06/25/2020 ISSUE 26

John’s Island service group helps
with housing issues. P6
Vero lifeguard rescues
man at Palm Beach. P14

Riverfront development plan
moves a step closer to reality. P11

For breaking news visit

MY VERO ‘Please’ hasn’t worked; time for ‘Mandatory’ COVID-19 cases
nearly double in
BY RAY MCNULTY just seven days

How do we get officials to PHOTO BY KAILA JONES BY LISA ZAHNER
require masks in public? Staff Writer
BY MICHELLE GENZ Some stores like Fresh Market are hop- were streaming in, faster than
After an alarming spike in Staff Writer ing customers will respond to ‘Please,’ we could add them to this The past week was the one
the number of coronavirus but a number of cities – like Chatham on story. Vero Beach and the barrier
cases here continued into the A strong majority of non- Cape Cod – have made masks ‘Mandatory.’ island hoped we’d never see,
weekend, I spent most of Sun- governmental leaders and An overwhelming major- with the number of positive
day on the phone, apologizing other prominent members emails asking people wheth- ity said “Yes.” cases of the novel coronavirus
for intruding on Father’s Day of our community vehe- er the time has come – the nearly doubling in seven days
and discussing with our pub- mently disagree with public surge acute enough, the anxi- Dr. Greg Rosencrance, and cases on the island rising
lic officials the merits of wear- officials on whether it should ety sufficiently intolerable president of Cleveland Clinic from 13 to 24.
ing masks in an effort to curb be mandatory to wear masks – to mandate the wearing of Indian River, and Dr. Ralph
what appears to be a worsen- in public to slow the spread masks in public. Turner, hospital COO, both If this is not our peak, we may
ing pandemic. of COVID-19. support mandatory masks be in trouble.
In short order, the answers in public, as does the chair-
Amazingly, while nearly all Monday morning, this woman of the Hospital Dis- As we go to press, 409 peo-
of them strongly encouraged newspaper’s staff started trict, Marybeth Cunning- ple had tested positive, and at
the idea of wearing face cov- making calls and sending ham. the rate we’re going that num-
erings when venturing out in ber could be up to 500 by the
public, not a single one of our CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 time you retrieve this paper
leaders was ready to make it from your mailboxes.
mandatory.
Miranda Hawker, director of
Their collective response was the Indian River County Health
extremely disappointing. Department, took a more som-
ber tone in her weekly public
“I have real doubts that mak- address last Friday, in the face
ing it mandatory is enforce-
able,” said County Commis- CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
sioner Bob Solari. “Do you call
Teachers and pupils to
CONTINUED ON PAGE 3 be masked when public
schools reopen Aug. 10
Local preschool closes
after 3-year-old tests BY GEORGE ANDREASSI
positive for COVID-19 Staff Writer

BY GEORGE ANDREASSI School Superintendent Da-
Staff Writer vid Moore will unveil plans
Friday for reopening Indian
Kendall Academy Preschool River County public schools
Center, which had a 3-year- on Aug. 10, including reduc-
old student test positive for ing class sizes and promoting
COVID-19 on June 12, closed virtual learning to prevent
Monday for two weeks be- the spread of COVID-19.
cause of the increase in new
cases in Indian River County. CONTINUED ON PAGE 7

“The decision to close is be-

CONTINUED ON PAGE 9

June 25, 2020 Volume 13, Issue 26 Newsstand Price $1.00 Not half bad: Raves
for Riverside Theatre
News 1-14 Faith 52 Pets 53 TO ADVERTISE CALL at 50 percent. P19
Arts 33-38 Games 29-31 Real Estate 55-68 772-559-4187
Books 28 Health 39-42 St. Ed’s 51
Dining 46-50 Insight 21-32 Style 43-45 FOR CIRCULATION
Editorial 26 People 15-20 CALL 772-226-7925

© 2020 Vero Beach 32963 Media LLC. All rights reserved.

2 Vero Beach 32963 / June 25, 2020 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

COVID-19 cases double Sadly, three more people did die two weeks, the number of tests run but that doesn’t necessarily mean that
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 with COVID-19 this week, a 42-year- should stay high as about 1,900 people nearly 8 percent of Florida’s 21 million
old man and a 41-year-old woman lost are employed in some capacity at In- people have been tested, since health-
of rampant noncompliance with basic, while in the care of Lawnwood Region- dian River County’s 24 long-term-care care workers and long-term-care facil-
commonsense protective measures al Medical Center, and an 86-year-old facilities. ity residents are often tested multiple
across the county as cases mount. woman who died in a long-term care times.
facility. We don’t know which facility, Meanwhile Florida topped 100,000
Hawker almost begged locals to because that specific report is only cases and 3,173 deaths statewide, Testing has expanded locally, as
wear face coverings, practice social published once a week on Fridays and even as Gov. Ron DeSantis explains the Indian River County Health De-
distancing and, if possible, to just stay her death was reported on Sunday. the numbers away at press confer- partment in early June began testing
home or drastically limit their trav- ences, saying that it’s mostly due to people in the neighborhoods where
els as COVID-19 spreads through our More than 11,000 test results have widespread testing, that the rate of they live, and 278 people in Wabasso,
community. “The healthier we can now been returned in Indian River new deaths per day is way down and Gifford and Fellsmere of all ages got
keep our county, the less people we County, with a 4 percent positive rate. that most of the people testing posi- tested regardless of symptoms.
have in the hospital and the less peo- With a recent order that staff in all tive now are asymptomatic.
ple will die.” Florida nursing homes and assisted- Since then, Fellsmere has emerged
living facilities be tested at least every More than 1.6 million tests have as a hot spot, with 95 positive cases as
been processed throughout Florida, of Monday. One month ago, the Fells-
mere ZIP code had fewer than five
positive cases. It’s likely more people
were positive in Fellsmere a month
ago, but few were being tested.

But COVID-19 has spread into every
ZIP code in the county and the City
of Vero Beach proper still has more
cases than any other locality with
112 people with the virus. If people
in 32960 could walk up and get tested
in their own neighborhood regardless
of symptoms, that number could sky-
rocket just like Fellsmere.

Another venue for widespread test-
ing of asymptomatic people is in In-
dian River County’s 24 nursing homes
and assisted-living facilities. Twelve of
those facilities are battling COVID-19
this week, with 42 cases in four nurs-
ing homes and eight assisted-living
facilities. Sixteen staffers and 26 resi-
dents were still showing as active posi-
tive cases as of the most recent report
on Saturday.

Despite the heightened risk to our
most vulnerable residents, many of
the county's long-term-care facilities
are slowly beginning to resume activi-
ties, including plans for visitation – a
notion that rather than offering relief
to residents, is making many of them
very anxious as they hear of the spike
of cases in the county.

Michael Smith, communications di-
rector for the Pennsylvania-based Acts
Retirement Life, which owns Indian
River Estates, continues to question
the validity of the 24 COVID-19 posi-
tive results, all asymptomatic cases so
far, that were returned from the early
June mass testing of 1,245 residents
and staff.

More results are outstanding, but
Smith said they have asked the state-
recommended lab American Health
Associates of Fort Lauderdale not to
bother sending the rest, after it has
taken more than two weeks to get re-
sults. Instead, they have undertaken
another round of testing. As of press
time Monday, the new testing had
shown two positive residents and
three positive staff members, but re-
sults were not all in.

According to the State Department
of Health report, Rosewood Manor is

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

NEWS

now up to seven active cases among gency order requiring that everyone We’d all prefer that. But it currently and is no longer taking the virus seri-
its residents plus one staff member. wear masks in public. is a voluntary thing, and we are not ously. I’m not sure everyone knows the
One resident has died. The facility getting good compliance. numbers are going up. We just need to
could not be reached last week for ver- “It’s something we need to talk use common sense again and take the
ification of the increase in cases. about, and I’ll discuss it with the board “We’ve kind of lapsed on what we necessary precautions.”
before making any policy decision,” were doing a couple of months ago –
Facilities have also resumed sales Brown told me. “It’s much more pref- social distancing, wearing masks in- But we can’t simply do nothing and
tours and marketing activities to erable to have people wearing masks doors, washing our hands, using hand delude ourselves into believing this
bring in new residents, introducing than to close things down again, but sanitizer,” said School Board Chair pandemic will miraculously disappear.
people from the larger Vero commu- I’d prefer it be a voluntary thing and Laura Zorc. “I think that’s because the
nity or even visiting from out of state, get good compliance.” public has stopped paying attention We must do what we can.
through their doors.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
Pediatric cases in Indian River
County are still on the rise, with 33
people under the age of 18, including
two infants, testing positive for the
coronavirus in Indian River County,
and the positivity rate for kids at near-
ly 14 percent, as school officials strug-
gle to make families feel safe enough
to send their kids back to school.

So many young people are show-
ing up as positive cases on the daily
reports that the median age has plum-
meted in the past few weeks to a mere
42 years old.

At least one daycare center has
closed again after briefly reopening,
citing the spike in new cases in the
county and concern for its students
and staff. One child at the daycare has
tested positive. (See related story.)

That preschool sequence provides
public schools a glimpse of the fire
drill they may have to experience re-
peatedly as their hallways fill with
hundreds of kids, even if only a hand-
ful get sick or test positive.

But things are not bad enough to
mandate that people wear masks to
protect themselves and others, accord-
ing to our local elected and appointed
government leaders. Most experts in
the healthcare industry feel the need
for mandatory masks is urgent, but the
decision-makers don’t seem to be lis-
tening (see related stories).

So, if this is not a peak, we may be in

real trouble. 

Staff Writer Michelle Genz contrib-
uted to this report.

My Vero

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

the sheriff if someone is not wearing a
mask?” asked County Commissioner
Peter O’Bryan. “If you make masks
mandatory, it’s like telling your teen-
aged son he can’t go beyond the county
limits,” said Vero Mayor Tony Young.
“You know what’s going to happen.”

“I understand some people think it
should be mandatory, but ... we all just
need to be responsible adults,” said
Vero City Manager Monte Falls.

But it has become all too obvious in
recent days that simply asking people
to do the right thing isn’t enough.

County Administrator Jason Brown
must step forward, and issue an emer-

4 Vero Beach 32963 / June 25, 2020 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

My Vero the number of virus cases sharply de- Mandatory masks I left. My mom will never go back.
cline, which isn’t likely. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 “I went to Mullinax [Ford dealer-
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3
If nothing else, the mandate would Retired nurse Patricia Habraken, ship in Vero] last week to get my car
Several recent, credible scientif- put masks at the forefront of our daily who worked for many years at what serviced. I was the only person in the
ic studies have found that wearing discourse, which could convince more was then Indian River Medical Center, place to have a mask on. The service
masks does reduce the spread of infec- people to wear them, which would strongly supports a mask mandate. guy kept coming over and hovering
tion. Common sense tells us the same make them more visible, which could “It’s mostly in the grocery store where over me and talking. I will never go
thing, but there is plenty of evidence prompt more people to wear them. I see people not wearing them,” she back. He wanted me to get new tires
to back it up. said. “If a sneeze comes on, and you’re for $1,350. I got them at Tire Kingdom.
Especially younger people. infected, then it’s out there.” They all wore masks and the tires were
If folks here continue to ignore the I don’t know how much the reopen- $950.
case counts and refuse to voluntarily ing of local bars has contributed to Brian Kroh, general manager of
wear masks in a collective effort to the spike, but my younger, bar-going John’s Island, sees no other choice “I will not do business again with
serve the greater good, then the coun- friends say they haven’t seen many and supports a county government people who refuse to wear a mask in-
ty government needs to use its emer- masks or anything resembling social mandate on mask-wearing. “I’m not side.”
gency authority to protect all of us. distancing in local bars. for overregulation,” said Kroh. “But if
It’s puzzling that all local businesses that’s what it takes to get people to do Ellen Kendall, member of the John’s
“We can’t stay on this trend,” Brown – not merely bars, but restaurants, su- it, then that’s what they should do.” Island Club Service League, has also
said, adding that the consequences of permarkets and retail stores – haven’t staged a personal boycott of places
not wearing masks in public should already imposed mask requirements Emily Sherwood, president of the where masks aren’t worn.
outweigh the minor inconvenience of for both employees and patrons, John’s Island Foundation, put herself
wearing them. though I suppose they might fear los- down in the “yes” column. “I’m happy “I’ve been astonished at the number
ing customers. to go on the record” supporting man- of people in downtown Vero Beach,
The hard truth is: If the spike contin- At the very least, Brown could im- datory mask wearing, she said. customers in stores and store work-
ues and the daily case counts start to pose such a requirement, which would ers, who don’t have masks. I just leave
regularly exceed 50, we could see an- protect people when they’re indoors. “Yes, yes, yes” to a mask mandate, when I see that,” she said.
other shutdown of the economy – not The best way to avoid another shut- said HopeWoodhouse, immediate past
by the county or even the governor, but down – to keep our economy open president of the John’s Island Commu- “There are a few restaurants in town
because people become too afraid or while protecting our community from nity Service League. that have outdoor dining and the staff
too sick to go out, or go to work. further spread of the virus – is to wear is wearing masks – those are the only
masks in public. Woodhouse is putting her money ones we will go to. The numbers are
Even if a mask-wearing mandate is That’s what we should do, and we where the masks are. skyrocketing in Florida, and part of
impossible to fully enforce in a county shouldn’t need an emergency order the problem is that people are being
with nearly 160,000 residents, Brown forcing us to do it. “I went to my mother’s hairdresser way too casual. So YES to masks!!”
should follow the lead of administra- of 20 years to get my hair cut. I went
tors in counties around the state and Apparently, though, we do.  in with a mask on. I asked the hair- For most nonprofit leaders and oth-
issue the order, unless we begin to see dresser to wear a mask. She refused. ers working with vulnerable popula-
tions, there was no hesitation.

“Absolutely yes,” said Lin Reading,

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / June 25, 2020 5

NEWS

who leads the breast cancer support nerable people in our community LAISFELEESCTTIOYNLOEF OPURROULPTREARLUTXIUERSY
group, Friends after Diagnosis. and we want to make sure everyone is
safe.” Estate Section Oceanfront Compound $29.9 Million
“My answer is a resounding YES!”
said Karen Deigl, CEO of Senior Re- Many saw mask-wearing as a way of O’Dare/Boga 772.234.5093 Info: v200890.com
source Association, and an elected relieving the anxiety of others. From
member of the Hospital District board. Ellie McCabe, prominent philanthro- Surf Club Oceanfront Residence $3.25 Million
pist and strong supporter of mental
John Engle, director and co-founder health services in the county: “I would O’Dare/Boga 772.234.5093 Info: v229678.com
of Haiti Partners, believes mask-wear- be happy if masks were mandatory!”
ing should be mandatory. “We’re spik- Southwinds Oceanfront Condominium $1.245 Million
ing. We need to do something, and Others saw it as a public duty to pro-
evidence shows that masks can pro- tect their patrons or the public in gen- Brown/Harris/Webb 772.234.5116 Info: v231937.com
tect people. The human value of being eral. Still others saw it as supporting
considerate of those around me is one the economy, among other patriotic Sandpointe Estate $1.035 Million
that I think is so important. My wife notions.
and I are trying to teach it to our chil- Brown/Harris/Webb 772.234.5116 Info: v229886.com
dren. I’ve always thought of it as being “The short answer is yes,” said So-
an American value. I guess those who phie Bentham-Wood, director of Our Unrivaled Global Network
are opposed to mandatory masks see marketing and communications at
it differently.” the Vero Beach Museum of Art, who Please visit PremierEstateProperties.com
spelled out the museum’s strict social 675 Beachland Boulevard l 772.234.5555
Noreen Davis, marketing director distancing rules, temperature checks
for another nonprofit, The Arc, which and a mask requirement of everyone
helps special-needs adults and their older than 2.
families, strongly agrees with a man-
datory mask policy. “YES! They should “The safety of our staff and visitors
be required!!!” she wrote in an email. are of paramount importance,” said
Bentham-Wood, looking ahead to
“This is a tight-knit community when the museum reopens.
where everyone has relatives, neigh-
bors, friends, etc. that have connec- Allen Cornell, executive director
tions with either older people or of Riverside Theatre, also supports a
younger people that have compro- mask mandate in public spaces.
mised immune systems,” Davis point-
ed out. “If not wearing a mask only en- “Not only yes, but hell yes!” said
dangered that person, that’s one thing. Sean Sexton, rancher, poet laureate of
But not wearing a mask in public en- the county and grandson of one of Ve-
dangers others.” ro’s best-known early residents, Waldo
Sexton. “If we want to open the econ-
Elizabeth Thomason, executive di- omy, we can only do so by observing
rector of the county’s Boys and Girls protocol. If we’ll consent to being safe,
Club, said she supported a mask- we can go back to certain prosperity.
wearing mandate because “there’s no Why would anyone side with a dis-
political agenda in doing the courte- ease? Think about it! You’d have to be
ous thing.” a fool to not want to follow protocol.

Liz Woody-Remington, co-founder “The masks are what’s working,”
of The Learning Alliance, gave an em- Sexton went on. “Do it, or someone’s
phatic “YES!” to the question of wheth- going to get sick!”
er to mandate masks. “It seems to be
the only simple and prudent thing we Mountain climber, travel author
can do as citizens to protect each oth- and painter Margaret “Mags” Hobbs
er.” says “YES absolutely” to the idea of
requiring masks in public. “Research
Debbie True, parish administrator shows they are a positive barrier to
for Holy Cross Catholic Church, sup- speech droplets which spread the vi-
ports the idea not only locally but na- rus person to person. So why not?”
tionally.
Tom Ryder, a resident of John’s Is-
“I believe strongly that masks land, not only supports mandatory
should be required not only in In- mask wearing; he is insisting on it
dian River County but everywhere,” where he grocery shops. “Count me as
True said. “People do not realize that a strong ‘yes,’” he said. “I told custom-
[by wearing masks] they are not only er service at Publix on Miracle Mile
protecting themselves but others as last week that I would not return until
well. No one knows if they themselves they require masks. Refusal to wear a
may be asymptomatic and spreading mask in a public place is selfish and
the virus unknowingly. We all must be self-destructive.”
a part of stopping the spread of coro-
navirus. Until we accept the challenge, Diana Stark, whose late husband
we will continue to spread the disease Dick Stark was a legendary philanthro-
causing more illnesses and deaths.” pist in Vero Beach, echoed his moral
view when she said she supported a
Tony Zorbaugh, executive director county mask mandate because “car-
of The Source, a Christian outreach ing about the health of others should
ministry serving the poor and the always be No. 1.”
homeless, says he and his team sup-
port a county-wide mandate. “Masks While most people queried sup-
are required at The Source,” he points ported a county mandate to wear
out. “We serve some of the most vul- masks in public, others added qualifi-
cations, making distinctions between

CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

6 Vero Beach 32963 / June 25, 2020 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Mandatory masks any mandate forcing people to wear Families Center, was vehement. “I say in the county, views on the topic are
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5 masks. No,” she said. “Use common sense. shifting, with some rethinking oppo-
Sick people should not be out.” sition to a mask mandate after seeing
various settings. Hospital District Trustee Allen Jones, the fear of their older or health-im-
Rob Tench, general manager of Or- who strongly supports the voluntary Tracey Zudans, another member paired friends and co-workers.
wearing of masks, is one of those who of the Hospital District Board, cites
chid Island Club, said “the county opposes a mandate. the CDC website urging masks if ad- Barbara Schlitt Ford, executive di-
should make masks mandatory in all equate social distancing can’t be rector of the Environmental Learn-
retail outlets until we see the state and “This is America and individual maintained indoors. But she would ing Center, is considering revising the
county cases decline.” choice is paramount, in my view,” not support making mask-wearing center’s policy of not requiring visi-
Jones said. mandatory. “I think that government tors to wear masks after some volun-
Alicia Quinn chairs the Cultural orders, particularly outdoors or arbi- teers quit rather than risk exposure to
Council board and co-chairs the Un- “However, strongly encouraging trary non-science-based mandates, guests, few of whom wore masks.
der the Oaks Art Show. “In an effort to wearing masks in all business or group are counter-productive resulting in
reduce the spread of this virus and to environments, I would favor. The pub- less overall compliance with common “Masks probably should be required
protect those with whom you inter- lic needs to understand that this can sense recommendations.” given the alarming Florida spike in
act, I feel masks should be required be a deadly and highly contagious cases,” said Schlitt Ford. “But I do
in all public indoor locations,” she disease. I have one friend dead from Ann Taylor, director of marketing think there will be a lot of pushback.
stated. it and another one a ventilator for the and philanthropy for Indian River Land When I am out and about, I see fewer
better part of three months. Trust and a member of the board of than half the people wearing masks,
Jeff Powers, a John’s Island resident Ballet Vero Beach, is scornful of masks
who started Float Hope, an organiza- “On the other hand, we know peo- entirely. “Absolutely stupid,” Taylor actually more like 20 percent.” 
tion that teaches kids in low-income ple who were barely affected by the said. “Masks do not work.”
families to swim, believes masks virus though they had it. It’s courtesy Staff writers Mary Schenkel and Steph-
should be “mandatory or required for to each other that we all wear a mask At the same time, as cases spike anie LaBaff contributed to this report.
interior places open to the public.” and social distance. I wouldn’t force
But he does not believe masks should people to do the right thing – it’s up to John’s Island service group funds attorney
be required outside, where the virus each of us to do that.” to help those facing eviction or foreclosure
appears not to infect as readily.
Hospital District trustee, Ann Marie BY MARY SCHENKEL house. “This project took more col-
Brenda Lloyd, an active supporter McCrystal, a retired operating room laboration than any project I have ever
of many local charities, likewise gave nurse, likewise supports wearing Staff Writer worked on in Indian River County. It’s
qualified support to a countywide masks but opposes making it manda- amazing. Everybody liked the idea and
mask initiative. tory – not like seat belts, as she put it. John’s Island Community Service everyone was willing to help.”
League is taking action to help county
“I have no problem with having to “I definitely am in favor of wearing residents facing eviction or foreclosure While initial referrals will concen-
wear a mask inside crowded retail es- masks in public in order to not only due to COVID-19-related job losses or trate on the immediate problem of
tablishments,” Lloyd says. But walk- protect one’s self, but also to avoid in- other disruptions, leading a collabora- evictions and foreclosures, group
ing around outside or eating at res- fecting another person you come in tive effort called the HEART Program leaders anticipate clients will also re-
taurants are another matter. “I would contact with,” said McCrystal. – Housing Emergency Advocacy Re- ceive assistance dealing with underly-
not want to be forced to wear a mask sponse Team – that will roll July 1. ing financial issues, such as collecting
when I am outdoors or at restaurants “I know that masks are not com- alimony, child support, unemploy-
– inside or out – for obvious reasons.” pletely sealed and foolproof, except This comes on top of the group’s ment or disability insurance.
for the more sophisticated protective earlier response to pandemic-related
Learning Alliance education con- equipment worn in hospital settings. economic problems. “The only thing that they are not
sultant Debbi Arseneaux gave a simi- But a simple cotton mask that covers going to do is work on immigration is-
larly measured response. your nose and mouth is better than When the coronavirus began shut- sues. Our goal is to keep people from
no mask at all. I carry a mask with me ting businesses down, the League becoming homeless,” said Wood-
“Masks mandatory in what con- wherever I go as well as hand sani- immediately stepped in and donated house.
text?” she asked. “Indoors in stores, tizer to use as soon as I return to my $250,000 to the United Way COVID-19
schools and other buildings? Yes. Ab- car. Although some people think it is a Fund – and successfully challenged Even before the coronavirus, more
solutely. Especially anywhere you ridiculous exercise, I would rather be other funders to contribute an addi- than 50 percent of local families were
would be breathing the same air with safe than sorry. tional $200,000 – to help newly unem- either living in poverty or were one
people over an extended period of ployed or furloughed residents meet paycheck away. With many working
time. “I applaud those who listen to the such basic needs as rent, utilities and families employed in low-paying hos-
advice of the experts like Dr. (Anthony) food. pitality and retail jobs – the businesses
“Outdoors in parks or at the beach Fauci and don’t give in to the advice of that were shut down first during what
and walking in your neighborhood? No. those who lack the clinical background For the new program, JICSL will pro- ordinarily is the busiest time of the
Keeping distance should be enough.” and knowledge behind the recommen- vide $150,000 to fund a dedicated legal year – a crisis emerged.
dation of masks,” McCrystal said. aid attorney at the Florida Rural Legal
Still others flatly oppose the idea of Services to assist Indian River County “We definitely saw through the CO-
Diana Grossi, CEO of the Hope for residents in danger of losing their VID Fund that people needed help
homes. FRLS has similar programs in with their rent,” said Woodhouse.
Martin, St. Lucie and other counties.
For the past year, JICSL members
Hope Woodhouse, JICSL immedi- Ellen Kendall and Michelle Julian had
ate past president, said she had been co-chaired an Affordable Housing Task
surprised to learn that Indian River Force, collaborating with the John’s Is-
County did not have a dedicated legal land Foundation and working with the
aid person to help those facing fore- county to address housing concerns.
closure or eviction.
“But when COVID came, all those
“Now, because of this project, we meetings and collaborations came to
will have one. If it is successful, and a complete halt, and we turned our
we believe it will be, we will figure out attention to this, which was also ob-
a way to keep it funded,” said Wood- viously very housing related,” said

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / June 25, 2020 7

NEWS

Kendall. These are “the people who homeowners negotiating with banks tion pulling together pro bono attor- yers will come in,” said Kendall. “These
had the biggest exposure to becoming or mortgage companies. neys for the program, Kendall said a are people who are working hard and
behind in their rent or their mortgage number of attorneys living in John’s have never missed a rental payment or
payments, probably for the first time “We were hearing that this is what Island have also “raised their hands to a mortgage payment, but all of a sud-
ever. And those were the people we they really, really need,” said Kendall. participate in this program.” den now their income is reduced.”
really want to prevent from becoming “We thought we could take this money
evicted or even homeless.” and use it to fund a full-time position.” FRLS will screen people who apply to The JI Community Service League
ensure they meet qualifications, includ- anticipates that Treasure Coast Home-
“I think we all recognize that there is “The HEART project will provide ing that they are Indian River County less Services, United Against Pover-
a large homeless population in Indian critical housing and other needed residents, are not earning more than ty, the United Way and the Veterans
River County,” said Julian. “And when legal services to Indian County Resi- 250 percent of the federal poverty level, Council will be the main conduits for
we saw this COVID hit we didn’t want dents,” said Jaffe Pickett, FRLS execu- are not here illegally, and do not have legal service requests, but individuals
to add to that homeless population.” tive director. “We are grateful for the other liquid assets. can also call 888-582-3410.
support the John’s Island Community
“We found out this year, working Service League is providing as we ad- “If they have other non-housing is- Florida Rural Legal Services will
through the Housing Task Force, that dress the needs of underserved in- sues, we’ll get them referred to other handle the search for the full-time at-
this county has all sorts of nasty ‘slum dividuals and families during these parts of FRLS where they have those torney; in the meantime, they will use
landlords’ who will evict people on a emergency times. We are also grateful sorts of attorneys,” said Kendall. “The experienced attorneys who worked
moment’s notice,” said Woodhouse. to the private attorneys, who donate efforts, generally, are to avoid eviction during the 2008 crisis.
“They don’t give a damn; they’ll just say countless hours to expand our servic- or foreclosure. We want to get the cli-
get out of the house. And people are so es to victims of abuse, elderly citizens, ents connected with the attorneys as Attorneys interested in volunteering
afraid, they leave.” veterans, migrant farmworkers and soon as possible.” for the program should visit frls.org and
other vulnerable clients.” click on ‘pro bono sign-up.’ The hotline
Although Gov. Ron DeSantis issued “One thing we learned is that the
stays on evictions through June, the FRLS is located in Fort Pierce, so minute you are evicted, it goes on your number for clients is 888-582-3410. 
group does not anticipate another ex- JICSL has arranged donated office permanent legal record,” said Wood-
tension. On the mortgage end, the fed- space in several Indian River County house. “We want to get in there before Reopening of schools
eral government has given automatic locations for Florida Rural Legal Ser- that happens so that people don’t have CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
extensions of six months to a year. vices staff. Locations include the City that blemish.”
of Fellsmere Administration Building, One of the key points he told Vero
Kendall said they learned from the Treasure Coast Community Health’s “This is not to distribute rental as- Beach 32963 he now intends to an-
Treasure Coast Homeless Services Gifford Health Center and the United sistance, but to provide attorney assis- nounce is that masks will be manda-
Council, United Against Poverty and Against Poverty offices. tance; for counseling, for negotiation, for tory at schools for teachers, staff and
the Veterans Council – the primary re-documenting of need for a mortgage students.
agencies distributing monies from the “We’ll have this attorney available to or working with a lender. To the extent
United Way COVID-19 Fund – that le- meet with clients on different days in you need negotiation with a landlord, Moore’s presentation on the School
gal assistance was urgently required different locations,” said Kendall. or you need help avoiding being thrown
by tenants dealing with landlords and out on the street, that’s where the law- CONTINUED ON PAGE 9
In addition to the IRC Bar Associa-



Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / June 25, 2020 9

NEWS

Reopening of schools larly for students and families with
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7 health issues.

District’s Facebook page starting at 1 “Who knows if we’re going to have
p.m., Friday will include short videos a boom in our virtual school atten-
showing new health and safety mea- dance, where kids will [transfer in] by
sures put in place on school campuses the droves, or parents will choose to
districtwide. have their child transferred into that
school,” Rosario said.
Roughly half the 3,000 parents who
responded to a recent survey want to The Facebook video will show the
send their children back to school ev- social distancing measures put in place
ery day under federal Center for Dis- on school buses and campuses and in
ease Control guidelines, Moore said. classrooms and cafeterias. It will also
show the cleaning and sanitizing tech-
“It tells us there’s not an overwhelm- niques used on buses and campuses.
ing feeling in terms of we’re ready to
go back,” Moore said about the survey “Think of it as a day in the life of a
results. “Parents want kids to go back student returning to school in the fall,”
to school, but not at the jeopardy of School District spokeswoman Cristen
their safety.” Maddux said of the reopening video.

About 38 percent of parents want The temperature of students and
students to attend school five days employees will be taken to screen out
a week, with two shifts per day to re- anyone with a fever, Moore said. There
duce class sizes and maintain social will also be widespread hand washing.
distancing, Moore said.
Uncertainty about how widespread
Approximately 30 percent of par- the COVID-19 pandemic will be in Flor-
ents would prefer for students to at- ida by August forced school adminis-
tend school on alternating days and trators to consider options in case Gov.
participate in online classes on days Ron DeSantis further opens society, or
they are not in school, Moore said. decides to pull back, Moore said.

Roughly 25 percent of parents said “We don’t know if it will hit Phase 3,
they would consider virtual learning which will be the last phase of return-
on computer, Moore said. The district’s ing to normal prior to the opening of
virtual learning curriculum is more ro- school,” Moore said.
bust than the emergency system rolled
out after schools closed in March. “The presentation we give to the en-
tire community on June 26 will clearly
Ahead of his upcoming Facebook define all options – the brick and mor-
presentation, Moore gave the School tar, Monday through Friday schedule,
Board some details about what he as well as the opportunity, if you’re
has in mind, telling the board on June uncomfortable with that, to explore
9 “we will be going down a path that virtual schooling,” Moore said. “At that
ensures we are prepared for whatever time, we will have more information
that reality would be. about what that will look like.”

“We will prepare for a Monday School Board member Mara Schiff
through Friday opening under the tra- said all the uncertainty makes it diffi-
ditional times,” Moore said. “We will cult to plan very far ahead.
prepare for an alternating day sched-
ule, which will give us a little more flex- “We have absolutely no idea what
ibility in space and size. it’s going to look like a week from now,
two weeks from now, a month from
“There is considerable need to con- now,” Schiff said. “Of course, the best
tinue to support and push the virtual thing we can do is prepare for all these
space, which we fully intend to do,” different scenarios.
Moore added.
“As people are becoming less so-
School Board members Laura Zorc cially distant, it is possible our risk in-
and Jacqueline Rosario predicted the creases, but we don’t know what that
district’s virtual schooling options will looks like yet,” Schiff said. “It’s hard
become much more popular, particu- to prepare. The context changes mo-
ment from moment and we simply

don’t know.” 

Local preschool closes curring, we do not want to place the
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 children of Kendall Academy at risk
unnecessarily.”
cause of the recent spike in the num-
bers of daily new cases this past week,” The 3-year-old boy who tested posi-
Kendall Academy Chief Operating Of- tive for the virus “is safe at home and
ficer Janel Blanco said. self-quarantined,” Blanco said. No
other information will be disclosed
“The numbers have gone up so about the boy to protect the family’s
much that we decided to close the privacy.
school for two weeks and just do vir-
tual learning,” Blanco said. “Because “It’s important that the child that
of the community spread that is oc- tested positive did not enter the school
after his temperature was checked,”

CONTINUED ON PAGE 10

10 Vero Beach 32963 / June 25, 2020 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Local preschool closes After the child’s positive result, the said. “We made the decision to close on All staff members at Kendall Acad-
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9 12 other children in his class were in- Friday, June 12 and perform an addi- emy were tested for COVID-19, Blanco
structed to self-quarantine for 14 days tional deep cleaning and applied CDC- said. None tested positive as of Friday.
Blanco said. “Since he had a high tem- and advised to get tested for the virus, recommended surface protectant.”
perature, we asked him to go home Blanco said. The school reopened on Monday, June
and then he got tested.” The boy’s classroom will remain 15 for a week before closing again for two
“We told all parents of the school the closed for 14 days, per Health Depart- more weeks due to the spike in cases.
child tested positive for COVID,” Blanco ment instructions, Blanco said.
“The Health Department visited the

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / June 25, 2020 11

NEWS

preschool and they were very pleased checks at the door, smaller class siz- lant in trying to protect their children learning on Monday, July 6, Blanco
with the precautions we had been tak- es, continual disinfecting, frequent from COVID-19. said.
ing thus far,” Blanco said. “So, we’re handwashing by children and staff,
going to maintain those procedures and barring parents and visitors from “We do everything we can in the “We will offer virtual learning
and precautions because the profes- entering the building. school, but at the end of the day the for ages 2-1/2 year through Pre-K,”
sionals came in and told us we were kids go home,” Blanco said. “We can’t Blanco said. “It is essential that vir-
doing that right.” Staffers sanitize the playground control what’s happening at home.” tual learning continue because all of
equipment after each usage by a the children are either graduating or
Protective measures Kendall Acad- class, Blanco said. The preschool has Kendall Academy plans to offer vir- progressing to new levels of educa-
emy instituted include temperature also asked parents to be extra vigi- tual classrooms via computer until
the preschool reopens for in-person tion.” 

Plan for riverfront development moves step closer to reality

BY LISA ZAHNER Council on July 21 and ultimately to
Staff Writer voters on the Nov. 3 ballot as a referen-
dum – strikes an aesthetically pleasing
The city is one step closer to rede- balance of pedestrian-friendly green
veloping Vero’s riverfront into a hub of space and business opportunities.
commercial and recreational activity.
Three restaurants are planned, one
The Three Corners Steering Com- budget-friendly family restaurant, one
mittee, created last year by the city upscale eatery and one in the middle
council to oversee the riverfront plan- price range. There is room set aside for
ning process, settled last week on a shops, open vendor stalls and a multi-
conceptual plan that, for now at least, purpose covered market area similar
retains the Big Blue power plant build- to the Historic Charleston City Market.
ing – plus two massive cement water A riverfront chapel was included in the
tanks behind the sewer plant. conceptual plan, as was a harbor for
boaters to tie up while shopping, din-
For those involved in the decade- ing or lodging at the planned hotel.
long effort to sell Vero electric to Flor-
ida Power & Light who would like to Urban architect extraordinaire An-
see all remnants of the electric and
sewer utilities removed from the riv- CONTINUED ON PAGE 12
erfront, the effort to repurpose these
structures might not sit well at first. make high school and college kids want
to stay in Vero, or at least maybe return
NEWS ANALYSIS to Vero with their college degrees and
work experience when they are ready
But this broader vision for the riv- to settle down and start a family.
erfront development is not steeped in
wiping the slate clean from old politi- That, in turn, would mean a greater
cal squabbles but rather on how gen- pool of young talent for companies
erations to come want to take what’s looking at Indian River County as a
special about Vero’s 100-plus-year his- place to start or relocate their busi-
tory and build something beautiful ness or to add that new branch office,
with it – for the next hundred years. bolstering the county economy.

The goal is not only to draw tourists That’s a mighty tall order for this
and give retirees something else to do, plan, but reinventing Vero’s riverfront is
but also to create an attraction that will one of those rare cases where the term
“game changer” is an accurate one.

The plan that will go to Vero’s Plan-
ning and Zoning Commission on July
9 – and then hopefully to the City

Cofuonrty Commission
District 5

Help Steve Maintain And Improve The
Quality Of Life In Indian River County By:
• Cleaning Up The Indian River Lagoon

and The Lakes
• Attract Higher Paying, Professional Jobs
• Quality Development And Growth
• Promoting Local Businesses

Paid for by Steve Boyle for County Commission Dist. 5

SteveBoyle2020.com

12 Vero Beach 32963 / June 25, 2020 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Riverfront development tion and name stamp on the project’s on the upkeep of the green, park-like ment plan and slated to be re-zoned
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11 vision. space and the fishing pier, and that and sold off.
investors will build the restaurants
dres Duany, whose firm DPZ CoDe- Among Duany’s architectural cred- on land leased from the city. But who Planning Director Jason Jeffries
sign created the plan for the city, told its is the chapel and village concept will take on the harbor and day slips said “the post office annex site would
Vero officials that preserving Big Blue plan for the exclusive Windsor com- is still kind of up in the air, as that be developed for general commercial
was the city’s best shot at attracting a munity on the north barrier island. doesn’t seem to be a moneymaker, like use. Timing is recommended to be
major hotelier to come in and build Known worldwide for his “New Ur- a marina with long-term stays could based on optimal value for the proper-
inside or adjacent to the towering banism” mixed-use developments, be. There’s also a skate park planned, ty.” Duany told city officials the postal
70,000-square-foot aquamarine struc- Duany has the connections to lure in- which could be built by a nonprofit annex property is currently worth $1
ture. vestors to Vero. group or as a commercial venture. million to $1.2 million.

This idea may seem like a far- “If you don’t give that maximum, City Manager Monte Falls said that “We should hold onto it. That prop-
fetched dream, but Marriott has done you’re not going to get an investor,” while he’d hoped the city could come erty will get more valuable,” Council-
just that to a similar defunct power Heady said. out ahead in terms of lease revenue, man Joe Graves said.
plant in Savannah called The Plant at a bare minimum the development
Riverside, with a luxurious J.W. Marri- Ocean Drive resident Scott John- needs to break even. Vice Mayor Laura Moss reminded
ott property set to open inside the old son, an architect who shuttles back the group that Vero has had a history
plant building later this year. and forth to his New York office, said Almost all the planned development of “selling land at the wrong time and
he’s toured the J.W. Marriott project in will be on the north side of the 17th for the wrong price.” But the idea is
If Big Blue is torn down and all the Savannah and sees the same potential Street bridge, with the steering com- that once there’s a buzz about the riv-
city has to offer is a generic open field, in the plan Vero has developed with mittee opting not to flesh out what will erfront, the city could get a Trader Joe’s
all the city is going to get is a generic Duany over dozens of hours of meet- be constructed on the south side of or some other high-quality retailer
corporate hotel built from a boring, ings, incorporating insights from more the bridge in approximately five years that residents could get excited about
canned design, in Duany’s opinion. than 3,000 public comments. “It’s been once a new sewer plant is built at the to be interested in that property.
incredibly innovative,” Johnson said of Vero Beach Regional Airport and the
Should the city pick the plan apart the conceptual plan voted on last week. old plant is decommissioned. As the Planning and Zoning Com-
and fall into small thinking, he said, mission and the City Council analyze
the project will fail. Still up in the air are details about One project that has been given the conceptual plan, a few issues that
who will do what, build what and pay the go-ahead on the south side is should loom large in their minds are
Former councilman and longtime for what. Vero Finance Director Cindy the planned two-story Youth Sailing the continued upkeep and liability
Vero resident Brian Heady agreed Lawson told the steering committee Foundation facility. Falls said the YSF of maintaining an aging power plant
with Duany that Vero needs to think the city has up to $21 million set aside is very anxious to get a long-term lease building on the river, the vulnerability
big. Heady said Duany, with his in- for the development costs, but that executed so they can begin fundrais- of anything constructed on the river-
ternational contacts and track record officials also need to consider the re- ing for that project. front to storm surge, flooding and hur-
for successful ventures, can bring in sources that will be needed to maintain ricane damage – along with the city’s
interested parties through his reputa- whatever is constructed on the site. Duany’s original plan had the young dismal history playing landlord.
sailors located near the bridge on the
It’s presumed that city staff will take north side – in hopes that the sailing It’s typically not profitable when the
would build a spectator fan base and city leases out property and it usually
add to the overall synergy of the river- winds up in court over some type of
front – but it was decided that it’s best dispute, generally involving money.
to keep the sailing facility at its current
location, more sheltered from power For starters, Duany mentioned that
boat traffic and anglers. the city would need to construct a
$300,000 fence around the entire par-
In the future, the two cement water cel and have two security trailers on
tanks could be turned into a concert site staffed by city police officers. How
venue or something related to the arts, long is that feasible? There must be a
and glamping sites could be installed timeline put in place that if nothing
for the adventurous who want to happens with Big Blue by a date cer-
camp with a view of the Indian River tain, it should be torn down.
Lagoon. Those things are on hold for
now, but the tanks will stay in place af- On top of that, given the current
ter the plant is gone. pandemic conditions, city officials
must have realistic expectations about
The 1.3-acre property on the south- hotel and restaurant investors launch-
west corner known as the Old Postal ing a new project. How much of the
Annex was carved out of the develop- taxpayers’ $21 million does the city

CONTINUED ON PAGE 14



14 Vero Beach 32963 / June 25, 2020 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Riverfront development City Attorney John Turner reminded
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12 the steering committee about the lan-
guage the city must settle on by Aug.
feel comfortable kicking in to seed the 18 to be placed on the ballot. “The ref-
development? erendum is limited to 75 words. The
referendum will have a summary stat-
That question will be posed to next ing what the people are voting on. It
year’s City Council with three seats up must not be misleading. It must state
for election in November. The river- what the issue is and what the propos-
front plan could become a contentious al is,” Turner said.
issue if the local economy has not fully
rebounded by November, or if there is “The plan is not to sell the proper-
a dreaded “second wave” of COVID-19 ty,” he added; what’s being discussed
in the fall as some experts predict. are long-term leases.

On Nov. 3 it will ultimately be up to For those who fear altering the city
city voters to determine if the plan is charter to allow commercial develop-
viable, or if they want the 38 acres left ment on the site instead of just rec-
as undeveloped green space, or if they reational and cultural uses, steering
want to send city officials back to the committee member and former may-
drawing board to come up with a less or Harry Howle said, “the referendum
ambitious plan. is not removing protections; it’s creat-

ing a better scenario.” 

VERO LIFEGUARD RESCUES MAN
CAUGHT IN SURF IN PALM BEACH

BY STEPHANIE LABAFF Meanwhile, Valentino’s fellow off-
duty lifeguard friends were in the wa-
Staff Writer ter about 200 yards south of where the
incident occurred.
It was just another day at the beach
for severalVero Beach lifeguards who, on “We’re never really off-duty. It’s in-
their day off, headed toWest Palm Beach grained in us to always be aware,” said
with plans to snorkel Blue Heron Bridge Vero Beach lifeguard Shaun Dibble. “I
– a popular dive spot by the bridge that was scanning the beach from the water
connects the mainland to Singer Island, when I saw Vincent dragging the man
where the water often is Key West clear. onto the beach. So, we headed in.”

Fortunately, for one elderly beach- When he arrived on the scene, Vincent
goer, things didn’t quite go as planned was performing CPR with assistance from
for the four Vero Beach friends. the man’s companion. The man’s pace-
maker-defibrillator went off several times
“When we got down there, the water during the encounter. Later, they would
was murky,” said Vincent Valentino, a find out that the victim had previously
Vero Beach lifeguard lieutenant. “A lo- suffered several severe heart attacks.
cal lifeguard suggested we check out
the beach at Palm Beach Shores Resort The incident occurred midway be-
until the water cleared up.” tween two lifeguard stands with um-
brellas blocking much of the view, ex-
They did, switching form snor- plained Dibble. The man had regained
kels to surf boards. After surfing for consciousness by the time the local life-
a while, Valentino headed up to the guards arrived, after noticing a crowd
beach to get some water. Out of habit gathering.
he scanned the beach while taking
a break and noticed an older couple “The fire department arrived about
struggling to get out of the water. 10 minutes later. If Vincent hadn’t been
there, this could have gone differently
“There was a pretty good shore break. for the man. He probably wouldn’t have
It’s steep, and the sand is really soft,” made it,” Dibble said.
Valentino said. “They were out about
8 feet. He would stand up, get hit by a Dibble attributes Valentino’s quick
wave and get knocked back down.” response and ability to take charge of
the situation to the high level of training
Even with the assistance of Valen- Vero Beach lifeguards receive under the
tino and the woman, the man was un- supervision of Erik Toomsoo, assistant
able to make it out of the water. lifeguard captain and training officer.

“He would take a step and then drop “Vincent was a hero. Because of the
to his knees. We had him nearly on- methods Erik uses to drill us, we all came
shore when he went completely limp.” together and followed Vincent’s lead.”

Up on the beach, Valentino tried It all worked out, said Dibble. “We
to help the man back to his feet, “but were in the right place at the right time;
there was no response.” After yelling and in the end, we actually had a really
for someone to call 911 and to get the
lifeguards, Valentino began CPR. nice day.” 

EXQUISITE ‘EQUESTRIAN CLUB’
SHAPING UP AS A BREED APART

16 Vero Beach 32963 / June 25, 2020 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

Exquisite ‘Equestrian Club’ shaping up as a breed apart

Jenna Suleman with sons the past 20-plus years, and only recent- until 2019,” says, “we fell in love with Vero Beach,
William and Charles. ly putting down roots in Indian River its people, its quality of life, and now
County. Suleman says. we’re full-time residents.”
PHOTOS: BRENDA AHEARN
Jenna Suleman is a senior vice presi- That was They are also impressed with Vero’s
BY SAMANTHA BAITA dent - investments at Wells Fargo Ad- cultural opportunities. Jenna notes
Staff Writer visors, Miami. Previously, she held a when they learned the only thing Charles loves almost as
similar position with Morgan Stanley. much horses is theater, so he’ll most
When Charles Suleman, like many Farid Suleman is a director of Fairway about the property for- certainly be exploring Riverside Chil-
children, developed an interest in Group Holdings, and previously was dren’s Theatre opportunities before
horses at age 8, parents Jenna and chairman and CEO of Citadel Broad- merly known as Sawgrass Farm, built long. Charles, now 10, and brother
Farid Suleman assumed it was a phase casting. He was with Infinity Broad- William, 9, plan to enroll in St. Ed-
that would quickly pass. They didn’t casting Corp. (now CBS Radio) for 16 almost 30 years ago by local developer ward’s School in the fall.
imagine their son’s fascination with all years.
things equine would strengthen, and Harry Vanwormer for his equestrian The Vero Beach Equestrian Club
would eventually impact not only the During a walking tour of the 69th opened early this year as an exclu-
trajectory of their lives, but the future Street property, Jenna Suleman’s vision wife. Vanwormer had spared no ex- sive, gated riding facility “designed
of one of the most magnificent eques- and enthusiasm are front and center as for the premier comfort of horse and
trian estates in the county, which had she relates how a professional, big-city pense to make it the very best, inside
sat vacant for years amidst the pine, couple came to acquire an equestrian rider.” Boarding, training and
palm and grasslands adjacent to Quail facility in Vero Beach. and out, for humans and horses; even “trailer-in” membership are
Valley Golf Club. currently offered, and a
When it became obvious that down to the perfect type of soil for summer youth camp
Jenna Suleman is a slender, charm- Charles’ love of horses was no passing is under way. Several
ing young professional with a clear fancy, Jenna decided to provide him heavy-use equestrian activities. equine boarders are in
vision and an intense passion for the with riding lessons and insisted he also residence, thoroughly
peaceful, beautiful 40-acre compound learn about proper equipment, horse Both Jenna Suleman and Cindy enjoying their com-
west of Vero Beach that the couple pur- care and all other aspects of respon- fortable accommoda-
chased only a few months ago. Still sible horsemanship. And, she told him, O’Dare, Premier Estate Properties tions.
undergoing renovation but already in “If you’re going to learn, Mommy’s go- Much in the same
operation, their Vero Beach Equestrian ing to learn. We’ll learn together.” broker associate, enjoy telling the sto- way as beauty salons,
Club now vibrates with energy. riding instructors can
As their horse experience continued ry of the incredible coincidence they rent space as independent
During a walk across fragrant, rain- in New York, Colorado and Miami, she
dampened grass, past emerald pad- observed, “as a consumer,” aspects of discovered when they first met to dis- contractors. Experienced pre-
docks and through the pristine barn the various facilities she liked and oth- mier trainers Alicia DaRosa and Gar-
with this down-to-earth, devoted ers she “wished were different,” pictur- cuss the property. rett Gustafson are already operating
young mother, as she enthusiastically ing how she would do it. on the property, Jenna Suleman says.
shares her pastoral vision, several resi- The Sulemans had driven up from
dents poke their velvety noses over Simultaneously, the family had be- As we walk the beautiful grounds,
stall doors to check out the visitors. gun to realize they “needed space, Miami and O’Dare mentioned she it is clear she has invested significant
needed change.” time and thought into developing her
Jenna Suleman is part of a pow- had previously lived on the beach in vision; providing a path for personal
erhouse couple who are also major So they began a search. development on one’s “personal horse
players in the high-stress worlds of fi- “We’d never heard of Vero Beach Miami. Farid said they had as well, on journey” in a serene environment. She
nance and media; splitting their time shares plans for the estate and its sev-
between New York City and Miami for a little stretch nobody knew of called eral structures, which she describes as
having “great bones.”
Golden Beach. “Me too,” said O’Dare,
The main house is currently under-
astonished. “What street?” going renovation, a new 70-foot-by-
150-foot enclosed arena is under way,
“Atlantic Way,” Farid replied, with and there is a seating area from which
parents can watch their young eques-
O’Dare asking, in disbelief, “What trians take mounts through their pac-
es. There are fenced private paddocks,
number?” gorgeous barn suites with hot and cold
running water, two dressage arenas
Turns out the Sulemans had pur- and one jumping arena, grass turn-
outs and a large, fully stocked lake.
chased and built on the exact same Future plans include offering the best
equipment and supplies in-house and
location, 7835 Atlantic Way, where a horse rehab facility with a treadmill.
“The sky’s the limit,” she says with a
O’Dare’s house had stood years be- smile.

fore. The club operates much like an ex-
clusive golf and country club, with an-
In October 2019, the Sulemans nual memberships, private clubhouse
and amenities for horse and owner; a
made the decision to move here, pur- place where members can relax, de-
compress and enjoy the “equestrian
chasing a home in Orchid and the for- lifestyle at its best.” 

mer Sawgrass Farm shortly thereafter.

“Like many others,” Jenna Suleman



18 Vero Beach 32963 / June 25, 2020 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

‘Hope for Families’ inspires with pandemic response

BY STEPHANIE LABAFF HFC case managers Zoe Ashcroft and Deborah Catapano. Mayo Clinic. Staff members and adults loughed, and Grossi said the majority
Staff Writer residing at the shelter were tested by who lost their jobs are now regaining
PHOTOS: KAILA JONES Treasure Coast Community Health in those positions.
Already adept at dealing with crisis the parking lot of that healthcare pro-
situations, the Hope for Families Cen- plained Diana Grossi, HFC CEO, noting vider’s 37th Street facility. In other good news, the certificate
ter sprang into action as the devasta- that PPE equipment was made avail- of occupancy for the Joseph V. Fla-
tion of the COVID-19 pandemic began able through Cleveland Clinic Indian “We have not had a single case, ei- herty Family Foundation Reading
to take its toll on already struggling River Hospital. HFC staff members ther with staff or clients,” said Grossi Resource Room was issued, and HFC
homeless families. wear gloves and masks when interact- with a smile. has begun setting up the new space.
ing with residents, and residents wear Furniture has been ordered through
Keeping the safety of staff and resi- masks when they are in any common With most of the residents out of a John’s Island Foundation grant, and
dents at the forefront, the HFC team areas. work and their school-aged children Quail Valley Charities is funding the
made the decision to move all of the – who account for 62 percent of the purchase of laptops for children to use
families living at the center into one Additionally, HFC board members HFC population – needing to be home- in the educational space.
wing. That way they could turn the Dr. Bill Cooney, president, and Dr. schooled, staff had to develop creative
other wing into a quarantine space Richard Tompkins facilitated the re- ways to keep their residents on track. Once the reading room has been
should someone contract the corona- ceipt of coronavirus tests through the completed and current books have
virus. During the Safer at Home mandate, been cataloged, Grossi said they hope
staff continued to assist their residents to purchase additional books that
With the reduction of room avail- to find homes, thereby reducing the align with an Accelerated Reader pro-
ability and to err on the side of cau- number of occupied rooms from 11 to gram. They also plan to institute a
tion, officials chose not to admit any six. In early May, when some sanctions volunteer program to improve the lit-
new families from mid-March through were lifted, HFC began taking in one eracy of children and parents.
April. Instead, they focused on keep- new family at a time, with a heightened
ing the families already in residence as intake protocol. “I firmly believe that if we support
safe and productive as possible, as they the education of these children and
continued the process toward their New families are queried about re- we can instill the love of learning, we
self-sufficiency. cent travel and exposure potential, and will help to break that cycle of home-
are quarantined for five days before lessness,” said Grossi.
Safety protocols were made possible being moved into the wing with other
through community connections, ex- families. When that wing quickly filled The board is in the process of long-
up, they gradually opened up the wing range planning to address an antici-
previously set aside for quarantine. pated increase in need over the next
five to 10 years and the feasibility of
Grossi noted that calls to HFC less- expansion. Grossi said that in the past
ened during the shutdown, as families three years, the shelter has increased
tended to stay with relatives or used from serving 220 people each year to
stimulus money to stay in hotels. Now 325.
that businesses are re-opening, gov-
ernment aid is dwindling and relatives “They come to us with multiple is-
are turning people out of their homes, sues that we have to wade through
they are getting more inquiries. and work with them to solve,” said
Grossi, citing such issues as evictions
“Now we get four to five calls a day and a lack of transportation. “We work
looking for shelter,” said Grossi, adding with them to make critical decisions.
that 90 percent of those callers have It’s all about budgeting and teaching
lost jobs as a result of the shutdown. them the difference between a want
and a need.”
“The tough part is triaging who we’re
able to bring in and who we have to say The economy in general is a con-
there’s not enough room,” said Cooney. cern, said Grossi, adding that HFC
“If you can provide people rapid re- does not receive any state or federal
housing, then they can stabilize their support.
family, get jobs and go to school.”
“We’re always in need of operations
HFC provides homeless families money. This year we have had one
with safe shelter, food and employment equipment loss after another. We’ve
services, and assists them to build a had to replace the stove, ice maker,
framework of personal discipline. The dishwasher and now a septic pump,”
ultimate goal is to build a foundation she said. “We rely on the community
for long-term independence, enabling to support us and to get these people
families to move from a state of hope- out of their cars, off the streets and
lessness into one of well-being and into jobs where they can become pro-
productivity. ductive citizens. That’s our mission.”

The center’s 21 rooms have a capac- “Education, good health and secu-
ity to house 84 people, although it typi- rity are the things that people want in
cally averages 75 people. On average, life,” said Cooney. “The span across
families stay for 90 days, during which the Indian River should be a lot shorter
time HFC assists parents to obtain em- than it is, in that the real key is to edu-
ployment and save enough to pay two cate the people that live in 32963 about
months’ rent toward permanent hous- homelessness.”
ing.
For more information, visit hopefor-
Most of the residents were working familiescenter.org. 
before the pandemic and were fur-

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / June 25, 2020 19

PEOPLE

Not ‘half’ bad! Raves for Riverside’s 50% capacity restart

BY MARY SCHENKEL
Staff Writer

The response to the changes Riv- George and Lois McAllan. PHOTOS CONTINUED ON PAGE 20
erside Theatre enacted to comply
with COVID-19 social distancing Stoney of Stoney and the House Rockers. PHOTOS: BRENDA AHEARN
guidelines for its Friday and Satur-
day night Comedy Zone and Live in “I’ve been having a ball. I’m ad-
the Loop Concert series has been dicted to it now because it gets me
overwhelmingly positive. out of the house. It’s an outing and
an event and we need that right
“It’s been going great. We’ve been now,” said Brown, adding that she
selling out the Loop area for the appreciates the safety precautions
last couple of weeks,” said market- which allow people to safely inter-
ing director Oscar Sales, noting that act. “It’s cheap and easy and fun.”
to comply with 50 percent capacity,
seating at tables outside is limited Live in the Loop concerts run
to about 150 spots. Although the from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. each Fri-
concerts are free and seating is not day and Saturday, and the Comedy
assigned, RSVP passes are required. Zone shows in the Waxlax Theatre
Comedy Zone purchasers need just take place those nights at 7:30 p.m.
show their tickets for concert entry. and 9:30 p.m. Food and beverage
service begins outside at 5:30 p.m.
Because of a loosening of guide- and in the Waxlax at 6:30 p.m., with
lines, Sales said they have even add- a limited menu after 9:30 p.m.
ed 20 BYO lawn chair spots (a pass is
required) for the grassy area. For more information, visit river-
sidetheatre.com. 
The Comedy Zone twice-nightly
performances in the Waxlax The-
atre can currently accommodate
about 75 attendees, and Sales says
those too have been mostly selling
out.

“Our guest emcees and our co-
medians are enjoying perform-
ing, even though the performances
are not full,” said Sales. “They’re
thrilled to be working.”

Last November after Gary Parker,
who had filled the role of emcee
at the Comedy Zone for about five
years, decided to step down, Riv-
erside held local auditions for the
position. It includes warming up
the crowd with a few jokes, telling
them the rules and introducing the
comedians.

“We were able to select quite a
few people; we were surprised,” said
Sales. “We had eight people who
were really good.”

The current guest emcees are Jim
Harpring, by day the Indian River
County Sheriff’s Office Undersher-
iff, and aspiring comedian Josh Ar-
menteros.

“The comedy has been really
good,” said Mary Lou Brown, who
has become a regular at the concerts
and Comedy Zone performances. “I
think it’s the best deal in town.”

Another post-pandemic change
is that servers now take orders and
deliver the food and drink (optional
purchases; no drink minimums) to
the tables. Masks are required on
campus indoors and out, except
while seated at your table.

20 Vero Beach 32963 / June 25, 2020 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

PHOTOS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 19 Linda Murphy and Eric Lindbloom.
Rick and Debbie McKelvey.

Maria and Art Heinz. Robert and Lena Braun.

Diana and Thomas Welsh with Vero Beach Police Sgt. Brian Hesse.

Rose and Mike Praznovsky. Nathan Fosse and Margretta Fosse.



22 Vero Beach 32963 / June 25, 2020 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INDOOR FARMSINSIGHTCOVERSTORY
THRIVING IN COVID-19 ERA

BY DEENA SHANKER A Gotham Greens greenhouse in Chicago’s Pullman neighborhood.
Bloomberg

Three months ago, even before
Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the
shutdown of all in-restaurant dining
in New York City, Viraj Puri, chief ex-
ecutive officer of the Brooklyn, N.Y.-
based indoor urban farming company
Gotham Greens, found his business
had essentially changed overnight.

His major restaurant customers
were suspending all orders “until
further notice,” while the grocers, in-
cluding Whole Foods Market, Fresh-
Direct, and other major chains were
doing the opposite, asking for huge
increases in product and extra deliv-
eries of the company’s locally grown
greens and herbs.

“My phone was buzzing off the
hook from the largest supermarkets,
saying can you run extra trucks,” he
says. Gotham was ready – it had just
opened three facilities in Baltimore,
Chicago, and Providence and had an-
other opening in Denver in May, al-
most tripling its production capacity.

In the immediate days after the pan-
demic declaration, the company in-

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / June 25, 2020 23

INSIGHT COVER STORY

‘Conventional
field operations,
however, aren’t
about to disappear;
they’ll remain the
primary source

of fruits and‘
vegetables for a

long time...’

creased planting by more than 20%. Picking and boxing spinach just after sunrise at Talley Farms in Arroyo Grande, California.
“For me, it’s seed as much as you can,”
says Jenn Frymark, a managing part- ture to simulate the ideal conditions Puri says that Gotham, while it did lenges as scaling up and using new
ner who also serves as the company’s for any part of the growing cycle at donate some product that would have technology while selling expensive
“chief greenhouse officer.” any time. headed to food service, didn’t dump products, Gotham is expanding its
anything. Some of its customers, reach to new regions.
Unlike typical field operations, with They are, Puri says, “very cod- such as restaurant distributor Baldor
separate planting and harvesting sea- dled plants.” The company says that Specialty Foods Inc. and lunch chain Overall, the “novel farming” in-
sons, Gotham Greens runs continual, thanks to such factors as shorter Just Salad, kept buying product but dustry, which can include everything
year-round seasons in its hydroponic, growing cycles and precisely applied sold it retail. from giant vertical farms near cities to
urban greenhouses, often built on the recirculating irrigation, its yields are distributed farms that grow produce
sites of now defunct industrial busi- 35 times higher per acre than those of Gotham is hardly alone in its quest right in supermarket aisles, raised
nesses, including a former Bethlehem a conventional farm – and use about to retool American agriculture to be $945 million in 2019, a 46 percent jump
Steel Corp. plant in Baltimore and an 95% less water. closer to consumers, more high-tech, from 2018, according to agricultural
old toy factory in Queens, N.Y. and less reliant on the dwindling re- researcher and investor AgFunder Inc.
When major farms around the sources that are making conventional
It focuses on such greens as but- country saw their food service busi- farming ever more challenging, such Even with the growth of indoor
terhead lettuce, basil, and, especially ness disappear almost overnight, as water and migrant labor. farming, 90 percent-plus of leafy
since the many food-borne illness many were left dumping produce and greens and vegetables still come
outbreaks that have come out of West plowing it under while it was still in While a number of its competitors from California, says Roland Fumasi,
Coast production, romaine lettuce. the fields. have folded in the face of such chal-
Packaged in chic 4.5-ounce plastic CONTINUED ON PAGE 24
clamshells, the salad basics can go for
more than twice the price of their di-
rect competitors, which explains why
Puri is so singularly focused on the
greens market, at least for now.

His greenhouses are huge techno-
logical steps forward from their fore-

bears. Engineers can adjust
factors such as humid-

ity and tempera-

24 Vero Beach 32963 / June 25, 2020 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT COVER STORY

Transitioning bell pepper seedlings from an indoor nursery to the fields at Talley Farms.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 23 tham, with significantly fewer miles typical field agriculture, has grown says Dave Puglia, president and CEO
in its supply chain, a big advantage. kohlrabi, tubers, and vine crops, of Western Growers. “The challenges
a senior analyst specializing in fruit, though not commercially. facing our members pre-Covid are
vegetables, and floriculture at Ra- Meanwhile, other indoor grow- well known because we’ve been call-
bobank, and the epidemic has high- ers are expanding beyond the lucra- Both companies say the pandemic ing for help a long time,” he says.
lighted the potential disruptions of a tive basils and lettuces. Hamilton, led to massive jumps in demand for
very long supply chain. Ohio-based 80 Acres Farms is grow- their products at retail. For Gotham, When it comes to labor, the coro-
ing tomatoes in its multilevel verti- that’s meant an increase in revenue of navirus only exacerbated an existing
In March the shock spread to cold cal farms. New York-based Bowery more than 50 percent since March. problem. Traditional field agriculture
storage, trucking, and other parts of Farming Inc., which says it’s more requires humans, often close togeth-
the normal way of doing food busi- than 100 times more productive than Edinburgh’s Intelligent Growth So- er, picking and packing the produce.
ness, giving companies such as Go- lutions Ltd., which builds and sells While machines have been in devel-
highly automated vertical farm tow- opment to replace humans for years,
ers and stations to operators, pro- so far they have yet to imitate the pre-
duces equipment that can grow root cision and delicacy of a human touch.
crops, such as carrots, turnips, rad-
ishes, potatoes, and spring onions, It’s meant COVID-19 outbreaks hit-
as well as leafy greens. Inquiries ting farms in New Jersey, Tennessee
have “at least doubled” since the be- and Washington just as the peak har-
ginning of the pandemic, says CEO vest season is getting under way. The
David Farquhar, and they’re coming industry is doing everything it can to
from all over the world. protect its workers in the short term,
says Puglia, including more education
Conventional field operations, how- and forced distancing. (This protects
ever, aren’t about to disappear; they’ll more than workers; it protects yields,
remain the primary source of fruits and therefore bottom lines.)
and vegetables for a long time, and
in the U.S., much of that produce will Still, some farmers are better
come from California most of the year. equipped than others for the kind
of changes required to maintain a
They’ll continue to face the same healthy workforce.
problems that have only grown worse
– too little water and too little labor, Talley Farms in Arroyo Grande, Ca-

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / June 25, 2020 25

INSIGHT COVER STORY

lif., cultivates 1,600 crop acres to grow and others recognize that’s where the country, when consumers were erations can be very high, as are elec-
vegetables such as cabbage, spin- the industry is headed: fewer people, forced to stay home and do their own tricity bills, depending on the energy
ach, and peppers. Its workers, 275 at more machines. cooking, and many wanted to avoid source, and supermarket prices often
the height of the season, often come the masses at supermarkets. reflect that. Yet the benefits of longer
through the government’s H-2A visa “Our industry is so hand-labor- shelf life, lower water use, and fewer (if
program and therefore, under the intensive that with minimum wage But the shift from one kind of any) pesticides and food-borne bacte-
program’s requirements, live in farm- going up and overtime hours here in customer to another didn’t happen ria will continue to make these mod-
provided housing. California, the workday is shrinking,” without casualties. “We had to dump els attractive.
Talley says, referring to the more a little bit,” Talley says, including
Housing represents the biggest chal- worker-friendly laws that are in- about 2,000 cartons of napa cabbage, That won’t be true of everything
lenge for preventing the spread of a creasing hourly wages and overtime weighing 60 pounds each. The logis- in the produce section. “To make the
deadly virus, but co-owner Ryan Tal- pay requirements. “Mechanization, tics of perishable foods means that economics work, it has to be in high-
ley, who runs the farm his family start- that’s the future.” big changes can be costly. value crops, like herbs, specialty
ed in 1948 and expanded in the follow- greens, and berries,” Fumasi says.
ing decades to not only grow but also Investors agree with that predic- Talley doesn’t expect to be able to
pack and ship its vegetables, says his tion: Farm robotics, mechanization, afford one of the mechanical pickers, The companies best positioned to
farm is unusually well prepared. and equipment companies raised whenever one successfully comes succeed, he continues, are those that
$184 million from venture capitalists to market for a crop he grows. Most focus on regional distribution models,
That’s because workers live mostly in 2019, a 38% increase from the year likely farmers like him will be renters instead of hyperlocal, which can leave
in actual homes, including ones that before, according to AgFunder. “Over of the machinery, not owners, says a producer in the lurch if, say, extreme
were on the farm when he purchased the long haul, hopefully, we will have Rabobank’s Fumasi. “Harvest as a weather closes everything within the
the land and those they’ve subse- transitioned more workers to higher- service,” he says, “that’s always made city limits. Gotham’s model is regional
quently built, instead of the bunker- pay jobs operating machinery and the most sense.” and extending farther westward with
style dormitories that are common for further reduce the risk of transmis- its new Denver outpost, while other
H-2A workers. Each house has a few sion,” Puglia says. That means fewer At novel farming operations, much newer farms are still extremely local.
bedrooms, each of which holds a few workers total, and even fewer that of the work is already done by ma-
people, and they’re cleaned daily be- come in under visas or without docu- chines, and what isn’t might be soon But for countries where access to a
fore workers come home from the field. mentation at all. enough. Employees also don’t live local food supply is challenged, such
together and are unlikely to be mi- as the tiny island of Singapore or the
In the field, instead of having pick- Talley Farms was largely spared the grant workers – they’re frequently city deserts in the Middle East, govern-
ers shoulder to shoulder tossing ci- worst of the COVID-19 financial blows, dwellers who work their jobs year- ments are increasingly funding the
lantro and cabbage into a “harvesting since food service accounts for only round. Finding them can still be a ventures, says Henry Gordon-Smith,
aid” that is attached to a communal about 10 percent to 15 percent of the problem, as those with the required founder and managing director of Ag-
tractor for others to pack them, work- business. A Talley direct-to-consumer training remain in short supply. ritecture Consulting, a novel farming
ers are now spread out and doing farm box program that delivers freshly consultancy. “These countries,” he
their own packing. None of the actual harvested local produce exploded, as But Covid has highlighted these says, “are saying Covid has shown us
picking is mechanized, though Talley did those at many other farms across systems’ resilience. how fragile our food supply is.” 

Startup costs for indoor farming op-

26 Vero Beach 32963 / June 25, 2020 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT OPINION

HELLO, HOME OFFICE; BYE-BYE, DUNKIN’ DRIVE THRU

As many states ease the restrictions put in place to McDonald’s Corp. has said breakfast “will be the It’s unlikely that working from home will be quite as
slow the spread of Covid-19, shoppers are beginning most challenged” eating occasion to recover as states ubiquitous a year or two from now as it has been in
to trickle back to big box stores, restaurants and hair start to reopen, and Starbucks Corp. said last week these early months of the pandemic. But a portion of
salons. that it expects the pandemic to deal a blow of up $3.2 the nation’s workforce is discovering they can do their
billion to its sales in the current quarter, a financial desk-jockey jobs just fine without sitting in traffic.
But even as they venture away from their living wound that reflects a number of Covid-19-related
rooms for those activities, many who hold office jobs challenges, including the shortage of worker bees If given the choice by their employers, as a number
are still working from home. This abrupt, widespread stopping by their cafes as if on autopilot. of companies are doing, they won’t go back to that
adoption of telecommuting has roiled the restaurant daily slog.
industry, and could continue to do so if large swaths Meanwhile, Wendy’s Co. has said its launch of a
of workers end up settling into this model on a more breakfast menu in early March “performed extreme- The share of employed adults who are working
routine basis – particularly when it comes to certain ly well out of the gate,” but the disruption of diners’ full time outside the home has dropped dramatically
niches. morning routines certainly won’t make it easy for the since the onset of the pandemic
chain to keep up momentum. It’s a tough break for a
Breakfast is a prime example. company that had been counting on early birds as a This change will necessarily guide how restaurants
U.S. restaurant traffic in the morning hours suf- cornerstone of its growth strategy. think about everything from where they locate their
fered from a steeper initial drop during March and outposts to how they allocate labor throughout the
early April than was seen at lunch or dinner. Even While independent and chain restaurants alike are day. It also should hasten existing efforts from Dunkin’
now, breakfast is recovering more slowly than those looking to delivery to make up for some of the busi- and Starbucks to offer menu items and promotions to
other mealtimes. ness they’ve lost in their dining rooms and carry-out make them more of an all-day dining destination.
This almost certainly reflects the fact that commutes windows, I wouldn’t count on that model to be much
have disappeared for legions of workers. After all, it of a savior at breakfast time. Of course, the embrace of working from home is no-
doesn’t make sense to take your regular spin through where near the largest challenge restaurants face due
the McDonald’s drive-thru lane when you’re not already Breakfast orders tend to have low average checks, to the Covid-19 crisis. A deep recession has the poten-
in the car en route to your cubicle. And a ritual pop-in so consumers might balk at paying delivery fees and tial to decimate demand, causing diners to make few-
to the nearest Starbucks is no longer convenient. tipping a driver for such a small purchase. er trips to restaurants overall and to rely on discounts
Relative to February, restaurant traffic saw an es- and promotions when they do.
pecially deep initial plunge at breakfast. That time
has continued to suffer more than lunch or dinner Pandemic-related changes loom as even more ex-
The dent in this business is an unfortunate de- istential risks. Social-distancing rules and norms will
velopment for the restaurant industry. The morning keep dining rooms operating at far lower capacities
hours had been a relative bright spot for years, mak- than they were designed for, threatening the so-called
ing up for declines or tepid growth later in the day. four-wall economics of a restaurant. Health concerns
Breakfast also tends to be an especially profitable may keep some diners from feeling safe enough to hit
category for fast-food restaurants because the ingre- up these eateries in the first place.
dients are relatively cheap.
We’ve gotten some early hints as to how this dy- Still, the smaller but significant work-from-home
namic is affecting major restaurant chains. effect on dining is a clear illustration of the breadth
Executives at Dunkin’ Brands Group Inc. said on the and complexity of problems the entire restaurant in-
company’s latest earnings call that they had seen a drop dustry is confronting, and the extent to which every
in business in the crucial 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. time frame, corner of the economy is encountering weird domi-
even as things had picked up between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. no effects that threaten businesses – from dollars to

doughnuts. 

A version of this column by Sarah Halzack first ap-
peared on Bloomberg. It does not necessarily reflect
the views of Vero Beach 32963.

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

© 2020 Vero Beach 32963 Media, all rights reserved NEUROSURGERY Part III  Dopamine agonists
Instead of changing into dopamine like levodopa does, dopamine
Medical Treatment for Parkinson’s Disease agonists mimic dopamine effects in the brain. While they aren’t as
effective as levodopa in treating symptoms, they last longer and can
Parkinson’s disease is a disorder of the central nervous system that affects be used with levodopa to smooth the sometimes fluctuating effects of
movement and often includes tremors. When nerve cells (neurons) in the levodopa. Dopamine agonists include:
brain become damaged or die, levels of the brain chemical dopamine that � Pramipexole (Mirapex)
relays messages that plan and control body movement drop, leading to � Ropinirole (Requip)
symptoms of Parkinson’s. � Rotigotine (Neupro), administered through a patch
� Apomorphine (Apokyn), a short-acting injectable used for quick relief
Although there is no cure for PD, most people whose symptoms are identi-  MAO B inhibitors
fied and properly treated can live satisfying and fulfilling lives. Medication MAO B inhibitors help prevent breakdown of brain dopamine by inhibit-
can often control symptoms during early stages. Lifestyle changes, such ing the brain enzyme monoamine oxidase B (MAO B), which metabolizes
as aerobic exercise, physical therapy focused on stretching and balance, brain dopamine. MAO B inhibitors include:
and speech-language therapy, also help some patients. As the disease pro- � Selegiline (Eldepryl, Zelapar)
gresses, various surgical options may be recommended and other innova- � Rasagiline (Azilect)
tive treatments are on the horizon. � Safinamide (Xadago)
 Catechol O-methyltransferase (COMT) inhibitors
MEDICAL TREATMENT FOR PARKINSON’S DISEASE COMT inhibitors mildly prolong the effects of levodopa therapy by block-
ing an enzyme that breaks down dopamine. COMT inhibitors include:
Dopamine administered via pill, injection or intravenously is ineffective; the � Entacapone (Comtan)
body does not allow it to cross the blood-brain barrier. However, medica- � Tolcapone (Tasmar)
tions that increase dopamine levels in the brain have been developed to help  Amantadine
patients manage symptoms related to walking, movement and tremors. Amantadine is sometimes used to provide short-term relief of symptoms
of mild, early-stage Parkinson’s disease. It may also be given with
Medications that increase levels of or substitute for brain dopamine include: carbidopa-levodopa therapy during the later stages of Parkinson’s disease
 Carbidopa-levodopa to control involuntary movements (dyskinesia) induced by carbidopa-
Levodopa is the most effective Parkinson’s disease medication. This levodopa.
natural chemical passes into the brain and converts into dopamine. Ask your doctor to review the potential side effects and possible drug
Carbidopa is added to levodopa to keep levodopa from converting interactions with you before starting any of these medications. Continu-
to dopamine outside the brain. ously update him or her with unexpected and/or unwanted reactions.
 Carbidopa-levodopa infusion Next time we’ll explore surgical treatments for Parkinson’s disease. 
For patients with more advanced disease who respond well to carbidopa Your comments and suggestions for future topics are always welcome.
-levodopa but experience response fluctuations, a continuous infusion Email us at [email protected].
of a gel called Duopa (a combination of carbidopa and levodopa) can
be administered through a feeding tube directly to the small intestine.
This method sustains constant blood levels of the two drugs. Placement
of the tube requires a small surgical procedure.

28 Vero Beach 32963 / June 25, 2020 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT BOOKS

“Valley of the Dolls” may be ics, the film studio’s off. Instead, she continued to pose for “Playboy.”
the most beloved bad movie of head, Darryl F. Zanuck, And so it goes for 18 chapters – all phases of produc-
all time, a fitting adaptation of argued “Dolls” could
the 1966 Jacqueline Susann nov- become a “problem tion and the people behind them discussed in gossipy
el it’s based on. Stephen Rebello picture” that exposed detail. Bill Travilla, whose custom-made costumes cost
certainly seems to think so. His social issues, like anti- thousands, predicted, unironically, that his designs
new book “Dolls! Dolls! Dolls!” Semitism in “Gentle- would be “duplicated in every budget shop and de-
says so right in the subtitle. Re- men’s Agreement” or partment store in America.” The film’s hairstylist, Mr.
bello, a screenwriter, journalist Kenneth, made towering concoctions and luscious
and author of a book about the race in “Pinky.” This extensions for the female leads, and met the challenge
making of “Psycho,” takes us – as hoped-for status to make the diminutive Duke look taller while wearing
his subtitle also proudly announc- might explain why his wigs. Parkins suggested that Dionne Warwick sing
es – “deep inside” the making of top-drawer talent the film’s title song, after Judy Garland was dismissed.
the 1967 film. The movie – which such as Barbra Strei- We learn how thoroughly the studio’s pre- and post-
follows the exploits of three pill- sand, Candice Ber- production press coverage of “Dolls” fed huge public
popping female show-business gen, Julie Christie, interest. We learn that director Robson timed the ac-
wannabes – was roundly dismissed tors’ dialogue with a stopwatch, that Sharon Tate kept a
by critics. Roger Ebert called it “a Natalie Wood, Deb- “tiny mirror in her cleavage to check herself before each
dirty soap opera” that failed even to bie Reynolds and take,” and that a ticket to a film in 1967 cost $1.30.
“raise itself to the level of sophisti- Bette Davis showed
cated pornography.” Nonetheless, interest in being Rebello fills his book with (what we assume are accu-
the film was, like Susann’s novel, a cast. But the direc- rate) factoids, but he seldom tempers his “magnificent
commercial success and, to many, a tor, Mark Robson, obsession” with the film to consider the significance of
classic. who had a great what he reports. Only in the final pages, for instance,
success with “Pey- does he mention how the film’s “lipstick traces [are] all
In his book, Rebello chronicles over pop culture,” how its “retro-glam” echoed in the
how Susann’s salacious bestseller ton Place” (1957), work of big name fashion designers and Red Cherry
went from page to screen. If that wanted “new fac- Eyelashes, or that feminists Camille Paglia, Candace
sounds like a dull procedural, think again. Rebello es,” and though Bushnell and Lena Dunham acknowledge Susann’s in-
delivers a surfeit of detail – some chapters are so top- he thought Patty Duke a “preposterous fluence.
heavy with names and facts one fears they may topple candidate” to play the hard-charging Neely, the young
over like one of the stupendous hairpieces featured in Oscar-winner got the part. Barbara Parkins, on loan But other questions still loom. Rebello claims that
the film. Though the book is gossipy, it is full of surpris- from ABC’s TV “Peyton Place,” and Sharon Tate added “Dolls” is a bad movie, but is it? Is Patty Duke’s char-
es and even suspense – revealing how cutthroat and their lovely faces to the cast. Judy Garland was brought acter’s meltdown acted any worse than Frank Sinatra’s
puerile Hollywood can be. on to play Helen Lawson, an aging singer who wrangles in “The Man With the Golden Arm”? Are films about
with upstart Neely. But Garland had a meltdown during women more open to parody, more easily reconfigured
The first surprise is that Susann relinquished all con- shooting and was quickly replaced by another screen as camp? Granted, if such questions were considered,
trol over how the film was produced, written, cast and queen, Susan Hayward. Rebello’s book might have inspired more contempla-
publicized, meaning that Twentieth Century Fox could Though Susann envisioned Sean Connery, Paul New- tion and less gush, which could alienate readers just in
slice, dice and contort her novel however it chose. Also man or Steve McQueen playing the male lead, and the it for the fun. So, let’s accept it as it is, a book to simply
surprising: Science-fiction author Harlan Ellison was studio tested Christopher Plummer, James Garner and enjoy, especially after seeing the film, which I strongly
hired to write the first screen treatment, but his script Gig Young for the part, “second string” actor Paul Burke recommend you do. 
had a psychedelic twist, and he was, unsurprising- landed the role. According to Rebello, Parkins prepared
ly, fired. The studio then looked for a writer who was for her love scenes with Burke by staring at a photo- DOLLS! DOLLS! DOLLS!
“solid, dependable, and female” and got two – Helen graph of Cat Stevens. Another surprising fact concerns
Deutsch and Dorothy Kingsley. Though they had their Parkins: Though beautiful and ambitious, after doing DEEP INSIDE ‘VALLEY OF THE DOLLS,’ THE MOST
differences, they shared screenwriting credit. “Dolls,” her career stalled, and her agents advised her
to turn down “Goodbye, Columbus” and “Love Story.” If BELOVED BAD BOOK AND MOVIE OF ALL TIME
Even if Susann’s novel had been panned by the crit- she had had another agent, her career might have taken
BY STEPHEN REBELLO | PENGUIN BOOKS. 352 PP.
REVIEW BY SIBBIE O’SULLIVAN, THE WASHINGTON POST

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3. The Ballad of Singbirds
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3. Walk the Wire 3. The Boy, the Mole, 4. Refugee BY ALAN GRATZ
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Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / June 25, 2020 29

INSIGHT BRIDGE

NORTH

DO YOU SACRIFICE OR GO ON DEFENSE? A Q 10 7 3

By Phillip Alder - Bridge Columnist 75

Rita Mae Brown wrote, “For you to be successful, sacrifices must be made. It’s better that 953
they are made by others, but failing that, you’ll have to make them yourself.”
A98
One of the toughest bridge topics is judging when to sacrifice. East-West would have
benefited in this deal, but it was not obvious. WEST EAST
KJ654
When South balanced with a takeout double after West’s one-spade overcall, he was J 10 3 2
allowing for his partner’s having long and strong spades, which was the position here. Then A 10 6 4
East, realizing that one spade doubled would probably be expensive (it could be minus 5 86
500), ran to one no-trump, an example of the unusual no-trump, showing length in both
minors. Maybe West should have jumped to three diamonds to indicate a suitable hand QJ872
for diamonds. Then, if South got to four hearts, East probably would have sacrificed in five
diamonds, which would have been down only two. KQ732

SOUTH

98

AKQ942

K

J 10 6 4

In the actual auction, North made a good raise to three hearts, and game was reached. Dealer: West; Vulnerable: North-South

West led a trump. South should have drawn trumps immediately. Here, he would then have The Bidding:
lost one diamond and two clubs, at some time playing a spade to dummy’s queen. But if
West had started with four hearts, declarer would have known he needed to guess East’s SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST OPENING
singleton spade. If it were a low one, South needed to run the spade nine. But if East had Pass Pass Pass
the jack, declarer had to play a spade to the queen, then return a low spade to his eight, so 1 Hearts 1 Spades Pass Pass LEAD:
that he could establish dummy’s spade suit. Dbl. Pass Pass 1NT J Hearts
Pass 2 Diamonds Pass Pass
2 Hearts Pass 3 Hearts Pass
4 Hearts Pass Pass Pass

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30 Vero Beach 32963 / June 25, 2020 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT GAMES

SOLUTIONS TO PREVIOUS ISSUE (JUNE 18) ON PAGE 54

ACROSS DOWN
1 Frock (5) 2 Variety (5)
4 Smithy (5) 3 Besotted (7)
10 Succinct (7) 5 Happen (5)
11 Type of pastry (5) 6 Italian dumplings (7)
12 Occasion (5) 7 Film scripts (11)
13 Wonder, sign (7) 8 Conditions (5)
14 Floating (6) 9 Knowledgeable (11)
16 Third zodiacal sign (6) 15 Bicycles for two (7)
19 Touchdown (7) 17 Trade ban (7)
21 Muscular strength (5) 18 Broker (5)
23 Surrender (5) 20 Second-most populous
24 Care for (7)
25 Test, check (5) country (5)
26 Group of 12 (5) 22 Sky blue (5)

The Telegraph

How to do Sudoku:

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

The Telegraph

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / June 25, 2020 31

INSIGHT GAMES

ACROSS 98 Pocket version o 34 Canine world The Washington Post
f a woman’s mag? 35 Small name, big hitter
1 Ready to go, perhaps 38 Streaker to Eur., once END-O-MORPHISM By Merl Reagle
7 Jazz style 100 Spill the beans 41 Alter pants lengths
10 Arthur Miller’s 101 Coffin platform 43 ___ Set (A.C. Gilbert toy)
103 Person who fills in for the 44 Printed by hand
All My ___ 45 “I’m ___ you”
14 London lockup comic book artist 47 “Nope”
18 Mona Lisa’s home 104 LBJ’s VP 48 ___-relief
19 Boatman’s need 105 Violinist’s down-and-out 50 Latin word on a dollar
20 Bard’s home 51 Snoopy
21 The butler in brother? 54 Eye parts
112 Fatal Attraction director Adrian 55 Guidebook
The Nanny 113 Like nylons 58 115 Across’s continent: abbr.
23 What the “Hellmann’s 115 Reddish antelope 60 1944 Nobelist in physics
116 Belly-button type 62 A ___ be reckoned with
Beauty Makeover” 118 A Confederacy Of Dunces 65 Down some dim sum
basically amounts to? 66 Machinery parts
26 Subjects author 68 Type of whale
27 Wake 119 Booming opera star? 73 Cinematographers’ org.
28 Pass ___ (measure up) 124 Inverts a stitch 74 A distance
29 Steak cut 125 Patella’s place 75 Mauritius bird, once
30 Flying mammals 126 News anchor Curry 77 Space
33 Fresh basil sauce? 127 Cassandra Peterson’s 78 Ablaze
36 Passé: abbr. 79 French heroine, Jeanne ___
37 Evidence of smoking camp vamp 80 Tulsa tycoons
39 Killer whale 128 Indian tenant farmer 81 “That’s enough”
40 Up to and including, 83 Beatnik’s greeting?
briefly (anagram of TROY) 85 ___ 180
42 Part of a Kraft label? 129 Lip
46 Christen 130 Go-ahead (turn around)
49 Truly heavy 131 Shoe brand 89 As late as
52 1978-79 TV crime show 91 Chest protectors?
53 Movement DOWN 93 Biol. or chem.
54 Addiction option 96 Mr. Lilly
56 Paris subway 1 They, in French 98 “I never ___ I
57 Eye part 2 San Francisco’s
59 Race-car designer Bugatti didn’t like”
61 Military jet abbr. ___ Valley 99 Taking a sabbatical
63 Fat refs. 3 “Mac,” to a Brit 102 Spot offshore
64 Light made specially 4 “Did You ___ A Lassie” 104 Crucial moment, in
for cigar smokers? 5 It flooded Florence in 1966
67 Canon’s autofocus camera 6 Excavated anew “D-Day” terminology
name 7 Gallic actor Charles 106 Jockey attire
69 Rob ___ 8 Inter-American org. 107 Appliance maker
70 Pontificate 9 Old card game 108 After, in Alsace
71 Story of my life 109 Endomorphic
72 Ideal date (it means “first”) 110 Shell content
74 Classifieds 10 Bogie role 111 Alternative
76 Craggy peak 11 Like the shape of some leaves 113 Engine additive
77 Bad news for 12 The Highwayman poet 114 Time off
Pete Best? 13 Laugh noisily 117 “Access” addition
82 Bad, as a mood 14 Bug in your ear 120 Lennon’s mate
84 Delete and start over 15 How today’s Wild Man gets to 121 Charlie Sheen,
86 ___ in the grass
87 Advertising award America? to Emilio Estevez
88 Confess 16 Hoagy Carmichael song for 122 Sellout info
90 Places to see 123 Mighty tree
MEN and WOMEN dieters?
92 Worries 17 Inclines
94 Dutch airline 22 How the Red Sea extends:
95 New cop
97 “Where ___?” abbr.
24 Hard/rock insert
25 Liturgy hymn,

___ Dimittis
30 Computer copy
31 “___ and a haircut”
32 “The less we watch big, round

guys fight, the more
likely it is they’ll stop doing it”?

The Telegraph

32 Vero Beach 32963 / June 25, 2020 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT BACK PAGE

An abusive ex who may be dying wants a final talk

BY CAROLYN HAX just … not respond, which of course is a response.
Washington Post
Or should I try to be kinder with my “no”?
Hi, Carolyn: I was in a rela-
tionship from age 24 to 36. I’m – Anonymous
now over 60. The relationship
was abusive, but subtly so – or I’ve now learned this person from the past is Anonymous: No. Because the request itself is a
so it seemed to me. Lots of gas- probably dying of cancer, and has asked through a renewal of the abuse.
lighting, lots of picking fights at friend if I would agree to one joint meeting with a
dinner (until it got to the point I’d lost 20 pounds), counselor so we can “finish” life “with nothing left Your ex could say the “unsaid” in writing. In-
lots of, “Why aren’t you like this?” or, “When you unsaid” (the friend’s words). stead, they conditioned it upon your engaging
did X, were you being obtuse or were you just being with them again.
mean?” Even things like waking me in the middle I am not going to do this. But I wonder about
of the night to discuss some point about my per- how to reply to the friend’s email. I don’t wish my That says they have not changed, grown, gotten
sonality or actions that offended or hurt them, ex ill, but I feel I barely made it out of that relation- healthy or learned a blasted thing in the decades
when they knew I struggled to sleep. ship alive. I have no wish either to give absolution since you left.
This person had been a mentor first, and my grat- or argue anything out again. I’m thinking I should
itude combined with an ever-disappearing sense of Abuse is a transaction requiring two people to
self kept me with them far too long. I finally did complete it. For your ex to manipulate you, you
get out by listening to my friends who claimed the need to change your behavior at their bidding.
relationship was abusive, getting a therapist, going Just by dwelling on how to respond, you have al-
on antidepressants and making a pact with myself ready been manipulated. That’s why it was selfish
not to have any contact with this person again. of your ex to reach out to you this way. The “with a
Although the person tried to pull me back in, I counselor” element is just a false promise of your
never gave any response: gifts went into the dump- protection, and probably a disingenuous one at
ster unopened, letters were shredded unread and I that, intended to draw you in.
changed my phone number. For the past 15 years, I
have heard nothing and not even spotted the per- So choose actions toward your goal of com-
son in public (we still live in the same town). I have plete detachment.
been married for 20 years to a loving spouse. I am
truly as happy as I’ve ever been in my life. Counterintuitively, that doesn’t mean not re-
sponding, which could passively invite the friend
to keep trying – and also leave you with some-
thing to dread. Instead, pull the plug firmly and
clearly in an emailed response: “I want no inter-
action with [ex]. Please do not contact me again.”
Block addresses and numbers as needed, and live
without apology in your hard-won peace. 

CAREFREE SPIRIT
MOVES ARTIST WHITNEY

DOWN CREATIVE PATH





36 Vero Beach 32963 / June 25, 2020 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

ARTS & THEATRE

Carefree spirit moves artist Whitney down creative path

BY ELLEN FISCHER
Staff Writer

Surrounded by a group of her artwork Anne Whitney.
– paintings in acrylic, watercolors and
pastel – Anne Whitney reflects on how PHOTOS BY KAILA JONES
a love of family, travel, teaching and art
has brought her to this moment. agery would emerge from the chaos.
“You just do a very abstract base, and
Resting her gaze on a 28-inch-by-
44-inch acrylic on hardboard painting then the picture finds you. I started
titled “Marigold Market,” she thinks of seeing monkeys,” she says.
her sister Lisa, who emailed Whitney
the photo upon which she based her At that point, Whitney fetched her
painting. The scene is India; the imag- photo of the monkey family and drew
ery features a small boy squatting amid its affable simians directly on top of her
several large open sacks, brimming now-dry underpainting.
with marigold flowers. He is shown
adjusting the edge of one such sack, Other animal subjects include Whit-
perhaps to give us a better view of the ney’s acrylic of two pandas seen at the
produce within. In India, marigolds are National Zoo in Washington, D.C.; a
woven into festive garlands for both watercolor of three wood storks spied
home decoration and temple offerings. near a drainage ditch in Vero; and a
school of salmon rushing to spawn in
“Lisa lives in San Francisco now, but Washington State. In addition to her
she and her husband, who works in the
shipping industry, have lived all over
the world. They have lived in Thailand,
Singapore and Hong Kong. Wherever
Lisa goes, I go to visit her,” usually for a
month at time, says Whitney.

Another piece inspired by a photo
from her sister is a mixed media work
on paper of a Singaporean monkey
family perched on a tree branch.

Whitney confesses this is one of her
favorites.

“Look, the baby monkey’s right here,”
she says, pointing to a small face peer-
ing from a concavity of fur between the
bodies of its mother (the one with long,
fringy sideburns) and a close cousin.

Whitney asserts that she did not
know what the picture’s subject would
be when she started it.

She explains that she used a
“splash and dash” process in which
she freely flung sepia watercolor and
black ink onto the paper, and then
she sat back to see what kind of im-

animal pictures, Whitney is known for The sanded paper leaves no room for
the strong, sure touch she brings to her mistakes, says Whitney. Erasures are
human portraits and figures. not possible. The all-or-nothing effort
includes bright tonal variations in col-
Executed on sanded paper, the draw- ors of turquoise, sienna and pink on the
ing shows two lean female figures, each black-limned figure at left, and red and
standing in a different pose. Whitney purple shading on the figure at right.
explains that both figures were drawn Her drawing is energetic, but not one
from the same model, who moved from of Whitney’s economical lines is out
one dynamic pose to the next, standing of place; her boldly placed colors flaw-
still for 15 minutes at a time.

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / June 25, 2020 37

ARTS & THEATRE

nine months in Mexico City. students in Sussex, N.J., for a little over
In Mexico she accepted job as a co- three years.

ordinator with The Experiment in In- She came to Vero Beach to apply for a
ternational Living, a study-abroad pro- job at St. Edward’s upper school in 1985.
gram founded in 1932.
“Peter Benedict, then head of the
“After my initial summer in the Neth- school, interviewed me. He said, ‘Do
erlands, my first year-long stay was in you think you can handle this?’”
Ireland. I eventually went to England,
Denmark, Italy and Mexico. I got to Replied Whitney, “Of course I can.”
travel for free. In the excitement of this So began a 30-year career in which
job, having the whole world open up to Whitney built up the art department,
me, I did not try to start an art career.” eventually becoming its head.
“When I started to be an art teacher,
Whitney eventually returned to my own creativity came back. It was so
New Jersey to get a teaching degree at much fun. I loved my career, and now I
Montclair State College, after which love my retirement time, because now
she taught art to public middle school I’m really getting back to my art.” 

lessly enhance the three-dimensional convinced of her 12-year-old daughter’s
aspect of her living subject matter. promise as an artist, and duly enrolled
Anne in classes at the nearby Yard
“People look at my pictures and say, School of Art.
‘They are so varied.’ Well, yes. I paint
and draw what I want to; what moves Whitney spent her high school years
me to create,” she says. in Montclair, and was pre-ordained to
enter St. Lawrence University, her par-
Whitney was born in Valdosta, Ga., ents’ alma mater. Enter she did, but
the first of her parents’ five children. found Canton, N.Y., to be “gray and dis-
She eventually gained three sisters and mal,” and stayed only two semesters.
a brother.
After summer break, spent as the
“I was an Army Air Corps brat. I came first female lifeguard to be employed
in for a landing at Moody Air Field in on Nantucket’s beaches, she an-
1944,” Whitney laughs. nounced to her parents that she was
going to go to art school. For a year
The following year, her family lived afterward, Whitney commuted daily
near Alamogordo Army Air Field from Montclair to the Art Students
(the present-day Holloman Air Force League in New York City. Her goal, to
Base) in New Mexico. They were 22 build a portfolio with which to apply to
miles from Trinity Test site, where art school, was successful.
the first atomic bomb was exploded
July 16, 1945. She was accepted at several schools,
including the Rhode Island School
When he left the service, her father of Design. However, the attraction
managed his dad’s dairy farm in Sher- she felt for a certain Harvard student
man, Pa., for two years. Whitney was a whom she met on Nantucket led her
preschooler then, but she remembers to choose the School of the Museum
the farm: the workhorses Dick and of Fine Arts in Boston, close enough
Trixie, her pet duck, a pig pen with a to Cambridge to visit her boyfriend on
mean old boar, and wagon rides at hay- weekends. The romance fizzled after a
ing time. The idyll ended when Whit- couple years, but Whitney continued
ney’s father left the farm for a job in on to receive her four-year certificate
sales at IBM. After living in a succession from the school.
of communities in New York, the family
settled in Montclair, N.J. She again worked in Nantucket
over the summer, earning enough
Whitney says that she was “always” money from two jobs to live the next
drawing and painting as a child. Her
mother, a watercolor hobbyist, was

38 Vero Beach 32963 / June 25, 2020 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

ARTS & THEATRE

COMING UP! See-through canoe offers unique look at lagoon

BY PAM HARBAUGH
Correspondent

1 You can get out, play it safe and
still have fun with something

that might be very different for you:

renting a see-through canoe and

paddling along mangrove trails at the

Environmental Learning Center. If

you get a little squeamish about see-

ing into those lagoon waters, you can

also rent a regular canoe, a kayak and

or a stand-up paddleboard. The ELC’s

environmental educator Heather

Kramer makes this sound like a blast.

“I love the canoe,” she said. “I’m a lit-

tle bit taller, and the regular canoe is

really nice. I’m able to sit up straight.

My legs are in a comfortable position,

like sitting in a chair … It feels a little

bit more sturdy.” She has also taken

the see-through canoe, which she

said is a great experience. “Since the

lagoon is on average 3-to-5 feet deep, grove tunnels which are very shallow, as part of her “come back with a little water hazards; “Knock Out” lets you
so you can see some of the (natural) extra” effort. The boats and paddle- aim at virtual objects; “Long Drive”
you have the opportunity to see some detritus on the bottom.” And yes, she boards are all rented at the ELC’s invites you to hit that ball as far as you
said, sometimes you do spot some canoe dock, which is manned by the can; “Pinball” has bumpers, rails and
of the sea grass beds. The lagoon is human detritus as well. She just picks Tides Water Sports. Guests are pro- other objects; and “Golf Courses” has
that up and brings it back to the dock vided life vests, paddles and direc- courses from places like Ireland and
prime habitat for young fish, so some- tions. The easy trail takes about 20 Marco Island. Fees start at $15 per
minutes. The more advanced trail hour. Tee box reservation costs $50.
times you get to spot little fish swim- goes across the lagoon and takes Hours are 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Mondays
two to three hours. You need to wear through Thursdays, 9 a.m. to mid-
ming beneath you. There are man- closed-toe and closed-heel shoes (no night Saturdays, and 9 a.m. to 11 p.m.
flip flops or sandals). Minimum age Sundays. Big Shots Golf is at 3456 U.S.
to go out on your own is 16 years with 1, Vero Beach. Call 772-979-4653 or
parental permission. No one younger visit VeroBigShots.com.
than 5. Weight limit is 250 pounds.
Cost is $45 non-member and $40.50 3 Stay safe and have fun at home
member. The Environmental Learn- with a whole treasure trove
ing Center is at 255 Live Oak Drive,
Vero Beach. Call 772-589-5050 or visit of online “experiences” curated by
DiscoverELC.org.
Airbnb. While you may know Airbnb

as the online spot to book personal

stays at the homes of hosts the world

2 The fun continues at Big Shots over, the website also has a great col-
Golf. Better than renting a golf
lection of unique activities presented

cart, this is definitely the lazy man’s online. You need to book these with

way of hitting the links. This two-year- the hosts, so you know they’ll be per-

old business is on 10 acres and calls sonal since it will be just for you and a

itself “a two-story, golf recreation and few guests. You’ll also need to down-

entertainment experience.” Guests load the Zoom app. What’s more, they

settle into their own tee box, which are not free. But you get what you pay

has cushy seating for six, air condi- for and this looks pretty appealing.

tioning and servers who will take food There are classes in beekeeping, in-

and drink orders. Technology comes ternational cuisines, a coffee master

into play as soon as you step up to class, a plague doctor’s tour through

the tee. You’ll take a swing at an ac- Prague, a Parisian’s tour of Paris

tual ball, and it will go into the actual and so much more. One of Airbnb’s

driving range, but that’s when the real best-selling online experiences is

stops and virtual begins. Digital radar the “Sangria and Secrets with Drag

tracks your shot and keeps your score- Queens,” during which you’ll learn

card. So, yes, you may look over your how to make sangria from scratch,

shoulder as you tee up, but there’s also dance, laugh and probably dish. To

a large screen off to the side, tracking get a sense of these classes, visit Airb-

your ball along a virtual route. You nb.com and click “Online Experienc-

can choose a variety of games, includ- es” tab, which is on the same line as

ing: “Islands” which has a number of “Places to Stay.” 

THE MANY WAYS
‘DEEP BRAIN STIMULATION’

CAN IMPROVE LIVES

40 Vero Beach 32963 / June 25, 2020 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

HEALTH

The many ways ‘deep brain
stimulation’ can improve lives

Dr. Juan Uribe Villa.

PHOTOS: KAILA JONES

BY TOM LLOYD [small] size of the incisions that we
need to make and how little exposure
Staff Writer of the brain we require.

‘Deep brain stimulation’ or DBS is “The largest incision is a C-shaped
every bit as complex a procedure as its incision that measures approximately
name implies. an inch in diameter and access to the
brain is created via a small bur hole
But Cleveland Clinic Indian River on the cranium which measures half
Hospital has now added another neu- an inch in diameter,” Uribe Villa ex-
rosurgeon, Dr. Juan Uribe Villa, who is plains. “That is why it is considered a
more than up to the task of perform- minimally invasive procedure. But I
ing these intricate operations. would have to agree that this is an im-
plant that will be placed deep in your
Oddly enough, DBS is often deemed brain” which doesn’t seem so “mini-
to be “minimally invasive.” mal.”

As the National Institute of Neuro- At the same time, he says, “risks are
logical Disorders and Stroke explains, minimal when it comes to this sur-
“DBS is a surgical procedure used to gery. Whenever we cut the skin there
treat several disabling neurological is always going to be a risk of infec-
symptoms – most commonly the de- tion, especially when we are placing
bilitating motor symptoms of Parkin- an implant [but] we take the neces-
son’s disease, such as tremor, rigidity, sary precautions to prevent this from
stiffness, slowed movement and walk- happening.”
ing problems” – as well as dystonia (a
movement disorder in which the pa- DBS procedures implant electrodes
tients’ muscles contract involuntarily in targeted areas of the brain that
causing repetitive or twisting move- deliver electrical impulses that can
ments) and some types of epilepsy. regulate or cancel-out naturally oc-
curring abnormal brain impulses that
Now, for many – if not most of us – control muscles throughout the body.
the term “minimally invasive” for any
type of brain surgery sounds like an The amount of stimulation these
oxymoron. electrodes deliver is controlled by a
pacemaker-like device placed under
Uribe Villa understands the confu- the skin in the patients’ upper chest.
sion. A wire travels under the skin and con-

“It is considered minimally inva-
sive,” says Uribe Villa, “because of the

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / June 25, 2020 41

nects this device to the electrodes HEALTH
placed inside the specific areas of the
brain that control movement. DBS procedures implant electrodes in
targeted areas of the brain that deliver
The Mayo Clinic says DBS “has electrical impulses that can regulate or
been shown to be an effective treat-
ment for movement disorders, in- cancel-out naturally occurring
cluding Parkinson’s disease, essen- abnormal brain impulses that control
tial tremor and dystonia,” and adds,
“more recently, DBS has emerged as muscles throughout the body.
a treatment option for Tourette syn-
drome.

“DBS is not a cure for these move-
ment disorders, and the results of treat-
ment aren’t always perfect, [but] many
patients have excellent results and for
some, DBS can be life-changing.”

Uribe Villa agrees.
“The best examples are movement
disorder patients,” he says. “These
are patients that depend on others for
basic activities. Think about this: Ba-
sic life activities that we perform ev-
ery day, that we take for granted and
normally do not even think about,
are really difficult to perform for
these patients.
“Imagine trying to eat, dress your-
self, brush your teeth, comb your
hair, apply makeup or even use a
screwdriver with a terrible tremor. It
is extremely rewarding for me to see
those patients that gain complete
tremor control and regain their inde-
pendence after DBS.”
Pausing briefly, he adds, “a great
example of this was when we treated
a young patient involved with the
military. A big guy. During the pro-
cedure, when he saw his hands stop
shaking, he started crying and sob-
bing uncontrollably due to pure hap-
piness and disbelief. You do not see
that every day!
“It’s also extremely effective in con-
trolling tremor in essential tremor. We
can expect up to 90 percent tremor
control in these patients.
“Parkinson’s disease is a more com-
plex condition and therefore the re-
sponse to DBS is different, but overall,
it greatly improves tremor, stiffness
and the speed of movements in pa-
tients with Parkinson’s disease. So
overall the quality of life is significant-
ly improved.”
That said, Uribe Villa points out
that “every patient will undergo a
neuropsychiatric evaluation to de-
termine if there is a psychological [or]
psychiatric condition that needs to
be addressed prior to considering the
patient for surgery,” and that a team
of physicians will determine if DBS
is appropriate for each individual pa-
tient.
Medicare covers the DBS proce-
dure.
Dr. Juan Uribe Villa is a neurosurgeon
with the Cleveland Clinic Indian River
Hospital. His office is at 3450 11th Court,
Suite 305. The phone number is 772-
563-4741. 

42 Vero Beach 32963 / June 25, 2020 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

HEALTH

Widespread mask-wearing could nix further COVID-19 waves

BY KATE KELLAND Britain’s Cambridge and Greenwich
Washington Post universities, suggests lockdowns alone
will not stop the resurgence of the new
Population-wide face mask use coronavirus which causes COVID -19,
could push COVID-19 transmission but that even homemade masks can
down to controllable levels for national dramatically reduce transmission
epidemics and could prevent further rates if enough people wear them in
waves of the pandemic disease when public.
combined with lockdowns, according
to a recent British study. “Our analyses support the imme-
diate and universal adoption of face
The research, led by scientists at masks by the public,” said Richard

Stutt, who co-led the study at Cam- the effect on the disease’s reproduction
bridge. rate, or R value, of different scenarios of
mask adoption combined with periods
He said combining widespread of lockdown.
mask use with social distancing and
some lockdown measures could be “an The R value measures the average
acceptable way of managing the pan- number of people that one infected
demic and reopening economic activ- person will pass the disease on to. An
ity” before the development of an ef- R value above 1 can lead to exponential
fective vaccine against COVID -19. growth.

The study’s findings were published The study found that if people wear
in the Proceedings of the Royal Society masks whenever they are in public it
A, a scientific journal. is twice as effective at reducing the R
value than if masks are only worn after
At the onset of the pandemic last symptoms appear.
winter, scientific evidence on the ef-
fectiveness of face masks in slowing In all scenarios the study looked at,
transmission of respiratory diseases routine face mask use by 50 percent or
was limited, and there was no data on more of the population reduced CO-
COVID -19 since it was a previously un- VID-19 spread to an R of less than 1.0,
known disease. flattening future disease waves and al-
lowing for less stringent lockdowns.
But, prompted by some new research
in recent weeks, the World Health Or- Experts not directly involved in the
ganization said June 5 that it now rec- latest British study were divided over
ommends that everyone wear fabric its conclusions.
face masks in public to try to reduce
disease spread. Trish Greenhalgh, an Oxford Univer-
sity professor, said the findings were
In this study, researchers linked the encouraging and suggested masks
dynamics of spread between people “are likely to be an effective population
with population-level models to assess measure.” 

A Moment’s Notice

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Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Style Vero Beach 32963 / June 25, 2020 43

The truth hurts: Pandemic reveals fashion to be a beautiful lie

BY ROBIN GIVHAN Bricks-and-mortar retailers opened “The industry needs to be fixed,” says Now that the fashion cycle has
outlet after outlet, e-commerce ex- Julie Gilhart, president of Tomorrow come to an abrupt halt during the
The Washington Post panded its reach, all while discounting Consulting and a former Barneys New pandemic, the industry is trying to
merchandise that customers refused York executive. “We’ve known this for a suss out what needs to be discarded
It has been a lie. Fashion – as a busi- to buy until it was discounted even while. It was still moving, even though and what can be salvaged. Retailers,
ness – has been a beautiful, intoxicat- more, because most everyone had it was broken.” designers and other industry players
ing, unsustainable lie. Not all of it, but learned to shop by the mantra: Never have been spending hours in Zoom
much of it. It didn’t start that way, but pay full price. video conferences engaging in a kind
that’s what it ultimately became. of group therapy: discounters anony-
For shoppers, fashion was an all-en- mous, debt denial, top line growth
The economic fallout from the compassing pop culture phenomenon withdrawal. They’ve written manifes-
coronavirus pandemic has made this – but a phenomenon is not necessarily tos and published open letters.
truth plain. a good business.
And then, Black Lives Matter protests
“They always say this is an indus- erupted following the death of George
try of smoke and mirrors,” says Gary Floyd. Designer Aurora James launched
Wassner, chief executive of Hilldun, a the #15PercentPledge that challenges
financial services company that caters large retailers to dedicate at least 15
to fashion businesses. “Now we’re left percent of their shelf space to products
with nothing but dissipating smoke and from majority black-owned companies.
broken mirrors.”
The civic upheaval has added racial
For years, designers spun whimsical justice to the challenges facing an in-
garments that tantalized the imagina- dustry trying to right itself.
tion but mostly didn’t sell; it was their
more pragmatic styles that made the To whom are designers address-
cash registers sing. Brands burnished ing these pleas for reform? To them-
images redolent of old wealth and as- selves, really. Trying to get their nerve
pirational extravagance while their up. Trying to make sure they won’t be
bottom line was little more than red alone if they should shift their busi-
ink and magical thinking. Success was ness model. Trying to remind them-
a fabulist tale of prepaid celebrity en-
dorsements and social media impres- CONTINUED ON PAGE 44
sions. Even the vision of the industry as
a place of open-minded tolerance was
wishful thinking.

The thrill of this creative Shangri-La
was enough to woo investors who end-
ed up with portfolios of fool’s gold.

Gucci, led by designer Alessandro Michele, recently announced that it was slowing down
its fashion cycle and reducing the number of shows it produces.

44 Vero Beach 32963 / June 25, 2020 Style Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

Rachel Comey expects to deliver her fall collection to stores in September and October CONTINUED FROM PAGE 43 stores followed. Sales were already near-
— later than usual but also right on time. ly incessant in some parts of the busi-
selves that they are the change they’ve ness but the recession sparked drastic
been waiting for. markdowns of high-end goods.

Some big-picture remedies under “We broke the natural cycle of when
consideration include reducing the things arrive and when they go on sale.
number of runway shows and the sheer I don’t think we’ve ever gotten out of
volume of clothing that’s produced, de- that,” says Christophe Desmaison, who
livering garments to stores in-season runs a wholesale showroom in New
rather than months early, marking York representing Nina Ricci, Vanessa
down merchandise only in June and Bruno, Mugler and others. “Then there
January and even . . . abolishing Black was the internationalizing of Black Fri-
Friday, that malignant discounting day as websites got bigger and bigger
feeding frenzy. and more influential.

Fashion, an industry that is forever “Then it becomes a blame game,” he
racing forward, sees its future in its past. says. “It’s completely amorphous.”

White-glove service. Less stuff. Fewer For consumers, the upheaval meant
stores. But enough technology to keep it that winter coats arrived in the summer
fun and efficient. heat, were discounted before the leaves
turned crimson and mostly gone by the
The fashion industry has been spin- first snowfall.
ning this web of fibs, obfuscations and
misdirection for years. One bad deci- Stores became ravenous for new mer-
sion led to another until fashion’s stake- chandise that could be sold at full price
holders had created a system no one – if only for a few short weeks. And mod-
liked but no one seemed able to escape. estly financed yet still unprofitable de-
The problems facing the industry are signers were pressured to produce more
most often caused by short-term fixes and more clothing.
instead of long-term strategies, the
belief in quantity over quality and, of Instead of brands creating a single
course, ego and inertia. spring collection and a fall one, they
were producing pre-fall and pre-spring,
Given the chance to stop and take resort and cruise, special collections,
stock, designer Rachel Comey has asked one-offs, drops and drips and mounds of
herself: “What kind of growth do you boring bits. For a while, retailers would
need in this business? What if I didn’t boast that the pre-collections were filled
have to grow, from a dollar point of view, with the most enticing but wearable
and I spent the rest of my career just do- ideas. Pre-collections sold well.
ing what I love to do at a size that can
support my team’s lifestyle?” But good wasn’t good enough.
Design houses began putting those
“As long as your work is reaching the wonderfully accessible clothes on the
people you want to reach,” Comey says, runway and inviting the press – and
“that’s the ultimate goal.” listening to the press even though fash-
ion editors have a different agenda than
Designer Prabal Gurung says he has merchants. Soon the garments weren’t
been putting money and effort into so commercial. The shows became
things he thought he needed, such as a costly marketing events. And the mer-
big marketing budget, only to now think chandise that was in stores became ever
it was all unnecessary.

It’s hard to recall a time since the glut-

The fall 2020 Saint Laurent show may well be the brand’s last for the near future.

tonous 1980s when fashion wasn’t wob- more out of sync with what customers
bly. But most agree that after the 2008 wanted, when they wanted it and how
recession, the industry was never the much they were willing to pay for it.
same. When the economy tanked, Saks
Fifth Avenue took the lead in frantically All these seasons, all this merchan-
discounting merchandise, and other dise was in service to department
stores, Comey says, and now that

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Style Vero Beach 32963 / June 25, 2020 45

Dries Van Noten’s runway presentations essentially served as his entire marketing statement. independent shops and the most nimble business for the shutdown has given her
The designer will not mount a show in the fall. brands. Customers may be less inclined a model for the future – and a renewed
to go into large department stores and certainty in her fashion philosophy.
they’re failing, they’re bringing down see each city’s fashion week schedules malls if they can avoid them, Gilhart
designers with them as they leave a trail have strenuously urged designers to says. “They may find the shop around “I don’t want to add to the pile of stuff
of unpaid bills. simply make less clothing. the corner is fine for retail therapy. Or out there,” Yarborough says. “I will be
they’ll go online.” so sad to see your jacket in your closet.
“The next year is going to be rough. It’s Some of these changes are proactive. It should be hanging by your front door.”
going to be tough because we’re going to Others are reactive as losses mount: Retailer Will Sharp has combined
have to change the way we do things,” Ralph Lauren quarterly revenue is those divergent destinations by trans- For brands like Yarborough’s, where
says Gilhart, whose company advises down 15 percent. The three locations forming his store in Washington’s jacket prices begin at $2,500, the experi-
fashion brands. “I think the thing that’s of the influential Jeffrey fashion bou- Navy Yard neighborhood into a giant ence of the purchase is almost as impor-
most positive is people are talking to tiques, owned by Nordstrom, closed vending machine. Shoppers can walk tant at the product itself. Yet how do you
each other and trying to figure things permanently. Neiman Marcus is in up to the cobalt blue facade of Some- reproduce luxury with curbside pickup?
out because there’s a lot at stake.” bankruptcy. where, peer into the window at the T- Or with people leery of touching cloth-
shirts and baseball caps, scan the QR ing racks? Well-trained, helpful staff are
Runway shows have been slashed Fashion’s largest luxury conglomer- code on the wall and have the item de- key. And white gloves couldn’t hurt.
from the international calendar be- ates, LVMH and Kering, as well as Cha- livered to their home.
cause of production delays and because nel and Hermès, essentially determine Wassner suggests taking a lesson
it’s simply too dangerous for crowds to their own destiny. They are their own He got the idea from trips to Ja- from the golden age of department
gather. Retailers who would normally ecosystems complete with production pan, where billboards in the subway stores, when sales clerks wore gloves
travel to Europe in June will buy collec- facilities and boutiques. It’s the rest of showcase grocery store items with QR and gingerly unfolded garments like
tions virtually. the fashion industry – those with big codes, so you can shop online. “That’s they were handling rare artifacts. “In-
footprints and tiny ones – that’s linked, perfect for what’s going on right now,” stead of plastic surgical gloves, wear
Brands including Saint Laurent and and when one element is squeezed, ev- says Sharp, who founded streetwear white suede gloves,” he says. Indeed,
Dries Van Noten have announced that eryone feels the pain. Indeed, it was brand Durkl. at Maison Margiela, staff have always
they won’t be mounting live presenta- designer brands’ foolhardy attempt to worn white lab coats.
tions in September and are reconsid- mimic the steady volume of merchan- Designer Savannah Yarborough,
ering the whole premise of them. Pyer dise produced by fast fashion compa- who’s based in Nashville, has taken the Fashion serves a multitude of compet-
Moss is subbing in a documentary on nies such as H&M, the Gap and Zara that intimacy of personal tailoring online. ing interests. When countries reopen,
the making of previous collections. Gu- helped put them on such a nonsensical, Her brand Savas specializes in made-to- will brands adhere to a slower pace? Will
cci designer Alessandro Michele posted destructive course. A $900 shirt is not measure leather jackets, and when cli- struggling retailers even try to resist a
a dear diary treatise on Instagram indi- throwaway fashion; no one needs to re- ents could no longer come into her shop Black Friday sale? Can the truth prevail?
cating that he was reducing the brand’s place it every 12 weeks. for fittings, she created a virtual-fitting
current roster of five shows to two sea- package: video consultations, a packet “I’m always an optimist,” Wassner
sonless ones. And industry organiza- Those best positioned for the future, if of fabric swatches and a self-measuring says. Fashion will never go away. “Every
tions in New York and London that over- they can survive the present, may be the kit. The need to adapt her five-year-old day you make a decision about what to
wear. You’ll always want to be the cre-
ator of your own story.” 

Somewhere allows customers to shop online from the window display.

46 Vero Beach 32963 / June 25, 2020 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

DINING & WINE COLUMN

Restaurants continue to face coronavirus challenges

BY STEPHANIE LABAFF
Staff Writer

From Phoenix to Myrtle Beach, Claudia Arens and Kilted Mermaid.
Houston to Orlando, restaurants – Leanne Kelleher at The Tides.
most of which were only recently Scott Varricchio,
given the go-ahead to welcome diners ened to hear that people in the Florida staff and her customers safe. chef/owner at Citrus.
back in their doors – are closing again. Keys are required to wear face masks Tides servers no longer pour water
This time, it’s not because owners fear at indoor businesses. The fine for not PHOTOS BY KAILA JONES
that someone in their midst might abiding by the new ordinance is $500 or place bread on the plate of each
catch the coronavirus – it’s because and is in effect until June 2021. person at the table. Both are placed CDC protocols to heart.
they know that they already have. on the table to limit the potential for “It’s a no-brainer. When people
“It’s not required but I think it contamination, she explains.
The closures, typically announced should be. I’ve required my staff to come in here they see what we’re do-
on social media, come at the dis- wear masks since we reopened. Is it “All staff have hand sanitizer in ing and I think they feel comfortable,”
cretion of restaurant owners. Many hard? Yes, but it has to be done right their aprons and we even have hand she adds.
states and localities do not require now,” he adds. Varricchio says he’s washing parties,” she says with a
restaurants where employees have even gone as far as forbidding his staff chuckle. “We assume that everybody “What it boils down to is personal
tested positive to shutter. What steps from going to some of the places in town that comes in has been exposed so responsibility,” says Kelleher. “People
owners take when faced with a sick that aren’t following the CDC’s recom- we’re doing everything we can to pre- need to realize how important what
employee – whether it’s deep clean- mended protocol. vent the spread, especially with so they do is to other people. Every-
ing the entire space, informing cus- many people coming to Vero from ar- body needs to do their part to keep
tomers or testing other staffers – are Leanne Kelleher, Tides chef/owner, eas with high infection rates.” other people safe if we’re going to get
largely up to them. has relaxed some of service standards through this.”
expected in a fine dining establish- Kelleher says she’s been sold out,
Though they’re not required to, ment to keep both members of her often having to turn customers away Please let me know your thoughts,
many owners are opting to go public because she’s taking the suggested observations and comments by
when they know the virus has been in emailing [email protected].
their midst.
Emily Heil of the Washington Post
While they haven’t heard of any contributed to this story. 
cases yet at restaurants in Vero
Beach, Kilted Mermaid owners Linda
Moore and Rick Norry have a plan in
place should it occur at their restau-
rant and bar.

“We haven’t been told that we’re
required to report it but we would.
It’s the only responsible thing to do,”
says Moore. “We would close and get
everyone tested. We have a firm that
will come in and do a deep clean.”

Initially, Norry says they gave staff
the option to wear masks but when
cases began to spike they made it
mandatory. They even have hand
sanitizers at every table.

Norry says they are keeping live
entertainment to solos and duos and
have halted their Open Mic Night in
an abundance of caution. “I just don’t
think it’s responsible right now.”

Paying for testing and cleaning –
not to mention lost business – means
another financial hit in an industry
that’s already suffering.

Scott Varricchio, Citrus chef/own-
er, says he is incurring more costs be-
cause he keeps four people on staff at
all times for the sole purpose of sani-
tizing every surface, railings, door
handles, chairs, tables, etc.

“I have more employees working
now than I did before because I want
to do what’s right. I have heard from a
number of customers, ‘We have come
back here because other places are
not doing what you’re doing and we
don’t feel safe there.’”

Varricchio also said he was heart-

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / June 25, 2020 47

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