04/28/2022 ISSUE 17

School Board cleared after
review of books. P18
COVID-19 infections

rising sharply again. P16
Graves family pleased by plans
for sports and recreation complex. P17

For breaking news visit

MY VERO Better way needed
to deal with Baker
BY RAY MCNULTY Act admissions

Fairness and credibility
lacking at Sheriff’s Office

Two vital elements were PHOTO: CHUCKPALMERPHOTOS.COM BY MICHELLE GENZ
noticeably missing from the
Sheriff’s Office’s Internal Affairs Decision deferred on future of Archie Smith Fish House site Staff Writer
investigation of three trumped-
up allegations made against BY RAY McNULTY of Indian River Drive at the last remaining building – the The first court hearing is
now-Capt. Milo Thornton, who Staff Writer north end of Sebastian, was so-called “residence” on the likely not the last in the case of
was demoted and reassigned listed on the National Regis- Indian River Lagoon’s shore- the shooting death by sheriff’s
with a pay cut despite being More than two decades ter of Historic Places, and na- line – could be history. deputies of a mental health
cleared of any policy violations. have passed since the 90-year- ture has not been kind. patient at Cleveland Clinic In-
old Archie Smith Fish House County commissioners last dian River Hospital.
Fairness. property, located on east side By this time next year, the week postponed a decision
And credibility. county-owned 1.15-acre site’s The hospital system is seek-
Anyone who has read the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ing an injunction against the
nearly 300-page IA report re- Indian River County sheriff’s
leased to the public last week department to keep the sher-
will see that Thornton was not iff from publicly releasing the
afforded any semblance of hospital’s security camera
due process throughout the video of the incident, as the
two-month investigation of sheriff is eager to do.
allegations that he created an
“extremely hostile” work envi- The sheriff, who obtained
ronment at the jail. the video through a subpoena
He was suspended with pay along with the patient’s clini-
immediately upon the launch cal medical records, believes it
of the investigation – a decision exonerates his two SWAT team
based solely on questionable deputies who shot the patient
complaints from disgruntled as he came at them with a pair
subordinates. He was never af- of scissors a month ago.
forded the opportunity to con-
front his accusers or respond In addition to the hearing
this week, a grand jury is ex-
pected to review the depu-
ties’ actions to see if state laws

CONTINUED ON PAGE 12 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

Jreochonr’ds I$s1la.1ndmFiloluionndatotifounnbdrignrgasnitns Vero radiologist celebrates quarter of a century as organ recipient

BY MARY SCHENKEL fill, but in fact double, one of BY LISA ZAHNER Dr. John Hoffmann. PHOTO BY KAILA JONES liver and abnormal liver en-
Staff Writer its largest grants ever. Staff Writer zymes. I was followed for a few
months until things normal-
The John’s Island Founda- Grant co-chairs Francie Dr. John Hoffmann, a radi- ized. Then when I was 13, un-
tion raised a record $1.1 mil- Cramb and Margie Wheeler ologist at Vero Radiology Asso- dergoing an entrance physical
lion from its philanthropic posit the increase in dona- ciates, was in college a quarter for high school, it was noted
membership this year and tions by John’s Island residents of a century ago when he was my liver enzymes were elevat-
thus was able to not only ful- to their grasp of the devastat- added to the long list of people ed,” Hoffmann said. Eight years
in need of a new liver. later, after countless tests and
CONTINUED ON PAGE 14
“I was born with an enlarged CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

April 28, 2022 Volume 15, Issue 17 Newsstand Price $1.00 Moorings team
raises $877K
News 1-18 Editorial 48 People 19-40 TO ADVERTISE CALL for ‘Habitat.’ P28
Arts 55-60 Games 51-53 Pets 76 772-559-4187
Books 50 Health 61-67 Real Estate 79-92
Dining 72-75 Insight 41-54 Style 68-71 FOR CIRCULATION
CALL 772-226-7925

© 2022 Vero Beach 32963 Media LLC. All rights reserved.

2 Vero Beach 32963 / April 28, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Archie Smith Fish House public by rehabilitating the main house The commissioners favored install- freezer in the back of a restaurant, and
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 for use as a small museum and visitor ing the additional handrails and ex- they’d have the same experience.”
center, repairing the dock, restoring the panding the dock to cover the former
on the fate of the long-shuttered build- Ice House and providing boating access. Ice House location, with the possibil- Commissioner Joe Earman focused
ing, but they voted unanimously to seek ity of building a roofed, open-air pavil- on the main building, asking whether
bids and design proposals from contrac- The dock was reconstructed in 2018- ion for use as a picnic area. “termites holding hands” were keep-
tors to expand the already-reconstructed 19 – using $206,000 in state grants and ing the structure intact and later say-
boardwalk/dock area and install addi- matching funds from the county – with A county staff report stated that ing, “I’d almost take that down, too.”
tional handrails. new handrails, lighting and hydrants funding for such a project would come
lining the boardwalk. from the $290,000-plus remaining in Once the building was demolished, he
The expansion, which could include the county’s current fiscal-year capital said, the county could invest in “some
a covered pavilion to be used as an over- A black chain-link fence was in- improvement account. really nice landscaping” and signage to
the-water picnic area near the east end stalled along the northern edge of the remind visitors of the site’s historical sig-
of the dock, would occupy the now-va- property, and a small beach-like area Several commissioners last week nificance.
cant site of the property’s recently de- behind the residence was cleaned up. expressed interest in creating a kayak
molished Ice House. Despite the county’s patchwork efforts launch on the “beachy area,” as Powell “Just doing that would be a plus,”
to stabilize them, however, the build- called it. All of them opposed rebuild- Earman said.
The Ice House, which was knocked ings continued to deteriorate. ing the Ice House, citing the lack of any
down and removed in March, had dete- meaningful public benefit. Commissioner Susan Adams asked
riorated to the point where parts of the After the Ice House was demolished Powell what was planned for the larger
building were collapsing and debris was and county staffers consulted with “To try to recreate something where parcel of land across the street, on the
falling into the lagoon, posing safety County Historian Ruth Stanbridge, Pow- people walk out there and say, ‘OK, 50 west side of Indian River Drive.
hazards to the reconstructed dock, curi- ell presented to commissioners three years ago, we brought some crabs in
ous boaters and others who might try to options for the Fish House property: here …?’” Commission Chairman Pe- Powell said customers of the neigh-
access the dilapidated structure. ter O’Bryan said. “To me, that just isn’t boring restaurant use that property –
 Redesign and reconstruct the Ice a real high tourist attraction.” without the county’s permission – for
Not only did the building begin to lean House, which would need to be built in parking. Otherwise, it stands idle. She
toward the dock, but county staffers had accordance with current building codes. Or as Commissioner Joe Flescher put said there were “conceptual plans” to
been receiving complaints from custom- it: “We could bring them into a walk-in build a pavilion and small walking-trail
ers of the Sebastian Saltwater Marina  Install similar handrails along area on the property, but they were
Restaurant (formerly Captain Butchers), the section of the dock where the Ice never approved or implemented.
which operates immediately south of the House was located and post along the
Fish House, about floating debris. length of the boardwalk “commemo- “There are some large oak trees
rative educational signage” that tells there, and some areas that could be uti-
The Fish House residence, also known the history of the property. lized as a passive park,” Powell said.
as the “main building,” likely will be the “There’s not a lot of room for parking
next to disappear.  Design and build a covered pavil- on the site. However, there’s a city of
ion for public use on the site of the Ice Sebastian parking lot just one lot to
Beth Powell, the county’s interim House, and post the aforementioned the south.”
parks and recreation director, told the educational signage.
County Commission that she believes The commissioners agreed to revisit
the building, which hasn’t served as a the fate of the Fish House’s main build-
residence since the mid-1990s, is “past ing this summer – after taking a tour of
the point of rehabilitation.” the property – but there appeared to
be no support for spending the money
She described the residence’s condi- necessary to restore it.
tion as “not in great shape,” explaining
that the floor is mostly missing and the Adams said she wished the county
building’s siding has begun to warp. She could preserve all the old, historic struc-
said there was already termite damage tures in the community, but agreed that
when the county purchased the prop- it’s not practical. Instead, she preferred
erty for $1.7 million in 2007 as part of its the commissioners adopt a plan to “pay
Environmental Lands Program. homage to what was there and create
a public amenity that will actually be
“It’s not safe to go inside that build- used by the public.”
ing, so doing an assessment is very dif-
ficult,” Powell said. “The building hasn’t Commissioner Laura Moss, who en-
been safe for many years.” dorsed O’Bryan’s suggestion that the
county take a “minimalist approach” in
When the county acquired the prop- addressing the Fish House property, said
erty in 2007, the staff developed con- she agreed with shifting the “focal point”
ceptual plans to open the site to the of the site from historic to public use.

“It’s a beautiful area,” Moss said. “I’m
glad it’s ours.” 

Baker Act donor dollars and Cleveland Clinic’s unsecured door made secure, and GPS software engineer and avid skydiver
own funding were spent in recent years guided panic buttons for staff have been from Sebastian who according to Sher-
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 to greatly improve – and make safer – added; that last addition, to quickly pin- iff Eric Flowers was suicidal, waited as
the Cleveland Clinic Behavioral Health point the location of a staff member in long as 30 hours on a gurney in the ER
were broken in the shooting. Center, a 46-bed facility and designat- the event a patient turns violent. hallway prior to the incident.
While attorneys wrangle over issues ed Baker Act receiving facility for adults
and children across the street from the Adding beds to the Behavioral Health Determining the need of inpatient
in a case that drew headlines far from hospital. Center, a long-term and expensive mental health beds – the most inten-
Florida, local officials are working on option, had been discussed even be- sive level of mental health care – is
how to prevent such an occurrence Among the improvements: a new fore this recent incident, according to difficult, in part because ample out-
in the future. Blame for the shooting side entrance that enables arriving pa- Hospital District Chairman Marybeth patient services can be enough to get
death may not be assigned for years tients to go directly into the facility, by- Cunningham. It would be the most some people through a crisis, if they
to come, but mental health advocates passing the front lobby where visitors ambitious solution to getting a patient are available. On the other hand, such
and hospital executives are working and other patients are often present. in crisis into a safe and more dignified outpatient services can actually serve
intensively to change the system now. environment. to increase the need for beds if they
Countless safety measures including identify more patients in crisis.
The tragedy comes after millions of cameras in the parking lot, a previously The patient who died, a 29-year-old

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / April 28, 2022 3

NEWS

Brett Hall, who leads the county’s That space would presumably be more morning, she said, another four Baker Even though the number of psychi-
Mental Health Collaborative, last week secure than the largely open areas of Act patients had been brought in. atric beds in the county has remained
told the Hospital District that the ser- the current ER, and easier to check for essentially unchanged since 2002, the
vice most in demand of late is therapy, potentially dangerous implements. It didn’t take a tragedy to make men- population has grown by a third.
the kind of counseling with a psychol- tal health a top concern in successive
ogist or social worker that typically is “There are long-term things and annual community needs assessments. In 2002, there were 32.5 adult psych
sought at the early signs of depression, short-term things that we can do,” The dearth of inpatient beds may be beds per 100,000 residents; since then,
anxiety, grief or anger management. Cunningham said. “They’ve already sporadic, March being the busiest hos- the population has grown from 119,000
moved (a staff person) from the Behav- pital month of the year. But there is no to nearly 170,000 today. That works out
While the state as a whole has en- ioral Health Center to the ER, just to doubt that over the years, the shortage to a rate of just over 20 psych beds per
joyed a rapid rise in mental health help ease that situation.” That Monday has gotten worse.
counselors, they are not moving to CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
Vero or Sebastian. Hall didn’t get into
numbers, but according to Florida
Health Charts, the rate of counselors
per 100,000 jumped by 10 to 57.3 in the
state from 2016 to 2020, but only rose
by 3 per 100,000 to 39.2 in Indian River
County.

The rate of licensed clinical social
workers grew by only a third as much
as the state average. There are only
about half the number of marriage and
family counselors here per 100,000
residents as there are in the state as a
whole. And the rate here is in decline: It
used to be much higher than the state
average, at 9.5 per 100,000 in 2016. By
2020, the county’s rate had fallen to 5.7
per 100,000 residents.

The county has seen a growing num-
ber of psychologists in the past 20 years
but Indian River is still slightly below
the state average.

Hall says much of the problem has to
do with insurance; many providers now
accept only private pay. Hall has started
calling retired psychologists, hoping to
get them to see patients pro bono.

Hall has ambitious ideas for draw-
ing more mental health practitioners
to town. He told the District Board he
is contacting college campuses and
recruiting graduates in need of intern-
ships, hoping to retain them when
their required hours are up.

“What we envision is having a huge
student practicum fair once a year,”
he told the Hospital District last week.
Those young recruits may help staff
the beds at the Behavioral Health Cen-
ter. They may even fill openings should
the hospital decide to hire social work-
ers for the ER, a quick fix under discus-
sion that could prove life-saving if a
trained eye can catch a patient headed
toward distress.

Another solution being discussed,
according to Cunningham, is opening
a separate psychiatric emergency de-
partment – a concept that exists most-
ly in large teaching hospitals. There,
social workers and psychiatrists are
on staff full time, along with specially
trained psychiatric techs and sitters.

In the meantime, Cleveland Clinic
Indian River Hospital officials are talk-
ing about creating a dedicated space of
“four or five beds,” according to Cun-
ningham, for Baker Act patients to be
able to wait without being exposed to
the upset of the often-chaotic goings-
on of emergency medical patients.

4 Vero Beach 32963 / April 28, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Baker Act demic, people avoided the ER if they in handcuffs. The per capita number of for her leadership after that event,”
could. But proportionally, the number Baker Act cases has doubled in two de- Hall told the Hospital District Board.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3 of mental health visits rose even fur- cades, the article went on. In 2019, the “She pulled us together quickly, and
ther. latest figure available, there was one the whole conversation was ‘Money
100,000 residents, a drop of more than Baker Act involuntary examination for aside: What do we do in the short term
a third. The need for inpatient psych beds every 100 Floridians. and what do we do in the long term
stems from a void left when practitio- to make sure that this never happens
Still, that number would not stand ners began to release mental health Children made up close to one-fifth again.’ I was really pleased at some of
out to state officials. It is almost ex- patients in state hospitals, where some of the 211,000 Baker Act cases that year, the ideas that came out of that.”
actly the same as the state average, of them were confined for many years, with some experts concerned that the
and that rate hasn’t changed signifi- too often against their will. surge could be linked to an increase in For the patient who never made it out
cantly in two decades. By comparison, law enforcement on school campuses. of the emergency room, the search for a
Indian River County’s inpatient men- As so-called “insane asylums” be- bed in a Baker Act receiving facility ex-
tal health care was in relatively great gan to close in the 1960s, thousands Anne Posey, director of the Behav- tended to adjacent counties that Satur-
shape 20 years ago. Now, with many of mentally ill people – some of them ioral Health Center, has a deep knowl- day night. And it wasn’t just one patient.
more people and barely more beds, it’s on the road to recovery – had no safe edge of mental health care in the area,
as bad as it is statewide. place to go. Deinstitutionalization was including nine years at New Horizons There were seven Baker Act patients
a well-intended notion; but with no in St. Lucie County, and facility ad- waiting in the ER that night, according
Florida ranks 24th in the nation alternative in place, it may have re- ministrator at Martin Girls Academy, to a source familiar with the circum-
for its rate of inpatient mental health sulted in increased stigma as patients a juvenile detention center. She joined stances. At least one of the four depu-
beds. Its total expenditure on mental formerly struggling in private suddenly the Behavioral Health Center in 2017, ties at the nurses’ station that night was
health is abysmal, ranking 46th in the became visible and vulnerable. prior to the Cleveland Clinic takeover. there in connection with another Baker
nation, though that figure does not in- Act patient, according to Flowers.
clude Medicaid dollars. The Baker Act law, enacted in 1971, In November 2021, she was named
guaranteed patients would not be regional director of behavioral health Typically there is one deputy in the
One in five adults in the U.S. had held involuntarily for examination for for Cleveland Clinic Florida, though ER, he said.
mental illness in 2020, with one in 20 more than 72 hours. But the law, origi- this is the only one of the five hos-
experiencing severe illness, of the sort nally aimed at safeguarding mental pitals that offers inpatient mental The presence of four deputies in the
that might provoke the Baker Act. Na- health patients’ civil rights, has ended health care. Though the hospital de- overflowing ER that night may have
tionwide, fewer than half of those with up doing the opposite, with more than clined to arrange an interview with been a comfort for some – Sheriff Flow-
mental illness got treatment in 2020; half of Baker Act cases initiated by po- her now, she gave an extensive tour ers remarked that nurses were surely
64 percent of those with severe illness lice instead of health professionals or and interview in March 2020. thanking the deputies who fired their
got treatment. judges. guns that night. “I’m sure the nursing
Posey is herself an instructor for cri- staff of the hospital today are happy that
Before the pandemic, visits to ERs That, the Tampa Bay Times pointed sis prevention intervention, an eight- nobody got hurt, that they’re all alive to
across the nation for mental health or out last year as the Florida legislature hour training done with all caregivers, talk about it today,” said Flowers.
substance abuse reasons amounted to considered strengthening the law, “not just nurses,” she said.
8 percent of all visits. During the pan- means many patients arrive at the ER But the same presence can cause
“All of our staff know how to han- anxiety in others.
dle aggressive patients and how to
do verbal de-escalation. We do a lot The intersection of law enforce-
of training around the Baker Act law. ment and patients with mental illness
It’s an old, clunky law and you have can be fraught, experts say. The sight
to have a lot of knowledge to manage of armed, uniformed officers can be
through all the different things that triggering for some patients with past
the current law requires.”’ negative experiences with law enforce-
ment, especially important consider-
A tour of the Behavioral Health Cen- ing as many as 36 percent of the prison
ter in 2021 revealed one room with population has diagnosed mental ill-
an unexpected purpose: a miniature ness; the figure is 44 percent in local
courtroom, complete with state and jails, according to the latest research by
U.S. flags, where a judge appears on the Prison Policy Initiative.
a screen to preside over the required
Baker Act hearing when a patient Those inmates, once released, are
needs to stay longer than the 72 hours potential patients, often cycling in
the law provides for, and the patient and out of treatment, and sometimes
doesn’t want to stay or they aren’t able through ERs.
to make that decision. “Then we have
court,” said Posey. The two spheres of public servants
– law enforcement and health care
“It’s a full-fledged Baker Act court, workers – can treat the same mental
not mental health court. The magistrate illness as either a crime or as a disease.
comes with her bailiff and there are at- Slowly the sectors may be coming to-
torneys present. It’s very much a pro- gether in their approaches through
tection of the patient’s rights. I’m old training and understanding.
enough to remember when we used to
haul them down to the courthouse in A study published last year on men-
a van. It wasn’t a big issue going down tal health patients and police pointed
there because everybody thought they to an incident in Dallas in which a
were leaving. Coming back was pretty man with bipolar disorder was shot
dicey.” five times by police seconds into an
encounter in which he refused to drop
Posey held a meeting days after the a screwdriver. Authors of the study in-
shooting incident with a broad coali- terviewed a mental health peace of-
tion of mental health providers. Ac- ficer whose crisis intervention team
cording to Brett Hall, who was in atten- intentionally wore khakis and a polo
dance, she led off with a declaration: shirt instead of a traditional uniform,
Don’t think about costs, just come up with no visible weapon.
with solutions.
The team also received trauma-in-
“I’d like to commend Anne Posey formed care training, a recent addition
to crisis intervention to prepare offi-

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / April 28, 2022 5

NEWS

cers for how their actions might affect a paper on law enforcement and crisis medical providers, each with their own to teach first responders how to rec-
people for whom life traumas have af- services put out by the research arm of internal guidance systems but all hop- ognize and deal with mental illness.
fected their mental well-being. the National Association of State Men- ing to care for those suffering. At the sheriff’s department, the cam-
tal Health Program Directors. The pa- paign to train deputies is just getting
And that works both ways. Trauma- per stresses the importance of close In Vero Beach, every city police offi- underway. The department would not
informed care also includes under- cooperation between law enforcement, cer has already received mental health comment on what degree of crisis in-
standing the traumatizing effects of the mental health providers and emergency first aid training, a program offered
work of first responders, according to by the Mental Health Collaborative CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

6 Vero Beach 32963 / April 28, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Baker Act leaders succeeded in getting the hos- them the trauma of the often-frenetic ER. skip the ER and go straight into psych care.
pital to change its Baker Act procedure Adults, though, are still required The patient in this case was brought
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5 for children so that they are no longer
required to go to the Cleveland Clinic to first be medically screened at the by family to the emergency room as
tervention training the four deputies Emergency Department first; they can main hospital’s ER before moving much as 30 hours earlier, according to
at the hospital had already had. now go straight to the Behavioral Health over to the Behavioral Health Center. Flowers. He was waiting for a bed to
Center, a major improvement that spares Cunningham would like to see that free up at one of the area’s four Baker
In recent years, local mental health changed for adults so they too could
CONTINUED ON PAGE 8



8 Vero Beach 32963 / April 28, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Baker Act patient, extending his arm toward him. The security camera video “doesn’t make conference stated affirmatively that he
Two deputies, both on the SWAT anybody else feel (the deputies) were to- will release the Hospital surveillance
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6 tally in the right,” she said. video to the public. The Hospital has
team and including the one on duty attempted to reach resolution with the
Act receiving facilities: Circles of Care in for the hospital, line up directly in his In their motion for a temporary in- Sheriff concerning release of the video
Melbourne; Lawnwood Hospital in Fort path. Four seconds later, the patient junction, Cleveland Clinic Florida’s without success.”
Pierce; New Horizons in south St. Lucie lay on the floor dying, shot by both lawyers cited federal HIPAA law and
County; and Cleveland Clinic’s own Be- deputies after he raised the scissors in the Baker Act, and asked the court to The hospital called the shooting a
havioral Health Center across the street the air and approached them. preclude the sheriff from “releasing “tragic loss of life.”
from the hospital. photographs, video recordings, audio
A sheriff’s spokesperson said the recordings, private medical informa- Four days after the filing, on the day
According to a source familiar with other three deputies’ bodycams “were tion and all other statutorily protected Flowers was emailed the summons for
the matter, the patient who died was not operating at the time.” information concerning patient John the hearing, he posted a statement on
under the supervision of a nurse and a Doe’s death,” including through public the sheriff’s office Facebook page: “I
patient sitter. He was resting on a gur- Within hours of the shooting, Flow- records requests by the media. have been fighting to release the vid-
ney near the first in the ER’s circle of ers had subpoenaed the hospital’s se- eo of the incident recorded inside of
patient rooms, and had stood up calm- curity camera video as well as the pa- The hospital also filed for a perma- the Emergency Department. I was on
ly “to stretch his legs.” tient’s medical record. nent injunction on releasing the pa- scene that night and viewed the video
tient’s records. which, in my opinion, shows the dep-
Somehow, he got hold of a pair of scis- By the time he held a press confer- uties had no choice but to take the ac-
sors and made his way in his hospital ence the next day, a copy of the hospital “The Hospital believes it is impor- tion they did to defend their lives and
gown through a short central hallway. video was on his phone. He showed it to tant for the Court and the parties to the lives of others in the ER.
On the only bodycam known to have two reporters, including Nick Samuel, preserve the dignity of the patient who
been worn and working among the four breaking news reporter for this organi- was experiencing a mental health cri- “I know many questions still remain
deputies, the patient comes into view as zation. Samuel said the video showed sis and to demonstrate compassion unanswered, but having seen the video
he rounds a corner at the nurses’ station more of the patient’s forward motion for his family especially in connection myself, I can assure you our team re-
at the center of the circle of rooms. than the deputy’s bodycam. with graphic video that depicts the pa- sponded appropriately based on their
tient’s death and last moments of life,” training and I stand by their actions.”
Hearing a commotion, according to Flowers also may have shared it with the hospital said in its filing.
Flowers (the audio isn’t turned on in mental health officials from around the The hearing was scheduled for this
that portion of the body cam video), county at a meeting of the Mental Health “Defendant (the sheriff) has already past Tuesday (April 26) before Circuit
one deputy suddenly turns to face the Collaborative, according to Marybeth publicly released officer body cam vid- Judge Janet Croom. It’s not known when
Cunningham of the Hospital District, eo of the incident and at a recent press she will issue a ruling. 
who spoke with attendees afterwards.

Organ donor Dr. John Hoffmann pictured in the hospital shortly after his liver transplant in 1996. Hoffmann said he’s known of an organ
donor that was 95 years old, whose re-
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 a fellowship in diagnostic radiology studies, and during my residency in cipient was 74 years old.
at Indiana University Medical Center, Louisville and Cincinnati I was active
procedures, Hoffmann’s doctors decid- one of the hospitals where he’d been in volunteering at the local organ do- People of racial and ethnic minori-
ed a transplant was his only option. treated 15 years earlier, before his liv- nation centers in those cities,” Hoff- ties are especially encouraged to reg-
er transplant. “Since the transplant, mann said. ister, as 60 percent of people waiting
“I was on the transplant list for about I have been extremely fortunate and on the transplant list are minorities.
three months, which is a really short blessed,” he said. At any given moment, more than Surprisingly, even COVID-19 positive
time. Some people can wait up to five 116,000 people across the United States patients who die may be eligible to do-
years, or longer,” he said. Though he’s not directly involved in are awaiting an organ transplant, accord- nate certain organs and tissues.
recovering or transplanting donated ing to April 2022 numbers published by
Eighty-five percent of the people on organs and tissues in his daily practice the United Network for Organ Sharing or In 2021, nearly 2,800 Floridians re-
the transplant list are waiting for a kid- as a radiologist in Vero Beach, Hoff- UNOS. Of the people currently waiting, ceived an organ transplant, and 230
ney, while 11 percent are waiting for a mann has crossed paths with some more than 5,200 live in Florida. people in the 10 counties of Central
liver. Matching liver donors with recipi- of the many patients who wait by the Florida passed on their organs to grate-
ents, Hoffmann said, is a matter of body phone for that all-important call that One organ donor can save up to ful recipients. But the statistics are not
size and blood type. it’s their turn to receive a life-trans- eight lives, and can help restore health all happy ones. Every nine minutes, a
forming gift. to up to 75 people with other tissue new person is added to the national
When doctors determined Hoff- donations. There is no age limit to be- organ transplant waiting list, so the de-
mann needed a transplant at 21 years “During my residency and fellow- coming an organ donor. One third of mand is always overwhelming.
old in 1996, split-liver directed trans- ship training, I evaluated pre-and post- registered donors are age 50 and older,
plants from living donors such as a transplant patients’ radiology/imaging 7 percent are age 65 and older, and Every day, an average of 20 people die
close relative were only experimental, while waiting for an organ transplant.
and they still remain rare and mostly In 2020, more than 6,100 Americans
benefit children whose bodies can’t al- died while on the national transplant
ways accept a whole adult donor liver. waiting list. Most of those 20 people
who die each day while waiting for or-
Hoffmann’s condition worsened on gan transplants are preventable deaths,
a trip to Florida with his parents and but the challenge is to encourage more
that factor moved him near the top of people to register as organ donors.
the waiting list for a liver. On Dec. 21,
1996, he received his new liver at the Since Hoffmann received a donated
Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, liver 26 years ago, he and his family
where he spent 10 days recovering, and have devoted much time and financial
another two weeks being observed as resources to raising awareness about
an outpatient. the tremendous power organ donors
have to save and extend lives. Since
“I had a couple of episodes of re- April is Organ Donor Awareness Month,
jection after my surgery, but my new Hoffmann hopes his story might open a
liver’s excellent function took over in mind or a heart to consider becoming
mid-February of 1997 and it has been an organ donor.
that way ever since,” Hoffmann said.
“After my mother’s passing in 2017,
Since then, he got married, gradu- an endowment fund was established in
ated from medical school and became her name at the Kentucky Organ Donor
a father. In 2011, Hoffman completed

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / April 28, 2022 9

NEWS

Affiliates office in Louisville. The donor “Interestingly enough since Mom’s for their loved ones’ organs and tissues person for Our Legacy Florida, the agen-
fund helps families in need supply life- donation, the number of organ donors to be donated is that they don’t know cy tasked with working with organ do-
saving medication for transplant recip- in the state of Kentucky has nearly dou- what the deceased person would have nors across the Central Florida region,
ients,” Hoffmann said. bled,” Hoffmann said. wanted in that situation. which includes Indian River County.

The fund also helps educate health- Experts in organ donor coordination “It’s important to start a conversation Aboodi and Hoffmann both encour-
care workers in the field of organ trans- say the number one reason why fam- with your family about your decision to aged local residents to educate them-
plantation. ily members opt not to give consent save lives,” said Janna Aboodi, spokes-
CONTINUED ON PAGE 12





12 Vero Beach 32963 / April 28, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Organ donor despite failing to produce violations,
resulted in a demotion.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9
Or was it because nothing Thornton
selves, and to commit to being a life- could say or present would’ve made a
saving organ donor online at www. difference?
registerme.org, or in-person at the In-
dian River County Tax Collector’s Of- “I’ve done criminal defense work
fice. Registered organ donors get a red for 25 years, and I’ve never seen a law-
heart on their Florida Driver Licenses enforcement officer demoted when
or state ID cards. Parents can register the allegations weren’t sustained,” said
their minor children as well. Andy Metcalf, the Vero Beach attorney
who represented Thornton through-
Another frequent objection to sign- out the investigation.
ing on as an organ donor, Hoffmann
cites, is that people are misinformed “You just don’t see that” he added,
to think that doctors and other health- “especially with such a high-ranking of-
care professionals won’t do everything ficer.”
in their power to save a patient’s life if
they are an organ donor. In fact, the That’s not the worst of it, however.
matter of whether or not a patient is More troubling, perhaps, than the
a registered organ donor only arises unfairness of not allowing Thornton
after brain death is determined, or all to present a defense was who was
hope of survival is lost. interviewed, who wasn’t interviewed
and how the questions were framed.
In 2004, Hoffman met the family of Metcalf said he gave the Sheriff’s Of-
the young man from Minnesota who fice the names of witnesses who might
made his liver transplant possible. offer a different story than the inves-
tigator was hearing from disgruntled
“My donor and I share the same first corrections-division deputies who
name. He died at 18 years of age in a didn’t embrace the changes Flowers
traumatic snowmobile accident,” Hoff- wanted – and Thornton began imple-
man said. “I think about him all the menting – at the jail in January 2021.
time. He was an excellent ice hockey They were never interviewed.
player destined for a Division 1 NCAA Just so you know: Not all of the witness-
hockey school. I pray for him and his es interviewed were critical of Thornton’s
family every day.”  management style, which was described
by others as authoritative, confronta-
My Vero tional and lacking in compassion.
Some defended him, which couldn’t
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 have been easy, given the slanted,
leading manner in which questions
to the allegations, which couldn’t be were put to them. In the summaries of
sustained. the interviews included in the report,
the investigator too often appeared to
He was demoted from deputy chief frame questions in ways that painted
without getting a chance to defend Thornton in a negative light or pre-
himself. sumed he was acting inappropriately.
For example: A lieutenant was asked
Think about that. if he ever witnessed or overheard an
Thornton was the target of the in- incident in which Thornton “targeted,
vestigation. He was, at the time, the belittled or berated” another lieuten-
No. 3-ranked member of the agency, ant about his job performance.
behind only Sheriff Eric Flowers and There are plenty of other similar
Undersheriff Thom Raulen. He was scenarios in the report.
the third-highest-ranked Black law So is it any surprise, then, that already-
enforcement officer in the county’s disgruntled employees who were asked
97-year history. leading questions might say something
And nobody wanted to talk to him? unflattering about a no-nonsense su-
The investigation into the hos- pervisor trying to improve jail condi-
tile-work-environment complaints tions and operations by implementing
dragged on for more than two months new strategies and procedures?
before curiously changing course in And, again, why were those specific
late March, when it became a scav- employees questioned while others
enger hunt that produced two other were not?
bogus allegations that went nowhere. Truth is, this investigation and re-
Eighteen witnesses were inter- port left unanswered several relevant
viewed, a list that included captains, questions that Flowers needs to an-
lieutenants, jail nurses and even a ci- swer – but probably won’t.
vilian from outside the agency. Three In an effort to get those answers,
of them were brought back for further however, I contacted Sheriff’s Office
questioning. spokesperson Debbie Carson last week
Thornton, though, was shut out, and emailed her a handful of questions,
perhaps because what he might say asking that either Flowers or Under-
– and the evidence he might produce sheriff Thom Raulen respond to them.
– would derail an investigation that,
CONTINUED ON PAGE 14



14 Vero Beach 32963 / April 28, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

My Vero is supposed to conduct investigations – and place in an environment where pect nature of this case, which was based
without influence from above. interaction with students is likely, if not on complaints from shaky sources and
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12 necessary – someone who other high- allegations that couldn’t be proven.
Don’t you find it odd that Flowers ranking deputies described as arro-
They didn’t, of course. dispatched Raulen, who filed the for- gant, hostile, undermining, dismissive Flowers’ loss of faith in Thornton’s
Flowers doesn’t interact one-on-one mal complaint that launched the in- and rude? ability to lead also should raise eye-
with news-media members he doesn’t vestigation, to inform Thornton of his brows, given his contention that we
consider friendly. Instead, he controls suspension – and, later, to notify him I also asked: What was lacking in the shouldn’t lose faith in his ability to lead
the agency’s message through sharply of the new allegations – rather than evidence and/or testimony given dur- the Sheriff’s Office in the wake of the
produced videos released through so- confront him face to face? ing the investigation that prevented public apology he offered after his mar-
cial media, dodging the efforts of those the allegations made against Thorn- ital infidelity was exposed in February.
of us trying to hold him accountable. Is that what real leaders do? ton from being sustained?
My guess is, his desire to control the As for my questions, I was especially At the very least, it’s hypocritical of
message also factored into his deci- looking forward to getting Flowers’ re- What was the overall impact on the Flowers to not extend to Thornton the
sion to replace the lieutenant who pre- sponse to this one, regarding Thorn- conditions and operations at the jail same spirit of understanding and for-
viously oversaw the IA division, which ton’s reassignment: during Thornton’s time as supervisor? giveness he asked of his wife, his agen-
Why did you choose to assign to the cy and the community.
newly created School Safety Division And following up on Flowers’ claim
– in his April 5 letter informing Thorn- It should surprise no one that Flow-
ton of his demotion – that he had “at- ers, despite being politically wounded
tempted to coach and counsel” him on by the extramarital affair, announced
interacting with employees, I asked how, last week his intention to seek re-elec-
when and in what setting those counsel- tion in 2024.
ing and coaching sessions took place.
Could his desire to keep the job
To be sure, I’d also like to know why have prompted the allegations against
Flowers didn’t allow Thornton to re- Thornton, who, according to local law
spond to the complaints that prompt- enforcement sources, Flowers consid-
ed the sheriff to demote him. ers a potential challenger in that sher-
iff’s race?
Again, I don’t expect an answer.
But you should. This Internal Affairs report, which
In his letter to Thornton, Flowers lacks the fairness and credibility we
wrote that based on his review of the should expect from our Sheriff’s Office,
IA case: “I have lost faith in your ability does nothing to quiet such suspicions.
to lead at the Deputy Chief level.”
That makes no sense, given the sus- Too much of it reads like a negative
campaign ad. 

Experience That Delivers John’s Island grants donors and considerable funds, to
Exceptional Results CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 make a real impact.”

BUSINESS SERVICES ing impact the pandemic continues Knowing that Price and Hubbard
Audit & Assurance to have on lower-income families, would have to go elsewhere to fund
particularly the increasing scarcity contingency fees and outfit the inside,
Tax Preparation & Planning of affordable housing in Indian River they received board approval to in-
Accounting & CFO Solutions • Tax Resolution County. crease the grant to $200,000.

Mergers & Acquisitions Therefore, when a $100,000 grant re- “That is the biggest we’ve ever grant-
quest came in from the Coalition for At- ed. But these two women are working
INDIVIDUAL SERVICES tainable Homes to build a 3,300-square- so hard right now, with placing people
Financial Planning foot triplex in Gifford, on land donated who have been evicted,” said Wheeler.
by the county, the foundation knew “The right thing was to really help them
Tax Filing & Representation it could make a difference. With two with this project.”
Elder Care three-bedroom/two bath units, and
one two-bedroom/one bath unit, the Because of its uniqueness, the John’s
Estate Planning • Family Office triplex will house three families. Island Foundation board agreed that
it should be an entirely separate grant
www.nuttallcpas.com The project is being overseen by two entity.
women who for years have tackled the
affordable housing crisis in Indian River The new McCabe Leadership Grant
County: Julianne Price, president of the is named in honor of the late visionary
Coalition for Attainable Homes, was a philanthropist Eleonora (Ellie) McCabe,
founding member of Every Dream Has who in 1999, seeing that no funders were
a Price, which merged with the Coali- addressing agency capital expenditures,
tion; and Louise Hubbard, the longtime founded the John’s Island Foundation.
executive director of the Treasure Coast This new grant will be used for special
Homeless Services Council, who wrote mission-based projects with a signifi-
the grant request on behalf of the coali- cant impact and long-term benefits.
tion.
“The John’s Island Foundation has
“They took us to the plot it was go- come up with the most support we’ve
ing to be built on, and then drove us ever received for development of af-
around to one or two of their other fordable housing in this county. We’ve
houses, and we all realized the oppor- never gotten that kind of money from
tunity here,” said Cramb. “We looked local foundations,” said Hubbard. “This
at this project and we realized that the is a project that’s a local commitment to
John’s Island Foundation had the op- doing something for this community
portunity, because we had generous that comes from their efforts.”

“It’s a partnership, because Every
Dream and Homeless Services Coun-

CONTINUED ON PAGE 16



16 Vero Beach 32963 / April 28, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

John’s Island grants first time in a long time, to cover a gen- COVID-19 infections rising sharply again here,
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 14 erator for the building. but hospitalizations remain relatively low

cil has worked with them for years,” “These service dogs help veterans BY LISA ZAHNER tests are the big unknown factor in the
added Price. and women first responders suffering Staff Writer official case numbers, as people who
from PTSD. This has turned into a real test positive on DIY test kits typically do
“It does help that it is a public-private critical need,” said Cramb. “They have New COVID-19 infections here re- not report these results to the Florida
partnership. That’s the big part,” said weekly meetings for veterans with PTSD ported to the Florida Department of Department of Health. These cases go
Wheeler. She added that because of past and weekly meetings for the female first Health more than doubled over the unrecorded unless the individuals seek
relationships, they trusted that Price responders. I had not appreciated all past week, going from 90 cases to 186 medical attention, or must report their
and Hubbard would be good stewards the different benefits these dogs can cases, and the countywide case posi- illness due to their job or school atten-
of the funds provided to them. provide. So, we’re learning a lot.” tivity rate rose 61 percent in a single dance.
week, with 7.9 percent of people being
Among the other 25 agency grants Youth Sailing Foundation received tested now being found positive. In-home tests kits can be obtained
provided this year, the Arc of Indian Riv- a first-time grant to fund catamarans free of charge through a U.S. Postal Ser-
er County received a larger than usual for special needs sailors, ages 16 to 60, In the past four weeks, the average vice website, plus most private insur-
$75,000 grant to construct a pavilion at as well as beginner elementary sailors. number of new daily infections report- ance carriers cover or reimburse mem-
its west campus for its day program. ed here has more than tripled from 8.5 bers for the purchase of these kits.
“This is certainly a very varied list; to 26.5 cases, thanks to the spread of the
“I realize it’s not housing per se, we’re trying to work on all sorts of BA.2 or “stealth Omicron” variant that’s The CDC reports four hospitaliza-
but COVID exposed all the incred- needs in Indian River County. We are taken hold in the Northeastern United tions of COVID-positive patients here
ible weaknesses that agencies here trying harder to make sure that people States and is spreading to Florida. over the past week, and eight COVID-
have been trying to tread carefully,” are aware of the Johns Island Founda- positive people were hospitalized at
said Cramb, noting that the pandem- tion,” said Cramb. “We are a more qui- Statewide, Florida is still in the green Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital
ic revealed that many agencies had et group, but that’s part of who we are. zone for low community transmission, as of Monday, up from seven.
cramped quarters. “Now having an And people are very generous.” according to the CDC’s criteria, but cas-
outside pavilion is like a house.” es rose 32 percent in a single week, from The School District of Indian River
The John’s Island Foundation, which 15,623 to 20,680 as of Friday’s report. In County reported 13 new COVID-19 in-
A new agency funded this year was has provided more than $14 million in mid-March, the whole state reported fections last week, all of among public
the Economic Opportunities Coun- grants pertaining to capital projects between 8,000 and 9,000 new cases per school students. Private and charter
cil, which received a grant to build a and improvements since 1999, solic- week. school case data is no longer available
playground at its Douglas Head Start its donations from residents through to the general public.
Center in Wabasso. After the site team a seasonal campaign letter. Wheeler Increasingly popular in-home rapid
visited, members were so impressed, credits Emily Sherwood for establish- With the snowbird migration north in
said Wheeler, that they wanted to give ing a Foundation Leadership Circle,
them the full amount requested. whose members donate $5,000 or
more, and who now account for well
Dogs for Life received a grant for the over half the money they raise. 

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / April 28, 2022 17

NEWS

full swing, plus the end of spring school Justice Department said in a statement.
terms and the summer travel season As the legal wrangling continues over
commencing in the coming weeks, the
latest COVID-19 battleground revolves the CDC’s authority to issue the man-
around mandatory masks on common date, the safer choice in the meantime
carriers – buses, trains and airplanes – for anxious travelers is to don a brand-
and in airports. new, well-fitting N95 or KN95 mask on
each flight for self-protection against the
A federal court in Florida last week highly transmissible “stealth Omicron”
struck down the CDC’s requirement that variant that is responsible for the major-
passengers wear masks while onboard. ity of new COVID-19 infections globally.

The New York Times quoted an epi- Frequent and vigorous hand-wash-
demiologist pointing out the prob- ing is always a good practice while
lems with the CDC’s mandate, saying traveling, as is social distancing at the
it’s “like a submarine that closes three airport and keeping up with any vi-
of its five doors” because the rule had tamin supplement regimen travelers
too many exceptions. follow at home for immune support.

Passengers could take off their masks And if Omicron classic and “stealth
while snacking, while they are enjoying Omicron” weren’t enough to keep track
a beverage or eating an in-flight meal. of, another virus variant – an offshoot
Add to that the reality that many people of the BA.2 strain called BA.2 12.1 – is
wear the masks incorrectly – and the now responsible for nearly one quarter
lack of a requirement that the masks of the cases in New York and New Eng-
be of the N95 or KN95 variety – and the land, according to the CDC. Not much
mandate probably didn’t accomplish is known yet about this new subvari-
much. But it likely made elderly trav- ant, except that it appears to be highly
elers, or those with underlying health transmissible like its cousins.
problems, feel less concerned about
getting on a plane, train or bus. The good news is that 95 percent of
Florida’s senior citizens and 94.4 per-
“The Department of Justice and the cent of Indian River County’s seniors
Centers for Disease Control and Pre- age 65 and older have been two-shot
vention (CDC) disagree with the district vaccinated, with more than 60 per cent
court’s decision and will appeal, subject receiving at least one booster shot, and
to CDC’s conclusion that the order re- many opting to get a second booster
mains necessary for public health," the shot as well. 

GRAVES FAMILY PLEASED BY PLANS FOR
SPORTS AND RECREATION COMPLEX

BY RAY MCNULTY Amid threats of legal action by the
Staff Writer county, which said the land must be
used for recreational purposes, Graves
The school district is doing what for- decided to donate the parcel to the
mer City Councilman Joe Graves said School District last year – with one
couldn’t be done – creating the public- stipulation.
private partnership needed to build a
community sports and recreation com- He insisted the sports facility built on
plex on the 11.6-acre parcel across 16th the property would bear his son’s name.
Street from Vero Beach High School.
Thus, the school district’s $7 million
And, yes, he’s surprised. project will include a $3.8 million Jim-
But he’s also thrilled, knowing his vi- my Graves Sports Stadium, which will
sion for the property he donated to the be built at the heart of the Vero Beach
school district could become a reality. Community Complex and include a
“What the school district has come regulation-size running track and la-
up with is amazing,” Graves said ear- crosse/soccer field.
lier this month, after the plan became
public. “I couldn’t be happier. It’s an The school district wants to begin
answered prayer.” construction later this year, and it al-
Graves, a local attorney, bought the ready has been promised half of the $4
property from the county in 2017, hop- million it hopes to raise by October.
ing to build a youth sports complex in
memory of his 15-year-old son, Jimmy, The City Council gave its blessing to
who died in a 2016 boating accident. the $7 million project – which will in-
However, Graves was unable to at- clude a community park, athletic field,
tract enough public or private support playground, amphitheater and busi-
to fund his effort and attempted to sell ness center – by voting unanimously
the property to a developer who want- to contribute $1 million.
ed to build housing there.
The Education Foundation of In-
dian River County also has committed
$1 million to the cause and expects to

CONTINUED ON PAGE 18

18 Vero Beach 32963 / April 28, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Sports complex City Council members enthusiasti- feature six different swings, a merry- historical events that helped shape
cally embraced the plan, which Mayor go-round, sun shades and music. Vero Beach.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 16 Robbie Brackett called a “very impor-
tant project,” adding, “It’s a chance  A $2 million Student Entrepre- “We really do see this property as a
raise more money by selling sponsor- to do what the public wants us to do, neurial Center that provides space for unifier in our community,” Emerson
ships for various parts of the facility. and that is to create parks and green entrepreneurial students to market said, “bringing people together and fo-
space.” merchandise and sell products, and cusing on the values we believe in so
Once the complex is built, Schools includes an alternative location for a greatly at the district.”
Superintendent David Moore said, the City Councilman John Cotugno went a student-run coffee shop. The facility
district would maintain the property step further, saying the project “touches also would include a 3,000-square- Graves did, too.
and cover the costs of capital upkeep all the bases” and that seeing it completed foot open meeting space, an open-air His vision for the property wasn’t as
of the facilities. would be the “highlight” of his term. market, student art gallery and office elaborate or extensive, but he believed
space for community partnerships Vero Beach needed a youth-sports and
“A school system is never going to be “This,” City Councilwoman Honey and innovation lab. recreation complex that was open to
any stronger than the community it’s in,” Minuse added, “is just huge for our fu- the community and could bring peo-
Moore told the City Council after Cindy ture generations.”  A 100,000-square-foot amphithe- ple together.
Emerson, the district’s instructional in- ater for concerts and other events. The “I beat my head against the wall, but
novation director, presented the plan. In addition to the sports stadium, $90,000 facility would offer state-of- nobody wanted anything to do with the
where the regulation-size, eight-lane the-art portable sound capabilities and field and I couldn’t get any traction,”
“This is an opportunity to really track would allow Vero Beach High portable projection screen with high- Graves said. “Getting the school district
provide a space that we fully commit School to play host to Florida High output video projector, and it could be behind it really made the difference.
to keep open from sunrise to sunset School Athletic Association-sanctioned rented for community and nonprofit “People see there’s a need for some-
in service of the community – a space meets for the first time, the plan includes: events. thing like this here, and this is a very
where families can come together, generous community, so I’m excited
parents can meet teachers, and par-  A 5,000-square-foot, “fully inclu- The complex also would include a about it,” he added. “This is going to
ents can socialize with fellow commu- sive” playground accessible to children $200,000, half-mile community walk- happen, and now I’m just trying to be
nity members,” he added. “It really is with disabilities, including those in ing path equipped with overhead light- a cheerleader.” 
the heartbeat of the community.” wheelchairs, and with a shock-absorb- ing and lined with displays that recall
ing surface. The $280,000 facility would

School Board cleared after review of children’s books

BY RAY MCNULTY “Whether or not this material is ap- iff Flowers’ letter should’ve ended.” borg said, will be to establish a com-
propriate for students of Indian River Jones said she had read the entire munity standard regarding the age ap-
Staff Writer County,” Scranton wrote, “is an internal propriateness of book content.
matter for the School Board and is best report and has some “follow-up ques-
A six-week investigation by the Sher- addressed through their processes.” tions” for Flowers, who she noted failed Jackie Rosario, the only School Board
iff’s Office Special Victims Unit has to acknowledge in his letter the long member to oppose the process the dis-
cleared the School Board and School Su- Sheriff Eric Flowers, though, felt hours and intense effort the district staff trict adopted to review the books chal-
perintendent David Moore of any crimi- it necessary to interject his personal invested in reviewing the books chal- lenged by the parents’ group, said she
nal charges related to the district’s pro- opinion on the controversy. lenged by the parents’ group. was “disappointed” in the outcome of
cess for reviewing library books a local the investigation.
parents’ group claimed were inappropri- In the April 19 letter in which he in- Mara Schiff, who hasn’t yet announced
ate for children and violated state law. formed the School Board and super- whether she’ll run for re-election to her She noted the investigation’s findings
intendent that the “totality of the cir- District 1 seat this year, said she would were based on only the materials pro-
In a 74-page report released last week, cumstances” didn’t “allow” his agency not presume to tell the sheriff how to vided, and that the Sheriff’s Office did
Sheriff’s Sgt. Aaron Scranton conclud- to make an arrest in the case, Flowers do his job, “nor should he presume to not review all 150-plus books on the list
ed that he was “unable to establish that said the content of the three books tell us how to do ours.” the parents’ group presented.
a crime had occurred,” adding that no named in the complaint wasn’t ap-
further investigation was necessary, propriate for young children, even if it Brian Barefoot, who served as chair- Barefoot, however, called the inves-
and the case was closed. didn’t rise to the level of a crime. man during his first year on the board, tigation a “complete waste of time, re-
said Flowers was entitled to his opin- sources and taxpayer dollars.”
The three books at issue were “The “Some of the content in these books ion but that it was “totally unneces-
Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Ste- is highly questionable, and I certainly sary” for him to share it in his letter. But he doesn’t expect the Sheriff’s
phen Chbosky, “Extremely Loud and would not want my child to have access Office’s findings to satisfy the parents’
Incredibly Close” by Johnathan Foer, to it,” the sheriff wrote. “I would rec- In February, Flowers – who cam- group, which refused to settle for the
and “Perfect” by Ellen Hopkins. ommend that the district continue to paigned as a “family values” candidate district offering parents the option of
review their policy to allow for stricter in seeking the office of sheriff in 2020 – restricting their children’s access to
A parents’ group headed by Jennifer oversight prior to books such as these offered a public apology to his wife, the books in school libraries.
Pippen claimed they were “three of the being made available to children.”’ Sheriff’s Office and the community after
most sexually grotesque books” and his marital infidelity was exposed. “We gave them a choice,” Barefoot
that their contents violated state law While four of the five School Board said. “That wasn’t good enough, so they
that prohibits the sale or distribution members said they weren’t surprised “Who is he to pass moral judg- went to the sheriff, even though there
of harmful material to minors. by the outcome of the investigation, ment?” Barefoot asked. was never any doubt in my mind that
three expressed shock and dismay we were in compliance with the statute
Although Scranton reported that that Flowers would feel a need to chal- School Board Chair Teri Barenborg because of the process we followed.
his investigation uncovered some lenge their commitment to act in the declined to comment on Flowers’ re-
content that could be legally defined students’ best interest and attempt to marks, but she said most of the books “The sheriff found no violation, so
as appealing to “prurient, shameful tell them how to run the district. that were challenged weren’t made here we go again,” he added. “We’ll
or morbid interests,” he found that available to younger children anyway. follow the law and put a community
the passages composed only a tiny “The investigator did a great job,” standard in place, but they won’t like
percentage of each book. The statute Vice Chair Peggy Jones said. “He said Besides, she added, the board already it. They won’t like anything unless all
requires that content appealing to there was no crime or violation of any has begun the process of creating a new the books on their list are banned.
such interests must be the “predomi- state statute, and I thank him for stat- committee in accordance with a new
nate” subject matter of each book. ing the facts. That’s where I think Sher- state law requiring parental involve- “Until there’s an election, these peo-
ment in the book-selection process. ple will be out there complaining about
something,” he concluded. 
The goal of the committee, Baren-

Susan Mills, Gia Albar,
Jaxon Albar, Javier
and Kim Albar.

EASTER EGG HUNT RESULTS
IN ANOTHER MAD SCRAMBLE! P. 34

20 Vero Beach 32963 / April 28, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

Blue Ribbon Luncheon: First-class fundraiser for Hibiscus

Kay Hammond and Susan Smith. PHOTOS: STEPHANIE LABAFF Sandy Divine and Tanya Divine. Sue Sharpe and Suzanne Bertman.

Gerri Smith, Diana Grossi and Louise Schmitt. Brenda Lloyd, Susan Kamer, Silvia Cancio and Linda New Levine.

BY STEPHANIE LaBAFF “The Blue Ribbon luncheon is one However, said Harrell, the children offered to help these young adults
Staff Writer of the iconic events on the Hibiscus living at Hibiscus come from dys- learn skills needed to obtain jobs or
event calendar every year,” said Matt functional families. internships when they leave Hibiscus.
No need to go to Paris, Milan and Markley, HCC CEO. He explained
New York. All eyes were on the run- that while Hibiscus gets state fund- “These children don’t have a “The most important thing that
way at the Oak Harbor Club dur- ing, it does not cover the costs of ev- chance to learn what it’s like to be we do with them at Hibiscus is love
ing the Hibiscus Children’s Center’s erything the children need. loved and to have all that showered them. We try to make them feel wor-
annual Blue Ribbon Luncheon and upon them. They have very traumat- thy because they don’t feel worthy
Fashion Show, organized by event “Hibiscus never closes. We’re open ic lives. That’s where Hibiscus comes when they get to us. We have won-
co-chairs Henriette Churney and 365 days a year. We don’t close for in. We get these children that have derful staff members and volunteers
Barbara Rice. holidays. Not even hurricanes. We had a bad start,” said Harrell. who are all very happy to participate
are open to children who need us be- in this and make the kids have a safe
Proceeds from what local fashioni- cause of you. Please don’t ever think She noted that Hibiscus has two place to live and have hope for the
stas consider “The Spring Affair” of we take it for granted. Their hopes facilities. The Martin County shel- future,” added Harrell.
the season benefits the teens living and dreams sometimes depend on ter houses children ages birth to 12,
at Hibiscus Village in Vero Beach, en- folks like you,” said Markley. where they have house parents to “These are not bad kids. These are
abling the nonprofit to continue pro- love and care for them. kids that have had bad lives. We want
viding vital services to children who “You may not see child abuse, ne- you to understand that and help us
have experienced abuse, neglect and glect or abandonment firsthand, but Youth ages 13 to 17 live in houses at give these kids hope,” said Harrell.
abandonment. it’s there. We know that it’s there,” Hibiscus Village in Vero Beach, where
said Sue Sharpe, mistress of ceremo- house parents and staff work with the The Fashion Show featured se-
As they arrived, guests perused an nies. teens to prepare them for living inde- lections provided by Cooper & Co.,
impressive selection of auction items pendently. Frances Brewster, Island Cashmere,
while sipping champagne and mimo- Guest speaker Jan Harrell, a long- J. McLaughlin, Melange, Sara Camp-
sas, before heading into the dining time Hibiscus supporter, asked “The day they turn 18, they have to bell Ltd., Sassy Boutique, and Ten-
room, escorted by a bevy of sharply guests to think back to the ways they leave,” Harrel explained. dencies worn by models from Miami
dressed ‘Male Ambassadors’ – aka shower their children and grandchil- coordinated by Sobol Fashion Pro-
husbands of committee members – dren with love, nurturing and work- The goal, said Harrell, is to help ductions. See Style Section.
wearing fashions by Vernon Scott. ing with them through all of their them graduate from high school or
successes and failures. earn their GED. Career Pathways to For more information, visit
Success, Graphic Design and Culi- HibiscusChildrensCenter.org. 
nary Skills are three of the programs

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / April 28, 2022 21

PEOPLE

Barbara Aprea, Page Franzel, Kathy Dickenson and Diane Langevin. PHOTOS CONTINUED ON PAGE 22
Mari Murphy, Liz Melnick, Kathy McGinnis and Barbara Blodgett.

Trudie Rainone and Thea Lucarelli.

Henriette Churney and Barbara Rice.
Carole Casey and Diane Wilhelm.

22 Vero Beach 32963 / April 28, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

PHOTOS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 21 Dr. Lexi Naylor and Libby King.
Karen Loeffler and Kathleen O’Brien Joachim.

Matt Markley and Jan Harrell. Margie Hartenstein and Mary Beth Lucas. Erica Zipper and Annmarie Naylor.

Join us for Sunday Worship Elke Fetterolf, Henriette Churney and Linda Teetz.
8:30, 9:30 and 11:00 AM Marilyn Beede, Martha Oliva and Sally Pearse.
Quality discipleship, fellowship, music,
youth programs, and more - for all ages!
We would love for you to join our church family!

Sunday, May 1st

This week’s message:
“Do You Love Me?”

John 21:1-19

Dr. G. Timothy Womack, Senior Pastor

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(772) 562-9088 PRIMO School of Performing Arts
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Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / April 28, 2022 23

PEOPLE

Richard Duch and Mark Rice.
Jane Jackson and Pat Stelz.

Sarah Smoot, Maria Dunlevy and Amy Stone.

Tracey Webber and Ruth Sit. Jaycee Boardman and Carla Boardman.

24 Vero Beach 32963 / April 28, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

Habitat’s Island Gala was a fundraising hula-palooza!

BY KERRY FIRTH
Correspondent

Not even a Florida monsoon could Trevor and Martha Loomis with Susan and Gene Billero. STORY, PHOTOS CONTINUED ON PAGE 26-27
dampen the spirits of guests arriving
for the Habitat for Humanity Island PHOTOS: KAILA JONES
Gala, held at Grand Harbor Beach
Club. Each person was graciously
greeted by smiling Hawaiian hula
dancers, who placed festive leis
around their necks and ushered them
inside the clubhouse, where others
were excitedly mingling, laughing
and swaying to the sounds of Aloha
Islanders Hawaiian Entertainment.

Although originally scheduled to
be held outside by the pool, event or-
ganizers quickly moved everything
under cover. A few umbrellas did sail
off into the ocean and the entertain-
ment tent toppled, but otherwise, the
revelers continued to be caught up in
the enchanting dance performanc-
es that featured the hula girls and
conch-blowing island men.

Trevor Loomis, CEO of Indian River
Habitat for Humanity, took the stage
to thank the sponsors and attendees

Christian and Mike Eisert. Harold and Martha Argue.

for coming to this party with a pur- gram,” said Loomis.
pose – to raise funds for home owner- “This year the rising cost of con-
ship, repairs and scholarships.
struction materials has been a chal-
“This is our big fundraiser, and we lenge. There’s been a 30 to 40 percent
couldn’t hold it last year because of increase in the cost of lumber, and
COVID,” said Loomis. land values have increased six times.
A lot that used to cost us $5,000 now
“Yet in spite of that, thanks to our costs us $30,000. Rents have gone up
generous donors, we were able to con- 42 percent, making affordable hous-
tinue to build and repair homes for ing nearly impossible to find. That’s
families in need. By putting in sweat why your donation is needed more
equity and working for their homes than ever.”
they became homeowners, and they
now have a foundation to build the Habitat for Humanity homes are
future. We’ve built 500 homes in In- not given away. They are purchased
dian River County the last 30 years through zero-profit, zero-interest
and completed 1,000 repairs through mortgages. In lieu of a down pay-
our neighborhood revitalization pro- ment, homebuyers contribute hun-



26 Vero Beach 32963 / April 28, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

STORY, PHOTOS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 24 Martha and Rick Taylor. Bill Marino with Vance and Vanessa Brinkerhoff.
Jeff Francisco, Barbara Middleton and David Johnson.

Gene and Jean Cravens. Rob MacCallum, Georgia Irish and Jordan Lulich. Tootie Geis and Rhonda Martin.

Tom McGinnis with Jan and Bob Garrison.

Brad Hanawalt, Ken Potter, Kerey Hanawalt, Mary Potter and Kathy McGinnis.

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / April 28, 2022 27

PEOPLE

dreds of hours of sweat equity. willingness to complete all financial “Some of it goes into our schol- cocktails and an endless buffet of
Acceptance into the program is management and homeownership arship program, which assists our island inspired cuisine, before some
classes. homeowners and their families with fierce bidding on must-have auction
determined by the applicant’s need early education expenses and even items, and a clever win/win wall of
for affordable housing, their ability “Your contribution is an invest- college. It’s the key to breaking the prizes.
to pay for and maintain the home, ment in your community, with all cycle of generational poverty.”
their willingness to complete 300 to money recycled right back into our For more information, visit IRC
500 hours of sweat equity, and their programs,” Loomis explained. Guests at the Island Gala enjoyed Habitat.org. 

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28 Vero Beach 32963 / April 28, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

Here’s the scoop: Moorings team raised $877K for ‘Habitat’

Jan McLachlan and David Sommers. Eve Kyomya-Vendryes, Trevor Loomis and Cyndy Hazlewood. PHOTOS: KAILA JONES Gioia Campion and David Herbert.

BY STEPHANIE LaBAFF ing Moorings Classic Weekend was hours to qualify for the tax rebate.
Staff Writer announced. Over the past 24 years a combined

The Moorings Habitat committee The cherry on top was the pre- member/CCTCP total of more than
recently served up a big helping of sentation of a check for $877,000 to $11 million has funded the con-
appreciation during an Ice Cream Indian River Habitat for Humanity, struction of 90 homes, repaired 110,
Social Reception at the Moorings helping it to “bring people together and provided 140 scholarships.
Yacht and Country Club, where the to build homes, communities and
result of yet another record-break- hope.” “The results of your efforts this
year are unprecedented,” said Trev-
“We’re here today not only for or Loomis, IR Habitat CEO. “We
have never seen any sort of philan-
PHOTOS CONTINUED ON PAGE 30 thropic giving at this level. Without
that, we could not do what we do at
Martha Shannon and Marcia Durie. the level that we do it.”

ice cream sundaes, but to celebrate Loomis said that behind the dol-
and thank the many Moorings vol- lar amount, residents and staff
unteers who have made our Presi- members are who truly make a dif-
dent’s Weekend of events work so ference.
well,” said David Sommers, Moor-
ings Habitat committee chairman. “Volunteerism is how we are able
to build houses in a more affordable
The event this year raised more manner,” said Loomis.
than $690,000, which will fund the
construction of six new homes, re- He added that thanks to Moor-
pair 12 homes and provide 15 schol- ings residents and other funders,
arships next year. Habitat has provided 1,100 scholar-
ships over the past decade to home-
In addition to providing staff and owners and their children.
support for the weekend’s events,
the Moorings Club participates “That is a lot of education. It has
in the Community Contribution led, in many cases, to life-changing
Tax Credit Program, which diverts job changes and job prospects, and
sales-tax dollars from the state di- an ability to increase income in a
rectly to Habitat. This year, the club way that not only changes their cur-
redirected sales tax of $187,000 in rent situation but can allow genera-
addition to the funds raised during tional change,” said Loomis.
the President’s Weekend activities.
Sommers shared that a new schol-
“CCTCP is a state-funded pro- arship program is being piloted to
gram for community-based afford- help parents fund enrollment in
able housing,” Sommers explained, state-licensed early childhood pro-
noting that the principal require- grams from age 1 until the child is
ment to participate in the program eligible for Head Start or state vol-
is the accrual of enough volunteer untary Pre-K programs.

“This is a huge additional step in
helping these families achieve their
long-term goals. It’s another Habi-
tat program that goes far beyond
just the building of houses,” said
Sommers.

For more information, visit IRC
Habitat.org. 

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30 Vero Beach 32963 / April 28, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

PHOTOS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 28 Pam Spellane, Jane Brash and Jan Cornell.
Annette Krasnow, Miranda Thorpe and Judy Zappala. Bert Herndon and Trish Walker.

Jim Fulmer, Pat Murray, Mark Parent and Alex Brash.

Felicia Valdes, Sandy Parent and Jennifer Ely.

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / April 28, 2022 31

PEOPLE

Lynn Marran, Renate Dolphin and Nancy Herbert.

Julie Goodrich and Karen Sones.
James and Deborah Taylor with Jan and Pete McLachlan.

32 Vero Beach 32963 / April 28, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

Pinwheels initiative: All children must ‘live free from abuse’

Jessie Ray, Jackie Herron-Whitfield and Randy Hunt. PHOTOS: KAILA JONES Jenel Hernandez and Carrie Lester.

BY STEPHANIE LaBAFF Treasure Coast Community Health. the United Way today and spread- ports of child abuse in the county
Staff Writer Representatives from the organi- ing the pinwheels all over Indian each year, with even more unre-
River County,” said Meredith Egan, ported occurrences.
Blue pinwheels have been seen zations gathered on the steps of the UWIRC CEO.
around town, spinning in the wind United Way of Indian River County “We know that child abuse is a
as a reminder that all children de- recently to kick off Child Abuse “It’s about raising awareness. pervasive issue in our community,”
serve happy, healthy childhoods. Awareness Month and raise aware- We’re not going to stop child abuse said Egan. “With the rise in mental
The initiative is thanks to local ness about child abuse. Attendees without everybody working togeth- health issues and stressors from
nonprofits, including Childcare Re- joined in the conversation, sharing er and identifying the signs. We all financial instability as a result of
sources, Indian River Healthy Start how they each work to provide ser- need to work together, communi- COVID, we know there’s much more
Coalition, Hope for Families Cen- vices and interventions as a way to cate, and build a system for chil- child abuse going on that has not
ter, Safe Families for Children, and eradicate child abuse. dren and families to be supported.” been reported over the past two
years.”
“Thank you all for coming to She noted that there are 1,500 re-

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / April 28, 2022 33

PEOPLE

Jeff Schlitt and Meredith Egan. Diana Pena-Stein and Melisa Sweet.

Stacy King and Stacey Washburn. Christina Cassell and Andrea Berry.

Samantha Reed and Nate Bruckner. Vicki Soule.

As a result, she said, the United abuse.”
Way has partnered with local child Egan said that the pinwheels
abuse prevention organizations to
highlight “what we can do and the serve as a reminder that “child
signs to look for to prevent and in- abuse is happening all the time, all
tervene in the cases of child abuse around us, and that we need to look
happening here in our community.” for those signs and connect people
with resources. It takes an entire
Pinwheels for Prevention began community to identify solutions
in 2008 as a grassroots effort in rec- and intervention strategies. Bring-
ognition of April as Child Abuse ing together all these partners is the
Prevention month. United Way’s responsibility.”

“It invokes that spirit of child- For a list of resources, visit united-
hood,” said Egan. “All children wayirc.org/pinwheel. 
should be able to live free from

34 Vero Beach 32963 / April 28, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

Awesome Easter Egg Hunt results in another mad scramble!

Keira and Camryn with Shawn Keefe.

Hadley Bower, Kinsley Bower, Landon and Cameron Thorton. PHOTOS: KAILA JONES

The beach adjacent to Mulligan’s Beach House was littered with sev-
eral thousand colorful, plastic eggs left by a tall, furry rabbit, just wait-
ing for little boys and girls to gather up during the 62nd annual Easter
Egg Hunt sponsored by the City of Vero Beach Recreation Department
and Mulligan’s.

While the children and their families eagerly awaited the start of the
hunt, they took photos with the Easter Bunny and lined up to have their
faces painted. And then they were off, as little ones ranging in age from
toddlers to age 9 scampered across the sand and in the grass, shrieking
and giggling with glee while searching for the candy-filled eggs. There
were prizes for every child, and those lucky enough to discover golden
tickets won Easter baskets filled with trinkets.

At 7 p.m. on Aug. 4, 5 and 6, the COVB Recreation Department will
present the 48th annual Aerial Antics Youth Circus: Heroes and Vil-
lains, at Saint Edward’s School. Registration for summer gymnastics
classes begins June 11 at Leisure Square. 

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / April 28, 2022 35

PEOPLE

Piper Kendrick, Lucy Tappen, Isabell Picaro-Dowd and Zyanya Mitchell.

Christin Poppenga with Siarrah. Taiba Williams holding Zanna Wubshet.

Abril, Fabiola and Lucas.

36 Vero Beach 32963 / April 28, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

At Relay for Life, determined to run roughshod over cancer

Terry Wallace, Jenny Obergfell and Sue Davis. Libby Sanders, Hadley Covaleski and Adilyn Beal.

James Nevins, Boyd Baldry and John Calcagno. Logan, Berry and Bailey Fields. PHOTOS: KAILA JONES Kylie Hall, Lorinda Bailey and Tina Pelissier.

BY STEPHANIE LaBAFF Amber Correia, Shelby Barnes, Hunter Anano, Christine Correia and Shelly Brackett. the festivities, several participants
shared stories – some with happy end-
Staff Writer volunteer-based fundraising event ciety added a Gold Together for Child- ings and others of great loss.
and for more than 36 years, communi- hood Cancer initiative to highlight
Relayers didn’t let a little stormy ties worldwide have come together to the importance of childhood cancer John Calcagno, Piper Aircraft CEO,
weather prevent them from gathering honor and remember loved ones and research, education, advocacy, pre- told of the misdiagnosis and eventual
at Riverside Park to “give cancer the fund lifesaving research. Within days vention and services. Walmart Supply loss of his wife, Stacy, to Stage IV ad-
boot” at Relay for Life of Indian River, of the local event, committee mem- Chain picked up the gauntlet as the enocarcinoma of the jejunum (part of
presented by Piper Aircraft, to benefit bers announced they had surpassed inaugural presenting sponsor for the the small intestine), a very rare cancer.
the American Cancer Society. this year’s $70,000 fundraising goal. initiative.
“When I sit and talk about cancer, I
After the opening ceremony, and Theresa Woodson, ACS senior de- “Together we are making a differ- strongly urge: Give because you can.
before the skies opened to a deluge velopment manager, celebrated sever- ence, and together we are stronger Give if your family is not affected. Give
of wind, rain, thunder and lightning, al fundraising milestones, including than cancer,” said Baldry. of your time. Give of your money, but
cancer survivors and teams did a lap Piper Aircraft’s Wings for a Cure Relay just be grateful that we have life as it is
around the park with each declaring team, and its “decade of dedication in Until the rains came, relay teams now. I look at cancer as the No. 1 en-
that they were fighting back. leading the fight against cancer.” fundraised at the event, selling re- emy of any time,” said Calcagno.
freshments, playing cornhole and
“If you look around you, we’ve got This year, the American Cancer So- taking photos in a mock jail. Amidst United Against Poverty CEO Gwen
friends, neighbors, co-workers and Butson was among the lucky ones.
grandparents. Everybody is here for When she received her colorectal can-
the same reason – to lead the fight cer diagnosis, she was given less than
for a world without cancer. During a year to live. That was 19 years ago.
the next several hours, we’re going to
bring a fight as a community to defeat “I am here to tell you that life does
our biggest rival, and that’s cancer,” not end with a cancer diagnosis. Can-
said event lead Boyd Baldry. cer taught me to live life and to take
every single moment and enjoy it, and
“We will celebrate, remember and not take it for granted. Life is not about
fight back. Each of us has a unique waiting for the storm to pass. It’s all
reason for being here. We all have about learning how to dance in the
something very much in common. We rain. Never give up and never give in,”
want to make a difference in the fight said Butson.
against cancer, and we are doing that.
You are doing that,” said Baldry. For more information, visit Relay-
ForLife.org/IndianRiverFL. 
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38 Vero Beach 32963 / April 28, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

At Pelican Island Audubon benefit, preservation is paramount

Beth Smith, Bonnie Swanson and Richard Baker. PHOTOS: MARY SCHENKEL Becky Loftus, Juanita Baker, Susan Lovelace and Julian Grudens.

BY MARY SCHENKEL tered by Wild Thyme. In addition to significant land to protect our en- one and showed them the area. They
Staff Writer supporting PIAS projects, the event vironment, drinking water, wildlife said yes, we must preserve this,” said
raised awareness of the $50 million corridors and recreation areas, and Baker.
Supporters of the Pelican Island land conservation bond referendum guard against overdevelopment.
Audubon Society braved a Saturday voters are being asked to support “We worked hard in 1992 to pass a
evening monsoon and headed for this November. “Thank you for supporting our $26 million bond issue, the first one
Schacht Groves to attend ‘A Gift for Audubon and our efforts to purchase in our county, to purchase conserva-
the Future’ a fundraising dinner ca- If approved, the county would be more conservation lands in Indian tion lands,” said Baker. And in 2004,
able to purchase environmentally River County,” said Richard Baker, PIAS led voter support for the $50
Ph.D., PIAS president, before giving million bond that recently matured.
a brief history of the organization.
“The first (bond) of $26 million
The Florida Audubon society, passed with about 52 percent of the
formed in 1900, was instrumental in population of voting for it. The one
convincing President Theodore Roo- for $50 million, we got 72 percent of
sevelt to save roosting birds on Peli- the voters supporting it. So the peo-
can Island from being slaughtered ple in Indian River County, I think,
for their plumage. In 1903, it became are going to support this next one,”
the nation’s first Wildlife Refuge. said Baker.

In the early 1960s developers were A few months after construction
eyeing the adjacent property, until of their Audubon House was com-
citizens rallied to protect it. pleted in 2015, they began an Audu-
bon Advocates afterschool program,
“It took them about four years. which introduces fifth-graders from
They were able to get the state of four Title 1 schools to the great out-
Florida to buy land around Pelican doors. The children are given their
Island National Wildlife Refuge, so own Canon cameras and binoculars
it makes it into a real nice area right and go on hikes and kayaking to get
now,” said Baker. a better appreciation of our natural
habitat, birds and wildlife.
PIAS, a chapter of Florida Audu-
bon, was formed in 1964. Its mis- In 2019 PIAS, in collaboration
sion then and today is to preserve with community partners, began its
and protect animals, plants, natu- Trees for Life, Plants for Birds ini-
ral communities, land and water tiative to plant 100,000 native trees.
through education, advocacy and To date, they have distributed more
public awareness. than 11,000 native trees and plants.

In 1986, Baker said, PIAS institut- “If you want to come down to the
ed the nation’s first coastal cleanup, Audubon House on Oslo Road, we’ll
and in 1988 they leased the land give you a free live oak and a bald
from the county for the Environ- cypress and a mahogany if we have
mental Learning Center, eventually one,” said Baker.
turning the lease over to the ELC.
Their most recently completed
In 1990, the 290 acres of what is project was a County Education and
now the Oslo Riverfront Conserva- Demonstration Native Plant Garden
tion Area was also slated for devel- at the County Commission Building
opment. A.

“It’s one of the nicest places in In- For more information, visit
dian River County. So, we took the PelicanIslandAudubon.org. 
county commissioners out one by

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / April 28, 2022 39

PEOPLE

PHOTOS CONTINUED ON PAGE 40
Jo and Dave Cartano with Ann Weiner.

Fred Poston, County Commissioner Laura Moss and Gib Coerper.

Laura and Bobby Guttridge. George Blyth and David LoPresti.

Meghan Carpenter, John Orcutt and Ginger Fegert.

40 Vero Beach 32963 / April 28, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

PHOTOS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 39 Rick Silverstein and Lewis Travis. Annie Wettlaufer and Len Markir.
Barbara and Scott Abel.

Anne Wallace, Margot Funke and Anne Curti with Bob and Sylvia Larsen.

Tim and Beth Wright. Dan Lamson and Tim Glover.

Martyn Stewart and Michael Robinson. Elaine Matthes and Jennifer Mahlstedt.



42 Vero Beach 32963 / April 28, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT COVER STORY

When Ford began developing an standby: the frunk. Already popu- amusement park dragon. That – and vehicles and respond to the growing
electric version of its wildly popular larized by Tesla Inc. and featured in the fact that the frunk can fit two sets competitive threat from Tesla. In 2019,
F-150 pickup four years ago, many Ford’s Mustang Mach-E, the front of golf clubs – got one clinic participant Ford announced it was working on a
people doubted it could be as robust trunk offers storage under the hood, so excited, he stood up on his chair. The fully electric F-150.
as the gas-powered brute. Some of where the internal combustion en- man told everyone, “When I pull up to
them were inside the house. gine would otherwise be. the country club and push the button Since becoming chief executive of-
and that thing opens electrically, ev- ficer almost 19 months ago, Jim Farley
“We were dealing with a ton of skep- But the Lightning engineers went erybody is going to gather around me, has boosted the company’s spending
ticism internally,” says Linda Zhang, Texas with the concept. Their “Mega saying ‘What the hell?’ ” on EVs from $11.5 billion to $50 bil-
chief engineer on the project. “It Power Frunk” had 14 cubic feet of lion, and in March he cleaved its car-
couldn’t just be a battery on wheels. We space capable of holding 400 pounds Ford’s decision to fully electrify making operations in two, creating
wanted it to be a real American truck of cargo, plus a deep well with a drain America’s bestselling vehicle of the a “Model e” unit to scale up EVs and
that does work.” for iced beverages – ready for “front- past 40 years wasn’t made lightly. In “Ford Blue” to focus on traditional in-
gating,” as Ford calls it. (“Frail-gating” good years, the company sells close ternal combustion vehicles.
It also needed to add value, using apparently didn’t make the grade.) to 900,000 F-Series trucks, generating
electric power to do things a regular “You can have a party on both ends,” more than $40 billion in annual rev- He estimates that battery-powered
truck couldn’t. So Zhang asked her en- says Suzy Deering, Ford’s head of mar- enue. vehicles will account for as much as
gineers to come up with features “that keting. half of Ford’s global sales by 2030, and
hadn’t been invented yet.” But the company followed suit when the hope is that eventually its entire
The engineers also wired the frunk legacy automakers began converting fleet will be electric.
What wowed the consumers par- so that, at the touch of a key-fob but- to plug-in models to meet stringent
ticipating in Ford Motor Co.’s clin- ton, it opened wide like the jaws of an global mandates for zero-emission Farley sees the Lightning as a bet-
ics was the engineers’ spin on an EV the-company proposition – Ford’s

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / April 28, 2022 43

biggest move since Henry ditched the INSIGHT COVER STORY the jobs of a half-million Americans
aging Model T to make way for some- and contributes $49 billion to the U.S.
thing new. “Does it keep us up at night? Ford Motor Chief Executive Officer Jim Farley with the F-150 Lightning. gross domestic product, according to
You betcha,” Farley says. “It’s America’s a study Ford commissioned from Bos-
most popular vehicle, and there is no ton Consulting Group.
more trusted brand in our industry. It
feels a lot like the Model A launch in The strength of the line argued for
1928.” a gradual approach to electrification.
Essentially, the company retrofitted
“This vehicle is a test for adoption of an existing F-150 with an electric pow-
electric vehicles,” Farley declared when ertrain rather than develop an entirely
the truck was unveiled in a nighttime new truck.
ceremony at the company’s Dearborn,
Mich., headquarters last May. “We Virtually the entire passenger cab
should all watch very carefully how this is the same, save for the 15.5-inch
does.” touchscreen lifted from the dash of its
hot-selling electric Mustang Mach-E.
With a price starting just under Ford also barely changed the Light-
$40,000, so far sales of the Lightning ning’s look, adding only an extra light
have been trending extremely well. bar over the headlamps to distinguish
Ford was overwhelmed with nearly it from the conventional truck. “Why
200,000 reservations, leading it to al- do I need to invent all-new seats and
most quadruple capacity at the truck’s door handles?” asks Ted Cannis, who
new factory, from 40,000 vehicles an- worked on early development of the
nually to 150,000. Lightning and now runs Ford’s com-
mercial business.
Most of those queuing up for the
Lightning aren’t truck traditionalists, Farley acknowledges there are risks
though. Instead, the company says, to an incremental approach in a mar-
they’re buyers who are new to pickups ket that has tended to reward innova-
or new to Ford – early adopters who’d tion. But he sees the payoff in being
normally deny American automakers first to sell a traditional electric truck,
not named Tesla a second look. long before Ford’s chief competitors in
the segment, and at a price competi-
While that’s a feat for the 118-year- tive with both gas-powered options
old company, winning over the old and the few electric models available
guard will be tougher. According to the or coming soon.
latest survey of 250,000 new-vehicle
owners by Strategic Vision, a research “We could have gone more radical
firm, nearly 9 out of 10 F-150 buyers with the design,” he says. “But when
are White males, with a median age of we did the hard, cold math years ago,
57. Almost 60% say they’re not inter- we came to the conclusion that we
ested in an electric vehicle. could offer our customers an electric
vehicle at almost the same price as an
Ford still has its gas-powered F-se- ICE [internal combustion engine] ve-
ries trucks, which start at $30,000 and hicle.”
sell for about $63,000 on average, to
appeal to these folks. It expects to con- When the Lightning goes on sale, it
tinue selling hundreds of thousands a will face a couple of thus far low-vol-
year for many years. ume competitors: Rivian’s smaller R1T

In reimagining the F-150, Ford had CONTINUED ON PAGE 44
some basic economic and industrial
realities to consider. Behind the spec-
tacular sales figures are three U.S. fac-
tories that each make a truck per min-
ute, on average. The F-Series supports

A pre-production model of the 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning Platinum, with available features shown.

44 Vero Beach 32963 / April 28, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 43 INSIGHT COVER STORY

Since becoming CEO, Farley has boosted Ford’s spending on electric vehicles
to $50 billion and created the “Model e” unit to scale up EV production.

pickup, which starts at almost $80,000, A lot of the Lightning’s development electric F-150 became a publicity stunt settled in at a 10,000-pound towing ca-
and General Motors Co.’s GMC Hum- work focused on performance. “In that Zhang refers to as “our little train pacity, more than most conventional
mer, the first editions of which cost the early days, every time we spoke to tow.” In July 2019, with cameras roll- versions. Its 563 horsepower and 775
$112,595. Tesla has pushed back the somebody about the truck, they would ing, she drove a battery-powered F-150 pound-feet of torque make it Ford’s
Cybertruck’s launch until at least 2023. always ask, ‘But can it tow?’ ” Palmer in a train yard while pulling 10 dou- most powerful F-150 ever. And it can
And an electric version of the F-150’s says. “I finally said, ‘I’m sick of all these ble-decker rail cars filled with 42 gas- go from zero to 60 mph in 4.3 seconds
key competitor, the Chevrolet Sil- questions about towing, just sick of it. engine F-150s – a total weight of 1.25 – sports-car speed. The base model
verado, won’t get to market until next Instead of just telling everyone, “Trust million pounds. The video went viral, runs 230 miles on a charge, while an
spring. The arrival date of the electric us,” let’s prove it.’  ” drawing 2.5 million views on YouTube. optional extended-range battery ex-
Ram pickup is uncertain. pands that to 320 miles.
Ford’s first big public pitch for the The production truck eventually

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / April 28, 2022 45

INSIGHT COVER STORY

The engineering process also led to we said, ‘OK, what kind of drink would one switch quickly would be bad for many years.” The company’s target is
some new features that gas vehicles it be?’ And he scoffs again and says, business. The company’s century-old for electric versions to account for 30%
couldn’t begin to compete with. The ‘Pink Champagne.’ ” drivetrain has much fatter margins to 40% of annual F-150 sales by the end
frunk, obviously, but also portable than high-cost ion power, and it gener- of the decade.
electricity generation. The value of this Dan Albert, an automotive historian, ates most of Ford’s profit.
capability entered the national conver- says such attitudes follow from a long Ultimately, Farley maintains, what’s
sation when a 100-year ice storm hit tradition. “The EV was always market- That’s the great irony of Farley’s big really necessary to win over Ford’s
Texas early last year, leading an owner ed as the lady’s car, from the very be- bet on electric: He still needs hun- owner base is the kind of seat time in
of Ford’s gas-electric hybrid F-150 to ginning,” he says, “all the way up until dreds of thousands of people to buy the Lightning that the president got.
use its truck-bed outlets to temporar- Tesla,” which managed broader appeal a conventional F-Series truck each “Once our core customer gets behind
ily keep the lights on and the music by emphasizing cutting-edge technol- year to finance the company’s elec- the wheel, like Joe Biden did, and
playing at home. Ford’s publicity ma- ogy and sports-car-like styling and tric future. mashes the throttle pedal, they will in-
chine kicked in and placed stories on performance. stantly understand how a heavy F-150
network and cable news about hybrid “We have people in rural America, full-size pickup truck goes zero to 60 in
F-150s saving the day. The most extreme anti-environmen- we have people who are doing jobs in 4.3 seconds,” Farley says. “It will have
talists will never be converted, he says. the energy sector on the north slope the neighbor-wow factor that we need
Ryan O’Gorman, the Ford engineer That’s fine for Ford in the short run. of Alaska,” Farley says. “For so many to be a breakthrough product.” 
leading the development of the Light- More than fine, even. Having every- of them, it still won’t make sense for
ning’s portable power feature, immedi-
ately saw the potential. By design, the
Lightning connects to a home charger
that’s typically set up in a garage. If a
blackout occurs while the Lightning is
plugged in, the truck’s battery silently
kicks in to power the entire house, for
days if need be – something a Tesla
can’t do.

O’Gorman happened to be visiting
his parents in Houston when Texas
froze over. “I can’t tell you how many
calls I made back to Detroit to say this
would have been such a game chang-
er” if the Lightning had already been
on sale, he says.

A bigger PR bonanza still came in
May 2021, after President Joe Biden
delivered a speech at the new Light-
ning factory in Dearborn. When he
finished, he hopped in the driver’s
seat of a prototype, and Zhang – a
Chinese immigrant whose first ride
in a car came when she arrived in
America as an 8-year-old – gave him
a quick tour.

Then Farley offered the president a
piece of advice: “Mash the throttle.”
Biden did, rocketing across the tar-
mac before rolling to a stop before the
press corps. “This sucker’s quick,” he
said. Clips of the test drive circulated
widely.

But winning over die-hard anti-en-
vironmentalists could be the market-
ing challenge of the century.

Matt Meredith has six Fords in his
driveway and four tattooed on his
body. At 31, he’s a third-generation
Ford man, and his fleet includes three
F-150 pickups. He wouldn’t consider
driving anything else. But his affinity
has limits. “I really have no desire to
get a Lightning,” he says.

Early in the Lightning’s develop-
ment process, the company conduct-
ed one of its customer clinics in the
heart of truck country – Texas, which
accounts for about 1 in 5 U.S. truck
sales. A roomful of F-150 owners were
asked, “If an electric vehicle were a
dog, which breed would it be?”

“This huge, burly Texan scoffs and
says, ‘It would be one of those little
Chihuahuas,’ ” Palmer recalls. “Then





48 Vero Beach 32963 / April 28, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT EDITORIAL

BY DAVID IGNATIUS If you wanted to design a breeding ground for gazed at the prison complex 100 yards away.The spasm
future Islamist militants, it would be al-Hol. Nearly of violence by the escapees, including the beheadings
AL-HOL, Syria – The Islamic State, which seemed 8,000 of the residents came from countries other and what a U.S. Special Operations adviser here said
to be extinguished three years ago when its caliph- than Syria or Iraq, but those nations have mostly were other horrific mutilations, is a reminder of what
ate was crushed, is still smoldering red hot at a refu- ignored repatriation requests. “The countries don’t Islamic State fighters might do outside captivity.
gee camp here and a prison nearby. And the Syrian want them back, and they’re not doing anything to
Kurdish militia that’s guarding the facilities says it help,” said the SDF official who oversees the foreign- The SDF is carrying the burden of running a total
badly needs help before there’s a new eruption. ers, who identified herself only as Amara. of 28 prisons, of which Hasakah is the largest, that
house about 12,000 captured Islamic State fighters
The battle against ISIS, as the Islamic State is also “The world needs to know what’s going on here,” Ku- and supporters, “What’s needed is repatriation en
known, is yesterday’s war, and it gets little public at- rilla told me after we left the camp. He said the U.S. mili- masse,” the Special Operations adviser told me. But
tention. But the danger of a resurgence was evident tary is already working to improve security at the camp. as with the Islamic State families at al-Hol, other na-
earlier this month when Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla, He also wants to help the State Department organize tions have mostly shrugged their shoulders at repa-
the new commander of the U.S. Central Command, an international response that would return families of triation requests.
toured the two facilities in northeast Syria. He’s the Islamic State foreign fighters to their home countries –
first senior military official to inspect either place. and take some of the burden from the SDF militia. “The SDF needs very big help,” Mazlum Adli,
the Syrian Kurdish group’s top leader, told me in a
Kurilla traveled to Syria as the final stop on his first Kurilla next flew by helicopter to the Hasakah prison, brief interview later, after he had met with Kurilla.
trip to the Middle East since becoming commander about 40 miles away, where he heard a chilling account The commander said he needed more training and
of U.S. military forces in the region, and he invited of a violent escape there four months ago by several equipment, and that the support he was getting now
me to come along. He wanted to assess the risks thousand captives, assisted by fighters outside, that was only about 20 percent of what he needed.
here to U.S. interests, and he came away with a vivid left hundreds dead. The eyewitness description was
firsthand picture of the continuing problem of con- provided by local SDF commanders and U.S. Special Kurilla saw another threat to U.S. forces in Syria
taining what’s left of ISIS. Operations advisers who fought in the bloody battle. during a separate visit to a joint American-SDF base
called Green Village, near Deir El-Zoor. The base was
Kani Ahmed, the local commander of the Syrian The Centcom commander heard the narrative as hit the night of April 7 by two explosions, and four
Democratic Forces militia that’s securing the al-Hol he gazed from a rooftop at the prison blocks below. U.S. soldiers were wounded. The U.S. military initial-
refugee camp, described to Kurilla a March 28 up- The U.S. and Syrian officers explained that about 10 ly described the strike as a rocket attack, and analysts
rising by Islamic State supporters inside the fences. ISIS fighters entered the compound in a carefully suspected it came from an Iranian-backed militia,
Fighters attacked with rocket-propelled grenades, planned attack, blowing through the walls with two posing a question for Biden administration officials
AK-47s and pistols that had been smuggled into the truck bombs and raiding the SDF’s armory. They back in Washington of whether and how to retaliate.
facility. As the fighting raged, four people were killed then distributed weapons to some of the roughly
and 10 wounded, according to local news reports. 5,000 captives, and about 3,700 escaped. But U.S. commanders at Green Village told Kurilla
that after examining video recordings, they now be-
“This camp is like a time bomb,” Ahmed told the American troops rushed to help the SDF stop the lieved that the blasts were caused by explosive devic-
visiting Americans. “We don’t know when it’s going to fleeing detainees. The battle raged for 10 days, as the es planted by someone – affiliation so far unknown
explode.” United States called in Bradley armored vehicles, fight- – who entered the base.
er jets and Apache helicopters to contain the escape.
The al-Hol camp is a miserable sight: acres of dirty, About 3,000 prisoners finally surrendered on Jan. 30, Iran and its proxies remain a threat. So does the
ragged tents and primitive water and sewage facilities. but 421 Islamic State supporters were killed, along with Islamic State. As much as we would like to imagine
It currently houses about 56,000 people, roughly 70 125 SDF troops, 25 of whom were beheaded, accord- otherwise, wars in the Middle East aren’t over even
percent of them under age 18. Many are families of Is- ing to one of the American military advisers. About 100 when they’re over. 
lamic State fighters who were killed or captured in the Islamic State fighters got away, whereabouts unknown.
war, and judging by their angry faces inside the wire, A version of this column by David Ignatius first ap-
they live on rage and dreams of revenge. One threw a “That’s an ISIS army in detention,” Kurilla said as he peared in The Washington Post. It does not necessar-
rock at Kurilla’s armored vehicle as it drove past. ily reflect the views of Vero Beach 32963.

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

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / April 28, 2022 49

INSIGHT OP-ED

When Michelle Fiorelli won a battery- with this for Christmas 2019, but the ised. It looks like you followed up nu- Stay America at a higher level and in
powered toy car in a hotel sweepstakes, car never arrived. Then I thought it merous times with the hotel chain and, writing. I list the names, numbers and
she looked forward to receiving her would get here in time for their birth- to your credit, kept your correspon- email addresses of the Extended Stay
prize. More than three years later, she's days. I didn't hear back from Extend- dence polite and professional. I'm not America executives on my consumer
still waiting. Will she ever get it? ed Stay for months. sure if I would have been so patient. advocacy site, Elliott.org.

QUESTION: About a month ago, I was asked about As the founder of two nonprofit orga- You've waited a long time for your
the color for the prize and thought I nizations, I've run many contests. They Kid Trax. It's been more than three
In 2019, I won a Back to School Sweep- would have it for this Christmas. They are more complicated than they look. years since you won that sweepstakes.
stakes from Extended Stay America. never responded. Can you help me? Normally, there are three or more par- This may be a new record. Are the kids
The prize was a Kid Trax battery-pow- ties involved, including the company still interested in playing with a toy car
ered car. I still have not received any in- ANSWER: giving the merchandise away, a third- or have they outgrown it?
formation on the shipping of this prize. party fulfillment company, the organi-
Congratulations on winning the Kid zation and the recipient. It can get con- Most people would have given up
I wanted to surprise my twin nieces Trax car. It looks like a lot of fun. Of fusing. on Extended Wait America by now. But
course, Extended Stay America should not you. I admire your persistence. Of-
have delivered the toy to you as prom- I would have appealed to Extended ten, companies keep people waiting in
the hopes that they will give up and go
away. I'm not saying that's what hap-
pened here, but if that was what Ex-
tended Stay America had in mind, they
were messing with the wrong customer.

I contacted Extended Stay America
on your behalf. It investigated your
missing prize and found that the ful-
fillment company hadn't processed it
for some reason. It followed up with
the company and you received your
Kid Trax – at last. 

Get help with any consumer prob-
lem by contacting Christopher Elliott at
http://www.elliott.org/help

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50 Vero Beach 32963 / April 28, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT BOOKS

The last few years have not been easy for the to- would endure. But abler successor than Andrew
temic figures of American history, caught in the cross- Johnson). That policy continues
fire of our culture wars. Even Abraham Lincoln, who we also feel a vivid to pay dividends, as recent weeks
routinely wins reelection as our greatest president in have proved, with Germany and
the polls historians like to give each other, has been sense of danger, as Japan forming a strong part of
buffeted by these winds. In 2020, a Lincoln statue was the pro-democracy coalition
torn down by an angry mob in Portland, Ore.; another Lincoln wanders standing up to Vladimir Putin.
was removed, more decorously, in Boston. The fate of
other statues, including the Freedmen’s Memorial in into Richmond too It is harder to make a case
Washington’s Lincoln Park, remains up in the air. for World War I. In 1919, the
soon, while the fires United States had nothing like
So it is reassuring to read a bracing defense of the leverage it would have in
Lincoln’s leadership. John Avlon’s “Lincoln and the are still burning (his 1945, and it requires an acro-
Fight for Peace” does two things at once. It offers a batic leap of faith to assume
close reading of Lincoln’s final weeks in office, with bodyguard saw a that President Woodrow Wil-
the Civil War winding down and huge questions still
unresolved about the terms of surrender, the rights man with a rifle in son could have imposed a
of newly liberated African Americans and the Recon- more satisfying surrender on
struction to follow. a second-story win- “the Hun,” as Avlon calls the
Germans, anachronistically.
The book also serves as a kind of leadership primer, dow, aiming at him). It is equally difficult to ap-
a growing subcategory of presidential biography, and ply Lincolnesque lessons to
explains how Lincoln’s lessons were absorbed by later In scene after scene, the smaller conflicts, so un-
generations of presidents and policymakers. like the Civil War, that have
he seems to court di-
Avlon succeeds admirably in the first task. A former dogged our presidents since
speechwriter for Rudy Giuliani (whom he identifies, saster with a cavalier then – except to assume that
without saying his name, as “the mayor of New York”) Lincoln would have steered
and a CNN commentator, Avlon has a sure sense of disregard for his safety clear of them.
pacing and pays close attention to one of the most These later chapters move quickly from decade to
consequential periods of Lincoln’s presidency, from – courageous, yes, but decade with a Forrest-Gump-like bounciness – fas-
the glorious second inaugural address to the shatter- cinating at times but also unsettling for those ac-
ing end of April 14, 1865. arguably a poor form customed to a steadier read. There are several minor
miscues as well: Gen. Lucius Clay, the hero of the
Lincoln guided the ship of state brilliantly in these of leadership, given Berlin Airlift, was a distant relative, but not a descen-
critical weeks (for a time, the ship of state was no dant, of Henry Clay, and it is not true that no South-
metaphor – as the final battle for Richmond was rag- what followed. The ern state held a referendum on secession – Texas
ing, Lincoln was close by, living on a naval vessel). As did. A moving speech by Lincoln to a group of Afri-
Avlon shows, he pursued two complementary goals dread only deepens as can Americans in Richmond is placed in the wrong
with great effectiveness. His military policy was to location (the Confederate White House); according
crush Robert E. Lee’s army and force an uncondi- Lincoln returns to his to most sources, it was delivered as Lincoln came
tional surrender, so that the war would end cleanly. ashore earlier in the day.
But his political policy was to work quickly toward capital, while quoting But Avlon’s durable faith in Lincoln offers a boost
normalization, with the rebellious states readmitted of confidence at a time when our history, instead of
under generous terms and most former Confeder- scenes from “Macbeth” uniting us, has become yet another battleground.
ates forgiven. Perceptively, Avlon sees this as part of With insight, he chooses familiar and lesser-known
Lincoln’s natural need for “symmetry” – he would of- that portend assassina- Lincoln phrases to remind readers how much we still
ten announce two very different policies at the same have to learn from our 16th president. 
time as he moved, crablike, toward the twin goals of tion.
reunion and emancipation (a goal that was far clearer LINCOLN AND THE FIGHT FOR PEACE
at the end of the war than the beginning). The murder comes as
BY JOHN AVLON | SIMON & SCHUSTER. 354 PP. $30.
That strategy was not always popular in the North, no surprise, of course, but it is still heart- REVIEW BY TED WIDMER, THE WASHINGTON POST
but Lincoln stayed with it doggedly, and it paid off.
Day by day, Avlon shows the life draining from the rending, after seeing his rare gifts up close. Our ap-
Confederacy and Lincoln’s rising joy that the Union
preciation for Lincoln then deepens some more after

Avlon presents “the Anti-Lincoln,” his vice president

and successor, Andrew Johnson of Tennessee. With

none of Lincoln’s generosity, Johnson squandered his

moment and quickly got bogged down in nasty dis-

putes with Congress. Avlon then details all the ways in

which Lincoln’s vision unraveled as lesser politicians

pursued their own agendas.

There the story might have ended. But Avlon brings

it into the 20th century and beyond, to offer broad

leadership lessons to today’s readers. The results are

mixed. He finds fascinating ways in which memories

of the Civil War reverberated well into the modern

era – as late as 1938, the same year that Germany

occupied Czechoslovakia, Northern and Southern

veterans were gathering for spirited reunions at Get-

tysburg.

But it is no simple matter to shoehorn other his-

torical situations into the specific frame of 1865. One

example works well: Franklin D. Roosevelt pursued

a similar two-track policy of unconditional surren-

der and reintegration as the end of World War II ap-

proached (fortunately, Harry S Truman proved an