01/06/2022 Issue 01

Pandemic exacerbated transition
challenges for hospital. P13
Code-violation
complaints down. P12
County to save $400,000

annually with pretrial release. P4

For breaking news visit

MY VERO PHOTO BY ROSS ROWLINSON jCturosiptvloiednhecewareeseeinks

BY RAY MCNULTY Pandemic complicates challenge of managing county jail BY LISA ZAHNER
Staff Writer
Despite covid spike, few BY LISA ZAHNER ity where inmates are incarcer- ic that’s stretching into its third
signs of concern visible Staff Writer ated for months or even years, calendar year, quarantines, a The number of new COV-
managing the operation of a crisis-level felony court back- ID-19 infections in Indian Riv-
There’s no COVID here. When a county jail goes from 710-bed jail gets more com- log and a halt to in-person er County tripled in one week
That’s what newcomers a place where most people plicated than feeding, housing visitation, and that’s what In- over the Christmas holidays,
and visitors might mistakenly who are arrested spend a few and guarding prisoners. dian River County Sheriff’s Of- jumping from 217 cases on the
think upon their arrival in hours, days or weeks to a facil- Dec. 24 report to 659 cases on
Vero Beach, or anywhere else Add into the mix a pandem- CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 the Dec. 31 report published
in Indian River County, where by the Florida Department of
there are few visible signs the Health.
COVID-19 pandemic is still
with us, even as we find our- Locals who monitor the
selves under siege from yet- pandemic via the Centers for
another spike in cases. Disease Control and Preven-
There are no mass mask tion’s Covid Data Tracker will
mandates in effect, since our see a totally different set of sta-
governor has made it illegal tistics, but county Emergency
for local governments, school Services Director Chief Tad
districts and private business- Stone said on Monday the state
es in Florida to impose them, report is always more accurate
so you’ll find only a cautious, than the CDC’s numbers.
concerned and considerate
few covering their faces. CONTINUED ON PAGE 6
There are no COVID-con-
nected capacity limits in stores, Vero Beach Airport
restaurants, bars, churches, seeing sharp increase
schools, theaters or other in- in private jet traffic
door public places, and social
distancing has gone the way of
the pay phone.
And despite COVID-19’s

CONTINUED ON PAGE 4

Team sets local real estate sales record: BY RAY MCNULTY
‘Can you believe this is happening?’ Staff Writer

BY STEVEN M. THOMAS putting another $18.9 mil- Richard Boga and Cindy O’Dare at Premier Estate Properties. If you spent any time near
Staff Writer lion under contract for a the Vero Beach Regional Air-
total of more than $296 mil- port the past couple of weeks,
Cindy O’Dare and Richard lion in sales, according to you probably noticed an un-
Boga had a hell of a year in company records provided usual number of jets taking off
2021, closing $277.7 million to Vero Beach 32963. and landing.
in real estate transactions and
CONTINUED ON PAGE 8 Get used to it.
Airport Director Todd Scher
said jet traffic here has been

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

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2 Vero Beach 32963 / January 6, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Vero airport jet traffic Beach flights to Newark, New Jersey, PHOTO BY KAILA JONES “We’re busy, and we’d be 10- or
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 in March. 20-percent busier if the long runway
According to Pridgeon, Corporate was open,” Pridgeon said, attributing
increasing steadily throughout the Meanwhile, Scher said he expects Air’s president and manager, the com- at least some of increase in business
COVID-19 pandemic as more travel- the busier-than-normal jet traffic to pany’s facilities can accommodate “ev- to the COVID-19 pandemic.
ers who possess the financial means continue through Easter, which will erything from a small personal jet to a
are choosing to own and/or fly on pri- be celebrated on April 17. Boeing 737.” “When the airlines shut down,
vate aircraft. people who needed to travel started
Contributing mightily to the increase Pridgeon said the company does using private jets, and some of them
“We’re seeing more charters, more in jet activity in Vero Beach is Corporate most of its business around weekends got spoiled,” he continued. “So even
private ownership and more fractional Air, which was founded by Rodger Prid- – jets fly in Thursday or Friday and fly after the airlines started up again,
ownership, which is essentially a time- geon in 1987 and offers a variety of ser- out Sunday or Monday – and it expe- people who used to fly first class in-
share for corporate jets and opens up vices, including fueling, maintenance, rienced a “big jump” in activity the stead chose to continue flying pri-
ownership to a lot more people,” Scher hangar space, charter jets and a com- past two years, enjoying a 35-percent vately.
said. fortable and well-equipped terminal. increase in 2021.
“Now, COVID has made flying with
“I don’t have exact numbers – while the airlines very challenging, which
we record overall operations, we don’t also benefits us,” he added. “In addi-
break them down by types of aircraft – tion, we’re seeing more and more peo-
but I’ve been at this airport a long time ple moving to Florida, and Vero Beach
and I’ve definitely noticed an increase has become a hot spot.
in jet traffic.”
“We’re now a destination.”
It’s not uncommon for private and Pridgeon also cited the growth of
corporate jet traffic to spike during the county’s population, ongoing
the Christmas-to-New Year holidays, real estate boom and affluence in the
Scher said, but there were times the community as factors in the Corpo-
past couple of weeks when jets took rate Air boom, which he said brought
off and landed at the local airport at a in 50-plus jets during Christmas week.
remarkable rate. He said he expects to remain busy
until June 1.
And remember: In September, Elite “Our season runs from October
Airways temporarily moved its com- through the end of May,” Pridgeon
mercial jet service to Melbourne to al- said. “Last year, though, we saw an in-
low for the resurfacing of the longest crease in business during the offsea-
runway at the Vero Beach airport.
son, too.” 
Elite is schedule to resume its Vero

County jail Through an arrangement with Trea-
sure Coast Community Health, Thorn-
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 ton quadrupled the time that a doctor
was on site, so more patients could be
fice Deputy Chief Milo Thornton – who seen, more infections prevented or
took over the job of managing the In- caught early, and more chronic health
dian River County jail just a year ago conditions managed better to head off
Jan. 5 – faces every day. emergencies.

“I have been working on a plan that Every time an inmate must leave the
will offset these costs to the taxpayers, jail for emergency or outpatient treat-
while increasing the level of services ment, it’s a drain on staff time for cor-
to our inmate population,” Thornton rections officers and even the jail fleet
said. over and above costly medical or psy-
chiatric care. Better routine care, and
It costs $95 per day to feed and getting and keeping inmates on the
house one inmate, a number that has proper medications keeps everyone
increased from $65 just a few years ago. safe, Thornton said.
On top of that, the jail spends at least
$2.2 million each year for medical care, “Our No. 1 goal in providing good
plus $1.4 million per year for staffing of medical care is to keep inmates out
medical units by nurses and other pro- of the hospital,” Thornton said. But
fessionals. when a hospital visit is necessary, he
said, “Cleveland Clinic has been a very
It could have seemed like one of good partner with us. We get super
those jobs where you’re not quite sure cost savings for their services. The tax-
where to start, but Thornton focused payers should be happy.”
first on the mental and physical health
of the people in custody, something he The arrangement with TCCH also
describes as the “basic human dignity” gives inmates a way to continue their
of those behind bars. His goal was to medical and psychiatric care with the
boost preventative care, to avoid costly same doctors after they are released
outpatient and hospital procedures from jail. “If people get out and can’t
caused by unmanaged chronic illness. get their medication, they will likely
turn to street narcotics and we will
“We had a doctor one day a week for 100 percent see them back again at
four hours,” Thornton said of the jail, our door,” Thornton said. “Their ac-
which sees about 540 different people tions appear to be criminal, but they
booked into custody each month. The have mental health and other issues.
current jail population as of Monday Once you get these folks regimented
press time was 500 people.

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 6, 2022 3

NEWS

on their medications, they’re normal tracted with a company to provide vir- with their families anywhere in the said making sure inmates are afforded
people.” tual visits, as well as mail processing world using iPads,” Thornton said, the due process of law is of the utmost
and digital scanning services to safely adding that the technology allows in- importance. Though certain court
The jail sees longer-term inmates of get inmates their correspondence. A mates contact with loved ones while hearings can still be attended virtually,
a wide range of ages, including senior by-product of these new systems has minimizing traffic at the jail and keep- in-person attorney meetings are per-
citizens — not just 20-somethings been the elimination of outside con- ing COVID-19 outbreaks to a mini- mitted at the jail because they need to
who maybe made a bad decision in traband being introduced into the jail. mum. be kept private.
their youth. In fact, the longest-stand-
ing resident of the jail is 63-year-old “It’s a company called Smart Com- In addition to providing healthcare The felony court backlog of more
Asbury Lee Perkins, a former South munications. They provide the ability and a safe way to communicate with than 1,400 defendants waiting to go
Beach resident awaiting trial for the for inmates to have on-demand calls the world outside jail walls, Thornton
shooting death of his estranged wife, CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
Cynthia Betts. Arrested in November
2015, Perkins has been held in the jail
for 73 months.

The diverse jail population of 500-
plus men and women come in the
door with a wide range of serious,
chronic health problems like high
blood pressure, diabetes and heart
disease, and even untreated injuries
from before they were arrested.

Dialysis treatment necessitates a
lot of transports, so Thornton hopes
to bring in dialysis equipment soon,
because that would save multiple
transfers weekly for inmates to get
kidney dialysis under guard, and
ensure that inmates get dialysis on
schedule. Every time inmates are out
in the community for a medical ap-
pointment, it’s not only costly but it
increases the risk of introducing CO-
VID-19 into the jail.

To help prevent COVID outbreaks
in close quarters, the Indian River
County Health Department hosted a
vaccination event for Sheriff’s Office
employees, and Treasure Coast Com-
munity Health vaccinates any inmate
who wants the shot. Thornton said
“the Lion’s share” of the jail’s inmates
are fully vaccinated.

“When I get a COVID case in the jail,
we have to shut down a whole housing
unit because one person tests posi-
tive. That person and potentially 30
others can miss court,” Thornton said,
because sick or quarantined inmates
cannot be transported to the court-
house. Those inmates also cannot
have attorney consultations or report
for in-house or trustee jobs.

Thornton said the entire housing
unit is monitored and treated as if all
had COVID-19. So far, he said of cases
in the jail, “Considering how many
people are all stuck together, it’s not
been that significant.”

The jail’s medical wing consists of
23 units that can accommodate three
people each. To be ready to handle
long-turn COVID-19 surges, or other
disease outbreaks, Thornton said he’s
remodeling an old, unused reception
area of the jail into another medical
unit that can be used for quarantine.
“We are positioned, with the Sheriff’s
guidance, to deal with this pandemic
or any other pandemic.”

Social isolation due to COVID pro-
tocols was another problem Thornton
found when he took over, and he con-

4 Vero Beach 32963 / January 6, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

County jail Past violent crimes are also taken ly intake of inmates into state prisons There’s one bit of positive news
into consideration when housing an due to the pandemic, so those crimi- though, in that Thornton said he’s fi-
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3 inmate accused of a minor offense. nals are stuck in the county jails in- nally been able to fill all his open posi-
The longer these inmates are be- definitely. Finally, Thornton said, he tions at the jail. This will help reduce
to trial hasn’t created any of the above hind bars together, the tougher it is was able to transfer 12 men and one the overtime costs partially caused by
challenges at the jail, but the lingering for corrections officers to keep the woman to state facilities in mid-De- the pandemic and partially caused by
caseload keeps people with chronic peace. The more serious felony cases cember after only being able to trans- a change to 12-hour shifts at the jail.
diseases or mental illness in the jail that land people in the jail with high fer a handful at a time previously in Thornton said a good number of ex-
longer, and it keeps violent offenders bail or no bail, for longer periods of the pandemic. perienced corrections officers from
locked up longer with each other. time, the tougher it is to keep inmates northern states have taken the open
properly separated or in protective COVID-19 has also interfered with jobs, in part due to recruitment bo-
Because of custody classifications, in- custody if they might be in danger at efforts to rehabilitate inmates. Thorn- nuses offered by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
mates up on murder charges are paired the jail. ton said face-to-face substance-abuse
with other inmates up on murder charg- counseling and spiritual counseling Officers leaving the state prison sys-
es. Inmates up for sexual assault are The jail is also housing more con- and worship services are still not al- tem have also come to work for the
paired with other accused sex offenders, victed felons than usual because the lowed in the jail due to the pandemic, Sheriff’s Office, as some state facilities
inmates facing drug or weapons charges Florida Department of Corrections so for a lot of inmates that critical life- were closed down or scaled back due
are housed with their peers, and so on. ceased or drastically reduced its week- line is no longer available.
to the pandemic. 

County to save $400,000 annually with pretrial release

BY GEORGE ANDREASSI St. Lucie criminal justice adminis- County Criminal Justice Director Jo- voted unanimously to approve the in-
Staff Writer trators will set up an office with two seph Cowan. terlocal agreement for pretrial services
pretrial officers in the Indian River on the morning of Dec. 7 and St. Lucie
Indian River County anticipates County Courthouse by April 1, 2022 St. Lucie County started its pretrial County commissioners did likewise
saving $400,000 annually by retaining and oversee an average of 218 defen- program in 2007 and has supervised that evening. The agreement for pre-
neighboring St. Lucie County’s Crim- dants per year. a total of 11,019 cases. Since then, trial services may be extended, if both
inal Justice Division to supervise low- St. Lucie County has provided pre- commissions are pleased with the out-
level defendants instead of locking “That’s our current target date, trial services to neighboring counties come. Either county can terminate the
them up in the county jail. but we anticipate being able to de- in the 19th Judicial Circuit, adding agreement without cause with a 60-
liver sooner than that,” said St. Lucie Okeechobee County in 2015, then day written notice.
Martin County in 2018.
Indian River County expects to pay
“Recently, Indian River approached $250,000 annually for the program,
us and asked us to do the same for but the county jail will save $650,000
them,” Cowan told St. Lucie County per year in housing and food costs
commissioners on Dec. 7. for the inmates who enter the pre-
trial release program, county records
The pretrial services include deter- show. That yields annual savings of
mining a defendant’s suitability for re- $400,000.
lease on bail pending the disposition
of their charges and monitoring Global Indian River County will also save
Positioning Satellite devices attached the costs of providing medical care to
to their legs. the inmates who are released under
the pre-trial program. And defendants
The pretrial officers will verify each facing relatively minor charges, who
defendant’s court-ordered conditions might otherwise languish in jail, will
of release, such as reporting weekly to be able to continue working.
the Pretrial Office and submitting to
random drug/alcohol tests and home St. Lucie County can ask Indian Riv-
visits. er to pay for additional staffing if the
number of defendants enrolled in the
Indian River County agreed to pay program exceeds 25 per pretrial officer
St. Lucie County $35,800 in start-up for six straight weeks. The optimal pre-
costs, plus $17,912 per month, or a to- trial officer to defendant ratio is 1-to-20,
tal of $107,472 through the end of the
fiscal year on Sept. 30. both county governments agreed. 

Indian River County commissioners

My Vero 42,000 new infections per day and pro-
duced nearly 300,000 confirmed cases
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 during the final week of 2021 – the
highest rate of COVID infections ever
latest surge throughout Florida and in this state.
across America continuing to make
alarming headlines, including those In fact, the number of Florida’s
warning of dramatic increases in hos- weekly COVID-19 cases doubled in
pitalizations, there’s surprisingly little each successive week of December
conversation about it here. as the positivity rate jumped from 2.6
percent on Dec. 6, when the new vari-
It doesn’t seem to matter that this ant was first detected in neighboring
coronavirus’ Omicron variant is raging St. Lucie County, to 26.5 percent last
in Florida, having spawned more than week. The state’s COVID hospitaliza-

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 6, 2022 5

NEWS

tions increased by 271 percent over Similarly, the positivity rate of those 40 percent from the previous week. Florida Department of Health identi-
the last two weeks of the year. tested for COVID in the county rose Those numbers prompted the Cen- fied any COVID-related deaths locally
from 2.7 percent on Dec. 2 to 7.1 percent during that period, but there’s often a
Closer to home, COVID cases in our on Dec. 23 to 18.6 percent on Dec. 30. ters for Disease Control to rate the lag in reporting such fatalities.
county have risen at a disturbing rate, county’s community transmission lev-
escalating weekly throughout the past There were 13 new hospitalizations el as “high” and urge everyone to “wear We can only hope what experts have
month – from 54 on Dec. 2 to 217 on during the seven-day period that end- a mask in public indoor settings.” been saying about Omicron appears
Dec. 23 to a whopping 659 on Dec. 30. ed Dec. 28, an increase of more than
Thankfully, neither the CDC nor the CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

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6 Vero Beach 32963 / January 6, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

My Vero “There’s only so much we can do,”
Brown said.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5
Schools Superintendent David Moore,
to be true: While this variant is more meanwhile, said he discussed the re-
contagious than previous versions, it’s cent COVID spike – and the precautions
symptoms are less severe, it results in that can be taken to mitigate the spread
fewer and shorter hospitalizations, – with his leadership team throughout
and it isn’t as lethal. the holiday break.

And, perhaps, that explains why so His goal is to keep our schools open,
few of our neighbors seem to care or but he’s concerned the surge could re-
notice – why COVID is no longer the sult in COVID infections that would
talk of the town, why life goes on as if force teachers, teachers’ assistants, bus
the pandemic were a distant memory. drivers, cafeteria works, custodians and
other district personnel to miss work.
Nobody’s dying.
Thus far, anyway, the spike in Omi- “If you get COVID, you’re out, and
cron infections hasn’t been nearly as we have to find ways to get cover-
deadly as the surge in Delta-variant age for those few days, especially for
cases last summer, when we saw re- teachers,” Moore said. “The quaran-
cord COVID-related hospitalizations. tine time is much shorter now, which
It’s also possible, if not probable, helps, but we’re going to proceed with
that we’re no different than the mil- all due caution and take whatever pre-
lions of other Americans who suffer cautions we can – because we don’t
from COVID fatigue. know how bad this is going to get.”
Simply put: After 22 months of liv-
ing with the worst global pandemic in Moore said last week he’ll imple-
100 years, we’re tired of arguing about ment a “tiered mitigation plan” based
masks and vaccines, worrying about on the COVID-infection rate at each
what comes next and wondering if this individual school, rather than rely on
nightmare will ever end. a district-wide policy, in an attempt to
We want everything to be normal keep students in classrooms.
again, like it was before any of us had
heard the word “coronavirus” – and, However, he said he wouldn’t know
well, that’s how most folks here are the extent of the surge’s current im-
moving on with their lives. pact on teachers, students and other
Besides, most of us have been vac- district personnel until early this week.
cinated against COVID-19. According
to the CDC, more than 77 percent of “We’ve been away for 10 days, so we
county residents have received at least don’t know how bad it is,” Moore said.
one dose, and more than 64 percent
have received two. “We’re going to urge students to wear
Only 24 percent, however, have masks, but that’s as far as we can go.
been fully vaccinated and received
booster shots, which don’t prevent in- Requiring masks is against the law.
fection but are supposed to offer the The governor has tied our hands.”
protection needed to avoid lasting
illness and hospitalization from the There is one sector of our commu-
Omicron variant. nity that does seem to be taking this
We can only hope more of us get spike in COVID cases seriously and
boosted as this latest surge worsens, where you’ll find visible evidence
because we’re not likely to get any help of the pandemic – the local private
from our state or local officials. clubs.
Both County Administrator Jason
Brown and Vero Beach City Manager John’s Island, The Moorings and
Monte Falls said their staffs continue Sea Oaks are requiring staffers to wear
to monitor the situation, but neither masks when indoors at club facilities
plans any direct action nor identified and encouraging members and guests
any statistical threshold that would to do the same, while Orchid Island,
trigger the implementation of miti- Windsor and Grand Harbor have im-
gation protocols. But they did cite plemented indoor mask mandates for
Gov. Ron DeSantis’ order prohibiting members, guests and employees.
mask or vaccine mandates.
Quail Valley, on the other hand, has
fully embraced DeSantis’ order and
merely encourages employees, mem-
bers and guests to wear masks indoors.

So, yes, there is COVID here, and I’m
guessing most of us know it. Too many
of us, though, don’t seem to care any-
more.

It is, sadly, a sign of the times. 

COVID cases triple VID-19 testing locations such as Wal-
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 greens pharmacies are not captured in
the CDC’s numbers, and adding next
“It’s not a mistake,” Stone said of week’s number will likely rise when
the 659 new cases listed on the FDOH the next report comes out on Friday.
weekly report, pointing out that many
of the popular and busy retail CO- “We’ve been seeing 140 to 150 cases
per day,” Stone said.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 8



8 Vero Beach 32963 / January 6, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

COVID cases triple and paramedics work and live, Stone and instead meeting with people who 2020 order mandating masks for ev-
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6 re-implemented temperature and do not work in the building and mem- eryone entering the courthouse was
symptom checks three times a day for bers of the public in the EOC’s media just lifted back in November, as infec-
So far, Stone said, the Omicron employees. room. But so far, Stone said there’s no tion rates fell following the Delta vari-
surge hasn’t reduced the level of ser- plan to limit access to other county of- ant surge of August and September.
vice his fire-rescue crews provide, “They are checked before they start fices and facilities, or to require masks
though about 6 percent of the nearly their shift, then again mid-shift and to enter. As case numbers rise due to the Omi-
300-member staff has been out sick or again at the end of shift before they cron variant’s transmissibility, the de-
quarantined. leave,” Stone said. “We started that two For upcoming disaster drills where mand for COVID testing and for Regen-
weeks ago.” representatives from the county, cities eron shots and other treatments has
“We’ve been able to cover it with and local law enforcement and govern- also increased. The closest state-run
overtime,” he said. “We had one man- Both vaccinated and unvaccinated ment agencies will be on-site, Stone monoclonal antibody treatment site
datory overtime shift on Sunday, that employees are testing positive. “It’s as said he’s upping safety precautions and is the St. Lucie County Fairgrounds in
shift got hit especially hard.” contagious as measles,” Stone said. requiring temperature checks. Fort Pierce. Brevard County also has a
site in Rockledge, north of Melbourne.
To prevent the virus spreading in Because the Emergency Operations Indian River Shores Public Safety
the close quarters where firefighters Center must be staffed and opera- Department has had 20 percent of its Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Mon-
tional 365 days a year, Stone said he’s 40-member staff out with COVID-19 day that Florida has nearly $1 billion in
limiting access to the inner offices, in the past three weeks, Public Safety this year’s budget for monoclonal anti-
Chief Rich Rosell said. And of the eight body distribution, and that the Florida
people who caught the virus, five were Division of Emergency Management
fully vaccinated. Fortunately, every- is ready to open new treatment sites
one recovered and was back to work around the state within a day or two.
as of Monday.
But he said Florida is waiting on
The Palm Beach Diocese Catholic shipments of 30,000 to 40,000 doses
Schools, which include St. Helen and of three different monoclonal anti-
John Carroll Catholic schools that Vero body drugs from the federal govern-
students attend, told parents and staff ment. DeSantis said Florida has ample
on New Year’s Eve that all students and funding to purchase these treatments
teachers would need to mask up in- directly from the manufacturers, but
doors when classes resumed on Mon- the federal government currently has
day. The Catholic schools have also an exclusive arrangement to procure
halted large events and were taking a these drugs.
look at how the latest covid surge may
affect extracurricular activities and The CDC Data Tracker said 13 CO-
athletics. VID-positive patients were admitted
to the hospital in Indian River County
St. Edward’s School on the barrier is- over the seven days from Christmas to
land was also weighing whether masks New Year’s Eve, and no patients died
were needed on campus again. from coronavirus in that seven-day
period.
“We are currently mask-optional
but are keeping a close eye on the Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph
numbers. We're going to meet again at Ladapo reported on Monday that
the end of the week and see where the available hospital capacity statewide
numbers stand, and make decisions remained high and intensive-care unit
from there,” said Director of Market- admissions were low. He said only
ing and Communications Monica Jen- about 50 percent of patients counted
nings on Monday. “Like many, we're in the covid hospitalization numbers
hoping that this latest surge will blow were admitted for COVID-19 symp-
by quickly.” toms. The other half tested positive for
the virus upon being admitted for a
As of Monday, local courts had not
updated their pandemic protocols. A different illness or injury. 

Real estate sales record late to manage a torrent of more typi-
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 cal $1 million to $5 million deals, which
they call their “bread and butter,” as
That number crushed the team’s their transaction numbers tripled.
previous record of $168 million, which
they set in 2015 with then partner “Premier only sells homes priced at
Clark French.. a million and above and in a typical
year, we do 30 or 35 transactions,” said
During this past year, the O’Dare- Boga. “This year we closed 82 deals
Boga team sold the two most expen- and put another nine houses under
sive oceanfront homes that changed contract for a total of 91 transactions.”
hands in 32963 – including one for $27
million that set a new island price re- “It was tough, really tough, working
cord – and it brought the buyer for the day and night, working harder than we
top riverfront sale. have ever worked before,” said O’Dare.
“But it was also fun, so much fun!”
“They knocked it out of the park,”
said Joe Liguori, co-owner of Premier “It was our most exciting year,” said
Estate Properties, where O’Dare and Boga, who joined O’Dare at Premier
Boga are based. Estate Properties in 2009, a year af-
ter she and a handful of other agents
In-between the grand-slam deals, started Premier’s Vero office. “We
the partners got up early and worked would just look at each other some-

CONTINUED ON PAGE 10



10 Vero Beach 32963 / January 6, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Real estate sales record years of diligent groundwork, cultivat- for this market,” establishing the repu- knocking, looking for a piece of Vero’s
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8 ing a network of adoring clients and tation and relationships that enabled increasingly renowned little paradise.
potential luxury buyers in key feeder Premier to double its companywide
times in the middle of a deal, sort of markets. sales from $1.55 billion in 2020 to There was a similar dynamic on the
wide-eyed, and we didn’t even have to more than $3 billion in 2021. seller side, as homeowners O’Dare and
say anything.” Liguori, whose company had a re- Boga had relationships with reached
cord year in 2021, said he and his part- In the case of O’Dare and Boga – out to them to sell their houses, cre-
The unspoken thoughts where, ners “worked for 28 years to be ready who accounted for a notable percent- ating opportunities for the inrush of
“Can you believe what is happening?” age of that blockbuster company sales buyers.
and “Are you as tired as I am?” total – they have worked for more than
a decade in Vero Beach to accumulate The partners’ connection with Pre-
“Kristin and Vicki worked just as what one client who has done mul- mier was a major asset, too, opening
hard,” O’Dare said, referring to Kris- tiple deals with them calls “incredible a pipeline of buyers from Palm Beach
tin Dobson, an agent who joined the knowledge” of the island real estate and South Florida – where Premier’s
O’Dare Boga team three years ago, and market, build a wide network of influ- other four offices are located – who
VictoriaWilburn, the partners’ longtime ential buyers and sellers, and develop saw O’Dare and Boga’s Vero listings on
assistant. “Kristin is an incredible agent the expertise and style to meet those the company website or were referred
with loads of drive and talent, and ev- clients’ needs. to them by Premier agents.
erything kicked in for her this year.”
“They are top-quality real estate “Often buyers look here when
It took more than hard work, though, professionals,” said legendary in- they are done looking in Palm Beach
to set a new island record for the high- vestment manager Dennis Stattman, [where prices are much higher],” said
est sales volume in a single year. So, who with his wife Beth Grosshans has O’Dare.
how did the little three-agent team at done a dozen island real estate deals
a small office at the intersection of A1A with O’Dare and Boga. “We have in- But getting clients to Vero is only the
and Beachland pull it off? vested in real estate in many places – first step in selling a multimillion- dol-
residential, commercial and agricul- lar property; next the agents have to
In a word – preparation. tural – and they are the best we have find a house that appeals to them and
Their success came in the context of seen. then negotiate a complex, high-stakes
the pandemic migration that created deal with multiple personalities and
an annus mirabilis for the real estate Absolutely the icing on the cake.” preferences amid fast-changing cir-
industry here and across the country, Along with cultivating loyal local cumstances.
but the extent of that success – the clients, O’Dare and Boga during the
“wow” factor of inking multimillion- past five or six years invested heavily Here, again, the years of prep work
dollar contract after contract in a time in targeted advertising, reaching out paid off.
of severely limited inventory and mak- to luxury buyers in South Florida, New
ing it look almost easy – emerged from York City, the Hamptons, Nantucket, “Richard is on the young side, but he
Los Angeles and San Francisco to sell has really, really mastered this thing.
their Vero listings. On the second deal we did with them,
When the floodgates of the pandem- there were 11 back-and-forths in the
ic buyer surge opened, O’Dare and negotiations and Richard remained
Boga’s brand was already well known absolutely unflappable, cool as a cu-
in those key markets and their phone cumber,” said Beth Grosshans, a child
started ringing non-stop. psychologist and author.
People they had talked to about ear-
lier deals called back with new urgen- “He is very exacting about contracts
cy and friends, relatives and business and has so much knowledge about
associates of existing clients came oceanfront and riverfront properties
at his fingertips. And Cindy has a sixth
sense about what property would be
right for a client and what the price
should be.”

“I pick a price for a listing based on
intuition and my sense of the market,
while Richard crunches the numbers,”
says O’Dare. “We always end up very
close to the same place.”

“One thing that really impresses me
about them is their ability to find the
right property, given buyer criteria,
and get the deals closed,” said Ken
Cooper, an entrepreneur and real es-
tate investor who had a successful ca-
reer in the music industry as an artist
and executive before founding North
American Dental Group.

With his wife Melissa, he has done
seven real estate deals with O’Dare
and Boga, buying and selling on the
ocean and the river, from the Estate
section to Windsor, as the couple and
their three children tried out different
island lifestyles over the past seven
years.

“With these kinds of deals, it isn’t
just the price. It is the terms,” Cooper
said. “The terms really matter, and
they are exceptionally good at identi-
fying sticking points for each side and

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 6, 2022 11

NEWS

helping both parties adjust and com- Richard are not only respected and a very strong yet elegant business- sion for Richard or me,” said O’Dare.
promise and move in the right direc- loved by their clients, because they are woman, and I have always looked up “It is always about the great feeling
tion, closer together, so the deal sur- the hardest working and go above and to her. She is my greatest mentor and
vives. beyond in all that they do, but they are has guided me in navigating the real of having both parties happy and sat-
well respected by their colleagues and estate world this past year.” isfied at the end of the deal.”
“They are incredibly strong around our community, too. I think that alone
knowing this market and they have speaks volumes, when even their “Cindy and Richard are well known “Don’t get us wrong,” Boga said.
great expertise around architectural competitors can agree how wonderful for being top producers,” said Liguori. “The money is great! But it’s the satis-
style, understanding the type of house they are!” “They have a great reputation. They faction of a job well done that is most
a buyer is looking for and finding it or have the listings and are well versed in personally fulfilling.”
finding a buyer for a particular house, Lily O’Dare seems to have inherited every aspect of the island market from
such as a Mid-century modern house her mother’s talent for real estate, sell- the estate section to Riomar to the O’Dare doesn’t think the party is over.
on the river that Melissa and I reno- ing $12 million in her first year as an north end. We are very pleased with “I expect a very – very, very – busy
vated and recently sold. They found agent with ONE Sotheby’s. their performance and with the whole season in 2022, starting mid-January
that special house for us and found Vero office, which had a record year in through April or May,” she said. “I
the right buyer when we were ready.” “I have been listening to my mom 2021.” think we will do well. We have lots of
on the phone doing real estate deals listing potentials coming up and we
Besides hard work and expertise, since I was in elementary school. She’s “It is not mainly about the commis- are prepared for this market. We are
O’Dare and Boga bring dedication
and personal charm to their real es- ready.” 
tate deals, according to their clients.

Retired telecom executive Michael
Fuller and his wife Mary wrote in an
email to Vero Beach 32963: “We have
known Cindy and Richard for almost
four years and worked with them on
three real estate transactions, both
buying and selling, and couldn’t have
been more pleased. While they are
totally professional in their business
dealings, they are delightful in their
personal interactions, and they take
the stress out of buying and selling
property.

“Given their incredible knowledge-
able of the total real estate market,
their accessibility, responsiveness and
attention to detail, it is not surprising
that they have achieved this milestone
of professional success. When meet-
ing with them, one has the feeling
that you are the most important client
they have. We have moved a number
of times through the years and can
say without hesitation that Cindy and
Richard are the very best realtors we
have ever had the pleasure of working
with, both professionally and person-
ally. We have total trust in their ad-
vice.”

“Cindy and Richard have a wonder-
ful alchemy,” said Grosshans. “Their
driving interest is in their clients being
happy and satisfied at the end of the
transaction, feeling good and having
the house they want in the neighbor-
hood they love. It is fun to buy and sell
real estate with them!

“You laugh through the whole pro-
cess.

“Even when there are challenges
and complications, you still feel good
at the end of the deal. They are as ethi-
cal as the day is long and we absolute-
ly love knowing them and doing busi-
ness with them.”

“Where others see problems, they
see solutions,” said Cooper. “They are
empathetic. They understand the val-
ue and dynamics of relationships and
never force the wrong fit on anyone.
They’re just good people.”

O’Dare’s daughter, Lily O’Dare, told
Vero Beach 32963, “My mother and

12 Vero Beach 32963 / January 6, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

CODE-VIOLATION COMPLAINTS DOWN
SINCE PASSAGE OF NO-SQUEALING LAW

BY RAY MCNULTY “The new law had some impact, but
we didn’t keep track of the number of
Staff Writer anonymous complaints that came in
because we couldn’t respond to them,”
Code-violation complaints filed with Pedersen said. “We still have plenty of
the county have decreased by as much complaints coming in.”
as 20 percent during the six months
since Florida enacted a new law pro- Pedersen said the city’s two code-
hibiting local governments from inves- enforcement officers go on patrols and
tigating non-compliance accusations take a proactive approach that starts
filed anonymously. with giving warnings, which “usually
gets people’s attention.”
The new statute, which took effect
July 1, was designed to deter frivolous In Indian River Shores, meanwhile,
complaints filed by feuding neighbors. the new law has had little impact.
But the county’s assistant community
development director said the law “Not yet, anyway,” said Gary Doyle,
might also be discouraging residents the town’s code enforcement officer. “I
from alerting local officials to legiti- haven’t seen any change, one way or the
mate violations. other. Most people here are quite willing
to give their names and information.
“Obviously, for a law like this to be-
come necessary, people were filing friv- “Of course, you’ve got to keep in
olous complaints somewhere in Flori- mind the clientele in the Shores,” he
da, but it really hasn’t been a problem added. “It’s probably different in parts
here,” Andy Sobczak said. of Vero Beach and the county.”

“I don’t recall us getting many bo- Doyle said there are “very few” code-
gus complaints,” he added, “so based enforcement issues in the town.
on what we’re seeing in this county, I
don’t know what problem the new law Under the new law, code-enforce-
is fixing.” ment officials may continue to inves-
tigate possible violations they observe
Sobczak said the county receives while patrolling the communities they
2,500 to 3,000 complaints annually – serve, but many such departments
residents may phone them in or use are often understaffed – as is the case
a link on the Code Enforcement Divi- here.
sion’s web page – but the number de-
clined “15 to 20 percent” after the law Thus, the county’s Code Enforce-
required those filing them to provide ment Division relies heavily on resi-
their names and addresses. dents alerting officials to violations,
especially amid a real-estate boom.
“It’s not a big number and it’s cer-
tainly not going to put us out of busi- “We’ve never fully recovered from
ness, because we receive a huge num- the staff cuts 15 years ago, so we’re
ber of complaints,” Sobczak said. “But not in a position to police the county
it’s enough to notice.” ourselves, but we do regular sweeps of
neighborhoods where there have been
Sobczak said many of the callers problems before,” Sobczak said, add-
choose not to proceed or simply hang ing that the county has only four full-
up the phone when informed they can- time code-enforcement officers.
not file their complaints anonymously.
Making the task tougher are allega-
“In those cases, it’s usually a neigh- tions of targeting when code officers
bor complaining about a neighbor, on patrol cite violations in a particular
and they don’t want their neighbor to neighborhood.
know who called,” he explained. “Of
course, if it’s a public-health or safety “The people who live there see it as
issue, we’re allowed to take the com- bias because we did their neighbor-
plaint and respond to it.” hood but not the one down the road,”
Sobczak said. “So, it’s a challenge, but
In fact, the law provides an exception the code-enforcement officers we have
that allows code inspectors to inves- are very efficient and proficient at their
tigate anonymous complaints if they jobs.”
believe the violation presents an “im-
minent threat to public health, safety He said fewer complaints come
or welfare, or the destruction of habitat from gated communities, which are
or sensitive resources.” usually governed by homeowner’s as-
sociations that impose and enforce
According toVero Beach Police Lt. John restrictions that are often more strin-
Pedersen, who oversees the department’s gent than in the county.
code-enforcement officers, the number
of complaints in the city decreased after Sobczak said many of the calls to the
the new law went into effect, but he Code Enforcement Division come from
was unable to provide any numbers. licensed contractors filing complaints
against unlicensed roofers, painters,
carpenters and trades workers.

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 6, 2022 13

NEWS

“That’s one segment of the popu- A majority of the complaints, how-
lation that’s not shy about turning ever, are residents complaining about
people in,” he said, “and that’s a good neighbors having vehicles parked in
thing, because using an unlicensed their yards, overgrown grass and weeds,
contractor could create safety issues.”
and noise. 

PART 2

Challenge of transitioning Indian River hospital
to Cleveland Clinic exacerbated by the pandemic

BY MICHELLE GENZ When surrounding counties adopted
Staff Writer mask mandates, the Hospital District
urged local officials to take action, too.
As Marybeth Cunningham begins
her fifth year as chairman of the Hos- “We pushed the county commission-
pital District board, she concedes not ers,” she said. “I personally sent emails
fully anticipating the impact a pan- and talked to a number of county com-
demic would have on the concurrent missioners. We wrote a resolution sup-
challenge of transitioning the old In- porting masks, for what good that would
dian River Medical Center to the new do, asking them to please, vote for the
Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital. mandate. And that was really as much
supporting the hospital as anything to
“Back in April 2020, if you’ll remem- be able to say, ‘Look, people. They’re not
ber, everybody was in lockdown and going to be able to take care of strokes
thought we’d be through this in a month and cancer if we don’t stop this.’
or two,” Cunningham recalled. “People
were nervous, but they didn’t grasp the At the worst points, Cunningham and
severity of it. We were being told to just Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital
take the proper measures and it’ll go CEO Greg Rosencrance spoke “almost
away, and it didn’t. It got worse.” daily” as the district sought to stay on
top of what was happening at the hos-
Marybeth Cunningham and her husband Chuck. pital, and offer whatever help it could.
Rosencrance’s main request? “He was
PHOTO BY KAILA JONES looking for support in getting the mes-
sage out on masking and distancing.”
Cunningham’s phone jangled with
agency directors trying to cope with the Through it all, the Hospital District
emergency. “There was a lot of scram- staff and trustees kept in close contact
bling to get prepared. We were running with the agencies they fund, doling
out of PPE because nobody knew how out close to $1 million to deal with ur-
to deal with that.” gent and unanticipated needs.

All the while, the public was panick- When vaccines became available
ing. “By May and June, the hospital and a year ago in December and January,
a lot of the support staff at Whole Fam- political points of view grew only more
ily Health and Treasure Coast Commu- intrusive on individual healthcare de-
nity Health were just buried with peo- cisions. While lines formed at podi-
ple trying to get COVID tests and trying ums at the County Commission and
to figure out what kind of mask you School Board meetings to protest cau-
needed, and just what was going on.” tious government policies, few people
came to Hospital District meetings.
That turmoil would only get worse
as divisiveness set in and conspiracy It was the same when the Hospital
theories blossomed in a presidential District had tried hard a couple years
election year. earlier to involve citizens in the deci-
sion to partner with Cleveland Clinic.
“It was a health crisis. Then, unfortu- The Hospital District operates under
nately, it turned into a political crisis,” the Sunshine laws, which require an
said Cunningham. extraordinary amount of openness
– a torment for a large company like
Cleveland Clinic. But the public sel-
dom took advantage of the forced
candor; there was never the interest
they anticipated.

“We tried very hard to get commu-
nity people to come give feedback and
talk to us,” Cunningham said. “We
held four community meetings and
we rarely had more than 10 people.”

The merger took place with minimal
controversy, as did Cleveland Clinic
Indian River’s first year, when changes

CONTINUED ON PAGE 14

14 Vero Beach 32963 / January 6, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Cleveland Clinic tients who had gone to the same doc- cated by a flood of separate calls for employees were leaving voluntarily,
tors for many years were upset, to say COVID-19 testing and vaccination. part of the nationwide exodus due to the
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13 the least. stress and risks of COVID. In their place,
“They were dealing with it franti- pricey agency nurses who traveled the
were intentionally kept to a minimum. “The consultants (on the merger) cally, absolutely frantically,” said Cun- country from surge to surge were hired.
The next year, though, was 2020; the all said that the second year was going ningham, who said in the middle of
hospital along with every health-re- to be chaotic,” recalled Cunningham. the worst of it, she was getting calls Twice in 2021, elective surgeries
lated agency became engulfed with “It always is, in any of these kinds of herself and questioned every time she were paused, including for eight to 10
problems when COVID-19 hit. changes. It turned out to be more went out. weeks during the Delta surge.
chaotic than anybody would have
Despite having to battle a string guessed.” “Cleveland Clinic did at some point In the past year alone, the hospital
of COVID surges and staff short- take out full-page ads apologizing for lost $29 million as operating expenses
ages, Cleveland Clinic forged ahead Those physician departures were the phone system,” Cunningham point- exceeded budget by $41 million, ac-
with policy implementation, a switch often not communicated to patients ed out. cording to Rosencrance, who gave an
to electronic records software, and until weeks later, when the hospital update to the Hospital District board
heightened expectations of employee sent out letters suggesting a replace- “Some of what we found out was in December.
conformity to Cleveland Clinic corpo- ment physician. That news was not there were a lot of things in the old hos-
rate standards. Those included for doc- taken well by the thousands of pa- pital that didn’t work as they should Cunningham felt relief in that rev-
tors the time-intensive logging of data tients affected. and so when the demand increased elation. “That tells me, Thank good-
amassed by the new Epic software for so much for vaccines or for services, ness you’re here and that Cleveland
systemwide quality metrics and insur- It didn’t help that many of those it was just overwhelming. But people Clinic can weather that. Because our
ance reimbursement. stranded patients were already en- looked at Cleveland Clinic and said, community hospital could never have
raged by phone system foul-ups that ‘You guys are No. 1 or 2 in the world for weathered that.”
Some doctors complained it was had stretched on for months after the healthcare and you can’t even get your
time spent at the expense of patients hospital changed out its electronic phones working?’ ” Rosencrance, for his part, is quick to
whose visits had to be shortened to records system. Cunningham herself show appreciation for Cunningham.
make time for notes and data input. was fielding calls as patients told sto- Cunningham believes the hospital He called the collaboration with Cun-
Some of the hospital’s most respected ries of spending hours dialing various may have underestimated the effects ningham and the Hospital District “in-
– and highest earning – employed phy- numbers, getting busy signals, get- of Epic, the new electronic health re- strumental in helping us maintain the
sicians became disenchanted, to put it ting disconnected, or leaving mes- cords system. health and safety of the community
politely. Many of them left by choice or sages that were never returned. Many we serve.”
otherwise. drove in person to offices just to “In my automotive world life, I went
book an appointment – only to find through major changes in IT structure, “We are grateful for Marybeth’s sup-
At the same time, dozens of new doc- long lines of people waiting to do the and it was painful – very painful. So port of Cleveland Clinic Indian River
tors were recruited to take their places. same. I have some sympathy for Cleveland Hospital,” he went on. “Her vision
But some among Vero’s older popula- Clinic. In the middle of a pandemic, for providing residents with access to
tion resented the unfamiliar faces. Pa- Teams of experts could not solve the and in the middle of a transition – they high-quality care will have a long-last-
appointments desk problems, compli- bit off a lot.” ing benefit in Indian River County for

At the same time, nurses and other years to come.” 

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16 Vero Beach 32963 / January 6, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

‘After Dark’: Vero Museum says, Let there be light art!

BY MARY SCHENKEL
Staff Writer

The Vero Beach Museum of Art re- ID’s hit, and there was an opportunity ful clear evening, it’s picture-perfect. bine it with other digital software to
cently introduced a new artform to the again, because people want to be out- We couldn’t have picked a better create this larger sort of production.”
Treasure Coast with its inaugural Art doors. We thought it was a great way night,” said Bentham-Wood. “This is
After Dark exhibition, a free, two-eve- to give back to the community, espe- completely new for us, so it’s a new The exhibition was curated by
ning, outdoor, digital art exhibition. cially during the holiday period, when setup, new concept, new format, and Phares with VBMA senior curator
people are looking for things to do,” we didn’t know how many people Anke Van Wagenberg.
People wandered along luminaria- said Bentham-Wood. would turn up.”
lit pathways to view the artworks, “Brett’s obviously got the knowl-
which were projected onto five walls “The thing is, we’re not inside of Phares said that for this inaugural edge based on the artists, but we know
of the museum, as well as under the the museum, where everything is event, he used eight artists (himself the market; what will work for our au-
roof of the portico. Each projection squared up and looking as it should included) from all around the world, dience base and also, our building,”
was independent, but in a loop, so that be, very museum quality. With this, whom he has worked with in the past. said Bentham-Wood.
everyone had a chance to view them you’re outside,” said Phares. “This is
fully. something so new for them. I mean, “I’ve been working with them for a Phares has produced these immer-
it’s cool that they were brave enough while, and they’re used to this kind of sive, outdoor art exhibits for 15 years;
Sophie Bentham-Wood, VBMA di- to do it. It’s great to be able to have the presentation. You have to have some 14 years in Alys Beach, on the Florida
rector of marketing and communica- museum involved in something that’s confidence in the person who just Panhandle, where they use greater
tions, explained that the concept had outside the lines.” takes your work to do something with numbers of projectors.
been proposed to the VBMA a couple it. This is all digital art; you’ll see dif-
of years ago by Brett Phares, founder “Absolutely, it’s art inside out,” add- ferent forms that take shape,” Phares “This is a scaled-down version of
of lightStruct, but the timing wasn’t ed Bentham-Wood. explained. what we would like to do, maybe for
right at the time. Phares is also co- the future. But this is a test for us. This
founder and curator of the annual Based on the number of people who “In one projector, it shows a work has never been done on the Treasure
Alys Beach light art exhibition, Digital showed up, the idea clearly resonated, that’s a combination of stop-action Coast, and we are trying to gauge how
Graffiti. as crowds wandered about or sat for a photography. So, you take pieces of, interested people are,” said Bentham-
while in front of their favorites. let’s say construction paper, and posi- Wood.
“Roll forward two years on, COV- tion it over time. And then you com-
“We have a full moon, it’s a beauti- For more information, visit vbmu-
seum.org. 

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 6, 2022 17

PEOPLE

Sophie Bentham-Wood, David Montgomery and Brett Phares. Heather Stapleton and Mark Wygonik. PHOTOS: KAILA JONES Marion Berry, Susan Burns and Donna Coughlin.

Anna and Brady Roberts.

Karen Bunting and Julie Bertrand.

Barbara Palm and Bonnie Morse.

18 Vero Beach 32963 / January 6, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

Elf-motivated! Orchid Island Club donates sleigh-load of toys

BY STEPHANIE LaBAFF
Staff Writer

Santa’s reindeer had to work a little Gerri Ripp, Kathy Dunlop, Jesse Zermeño, Mary Grandy and Deborah Brennan. PHOTOS: KAILA JONES
bit harder this year to carry a ‘sleigh’
laden with toys donated by members
of the Orchid Island Golf and Beach
Club to be distributed by the nonprofit
Operation Hope during its annual
Christmas Festival in Fellsmere the
week before Christmas.

There were dolls and balls, blocks
and cars – to be sure, something for ev-
eryone. Along with Orchid Island staff,
several club members assisted with
the holly, jolly loading of the loot into
the Operation Hope truck.

Each December, Orchid Island
members collect toys at their annual
Operation Hope dinner. This year, they
brought more than 200 unwrapped
toys to yet another sold-out dinner be-
fore settling in for an evening of good
cheer.

“The club members are really giv-
ing. They enjoy this event every year,”
said Rob Tench, Orchid Island’s gen-
eral manager. “There is such need out
in Fellsmere. We’re happy to be able to

Join us for Sunday Worship bring some joy to some of the kids on Jesse Zermeño and Rob Tench.
8:30, 9:30 and 11:00 AM Christmas Day.”
cares for the people in Indian River
Quality discipleship, fellowship, music, Founded by Jesse Zermeño in 1997, County and supports Operation Hope
youth programs, and more - for all ages! Operation Hope has been making a to help others. It’s amazing. We are
We would love for you to join our church family! difference in the lives of laborers and thankful that what they do allows us to
their families by improving living con- help so many people,” said, Zermeño.
Sunday, January 9th ditions, and distributing food, cloth-
ing and household items to those in Zermeño also happily announced
This week’s message: need. The nonprofit provides support, they had been working with Orchid
“Memories” education and assistance to disadvan- Island resident Dr. Fredy E. Delacruz
taged families regardless of race, color to open a free medical clinic at their
Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 or religion. Fellsmere location.

Bud Johnson, Elder Zermeño said he was excited for “It’s free for people who don’t have
things to return to normal, as last year’s insurance or money. Dr. Delacruz has
520 Royal Palm Blvd First Presbyterian Preschool event was held in a drive-through invited doctors and nurses who will
Vero Beach, FL 32960 www.firstpresbyterianpreschool.org fashion to accommodate pandemic- donate their time,” said Zermeño.
(772) 562-9088 PRIMO School of Performing Arts related health and safety precautions.
www.FirstPresVero.org In addition to the Christmas Fes-
www.PRIMOMusic.org “It’s going to be a wonderful event, tival, Operation Hope distributes
especially since we went through two backpacks and school supplies dur-
different difficult years and still so ing a Back-to-School celebration each
many people are stressed and trou- August and turkeys for Thanksgiving.
bled. But now it’s time for the people to Families are also invited to pick up
have a good time,” said Zermeño, who food and grocery items twice a month.
expected a larger-than-usual crowd
with hundreds of children. For more information, visit
operationhopefl.org. 
“The response is going to be very
high because many families are in
trouble. It’s time to get people happy
and make them smile.”

Zermeño said plans for the Christ-
mas Festival included Sheriff Eric
Flowers speaking to the crowd and,
to entertain the families, there will
be musicians, singers, dancers, fire
trucks and Indian River County Sher-
iff’s Office K-9s.

“I am so happy that Orchid Island

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 6, 2022 19

PEOPLE

Alex Heater.

20 Vero Beach 32963 / January 6, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

Good cheer was in the air at the
‘Women’s Refuge’ Christmas affair

Madelyn Rebman, Rachel Becker and Ashley Rebman. PHOTOS: LEE ORR

BY SAMANTHA ROLFING BAITA “I’ve benefited from the (Women’s
Refuge) counseling. It changed my
Staff Writer life,” shared Calahan.

An airplane hangar might not be In a pre-dinner performance and
the first spot that comes to mind during the meal, upbeat, spirit-lifting
when planning a Christmas banquet, music was provided by the music team
but when Corporate Air graciously Donathan and Kimberly Williams and
made their impressive, immaculately their Called Higher Worship Band.
maintained hangar at the Vero Beach
Regional Airport available, that is pre- Following remarks by Diane Lud-
cisely where the Women’s Refuge of wig, Refuge executive director, and
Vero Beach opted to hold its third an- an immensely moving testimony by
nual Christmas Banquet. Liliana Garcia, founder of Canaan
Church in Miami, keynote speaker
And, thanks to the hard work of the Kevin Sorbo took the stage.
talented 18-person event committee
and the overwhelming generosity of Actor/director Sorbo is best known
Presenting Sponsor Bernard A. Eagan as the titular lead in the TV series
Foundation and other event sponsors, “Hercules, the Legendary Journeys,”
it was transformed into a beautiful, which was followed by a second series
warm and welcoming holiday venue. and numerous movies. Later in his
career, Sorbo directed and acted in a
Board and committee members number of faith-based movies.
greeted the sold-out crowd of some
350 festively garbed guests and wel- In his memoir, “True Strength: My
comed them inside, where walls were Journey from Hercules to Mere Mortal
aglow with white draperies. White- and How Nearly Dying Saved my Life,”
clothed tables were each centered Sorbo chronicles his near-death expe-
with a cylindrical glass vase, in which rience after suffering three strokes,
white and gold feathers were arranged and his battle back to regain his life. A
with gold pinecones, all glowing with follow-up book, “True Faith, Embrac-
tiny twinkle lights. ing Adversity to Live in God’s Light,”
was co-written with his wife, Sam.
Each place was set with a gold-hued
charger, upon which was a white According to Brenda Sposato (the
packet of note cards topped with a evening’s designated go-to person,
gold feather and bearing the Women’s who never stopped running), the
Refuge theme: “He will cover you with event raised $150,000, which included
His feathers, and under His wings you a $10,000 match donation from the
will find refuge.” Bernard A. Egan Foundation.

The sumptuous buffet, by Wild Since 1997 the Christian-based
Thyme Catering, was presented along Women’s Refuge of Vero Beach has
one side of the vast room, and at the provided emotional support and
entrance, an intriguing array of silent- healing to mentally and spiritually
auction items beckoned. wounded women, men, and families
through biblical counseling. They of-
Board president Becky Calahan fer a residential program, counseling
welcomed the gathering, later noting and support groups to hurting wom-
that the “outdoor, open venue, our en, providing them with sanctuary in
first time here,” was especially suit- a healing environment.
able in this era of social distancing,
while also providing an opportunity For more information, visit womens
for “the community to get together.” refugevb.org. 

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22 Vero Beach 32963 / January 6, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

‘Shop with a Cop’: For kids, a Christmas joy tour de ‘Force’

Susan Daniels with Donna and Dr. Tom Spackman, and John Daniels. PHOTOS: KAILA JONES PHOTOS CONTINUED ON PAGE 24
IRCSO Dep. Clifford Labbe.

BY STEPHANIE LaBAFF
Staff Writer

On the Saturday before Christmas, Sheriff Eric Flowers.
an unusual conglomeration of elves
– as in more than 50 law enforcement “It allows the kids to see a different
officers from six local agencies – gath- side of law enforcement. The only time
ered at the Vero Beach Walmart to arm a lot of these kids see us is when their
themselves with shopping carts and family is in disarray or under tremen-
take children on a shopping spree dur- dous amounts of stress in a bad situa-
ing the annual Shop with a Cop event. tion,” said Ogonoski.

With sirens and lights, a full police “This gives them the opportunity
escort led busses into the parking lot, to meet different types of law enforce-
where they were met by a wall of of- ment officers and see that we’re people
ficers, all anxious to engage with the too. We’re human just like they are.
children. Maybe that’s the beginning of an un-
derstanding, or a solid base for a rela-
The officers were deployed to as- tionship in the future. That we can be
sist 120 children in shopping for holi- talked to, and we’re not like the scary
day gifts, with each child given $100 boogie man.”
to spend and fill their carts with gifts.
Many of the children also made sure In the past, funds were raised to
to pick something up for their siblings, purchase the $100 gift cards through
parents and other family members. contributions from businesses and
private citizens along with proceeds
Officers from Fellsmere Police De-
partment, Florida Fish and Wildlife
Conservation Commission, Florida
Highway Patrol, Indian River County
Sheriff’s Office, Sebastian Police De-
partment and Vero Beach Police De-
partment came out on their day off
to help make the holiday a little more
special.

“These guys love this program,” said
IRSCO Dep. Jessica Ogonoski, not-
ing that the time spent together helps
bridge the gap between the youngsters
and members of law enforcement.

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 6, 2022 23

PEOPLE

from Christmas in July held at River- contributions included the Dyer Dif- overages so that children didn’t have to “We live in a really great communi-
view Park. ference Award from Dyer Chevrolet, as return items to the shelf. ty. These locally owned and operated
well as donations from HBS Glass, Rol- businesses give back every year, con-
With the threat of COVID still at the lins Ranches and Starling Construc- “We went to businesses that have sistently. It’s a wonderful thing.”
forefront this summer, organizers this tion. helped us in the past and said we need
year opted not to hold Christmas in some help to make this happen this To donate toward next year’s event,
July, so Shop with a Cop was funded The Dyer folks were on hand during year, and they opened up their check- visit ircsheriff.org and click on the dona-
solely through donations. Top business the shopping day, even supplementing books for us,” said Ogonoski. tion tab. 

24 Vero Beach 32963 / January 6, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

PHOTOS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 22 Vero Beach Police Chief David Currey and Florida Fish & Wildlife Off. Cole Delano assists his shoppers.
Ben and Lindsay Williams with Brooke and Jonathan Hardie. daughter Karley (left) help out at Shop with a Cop.

VBPD Off. Darrell Rivers. IRCSO Dep. Joanna Fricke.

Dep. Jessica Ogonoski and Grace Rollando.

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26 Vero Beach 32963 / January 6, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

ELC provides inspiration at
‘Restoration’ preview party

Bill Wagner, Dep. Chief Milo Thornton and Mark Butterworth. PHOTOS: STEPHANIE

BY SAMANTHA ROLFING BAITA past summer with Barbara Schlitt
Ford, ELC executive director, he had
Staff Writer been immediately drawn to the ELC
vision.
On any day of the year, the Envi-
ronmental Learning Center, an eco- “I went away, drew the concept, and
logical sanctuary on the Indian River wrote the show ‘Restoration,’ based
Lagoon, is filled with wonder. The on the ELC’s whole mission,” Foster
ELC welcomes everyone – young and explained. When he mentioned the
old – to press pause and decompress, ELC and his gala plans to his friends
as they enjoy and are restored by the in the business, he said they were
natural beauty of the campus and its equally impressed and came togeth-
surroundings. er to support the idea.

On one special evening in Decem- The glittering preview party pro-
ber, it was even more dazzling than vided what Foster called “a little teas-
ever, as guests gathered for a festive er” of the exotically beautiful images,
preview of the upcoming March 16 Vegas glamour and live entertain-
“Restoration” fundraising gala. ment that guests at the March gala
can look forward to. Foster describes
Also during the March event, the it as “an evening full of elegance, sen-
new Thomas R. Schidel Education sitivity and education, with elements
and Event Pavilion, the “culmination of surprise.”
of several years of planning and com-
munity support,” will be unveiled Among the many preview attend-
and Schidel will be honored, as the ees were dedicated ELC supporters
ELC begins a new and exciting chap- Janie Graves Hoover and Marsha
ter in its three-decade-long history. Fields, who laughingly compared the
equally stylish footwear choices they
As a full moon illuminated the had made in anticipation of walking
clear night sky from above, party the sandy pathways.
music drifted through the treetops,
where thousands of lights twinkled, “I love the ELC. I have a 10-year-
creating delightful, woodland magic. old, Jacob, and (the ELC) has been
Guests, who themselves were spar- an incredible learning experience for
kling in festive holiday party garb, him since he was 4-and-a-half (years
followed a sandy pathway through old),” raved Danielle Randall. “On
trees and mangroves to party central one class trip, the kids were learn-
– a huge, elevated platform set with ing about crustaceans, hands on, and
chairs, café tables, a dance floor, and were measuring them.”
a stage for a live combo. There were
beverages and hors d’oeuvres aplen- As dancers moved to a rhythmic
ty, and greetings, laughter and holi- Latin beat, Schlitt Ford, board chair
day joie de vivre filled the air. John Daniels, and other board mem-
bers and volunteers mingled with the
The creative mind behind the 2022 guests and stood ready to answer any
“Restoration” gala theme, and the questions they might have.
tantalizing prelude party, was Vero
Beach native Chris Foster, a gifted “We love this; it is absolutely beau-
performer and president/creative tiful. The lights are gorgeous,” Alicia
director of FW Productions, who Mohler enthused, as she and hus-
walked about, greeting the 100 or so band Mike relaxed and enjoyed the
attendees. lovely evening.

Foster said that after speaking this For more information, visit
discoverelc.org. 

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 6, 2022 27

PEOPLE

Susan Daniels with Donna and Dr. Tom Spackman, and John Daniels. PHOTOS CONTINUED ON PAGE 28
Janie Graves Hoover, Kim Piston, Anna Valencia Tillery and Mark Wygonik.

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

PEOPLE

PHOTOS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 27 Josh McMiller with Kira and Brandon Campbell. Lora Connolly, Chris Foster and Susan Haller.
Barbara Schlitt Ford with Catherine and Tom Schidel.

Sue Lynch, Carol Lincoln, Sue Harr, Cara Irwin and Karen Mechling. Bill and Jane Jackson. Steve and Lynn Erie.

Richard Faillace with Jan and Sam Pratt. Rob Delacruz, Deb Daly, Gregory Allan Ness and Wendy Shafranski.

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Space Launch System rocket
and Orion crew capsule.

The year 2021 will probably go down and the launch of the James Webb are getting ready to fly in 2022. Those April and would send Orion, without
in the annals of space history as a turn- Space telescope, the most powerful launches would mark the first signifi- any crew on board, to orbit around the
ing point, a moment when ordinary space telescope ever – 2022 could hold cant steps in NASA’s Artemis program, moon.
citizens started leaving Earth on a reg- just as much promise, if not more. which aims to return astronauts to the
ular basis. lunar surface by 2025 and create a cam- If all goes well, it would be followed
If 2021 was the year of the private paign that would allow a permanent by Artemis II, in May 2024, which
Multiple crews lifted off on several space tourist, 2022 could be marked presence on and around the moon. would again send Orion to orbit the
different spacecraft, and for a brief by the first steps toward a return to the moon, but this time with astronauts
moment in December, there were a re- moon, as NASA and the growing space After years of development, and bil- on board. NASA hopes a crew would
cord 19 people in the weightless envi- industry seek to maintain the momen- lions of dollars spent, NASA is finally be able to land on the moon by 2025,
ronment of space – and eight of them tum that has been building over the gearing up to launch its Space Launch but that would depend on the success
were private citizens. past several years in what has amount- System rocket and Orion crew cap- of previous flight tests and SpaceX’s
ed to a renaissance of exploration. sule, which are designed to return as- ability to get its Starship spacecraft up
But for all the achievements of 2021 tronauts to the moon for the first time and running.
– which include a rover landing on A pair of massive rockets, both more since Apollo. The first mission, known
Mars, a small drone called Ingenuity powerful than the Saturn V that flew as Artemis I, is scheduled for March or Over the past year, Elon Musk’s SpaceX
flying in that planet’s thin atmosphere the Apollo astronauts to the moon,
CONTINUED ON PAGE 32

the James Webb Space telescope,
the most powerful space
telescope ever.

Rendering of SpaceX's Starship
on the lunar surface.

Rendering of Rocket Lab's
small satellite known as Gateway.

Intuitive Machines Lunar Lander.
Astrobotic Lunar Lander.

32 Vero Beach 32963 / January 6, 2022 INSIGHT COVER STORY Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 31 SpaceX’s Dragon
spacecraft.
has been moving feverishly toward the Blue Origin.
first orbital launch of Starship, the ve- Virgin Galactic's Spaceplane. Relativity Space's Terran 1.
hicle that won a $3 billion NASA con- Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser.
tract this year to rendezvous with the Mars Rover Perseverance with
Orion and transport NASA’s astronauts flying drone called Ingenuity.
to the lunar surface.
United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket.
Musk has said the company could
attempt a launch in early 2022. Unlike
the SLS, which would ditch its mas-
sive booster stage into the ocean after
launch, Starship is designed to be fully
reusable. After putting the Starship
spacecraft into orbit, the Super Heavy
booster would fly back to its launch-
pad where it would be caught by a pair
of arms extended like chopsticks.

Earlier this year, the company at-
tempted suborbital hops, where the
spacecraft launched to an altitude of
about six miles, belly flopped back to
Earth horizontally, then righted itself
and refired its engines before touch-
ing down.

Several of the landing attempts end-
ed in fireballs. But in May, the com-
pany pulled off a successful landing,
fueling Musk’s hope that the rocket
could be used to transport people and
cargo across the solar system.

“The overarching goal of Starship
is to be able to transport enough ton-
nage to the moon and Mars,” he said
in an interview earlier this year. “And
to have a self-sustaining base on the
moon and ultimately a self-sustaining
city on Mars.”

Ahead of an astronaut landing,
NASA is planning to send science
missions to the lunar surface. Those
missions would also be carried out
by contractors, hired by the space
agency to deliver science experiments
and technology demonstrations that
NASA says would “help the agency
study Earth’s nearest neighbor and
prepare for human landing missions.”

The first would be by Intuitive Ma-
chines, a Houston-based company
that is aiming to deliver science ex-
periments in early 2022 and again
later in the year. That second mission,
to the south pole of the moon, would
have a drill that would probe the lunar
regolith for ice. Astrobotic, based in
Pittsburgh, is also planning to deliver
payloads to the lunar surface under
the NASA contract.

Rocket Lab is also scheduled to
launch a small satellite to the moon to
serve as a precursor for human mis-
sions by testing the orbit for the space
station, known as Gateway, that NASA
hopes to send to the moon. Rocket
Lab, which launches from its site in
New Zealand, hopes to have its first
launch from the United States in 2022
from the pad it uses at NASA’s facility
on Wallops Island, on Virginia’s East-
ern Shore.

It also plans to attempt to recover a
booster next year. But unlike SpaceX,
which flies the first stages of its rock-

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 6, 2022 33

INSIGHT COVER STORY

ets back to landing sites on the ground SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, which spaceplane for paying space tourists. than 13 billion years ago as the begin-
or ships at sea, Rocket Lab intends to delivered two crews of astronauts to While those flights go just past the ning of the formation of the universe.
catch its relatively small booster un- the space station in 2021, is slated to
der a parachute with a helicopter. continue flying crews there in 2022. edge of space to a few dozen miles high, The telescope has been called an
It also would fly at least one mission, NASA’s scientists and engineers will be Apollo moment for science and could
2022 should also see the debut of chartered by Axiom Space, in which focused on a far more distant destina- start answering some of astronomy’s
a number of new rockets, including private astronauts who are paying $55 tion, a million miles from Earth. There, biggest questions about how the uni-
the United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan million apiece would spend a little the James Webb Space Telescope verse began.
rocket, which would be used by the more than a week on the station. would begin to unfurl itself in delicate
Pentagon to launch national security maneuvers after it was launched on “The whole point of this is to see the
satellites. Relativity Space, which uses Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, which flew Christmas Day on an Arianespace Ari- unseen universe,” John M. Grunsfeld,
a 3-D printer to manufacture its rock- three trips to the edge of space in 2021, ane 5 rocket. NASA says there are 344 former head of science at NASA, re-
ets, plans to first launch of its Terran plans to fly six or more suborbital potential “single-point failures” and if cently told The Post. “James Webb will
1 vehicle from Cape Canaveral in the flights in 2022. And Richard Branson’s anything goes wrong there is no way to be able to see phenomena that Hub-
coming months as well. Virgin Galactic is hoping to complete send a repair crew. ble can’t see, that ground-based tele-
its test campaign and start offering scopes can’t see. What are we going
Boeing also is looking to get back commercial service on its suborbital But if it works, the telescope would to discover that we had no idea was
on track. 2021 was supposed to be the be able to capture light from more there?” 
year it finally completed a test flight of
its Starliner spacecraft, which is being
designed to ferry NASA’s astronauts to
and from the International Space Sta-
tion. But once again it ran into trou-
ble. At the end of 2019, the spacecraft
suffered software problems, forcing
the aviation behemoth to cut the test
flight short. The spacecraft finally re-
turned to the launchpad last summer,
but never got off the ground.

This time, the company said the
issue was hardware: 13 valves in the
service module got stuck, forcing the
company to bring the spacecraft back
into its manufacturing facility. The
company recently announced that it

Boeing Starliner Spacecraft.

would have to swap out the service
module. It’s now looking to attempt to
launch again sometime in May. If that
goes well, a launch with astronauts on
board would follow.

The space station could see an-
other new vehicle visit in 2022: Sierra
Space’s Dream Chaser, a spaceplane
that looks like a miniature version of
the space shuttle. The company has
been developing the winged vehicle
for years with the hopes of one day
flying astronauts. But for now, it has a
contract from NASA to use it to deliver
cargo and supplies to the space sta-
tion. And it recently announced that
it received a $1.4 billion investment
that it said would help accelerate the
program.

34 Vero Beach 32963 / January 6, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT EDITORIAL

BY DAVID IGNATIUS | WASHINGTON POST stage as: a) Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s death Reconnaissance Office ground stations are hit by dis-
triggers a succession struggle between military and abling cyberattacks leaving the United States “blind
What a long, strange trip this year has been, to clergy; b) Prodded by Russia and China, Iran reaches and deaf” in space for weeks; c) China demonstrates
paraphrase the Grateful Dead. But as the late, lament- an interim nuclear deal with the United States that an antisatellite weapon capable of destroying satel-
ed William Safire wrote in one of his year-end “Office reverses nuclear progress in exchange for sanctions lites in geosynchronous orbits; d) The United States
Pool” quizzes, “If you correctly predicted everything relief; c) Israel launches a military strike against Iran’s declassifies information about “exquisite” capabili-
that happened … you belong in jail.” nuclear infrastructure after the U.S. midterm elec- ties developed during the Cold War – causing Russia
tions; d) Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and China to revise security plans.
As we head into 2022, place your bets for the New invite Iran to meet with the Gulf Cooperation Council
Year in a Safire-inspired multiple-choice quiz. Win- and open diplomatic relations. 7) The most active Republican campaigner with
ning prize for any reader who gets all answers right the highest poll numbers during the 2022 midterm
will be a visit from a three-letter agency. My picks at 5) The year’s most disruptive technology will be: a) campaign will be: a) former president Donald Trump;
the bottom. Operational quantum computing that unlocks all cur- b) Sen. Ted Cruz; c) Sen. Josh Hawley; d) Rep. Liz
rent and historical encrypted data; b) Reinvention of Cheney; e) former secretary of state Mike Pompeo.
1) North Korea’s Kim Jong Un will celebrate 2022 by: the World Wide Web as “Web 3,” using secure block-
a) Demanding removal of Treasury sanctions on his chain technology; c) Issuance of reliable cryptocurren- 8) Topping the list of Democrats seeking the presi-
April 26 Animation Studio so he can resume cartoon cies by China, the European Union and other nations, dential nomination if Biden decides not to run will be:
exports; b) Launching Jeff Bezos into space; c) Part- also using blockchain; d) Undetectable “deep fake” a) Vice President Harris; b) Transportation Secretary
nering with Donald Trump to develop “Mar-a-Lago techniques that affect financial markets and elections. Pete Buttigieg; c) MSNBC host Joe Scarborough; d)
East” on the Sea of Japan; d) Conducting his seventh Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez; e) Republican cross-
nuclear explosion and testing an ICBM that can reach 6) Space warfare becomes a red-hot military topic over and former representative Will Hurd.
the continental United States. in 2022 as: a) The U.S. Space Force disables a seem-
ingly “hostile” foreign satellite based on what proves 9) The U.S. secretary of state in December 2022
2) Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed bin Salman will shock an inaccurate intelligence assessment; b) National will be: a) Secretary Antony Blinken; b) Deputy Sec-
the world by: a) Taking the throne after King Salman’s retary Wendy Sherman; c) Commerce Secretary Gina
death and beginning what could be a half-century Raimondo; d) CIA Director William J. Burns; e) Sen.
reign; b) Offering clemency and freeing the children Christopher A. Coons.
of former counterterrorism officer Saad Aljabri he has
been holding hostage; c) Meeting President Biden and 10) The “black swan” crisis of 2022 will be: a) Back-
halting cooperation with China on ballistic missiles; lash against President Xi Jinping’s unprecedented
d) Joining the Abraham Accords and opening a Saudi third five-year term from senior party and military
commercial office in Tel Aviv; e) Shaving off his beard. leaders; b) Global economic downturn caused by a
new covid variant that is as transmissible as omicron
3) The Ukraine crisis will enter a new phase in 2022 but more vaccine-resistant; c) a devastating ransom-
as: a) Russian cyberattacks disable the Ukrainian ware attack against Taiwan’s chipmaking giant TMSC
power grid and hundreds freeze because of shortag- by Chinese “private” hackers; d) Russia’s candidate
es of gas and coal; b) Donetsk separatists backed by wins control of the International Telecommunica-
Russia overrun Ukrainian front lines at Avdiivka and tion Union and imposes new rules that aid censor-
enraged rightwing nationalists kill pro-Russian MPs ship and curtail freedom; e) Saudi Arabia begins sell-
in Kyiv; c) Russia, after creating chaos in Ukraine, in- ing oil in Chinese yuan, in addition to dollars.
vades to “restore order”; d) Russian forces gradually
retreat from Ukraine’s border as the West offers lim- Put down your wagers, folks. You can’t win if you
ited security guarantees. don’t play, as Safire liked to say. My answers: 1) d; 2)
d; 3) a, b, c; 4) b, d; 5) c; 6) c; 7) e; 8) Moot: Biden will
4) The 42-year-old “Iran crisis” enters a decisive run; 9) a; 10) e. 

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

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 6, 2022 35

INSIGHT OPINION

When Noreen O'Donnell booked a hotel a follow-up email that I wasn't charged Can you help? We're heading there of all ages. When that happiness col-
stay at Legoland New York Theme Park for park tickets, and I had two options: soon and of course, this bad news lapses like a poorly built tower of Legos,
& Resort, she was promised that it in- pay up or cancel. came after we told the kids, so we're then no one is happy.
cluded theme park tickets. So why does in a tight spot!
she have to pay extra for them? Multiple calls to the company result Maybe the most maddening part of
in them holding the line – pay or go. ANSWER: your experience was dealing with Lego-
QUESTION: You can't speak to anyone beyond the land's customer service agents. They
customer service representative. Es- Oh, you are in a tight spot. Once you've offered neither a substantive response
I booked a visit to Legoland New York calation to management is only done told the kids, you pretty much have to to your legitimate complaint nor a way
Theme Park & Resort based on an offer internally. Responses take seven to go. As a father of three myself, I have to appeal your case. With the day of
I received from the theme park for its ten days. But after two attempts, I've experienced that many times. your arrival drawing closer, you had to
October Brick-or-Treat hotel and park never gotten a reply. do something.
combo package. The offer you received from Legoland
I've also emailed the customer ser- New York Theme Park & Resort should There's a way out of the Legoland
I paid the quoted price, but they sent vice address and haven't gotten any have included theme park tickets. When customer service maze. I publish the
replies. I can't believe a family-focused you pointed this error out to the com- names, numbers and email addresses
attraction would stonewall like this, pany, it should have fixed it right away. of the Legoland customer service ex-
especially when they made an error. I ecutives on my nonprofit customer
feel like they need to honor the price Instead, the company led you through service site, Elliott.org.
they quoted, but I'd love just to be able a proverbial Lego maze of calls and
to talk it through with a representative emails. Legoland says it experienced "an un-
with decision-making authority. fortunate system error" during your
That's too bad. I love Legoland. I've booking. Because of that error, the book-
The additional pricing increases visited the Legolands in Florida and ing you made does not have valid tickets.
the $1,094 visit by another $600, or a California with my kids, and they love
60 percent increase! it, too. OK, some of the little rides aren't I contacted Legoland on your behalf.
really for adults. But Legos speak to kids The company reviewed your reserva-
tion and apologized for the difficulty
you were experiencing. You received an
email with the promised park tickets. 

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

CHEERS TO
THE NEW YEAR!

From our families to yours, Happy New Year
from your friends at Warren Capital!

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36 Vero Beach 32963 / January 6, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT BOOKS

Volcanoes need a new temperature of lava in potential for life on other worlds. At times you do
agent. Whenever an eruption the early 20th century feel like you’ve wandered into a different book. But
starts somewhere on Earth, are woven into stories no matter – Andrews creates a sense of wonder in
we’re barraged with news of of the start of the 2018 the reader over the detection in September 2020 of
destroyed buildings, closed lava flows that buried a gas most people have never heard of, phosphine,
airspace, evacuated people multiple communi- a chemical compound that’s one part phosphorus
and, at worst, injuries and ties on the slopes of and three parts hydrogen. “And the world went ba-
deaths. These extreme impacts nanas,” Andrews writes of that observation, because
do happen during some erup- Kilauea. The frantic phosphine has been suggested to be a chemical sign
tions, but as any volcanologist response to the 2018 of life. In this case, it would be life in the clouds of
would remind you, volcanoes eruption is recounted our sister planet Venus.
spend most of their lives not through the eyes of
erupting. Yet these geologic U.S. Geological Sur- Andrews is gifted in describing volcanic process-
wonders are still painted as vey geologists such es in ways that most people can comprehend. When
villains in the media, in mov- as Christina Neal discussing the extremely unusual carbon-rich lavas
ies and in books. Robin George and Wendy Stovall, from Oldoinyo Lengai in Tanzania, he notes that
Andrews might be that agent nearby “there is a big chunk of mangled up con-
volcanoes need to change their who put us in their tinental rocks, a 3-billion-year-old or older lump
public persona, as his new book, boots as lava foun- named the Tanzanian craton. Over its lengthy his-
“Super Volcanoes: What They Re- tains are pouring tory, mantle plumes have risen … tickling the un-
veal About Earth and the Worlds molten rock onto derbelly of the craton and supplying it with plenty
Beyond,” tries to rehabilitate their houses and roads. of carbon.”
image and set them as vital fea-
tures on and off the Earth. Our current un- Andrews provides illuminating analogies that
derstanding of capture the uncertainty and unknowns of volcanol-
Even the term “super volcano” volcanic process- ogy. In describing how we don’t know the relation-
was created for the Hollywood es is the thread ship between big asteroid impacts on the moon and
ideal of a giant, deadly eruption. that connects the the massive lava flow fields that mark the dark ar-
There is no technical definition of chapters. It is sur- eas on its near side, he writes, “It’s a bit like coming
when a run-of-the-mill volcano upgrades to a su- prising to realize home to find your dog destroyed the pillows on the
per volcano; the term is used to refer to the mas- that it has been less than 100 years since we couch, the toilet paper, the television remote and
sive, apocalyptic eruptions that many fear could recognized the Yellowstone Caldera and its history a few books: you don’t really know which of these
happen in places like the Yellowstone Caldera in of enormous eruptions that Andrews calls “Mephis- fundamental acts of destruction happened first, or
Wyoming. The sorts of eruptions that would fit into tophelian paroxysms.” Yet, even as we learn about last.”
the notional definition of “super” haven’t happened these cataclysmic eruptions from Yellowstone that
for thousands of years, yet even volcanologists have blanketed ash across territory from Montana to Andrews admits that what he really wants to be is
conceded that the term is here to stay. Louisiana, it is really the science of volcanoes that a time traveler. This is clear from “Super Volcanoes.”
drives Andrews’s prose: “But the world won’t end. It The book excels when he drops us into a foreign lo-
Andrews’ stated goal is to use his enthusiasm for would not even come close to bringing civilization cation or time, like a devastating eruption of Yellow-
volcanoes to reboot how we think about these fiery crashing down. We know this, because this experi- stone or in the atmosphere of Venus, and paints us
forges. A scientist turned science writer, Andrews ment has already been run.” a picture of actually being there. Yet, as we all know,
realized that the world of academic research on In the first half of the book, Andrews takes us on we’re not time travelers. Volcanoes can help record
volcanoes wasn’t why he pursued deeper volcanic a whirlwind tour of volcanoes in all corners of the times past, and Andrews reminds us that there is a
knowledge while getting his PhD from the Univer- globe. We join the scientists who study volcanoes reason we’ve been writing about them since the time
sity of Otago in New Zealand. Instead, he wanted to and volcanic processes and learn how these pro- of Pliny: “Time moves on. But volcanoes and erup-
spread the gospel of volcanism to the masses that cesses affect people and life. Andrews has a tenden- tions have a timeless effect on our minds, whether
think of them only as portents of doom. In “Super cy to introduce us to new characters with a Dick- we are watching their embers on land, underwater,
Volcanoes,” he weaves a path through some of the ensian rapidity that lessens the impact of all these or in space.” 
most important recent eruptions and discoveries. amazing scientists, but he does show us that the
world of volcanology is a broad, diverse community. SUPER VOLCANOES
Starting with the 2018 eruption of Kilauea in Ha- In its second half, the book dives deep into the
waii, Andrews jumps back and forth from the past nature of extraterrestrial volcanism. Andrews takes WHAT THEY REVEAL ABOUT EARTH AND THE WORLDS BEYOND
to the present to reveal the history of modern vol- us to Mars, the moon, Venus and the outer planets,
canology. Thomas Jaggar’s first attempts to take the mostly on a hunt for how volcanoes are linked to the BY ROBIN GEORGE ANDREWS | NORTON. 312 PP. $27.95
REVIEW BY ERIK KLEMETTI, THE WASHINGTON POST

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 6, 2022 37

INSIGHT BRIDGE

NORTH

SHOULD YOU BE ACTIVE OR PASSIVE? J72

By Phillip Alder - Bridge Columnist 854

Mortimer Adler, a philosopher, educator and author who died in 2001, said, “All genuine A K Q J 10 9
learning is active, not passive. It involves the use of the mind, not just the memory. It is a
process of discovery, in which the student is the main agent, not the teacher.” WEST A
4 EAST
In bridge, the defenders should be either active or passive. When active, they are KJ2
positively trying to establish and win tricks. When passive, they sit back and wait for the 8753 Q 10 9
declarer to drop tricks into their laps. 98653
A763
How should West view today’s deal? At trick one against four spades, should he lead an
active heart two, or a passive diamond eight, club nine or spade four? 62

South opened with a textbook vulnerable weak two-bid, showing a respectable six-card KQJ4
suit and some 6-10 high-card points. North took a shot at game.
SOUTH
In most deals, it pays to defend actively. If you sit back and let declarer control his own
fate, he will make his contract far more often than not. So, here, West should lead the AK8653
heart two. East wins with his ace and returns the heart three, his original fourth-highest
(and lowest from a remaining odd number of cards). West takes two more tricks in the Q 10 9
suit; then, eventually, East gains a trump trick to defeat the contract.
4
After, say, a diamond lead, probably declarer would take the trick, cash the club ace
and revert to diamonds, discarding a heart from his hand. East ruffs the third diamond, 10 7 2
but South overruffs, trumps a club on the board and plays another diamond, ruffed and
overruffed. A second club ruff followed by a further diamond allows declarer to hold his Dealer: South; Vulnerable: Both
losers to one spade and two hearts.
The Bidding:

SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST OPENING
2 Spades Pass 4 Spades All Pass
LEAD:
??

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40 Vero Beach 32963 / January 6, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT GAMES

SOLUTIONS TO PREVIOUS ISSUE (DECEMBER 30) ON PAGE 66

ACROSS DOWN
1 Target (4) 2 Command (5)
4 Fox’s lair (3) 3 Ease (7)
6 Hebridean island (4) 4 Drainage channel (5)
8 Drug user (6) 5 Reporters (7)
9 Signalling (6) 6 Edges of a roof (5)
10 Type of carriage (8) 7 Material with pattern of
11 District of central London (4)
12 How fairy tales often squares(7)
10 Shout intended to surprise
begin(4,4,1,4)
17 Large jug (4) (3)
19 Unusual (8) 13 Not in any place (7)
22 Harvested (6) 14 Praise (7)
23 Pictures (6) 15 Type of land or soil (7)
24 Distribute cards (4) 16 Fish (3)
25 Digit (3) 18 Push back (5)
26 Short message (4) 20 Sound (5)
21 Representative (5)

The Telegraph

How to do Sudoku:

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

The Telegraph

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 6, 2022 41

INSIGHT GAMES

ACROSS 120 Bit of help 62 Oprah’s role in The Color The Washington Post
1 Russians, e.g. 124 Coterie Purple
6 Juniper juice 127 Cohiba-loving actress? YOU LIGHT UP MY FACE By Merl Reagle
9 ___ Crunch 131 That one, to Abner 66 “___ little girl!”
13 Narrows 132 Mathematician Turing 67 Worry
19 Closed a deal, perhaps 133 Scold 70 Persian Gulf land
21 Melville tale 134 Some photo enlargements 71 Solzhenitsyn topic
22 More island 135 Calendar abbr. 72 Get windy, perhaps
23 Name for a cigar bar? 136 Family nickname 74 Fail tail?
25 Preacher’s admonition 137 Slow, in music 75 Long
26 Conjuring prop 76 Crude shelter
27 Root or Yale DOWN 77 Where Aïda debuted
28 Portent 1 European duck 79 Hardship
30 Mind factor 2 Pinatubo output 82 Like Scorsese films, often
31 Fertile Crescent land: abbr. 3 Yemen city 85 Case alternative, beer-wise
33 Cigar bar official? 4 Otello fellow 87 School cafeteria buy
38 Extinct New Zealand bird 5 “When” preceder 88 Mdse. stores on army bases
41 He keeps on truckin’ 6 Comic Mort 89 Thumbs-down
45 Therefore 7 Et ___ (and others) 90 Facile
46 How cigar bars list their 8 Cambodian capital, partly 92 Gillette razor
9 Corn center 94 Jai ___
cigars? 10 Asian river, the ___ Darya 95 Salsa rating
52 ___ drugs 11 Writer Chaim 98 Oahu keepsake
53 Sgt., e.g. 12 Words of denial 100 Firefighter props
54 Excited 13 Join the NFL, 101 Pastiche
55 Chaplin ending 102 It’s human
57 Cigar historian’s for example 103 Goat antelopes (anagram of
14 Stopped hunger
nickname? 15 Weasel sound? W.E. ROSS)
60 Take forcibly 16 Fencing swords 107 Cereus topics?
63 Nation N of Havana 17 Pete’s replacement 108 Marriage, for example
64 Scaleless fish 18 Suppressed 109 Simpson and Starr
65 Vanishing sound 20 Sound feature 110 Killer whales
68 Son of Aphrodite 24 Relish 111 Case for Mulder and Scully
69 Laughingstock 29 German donkey (from which 113 Sun block of a sort
70 Marty in Young Frankenstein 117 Runs out
73 Name of the tobacco store we get a word that means 118 Actress Hatcher
“artist’s stand”) 119 Bread choices
next to the cigar bar? 32 Fire on from aircraft 121 Bath’s river
77 Satiate 34 Prelude to star or bucks 122 Eye source for a witch’s
78 Capek play 35 In the first place: abbr.
79 68 Across backward 36 Palm Beach birds brew
80 Bingo-card center word 37 Serling and Stewart 123 Bond classic
81 A Gershwin 38 It means “wrongly” 125 Cigar-smoking
83 Phrase seen on menus 39 The Jeffersons theme,
84 Adjust slightly “Movin’ ___” revolutionary
86 Clique of cigar bar regulars 40 Org. co-founded by Helen 126 Allow
Keller 128 Opening
from Florida? 42 B. Davis and Blyth 129 Busy bug
91 Sheikhdom on a peninsula 43 Apple varieties? 130 Course for immigrants: abbr.
93 Paper amount 44 1965 hit, “Hang
96 Cancel On, ___”
97 On ___ (doing great) 47 House bid
99 Purchase a Tiparillo? 48 Dairy “worker”
104 Iranian money 49 Concur
105 Have ___ (check out) 50 Part of 61 Down
106 Sash for Sato 51 Actress Rene
107 Cigar bar emanation? 56 A piece of cake
112 Some rtes. 58 Macaroni shape
114 RNs’ org. 59 It may leak
115 Tim Conway’s twit 61 Feminist cause of the ’70s
116 Evocative of the ’80s, for

example

The Telegraph

42 Vero Beach 32963 / January 6, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT BACK PAGE

When you know too much to think kindly of a pal’s fiance

BY CAROLYN HAX missteps, stop aching to be right, and realize the best
Washington Post thing for your friend, and therefore for your friend-
ship, would be for you to be wrong.
Hi, Carolyn: I am conflicted
Even if you are right and he’s awful and the marriage
about my best friend’s upcoming tanks, then your friend will need someone to grieve
with her – and she won’t come to you if your unspo-
marriage. She and the boyfriend ken “I told you so!” is whooping around the room.

got off to a rocky start, and, as her Now that I think about it, I’ll adjust my first sugges-
tion – don’t let go of her. Let go of you, of your personal
best friend, I heard all the gory de- stake in their failure. Maybe then you’ll find yourself
more willing to embrace them both as they are.
tails. However, they continued dat-
Carolyn: A friend has an almost constant problem
ing, and after less than nine months, he proposed. with being late, and calling me minutes before we
were supposed to meet to tell me she’s going to be
They are happy, and he seems nice enough. The prob- another 15 minutes – not enough time for me to do
anything but sit and wait. When I called her on it,
lem is that I cannot forget, no matter how hard I try, her reply was that she can’t control my feelings or re-
actions to the “situation,” implying that I’m the one
about the negative picture she painted for the first six with a problem. She’s got an all-purpose “get out of
jail free” card somehow. How can I deal with this ef-
months. It is coming between us, and I can’t seem to fectively?

keep the snarky comments to myself (not to her, but – Maryland

to mutual friends). I want to celebrate with and for Maryland: A late friend is a forgivable nuisance;
an unapologetic friend is a cancer.
my friend, but I can’t unless I let these issues go. Any
If the situation is as you frame it, and she shows
advice? routine disrespect backed by an attitude, then it’s
easy. When she places her get-out-of-jail-free call,
– Letting Go Is Hard to Do send her to jail. Tell her you’re leaving/proceeding
with the plans without her. Then do it. 
Letting Go Is Hard to Do: It is hard, I know, to let I say this because hanging on to her best-friend-
go of a bad first impression. It’s hard to see a friend ship of old would explain your temptation to dwell on
with a guy you dislike. that rocky start with her fiance, to nurse along secret
hopes that her relationship really is doomed. You’re
Canning the nasty comments, though? Not hard. looking for him to screw up. The snarky comments to
Which suggests you don’t want to. Which means the friends are invitations – which you probably rational-
question here is, why? ize as concern for your friend’s well-being – for people
to report back to you with evidence supporting your
Maybe your friend is the one you have to let go. cause.
Not dump, but release, in the sense of accepting
that she can’t just drop everything for you anymore. If you love your friend, then stop. Stop looking for
She may still be your center, but you’re not hers.
Painful, maddening, sad, normal.

‘UNITY IN DIVERSITY’:
LUGO’S ART INFUSED
WITH SPIRITUALITY

44 Vero Beach 32963 / January 6, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

ARTS & THEATRE

‘Unity in Diversity’: Lugo’s art infused with spirituality

BY ELLEN FISCHER | COLUMNIST Lisa Lugo. or. Whether displayed with the fingers
held upward, as in the traffic cop’s ges-
The exhibition of local artist Lisa Lugo, PHOTOS BY KAILA JONES ture for “stop,” or with fingers directed
on display through Jan. 28 at the Center toward the earth, all hamsas represent
for Spiritual Care in Vero Beach, has good fortune, says Lugo.
something for people of many faiths.
She notes that prints or tracings of
“Unity in Diversity,” which opens with the human hand are as old as human-
a reception at 5 p.m. on Jan. 7, features kind. As a Native American symbol, the
ceramic sculptures and acrylic paintings hand has been in use for well over 1,000
whose symbolic subject matter includes years, as evidenced by the petroglyphs
the figures of Buddha, Catholic saints of the Western U.S. Essentially, it means,
and angels, as well as Sacred Hearts, “People were here.” A hand with a spiral
trees of life and eternal flames. etched into the palm is thought to repre-
sent the life-giving sun.
For those whose spiritual feelings
can’t be pinned to symbols, there are Lugo is not interested in merely re-
paintings that may evoke memories of a producing the symbolism of other cul-
personal sacred place or space; among tures; she creates her own variations on,
them, a desert landscape, fields of and combinations of, the symbols she
flowers and a light-filled cavern. chooses to use.

Perhaps nowhere do so many “Some of (my designs) are just because
different symbols come together I felt like it,” she says.
in Lugo’s work than in her grouped
display of ceramic hamsas, hand- Indicating a hand that she decorated
shaped plaques that hang against the with an iridescent green insect Lugo
wall from silken loops of sari material. says, “The dragonfly is also symbolic to
some tribes.” She notes that it represents
Also known as the Hand of Miri- spiritual activity.
am, the hamsa is derived from the
Middle Eastern amulet that repre- Within the hand-shaped form, Lugo
sents God’s blessing on its possess- has allowed her love of spiritual symbol-
ism to go wild. One of her hamsas bears

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 6, 2022 45

ARTS & THEATRE

Concerning Bud- trance? Is she imaging herself being seen CONTINUED ON PAGE 46
dhism, she adds, “It by us, or is she a spirit, unaware of herself
isn’t really a religion, and her viewers?
technically. It is a phi-
losophy with morals. Lugo thinks that what she titles her
You can be Catholic paintings is important to her and to the
and still practice Bud- viewer, for whom the title is an introduc-
dhism. My friend Mel- tion to the painting and, through the
ody is Jewish, and she painting, to her.
practices Buddhism.
It’s a way of life.” “I love trying to connect my thoughts
about the work to my viewers,” she says.
When asked if, to-
day, she is Catholic, In a statement that she wrote about
a Buddhist, or both, “Liberation” she says, “Liberation could
Lugo simply replies, “A be just as easily heaven or nirvana. It
Christian.” is really just another way of describing
a stage of being where one is free. Free
“The santos are from emotional pain, physical pain, the
Christian,” she says.
an incised line that begins as a spiral and
loops like a handwriting exercise, then She refers to several
straightens to reach its terminus at the small ceramic figures
image of a white lotus. The line is a Bud- in her show whose tor-
dhist design called an unalome. sos are inspired by the
carved wood figures
Says Lugo, “Buddhists believe that of saints that were cre-
the path to enlightenment is never ated in Spain and its
straight. The unalome represents the colonies in the Ameri-
path. Of course, the lotus always stands cas. In Lugo’s recreation of the female
for enlightenment.” santos form, the lower half of the figures
is composed of a ceramic representation
Lugo’s ceramic art works often refer of the cage-like wooden support that, in
to the flowing symbols and shapes of some versions of the saintly form, was
Buddhism. meant to be clad in the richest fabric
skirting the owner could afford. A metal
One of her major pieces in the show and glass rosary is twined around the
is a 26-inch-high, hollow-built ceramic neck of each of Lugo’s santos.
torso of Buddha. The closed eyes of the Lugo says that santos were originally
figure suggest profound meditation, and used by farm folk who lived far from the
the shape of its torso, with the lightest of nearest town.
lines indicating a garment folded over “When the weather was inclement,
the breast, is like a great silent bell. The and they couldn’t go to church, they
treatment of the surface, a mottled mix- would use the different saints to make
ture of acrylic paint over fired-on under- their own Mass and prayers around the
glazes and oxide washes, gives the torso santos,” she says.
the appearance of cast bronze. She adds, “Other religions, beside Ca-
tholicism, also have saints that they be-
Lugo says that she likes to finish her lieve in and honor.”
sculptures with hand-applied paint, “be- Unlike the Catholic Church, in which
cause I don’t have to fire it, and fire it, and saints are identified in a formal process
fire it to get the same effect. Every time and officially sanctioned by the pope,
you fire it, you take a chance of some- religions that include Islam, Shintoism,
thing happening to it.” Judaism and Buddhism designate saint-
hood by popular acclaim. Saints in those
That “something” might include an religions accomplish much the same
early, low-fire glaze melting off in a later things as their Catholic counterparts.
firing that is too hot for it, or a small crack, They intervene in human lives for good,
unseen at first, that grows in subsequent impart spiritual insight to those who seek
firings, perhaps to split the piece in two. it, and sometimes perform miracles.
While ceramic art is Lugo’s first love,
Calm acceptance of flaws in the pro- when she wishes to describe the inde-
cess of creation, whether in the making scribable, she takes leave of the earth – as
of a ceramic sculpture or the refining of in her supply of clay – and picks up her
her spiritual life, is in Lugo’s nature. paint brush.
Her 30-inch-high, 24-inch-wide paint-
How did, Lugo, a New Jersey girl born ing “Liberation” envisions a woman in a
and raised in the Catholic Church, come blue gown floating in the blue. Whether
to create figures of Buddha? Her response the color represents air or water is up to
is matter of fact. the viewer’s fancy. The woman’s eyes
are closed, and her expression is neutral.
“I’ve always had an interest in spiri- In contrast to her passive yet weightless
tuality. That there is something greater body, the woman’s hair fans out around
than just us,” she says. her shoulders in Medusa-like tendrils. Is
the woman dead, or is she in a meditative

46 Vero Beach 32963 / January 6, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

ARTS & THEATRE COMING UP!

VERO OPERA SINGS IN THE
NEW YEAR WITH ‘LA BOHEME’

BY PAM HARBAUGH debut in 2015 as Figaro in “Barber of
Correspondent Seville,” which he performed recent-
ly with the Vero Beach Opera. Other
1 A grand way to start off your featured performers were Metropoli-
New Year would be to take in tan Opera audition semifinalists and
members of the Stetson Opera The-
Vero Beach Opera’s fully staged pro- atre Chorus. Moreover, the perform-
ers will sing to music by the Brevard
duction of Puccini’s “La Boheme” Symphony Orchestra, conducted by
VBO music director Caren Levine,
Sunday afternoon in Vero Beach. Its who also works with the Met as as-
sistant conductor/prompter. “She has
director, Robert Stivanello, has di- been released from the Metropolitan
Opera just to conduct this opera for
rected more than 100 productions of VBO,” says Joan Ortega-Cowan, VBO
president. “There will also be about 10
opera with one of them broadcast on local children in the production. An
outstanding cast … Puccini’s La Bo-
PBS. He’s also designed nearly 500 heme is the world’s most famous and
beloved opera. Love, passion, heart-
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 45 field. I’ll meet you there.” opera productions. In fact, “La Bo- ache, tragedy … it has it all.” By the
“On that one I wanted to refer to a way, “La Boheme” was the inspiration
horrors of the world. Pure bliss.” heme” will be adorned visually with for the popular musical “Rent.” The
Several of the most engaging paint- meeting of the minds, and how much we show begins 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 9 at
need that, politically, culturally, environ- costumes and sets from the Stivanel-
ings in the exhibition are of flower gar- mentally,” she says.
dens, three of which were inspired by lo Costume Company of New York,
the poetry of the 13th century Persian For her, that is what Unity in Diversity
polymath, Jallā ad-Dnī Mohammad Rmū .ī is all about. which has worked for 98 years with
“Rumi’s Garden,” the first painting so
inspired, owes its final form to a poem Her exhibition at the Center for Spiritual opera countries around the country.
by Rumi that begins, “Out beyond ideas Care continues through Jan. 28. Phone
wrongdoing and right doing, there is a 772-567-1233 for an appointment to view The production will also have English
the show. 
supertitles for those who don’t speak

Italian. The cast features eight art-

ists, including tenor David Pershall,

who made his Metropolitan Opera

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 6, 2022 47

ARTS & THEATRE

the Vero Beach High School Perform- magical when he takes the stage. I be- 4 CORRECTION: Oops. Sorry so
ing Arts Center, 1707 16th St., Vero lieve it will be a moving and cathartic say we misspoke last week. But
Beach. Tickets are $30 to $100. For experience for both us and our au-
more information, call 772-569-6993 dience.” The concert begins 3 p.m. happy to report that “The Rocket Man
or visit VeroBeachOpera.org. Sunday, Jan. 9 at the Emerson Center,
1590 27th Ave., Vero Beach. Tickets Show” will indeed take the stage this
are $30 general in advance and $35 at
the door. Tickets are free to students month at the Emerson Center. This is
18 years and younger or with a college
ID. Discounted tickets are available Rus Anderson’s Elton John tribute show
through the Symphony for Everyone
2 Sunday afternoon is loaded with program. Call 855-252-7276 or visit with all the trappings. Brought to the
musical opportunities. Also SpaceCoastSymphony.org.
stage by LIVE! From Vero Beach, the

performing that same day will be the dered animals. “Bark in the Park” show begins 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 20
runs 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Jan.
Space Coast Symphony Orchestra fea- 8 at Riverside Park in Vero Beach. For at the Emerson Center, 1590 27th Ave.,
more information, call 772-388-3331
turing Wintley Phipps. The baritone or visit BarkInTheParkVero.org. Vero Beach. Tickets are $35 to $85. For

is set to deliver a powerful and inspi- more information, call 800-595-4849 or

rational program which includes “It visit MusicWorksConcerts.com. 

Is Well with my Soul,” “To God Be the

Glory,” “Amazing Grace” and other 3 The Humane Society of Vero
Beach and Indian River County
beloved spirituals and hymns. A two-

time Grammy Award nominee, Phipps will hold “Bark in the Park” on Sat-

is an ordained Seventh-day Adven- urday in Vero Beach’s Riverside Park.

tist minister and has performed for The event includes “The Disc-Con-

six American presidents and the late nected K9’s” world famous Frisbee

Nelson Mandela. He has appeared on Dogs; a Puppy Pals comedy stunt dog

television in a wide array of platforms, show; a Sherriff’s Department K-9

including the Billy Graham Crusades, demonstration; a dog lure course; a

“Saturday Night Live,” “Soul Train” dog parade and costume contest; a

and the “Oprah Winfrey Show.” The Kids Zone with bounce house; food

Space Coast Symphony Orchestra will vendors, beer and more. This fami-

be led by maestro Aaron Collins. “It is ly-friendly event attracts thousands

a great privilege for both myself and of pet lovers and their well-behaved

our musicians to work with Wintley,” dogs on a (non-retractable) leash. The

Collins says. “Wintley is one of the event is free, but donations gladly

most exciting performers in the world accepted, with proceeds benefiting

today. There is something special and homeless, abandoned and surren-

48 Vero Beach 32963 / January 6, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PETS

Bonz’s mystical, amazing meeting with Santa’s reindoe

Hi Dog Buddies! curved like a crown above her gentle face. Believe me, THAT was a major ker- Vikki.
“Miss Vikki,” Chloe said, “meet Bon- fluffle.) So why shouldn’t WE have a
I’m excited cuz this column is defi- shot at The Big League?” toys and a driver who is, to put it politely,
nitely a first for me: I have an ol fren, De- zo, a famuss journalist from the state no slender reed, all while flying ‘like the
nali, who’s a working sled dog living in of Florida where, if you can buh-leeve “What did you do?” I asked, totally down of a thistle’ and landing lightly on
Alaska. Just before Christmas he sent me it, they don’t have snow. Or fee-ORDS. absorbed in her story. millions of houses so as not to scare the
a Woofmail about a cool fren of his with Or glaciers.” gingerbread out of the humans below or
an interesting job, who would agree to an “We girls crafted a detailed argu- damage the roof.”
exclusive innerview if I was interested. Of Vikki’s voice floated toward me like ment against gender bias; listed rea-
course I was, I replied, asking if his fren hundreds of tinkling bells. I was sincerely sons why females were as qualified Heading home over the snowy undis-
was, perhaps, a member of his sled team. hoping I could relocate my own voice as males; if not more, to serve on closed mountains, lollypop forests, toy
sooner rather than later. the Sleigh Team; formed a delega- assembly workshops and elf cottages, I
“No,” he answered, “her name’s Vikki tion; and travelled to the North Pole realized it made perfect sense for rein-
and she’s a member of another famous “Welcome, welcome to my home, Mr. to present it in person to The Man. does to be a vital part of Santa’s annual
team: She’s the first fee-male to qualify Bonzo. When Denali told me about you Santa listened to our proposal and, flight; and perhaps some Christmas Eve,
for Santa’s reindeer team. (Vikki’s short I decided it was the perfect opportunity as we munched molasses-and-clo- it’ll be an All-Doe team guiding Santa
for Vixen.)” to tell my story. Our story, ackshully. It’s ver biscuits, studied our documents. through the night sky.
been hundreds of years in the making.” He put his finger on the side of his
I was gobsmacked. All I could manage nose and nodded, but remained Till next time,
was a semi-coherent “Wait! Wha-at? She’s “I am incredibly honored to meet you, reluctant to change tradition. Over
WHAT? Seriously? Are you woofin’ me Miss Vikki, and a liddle overwhelmed,” I the years we persisted until, at last, The Bonz
right now?” admitted, looking about the wonderful Santa agreed! Victory was ours! He
barn: pristine stalls lining either side of a opened one position on the team, Don’t Be Shy
When I recovered sufficiently, we broad, garland adorned walkway, festive we all tried out for it, and I won!”
switched to Facetime. Denali was laugh- Christmas tack, a thick red blanket and We are always looking for pets
ing. “No Woof, Bonz. You hafta meet her a name hanging neatly by each. “I’m be- “What’s it like being the only doe on with interesting stories.
at an Undisclosed Location, for obvious yond excited to hear your story.” the team?”
reasons, and agree never to disclose it, To set up an interview, email
under penalty of no treats in your Christ- “I am eager to share it,” she replied, ges- “I stood my ground. I had to show them [email protected].
mas stocking forever.” turing me into her spacious stall. Chloe, I could pull my share. Uncle Dash, Pranc-
Gregor and Bob took seats on a heap of er, Comet and Donner were fine with it.
“AGREED!” I instantly replied. “So, golden straw as I opened my notebook. Dancer and Cupid REALLY loved it, es-
now what?” pecially the glitter and bells I put on my
“I am a Finnish forest reindeer,” Vikki red harness. The three of us frequently
On the designated day, necessary de- began. “Over the centuries, many of my get together for hot cocoa. Blitzen, well, it
tails in hand, I met Miss Vikki Claus, my family, all boys, had been honored to took a while. He’s Old School. I’m Besties
very first reindeer (she prefers reindoe), serve on Santa’s team. My great, great, with Rudolph, ever since I convinced ev-
and had the most amazing innerview of great, great grandfather was the original eryone there’s no truth to the rumor his
my entire career. Dasher. It was the dream of every young nose is the result of off-hours frolicking.
reindeer boy. Whenever I saw one of my It is actually a genetic condition, and I
It was cold, snowy an, well, I hafta say brothers head to the North Pole to try out always carry Kleenex and special protec-
“magical” at the Undisclosed Location: a for a coveted place on The Team, I’d wish tive cream to keep it glowing.”
huge beautiful barn where Santa’s team I could someday get the chance.
lives, preparing all year long for The Big “Now that the holiday rush is over,
Night. I probly shouldn’t have been sur- “However, up till then, the sleigh what does the team do till next year?”
prised, but I WAS, when I was greeted by team was an All-Boys’ Club. It’d always
three elves – Chloe, Gregor and Bob – and been that way. Then one day, waving “After the required post-Christmas
escorted into the warm (Thank Lassie) goodbye to our brothers, me an my girl- delivery assessment with Santa, we de-
barn. Walkin’ toward me was this gor- frens decided we were just as smart and compress here at the barn for a while.
geous creature: soft brown an cream hair; strong as them. (Plus, unlike stubborn Then we go out to pasture, and begin
dark, slender legs up to HERE, hooves males, when we get lost, we ask direc- another year of intensive training to
covered with fluffy hair; big gold/green tions, a crucial characteristic when vis- keep our bodies in shape and our minds
eyes; and a pair of graceful antlers that iting every family in the entire world in quick. You have to when you’re expected
one night. One year, pre-me, they were to lug a big sleigh stuffed with tons of
headed for Boise and ended up in Tahiti.

WE CARE CLINIC STREAMLINES
PROCEDURES AND ADDS
NEW SERVICES

50 Vero Beach 32963 / January 6, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

HEALTH

We Care Clinic streamlines procedures and adds new services

BY KERRY FIRTH dian River Hospital and offer-
Correspondent ing free clinics to reduce the
backlog of patients in certain
Last year was challenging for We We Care Clinic’s Executive specialty areas.
Care Clinic. Director Robi Robinson and
We Care was founded in
Founder Dr. Dennis Saver, who Dr. Nancy Baker 1991 by a group led by Dr. Sav-
worked tirelessly to provide qual- er, and he served as a volun-
ity medical care for everyone re- PHOTOS: KAILA JONES tary primary care physician,
gardless of their economic status, board chair and inspirational
passed away; Hospital District leader for the past three de-
trustees voted to discontinue fund- cades. It is estimated that
ing for We Care Clinic employees during those 30 years We Care
after Dec. 31, 2021; and Dr. Herman provided more than $17 mil-
Fountain, medical director at the lion worth of medical services
Gifford Clinic, announced his up- in Indian River County.
coming retirement.
Now, under the direction
In response, Dr. Nancy Baker, of Robinson (We Care’s only
the staff of We Care Clinic and the fulltime salaried employee)
Health Department went to work and volunteer medical direc-
developing a new, more effective tor Dr. Nancy Baker, the non-
and cost-efficient service model, profit organization plans on
according to clinic executive direc- expanding its services to in-
tor Robi Robinson. clude diagnostic testing and
diagnosis.
Robinson said the new model will
provide a seamless system of medi- “We plan to hire a fulltime
cal care for the uninsured in Indian physician’s liaison in January
River County, continuing to pro- who will act as a referral and
vide specialty medical services not eligibility specialist,” Robin-
available at Cleveland Clinic In- son explained. “Our referrals

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The patient and any other person responsible for payment has a right to refuse to pay, cancel payment, or be reimbursed for
payment for any other services, examination, or treatment that is preformed as a result of and within 72 hours of responding
to the advertisement for the free, discounted fee, or reduced fee service, examination, or treatment.

1225 US HWY 1, VERO BEACH, FL 32960 JULIE A. CROMER, DDS