen likely Acupuncturist Jill Jaynes:Was
to shake up office of this what the judge had in mind?
property appraiser

BY LISA ZAHNER Jaynes’ new office, and the sign referring BY FEDERICO MARTINEZ once thrivingVero Beach prac-
Staff Writer clients in the window of her old clinic. Staff Writer tice, Absolute Integrated Med-
icine (AIM), and opened a new
Former County Commis- Acupuncturist Jill Jaynes, clinic on Royal Palm Pointe.
sion Chair Wesley Davis got an who is out on bond, facing
early 49th birthday present on multiple charges of fraud and According to city records,
Monday – a really big one. racketeering, has closed her Jaynes purchased a new

CONTINUED ON PAGE 7 CONTINUED ON PAGE 4

January 10, 2019 Volume 12, Issue 2 Newsstand Price $1.00 Vero’s ‘Diamond’
New Year’s Eve
News 1-10 Faith 46 Pets 66 TO ADVERTISE CALL celebrations. P16
Arts 27-34 Games 47-49 Real Estate 69-80 772-559-4187
Books 44-45 Health 51-55 St. Ed’s 67
Dining 60 Insight 35-50 Style 56-59 FOR CIRCULATION
Editorial 42 People 11-26 Wine 61 CALL 772-226-7925

© 2019 Vero Beach 32963 Media LLC. All rights reserved.

2 Vero Beach 32963 / January 10, 2019 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

My Vero were still places where school resource even if it means putting yourself in the job, but I want these kids and their
officers won’t rush to confront a gun- harm’s way to protect students and parents to know I’ll do whatever I can
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 man on campus. save lives. to protect them.’

Then, 11 months ago, came the Which raises the question: Is our “What we saw in Broward, we don’t “That’s what we want.”
shootings at Marjorie Stoneman Doug- community one of those places? want to see happen here,” Flowers And if, in the chaos of the moment,
las High School in Parkland, where a said. “The school resource unit falls there’s some uncertainty by a dis-
former student murdered 17 people So, having read that the Broward under my command, and I’ve sat patcher or breakdown in communi-
and wounded 17 more without being County Sheriff’s Office put into effect last down with each of those deputies and cation that results in confusion about
confronted by an on-campus deputy. week a written policy requiring school asked them: Are you committed to run whether the SRO should intervene or
resource officers (SROs) to confront ac- toward the gunfire and do everything wait for backup?
Suddenly, it became obvious that tive shooters on campus, I called Indian you can to stop the shooter? “First and foremost, their job is to
what we were being told wasn’t true – River County Sheriff’s Maj. Eric Flowers confront the shooter and protect the
that everything hadn’t changed, that to ask about the policy here. “Every one of them said, ‘Yes, ab- kids in school,” Flowers said. “Some
not every law-enforcement agency solutely,’” he added. “I’ve looked into of the deputies have said, ‘Even if they
was properly trained to handle these Here it is: their faces to see how committed they told me not to go, I’d go.’”
active-shooter scenarios, that there  Run to the sound of the gun. are – again, every one of them – and In the wake of the Parkland shootings,
 Confront and stop the shooter. they told me, ‘Not only do I want to do the Florida Legislature passed a law last
 Do both as quickly as possible, year mandating that law-enforcement
officers be placed in every school.
Locally, Flowers said the Sheriff’s
Office has 26 SROs in 24 schools (19
public, four charter and one private)
with two deputies assigned to each of
the county’s public high schools, while
the Vero Beach Police Department has
SROs in three schools (two public, one
private) and Sebastian Police Depart-
ment has SROs in three schools (two
public, one charter).
“We had to pull people from every-
where in the agency to cover all the
schools,” Flowers said. “Over the sum-
mer, after school was out, we posted
those positions in-house and also
hired from the outside. We then sent
them to active-shooter training, in-
cluding some we sent to a program run
by the Florida Association of School
Resource Officers.
“Our deputies get active-shooter
training every year,” he added. “And
we talk about these issues every day.”
Included in the discussions are tips
called in to law-enforcement agencies
and the school district, warning of po-
tentially troubled students who need
to be monitored. Also, the Sheriff’s
Office has created an active-shooter
policy designed to provide dispatch-
ers with more specific guidelines for
handling such situations.
“They’re not normal calls,” Flowers
said, “and our goal is to avoid some of
the chaos we saw in Broward.”
The Sheriff’s Office also involves the
county’s Fire Rescue Squad in its ac-
tive-shooter training, Flowers said, be-
cause “they’re going to be there for tri-
age, evacuating people and setting up
rendezvous areas, plus we could use
their trucks as a shield, if necessary.”
Many of the enhanced strategies
the Sheriff’s Office has adopted were
recommended by Undersheriff Jim
Harpring, who served on the state
commission that investigated the Park-
land shootings.
“We really benefited from having
him on the commission,” Flowers said.
“He brought a lot back to our agency,
so we didn’t have to wait for the final
report.”

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 10, 2019 3

NEWS

However, Sheriff Deryl Loar wisely al water quality standards, the plan calls watershed and installing sewers, find- lagoon, the plan advises constructing
decided not to adopt the commis- for establishing hard limits on phospho- ing new ways to deal with reclaimed new projects that capture and treat
sion’s recommendation to arm teach- rus and nitrogen content in the water water to keep it out of the lagoon, and stormwater run-off while also upgrad-
ers – not at this time, anyway. and implementing projects to remove exploring advanced wastewater treat- ing existing filtration infrastructure. It
those nutrients and prevent them from ment technologies that can remove also advocates for best management
Flowers said Loar is concerned entering the lagoon in the first place. nutrients and, in some cases, generate practices that stem the flow of pol-
about the possibility that, during an power at the same time. lutants through proper disposal of
active-shooter incident on campus, a In the wastewater category, recom- chemicals and reduced fertilizer and
deputy or police officer might mistak- mendations call for improving and up- To reduce the flow of fertilizer, pes- pesticide use.
enly shoot an armed teacher. grading existing infrastructure, reduc- ticides and other pollutants from
ing the density of septic systems in the homes, businesses and farms into the CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
“Our greatest concern is that you
can’t identify the bad guy,” Flowers
said. “Deputies and police officers wear
their uniforms on campus. They’re easy
to identify. But what happens if a depu-
ty or police officer confronts someone
who is dressed in civilian clothes and
who is armed?

“It’s a very difficult situation,” he add-
ed. “You could have an innocent person
who was trying to do the right thing get
killed. Nobody wants to see that.”

Nobody wants to see any more
school shootings, either.

But we will.
According to a U.S. Naval Postgrad-
uate School database that dates back
to 1970, 2018 was America’s worst year
for gun violence in schools, with 94
on-campus shooting incidents – an
increase of nearly 60 percent over the
previous high of 59 in 2006.
The 2018 numbers include the
high-profile attacks in Parkland and at
Santa Fe (Texas) High School, where
in May a teen gunman killed eight stu-
dents and two teachers, and wounded
13 others.
In the Texas incident, however, police
officers assigned to the school quickly
confronted the shooter, who wounded
one officer but eventually surrendered
after being wounded himself.
The officers did what they were sup-
posed to do, putting themselves in
harm’s way to stop the shooter and keep
more people from being killed.
Flowers believes the same would
happen here.
“You never want to tempt fate,” he
said, “but I feel good about where we’re
at.” 

Lagoon ‘roadmap’
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

and the ability to implement and fi-
nance solutions – as critical, requiring
immediate and aggressive intervention
in order to save the Indian River Lagoon.

“This system is on the edge of col-
lapse and it isn’t going to get any better
unless we all pitch in,” said Dr. Duane
DeFreese, executive director of the
council, which prioritizes and funds
projects to protect and repair the la-
goon. “Identify the problems you own
and fix them and we’ll work together to
get funding to get it done.”

In order to restore already impaired
waters which don’t meet state and feder-

4 Vero Beach 32963 / January 10, 2019 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Lagoon ‘roadmap’ come close to meeting the estimated restoring a living shoreline on Foot Is- System, or LEAPS, which is designed to
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3 $1.5 billion cost of projects required land; and creating an oyster reef near combine agriculture with water treat-
to implement the plan’s conservation the Mockingbird stormwater outfall. ment to remove up to 7,000 pounds of
Seagrasses are important barometers and management goals. nitrogen and more than 1,000 pounds
of lagoon health because they filter the The top request of Falls’ counterpart of phosphorus per year.
water, provide homes for fish and other As an adjunct to “Looking Forward to with Indian River County, Rich Szpyrka,
marine creatures, and are extremely 2030,” the council asked its partners to was for funds to complete the Osprey DeFreese says once the manage-
sensitive to changes in water quality. submit a preliminary list of projects they Acres Floway and Nature Preserve near ment plan is adopted, the council will
would like funded – ranging from ‘wish South County Park – an $8.4 million develop a community and citizens’
Since the 2011 algae ‘superbloom’, lists’ to shovel-ready to in-progress. project now underway that uses aquat- guide addressing “what can people do
the lagoon has lost more than half the ic plants to remove nitrogen and phos- on an individual basis.”
seagrass acreage that was measured in Cities, counties, towns, water man- phorus from untreated canal water and
2009, according to the plan, which pro- agers, parks and universities respond- polishes water that’s already been treat- “There are individuals in small com-
poses planting new seagrass to acceler- ed with nearly 500 items with a total ed before it flows into the lagoon. munities who think they’re so small, they
ate recovery, coordinating lagoon-wide cost of $1.3 billion. don’t matter,” DeFreese added. “That is
mapping of vegetation, and of course, Szpyrka also submitted the North not true. There are things you can do” to
improving water quality and clarity. “Every year, we’ll identify projects in Relief Canal Low Energy Aquatic Plant help protect and restore the Lagoon. 
the pipeline that are ready to go,” De-
To counter harmful algae blooms Freese said. “We’ll try to help our part- Jill Jaynes “My original decision forbidding her
such as the ‘brown tide’ that periodi- ners in moving forward with restora- to work at, or in any way be involved
cally afflicts the northern lagoon and tion. We assist them technically and CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 with Absolute Integrated Medicine
the ‘green slime’ of microcystis from with finding money.” stands,” Pegg said at an October hear-
Lake Okeechobee that flows into the business license which lists her as the ing. “However, she’s not forbidden to
southern lagoon, the council calls for On the wish list of Vero Beach Pub- sole owner/manager at the clinic lo- work someplace else as an acupunc-
conducting scientific research on the lic Works director Monte Falls is con- cation, 65 Royal Palm Pointe #B. The turist – if anyone will hire her – and as
causes and effects of the blooms, devel- struction of a stormwater treatment business name listed on the license is long as she has nothing to do with in-
oping management plans to deal with facility for the Lateral E drainage basin Jill Hollis Jaynes, although there is no surance or billing.”
blooms, and implementing projects to costing about $1,000,000. The Lateral signage at her new location.
reduce pollutants that feed them. E canal drains an area south of down- In a written order issued Oct. 10, Pegg
town and west of the railroad tracks. Jaynes did not respond to several further clarified Jaynes’ bond conditions,
Restoring the lagoon to its former phone messages asking about the new making no mention of billing or working
robustness is going to require a stable, Falls said the city has budgeted clinic, where she has been seeing cli- for someone else, writing simply that she
recurring funding program, the plan’s funds this year to design the treatment ents for at least two months, according is to have no contact with Absolute Inte-
authors say, because the $2,225,000 facility in preparation for construction to business owners who work nearby. grated Medicine and “is precluded from
provided annually by the council’s fed- in 2020. Other projects on the city’s list accepting any form of insurance.”
eral, state and local partners doesn’t include septic system upgrades, ret- It is not clear whether setting up a
rofitting Vero Isles’ stormwater inlets new clinic, and posting a note on the Pegg, who has retired from the bench,
with filters to capture nutrients before window of her old clinic referring for- could not be reached for comment
they’re discharged into the lagoon; mer clients to her new business, might about whether Jaynes’ opening of a new
be considered a violation of Circuit clinic and referring patients from her
Court Judge Robert Pegg’s bond con- old clinic violates the bond conditions
dition that she was to “have no contact he set. Judge Dan Vaughn, who is taking
with” Absolute Integrated Medicine. over Jaynes case, could not be reached
for comment. Jaynes has a trial status
Jaynes was arrested on Aug. 22 and hearing with Vaughn on Jan. 15.
charged with fraud and racketeering.
Judge Pegg initially made it a condi- Jaynes’ attorney Butler, in a brief
tion of her release on a $455,000 bond phone interview, did not offer any de-
that she not practice acupuncture or tails about her client’s new clinic, but
have any involvement with Absolute said: “As her attorney, I can tell you
Integrated Medicine. that my client is not in violation of the
judge’s orders.”
After Jaynes’ lawyer, Brook Butler,
filed a motion seeking a change in bond Absolute Integrated Medicine re-
conditions, arguing the judge was tak- mained open and busy for several
ing away her client’s means of liveli- months after Jaynes’ arrest, but a note
hood and ability to pay for her defense, was recently posted on the window of
Pegg loosened the bond conditions. the offices at 1575 Indian River Blvd.

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 10, 2019 5

NEWS

Suite #C-130 notifying clients that the AP please call 772-770-6184 or 772-559- lobby, which was not lighted. People submitting false or incomplete infor-
clinic has been closed. 6084.” Calls to the numbers listed were who work in the plaza where the clinic mation, illegally waived patient copay-
met with a pre-recorded greeting. is located said Jaynes has been seeing ments and deductibles, and unlaw-
“Our AIM clinic is closed and will no patients on a regular basis. fully paid others who referred patients
longer be treating new patients,” the During recent visits to the new clin- for treatment to her former clinic.
sign reads. “Should you be interested in ic, several interior office lights were Jaynes is facing five felony charg-
herbs, supplements, Beemer or in sched- on, but the doors were locked. No cli- es that she conspired with others to She filed a not guilty plea on Sept.
uling an appointment with Jill Jaynes, ents or employees could be seen in the defraud an insurance company by 20. A trial date has not been set. 

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6 Vero Beach 32963 / January 10, 2019 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

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Little League community for a long time, and peo- ers with better competition and more going to have a tough time getting the
ple have so many wonderful memo- lasting youth-baseball memories. travel-ball players.”
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 ries of those years,” Freedman said.
“We want to bring the Little League In addition, many of the league’s Without the better players, Muller
youth league, too,” he added. “So this brand – and all that goes with it – back games are played at Jake Owen Field, said, theVero Beach Little League all-star
is going to create a mess . . . an unnec- to Vero Beach. a $950,000 synthetic-turf field built in teams will struggle to win against state
essary mess.” Vero Beach by the Cal Ripken Sr. Foun- competition and have no real chance to
“The kids see the Little League dation with help from a donation by get to the Little League World Series.
Coogie Freedman disagreed, saying World Series on TV, still dream about the foundation of NASCAR driver Kev-
he sees no downside to resurrecting the thrill of going to Williamsport,” he in Harvick, one of Owen’s golf buddies. Freedman would not divulge the
Vero Beach Little League, which fold- added. “So even though it’s been gone number of players who’ve already
ed in 2013, after the organization’s na- for a few years, Little League is played Cal Ripken Jr., the Hall of Famer who signed up to play Little League this
tional headquarters refused to allow across America and we want to give in 1997 set the Major League Baseball re- spring, saying only that he has seen
the city’s two financially challenged our kids a chance to be part of it. cord for consecutive games played, flew “great interest so far” and expects a
leagues to merge. to Vero Beach to join Owen and Harvick surge in registrations this month.
“We’re giving them another option.” for the dedication of the field, located at
The owner of The Field House ath- For the past six years, most of the Michael Field on 12th Avenue. But Muller is concerned, if not worried.
letic training center on Old Dixie High- youth baseball played locally was un- “They’ve got the Little League
way, Freedman heads a group that has der the banner of the Ripken League, Also, the Ripken League’s 10-and- brand, which everyone knows, plus
been granted a charter from Little which has been a rousing success: Its under all-star state championship tour- there’s always a percentage of players
League Baseball and has embarked on registration numbers have increased nament will be played in Vero Beach in or parents who aren’t happy with what
a registration drive with plans to field steadily from 224 in its debut season July. happened the season before,” Muller
four teams in each of five divisions for 2013 to 420 now. said. “That’s just part of youth sports.
kids ages 5 to 13. The Ripken League has thrived “The better players want to play Cal “But even with me working out here
in great part because – unlike Little Ripken, not Little League, because the 80 hours a week, there are still mainte-
He said teams will play one or two League’s previous run in Vero Beach, game is played at a higher level and it’s nance costs, and we’ve also got to pay
games per week on nights and week- where local players were divided into more like real baseball,” Muller said, the electric bill for the lights,” he add-
ends, utilizing fields at South County teams in separate American and Na- referring to greater distances from the ed. “So if Little League takes 150 kids,
and Kiwanis Hobart parks, and possi- tional leagues – it allowed kids from pitching mound to home plate and we’d be down under 300, and we’ll
bly other fields in the Vero Beach area. throughout the county to play together. between bases, as well as the Ripken feel it. If they get traction and cut us
The season is scheduled to start Feb. 9, The result has been stronger all- League allowing baserunners to take in half, we’ve got a problem, because I
with opening day to be held at Historic star teams that have advanced to state leads and get picked off. can’t charge $250.
Dodgertown. semifinals, state finals, regional playoff “We could probably absorb it for a
and one World Series, providing play- “And because it’s a more-advanced year, but not two.”
The registration fee is $110 per player. level, there’s a better chance we’ll get Muller said he’d probably shut down
“Little League was a big part of our the travel-team kids to play in our
league,” he added. “Little League is

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 10, 2019 7

NEWS

the Ripken League and use Michael Wesley Davis Davis – the most recent political chal- gratulate Wesley on the appointment,
Field – he has a long-term lease with lenger – almost ensures a hard look at he is exceptionally well qualified.”
the city – to run travel-team baseball CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 current personnel, policies, technol- Heran had considered applying for the
and other programs at the facility. ogy and operations. position, but instead supported Davis
At 5 p.m. nine days before next as the best person for the job.
He can charge more for travel-ball Wednesday’s birthday, Davis an- “It’s humbling to know that our gov-
programs, enough to get at least par- nounced he’d gotten the long-awaited ernor spent some of his last moments A fourth-generation Indian River
tially compensated for his time, so it’s call telling him outgoing Gov. Rick Scott in office, caring so much about In- County resident and University of
unlikely he would turn over the lease had appointed him by executive order, dian River County to fill this vacancy. Florida alum, Davis has worked in the
to Vero Beach Little League. effective immediately, to be the next In- I pledge to make the governor and real estate auction and appraisal busi-
dian River County Property Appraiser. every Indian River County resident ness for more than 20 years, while car-
“Travel ball in the fall runs from proud,” Davis said. rying on his family’s long history of ag-
mid-August to mid-December, so if I Davis fills the office vacated when riculture and livestock ranching.
have five teams and get 60 kids at $200 David Nolte died in November. Davis, Local reaction to Davis’ good fortune
per month, that’s $48,000 for four who ran against Nolte in the 2016 Re- was positive. County Commissioner One thing Davis promised to do if
months,” Muller said. “If we do travel publican primary, will serve out the bal- Tim Zorc, who served with Davis for six he ever sat at the property appraiser’s
ball in the spring, too – something I ance of Nolte’s term until January 2021. years on the county commission, said desk is to conduct a comprehensive
haven’t done because of the Ripken the appointment was “good news,” add- audit of the office. Heran said the pub-
League – that’s $96,000. “I thank the governor and his staff ing, “Wesley will do an excellent job.” lic, and especially his taxpayers group,
for their confidence in me. I’d also like will hold him to that.
“I could actually get paid for doing to thank the voters and all the people “There are some immediate issues
this.” who supported my appointment,” of the property appraiser that need to “I look forward to greater transpar-
said Davis, a Wabasso resident. be taken care of, one of which is the ency in the property appraiser’s of-
Currently, his fall travel teams are for fact that we do not have an analysis fice and I know that Wesley will follow
kids ages 9 through 12, and he plans Weeks prior to Nolte’s death in of- of the property tax implications of the through on his promise to open up the
to add a 13-and-under group later this fice from an extended illness, the en- sale of Vero Electric to Florida Power & operations to a full audit. Involving a
year. He could make more money by trenched property appraiser had rec- Light,” Zorc said. citizen panel of qualified profession-
adding 14- and 15-and-under teams. ommended his loyal, longtime deputy, als, as the school board recently did,
Sissy Long, to take over for him and “This sale has been going on for 10 would be ideal,” Heran said. “After
“Thing is, putting the focus on travel extend his nearly 40-year administra- years and we still don’t have that in- one officeholder being in place for 38
ball is something I’ve preached against tion. It is rare for Florida governors to formation. Wesley will be able to get years, now is the time for a clean slate
and fought against for years, because I go against the wishes of a county con- things like this addressed.” and some sunshine on how this im-
don’t think it’s best for the kids in our stitutional officeholder in an appoint- portant agency serves the taxpayers.”
community,” Muller said. “And I really ment like this one. Taxpayers Association of Indian Riv-
don’t want to bail on the league. er County Treasurer Glenn Heran con- Davis was not available for further
In this case, Scott’s appointment of curred with Zorc that Davis will be a comment. 
“But if I’m down to 200 kids, I could big improvement in the office. “I con-
be forced to.” 

8 Vero Beach 32963 / January 10, 2019 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Few wear masks to help stop the spread of flu at clinics

BY MICHELLE GENZ doesn’t go into effect until flu reach- SRMC for any person coughing or com- Presumably all had passed through
Staff Writer es epidemic levels, a status not yet plaining of respiratory symptoms, or by the same entry vestibule, right past a
reached this season. request,” said Andrea Lundquist, the large white sign targeting patients with
The “Mask On” command came hospital’s marketing coordinator. flu symptoms. The sign asked – with an
down Monday at Sebastian River “We require our caregivers to receive exclamation point – for them to sani-
Medical Center, issued by the Boston- a free flu shot unless the individual At Indian River, Dickens pointed to tize their hands and wear a mask. But
based owner Steward Health Care Sys- has a religious or medical exemption signage that “asks” patients with flu- those phrases were the last of 11 lines
tem, after the Centers for Disease Con- – they can’t just voluntarily opt out,” like symptoms to use masks along of information. Only the most leisurely
trol sounded the alarm. said Angela Dickens, vice president of with hand sanitizer and tissues. of arriving ER patients would pause
marketing and community relations long enough to read that long, never
Flu in Florida is increasing and is at the Vero hospital, the former Indian That is in contrast to the clinics run mind figure out where the masks were
higher than it was at the same point in River Medical Center that was taken by the Florida Department of Health – tucked behind the sanitizer dispenser.
previous years, most notably in south- over by Cleveland Clinic Jan. 1. in Indian River.
east Florida. Outbreaks now number Smaller “cough stations,” discreet
61, and have gone from regional to Despite those rules for caregivers, the At those locations, signage tells enough to be mistaken for trash recep-
widespread. wearing of masks by patients and those coughing patients to go to the recep- tacles, are positioned at other entrances
accompanying them to emergency tion desk, where they are given a mask. to the hospital and its clinics. They are
Though nothing prevents flu like the rooms is voluntary at both hospitals – If they don’t see the sign, a staff mem- meant to “encourage” patients and visi-
flu vaccine, studies show masks worn even though CDC guidelines for mask ber goes to them. tors to use provided hand sanitizer, tis-
by an infected person afford some pro- use include “immediately putting a sur- sues and masks, according to Dickens.
tection to the people around them. gical mask on patients being evaluated “Clients are asked to wear a mask if
for respiratory symptoms.” they are coughing or sneezing. If they But at the Health and Wellness Cen-
Steward’s policy, in line with CDC refuse, we ask that they wait in our ter, a note was taped to the spot where
guidelines, is that any caregiver who In lieu of healthcare providers giv- outdoor lobby,” said Stacy Brock, the masks were meant to go: “For a MASK
has officially opted out of the com- ing directives to individuals, Indian Health Department’s public health please ask the front desk.” If the point
pany-wide free flu vaccination must River and Sebastian River hospitals preparedness coordinator. was to thwart mask pilferers, the extra
wear a mask within 6 feet of any pa- rely on signage at entrances to prompt steps to the desk could thwart flu-pos-
tient under their care. the public to voluntarily take protec- At IRMC during three visits to the itive patients, looking to find a seat as
tive measures against transmission. emergency room over the past month, fast as possible.
There is no distance requirement no one waiting in the ER had a mask
at Cleveland Clinic Indian River; the “Patients and visitors are not required on, not even in the separate post-triage Complicating matters is the long
masks go on as soon as the caregiv- to wear masks but they are offered as an area. Flu or not, coughing patients were
er enters the building. But the rule available resource by each entrance of sitting alongside patients with non-flu CONTINUED ON PAGE 10
related complaints.



10 Vero Beach 32963 / January 10, 2019 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Flu masks small, secondary waiting room at In- ful, as she passed a clipboard to a pa- Pelican Island Wildlife
dian River seemed to combine the tient barely an arm’s length away. Refuge remains open
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8 worst of both worlds: close quarters despite federal shutdown
crowded with patients who suffered “And that’s my son. He’s getting
exposure time in waiting rooms. The from a clear mix of problems. swabbed for flu,” she said, gesturing BY SAMANTHA ROHLFING BAITA
Centers for Disease Control and Pre- to a young boy walking past her to the
vention guidelines suggest treating pa- In a semi-circle of seating, at least exam room. Staff Writer
tients in flu season through telemedi- three high-risk elderly patients waited
cine or simple phone consultations. among the others, no one in masks. As assertive as the health depart- Despite reports to the contrary in
But doctors’ hours were frequently One obviously miserable patient was ment is on mask-wearing, Brock grew the local daily, the Pelican Island Na-
reduced over Christmas break, mak- coughing repeatedly, eventually fall- even more forceful about the most ef- tional Wildlife Refuge is not closed
ing call-backs, particularly from solo ing asleep open-mouthed in a lounge fective means of prevention: vaccina- to the public during the government
practitioners, a challenge. chair. tion. shutdown.

With urgent care clinics as jammed as At an urgent care center west of Mask or no mask, with one of the The refuge remains open because
the ERs, patients had little choice but to town, a box of masks lay on the narrow oldest populations in America, Vero it is the Indian River County Parks
join the ailing unmasked throngs. counter several feet down from where Beach and Sebastian residents should Department, not federal employees,
visitors checked in. But even the clerk be rolling up their sleeves en masse. who open and close the refuge gates,
On one Saturday last month, a wasn’t wearing one despite feeling aw- maintain the restrooms and parking
“Flu shot, flu shot, flu shot,” Brock lot, and take care of trash collection,
said. “That protects everybody.”  according to Parks Department Con-
servation Land Manager Beth Powell.

The only changes visitors to the Ref-
uge are experiencing during the shut-
down are the absence of the volunteers
who normally greet visitors, answer
questions and drive the tour tram.

The tram is the property of the fed-
eral government and volunteers are
considered federal “employees,” says
Tim Glover, treasurer of the Pelican
Island Preservation Society (PIPS), a
support group for the Refuge.

Unlike many other national wildlife
refuges, there are no camping facilities
at Pelican Island, and the refuge is pri-
marily “do-it-yourself,” with hiking op-
portunities and an information kiosk.

Depending on how long the shut-
down stand-off lasts, the uncertainty
could negatively impact the popular
Pelican Island Wildlife Festival, which
has always taken place in March, Glov-
er says.

The Pelican Island Preservation Soci-
ety partners with the U.S. Fish andWild-
life Service in planning and presenting
the festival, and regional Fish and Wild-
life personnel participate in the event
and give presentations throughout the
day. This year – so far – the 27th annual
festival is scheduled for March 9.

The Refuge has just updated its
website to reflect the shutdown, stat-
ing “any entry onto Refuge System
property during this period of federal
government shutdown is at the visi-
tor's sole risk”

Pelican Island sits in the Indian Riv-
er Lagoon near Sebastian, and is home
to an impressive array of nesting birds,
including its namesake, the brown
pelican.

The refuge website describes it as
“a dot on the map (about 3 acres), but
with a very large international foot-
print.”

This little dot, along with its sur-
rounding 5,400-plus acres of protected
waters and lands, comprise America’s
first national wildlife refuge. 

Members of the Oslo & Storm Grove
Orchestra play at ‘Celebrate the Arts.’

CULTURE VULTURES SWOOP IN
FOR ‘CELEBRATE THE ARTS’ FEST

12 Vero Beach 32963 / January 10, 2019 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

Culture vultures swoop in for ‘Celebrate the Arts’ fest

PHOTOS CONTINUED ON PAGE 14

Jon Moses and Barbara Hoffman. PHOTOS: LEIGH GREEN Maureen Meixner and Linda Turner.

Mieca-Feja Ferguson and Noemi Joseph. Linda Spencer. Leah Cady and Rae Marie Crisel.

BY STEPHANIE LABAFF “This event was designed to be a to Vero Beach, the only venues avail- mediums giving a well-rounded ac-
Staff Writer showcase so that in one spot you can able for creativity were the Vero Beach counting of the range of talented local
spend a day and learn about all the Museum of Art, Riverside Theatre and artists.
The Cultural Council of Indian different types of organizations that the Vero Beach Theatre Guild.
River County moved its fifth annual offer some kind of cultural experi- New this year, awards were given in
Celebrate the Arts Festival to the Riv- ence,” said Jon Moses, Riverside The- “The growth has been amazing,” 22 categories, with Mike Nelson receiv-
erside Theatre campus last Saturday, atre managing director/COO. said Wygonik. “In the ’90s and the ing Best of Show for his sculpture.
where attendees enjoyed a day chock- early 2000s we saw a big growth. Now
full of cultural arts information. Cultural Council executive director we have ballets, we have opera and we Performances went on throughout
Barbara Hoffman said the move from have symphonies. There are over 100 the day, featuring the Oslo & Storm
The festival was developed to show- Riverside Park to the theatre’s campus arts organizations in this county now Grove Orchestra, Vero Beach Chamber
case a multitude of cultural oppor- was a positive shift; saving money on and Celebrate the Arts gives the orga- Orchestra, Gifford Youth Orchestra,
tunities available to local perform- site costs and stage rentals, showcas- nizations a chance to show who they Vero Beach Theatre Guild/Guild on
ers, purveyors and patrons. Culture ing the council’s collaborative spirit, are.” the Go, Vero Beach Pipes and Drums,
vultures were able to visit more than and no longer having to deal with the the Friends and Neighbors band and
50 booths featuring visual artists, whims of Mother Nature. He added that it’s also good for the RCT students, who performed on the
literature, music, theater and dance, community, enabling them to come to outdoor stage and later gave a presen-
to learn more about programs, vol- “The Cultural Council is the one event to see the enormous variety tation of Xanadu on the Waxlax Stage.
unteer opportunities and upcoming spokesperson for the arts in the com- of cultural arts available to them.
shows. munity,” said Hoffman. “Designated Across the street the Vero Beach Mu-
by the state as the local arts agency Throughout the day artists happily seum of Art offered free admission to
The collaborative effort is meant in 1995, the Cultural Council is the discussed their creations, authors gave its exhibits, including the Vero Beach
to fuel the creative environment center of the cultural arts for passing readings and answered questions, Centennial Children’s Poster and Art
nurtured by the Cultural Coun- information, promoting tourism and musicians entertained, and nonprofit Show and the Vero Beach Centennial
cil’s mission to illuminate lives and publicity.” organizations and civic groups shared Timeline.
drive economic vitality through details about their pursuits.
our community’s numerous cul- As Mark Wygonik directed perfor- On May 8 the Cultural Council will
tural activities. mances on the outdoor stage, he re- Art on display ran the gamut from present the Laurel Awards at Riverside
called that in 1985, when he returned photography, pottery, crafts, glass, Theatre. For more information, visit
sculpture, jewelry and various fine art cultural-council.org. 



14 Vero Beach 32963 / January 10, 2019 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

PHOTOS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12 Kevin Quillinan and Mark Wygonik.
Barbara Russell, Kathie Althoff and Julie Eisdorfer.

Carolyn Lundgren, Garrett Lundgren (back) and Kerry Burkhart and Vicki Whittaker. Jerry and Julie Hasenhuettl with Deena Rose.
Gibson Lundgren with Sandy and Andy Bowler.

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 10, 2019 15

PEOPLE

Lady Yalies hoop it up with Boys and Girls Club kids

BY STEPHANIE LaBAFF
Staff Writer

The Boys and Girls Clubs of Indian Pat and Holly Gorman with daughter Megan Gorman. PHOTOS: STEPHANIE LABAFF Yale women’s basketball head coach Allison Guth.
River County scored a big win last
Wednesday afternoon when members models.”
of the Yale University women’s basket- After club members had spent more
ball team dropped by for a little fun on
the courts. than an hour passing, shooting, drib-
bling and garnering defense tips with
And while the girls are real “Bull- the Yale players, coach Guth opened
dogs” on the court, they demonstrated the floor up for a Q&A session.
a genuine love of the game as they ran
drills and worked out with nearly 150 One student even challenged junior
B&GC members from the Vero Beach guard Roxy Barahman to a one-on-one
and Sebastian clubs. The Bulldogs and, while the Yalie took the win, all
made the stop in Vero Beach after cap- the boys and girls walked off the court
turing the FAU Holiday Classic in Boca as winners after the experience.
Raton.
The Boys and Girls Clubs’ Angel Din-
One of the players, Megan Gorman, ner will be held March 6. For informa-
is the daughter of Pat Gorman, the tion, visit bgcirc.org. 
longtime head golf professional at Bent
Pine Golf Club. Gorman graduated
from Vero Beach High School, where
she was a four-year varsity basketball
starter and three-year team captain.
She also played lacrosse for four years,
captaining the team her senior year,
and volunteered at the B&GC.

“Sports have always been huge to
me,” said Gorman, an economics ma-
jor at Yale. “It’s a great way to help other
people. The Boys and Girls Club is the
perfect marriage of that. I get to help
kids in my community through sports,
something I believe really does help
kids with many skills in life.”

She added that in addition to teach-
ing the youngsters basketball skills,
the clinic was an opportunity to show
them “if you work hard and you work
well with a team, you’re going to do
well in life.”

The team’s afternoon at the B&GC
was the icing on the cake, after having
spent some time enjoying the sunny
disposition of Vero Beach and its resi-
dents.

“We stayed with Megan’s family,
went to the beach and worked out at
Vero Beach High School,” said Allison
Guth, the team’s head coach. “I don’t
think anybody wants to leave at this
point. Vero Beach might have gotten 22
more residents.”

“We have a very strong athletic pro-
gram,” said Elizabeth Thomason,
B&GC executive director. “This was
an opportunity for the children to see
wonderful role models – a group of very
intelligent young ladies with the skills
to play basketball at an Ivy League
school.”

Gorman said that for her, the visit
was bittersweet, adding “it was great
to show the team my community and
introduce the kids to exceptional role

16 Vero Beach 32963 / January 10, 2019 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

Special ring to Vero’s ‘Diamond’ New Year’s celebrations

BY STEPHANIE LaBAFF
Staff Writer

Vero Beach cast off 2018 and wel- Nora and Alec Grossweiler. PHOTOS: LEIGH GREEN Cherith Bounds and Melissa Perkel. Tocelyn Fletcher, Isabella Wood and Lindsey Fletcher.
comed 2019 with open arms at special
Diamonds Are Forever Centennial Cel- face painting, crown decorating and a called out, before DJ Mark cranked Year’s resolutions via Livestream, com-
ebrations. special 4-minute junior fireworks dis- things up. peted in a James Bond (Diamonds are
play, to one for the more sophisticated Forever) look-a-like contest, searched
Revelers had the best of both worlds crowd. At the Main Street New Year’s Eve for six ‘diamonds’ that had been spread
with tandem celebrations occurring Centennial Celebration outdoors, par- out along 14th Avenue during a Centen-
mere feet from one another in historic “It’s the party of the century! Our tiers danced under the stars, socialized nial Scavenger Hunt, and purchased
downtown Vero Beach. Those opting town is turning 100 years old, and as in the VIP area, visited the champagne raffle chances for Elite Airways tickets.
for a more casual affair gathered on I stand here and I look out, I think we bar, beer garden and food trucks, took
the green at the center of town for what look darn good for our age,” Tillery commemorative photos, shared New Inside the Heritage Center, merry-
was dubbed the Party of the Century,
both literally and figuratively, to cele-
brate the 100th anniversary of the city.

“Main Street Vero Beach is thrilled
and honored to be hosting the city’s
Centennial New Year’s Eve event.
We’ve been getting so many wonder-
ful comments from local Veroites. It’s
definitely the party of the century!”
exclaimed Katherina Paliwoda, Main
Street Vero Beach executive director.

Mrs. Vero Centennial, Anna Valen-
cia Tillery, greeted the crowd as the
lawn festivities transitioned from a
child-friendly party complete with

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 10, 2019 17

PEOPLE

Niurka Barroso and Silvia Medina. Lee and Carol Elwell. Savannah MacDonald and Alex Pulido.

Victoria Kerkela and John Michael Matthews. Mark Wygonik, Heather Stapleton, Robyn Berry, Linda McNeal and Marlys Kauten.

Piper Wild, Katherina Paliwoda, Mrs. Vero Centennial Anna Valencia Tillery and Paloma Parrotta.

makers opting for a recherché affair tory. So many people have memories
enjoyed a champagne reception and at the Heritage Center,” said Heather
dinner catered by Chef Ashley Alli- Stapleton, Vero Heritage executive di-
son. The historic building was trans- rector, watching as this new crop of
formed into a sultry nightclub pay- partiers created their own memories.
ing homage to the city’s centennial,
where guests emulated the type of af- “It took the entire community to
fair folks enjoyed back in WWII when make this amazing thing happen;
the Heritage Center, then the Service- from the production team to the mu-
men’s Center, hosted elegant dances. sicians to our cast and crew,” said
Stapleton, referring to their sold-out
In a nod to that bygone era, when ‘Return to Elegance’ event.
attention to details and etiquette
were a matter of course and every- At midnight the parties merged
one sought to present their best self, into a bacchanalian celebration
the black-tie event featured Manny that turned up the wattage as a
Moreira’s 10-piece New Deco Orches- crowd of more than 3,000 gathered
tra, which took attendees on a musi- for the crescendo and the melee of
cal walk down memory lane. cheer that followed suit as the dia-
mond ball dropped at midnight and
“The Heritage Center holds a prom- fireworks filled the night sky to wel-
inent place in our community’s his- come in 2019. 

18 Vero Beach 32963 / January 10, 2019 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

Resolution Run 5K: Pounding pavement with a purpose

BY STEPHANIE LABAFF
Staff Writer

A slew of nearly 500 eager runners Kelli Peters. PHOTOS: LEIGH GREEN Melanie Snowberger and William Walsh.
gathered at Riverside Park on the first
morn of 2019 to begin the year with a “I usually don’t make resolutions, shot of his brother-in-law crossing the I use that to refocus on the big things
confetti-filled Runner’s Depot Resolu- but I think more patience would be finish line, said every new year holds and the things that are truly important
tion Run 5K to benefit the Education a good one. It covers a lot – patience special meaning. As a two-time cancer – my family, my health and staying cre-
Foundation of Indian River County. with things, people, situations and the survivor, he holds the turn of the year ative.”
From ages 7 to 84, runners cemented world.” with a bit more reverence than some.
their resolutions with sweaty exuber- First-time race participant Katha
ance as they sprinted across the start- “It’s important to start your new year “It’s a great time to reflect and think Kissman said she wants to get back
ing line, looking forward to beginning out on the right foot, and this race is back about the last year and the things to practicing mindfulness, adding,
anew. the perfect way to start the year,” said that didn’t get done or could have been “I want to be more intentional. New
Gina Kempf. done better,” shared Attas. “If I were Year’s is kind of like a reset for me.”
In a nod to the elegance of New Year’s re-diagnosed, would I be happy doing
Eve, Runner’s Depot’s Jim Van Veen, Photographer Aric Attas, who wait- the things that I’m currently doing? “My resolution is to get back into my
sporting a gold-sequined jacket, kicked ed on the sidelines to get the perfect running practice,” said Lenora Ritchie,
off the race with much fanfare, and a
natty tuxedo-clad bicyclist squired the
runners along the race route.

Participants crested the Barber
Bridge to behold a spectacular view of
the Indian River Lagoon – the perfect
spot to contemplate goals for the up-
coming year.

“The race is a good way to start the
New Year,” said Sarah Mondano, who
was on hand to support her husband.

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 10, 2019 19

PEOPLE

Bailey Yoerin (1st place). Lauren Gregory (Woman’s 1st place) and
James Gregory (Men’s 2nd place).
a second-year Resolution Run partici-
pant, admitting that she had let it slip Jenn and Jeff Palleschi with baby Carlos.
a bit last year.

And Jessica Schmitt, a participant
since the inception of the annual New
Year’s Day race, said she has set her
sights on paying off some debt.

This year’s overall winner was Bai-
ley Yoerin with a time of 17:07; Lauren
Gregory was the top female finisher at
17:40.

The race was the fourth of six races
in the Runner’s Depot 2018-19 Run
Vero Race Series. Up next: the Feb. 9
Cupcake 2-Mile and the March 23 Cit-
rus Classic 5K.

For more information, visit runners-
depotvb.com. 

Krissy Clutterbuck with Cooper and Charlie. Katha Kissman, Lenora Ritchie and Jessica Schmitt.

Sandra Robertson, Aric Attas, James Robertson and Rick DiCecca.

20 Vero Beach 32963 / January 10, 2019 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

Partnership helping Haitians meet their health needs

BY MARY SCHENKEL At the Haiti Partners Children’s
Staff Writer Academy and Learning Center,
founded by Vero residents John and
Even the most successful pro- Merline Engle, Haiti Clinic runs a
grams can have consequences that clinic staffed by Haitian medical
present their own challenges. Such professionals such as Dr. Dubique
is the case with the partnership Kobel and supplemented by medical
formed in 2013 between two Vero teams from the U.S., who stay at the
Beach-based nonprofits – Haiti Engle’s Bellevue Guest House.
Partners and Haiti Clinic.
Vero Beach dermatologist Dr. Neil

PHOTOS & STORY CONTINUED ON PAGE 22

Dr. Neil Heskel, John Engle, Dr. Mary Baker, Lisa Reyes, Dr. Seth Baker,
Dr. Mike Green, Alicia Pewtherer, Rosie Ward and Marie Sarah Pillari.

Heskel has been involved with Haiti In a recent report, Baxter, Teixeira
Clinic since its founding more than and Gilbert said they teamed with
a decade ago and has made more the women and a local pediatrician
than 30 trips to Haiti. Haiti Clinic to give more than 100 physical ex-
also operates a facility in the slums ams, teaching the women how to
of Cité Soleil. identify contagious infections and
how to treat sinus, breathing and
At issue is that the clinic at the stomach issues.
Children’s Academy has been so
successful, it now sees upwards of “And when a student misses two
175 patients each week, leaving little days of school, a member of the
time to also care for the school’s 200 team will go to their house and find
students. out what’s happening with them,”
says Merline Engle.
“We started to feel like our kids
were being a little bit left out, be- “It’s all part of the partnership
cause of all the people coming from of working together to address the
the community,” says Merline En- health needs of the school and the
gle. “The service was so good, that community,” adds John Engle.
people outside of the community
were coming in. And they’re so sick, He says the health agents have
so you can’t turn them away. But our also assisted members of their very
priority, for the clinic, was the kids.” rural communities – students live
up to an hour away and it’s a six-
After several visits as volunteers, hour walk for some clinic visitors –
Nova Southwestern University med- with basic medical care.
ical students Christina Baxter and
Gabriela Teixeira, along with Dani- “If they’re not doing it for the
elle Gilbert, who holds a degree in school, in some cases they’ll give
public health, devised a way to con- their services free to people who
front the problem. need it; and in other cases, if peo-
ple can give them something, then
They applied for and received a they can also have some income,” he
$7,500 grant from Nova Southeast- says.
ern University to implement a Chil-
dren’s Wellness Program. The Children’s Academy opened
in 2012 with the enrollment of 30
Over the past year, five mothers of children, 3 years old, and now has
students have been trained as health 200 children ages 3 to 9.
agents by Kobel, utilizing a model
structured on the U. S. School Nurse “The idea is, we only take children
Program. The funding has enabled who are starting school at age 3 and
training and a stipend for the moth- have them grow up in the school,”
ers, as well as some simple medical John Engle explains. “We started out
supplies. with 30 children and we just keep
adding a grade and we’ll keep doing
Under Kobel’s supervision, the that until it’s a high school.”
mothers take vitals, clean and ban-
dage wounds, administer simple They have already outgrown their
medicines and encourage good hy- building and hope to complete the
giene and healthy habits, with the addition of a third floor - at a cost of
ultimate goal of reducing school $250,000 - to house 90 more students.
absences and improving the overall
health of students and their fami- Parents are extremely poor, so to
lies. offset the minimal monetary tu-
ition, they contribute four service
hours per week – volunteering at the



22 Vero Beach 32963 / January 10, 2019 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

PHOTOS & STORY CONTINUED FROM PAGE 20 Dr. Neil Heskel at Haiti Clinic.
Merline and John Engle.

Dr. Seth Baker with Children’s Academy students.

Ryan and Melissa Weaver, Agency Owners school or clinic, or in one of the so- weekly, pool their money and make
Ryan Weaver Insurance, Inc. is a locally owned cial entrepreneurial programs. decisions on loans to residents rang-
ing from several hundred to several
independent agency that has been serving Social enterprise is encouraged as thousand dollars.
Indian River County for over 12 years. a way to bring money into and so-
cially impact the community. They “It’s a way for people to have ac-
All lines of commercial or personal insurance available. have already developed a notewor- cess to credit, which poor people
thy handmade paper business and typically don’t have access to, and
OLD DOMINION Merline Engle is currently working to have credit at very, very low in-
INSURANCE COMPANY with parents to plant and grow Ca- terest rates. It’s also a way for peo-
ribbean Scotch Bonnet peppers in ple to develop good collaboration
A member of Main Street America Group Haiti, which she then buys to create skills,” John Engle explains. “All of
Merline’s Hot Sauce in the U.S. They this is part of an effort to establish
are also looking into aquaponics a school-based community develop-
and agricultural programs. ment model.”

Close to 500 parents are involved For more information, visit www.
in a number of self-governed Village haitipartners.com or www.haiticlin-
Savings and Loan groups that meet ic.org. 

855 21st Street – CenterState Bank Building
2nd Floor – Vero Beach

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24 Vero Beach 32963 / January 10, 2019 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

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Latest McKee marvel: Seward Johnson ‘Familiar’ exhibit

BY STEPHANIE LaBAFF Kathi and John Schumann with “Coming Home.” PHOTOS: LEIGH GREEN Near the site of the Children’s Gar-
Staff Writer den, currently under construction, a
“Cat Nap” embrace of a soldier returning from little girl plays with a Hula Hoop while
McKee Botanical Garden has taken war, a woman seeking the perfect another, watering can in hand, lov-
things to new heights with its new- Hong Kong, at Les Halles in Paris and spot for a picnic and, appropriately, a ingly tends to her flowers.
est Seward Johnson exhibition – Cel- the Via Condotti in Rome. gardener caught in the act of pruning
ebrating the Familiar. McKee hosted some bushes. Volunteers had some fun at the re-
a special donor preview reception last Among the trompe l’oeil style stat- ception, freezing in place as guests
Thursday before the exhibit opened to ues at McKee are a father and son fish- approached the hors d’oeuvre and
the public on Saturday. ing near the lily pond, the touching wine stations provided by Sealantro
at the Garden Café – forcing people to
The collection features Johnson’s take a second look.
monumental sculpture “Embrac-
ing Peace,” a 30,100-pound work that At 88, Johnson continues to set
seemed right at home among the the mundane activities of everyday
mature flora of the 80-acre tropi- life in bronze, poignantly captur-
cal hammock. Inspired by the iconic ing the beauty of simple acts. He felt
V-J Day photograph by Alfred Eisen- so strongly about the importance of
staedt of a U.S. Navy sailor kissing making contemporary sculpture ac-
a nurse in Times Square on Aug. 14, cessible to all that in 1984 Johnson
1945, the sculpture looms larger than founded Grounds for Sculpture, a
life among McKee’s towering Royal public sculpture garden and museum
Palms. in Hamilton, N.J.

Last Thursday, guests strolled If Johnson’s work seems familiar,
through the garden, maps in hand, perhaps you’ve seen the billowing
to get a sneak peek at the exhibit fea- skirt of his 26-foot “Forever Marilyn”
turing sculptures from Johnson’s or, closer to home, you may recall his
Celebrating the Familiar series. Un- Celebrating the Familiar and Beyond
like “Embracing Peace,” the other 20 the Frame collections when they were
bronze sculptures are life-sized, de- on display at McKee in 2014.
picting “beautiful moments of ordi-
nary life,” as seen from Johnson’s per- “We are so grateful to all of our
spective. sponsors of the Seward Johnson Cel-
ebrating the Familiar exhibition,” said
Although he was a painter earlier Christine Hobart, McKee executive
in his career, Johnson is perhaps the director. “It is because of their gener-
most widely recognized sculptor of osity that we are able to continue to
his time. He has had more than 450 feature award-winning exhibitions
sculptures featured in private collec- year after year.”
tions and museums, and publicly, his
work can be viewed in Times Square, Celebrating the Familiar will be on
Rockefeller Center, the Pacific Place of display at McKee through April 28. For
more information, visit mckeegarden.
org or sewardjohnsonatelier.org. 

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 10, 2019 25

PEOPLE

Christine Hobart and Alma Lee Loy with “Stormy Weather.” Nick and Logan Geeslin. PHOTOS CONTINUED ON PAGE 26
Lisa O’Brien, Barbara Holmen-McKenna and Judy Tolsdorf.

Sue and Stan Murrell with “Los Mariachis.”

Ann and John Dillon with “Inner World, Outer World.” Nat Jackson and Mary Graves. Lee Adamson and Stephanie Hurtt with “Embracing Peace.”

26 Vero Beach 32963 / January 10, 2019 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

“Grabbing Some Peace.”

“A Memorable Date.” “ Wine, Food and Thou.”
PHOTOS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 25

“Embracing Peace.”

“Sidewalk Concert.”

“Far Out.” “Gotcha.”

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‘THE BEAUTY OF THINGS’ REFLECTED
IN SHARON SEXTON’S ART

28 Vero Beach 32963 / January 10, 2019 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

ARTS & THEATRE

‘The beauty of things’ reflected in Sharon Sexton’s art

BY ELLEN FISCHER Sharon Sexton.
Columnist
PHOTOS BY LEIGH GREEN
Painter and ceramic sculptor Sha-
ron Sexton is enjoying her first solo
exhibition. And it is not in Tiger Lily
Art Studios and Gallery, the coopera-
tive workspace that she co-founded in
Vero over a quarter-century ago.

Instead, Vero’s Center for Spiritual
Care is the venue for “Reflections,”
a show of Sexton’s nature-themed
work in acrylic paintings on canvas,
polychrome terracotta sculpture, and
painted silk banners. The exhibit con-
tinues through Friday, Jan. 25.

Sexton professes to have been “em-
barrassed” about her work for much
of her art career. The confidence with
which she creates art does not extend
to talking about it – hers or anyone
else’s. She used to believe that “real” art
needed verbal justification, the kind you
learn through a collegiate art degree
program. Sexton never went to college.

Instead, Sexton benefited from an
intensive study of art during her high
school senior year in Fort Lauderdale,
where she grew up. As an independent

study student, she took seven classes Sexton family property west of town
in art. where she and spouse Sean Sex-
ton built a home 38 years ago. That’s
“I just lived in the art department. I where they raised their daughter Julia,
did everything from raku-fired ceram- who lives with her family in Portland,
ics, to painting, to sculpture. That was Ore., and son Mike, who lives nearby
a wonderful thing, because I didn’t go and manages the ranch.
to college or anything. I did a class in
drawing after that at IRCC, but that Sean Sexton, scion of the Sexton
was about it.” cattle ranching family, is a poet and
visual artist whose cultural pursuits
In recent years she has come to the have made have made him as well-
conclusion that for her, having an art known in Florida as his skills as a
school diploma is not as important as cattleman. In the late 1970s, while
“what you do” with your art. earning a Bachelor of Animal Sciences
from the University of Florida, Sean si-
“I don’t need to be embarrassed, be- multaneously gained an art education
cause I’ve worked in art for more than by hanging around the university’s art
40 years now. My whole life,” she says. department, where he sat in on draw-

Much of that career has been spent
on Treasure Hammock Ranch, the

ATLANTIC CLASSICAL ORCHESTRA

S Copland

Violin Concerto Appalachian Spring Suite

Tessa Lark, Violin Schumann

Symphony No. 1

Tuesday, February 12 Community Church

7:30 p.m. Vero Beach

CLASSICAL ORCHESTRA 772.460.0850

DAVID AMADO

Music Director & Conductor www. AtlanticClassicalOrch estra.com

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 10, 2019 29

ARTS & THEATRE

calls, with a frown that conveys the folksy quality about them that, while
indignity of it all. well-sourced as to detail, is playful,
not pedantic in spirit. Modeled as an
“But I got a lot of beautiful photo- entity with bits of their environment
graphs,” she adds. about them, many of the bird ceram-
ics are wall mounted.
Nature also abounds in the ceramics
on display, most of which depict nest- A sculptural pair of improbably (but
ing birds. All of Sexton’s avian subjects naturally) colored Painted Buntings
are found in Indian River County: its might be identified by some art lov-
beaches (a skimmer), marshes (red- ers as spiritual relations of the parrots
winged blackbird) and sandy scrub that Mexican artist Frida Kahlo fa-
and pastureland (meadowlarks and mously depicted.
a nighthawk). No porcelain Boehm
birds, these. “People say, ‘You paint like Rousseau’
or ‘Your palette is like Frida Kahlo’s,’”
Sexton’s terracotta sculptures, col- Sexton says.
ored variously with mineral stains, ce-
ramic glazes and acrylic paint, have a CONTINUED ON PAGE 30

ing classes, attended critiques and a clash of pattern at the horizon. The
conversed with professors. top part of that painting is reminiscent
the Georgia O’Keeffe’s paintings in her
In addition to being a working cattle “Sky Above Clouds” series, inspired by
ranch, Treasure Hammock is home the view from a jet liner.
to an Eden of native flora and fauna
which, along with Sharon Sexton’s “That was kind of the idea for me,
lush Southern flower garden, provides too, from flying above – because the
the inspiration she needs for her art. clouds are so beautiful.”

Almost every painting on display in The yellow lotuses that meet the
the current exhibition has animals in clouds at the painting’s horizon were
it, except for one that depicts a moon- inspired by a painting trip she and
rise over the ocean. That painting, as Sean took to Paynes Prairie, a state na-
well as five ocean-themed, painted ture preserve just south of Gainesville.
silk banners that take up a long wall in
the show, are unusual for being long “There were thousands of lilies in
vertical compositions, rather than bloom,” says Sexton.
wide horizontal ones.
No sooner did the couple set up ea-
Another landscape painting is a sels to sketch the scene, “some cops
square composition, where the pads with a bullhorn” told them they were
of blooming water lotuses and the in a restricted area and had to leave.
clouds of an intensely blue sky meet in
“We were packing up and they hol-
lered at us to ‘Step it up!’” Sexton re-

30 Vero Beach 32963 / January 10, 2019 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 29 ARTS & THEATRE

“And no wonder; I love them. But I been captured from the Japanese. The
didn’t know who they were when I was island’s smothering equatorial heat
developing my style. I didn’t really look was not his chief memory of the place.
at art. Walter Anderson (the Southern According to Sexton, her father loved
U.S. painter renowned for highly styl- Biak’s rampant tropical vegetation,
ized nature depictions) is another one. limestone caves and native population.
When I saw his work, it made so much
sense to me.” After the war, Koerner worked as an
independent interior decorator in New
Sexton relates her artistic fond-
ness for color and pattern to her Jersey until 1957, when he moved
childhood fascination with her his wife and three children to
interior decorator father’s wall- Fort Lauderdale, re-establishing
paper sample books. his business in nearby Pompano

“They were as big as me when Beach.
I was a little girl. I spent hours “Here was a guy from New
just turning the pages, feeling
their textures and looking at Jersey who moves to Fort Lau-
the patterns – Florida tropi- derdale and plants bamboo
cal patterns from the 1950s and crazy foliage all over
and ’60s. Just gorgeous!” the backyard,” says Sex-
ton. “I was his little buddy.
In fact it was her father, I developed this total love of
Al Koerner, who made her plants.”
childhood in Florida “magi-
cal” – full of art and books, Her love of animals was
sunny weekends at the abetted by her dad’s habit
beach and a home garden of bringing home animals
that was out of this world. from the pound, including
a monkey named Lynn who
Born and raised in was allowed free range of the
New Jersey, Koerner
enlisted in the Air neighborhood. He wanted
Force soon after to add a lion to his
the U.S. entered personal jungle,
World War II. A but “mother put her
flight engineer foot down on that,”
on a bomber in Sexton says.
the South Pacif- “I had a totally
ic, he visited the enchanted child-
island of Biak, hood. That’s why
whose strate- I’m so enthusias-
gically impor- tic and enchanted
tant airfields had about life. The true
in 1944 recently
beauty of things is
still always apparent
to me.” 



32 Vero Beach 32963 / January 10, 2019 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

ARTS & THEATRE

Symphonic season sizzles with international flavor

BY PAM HARBAUGH George Li. sic. While the concert features well
Correspondent known works by familiar composers
JoAnn such as Strauss and Tchaikovsky, the
Vero Beach music lovers can expect Falletta. “wild card,” he says, will be Austin
the fresh and new plus the tried and Wintory’s “Nascence and Apotheosis.”
true with this year’s impressive ‘Fes- Rich Ridenour. Christopher
tival of Orchestras’ presented by the Confessore. An award-winning American com-
Indian River Symphonic Association. poser, Wintory was the first Grammy
make its premier appearance here. formed with IRSA since it first formed nominee for a videogame score called
The entire season is set to “soothe The idea, says IRSA board member in 1993, calls it an “impressive” orga- “Journey,” and he has received inter-
the savage breast” and expand minds nization that wants the “very, very national recognition for his more than
with an array of musical artists. You Ed Shanaphy, is to “expose our Vero best.” 50 feature film scores.
will hear something new in Amy Beach audiences to wonderful orches-
Beach’s 19th century “Gaelic Sympho- tras of the world.” Indeed. When the BSO opens the The BSO’s March 17 St. Patrick’s
ny” and in Chen Gang and He Zhan- new IRSA season Jan. 18, audiences Day concert will introduce audiences
hao’s 20th century “Butterfly Lovers’ Christopher Confessore, conduc- can expect a stunning program of to more “new” work, even though it
Violin Concerto.” And you will be tor and music director of the Brevard “beautifully melodic, romantic” mu- was written in 1894 – the “Gaelic Sym-
thrilled when JoAnn Falletta, Ameri- Symphony Orchestra, which has per- phony” by American composer Amy
can’s first woman conductor of a large Beach.
symphony orchestra, steps onto the
podium to present another powerful “It’s a significant commitment to
performance. put on a piece that virtually no one in
the audience will be familiar with,”
World-class artists and fresh, con- Confessore says. “But I’m confident
temporary voices will be heard in con- everyone will enjoy it.”
cert with the Brevard Symphony Or-
chestra, Russian National Orchestra A full-length symphony that will be
and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orches- performed in the second half of the
tra. Vero is the first stop in the Shang- concert, it was written during the same
hai Opera Symphony Society’s tour, time period and is the same length of
and the Brussels Philharmonic will Dvorak’s “New World Symphony.”

Women composers are a rare breed
in a field dominated by men, but you

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Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 10, 2019 33

ARTS & THEATRE

can find them, Confessore says. herself with intransigent mindsets. phonic Dances. April 4 - Buffalo Philharmonic Or-
“It just requires a little bit of work. “It’s still, I suppose, a boys’ club,” chestra
March 12 - Brussels Philharmonic
What so oftentimes was the case, it she says. “Although it’s changing, not Ravel, La Valse; Dukas, Sorcerer’s Borodin, Overture to Prince Igor;
was considered not a career a woman as fast as I thought it would be.” Apprentice; Roussel, Bacchus et Ari- Brahms, Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat
should be doing,” he adds. “The way ane Suite No. 2; Bruch, Violin Concerto major with soloist Fabio Bidini; Proko-
the story goes, when (Amy Beach) got She has heard comments about No. 1 in G minor with soloist Nikolaj fiev, Selections from Romeo and Juliet.
married, her husband told her she people worrying what women conduc- Znaider.
wasn’t going to be writing music any tors were going to wear, and once got a All concerts begin 7:30 p.m. at the
more. So there was a period of time review that talked about her hairstyle. March 17 - Brevard Symphony Or- Community Church of Vero Beach, 1901
where she did not actively compose, She believes such legends as Austrian chestra 23rd Street. Season subscriptions range
or did some composing in secret. That conductor Herbert Von Karajan and from $395 to $425. Single tickets range
music was brought to light later.” Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini re- Beach, Gaelic Symphony; Grainger, from $60 to $90. For more detailed in-
inforced the image of a conductor be- Irish Tune from County Derry; Dvorák, formation on concerts or to purchase
Something new will also be heard ing tyrannical. Violin Concerto in A minor with soloist tickets, call 772-778-1070 or visit IRSym-
when the Shanghai Opera Symphony Andrew Sords. phonic.org. 
Orchestra performs on Jan. 25. Chen “That does not open doors easily
Yang Yue Tong, considered one of for a woman,” Falletta says. “Women
China’s top violin virtuosos, will per- have a different way of interacting
form a relatively young piece from the with a group and a different leader-
mid-20th century – the “Butterfly Lov- ship style. I’ve seen women work very
ers’ Concerto” written by Chen Gang, brusque, rough, and men work very
when he was a musical student. gentle. In general women tend to ap-
proach their work in a more collegial
“They say it’s one of the greatest hits or inclusive way. That seems to be
in classical musical because it’s played something inherent in how we grow
all over,” Shanaphy says. up. That’s very good team-building
style. Yes, you have to be in charge
Art breaks through political barri- and make the decisions, but it’s not all
ers with the Russian National Orches- about you. It’s about the team around
tra presentation of American pianist you.”
George Li on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14.
Li, who won the silver medal in the In- However, she says she has never felt
ternational Tchaikovsky Competition anything but a warm welcome from
in Moscow in 2015 and the prestigious Vero Beach audiences.
XIV Concours International Grand
Prix Animato, will perform Chopin’s This marks the orchestra’s fourth
“Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor.” IRSA appearance – now dubbed the
orchestra’s “Friends and Family Tour”
The Brussels Philharmonic, led by since so many in the ISRA audience
famed French conductor Stéphane are snowbirds from the Buffalo area.
Denève, will feature Danish violin-
ist Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider in Bruch’s “The (Vero Beach) concerts have
famed “Violin Concerto No. 1 in G- been packed with people,” Falletta
minor.” says. “The interest in music and the
arts is so strong there. It’s a cultural
Znaider, 43, was recently selected to heaven.”
assume the position of music director
of the Ochestre National de Lyon in Indian River Symphony Associa-
September 2020, taking the baton from tion Season:
famed American conductor Leonard
Slatkin, who was also music director Jan. 18 - Brevard Symphony Orches-
for the Detroit Symphony. tra:

The season ends with another ro- Strauss, On the Beautiful Blue Dan-
bust concert by the Grammy Award- ube; Tchaikovsky , Piano Concerto No.
winning Buffalo Philharmonic Or- 1 in B-flat minor, with soloist Sergey
chestra, led for the past 20 years by Belyavskiy; Brahms, Hungarian Dance
powerhouse conductor JoAnn Falletta. No. 1; Rimsky-Korsakov, Capriccio Es-
pagnol; Wintory, Nascence and Apo-
“This is an orchestra with a big per- theosis
sonality and a real commitment to
making music in a vibrant way,” she Jan. 25 - Shanghai Opera Symphony
says. Orchestra:

Confessore says Falletta could also Rossini, The Barber of Seville Over-
be talking about herself. ture; Gang/Zhanhao, Butterfly Lov-
ers Violin Concerto with soloist Chen
“I’m definitely coming to hear the Yangyuetong; Berlioz, Symphonie Fan-
performance of the Buffalo Philhar- tastique.
monic,” he says. “She gets a beautiful,
lyrical sound out of the orchestra.” Feb. 8 - Brevard Symphony Orches-
tra:
Falletta says the concert, which fea-
tures romantic Russian pieces as well Great Movies, Grand Piano Pops con-
as a big Chopin work, will move audi- cert with soloist Rich Ridenour playing
ences with its “powerful music, filled movie themes featuring the piano.
with color and drama.”
Feb. 14 - Russian National Orchestra
And while some may find it unusu- Rachmaninoff, Vocalise; Chopin,
al to see a woman conduct such tra- Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor with
ditionally masculine pieces, Falletta soloist George Li; Rachmaninoff, Sym-
says she simply focuses on the great-
ness of the music, rather than concern

34 Vero Beach 32963 / January 10, 2019 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

ARTS & THEATRE

Coming Up: Vero Opera opens season with seductive ‘Carmen’

BY SAMANTHA ROHLFING BAITA Concert at First Presbyterian Church
Staff Writer Jan. 16. Avetisyan was winner of the
Deborah Voigt/Vero Beach Opera
1 Obsession, betrayal, jealousy, Foundation International Vocal Com-
murder, colorful costuming, fi- petition in 2016. Time: 7 p.m. Tickets:
$50. 772-234-2736.
ery dancing and, of course, the mag-

nificent, compelling music. The Vero

Beach Opera season opener has it 3 What stirs the heart as do romance
and revolution? To open its 29th
all, as it opens Sunday, Jan. 13, at the

VBHS Performing Arts Center with season, the Atlantic Classical Orchestra

Georges Bizet’s “Carmen,” one of the musically addresses that (rhetorical)

most popular, most frequently per- posit this Tuesday, Jan. 15, at the Com-

formed operas in the history of the munity Church of Vero Beach. Under

genre, although it did get off to a bit of the baton of David Amado, “Romance

a slow start: When “Carmen” opened and Revolution” will feature three mas-

in Paris in 1875, its breaking of con- terpieces, beginning large with Grieg’s

ventions shocked and scandalized its dazzling, virtuoso “Piano Concerto in

first audiences, says Wikipedia. To A Minor, Op 16,” performed by world-

tell the story, set in Seville circa 1820 renowned pianist Philippe Bianconi;

– Don José, a naïve soldier, is seduced Beethoven’s seminal Third Symphony

by the fiery gypsy Carmen, but loses “Eroica,” filled, says the concert promo,

her love to the glamorous matador “with the values and fervency that fu-

Escamillo, with deadly consequenc- 1 Jan. 13 at VBHS Performing Arts Center, 3 p.m. eled the French Revolution”; and fi-

es – VBO has gathered a powerful nally, slowed and softened with Pat-

cast: In the title will be Uruguayan erson’s gentle 21st Century portrait of

soprano Maria Antunez, described appearing in the title role of last sea- Antunez’s Butterfly. Of Nusspaumer, Vermont’s Green Mountains – “Dark
son’s “Madama Butterfly.” Don Jose critics write that he “possesses star
by critics as “impressive, remarkable, will be sung by tenor Marin Nusspau- potential, with a tenor reminiscent Mountains.” Time: 7:30 p.m. For ticket
mer, who sang Pinkerton opposite of Domingo.” The third participant
smoldering … with a flexible, dark in this incendiary triangle, Escamil- information: 772-460-0850.
lo, will be portrayed by “rising star”
voice.” Antunez returns to VBO after Ethan Simpson, a singer and actor
with, says the Chicago Tribune, “a ro-
bust baritone voice and compelling 4 The music of Carole King, multi-
stage presence.” Expect an exciting Grammy winner and the most
afternoon of excellent opera, with
orchestra and English subtitles. Cur- successful female songwriter of the
tain: 3 p.m. Tickets: $30 to $100. 772-
564-5537; 772-569-6993. latter half of the 20th century, accord-

ing to Wikipedia, will be the focus this

Friday, Jan. 11, when Live! from Vero

Beach presents “Tapestry: A Tribute

to Carole King” at the Emerson Cen-

ter. “Tapestry”, of course, is the title

of King’s breakthrough album, which

sat atop the U.S. album chart for 15

2 Opera aficionados will wish to weeks in 1971 and remained on the
make note of another musical
charts for more than six years. This

opportunity this coming Wednes- “beautiful re-creation of the Carole

day. Soprano Anush Avetisyan, who King songbook,” according to the

sings the role of Don Jose’s girlfriend show promo, will be “performed with

Michaela in the VBO’s presentation a live band and multi-media images.”

of “Carmen” Jan. 13, will be featured Time: 7 p.m. Tickets: $25 to $95. 772-

in the Music Angels Education Fund 234-4412; 800-595-4849. 



36 Vero Beach 32963 / January 10, 2019 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT COVER STORY

Three-year-old Abdo Saleh lay on a Makiya Ahmed Mehdi is the head Saleh Abdo Ahmed hugs his son in
cot, unable to walk or speak, his tiny nurse of the clinic in Aslam. She the courtyard of the family house.
body broken by hunger. His face was has no children of her own, and His wife left the house a few days
skeletal, his arms and legs thin as twigs. she considers all the children before because Ahmed didn’t want
He weighed 10 pounds. in the clinic as hers. Here she is Abdo to be transferred to the clinic.
visiting Abdo on his first day at
A few miles away, markets inYemen’s the clinic. port costs due to fuel scarcity, a col-
northern Al-Jarb village were stocked lapsing currency and other man-made
with all kinds of food. But prices have supply disruptions.
risen so sharply that his parents cannot
afford the milk, fruits and vegetables Economic measures, largely im-
that are in abundance. “Sometimes, we posed by a Saudi-led military coali-
go two days without food,” said his fa- tion backed by the United States, have
ther, Saleh Abdo Ahmed, sadly squeez- helped produce what the United Na-
ing his son’s raisin-size toes. tions considers the world’s most se-
vere humanitarian catastrophe.
After four years of conflict, more than
20 millionYemenis – roughly two-thirds And over the past year, the hunger
of the population – don’t have enough crisis has worsened dramatically, with
to eat. a 60 percent increase in the number
of districts now considered to face
In most cases, it’s not because food emergency conditions, according to
is completely unavailable but because an analysis released this month by a
it’s unaffordable, priced out of reach consortium of aid agencies. More than
by import restrictions, soaring trans- half now fall in this category.

Yet even as the world has begun to
take note, many Yemenis remain out
of reach of assistance. The hardest-hit
areas are often the most remote, and
the relentless violence coupled with

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 10, 2019 37

INSIGHT COVER STORY

threats posed by competing armed ment has imposed import restrictions, Perhaps most disastrous for a coun- isolated, mountainous area of north-
groups have made it daunting for aid including on food, medicine and fuel. try that must depend overwhelmingly ern Yemen. Its residents are mostly il-
agencies to deliver relief. The Yemeni The resulting spike in fuel prices has on imported food, the purchasing literate and live in mud-brick homes.
government itself is so broken that it led to higher transport costs, which in power of the Yemeni currency has cra- They have always been poor, but now
can barely help. turn has also driven up food prices. tered. The government and its Saudi their lives have sunk to unseen levels.
patrons have mismanaged the central
The crisis, at its root, reflects what The coalition, in the meantime, tight- bank, for instance by liberally printing Some villagers had once worked in
critics say is the reckless way that Saudi ly controls the movement of goods and money, while foreign currency reserves neighboring Saudi Arabia and sent
Arabia’s de facto leader, Crown Prince people by air, sea and land into north- have dried up as fighting choked off money home. But with borders closed
Mohammed bin Salman, is conducting ern Yemen, where 80 percent of the energy exports, gutting the rial. and the territory crisscrossed with front
war in Yemen against Iran-aligned reb- population lives. Those controls have lines, the jobs and the money evapo-
els. The specter of an emerging famine is further disrupted supplies and boosted The Saudi-led coalition did not re- rated. Now, most of the villagers sur-
among the reasons the U.S. Senate last the prices of food, fuel and other goods spond to a request for comment. But it vive by picking khat, the leafy stimulant
month voted to end U.S. support for the even more. has previously called the hunger crisis chewed by most Yemenis.
coalition, which is also blamed for kill- exaggerated and blamed the rebels.
ing thousands of civilians in airstrikes. The shooting from the war also has Ahmed still earns the same salary
played a devastating part. One-third To a lesser extent, the rebels are in picking khat, roughly $2 a day, that he
“Today, many Yemenis say they are of the 18,000 airstrikes carried out by fact also at fault for rising prices. They made before the war. But prices of sug-
facing two wars,” said Abeer Etefa, a the coalition have targeted nonmili- impose heavy checkpoint “fees” on ar and other staple foods have shot up.
senior regional spokeswoman for the tary sites, including factories, farms, businesses importing food and fuel, aid
World Food Program. “The first war markets, power plants and food ware- workers say. “I can buy less food now,” said Ahmed,
is the one that comes from the skies. houses, according to the Yemen Data the sole provider for his wife and four
Sometimes it impacts their lives, other Project. Those attacks have shattered The head of the rebels’ Supreme children.
times it doesn’t. The second war is the domestic food production and distri- Revolutionary Committee, Moham-
inflation war. That impacts their lives bution and have erased livelihoods, med Ali al-Houthi, said they have not Today, 40 percent of the roughly
every day.” leaving Yemenis with less to spend. received complaints about such fees. 90,000 people in Aslam District, which
includes Al Jarb, are facing “famine-like”
Those who are relatively fortunate The village of Al Jarb is nestled in an conditions – one step below famine, ac-
are noticed by aid workers, often by cording to the aid groups’ analysis.
chance, and brought to overcrowded The clinic in Aslam is overcrowded with malnourished children. Mothers and children share beds,
clinics. The less fortunate, who medi- and, sometimes, mattresses are added to the floor. In mid-November, a medical worker
cal workers say form the majority, named Hazim Muhsin came to the vil-
waste away as their parents helplessly Abdo, 3, is severely lage to conduct a nutritional survey.
watch. Many families are unable to af- malnourished, and When he reached Abdo’s compound,
ford medical care or even transporta- he was shocked by the boy’s emaciated
tion to clinics. his life is at risk. state.

Often, parents are forced to decide In Yemen’s northern Al-Jarb village, By then, Abdo’s parents had taken
between saving their sick children and the mother of 12-year-old Maysah him to several hospitals and clinics,
feeding their healthy ones. Mohammed Ali Farah said her selling their wedding jewelry and oth-
daughter depends on breast er possessions to pay for transporta-
Abdo would be dead by now if it milk for sustenance. tion and medical care. Abdo would im-
weren’t for a chance visit by a medical prove at first but always slip backward
worker and the willingness of a nurse into cycles of vomiting and diarrhea.
at the district’s only pediatric clinic to His parents also took him to a tradi-
travel to this village and retrieve the tional healer who performed a folk rit-
boy. By then, Abdo’s father no longer ual known as “maysam” – or branding
had the means to save his boy. “I was – to eject the “devil” from him. Abdo
waiting for God’s fate,” said Ahmed. continued to deteriorate.

In their new analysis, the aid agen- After seeing Abdo’s condition, Muh-
cies found that more than 20 millionYe- sin implored his father to send him to
menis are “food insecure,” or unable to a government clinic.
adequately feed themselves. Of those,
65,000 are in a “catastrophic” state. That “But the father had reached a stage
figure is expected to nearly quadruple that he gave up,” recalled Muhsin. “He
in upcoming months, and those people saw the boy wasn’t improving.”
“will die if we can’t reach them with as-
sistance,” said Lise Grande, the U.N.’s After two weeks of trying to per-
top humanitarian official in Yemen. suade Ahmed, Muhsin called Makiya
Ahmed Mehdi, the head nurse at the
Already, as many as 85,000 children pediatric clinic. He sent photos and
under 5 may have died of hunger since videos of Abdo through WhatsApp.
the start of the war, the aid agency
Save the Children said last month. In The rail-thin nurse had every reason
the worst-hit areas, concentrated in not to follow up. Her clinic was over-
rebel-held territory in northern Yemen crowded. The Yemeni government,
where coalition restrictions are most which has withheld the salaries of more
stringent, thousands more children are than 1 million government employees
dying of malnutrition-related illnesses. in rebel areas, hadn’t paid her in five
months. Still, using money donated by
A raft of economic policies has con- a charity, Mehdi hired a pickup truck
spired to raise food prices by an aver- for $10 and went to Al Jarb, a 40-minute
age of 137 percent since the start of the drive away.
conflict, according to the World Food
Program, bringing Yemen to the brink “If you don’t bring him to the clin-
of famine. ic, he will die in a week,” Mehdi told
Ahmed after examining his son’s
In an effort to strangle the rebels, symptoms – the loose skin, the scabs
known as Houthis, the Saudi-led co- on his skull, the blank stares. A raspy
alition backing the Yemeni govern- cough hinted at a chest infection or
even pneumonia.

STORY CONTINUED ON PAGE 38

38 Vero Beach 32963 / January 10, 2019 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 37 INSIGHT COVER STORY

“I can’t take him there,” replied his Fatima Ahmed stands near her abled Maysa, who can’t utter a word, “Three cases in one village!” said
father, who was slim and sunburned. daughter Nada while she under- is always the last to eat. Mehdi. “These are only the ones we
“I don’t have money for transport.” goes the procedure to be ad- know. There are 20 other villages in
mitted to the clinic in Aslam. “Only if there is extra food, we give this area we don’t know about.”
Ahmed had been working less and Nada is 5 years old and it to her,” said her mother without any
less. Landowners had been cutting severely malnourished. hint of emotion. “Sometimes she goes In her clinic, mothers were already
back on laborers in the khat fields as two or three days without eating.” doubling up in beds with each other,
the increasing price of fuel, used to her skin, her face gaunt, her arms and sleeping with their children. Maysa
power water pumps, raised production legs a jumble of bones. She was lying A few minutes later, another villager would have to be left behind because
costs. At the same time, a flood of un- on a piece of cardboard atop a cot. arrived and told Mehdi of yet another she was not on the verge of death.
employed laborers were willing to work case. But the sky was already darken-
for much less money than Ahmed. “We have nothing to feed her now,” ing, and Mehdi didn’t have time to see But Abdo was.
said her mother, Shuwaya Mohammed. the boy. So Mehdi told Abdo’s father and
“Every day, my family waits for me grandmother to pick up the boy and
to bring food,” Ahmed said. “If I don’t Maysa has 12 other siblings, and come with her to the clinic.
make money, they go hungry.” the whole family lives on the $1 to $2 As the truck started to roll, an old
a day their father earns from picking woman reached out and kissed Me-
Mehdi offered to reimburse him the khat. The healthy ones are fed first, hdi’s hand.
$10 fare to the clinic. But Ahmed said not least because they can voice their At the clinic, Abdo was weighed in
drivers require advance payments. complaints, said her mother. Dis- a bucket attached to a scale. Mehdi’s
Even if he had money, he could not af- staff measured his height and the cir-
ford to take off from work. cumference of his brittle limbs. They
wrapped him in a diaper – the first
His wife couldn’t take Abdo to the one he’d worn in a year, which was
clinic either. She had left Ahmed a day the last time his parents could afford
earlier after they argued about whether one.
to buy food – or save their son. In another room were seven moth-
ers with bony, underweight babies.
Abdo suddenly gasped for air. The mothers, too, were thin and suf-
Mehdi shook her head. She won- fering from malnutrition.
dered how she was going to rescue him. The following day, Abdo’s mother
After Mehdi examined Abdo and arrived at the clinic.
listened to his father’s refusal, several Abdo smiled widely when he saw
villagers arrived and led her to anoth- her. For a moment, however brief,
er compound. In front of a one-room his joy brought out the boy he should
mud-brick house was 12-year-old have been. 
Maysa Mohammed Ali.
She couldn’t walk or speak and suf-
fered seizures. Her ribs pressed against



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42 Vero Beach 32963 / January 10, 2019 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT OPINION

Climate science: Too many known and unknown variables

BY DR. DOMINICK ARMENTANO The second is that it is still unclear whether warm- many decades (much of it from expanding industrial
ing actually generates more severe weather patterns activity in India and China) the Earth’s temperature,
There is a broad consensus among climatologists as is frequently assumed. For example, the incidence though trending upward, has displayed a marked
that global warming is fact and requires a strong po- of severe tornado activity (F3+) in the U.S. trends variability over time. This suggests that there may be
litical response in order to prevent weather and eco- downward over the last 5 decades and 2018 – perhaps other factors aside from CO2 that are actually driving
nomic-related calamities from occurring within the the warmest year on record – marked a 13-year low. temperature.
next 10 or 20 years.
Finally, any forecast of anything (GNP, divorce One of the more likely candidates that would ex-
The influential and widely discussed 2018 report rates, cell phone sales) 10 to 20 years out has almost plain the variability of temperature over time, not
of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on zero reliability and almost no chance of being cor- unexpectedly, is the variability associated with solar
Climate Change (IPCC) concludes generally that any rect. There are simply too many known variables that activity. Indeed, the correlation of solar activity (sur-
increased warming of the earth will raise sea levels, could change and skew the results; in addition, there face temperature changes, sun spot cycles) with tem-
harm coral reefs, and reduce crop production; that are an unknown number of new variables that could perature variability may be far more robust than any
the warming is primarily man-made, the result of in- arise that would work to radically alter outcomes pre- CO2/temperature association.
creasing amounts of trapped greenhouse gases, (es- dicted by climate models. Indeed, the spotty history
pecially carbon dioxide) in the upper atmosphere; of previous climate modeling should throw caution to Are increasing CO2 levels irrelevant? Probably not
and that it makes scientific and economic sense to the wind concerning all current predictions. entirely, but it is yet to be established beyond doubt
reduce CO2 emissions now with petroleum-based that CO2 levels are the primary culprit in any warm-
energy taxes and regulations before more environ- A far more serious problem, however, is that it is not ing scenario.
mental damage is done. entirely certain that man-made CO2 emissions are,
if fact, driving temperature change in the first place. Yet if CO2 levels are not the primary driver of tem-
However, there is also a strong minority position Carbon dioxide is a relatively minor greenhouse gas perature change, then the entire economic and po-
among some scientists and economists that is both and the statistical association of specific levels of car- litical case for carbon taxes and other regulations on
skeptical of prevailing climate change science and bon emissions with specific temperature change is emissions is severely weakened. Why should we in-
also of the necessity for any governmental response not impressive. crease the cost and price of energy generated from oil
to the alleged environmental dangers. and natural gas if reducing emissions would produce
While CO2 emissions have steadily increased for no discernible environmental benefit?
The scientific evidence on warming is reasonably
clear: There has been a slightly more than 1 degree After all, there is one thing in this debate that is ab-
Celsius increase in atmospheric temperature since solutely certain: Raising energy prices would harm
1880 up to the present. Over those many decades, consumers of energy. It would lower the standard of
there have been periods of warming; periods of cool- living of everyone and hurt low income households
ing; periods where no major changes have occurred; the worst. Thus, even though some advocates of en-
and, more recently, a relatively sustained period of ergy regulation would frame their case in lofty moral
warming. terms, there is simply nothing inherently moral about
inflicting costs on society without any predictable so-
Most climate scientists expect the current warming cial payoff.
trend to continue (absent any CO2 reductions) into
the foreseeable future with substantial weather-relat- Some of us are old enough to remember the media
ed problems (costs) if the warming advances another scare concerning global cooling in the early 1970s. We
half degree Celsius or more. were all going to freeze in the dark unless the govern-
ment did something post haste. That concern looks
There are several problems with this scenario. The relatively silly today. Perhaps the same thing will be
first is that if the current warming trend moderates true about the current climate change hysteria. 
somewhat, stops all together, or reverts to a period
of modest cooling, then few of the calamitous events Armentano, professor emeritus of economics at the
predicted will occur within the IPCC benchmark University of Hartford, is a resident of 32963. The views
2030-2040 time-frame. expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect those
of Vero Beach 32963.

PREVENTING DISEASE or maintain your blood pressure, get it checked RESTFUL SLEEP
regularly, keep weight down, lower salt intake, Some foods that calm the body, increase sero-
By studying and applying the health recommen- boost activity level and see your primary care tonin levels and help you get ready for a good
dations below, you’ll be on your way to a health- provider as recommended. night’s sleep include:
ier, wealthier and wiser 2019 – and beyond. MEASURE BMI  Complex carbohydrates such as whole-
EAT TO LIVE, NOT LIVE TO EAT To figure out if you’re at a good weight for grain breads, cereals, pasta, crackers and
 Avoid saturated fats, cholesterol, refined your height, calculate your body mass index brown rice
carbs, sugars and trans fats. These are (BMI) using the National Institutes of Health  Lean proteins like low-fat cheese, chicken,
especially prevalent in processed foods. BMI calculator at www.nih.gov. turkey and fish
 Eat vegetables, fruits, herbs, spices, whole OH SUGAR  Unsaturated fats such a s peanut butter
grains, olive oil, nuts, seeds and legumes. You can lower your risk for heart disease and (make sure peanuts are the only ingredi-
 Omega-3s, the healthy fats found in fish like cancer by limiting the amount of soda, candy ent) and nuts such as walnuts, almonds,
tuna, mackerel and salmon, are good for you. and sugary desserts you consume. Excessive cashews and pistachios
 Eat more fiber. sugar consumption, especially for individuals  Beverages such as warm milk or herbal
CHECK CHOLESTEROL LEVEL with diabetes, puts people at greater risk for tea, especially chamomile or peppermint
Every cell in your body contains cholesterol. heart, kidney, eye and nerve damage over time.  Fresh herbs such as sage and basil in a
Eighty percent of your body’s cholesterol is MOVE IT, MOVE IT dinner meal may reduce tension and pro-
made by the liver. That’s why some patients Simply find 30 minutes a day – they don’t have mote sleep. Avoid herbs such as red
have such a hard time controlling their cho- to be consecutive minutes – to take a short, pepper or black pepper at night; they
lesterol level through diet alone. Medication brisk walk or pursue some other type of physi- have more of a stimulatory effect.
may be necessary. cal activity. You can split that into three 10-min-
CONTROL PRESSURE ute or two 15-minute spurts. HEALTH SCREENINGS
One-third of Americans have high blood pres- STOP SMOKING Talk with your doctor; stay up to date with rec-
sure, based on a reading of 140/90. But ex- Smoking increases the risk of death from lung ommended health screenings.
perts now agree that people with consistent cancer, heart attack and stroke by 200 per- Enjoy all of life’s riches and rewards.
readings over 120/80 should also be consid- cent. If you are a smoker, the best health tip Your comments and suggestions for fu-
ered as having high blood pressure. To lower you can take is to quit. ture topics are always welcome. Email us at
[email protected].

© 2018 VERO BEACH 32963 MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

44 Vero Beach 32963 / January 10, 2019 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT BOOKS

To call John Marshall son, Marshall served as chief justice for 34 away from the states and put it into Federalist hands.
the Babe Ruth of Ameri- years until his death in 1835. After passage of the laws, as many as 20 Jeffersonian
can constitutional law
is an understatement. Over those decades, he united the newspaper editors were prosecuted, and many were
He didn’t just master court into a powerful institution, largely jailed; one member of Congress, Rep. Matthew Lyon of
the game; he made it on the strength of opinions he wrote. His Vermont, was convicted of sedition. The attempt back-
up. In his new biogra- landmark rulings are at best eloquent fired: Jefferson and his supporters swept the elections in
phy of Marshall, Richard and usually persuasive. In McCulloch 1800, and the Federalists faded into history.
Brookhiser summarizes v. Maryland, he laid out the contours
the chief justice’s triumph of Congress’ commerce power; in Burr But before they exited, the lame-duck Federalist Con-
thus: “He gave the office v. United States, he blunted the law of gress installed dozens of loyalists on the bench. In fact,
what its first occupant, they created an entirely new layer of “circuit courts” full
John Jay, had complained treason as a tool to punish political en- of partisans – and they installed Marshall as chief justice.
it lacked: dignity.” emies; in Dartmouth College v. Wood-
ward, he anchored the constitutional As soon as he took office, Jefferson – a distant cousin
Brookhiser is an editor underpinnings of contract law; in whom Marshall despised – sought to neuter the court
at National Review and an Johnson v. M’Intosh, Cherokee Nation and rid himself of Marshall.
indefatigable chronicler of v. Georgia and Worcester v. Georgia, he
the founding generation. gave birth to the entire field of federal Marshall headed off those efforts through his response
He has produced studies Indian law. in Marbury v. Madison. Federalist William Marbury had
of George Washington, Al- been approved as a justice of the peace by the outgoing
exander Hamilton, James But his most important creation is Federalist Congress but was barred from the bench by
Madison and Gouverneur Morris. He is, however, the doctrine of Marbury v. Madison Jefferson. Marbury sought an order from Marshall re-
not a lawyer, and in “John Marshall: The Man Who Made – the idea that the Supreme Court has the quiring Jefferson to allow him to serve. If the Supreme
the Supreme Court,” his focus is on politics, not law: “I power and the duty to invalidate acts of Congress that Court ruled against Marbury, it would be admitting that
keep my eye, as Marshall always did, on the politics that it finds in conflict with the Constitution. That result Jefferson’s partisan purge was lawful. If it ruled against
surrounded him.” It’s an understandable, but regretta- was by no means inevitable; to reach it, Marshall had to Jefferson, the new president would gleefully tear up the
ble, lapse. Marshall’s great talent was his legal creativity, navigate a treacherous political landscape. If Brookhiser order. There was no clear law that gave the court the
which takes hard work for a layperson or lawyer to ap- aims to reveal the politics surrounding Marshall’s career, power to issue orders to the president, and Marshall had
preciate. Brookhiser also underestimates the chaos and he disappoints somewhat at this point. A fuller political no means of enforcing such an order. The Jeffersonian
danger of the politics that he does highlight. Perhaps for profile of the Marshall years would give the reader more Congress could accuse Marshall of over-reaching – and
that reason, he doesn’t give Marshall his full due. of the scope of his unlikely triumph. impeach him. But the chief justice proved too wily for
Consider Brookhiser’s brief summary of America’s first Jefferson and Congress. In his opinion, he explained that
“John Marshall” is, to be sure, entertaining and in- constitutional crisis, the Alien and Sedition Acts contro- Jefferson had lawlessly deprived Marbury of his prop-
structive – worthy to be set beside its author’s earlier versy. Adams’ Federalists, he writes, “struck at enemies at erty, in fact, his job – and in 18th-century political terms,
works. It would be ideal reading for a student contem- home with laws allowing the president to deport aliens that was the essence of tyranny. But instead of ordering
plating law school. And in addition to the pleasure of he deemed dangerous and the federal courts to prose- Jefferson to return it, Marshall invalidated the statute
its prose, it may, one hopes, whet appetites for an even cute libels on the federal government.” This understates that gave the Supreme Court jurisdiction over the case.
deeper look at the career of “the Great Chief Justice.” both the sweep and the aim of the acts. They were, in Thus, Marshall could issue no order, and no order could
fact, essentially part of an attempted coup by the Feder- be defied. In this environment, the purge fizzled.
Marshall lacked the self-creating fire of a Washing- alist Party. Faced with almost certain defeat in 1800, the
ton, the scattershot genius of a Jefferson and the inner Federalists tried to shut down criticism of their leaders. Marshall’s move in Marbury was brilliant and
demons of a Hamilton. He rose thanks to a knack for The acts didn’t aim at libels on the “federal government” uniquely influential. Its doctrine that federal courts
being in the right place at the right time. He served in – they made it a crime to criticize the president or Con- can invalidate acts of Congress has, for good or ill,
the Continental Army under Washington at Valley Forge; gress. But they pointedly did not outlaw criticism of the been law ever since. 
succeeded at the Virginia bar; took on a diplomatic mis- vice president – who was Jefferson, the certain challeng-
sion that made him a national hero; was elected to Con- er to Adams in 1800. The acts also put in place sweeping JOHN MARSHALL
gress, then appointed secretary of state by John Adams; restrictions on immigrants. They were accompanied by
and after Adams lost the White House to Thomas Jeffer- a clumsy attempt to take control of the electoral college THE MAN WHO MADE THE SUPREME COURT

BY RICHARD BROOKHISER | 336 PP. $30
REVIEW BY GARRETT EPPS, THE WASHINGTON POST

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Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 10, 2019 45

INSIGHT BOOKS

Frederick Douglass died in splendid isolation, at the a familiar staple of high school cur- early 20s when, newly escaped from slavery
top of a lonely hill in Southeast Washington. It juts up and working in obscurity as a day laborer in
precipitously among flat blocks of middle-class row- riculums and Black History Month commemorations. New Bedford, Mass., he began preaching oc-
houses, as steep and incongruous as a pyramid in the casional sermons in a small African American
desert. At its summit stands his last home, Cedar Hill, Yet surprisingly few scholars have chronicled his life. church.
a white-columned antebellum mansion. A heart attack
struck him down in its front hall, suddenly on a winter “Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom” is the first In August 1841, at a convention of black
evening in 1895. and white abolitionists on Nantucket, Dou-
full biography in a quarter-century. Blight, an eminent glass was invited to the podium to offer the
Like many of the other places that played a role in firsthand testimony of a fugitive – accepting
the famous abolitionist’s eventful life, this one feels Yale historian and author of several other acclaimed only with “much hesitation” and “embarrass-
freighted with symbolic meaning. From one side of the ment,” a witness remembered. No record
house, he could look out toward the hills of Maryland, works on slavery, race and the Civil War era, has pro- survives of his words that day, but their effect
the state where he was born into slavery. The other side was immediate. “Flinty hearts were pierced,
commanded a fine view of the Capitol and the Mall, duced one well worth the wait.
emblems of the high federal office he attained much and cold ones melted by his eloquence,”
later. And all around spread a neighborhood of ordi- It’s a well-worn cliche for biographers to bestow ex- wrote one listener. “Our best pleaders for
nary Americans, white and black – near at hand and the slave held their breath for fear of inter-
distant, both at once. alted epithets on their subjects: Almost every title de- rupting him.” One of those best pleaders,
the mighty abolitionist William Lloyd Gar-
David Blight’s extraordinary new biography, “Freder- clares its hero to be the sage of something or the oracle rison, recalled simply, “I never hated slav-
ick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom,” captures the com- ery so intensely as at that moment.”
plexities of the man who lived and died at Cedar Hill: of something else. But Blight thoroughly justifies his
a figure both eminent and solitary who gazed across Within days, the movement’s leaders
vastly different American landscapes. claim in a book that is not just a deeply researched whisked the young man onto the lecture
trail. His oratorical power and intellectual
Douglass’ birthplace is as resonant and revealing as birth-to-death chronology but also an extended medi- brilliance before the crowds were aston-
his final home. Unlike Cedar Hill, which is now a Na- ishing, and so was his versatility: an abil-
tional Historic Site, no monument or museum – not tation on what it means to be a prophet. ity to modulate between anger and inspi-
even a roadside sign – marks the spot. A flat, muddy ration, reflection and exhortation, even
field at an out-of-the-way crossroads on the Eastern Douglass’ prophecy often expressed itself in an un- tragedy and comedy. His career on the
Shore of Maryland, it’s about as nondescript as a place circuit – in the United States and some-
can be. The slave cabin that once stood there, near the canny gift for forecasting the future. In 1855, he predict- times overseas – continued unabated for more than
edge of a ravine, has long since vanished. When Doug- half a century; according to Blight, it is likely that more
lass returned late in life, he scooped up a few handfuls ed the coming Civil War and emancipation: “The hour Americans heard him speak than any other figure of his
of sandy soil as a relic of his origin. time. His abolitionist lectures throughout Britain in the
which shall witness the final struggle is on the wing. Al- late 1840s stoked widespread antipathy to American
That remote plantation was an unlikely starting slavery and probably helped keep that nation from sid-
point for one of the least nondescript – in fact, one of ready we hear the booming of the bell which shall yet ing with the Confederacy.
the most described – lives in American history. Doug- From his years as a hunted fugitive and then a radi-
lass himself published thousands of pages of memoirs, toll the death knell of human slavery.” A decade later, cal renegade, Douglass lived to become a laureled el-
journalism, polemics, speeches, fiction and poetry, and der statesman. The young man had announced in the
sat for more photographs than any other celebrity of with the war won and black freedom a legally estab- 1840s: “I have no patriotism. I have no country. ... I de-
the 19th century. His personal papers fill more than 50 sire to see its overthrow as speedily as possible, and its
boxes in the manuscript stacks at the Library of Con- lished fact, the country’s leading abolitionist group met Constitution shivered in a thousand fragments.” The
gress. For decades, he was the most famous living black white-bearded dignitary sought and won federal ap-
person in the world, and in our own time, he remains to vote on whether to disband. Douglass warned, again pointments from Republican presidents in the 1870s
and 1880s, including as U.S. minister to Haiti – where
he was unwillingly dragooned into trying to advance
American imperial ambitions in the Caribbean. 

FREDERICK DOUGLASS

PROPHET OF FREEDOM

BY DAVID W. BLIGHT | 888 PP. $37.50
REVIEW BY ANDREW GOODHEART THE WASHINGTON POST

accurately, that the strug-

gle was far from over:

White supremacy would

continue to bare its fangs,

and his comrades “had

better wait and see what

new form this old mon-

ster will assume.”

But above all, perhaps,

being a prophet means

living in a realm of lan-

guage: words of exhorta-

tion, of warning, of in-

sight as well as foresight.

While it is his books that

endure today, in his own

time Douglass was bet-

ter known as an orator, a

gift he discovered in his

46 Vero Beach 32963 / January 10, 2019 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

ON FAITH

Earn ‘points’ by understanding, praising God’s grace

BY REV. DRS. CASEY AND BOB BAGGOTT activities and all his achievements for
Columnists Peter. He was an officer in his church’s
youth group. He participated in every
John Jewell tells the story of the man possible way he could as a youngster.
who came to the gates of heaven and As an adult he was on the church coun-
was greeted by St. Peter. Peter asked the cil and served on every committee the
man to give a brief history of his life, in church had to offer. His list was exten-
order that Peter could make an assess- sive.
ment of his suitability for entrance into
the kingdom of heaven. “You will need “Very impressive,” Peter said, smiling
one thousand points to be admitted,” brightly at the man. An angel standing
Peter told the man. with them also smiled and nodded as
he tallied the points and then whis-
“This will be a cinch,” the man pered in Peter’s ear. Peter announced
thought to himself, confidently. “I’ve the tally to the man. “This is quite strik-
been faithfully involved in church from ing. We seldom see men with your level
childhood.” The man began to list all his of commitment to the things of God.
You will be pleased to know that you
have 227 points. Is there anything else
you can think of?”

The poor man at heaven’s gates broke
out in a cold sweat and began to dredge
through old memories to recall every
single act of kindness he had offered.
He listed them as the angel furiously re-
corded them on his angelic clip board.
Let’s see … server at a soup kitchen,
volunteer at a homeless shelter, tutor
to disadvantaged children, generous

donor of time and money to numer- ter, the humbled man cried out in dis-
ous worthy causes. “Yes, this will do it!” may, “I’m sunk! There is no hope for
the man thought. When he finished the me! What more could I have done? All I
angel and Peter again had a whispered can do is beg for God’s grace!” “Ah, now
conversation. Then Peter turned back that,” exclaimed Peter, “is worth a thou-
to the man and said, “This is quite ex- sand points!” And the gates to the king-
ceptional. You now have a total of 402 dom of heaven swung wide open.
points. Impressive, but can you think of
anything else to recommend you?” How many points could you tally to-
ward your entry into those heavenly
By now the man at the gates was gates? Of course it matters how faithful-
truly distressed. He wracked his brain ly we live, how we deeply we love, how
for good deeds and remembered help- compassionately we serve. But none of
ing an old lady across the street and us is really capable of earning our entry.
paying bus fare for a stranded traveler. And so, we all need the humble aware-
This time the recording angel and Pe- ness of the man at Peter’s gate. What a
ter came up with a grand total of 431 soul-stirring, heart-healing realization
points. Knowing there were no more it is to finally see that our lives have
grand achievements or glorious acts been pure grace from our first breaths
of goodness that he could relate to Pe- to our last – and beyond. 

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 10, 2019 47

INSIGHT BRIDGE

NORTH

THE BOOBY TRAP IS VERY HARD TO SEE 74

By Phillip Alder - Bridge Columnist 83

Erik Weihenmayer, the only blind person to reach the summit of Mount Everest, said, “People J974
get trapped into thinking about just one way of doing things.”
J 10 6 5 3
This deal contains a nasty trap that would catch almost everyone. You have the benefit of
seeing all 52 cards. How can South make four spades after West leads the club ace? WEST EAST
J952
North’s three-club rebid was a double negative, indicating some 0-4 points. South’s three 76 —
hearts was forcing, but North’s three spades was not. Q62
AK87 J 10 9 5 2
At the table, we would ruff the club ace and cash the spade ace, then recoil in horror at the
4-0 split. We would no doubt continue with the heart ace, heart king and heart four. Here, A K 10 3
though, West would ruff with the spade nine and shift to the diamond two. East would win
with his king and give partner a second heart ruff. Then the diamond queen or a diamond to Q942
the ace would set the contract.
SOUTH
If South anticipates the bad breaks, he will discard a diamond at trick one; and if West leads
another club, declarer should ditch his second diamond. Then, when West ruffs the third A K Q 10 8 6 3
heart, which costs his natural trump trick, he cannot reach his partner for the second ruff.
AKQ4
Perhaps you noticed that ruffing at trick one was not fatal. After cashing the major-suit aces,
South must exit with a diamond to start cutting the defenders’ communication. East can 85
win and play a heart, but South will win and lead another diamond. East takes that trick and
gives West a heart ruff, but, again, that costs his trump trick. —

Dealer: South; Vulnerable: Neither

The Bidding:

SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST OPENING
2 Clubs Pass 2 Diamonds Pass
2 Spades Pass 3 Clubs Pass LEAD:
3 Hearts Pass 3 Spades Pass A Clubs
4 Spades Pass Pass Pass

48 Vero Beach 32963 / January 10, 2019 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™
SOLUTIONS TO PREVIOUS ISSUE (JANUARY 3) ON PAGE 68
INSIGHT GAMES

ACROSS DOWN
1 Have to (4) 1 Bacterium, say? (5-8)
3 Like residue (4) 2 Brazilian dance (5)
6 Poem (3) 4 Underside of an arch (6)
9 Shell-shock? (6,7) 5 Himalayan monster (4)
10 Composition on a religious 6 Current (7)
7 Voting list (9,4)
theme (8) 8 Sling your hook! (7)
12 Scotsman’s garb (4) 11 Barbarian (3)
13 British faucet (3) 14 Travelling worshipper (7)
15 Full and rich (wine) (6) 16 Nightclub door worker (7)
18 Knuckle digit (6) 17 Timber preservative (3)
19 Listener? (3) 20 Solemn ceremony (6)
21 Shivering fit (4) 23 Customary practice (5)
22 Part of a beer can (4-4) 24 Full of oneself (4)
25 Unable to be spoken to (13)
The Telegraph 26 Spoil (3)
27 Links game? (4)
28 Calf flesh (4)

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Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 10, 2019 49

INSIGHT GAMES

ACROSS 104 Likely 42 Utterly unsympathetic The Washington Post
1 Addictive extract 105 Long-running game 43 Film scorer Morricone
6 In mid-yawn 45 Topnotch TOP TEN GAME SHOWS ON C-SPAN By Merl Reagle
11 Fame name show co-created by Allan 49 “I saw His footprint in ___”
15 Animal assn. Sherman
19 Islands east of Fiji 109 Brand X, e.g. (W.B. Carman)
20 The veggie advantage 111 Present preceder 50 Old World lizard
21 Iowa college town 113 Agcy. that gives loans to 52 Cougar, to car buffs
22 Nectar fruit self-starters 53 City near Council Bluffs
23 1970s game show hosted 114 O for goodness’ sake? 54 Wise elf with the Force
115 Celebrity-guest game show 55 Cleveland Indians, to a
by Alex Trebek of 1969-70
25 Toynbee subj. 120 Egyptian hisser sportscaster
26 Composer Carl 122 As written 56 Seven-time Wimbledon
27 It’s chaud time 123 Eater’s digest
28 Madras mister 124 Eleanor Roosevelt’s first winner
29 1950s game show hosted name 57 Target pegs, in quoits
125 1978 game show hosted by 58 Opposite of inept
by Bert Parks Bill Cullen 59 On ___ (getting soused)
32 Simpson on sax 128 Vegas putdowns? 64 Daily Planet editor White et
34 Penicillin meas. 129 2000, for one
36 Wells’s Weena, for one 130 First name in makeup al.
37 “___ Pretty” 131 Two-time Nobelist 65 Crisis money
39 Game show hosted by both 132 Buffalo’s lake 67 ___ war (power struggle)
133 PBS, e.g. 69 Opera opening
Monty and Wayne 134 Lets (up) 70 Pro-am props
44 Sparking space 135 Work dough 71 “That ___ the
46 George Bush org., 1976-77 DOWN
47 Shoot from the lip 1 Brabantio’s tormented half of it”
48 Little bird son-in-law 73 Catherine is one in
49 Le Duc of Vietnam 2 Mr. Tibbs portrayer
50 ___ expense (free) 3 Stuff eaten or read A Farewell To Arms
51 Wild, hour-long game show 4 Kin of “yecch!” 74 Stay fresh
5 Warring world in War of the 75 Japanese musical
of the mid-1970s Worlds
57 Dutch city for which a district 6 ___ of the wrist instrument
7 Gerard or Blas 77 Michael’s Mr. Mom co-star
of Manhattan is named 8 Help a felon out 80 Squander
60 Flower, in Florence 9 Possibly: abbr. 84 Impertinent
61 History chapter 10 Highland language 86 Men-only
62 Part of UFO 11 John Wayne film, 88 Plot measure
63 Knocks sharply ___—U.S. Marshal 89 Little bloodsucker
66 Pindar or Keats 12 Pal with pesos 90 Fearless misleader?
68 Fine four-stringer 13 Pines of Rome composer 91 Bridge builder, e.g.
72 1975 game show hosted by 14 Whodunit woofer 92 Hill Street Blues star
15 Fatal Instinct, for one 93 Caseworker?
Art James 16 Cigar 94 Tic-tac-toe line
76 1960 game show hosted by 17 No-no for the nervous 95 Matches
18 Puppy’s comment 100 Wipeout?
Ben Alexander 24 Free Willy’s Willy, 101 Girl’s name meaning
78 Transition for one
79 It goes with the bow 30 Betty, Rue and Estelle’s “happy”
81 One-run lead, e.g. Golden Girls co-star 102 Loaded, as a lake
82 X 31 Puppy’s comment 104 Order at the Cock and Bull
83 Infraction catcher 33 ___ Is Born 105 To a certain degree
85 Moreno and Rudner 35 Makes a seam 106 Royal, as treatment
87 One who prefers lip-reading 38 Mekong nation 107 Subsides
40 Momma cartoonist Lazarus 108 Cummerbund
to signing 41 Guggenheim shipment 110 Provide pleasure
90 1965-66 game show hosted 112 Madams for short
116 Quite a while
by Don Morrow 117 Unterrible swift sword
96 About 118 Tabula ___
97 “___ all my fault” 119 Some N.Y. jets, once
98 Hotel waiter? 121 Make a beak impression
99 Shallow subjects? 123 Brit. prize
103 A Khan 126 Match, in poker
127 Wiener warmer

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50 Vero Beach 32963 / January 10, 2019 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT BACK PAGE

Contemplating an old flame and fears of getting burned

BY CAROLYN HAX ample – you will be prepared to say, “Those reasons
Washington Post sound like excuses.”

Dear Carolyn: This posture is the very antithesis of game-playing.
I rejected “Sam” years ago in favor And if I’ve misread your letter and you genuinely
of “Aaron.” Aaron and I are newly don’t want to see Sam, because he’s still married or
divorced – initiated by me – after 25 whatever else, then don’t.
years of marriage and three kids.
Sam has been alienated from his Dear Carolyn:
wife for many years and moved out five years ago at her
insistence. Sam initiated divorce proceedings, but they Can one stay happy while living with an active ad-
ultimately stalled and Sam and “Gina” remain mar-
ried. dict? Spouse of 35 years is a truly good and caring per-
Sam says he stays in the marriage for the sake of their
only son, who is 21 and finishing college. In my opinion son yet lies, steals others’ prescription pills and wrecks
he stays married because the finances work out better
that way. cars under the influence. –Dog Tired
Now that I’m divorced, Sam wants to see me. (We
have not actually been face-to-face in 10 years.) I have that you and Sam are operating from a quarter-centu- Dog Tired: Who is this hypothetical “one”?
refused his advances. He is still married, after all. ry-old idea of what it’s like to be together. We are talking about you.
If I didn’t want to see him, there would be no prob- You are talking about you.
lem. Alas, I do. Please provide a long list of reasons see- And possible amnesia regarding possibly excellent Yet you’ve erased you, gone outside yourself
ing Sam is an awful idea. Thank you. reasons you didn’t choose Sam back then. both for your problem (the addict) and solution
–Someone Who Wants to Not Want Sam (“can one stay happy?”).
And possible blindness to the fact of billions of So humor me, please, and say aloud: “This is
Someone Who Wants to Not Want Sam: This is your men/women on Earth besides each other. about me.”
game; I have no interest in playing it. You obviously Your spouse may be lovely inside somewhere,
want to satisfy your curiosity about Sam, so do it. And possible temptation to snuggle into something but the addiction runs the show now, apparently
familiar when braving some time alone might be bet- into a tree, or worse. And you are “dog tired” be-
Whatever you decide, the likeliest potential snag ter for you. cause the addiction is running you, too.
isn’t that Sam is still married to a woman he doesn’t So please get help, for you. (Spouse’s problem is
live with and hasn’t lived with for years, but instead So if you do approach Sam, then be self-aware, logi- their problem.) A therapist whose training and ex-
cal, patient, open-minded, as skeptical as you can be perience focus on families of addicts is where I’d
without veering into cynicism, and self-aware (you start, but if there’s a cost or scheduling issue, start
say redundant, I say emphatic). And set your BS de- with the closest Al-Anon group in the book. Please.
tectors to 11. That way, when his reasons for staying Soon. Take care. 
married sound like excuses – to use a not-random ex-