04/29/2021 ISSUE 17

Vero considers legal action
against county. P8
COVID-19 cases
decreasing here. P6

My Vero: Pickleball courts
at Riverside Park a bad idea. P10

Students will not For breaking news visit
need to be masked
at summer school Concept plan for
Three Corners site
now up to Council

BY GEORGE ANDREASSI BY LISA ZAHNER
Staff Writer Staff Writer

Summer program stu- Vickie Kirchhoff and Candace Turgeon shopping at Twig. PHOTO BY BRENDA AHEARN Vero’s Three Corners Steer-
dents will be allowed to go ing Committee has recom-
facemask-free when they can Ocean Drive shops enjoying ‘post-pandemic’ rebound mended a version of the Master
maintain at least 3 feet of so- Concept plan for the mainland
cial distancing, under new BY STEPHANIE LABAFF “post-pandemic” retail rebound. the sound of cash registers riverfront development at 17th
COVID-19 rules proposed by Staff Writer The virus is still around, and ringing up sales along Ocean Street to the Vero Beach City
Indian River County School Drive, Cardinal Drive and ad- Council, but still unknown is
Superintendent David Moore. Be prepared to wait in line precautions still need to be jacent streets is an exhilarating whether a developer will want
if you are going shopping on taken. change compared to last year to salvage and repurpose the
Facial coverings will be op- Ocean Drive this month as at this time, when shops were city’s shuttered Big Blue pow-
tional when students are sit- island shops enjoy a strong But with more and more er plant.
ting or standing at least 3 feet residents vaccinated and re- CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
apart, whether in a classroom, suming their normal lives, By a 5 to 4 vote, the com-
a school assembly, or an extra- mittee sent the “Community
curricular activity, if the School Plan” up to the council, with
Board approves the new rules. an amendment that the proj-
ect could include residential
Students can also go with- development atop shops and
out masks while eating in the businesses, in accordance
cafeteria or other designated with the city’s height restric-
areas when summer programs tions.
start June 7, under the new
rules Moore proposed. Steering committee mem-
bers pushing for less-intensive
The School Board was to re- use of the lagoon-front land
view Moore’s 21-page Safe at
CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
PHOTO BY BRENDA AHEARN
Good news! Island’s beaches expand After four decades,
during past decade despite hurricanes Shores Town Attorney
Chester Clem retires
BY SUE COCKING carried by ocean currents and
Staff Writer waves. BY LISA ZAHNER
Staff Writer
Despite several strong hur- That’s the finding reported
ricanes and winter storms, the by the coastal engineering firm Indian River Shores Town
island’s more than 22 miles of helping the county update its Attorney Chester Clem pos-
beaches expanded – on aver- beach preservation plan first sesses, in his Vero Beach law
age – by about 2 feet between adopted in 1988 and revised office, a copy of every ordi-
2013 and 2019, due to beach multiple times since then.
renourishment projects and CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
the natural deposit of sand The massive document pre-
pared by Stantec Consulting

CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

April 29, 2021 Volume 14, Issue 17 Newsstand Price $1.00 Grateful nonprofits
awarded $100K in
News 1-12 Editorial 30 People 13-24 TO ADVERTISE CALL ‘Impact’ grants. P14
Arts 37-44 Games 33-35 Pets 53 772-559-4187
Books 32 Health 45-52 Real Estate 65-76
Dining 58-62 Insight 25-36 Style 54-57 FOR CIRCULATION
CALL 772-226-7925

© 2021 Vero Beach 32963 Media LLC. All rights reserved.

2 Vero Beach 32963 / April 29, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Chester Clem retires Town Clerk Laura Aldrich said. at any time and he would always get cess would be. When we went to the
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Want to know the details of how a right back to you with an answer, either PSC, he briefed us on how that would
a phone call or with a letter confirming work,” Weick said.
nance the town council ever adopted, piece of land was acquired, or when what you thought was the case.”
but officials past and present say that and why a town building was built? Or Retired town manager Robbie Stabe
paper archive pales in comparison to the history of any dispute or contract to Mayor Brian Foley, a fellow attorney, met Clem even before joining the town’s
the knowledge Clem holds in his mem- which the Shores was a party? Former commended Clem for his irreplace- Public Safety Department, when he did
ory bank. vice mayor Jerry Weick says Clem not able “institutional knowledge,” and some landscaping work at Clem’s home
only had the information, but could re- said: “Chester did an incredible job as in the late 1970s. Then they worked to-
Throughout his 40-plus years rep- trieve it quickly, put it into context and town attorney for 40-plus years. I’m gether for 30 years as Stabe moved up
resenting the town, Clem has served help the council make wise decisions. going to miss Chester.” the ranks in public safety, eventually be-
at the pleasure of a succession of five- coming chief, and then town manager.
member elected councils, with no job “Chester was always very accessible Weick said Clem’s memory came in
security apart from his continued ex- any time I had a question,” said Weick, very handy when the town was look- “Through all my years in the Public
emplary performance. “There was no who served eight years on the town’s ing into selling the parcel that is now Safety Department, Chester was a great
contract – ever – for his employment,” Planning Zoning and Variance Board the Surfsedge community, and when resource when it came to the legal side
and then another eight years on the the council decided it was time for a of dealing with anything from the past.
town council. “You could call Chester new and improved community center, He has an excellent memory, and he
or when a matter about the historic was always able to provide not only ac-
John’s Island Cemetery came up. curate information, but also documents
from any time period,” Stabe said.
“Chester remembered all the details.
He had it all in the back of his head be- “He helped public safety success-
fore you could even go research the fully obtain several drug related forfei-
issue, but he also had paper copies of tures over the years and he was always
all the documents and could produce willing to help when I had any legal
them quickly,” Weick said. “If we had questions.”
an idea or wanted to do something,
Chester would tell us we already have During Stabe’s tenure, a host of issues
that in the code, or that we can update came up that had decades-long back
that. Chester will be sorely missed.” stories, and it helped tremendously to
have someone a phone call away who
Clem’s knowledge goes back more knew all the details first-hand.
than 40 years and includes the pro-
tracted negotiations over the sale of “I relied heavily on Chester during my
the Lost Tree Islands, annexations into time as Town Manager. He would help
the town, development of numerous steer me in the right direction whenev-
communities and even the first at- er I was dealing with situations I wasn’t
tempt to sell Vero Beach electric to familiar with. He earned my complete
Florida Power & Light – back in the trust over time and he became a good
1970s. friend as well as my go-to counselor,”
Stabe said. “I wish him all the best and
He didn’t have to go look up docu- hope he enjoys his retirement and gets
ments or take anybody’s word for what to spend more time in the woods hunt-
happened or guess at the town coun- ing or on the lake fishing!”
cil’s intent when they wrote and enact-
ed an ordinance because he was right Clem told Mayor Foley about his in-
there in the room. tention to retire but waited until the
town manager position was filled last
On a personal note, Weick said Clem Thursday to make the announcement.
possesses “a great sense of humor,” The town council voted to hire retired
which a person attending a town coun- Undersheriff Jim Harpring, also an at-
cil meeting would never know because, torney, as the new town manager and
unless called upon to give advice or Harpring took his post the very next
tend to a legal matter in the town morning.
meetings, Clem typically sat silent on
the end of the dais. Clem is not one to “It has been a real honor to have
grandstand or to try to convince the represented the wonderful staffs over
gallery how smart he is. Maybe that’s the years, as well as the many, many
because he had his turn at being a poli- Town Council members,” Clem said
tician. in his formal retirement letter given to
the mayor in March.
A Florida native, University of Flori-
da law school graduate and lawyer for The 83-year-old pointed out that it’s a
58 years, Clem served two terms in the good time for him to step down because
Florida House of Representatives from the town has enlisted the help of out-
1972 to 1976 and then in 1986 he ran side counsel or consultants to handle
for Florida governor on a conserva- all the major ongoing issues, from the
tive, pro-life platform but lost in the water-sewer lawsuit with Vero Beach, to
Republican primary. labor negotiations, to the review of the
town charter and the completion of the
Weick said Clem’s knowledge of how town’s Comprehensive Plan.
things work in state government helped
the town navigate utility matters that “All in all, the Town is in good shape
went before the Florida Public Service from a legal standpoint,” he said.
Commission, the Florida Supreme
Court and various legislative oversight Still, Clem has agreed to be avail-
and auditing committees. able should town officials need to pick
his brain – and he’ll be dropping off
“He had the knowledge of how Tal- all those file boxes of decades of ordi-
lahassee operates and of how the pro- nances to Town Clerk Aldrich for safe-
keeping. 

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / April 29, 2021 3

NEWS

Ocean Drive shops January and February were very good island and longstanding relationships normal. People are buying more per-
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 months. with repeat clients. “People can’t trav- sonal stuff because they weren’t doing
el, so they are spending more time at that last year.”
shuttered, and the future looked grim. “We’re doing very well,” said Caesar home; and they are spending more on
Business is being driven by a re- Mistretta, who co-owns J.M. Stringer things to do with the home, including Now that people are getting back out
Gallery along with John M. Stringer. art.” there, dining out at restaurants and hav-
bounding tourism sector, longtime cus- “We’re well ahead of last year, surpris- ing cocktails at a friend’s house, Ismael
tomers reemerging and new residents ingly.” Ana Ismael, owner of M. Maison, said her customers are starting to dress
venturing out to enjoy the beachside a décor and fashion shop, noted that up again and are looking for things like
shopping district. Mistretta credited the gallery’s good people are coming into the shop again hostess gifts.
fortune to booming real estate sales and that “things are almost back to
At Loggia, an Ocean Drive lifestyle that are bringing new residents to the CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
store, they’re seeing lots of new faces
said Diane Williamson, Loggia store
manager. “People are definitely shop-
ping. They’re buying clothing just as
much as always; and then, of course,
with all the new people moving to the
area and others spending more time
at home, the home decor category has
been good.”

Cathye Motta, manager at Frances
Brewster, a women’s clothing store, is
excited to see more people with shop-
ping bags on the streets. “Things are
picking up, and I think it’s going to be
a good summer. Next season is prob-
ably going to be a great season.”

She said she has discovered that
her customers want to dress up again.
They’re looking forward to the return of
galas, and weddings are “off the charts,”
she shared. “Every other person who
walks through the door has a wedding
coming up.”

Lynn Williams, Posh owner, not-
ed that sales began to increase once
people were able to get the COVID-19
vaccination. “Then people were more
willing to go out, and we’ve had a great
season.”

Williams said sales so far this year at
her clothing and accessories store are
back on par with 2019 before the pan-
demic hit.

At Leigh Jewelers, owner Suzanne
Leigh had a robust first quarter and
is looking forward to a busy summer,
seeing no signs so far of traffic slow-
ing down. “People are shopping. Our
numbers are equal to 2019 ... It’s been
a strong year overall.”

The increase in new full-time resi-
dents has helped out with 2021 num-
bers, Leigh said, so much so that she
has already had to order more items
for her Vero Collection.

The first quarter was strong for
Ocean Drive Jewelers, too. Debbie Zaf-
iris, owner with husband Taso, said

4 Vero Beach 32963 / April 29, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Ocean Drive shops Cook. “We’ve been busy straight The City Council is expected to take As the discussion got a bit side-
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3 through,” said owner Dina Clason. up the committee’s recommendations tracked into the re-hashing of details
“Last year nobody left Florida, and in May and begin studying the feasi- of the plan, committee member Jeff
She is really excited about the influx many people have moved here, fleeing bility of the project with a financial Stasi reminded his fellow volunteer
of new residents and seasonal residents New York and other northern cities.” advisor. The steering committee was members that the onus will be on de-
extending their time in Vero Beach fur- only tasked with turning ideas and a velopers to decide which elements
ther into the summer. “We are super Purchases in her store ran the gamut vision into a plan they could get be- of the plan are financially viable and
positive as we head into summer. This from renovating or stocking new kitch- hind – not with figuring out how to af- which are not.
is going to be a different summer.” ens to the need for culinary tools during ford it or make it come to fruition.
the pandemic because everybody had “It’s not the city’s responsibility to
“It’s been a long haul,” reflected Me- to eat at home, said Clason. “There’s Architect Andres Duany of DPZ make it profitable,” he said, adding that
linda Cooper, owner of Cooper & Co., a been a lot of everything being cooked CoDesign gathered community input developers will only build what they
purveyor of fine women’s clothing. “But and baked. People needed all the uten- for more than a year and incorporated feel the market will bear after analyzing
now people are out roaming around a sils and pots and pans to do it with.” the best and most popular of those the local economy and other factors.
little bit more.” ideas into the “Community Plan” ap-
Nancy Cook, The Twig Swim and proved on Monday. City officials have said they don’t
She said an increase in wedding busi- Sportswear shop founder, said things want to spend big bucks on the site’s
ness bodes well for the summer. “We have been great for her store during The final plan was “very close to the amenities and that any costs would
missed the charity events for the season, the first quarter of 2021. “The complex- standing ovation plan,” according to need to be offset by long-term lease
but weddings are really picking up.” ion of the purchases is a little differ- Vero Planning Director Jason Jeffries, and rental income or user fees so the
ent. People are buying more personal referring to a meeting before the coro- project will be “revenue neutral.”
As more and more of the wedding items, home goods and more casual navirus pandemic where a substan-
venues reopen, this year’s weddings, wear than after-five dressy clothing.” tially similar plan got a standing ova- That means developers who bring
along with many of those postponed tion from those in attendance. money to the table will ultimately
last year due to the pandemic, are be- “We are so fortunate because Vero decide what is built on the riverfront
ing rescheduled during the summer Beach is unique. This is as close to The majority of the steering com- parcel – within the parameters laid
and into the fall, explained Cooper. heaven as you can get till you get mittee preferred that the massive, in- out by the city and approved by vot-
there,” she added.  dustrial Big Blue structure be convert- ers when the plan goes on the ballot,
Mark Frankenberger, Corey’s chief ed into a hotel and event space with hopefully in November if the city set-
pharmacist and owner, said the start Three Corners rooftop bar or restaurant, but if no de- tles on a plan specific enough to pose
of the season was slower compared to veloper willing to invest in that vision to voters by August.
previous years; however, March was CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 comes forward, the 60-year-old power
busier than 2019. plant will eventually be torn down. The various plans – including the
and more green space for recreation Community Plan that was approved,
“It’s been a tough year on everybody voted against the concept of people Most steering committee members and a more recent plan that was re-
... but we’re optimistic,” he said. living on the property. also wanted to find a way to reuse at jected – can be found on the city’s
least one of the huge concrete holding website www.covb.org in the agenda
One business that didn’t suffer much tanks that will be left once the wastewa- packet for the April 26 Three Corners
during the pandemic is Consider the ter treatment plant is decommissioned, Steering Committee meeting, or on
but no specific proposal has been ad- the Planning Department’s page. 
opted by the city as to how they will be
used or who will pay to retrofit them. School mask requirement
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
Other amenities on the wish list in the
plan voted on by the steering commit- School 2021 Summer Program Plan
tee include: restaurants, retail, flexible during a business meeting Tuesday eve-
space for farmers markets and festivals, ning.
day docks, sand volleyball courts, wa-
ter features, lush landscaping, a skate Moore released his plan after the
park, a fishing pier, bait shop, outdoor Centers for Disease Control and Pre-
dining, restrooms, parking, a combina- vention issued new guidance Saturday
tion wedding chapel and meeting hall, for protecting children during summer
an environmental education center camps that continued to call for: “uni-
or display, a sailboat platform, a boat versal and correct use of well-fitted
ramp, a harbor, hotel cottages, a bike masks that cover the nose and mouth.”
trail, a snack shack, stages, food truck
sites, walkways, fountains and a visual The main change in the CDC guid-
and performing arts center. ance was reducing the physical dis-
tancing recommendation to 3 feet
The plan now in the City Council’s from 6 feet for campers in their im-
hands for the 37-acre site features a mediate group, or cohort. But the
picturesque riverfront promenade with CDC still recommends staying at least
palm trees on the north side of the 17th 6 feet away from others.
Street-Alma Lee Loy bridge. The Youth
Sailing Foundation’s training and com- “These revisions, particularly as re-
petition facility is also included on the lated to decreased physical distancing
south side of the causeway. guidelines, will significantly increase
opportunities for students and staff to
Other than the Youth Sailing facility remove face coverings throughout the
– a $3 million project for which nearly instructional day,” Moore’s report says.
$1.5 million has already been raised or
pledged to the Youth Sailing Founda- Since far fewer students participate
tion – there is no definite strategy to in summer programs, there is more
pay for any of the pricey amenities in- room to spread out and go mask-
cluded in the plan. City staff is putting free. However, face coverings will still
together a Request for Qualifications be required for all students and staff
packets to attract developers who when physical distancing of 3 feet is
want to put a hotel, restaurants, retail not possible, Moore says.
and other ventures on the sites.

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / April 29, 2021 5

NEWS

That includes on the bus to and the reopening of schools on Aug. 24. masks when it is safe, prudent and in local medical professionals, educa-
from school, during arrival and dis- “All trends indicate that optional the best interests of the community tors and staff,” Schiff said.
missal times, in school hallways and to do so,” said School Board member
during transitions across the campus. masks starting with summer school Mara Schiff. Several School Board members have
should be possible,” said School Board said they do not want to switch to an
All five School Board members have Chairman Brian Barefoot, who repre- “It will depend on COVID rates and optional facemask policy before schools
expressed a desire to phase out the sents the barrier island. guidelines at that time and the advice close for summer on May 28 because
mandatory mask policy instituted for of the CDC, Department of Health,
“I look forward to phasing out CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

6 Vero Beach 32963 / April 29, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

School mask requirement month to go has the potential to be
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5 disruptive of teaching,” Schiff said.
“Moreover, we are still following CDC
the change could divert attention from guidelines and current CDC reports
crucial standardized tests. put Indian River County in the ‘red’ or
high-risk zone for COVID transmis-
“Changing policy now with one sion.” 

ONLY 7 NEW CASES OF COVID-19 ON
BARRIER ISLAND IN THE PAST WEEK

BY LISA ZAHNER pital or medical clinic, or at the health
Staff Writer department’s office at the county gov-
ernment complex.
The new COVID-19 infection rate
dropped significantly this week, A list of local vaccine providers
down from an average of 26 cases and their contact information can
per day to 20.7 cases per day – with be found on the Indian River Coun-
the barrier island accounting for ty coronavirus resource webpage at
just seven of the 145 new cases. www.ircgov.com/coronavirus.

The overall positivity rate of those For those still hoping for one-dose
tested also decreased in the seven protection from the virus, the Cen-
days before press time, ranging ters for Disease Control and Preven-
from 3 percent to 5.1 percent and tion announced over the weekend
only exceeding 5 percent one day in that they were lifting the pause on the
the past week. Johnson & Johnson-Janssen vaccine
that was put in place after concern
With vaccine supply more avail- over a small number of severe blood
able and the Indian River County clot incidents in mostly younger
Health Department conducting its women. The shot can now be given
last two no-appointment-needed with a warning about the remote risk.
vaccine clinics last Friday and this
Wednesday, nearly 77,000 people lo- As of press time Monday, 17 people
cally have received at least one dose were hospitalized due to COVID-19
of COVID-19 vaccine. illness and 72 percent of intensive-
care beds were full at local hospitals.
Nearly 51,000 county residents
have completed their shot regimen as The total number of COVID-19
the county phases out the fairgrounds cases here since the start of the
vaccine distribution effort next week. pandemic reached 12,340 on Mon-
Going forward, people wishing to get day and three more people died of
the jab will need to make an appoint- complications of COVID-19 over
ment through a retail pharmacy, hos- the past week, bringing the county’s
cumulative death toll to 293. 

Island’s beaches coastline grew equally and some actu-
ally lost sand, according to the consul-
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 tants’ report.

Services found that county projects to fill The northernmost section of the
in sand on eroded shorelines and build beach just south of Sebastian Inlet –
up dunes is the most cost-effective strat- where the Sebastian Inlet District de-
egy for managing beaches in the future. posits sand from a storage pit inside
the inlet – shrank, while adjacent Am-
Stantec found that, taken as whole, bersand Beach expanded slightly.
the island’s beaches gained close to 4
inches of width each year, between 2013 The three sections extending from
and 2019, amounting to approximately Treasure Shores Beach Park through
2 feet during the period. Central Beach to Riomar Golf Course
showed losses, as did South Beach from
“Countywide that’s a really good Treasure Cove to Floralton Beach. But
number,” said county commissioner the beach in front of Castaway Cove
Peter O’Bryan. “Looking at the proj- the one south of Floralton to Round Is-
ects we’ve done, I think we have done a land Park showed healthy gains.
good job with our beaches. I know a lot
of people think it’s a waste of money. O’Bryan wanted to know why two
[But] in my mind, beaches are critical sections of South Beach were gaining
infrastructure ... a key part of our com- sand while the beach in between them
munity and why people come here.” was retracting.

But not all eight sectors of the island’s County natural resources manager

CONTINUED ON PAGE 8



8 Vero Beach 32963 / April 29, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Island’s beaches the $14 million restoration of critically mends that the county prepare for In addition, O’Bryan suggested
eroded beach and dunes from Seaview impacts from more frequent storms mapping the county’s nearshore
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6 subdivision to Wabasso Beach Park be- expected due to climate change and hardbottom reefs that have high relief
fore sea turtle nesting season begins in sea level rise by conducting more and help protect the beaches from
Eric Charest said the shrinking sec- May. beach maintenance instead of full- losing sand, and producing educa-
tion “bows out and that plays a role blown renourishment projects. tional brochures to show beachgoers
in downstream transport of the sand,” The county expects to begin renour- the value of sargassum that washes
while the surrounding beaches are ishment of the section from Wabasso It also calls for wave modeling, in- in from the Gulf Stream to stabilize
“kind of catching sand.” to Turtle Trail Beach Park next fall af- vestigating offshore sources of sand, dunes and create habitat for birds
ter nesting season is over. County ad- securing property owner access ease- and other wildlife.
In other words, sand washed away ministrator Jason Brown told commis- ments for future projects, and contin-
on the part of the beach that protrudes sioners he’s confident of receiving $7 ued planting of native dune plants. Residents and visitors often complain
into the ocean and built up on more million for the project from the state The plan was endorsed unanimously when the seaweed builds up on island
sheltered stretches nearby. legislature this year. by the county’s beach and shore pres- beaches, but it plays an important part
ervation advisory committee. in keeping beach sand in place. 
The county is nearing completion of The updated beach plan recom-

Vero considers legal action against county in Shores dispute

BY LISA ZAHNER voted to allow county staff to cooperate areas are to be served by Indian River Shores Town Council should choose
Staff Writer with engineering consultants the town County – with any proposed changes them over their rival utility.
hired to find out whether or not it would requiring Vero’s permission.
The City of Vero Beach is consider- be feasible for the Shores to obtain wa- Vero’s then-City Manager Jim
ing legal action against Indian River ter-sewer service from the county in Oc- Vero Beach 32963 requested copies O’Connor brokered a deal to keep the
County to enforce what the city views tober 2027, when the town’s franchise of the three legal opinions last week, Shores in Vero’s fold by matching coun-
as its permanent water-sewer service agreement with Vero ends. and received three documents late ty rates.
territory as set forth in a 1989 agree- Monday.
ment – a provision that would keep Vero Mayor Robbie Brackett says the Vero won the 2012 competition but
the Town of Indian River Shores on the city has three separate legal opinions But only one of these opinion let- the process raises the question why
city utility system, even unwillingly. defending the city’s right to not lose ters – penned in 2012 by the city’s Vero thought it needed to compete for
utility customers to the county because utility attorney, Thomas Cloud of the the Shores business if the city had an
The dustup began after the Indian a 1989 agreement lays out which areas Gray Robinson law firm, detailing the inviolable service territory. The whole
River Board of County Commissioners are to be served by Vero, and which city’s claim to a “permanent, exclusive process was carried out in public,
right to serve” unincorporated South with plenty of opportunities for Vero
Beach communities with water-sewer to show the 1989 territorial agreement
service regardless of the presence of a and stop the county’s bid.
valid franchise agreement – seems to
specifically boost Vero’s position. When asked why Vero did not exert
the 1989 territorial rights to prevent In-
The other two letters from Hol- dian River County from going after the
land and Knight and Nabors-Giblin Shores’ utility business in 2012, City
law firms have been put forth by the Manager Monte Falls said,“I do not know
Shores to bolster its own arguments if the 1989 territorial agreement came up
on the 1989 territory document. in the negotiations with the town as I
was not the city manager at the time.”
When the Shores re-upped withVero
Beach in 2012, the new agreement was Brackett said he and Falls met last
the result of a competitive process in week with County Administrator Ja-
which Vero Beach Utilities and Indian son Brown, and based upon their talk,
River County Utilities both pitched for Brown realized that the county is in
the Shores’ utility business. the wrong and that the county will
drop the idea of potentially serving
Both Vero and the county submit- Indian River Shores with water, sewer
ted written proposals, and Vero and and reuse water.
county staffers both made presen-
tations touting the reasons why the CONTINUED ON PAGE 10

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10 Vero Beach 32963 / April 29, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

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Pickleball courts at Riverside Park a bad ideaCONTINUEDFROMPAGE8
Vero considers legal action MY
VERO

Brown confirmed that he met with BY RAY MCNULTY be a serious distraction for tennis play- tranquility of the city’s picturesque, wa-
Brackett and Falls, but said there is no Staff Writer ers accustomed to playing in relative terfront park, where many people enjoy
action to back down from. quiet. peaceful strolls along the shaded walk-
Pickleball might resemble a min- ing trails each day – the loud pops and
Since Brown was the county’s Direc- iature version of tennis, but the two But that isn’t the only reason it’s a shouts that accompany the sport would
tor of Management and Budget in 2012, games are not compatible, and their terrible idea to convert two or more of also be an unwarranted irritant for resi-
he was involved in the county’s pitch to courts belong nowhere near each oth- Riverside Park’s tennis courts to pick- dents in the Central Beach neighbor-
serve the Shores with its water-sewer er – pickleball is just too noisy. leball courts – a plan being pushed by hood across Mockingbird Drive.
utilities. Pickleball University, the burgeoning
The repeated loud popping sounds game’s largest local club. Think about it: Would you want to
Brown had no answers as to whyVero emitted when pickleball paddles hit live across the street from multiple
is raising this objection now. “I asked plastic balls on adjacent courts would Not only would the noisy games ag- pickleball courts packed with players
Monte the same thing. This never came gravate tennis players and destroy the for big chunks of the day, starting as
up in 2012,” Brown said.  early as 8 a.m.?

Before you respond, spend some
time at Vero Beach’s Pocahontas Park
– where Pickleball University operates
a 12-court complex it leases from the
city – to get a sense of pickleball’s deci-
bel level.

“The noise would be a nuisance,
which is what we told the City Council
the last time the pickleball group tried
to do this in 2019,” said Nathan Po-
lackwich, who lives three houses from
Riverside Park on Iris Lane.

“Every single neighbor we’ve talked
to is against it,” he added. “Not one of
them was in favor of it, because no-
body wants that noise. You can’t put
pickleball courts in a residential area.”

Pocahontas Park is a great spot for
pickleball courts because the noise
they generate – it’s also a much more
vocal game than tennis – tends to get
lost in the daily sounds of downtown
Vero, including trains barreling by and
the noise generated by a steady stream
of traffic along nearby U.S. 1.

But as pickleball’s popularity contin-
ues to grow, so does the club’s member-
ship and, as a result, the demand for
more local courts.

From 60-plus founding members
in 2015, Pickleball University’s ranks
have swelled to more than 700. Most
mornings, the 12 courts at Pocahontas
Park are filled while another 48 players
eagerly wait for their chance to play.

Clearly, more courts are needed.
That’s why city Recreation Depart-
ment staffers are exploring options,
including the possibility of converting
the two tennis courts at Charles Park
into six pickleball courts.
That’s why the county plans to build
at least two courts at Dick Bird South
County Park, another buffered site well-
suited for pickleball, though officials say
that facility will be open to the public
and not available for lease to any group.
That’s why many of the area’s mar-
quee country clubs – including John’s
Island, The Moorings and Orchid Is-
land – have added pickleball courts to
their slate of amenities, as have some
new home developments.
“We built two pickleball courts, and

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / April 29, 2021 11

NEWS

we’re looking to expand our facilities, the city could lose its win-win, no-cost could accommodate the conversion Maybe Charles Park is the answer.
probably as soon as next year,” said arrangement with St. Edward’s. of any courts for pickleball. Maybe there’s another place in the city
Rob Tench, general manager at Orchid – though most of the club’s members
Island Golf & Beach Club. “We’re plan- Converting the tennis courts to You can’t conduct a professional ten- live outside the Vero Beach limits. Or
ning to add courts and a gazebo area pickleball courts would also place in nis tournament – such as the founda- maybe there’s something elsewhere in
where the players can socialize and jeopardy the Mardy Fish Children’s tion’s wildly successful men’s event, the county.
watch the games.” Foundation’s plan to raise money to which has been held inVero Beach every
renovate and expand the Riverside spring since the mid-1990s – with pick- Here is another idea – maybe some
On the mainland, residents of the tennis complex, which it hopes to use leball being played only a few feet away. local entrepreneur could seize this op-
Harmony Reserve 55-and-over com- for tournaments and exhibitions. portunity to find the right location,
munity have access to an eight-court Add those factors to the negative build a private pickleball club and sell
pickleball complex, and Sebastian built An expanded and upgraded city impact the pickleball courts would memberships, similar to Vero Beach’s
an eight-court pickleball complex near tennis center suitable for professional have on Riverside Park’s normal tennis independent tennis clubs.
the municipal airport, a comfortable play would be a significant asset for activities, ambiance and neighbors,
distance from any residential area. Vero Beach and its residents, but Mar- and there’s no way the City Council Whether that happens or not, more
dy Fish Children’s Foundation Execu- can give the Pickleball University peo- pickleball courts will be built, as they
“This isn’t about pickleball,” Polack- tive Director Lynn Southerly said she ple what they want. should be – just not at the tennis cen-
wich said of his opposition to courts doesn’t believe the foundation’s plan ter in Riverside Park. 
in Riverside Park. “It’s a great game, Not there, anyway.
and I’m all for people getting out and
getting exercise. But they need to find
the right place.”

For Pickleball University’s purpos-
es, the ideal location seemed to be the
mostly unused, county-owned former
Dodgertown Golf Club property – spe-
cifically, 2 acres at the north end of the
35-acre parcel.

In 2019, in fact, the club proposed to
move its base of operations there, of-
fering to build as many as 18 courts,
refurbish the still-standing, former golf
clubhouse and create a parking area
for 150 vehicles if the county would
give it a favorable long-term lease.

The county purchased the golf-
course site from the city earlier in 2019,
mainly because it needed the land for
overflow parking for big-crowd events
at Major League Baseball’s Jackie Rob-
inson Training Complex.

But as County Commissioner Peter
O’Bryan said at the time: “We don’t
need all 35 acres for parking.”

Before the discussions became se-
rious, however, Pickleball University
renewed its lease with the city for the
Pocahontas Park complex – which, ap-
parently, the club has since outgrown.

So now the club is taking another
shot at Riverside Park, and the City
Council again needs to say no.

For those who don’t know: The city
allows the St. Edward’s School boys
and girls tennis teams to use River-
side Park’s 10 courts for practice and
matches; in return, the school allows
the city to use facilities on its campus
for summer camps.

Take away two tennis courts, and



Linda Kofoed and Rosemary Bell.

‘ANSWER TO CANCER’ GOLF TOURNEY,
DINNER RAISE A FORE-TUNE P. 20

14 Vero Beach 32963 / April 29, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

Four grateful nonprofits awarded $100K ‘Impact’ grants

Youth Guidance: Kevin Moree, board chair, and Philip Barnes, executive director. PHOTOS CONTINUED ON PAGE 16

Veterans Council of Indian River County: Board chairman Col. Marty Zickert (USAF, Ret.),
Pat Geyer-Patton and Jim Romanek, executive director. PHOTOS: KAILA JONES AND BRENDA AHEARN

BY MARY SCHENKEL trying of times,” said LaForge. profound impact on kids, especially has increased due to the pandemic,
A video montage was shown that teaching them trade skills and life she said it was important for sur-
Staff Writer skills that they’ll need to lead pro- vivors to have access to resources
featured photos from last year’s five ductive lives. I immediately went in the community they live in. The
Indian River Impact 100 wel- Community Partners, who LaForge out of my office and told all our grant will go toward a 19-bed emer-
comed another four nonprofits to said “never flinched in the face of staff. There was definitely a lot of joy gency shelter in Vero Beach. “We are
the fold as their latest Community the pandemic.” The 2020 recipients in that moment,” added Barnes. totally thrilled about this opportu-
Partners, with Impact members vot- were: Big Brothers Big Sisters, Trea- nity,” said Albizu.
ing to award $100,000 High Impact sure Coast Food Bank, The Source, “Thank you; I didn’t even think
grants to the Youth Guidance Men- Children’s Home Society and Camp we had a chance,” said Antoine Jen- “The Veterans Council of Indian
toring Academy, Crossover Mission, Haven. nings, Crossover Mission co-found- River County really appreciates the
SafeSpace and the Veterans Council er with Cathy De Schouwer. The women of Impact 100 for their will-
of Indian River County. “We have $436,000 to award; grant will go toward construction ingness to make a difference in the
four $100,000 grants and six $6,000 of their Center for Achievement and lives of veterans and their families,
Outgoing board president Gladys merit grants. I’m sure the decision Tutoring (the CAT). who either can’t afford or are unable
LaForge who had been compelled by on which nonprofits to vote for was to make repairs on their homes,” said
the pandemic to begin and end her difficult for our members, as it was “There were some agencies that Pat Geyer-Patton, Veterans Council
term virtually, welcomed Impact for me,” said LaForge, noting that really presented well. They were all consultant/grant writer. The grant
100 members to a second virtual over the past 13 years, Impact 100 really deserving, so I was very sur- will help improve the quality of life
version of the group’s Annual Meet- has awarded grants to more than prised that we won; I really wasn’t for veterans and their families.
ing, during which the grant recipi- 65 nonprofits, and that this year’s anticipating that. I didn’t think we
ents were announced. grants would put them past the $5 had a chance, honestly, being a new- “Thank you so much. Our chair-
million mark. er program,” added Jennings. man and our executive director and
In a break from tradition, earlier I all thought the same thing when
in the spring, members had watched Despite their reactions being vir- “Thank you so much; we are so the first three came up – that there
online videos by the 10 finalists, who tual, the excitement was palpable as grateful. This was the first year we was no way we were going to be the
had already gone through an inten- each of the recipients were able to felt that we had the kind of project fourth, because there were so many
sive vetting process, about their im- briefly express their gratitude. When that Impact would be able to fund,” other wonderful programs to choose
pressive and noteworthy programs. Vero Beach 32963 had a chance later said De Schouwer. “It was quite a from. So, we were overwhelmed at
Members were then given a period to chat with the four, they expound- process; the soul searching and being one of the recipients.”
in which to vote for their choice of ed on their appreciation and sur- then all of the admin and detailed
finalists. prise, each heaping praise on all the writing. So, we’re incredibly grate- This year’s outstanding merit
remarkable finalist organizations. ful. I think Impact 100 is one of the winners were: Childcare Resources,
LaForge thanked PNC Wealth most amazing nonprofits in town. Indian River Healthy Start Coali-
Management for their sponsorship “I cannot express how grateful I It’s certainly a good day for Cross- tion, Pelican Island Audubon Soci-
of the Annual Meeting, noting that am to everybody involved. Thank over Mission.” ety, United Against Poverty, Ballet
while the year was unusual in many you so much! On behalf of the kids Vero Beach and Youth Sailing Foun-
ways, “one constant has been the we serve, we can’t wait to share with “Thank you so much; we are so dation.
dedication of our sponsors to our you the impact that this grant is go- appreciative of your support,” said
mission and their willingness to ing to have on our organization,” Teresa Albizu CEO of SafeSpace. LaForge announced that Tracy
support us, even virtually.” said Phil Barnes, Youth Guidance “On behalf of the hundreds of vic- Sorzano is the next president of Im-
executive director, referencing the tims of domestic violence, we really pact 100 and encouraged people to
“Although I’m disappointed not to Learning Center that the grant will appreciate your contributions to the sign up for the 2021-22 membership
be with all of you having our tradi- fund. work that we do.” year.
tional glass of wine and anticipat-
ing the awards to our grantees, I am “I would like to thank the ladies of Citing the importance of being For more information, visit impact
proud of this organization for pre- Impact 100 from the bottom of my able to respond to the high inci- 100ir.com. 
vailing its mission even in the most heart. This grant is going to have a dence of domestic violence, which



16 Vero Beach 32963 / April 29, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

Shirley Nichols and Beth Wright.

PHOTOS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 14 Kathy Petersen and Susan Furlaud. SafeSpace: Teresa Albizu, CEO.
Crossover Mission: Co-founders Antoine Jennings and Cathy De Schouwer.

Suzi McCoy Shriner toasts the winners with fellow Impact members Alia Johnson, Elaine O’Neil and Gail Nourse.
Joan Fay, Kathleen Glaser and Joan Vinas, and others at her home.

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / April 29, 2021 17

PEOPLE

Athena Society debates delectable art choices over dinner

Marilyn Mustapick and Jacqueline Malloy. PHOTOS:KAILA JONES Anke Van Wagenberg with Ned and Sherry Ann Dayton. Debbie and John Berghorst with Marilyn McConnell.

Peter and Kjestine Bijur. Polly and John LaDuc.

Pinky Regan with Virginia and Warren Schwerin.

Members of the Athena Society, a Dhuanne Tansill and Carol Henderson.
membership grouping at the Vero Carol and Peter Coxhead.
Beach Museum of Art, met last
week for its annual Athena Din-
ner, tasked with choosing the next
major piece of artwork to acquire
for the museum’s permanent col-
lection. Since its establishment in
2003, the Athena Society has fund-
ed a significant number of pieces
in the collection. Prior to voting,
the 120 guests perused the three
works selected by VBMA curator
Anke Van Wagenberg and heard a
lecture by her about the pieces un-
der consideration. The selection
was made this year to purchase
“Hydro Electric Power, Hoover
Dam (1950)” by Charles Sheeler.
The other two options were “Scaf-
fold XVI (2018),” a stainless-steel
sculpture by Anthony Gormley,
and a set of six Jacquard Tapes-
tries (2012 to 2017) by Kiki Smith.
See our story in the Arts section for
details about the works and their
selection. 

18 Vero Beach 32963 / April 29, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

Savoring Education Foundation success at Spring Dinner

Cindy Emerson, Doug Herron and David Moore. PHOTOS:KAILA JONES Dawn and Lee Orr with Michelle Wagner. Susan Wood, Carolyn Norton and Janie Hoover.

BY STEPHANIE LaBAFF Diners relished good food, good other between bites of a delicious five- out tonight. It’s been such a long pe-
Staff Writer company and good music to help fund course meal created by Chef Michael riod of time since we’ve been able to
such Education Foundation projects as Amaral, which was complimented by a interact face-to-face with people,” said
Guests enjoyed a delightful Spring the Indian River County Regional Sci- selection of lovely wines chosen by his Douglas Herron, EFIRC executive di-
Dinner at River Twist during a recent ence and Engineering Fair, High Im- wife Lorraine, the in-house sommelier. rector. “It’s good to get out, but what
private event to support the school pact Grant Awards for Teachers, STEP we’re really excited about at the Edu-
programs and services provided by the (Summer Transition Education Pro- The Education Foundation, a non- cation Foundation are the opportuni-
Education Foundation of Indian River gram) into Kindergarten, the Sneaker profit founded in 1991 by educational ties we’re going to have in the future to
County, which help to ensure students Exchange, and Vision for Reading. visionaries Marion Block, Alma Lee impact the lives of students in Indian
and teachers have the tools they need Loy and Dan Richardson, seeks to “de- River County.”
and opportunities they deserve to As the soothing sounds of guitarist velop, evaluate and secure funding for
achieve academic success. Manny Moreira played in the back- new, innovative projects.” Herron said that while the pandem-
ground, guests caught up with one an- ic forced them to cancel the STEP into
“We are so excited to see everybody

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Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / April 29, 2021 19

PEOPLE

Trevor Murrah, Daytona Henry and Kayla Montgomery.

Kimberly Garcia and Kathleen Pogany. Kristine and Rich Gabor.

Marion Manchester and Amanda James. each of the schools.
Other programming changes in-
Kindergarten program last summer,
they expect it and all other programs cluded hosting a successful virtual
to be fully functional this summer and Science Fair and providing vouchers
in the coming year. for children who needed sneakers.

The plus side of the summertime “COVID opened our eyes to a lot
cancellation was that the foundation of things that we can do differently
was able to divert those funds ear- and more effectively,” said Herron.
marked for STEP toward an increased
provision of High Impact Grant Awards Commenting on inequities in
for Teachers. “We were able to increase the access to technology, he added:
grant awards by 33 percent, giving over “That’s one of the things we’re work-
$62,000 in grants to teachers at nine ing with the district to change. Mak-
schools,” said Herron. ing sure all students have access to
technology and that in classrooms
Herron said they had invited a teachers are using that technology.”
School District of Indian River County
representative to sit on the grant se- He said they are also seeking to
lection committee, which meant they better communicate with the school
were better able to target grant re- district.
quests that support the district’s stra-
tegic plan and the academic themes of “We’re working to more closely
align our missions and make sure
the things we’re funding are not
only meeting student need but also
fit within the district’s strategic
plan,” said Herron. “We’re excited
to deepen our relationship with the
school district. That’s a large part of
our purpose, to support the school
district and their work with stu-
dents.”

If you missed the event, you still
have time to support the Education
Foundation. Dine-in and take-out op-
tions of the special five-course menu
will be available through April 30.

For more information, visit ed-
foundationirc.org. 

20 Vero Beach 32963 / April 29, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

‘Answer to Cancer’ golf,
dinner raise a fore-tune

Bill and Libby King. PHOTOS: BRENDA AHEARN

BY MARY SCHENKEL scrutinized some 150 silent-auction
Staff Writer items amassed by the committee,
others purchased chances for a
A whopping $100,000 plus was 50/50 and mystery box raffle items.
raised at the recent Answer to Can-
cer Golf Tournament and Fundrais- Answer to Cancer was co-found-
ing Dinner at Grand Harbor Golf ed by the late Don Casey and cancer
Club, which will be used to help im- survivor Carole Plante, and their
prove the lives of those affected by grassroots effort quickly evolved
the devastating disease. into a full-on initiative, embraced
by Grand Harbor residents and club
“That is more than we had hoped. management alike. Carole Casey
We couldn’t believe how gener- picked up the standard when her
ous people are,” said Carole Casey, husband succumbed to the disease
event co-chair with Terry Leggett. in December 2016, and, with help
from an ambitious committee, has
More than 170 people turned grown it even further.
out to play golf, with all passing by
sponsored tee boxes that honored Even when the pandemic caused
loved ones. They were joined later the cancellation of last year’s event,
by another 50 or so guests in the it didn’t stop the giving. Answer
club’s dining room, where everyone to Cancer still raised more than
socialized over cocktails and a buf- $60,000 in donations, and received
fet dinner. a surprise gift of music. Doris Hall
generously donated a Young Chang
Spring colored Luminaria lined Baby Grand Player Piano, which
the driveway and also served as now graces the lobby of the Scully-
centerpieces on the tables as addi- Welsh Cancer Center.
tional remembrances of lives lost,
reinforcing the importance of the Over the years, the money has
mission. As guests mingled and been used to fund a variety of proj-

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / April 29, 2021 21

ects and equipment to improve the PEOPLE
treatment of patients. Among them
was funding to introduce Digni- Sue and Bruce Stone. Jack and Barbara Reis. Henriette and Bill Churney.
Caps, which cool hair follicles to
help chemo patients keep their Linda Teetz and Sue Post. PHOTOS CONTINUED ON PAGE 22
hair; to support the Oncology Nurse Carol and Nick Halchak with Pat Lauda.
Navigation Program, which assists
patients and families to better in-
terface with physicians throughout
the complicated cancer process;
to purchase AccuVein technology
to enable accurate venipuncture
for chemotherapy patients; and to
purchase five computers on mobile
units.

This year Answer to Cancer is
going to again fund the DigniCaps
program. The caps themselves
($250) and treatment ($200 each
time) would otherwise be out-of-
pocket charges to the patient.

“It’s not covered by insurance,
so now anyone who wishes to have
these treatments to save their hair
will be able to,” said Casey. “This
pays for them to have their own cap.
They can keep and take it with them
if they have to travel somewhere
else for treatment.”

Noting that Answer to Cancer
has raised and donated roughly
$958,600 since its inception, Casey
said, “Not bad for a 9-hole golf tour-
nament.” 

22 Vero Beach 32963 / April 29, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

PHOTOS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 20 Sheila Iodice and Nancy Marquardt. Lesley Pace and Melissa Marquardt.
Nance and Jay Hoder.

Joyce and Ed Churney. Susie Stoughton and Jerry Reichert.

Carole Plante and Sherry Brown. Carole Casey and Terry Leggett.

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– Seated in a yel- through a wood frame that supports Both damaged, their contents looted, “Our civilization is full of myster-
low plastic laundry basket attached to the walls. Just above the bottom, water perhaps more than 2,000 years ago. ies,” NeRmeen Aba-Yazeed, a member
two thick ropes, I was lowered into the glistened on the walls like jewels. Who had been buried here? How and of the archaeological team, said after-
earth. The light got dimmer, the tem- why were their coffins lowered so ward. “And we have discovered one of
perature colder. A musty smell filled The basket touched ground. far into the earth? And how did the these mysteries.”
the air. The only sound was from the The eyes adjusted to the dark. On thieves know where to look?
workmen above handling the ropes the floor were two limestone coffins. Before the inscription was found,
and yelling “shweya” – slowly.
RESTORATION SPECIALIST AHMAD
One miscue, and I could fall 100 feet. ABDELAZEEM REMOVES THE COVER
I was inside a burial shaft in Saqqa- OF A RECENTLY DISCOVERED SAR-
ra, the ancient necropolis roughly 19 COPHAGUS WITH A MUMMY INSIDE
miles south of Cairo. In recent months, AT SAQQARA IN FEBRUARY.
a series of discoveries have captivated
the world of archaeology. SARCOPHAGI OF ANCIENT EGYPTIANS
The most significant find came in Jan- FOUND BY HAWASS'S TEAM AT SAQQARA.
uary, when archaeologists came upon
inscriptions showing that the temple
they were unearthing belonged to a pre-
viously unknown ancient queen. Her
name was Queen Neit. She was the wife
of King Teti, the first pharaoh of the Sixth
Dynasty, which ruled more than 4,300
years ago as part of Egypt’s Old Kingdom.
I was descending into the cemeterial
netherworld below her funerary temple.
Midway down the shaft, the walls
took on a honeycomb pattern, with
large shelves carved into them. Thou-
sands of years ago, they held painted
coffins and mummies wrapped in
linen and reeds. While I descended
farther, the shaft narrowed as I passed

THE STEPPED PYRAMID
OF DJOSER AT SAQQARA.

AN UNEARTHED WOODEN COFFIN
ON DISPLAY AT EGYPT'S SAQQARA
NECROPOLIS, SOUTH OF CAIRO.

King Teti was thought to have only Hawass, Egypt’s most well-known early February, archaeologists found Ministry officials said were to allow
two wives, Iput and Khuit. But the archaeologist and its former antiqui- 16 human burial chambers at the them to “speak in the afterlife.”
realization he had a third, Neit, with ties minister, would say later in the site of an ancient temple on the out-
her own temple, was prompting a re- day. skirts of the northern city of Alexan- That same month, a massive
think of those ancient days. dria. Two of the mummies had golden 5,000-year-old brewery – believed to
Ancient history is being revealed tongues, which Egyptian Antiquities be the world’s oldest – was discovered
“We are rewriting history,” Zahi in many parts of Egypt these days. In in the southern city of Sohag. The beer,
researchers hypothesize, was used in
THE LADDER LEADING TO THE NEWLY burial rituals for Egypt’s earliest kings.
DISCOVERED SARCOPHAGI IN SAQQARA.
Last month, ruins of an ancient
Christian settlement were discov-
ered in the Bahariya Oasis, nestled in
Egypt’s Western desert. The find sheds
new light on monastic life in the 5th
century A.D.

And just last week, archaeologists
announced they had unearthed a
3,000-year-old “lost golden city” in
the southern city of Luxor, a discov-
ery that could be the biggest since the
tomb of the boy king Tutankhamen.

With every discovery, the govern-
ment’s hopes rise that more tourists
will arrive, bringing much-needed for-
eign currency and creating new jobs
for millions. Egypt’s tourism-depen-
dent economy has suffered in the past
decade from the political chaos that
developed after the 2011 Arab Spring
uprising.

The Saqqara necropolis is at once
a center of the country’s aspirations

CONTINUED ON PAGE 28

ZAHI HAWASS AND HIS TEAM
DISCOVERED EVIDENCE
OF QUEEN NEIT.

28 Vero Beach 32963 / April 29, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 27 INSIGHT COVER STORY

and of its subterranean secrets. It was wass, 73, standing in the temple’s ruins, Incest would not be new for the an- ter of Teti, it would be the first time in
part of the burial grounds for the an- wearing his trademark wide-brimmed cients. In Egyptian lore, the god Osiris Egyptian history to have a king marry-
cient capital, Memphis, its ruins now Indiana Jones hat and a cream-colored had married his sister Isis. Pharaohs ing his daughter.”
a UNESCO World Heritage site. safari jacket over a denim shirt and jeans. were widely believed to have mar-
ried their sisters and daughters, but A short walk across the sand was an-
In Saqqara, 17 Egyptian kings built But there was more to consider than that was during reigns later than Teti’s other burial shaft where even more had
pyramids to house their remains and just the emergence of a new queen. Sixth Dynasty. been discovered about Teti’s legacy.
possessions for what they believed was Could Neit have also been Teti’s daugh-
the transition to the afterlife. These ter? Hawass’s team had found inscrip- “Is she a daughter of a king of the I followed Hawass down a ladder, 36
pyramids include the world’s oldest, tions that referred to Neit as the daugh- Fifth Dynasty, or is she a daughter of feet into the ground. At the bottom, in a
the Step Pyramid of Djoser, built in the ter of a pharaoh. Teti?” Hawass asked. “If she is a daugh- space the size of a walk-in closet, were
27th century B.C. Recent finds have wooden coffins stacked in piles. They
drawn the world’s attention, depicted LEFT: POTTERY, SOME OF IT IM-
in the Netflix film “Secrets of the Saqqa- PORTED, AT SAQQARA SHOWS THE
ra Tomb” and National Geographic’s ANCIENT CITY'S IMPORTANCE AS
“Kingdom of the Mummies” TV series. A CENTER OF TRADE. CENTER: RE-
SEARCHERS ARE EXAMINING SKULLS
In November, for instance, archae- AT THE SITE TO DETERMINE AGES
ologists dug up more than 100 ornately AND CAUSES OF DEATH. RIGHT: THE
painted wooden coffins, some with BONES OF AN ANCIENT EGYPTIAN
mummies, and dozens of other arti- CHILD AT HAWASS'S SITE.
facts, including amulets, funeral stat-
ues and masks. Some of the coffins
had been found on those shelves I had
passed during my descent.

After I emerged from the burial
shaft, Hawass explained how the dis-
coveries were reshaping the under-
standing of Pharaonic times.

“Now we are writing a new chapter in
the history of the Old Kingdom by add-
ing the name of a new queen of Teti that
he never announced before,” said Ha-

RENOWNED ARCHAEOLOGIST ZAHI HAWASS'S DIG
SITE AT SAQQARA, EGYPT, IN FEBRUARY. THE DIS-
COVERY, AMONG MANY OTHERS, OF A PREVIOUSLY
UNKNOWN QUEEN HAS RESHAPED RESEARCHERS'
UNDERSTANDING OF ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / April 29, 2021 29

INSIGHT COVER STORY

were painted in hues of blue and red, amulets carry the shapes and names of Shards of pottery found in the rub- only for the rich, but also for the poor.”
some with intricate images of gods and gods and pharaohs. ble unveil new details of ancient life. Some of the discoveries, however,
goddesses. They still contained mum- Many were imported, evidence that
mies, Hawass said, and the names of Among the artifacts discovered were trade flourished between Egypt and defy explanation.
the deceased were written on the de- pieces of a 15-foot-long papyrus that Palestine, Cyprus, Crete and Syria. In a burial shaft, this one 63 feet deep,
caying wood. His team had found 54 included texts of the Book of the Dead,
coffins here. a collection of spells written by priests Mohamed Mahmoud reassembles a 20-ton sarcophagus the size of a Hum-
to help the deceased pass through the pieces of pottery to make them whole. vee and made of granite sits at the bot-
From inscriptions on the coffins, underworld and into the afterlife. In the tent next door, Asmaa Massoud tom. How did it get there? It, too, was
the team had traced the subterranean analyzes skulls and other bones to de- looted by thieves. How did they know
cemetery to the 18th and 19th dynas- Inside a store room, Ahmed Tarek termine age and cause of death. Next where to look?
ties of Egypt’s New Kingdom, from and Maysa Rabea are placing the jag- to her, in a small wooden box, is the
more than 3,000 years ago. The discov- ged pieces of the papyrus together, like mummy of a child. Hawass expects to encounter more
eries were shedding light on a little un- trying to solve a jigsaw puzzle. They are mysteries. It will take 20 years to fully
derstood period of Saqqara, between also restoring and studying artifacts “The excavations and artifacts show uncover the secrets here, he says. “In
1570 and 1069 B.C. to gain more understanding of how how much Saqqara was important in Saqqara, we have found only 30 per-
Egyptians prepared themselves for the the New Kingdom,” Hawass told me. cent of what’s underneath,” he said.
Teti, it appears, had been worshiped afterlife. “They tell us more about the beliefs, not “It is a site that if you dig in any place,
as a god in the New Kingdom. Many you’ll find something.” 
of his followers wanted to be buried
around his pyramid, often visiting cof-
fin and mummification workshops in
Saqqara, Hawass said.

The poor were placed in simple
wooden coffins. But the colorful, or-
nately decorated ones that I was seeing
had belonged to Teti’s wealthy followers.

Placed inside the coffins were min-
iature wooden boats, games, pottery
and tiny gold pieces to carry and use
in the afterlife. Little statuettes and

30 Vero Beach 32963 / April 29, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT OPINION

It was a scare fit for a Tom Clancy nov- Iranian missiles, militias and Assad of them seems to have hit an Israeli air- nuclear infrastructure, for fear of in-
el: On Wednesday night air-raid sirens all factor into the scare in Dimona. craft, one missile flew as far as the north- ternational opprobrium and the likeli-
went off near the Israeli nuclear reactor ern Negev desert, in the general direc- hood of massive retaliation by the IDF.
in Dimona. Happily, the services of Jack The sequence of events reportedly tion of Dimona, where it set off alarms. But Iranian officials have sworn to ex-
Ryan were not required. Israeli military began with Israeli air strikes in Syria In response, the Israeli Defense Forces act vengeance for the disruption of Na-
officials say it was a false alarm. against stockpiles of weapons, includ- deployed anti-missile rockets to inter- tanz and last November’s assassination
ing missiles, stored by Tehran’s local cept the Syrian projectile – and, for good of the top Iranian nuclear weapons
But U.S. President Joe Biden would do proxies. Iran has been using groups measure, launched another air strike scientist. Prominent hard liners in the
well to take it as a real warning. Even as such as Hezbollah, as well as elements against the battery from which it came. regime have called for an “eye-for-an-
his administration contemplates sanc- in Assad’s military, to build up a sub- eye” attack on Dimona.
tions relief for Iran, the klaxons around stantial arsenal in Syria, from where it That, at any rate, is the IDF’s version
Dimona are a sobering reminder that can hit cities in Israel. of how it went down. The widening Iranian footprint in
the nearby threat from Iran is not limit- Syria greatly increases the chances of
ed to its uranium-enrichment program. In response, the Israeli military rou- Even though the Syrian missile was a such an attack. But even if Dimona
Its more conventional military activities tinely conducts clandestine missions stray, its timing invited other interpre- remains out-of-bounds, the missile
in Israel’s neighborhood are a pressing and airstrikes against the Iranian ar- tations. After all, it has been less than stockpiles – and reportedly, research
threat that should be front and center senal and outposts in Syria: Over 500 two weeks since an Israeli operation and manufacturing facilities – that the
in any American diplomatic outreach to such targets were hit in 2020 alone. reportedly disabled an Iranian nuclear Islamic Republic and its proxies are
the Islamic Republic. facility in Natanz, south of Tehran. building in Syria are a growing men-
Last week’s strike was met by a barrage ace that Israel can’t ignore.
Reports fromVienna, where the world of Syrian surface-to-air missiles, a not- It has long been assumed that the
powers are negotiating with Iran to re- infrequent occurrence. Although none Iranians would not dare target Israeli The greatest threat comes not from
turn to the terms agreed to in their 2015 stray rockets fired off by Assad’s forces
nuclear deal, suggest the Biden admin- but from precision-guided Iranian mis-
istration is softening its position.Where- siles assembled in Syria and supplied
as American officials initially made the to Tehran’s catspaws in the country or
easing of U.S. sanctions conditional in neighboring Iraq and Lebanon. And
on Tehran’s compliance with the Joint they don’t need to target Dimona in or-
Comprehensive Plan of Action, they are der to do great harm, whether in Israel
now signaling a willingness to discuss or elsewhere in the Middle East.
the relaxation of some restrictions in or-
der to facilitate more talks. Preventing such an outcome ought
to be a high priority for the Biden ad-
Apparently lost in the shuffle of di- ministration and the other world pow-
plomacy is another Biden precon- ers represented at the talks in Vienna.
dition: that Iran agree to follow-on Last week’s events should serve as a
negotiations over its other malign ac- reminder that a deal limited to its nu-
tivities, including its support of terror- clear program will not greatly limit the
ist groups and sectarian militias across danger Iran represents. 
the Middle East, its support for the
Syrian regime of the dictator Bashar al- A version of this column by Bobby
Assad and its missile program. Tehran Ghosh first appeared on Bloomberg. It
has repeatedly rejected this request. does not necessarily reflect the views of
Vero Beach 32963.

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

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / April 29, 2021 31

INSIGHT WORLD NEWS AND OPINION

Diane Luedtke's Groupon for TSA That did not sound right to me. I costs $85 for a five-year membership, It looks like you had two hours to
PreCheck doesn't work. Can she per- scheduled my appointments at my lo- but I’ve always thought the government cancel your purchase under Groupon’s
suade the company to refund it? cal airport. My husband and I made the shouldn’t charge you for screening at terms, but what if the thing doesn’t
trip to the airport and completed the the airport – something that should be work?
QUESTION: process for applying for TSA PreCheck. included in the taxes tacked onto the
At the completion of mine, I handed in cost of your ticket. But I digress. I don’t agree with Groupon’s conten-
I purchased two Groupon vouchers the voucher and after the gentleman en- tion that ‘all sales are final.’ Groupon
for a TSA PreCheck application fee. I tered it into his computer, it came back Looking at the details of your case, I had an obligation to send you a code
followed the directions on the voucher, as "already used." don’t think you could have done any- that worked. When it didn’t, it should
entering one code to register at the TSA thing differently. It seems that there have made arrangements with the TSA
site. At the end of the registration pro- I was shocked. I gave him the second was a glitch in the system that pre- to send you a working code or agreed
cess, the site asked me to bring a credit voucher and that worked successfully. vented one of the two TSA PreCheck to refund your purchase.
card, money order, or cashier's check to But my husband had to complete the Groupons you purchased from work-
the airport for payment. process and pay by credit card. ing. You had no way of knowing that In your case, Groupon tried to issue
the Groupon wouldn’t work until you a new coupon code for PreCheck after
When I returned home, I contacted arrived for your interview at the air- you had already paid the $85 applica-
Groupon by phone and was basically port. Then, you tried to reach someone tion fee (and also after you had been
told that all sales were final, even on a at Groupon who could fix the issue in approved for the program). Of course,
defective purchase. I sent an email and real-time. But that proved to be impos- no one needs two TSA Prechecks, so
they offered a replacement code which I sible. So you ended up paying full price by then, it was too late. The offer from
have no use for. Can you help me get my for your husband’s TSA Precheck. Groupon was useless.
money back?
Groupon’s terms and conditions are You could have reached out to one
ANSWER: pretty confusing, at least when it comes of Groupon’s executive contacts. I list
to nonworking vouchers. them on my consumer-advocacy site,
You should have received a valid Elliott.org. But I contacted Groupon
code for your TSA PreCheck. But when on your behalf. It issued a refund, plus
it didn’t work, Groupon should have re- a $25 credit to make up for your in-
funded your purchase. convenience. 

TSA PreCheck is a trusted traveler Get help with any consumer prob-
program that lets you get screened fast- lem by contacting Christopher Elliott
er (shorter lines, no full-body scans). It at http://www.elliott.org/help

32 Vero Beach 32963 / April 29, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT BOOKS

When Andy Grundberg wanted to take a photog- HOW PHOTOGRAPHY often seemed inseparable from the experience of
raphy course at Cornell University in the 1960s, he BECAME CONTEMPORARY ART pictures. Susan Sontag and Rolland Barthes took
had to go to its agriculture school. It wasn’t long, photography seriously as art, artifact and cultural
however, before artists everywhere were exploring INSIDE AN ARTISTIC REVOLUTION symptom, while others argued that in contempo-
photography as a part of their creative practice, rary culture there was no escaping a reality already
and by the 1980s, the medium was at the center FROM POP TO THE DIGITAL AGE infused with images. Indeed, thanks to the insight-
of contemporary art and the “aesthetic driver” of BY ANDY GRUNDBERG | 286 PP. $40 ful critic Douglas Crimp, the word “pictures” – also
the most exciting work to be found in galleries and REVIEW BY MICHAEL S. ROTH, THE WASHINGTON POST the title of the 1977 exhibition he organized – came
studios. It was during this period that Grundberg to be loaded with significance, pointing to how
came of age in New York – first as a camera geek tic pluralism, and Grundberg astutely conveys the artists disdain depictive purity in favor of decon-
and technical writer, and then as a freelancer on heady atmosphere of a New York affordable enough structive reframing and quotation.
his way to becoming a photography critic for the to be a home for experimenting artists and galler-
New York Times. His aptly titled “How Photogra- ists. It was also a time of poverty and crime, he notes, By the 1980s, Cindy Sherman’s mercurial prac-
phy Became Contemporary Art: Inside an Artistic bringing to mind Jacob Burkhardt’s thesis that the tice had made her a paragon of the postmodern.
Revolution From Pop to the Digital Age” is a per- arts flowered in the Italian Renaissance because This artist pictured herself in so many conven-
sonal, critical reflection. politics was such a cruel mess. Grundberg treks up tional (and then shocking) guises, it seemed im-
to Buffalo and Rochester to see shows, meet pho- possible to tell where the real ended and the image
Of course, photographers and artists recog- tographers and swim the happily uncharted waters began. Sherman was always a step ahead of her
nized the aesthetic merits of photography before of what came to be called postmodernism – waters critics and audience, “disappearing into the myri-
the 1970s. Alfred Stieglitz began exhibiting pho- riled by the conceptual/affective influence of the ad of identities available to her,” Grundberg writes,
tographs in New York in the early 1900s as part of California tricksters William Wegman and especially “in quintessential Postmodern fashion.”
his project of introducing modernism to America. John Baldessari.
Out West, Ansel Adams invested in the purity of The ’80s saw the rise of “new documentarians,”
the photographic image as he used his camera to Conceptual art was key to the shift in photog- and the book introduces readers to German artists
capture landscapes in ways unique to the medium. raphy’s artistic status, and the discourse about art who sought a cool objectivity, as well as African-
In the aftermath of World War II, however, painting American artists who used narrative to convey
and sculpture were paramount, and artists’ efforts political meaning. Grundberg is especially inter-
to express the inner world rather than depict the ested in Nan Goldin’s “Ballad of Sexual Depen-
outer one left little room for the mechanical work dency,” which he says is to the 1980s what Robert
of cameras. When Grundberg arrived in New York Frank’s “The Americans” is to the 1950s. Goldin
in 1971, that had begun to change. Andy Warhol documented her life as a downtown artist with “an
was famous by then; artists like Robert Rauschen- obsessive attention” to “nearly all permutations
berg had been using photo-based techniques in of human interaction.” The sad message he finds
mixed-media work for some time; the Museum of in her work is that personal intimacy is not a cure
Modern Art’s 1972 posthumous retrospective of Di- for social isolation, but the joyful “performances” of
anne Arbus was a landmark event. these pictures through slide shows in clubs at least
mitigated the loneliness documented.
And something new was happening with photog- Grundberg takes readers through the culture
raphy and the avant-garde. Earth and performance wars of the 1990s – from the appropriation of por-
art required documentation so that audiences nography in Robert Mapplethorpe’s work to the
would know about, say, Robert Smithson’s “Spiral debates about originality and commercialism that
Jetty” or Adrian Piper’s latest provocative interven- have peppered photographic practice over the last
tion as the Mythic Being. Grundberg shows, how- 20 years. He notes that we have come to accept that
ever, that artists like his friend Gordon Matta-Clark cameras refashion the world rather than just pres-
were becoming increasingly interested in the image ent a slice of it for our consideration, though I think
of their performances or interventions in the land- he may underestimate how strong the longing is
scape. Photography was no longer just a tool to let for the truth of an image – how deep the desire for
others know about an artist’s creation; it had its own depiction goes. We know that images alter, but that
properties that were inseparable from the artist’s doesn’t mean we are satisfied by mere alteration.
creative work. Grundberg is adept at showing this The maturation of Grundberg as a renowned crit-
development through personal reactions: in partic- ic coincides with the maturation of photography as
ular, his realization that this “feeling of being at sea an art form and its conquest of the art market. With
with my own experience” was “an infallible indica- this fine book, he has given us a personal yet bal-
tor that one may be experiencing real art.” anced account of how pictures define some of us
and how we define some of them. 
The ’70s came to be known as a decade of artis-

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / April 29, 2021 33

INSIGHT BRIDGE

USE YOUR ASSETS TO HELP PARTNER WEST NORTH EAST
— QJ74 8652
By Phillip Alder - Bridge Columnist 10 9 6 2 Q83 AKJ
10 9 6 2 Q83 754
Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton, a 19th-century English author who coined the phrases “the K Q 10 8 7 J43 952
great unwashed,” “pursuit of the almighty dollar,” “the pen is mightier than the sword,”
and the well-known opening line “It was a dark and stormy night,” said, “In science, SOUTH
read, by preference, the newest works; in literature, the oldest. The classic literature is A K 10 9 3
always modern.” 754
AKJ
In bridge, if you cannot make an encouraging signal or discard to tell partner which A6
suit to lead, try to help him with a suit-preference play. However, I will admit that this
is advanced defense, not made any easier by requiring both you and your partner Dealer: South; Vulnerable: North-South
to watch all of the cards like a pair of hawks. But if you do, suddenly you will be
defeating contracts that were making before. The Bidding:

This deal highlights two ways to achieve the desired end. SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST OPENING
1 Spades Pass 2 Spades Pass
Against four spades, West leads the club king: three, two, ace. What happens after 4 Spades Pass Pass Pass LEAD:
that? K Clubs

South would have done well to rebid three no-trump. North, despite four-card
support, would surely have passed with such a soft hand, and that contract would
have made easily.

Suppose declarer draws trumps immediately. East should follow eight-six-five-two,
always playing his highest spade to show interest in hearts, the higher-ranking of the
two red suits. Then, when South plays his second club toward dummy’s jack, West
goes in with the queen, and East should drop the nine. The higher remaining club
again signals for hearts. With luck, partner is watching.

South does better to return his club six at trick two. Again, East must drop the nine.

34 Vero Beach 32963 / April 29, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT GAMES

SOLUTIONS TO PREVIOUS ISSUE (APRIL 22) ON PAGE 64

The Telegraph ACROSS DOWN
1 Joint (5) 1 Composed (7)
4 Ruled (7) 2 Lacking sense (5)
8 -- Gershwin, lyricist (3) 3 -- Twitchit, cat (7)
9 Inlet (3) 4 Tempo (6)
10 Oath (5) 5 Sustain (5)
11 Give medical care (5) 6 And not (3)
12 US university (7) 7 Fear (5)
15 Song of praise (4) 13 Stuart queen (4)
17 Bahamas capital (6) 14 Tree (3)
19 Male relative (6) 16 Circular tent (4)
22 Lively dance (4) 18 Male descendant (3)
24 Card game (7) 20 Stretchy (7)
26 Monastery head (5) 21 Onlooker (7)
28 Concur (5) 23 Crude, off-colour (6)
30 Small child (3) 24 Map (5)
31 Untruth (3) 25 Period of weather(5)
32 Completely (7) 27 Style of curry (5)
33 Film extracts (5) 29 Furrow (3)

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.

You Can Always Spot The Student It’s Going To Be A
Who Spent Their Summer With Working Summer

Mathnasium But Let Us
Still Make It Fun

Mathnasium of Vero Beach The Telegraph

772-222-MATH (6284)
[email protected]

2057 Indian River Blvd

(behind California Closets)

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / April 29, 2021 35

INSIGHT GAMES

ACROSS 100 One of the less popular 50 Caine film, The Washington Post
1 Goldfinger’s Frobe Beanie Babies? Too Late ___
5 Famous Friend 51 Hacked THE LESSER-KNOWN BEANIE BABIES By Merl Reagle
9 Buddy 108 Fantastic 52 Actor Jannings
12 Visitor from Melmac 110 Through 53 Resinous tree
15 ___ for (exquisite) 111 Field cover 54 Wyo. neighbor
16 “Sandwich” in the cookie 112 Triangular sail 55 Random House founder
113 One of the less popular 56 Confused
aisle 57 Area meas.
17 Lutelike instrument Beanie Babies? 62 Purse feature
19 Roadblock 117 “Emergency!” 63 Rise
20 One of the less popular 118 Noted Burmese 65 Plot of land
119 Conservatory subj. 66 Fishing floats
Beanie Babies? 120 Sasha or Sacha Baron 67 The Y, for one
22 Make ___ 121 One of the less popular 70 Ex-NYC mayor
(emulate Loman) 71 Christmas
23 Trait transmitter Beanie Babies? 72 This, to André
24 Pluralized y 124 Shapiro of NPR 73 Mel of football or Piet of
25 See 64 Across 125 With Gay, a plane
26 One of the less popular 126 Scratches (out) math
127 Hammerin’ Hank hit 76 Recede
Beanie Babies? 128 Greek letter 81 Temporary suspension
29 Bravo starter 129 Dine 82 What ht. is to alt.
30 Bear abodes 130 Santa’s checking it twice 84 Rabbit’s tail
32 Dread 131 Erwin et al. 85 Zero
33 Used an old phone 86 Algia opener
35 One of the less popular DOWN 87 Alien costar
1 Leaves home 88 Food of the gods
Beanie Babies? 2 Gorey or Teller: abbr. 89 RCA truckload
40 Lulu 3 Saudi capital 90 Actor Romano
41 Movie terrier 4 Big name in tea 91 Grumpy Grant
42 Santa ___ 5 Ligeia author 95 Name of many a Catholic
43 Buckeyes’ sch. 6 Adds wrong, e.g.
45 Pub drink 7 Hud costar church
46 One of the less popular 8 Contact 96 Poet Wylie
9 Nightclub 97 Rid of listening devices
Beanie Babies? 10 D-Day beachhead 99 Above, to poets
55 Some sweaters 11 Bundled, as hay 101 “Oh, you’re ___
58 It means 1/2 12 King of Jordan, 1946-51 at all!”
59 Flamenco shout 13 Actor Frank 102 Oat genus
60 Abbr. on a lawyer’s card 14 Monk’s title 103 Cribbage marker
61 Till bill 15 Possessive pronoun 104 Launch
62 Betsy’s forte 17 Doctor’s order 105 No problem
64 Thieves’ thwarter 18 Left-over 106 Wedding promises
68 Ring cop 20 Around, date-wise 107 Result
69 One of the less popular 21 Suggestion 109 Critic Jeffrey
27 Ran into 114 Holier-than-___
Beanie Babies? 28 Love Story composer 115 Golfer Isao
74 Actress Courteney 116 Low digits?
75 Destiny Francis 119 Wild West?
77 Saw the sights 31 Cool place, perhaps 122 L.A. time zone
78 Golf prop 34 Food coloring 123 Down Under bird
79 Diamond stat 36 Waist wear
80 Prelude to relief 37 Comes crashing down
83 Benny Goodman’s instr. 38 Salary
84 Minx’s quality 39 “___ said!”
87 One of the less popular (Mom’s retort)
44 Sellout sign
Beanie Babies? 47 Treatment regulators: abbr.
91 Actor Herbert 48 Lens-cleaner brand
92 Ltr. container 49 Build
93 Summer mo.
94 Not new
98 “Hot diggity”

The Telegraph

36 Vero Beach 32963 / April 29, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT BACK PAGE

Grandpa was a miser, and Grandma was just miserable

BY CAROLYN HAX I help her get over being mad so she can mourn my atmosphere from her fur-
Washington Post nace. But: Deposit a car pay-
grandfather, who wasn’t really a bad guy? ment’s worth monthly into a
Dear Carolyn: My grandfather separate account. If Grandma
died and my grandmother was re- –Grandkid rage-spends herself to bank-
ally broken up at first, but some- ruptcy, pay her back from the
thing came to light that changed Grandkid: Wait a minute. No, do not “help her get account in monthly install-
her feelings. After my grandfather over being mad.” He took her family from her, pri- ments. If her money outlives
retired, he insisted they live really oritizing his fear. That’s flat-out awful, even before her, then enjoy your nest egg
frugally. They ate mainly beans and rice, canned veg- the shivering. It is not your responsibility and, more in her honor.
etables – so my parents treated them to some meat important, not your place to negate her rage. She
when they could or a dinner out. Also, the house was earned it, he deserves it. Also, one of you can help
always cold in the winter, so my mom made them her ensure she has money for
quilts and bought my grandmom a space heater, If you want to help her, then try, “Amen, sister, I life and isn’t at risk of torch-
which my grandfather let her run a couple of hours am so sorry he did that to you. Can I help you cook ing it all.
a day. They couldn’t visit her sisters and brother be- that shrimp?”
cause it was too expensive, which really bothered my In time, if granted her rage,
grandmom; she even missed their funerals. Take the car, too. She wants to use her agency and your grandmother may well
After my grandfather died we found out they were her money, and better it goes to you than into the burn off the anger and come around to a more nu-
worth over $1 million. My grandmom was so hurt anced opinion of your grandfather – including sad-
and angry to realize she had been essentially living in ness for his also depriving himself.
poverty, taking from her daughter’s family, when they But the key is not trying to tell her how she
didn’t have to. I don’t think my grandfather was be- “should” feel.
ing mean, just scared of running out of money, but my
grandmom now hates the memory of him and says Readers’ thoughts:
she’s glad he died.  Accept the car on one condition – that the two
This has my mom so torn up. My grandmom is also of you do a road trip. Does she want to go back to a
spending money pretty wildly – her house is like a school reunion or see the leaves change? That can be
sauna and she has steak and shrimp all the time and your thanks to Grandma.
wants to buy me a car.  In retirement terms, $1 million is about $40,000
First, is it OK if I take the car, and second, how can a year in sustainable income, before taxes. A certi-
fied financial planner can set up a spending plan be-
fore she’s broke for real. 

ATHENA SOCIETY
SELECTS SHEELER PAINTING

FOR VERO MUSEUM





40 Vero Beach 32963 / April 29, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

ARTS & THEATRE

ATHENA SOCIETY SELECTS

SHEELER PAINTING FOR VERO MUSEUM

BY ELLEN FISCHER | COLUMNIST The artwork to be purchased is se-
lected by secret ballot and announced
The year’s purchase by the Athena at the annual Athena Society Dinner.
Society, a special membership group This year’s dinner was especially hap-
of the Vero Beach Museum of Art, has py, because members were once again
been made. able to meet following its cancellation
last year due to the pandemic.
At the annual Athena Society Din-
ner last Friday, the vote
went to American artist
Charles Sheeler’s tem-
pera and ink on paper
painting, “Hydro Elec-
tric Power, Hoover Dam”
of 1950. The painting
was on offer from Mer-
edith Ward Fine Art of
New York City, a gallery
specializing in 19th cen-
tury and 20th century
American art.

Membership in the
Athena Society is $5,000
per year, with monies
pooled to purchase art-
works for the museum’s
collection. The funds have
exceeded over $400,000
per annum over the past
few years, and usually all
or most of those funds are
spent on one of the three
to five artworks selected
for the society’s delib-
eration by the museum’s
director, curator and col-
lections committee from
retail galleries “up north.”

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / April 29, 2021 41

ARTS & THEATRE

The Athena Society is an important, that would otherwise be out of reach
but not sole resource for museum ac- for the average small museum. In the
quisitions, thanks to private endow- VBMA’s fiscal year 2019-2020, mem-
ments that fund VBMA art purchases, bership dues from the society added
as well as private donations of art. up to over half a million dollars.

Although the society was not able to Every year, society members can
choose an artwork for the VBMA last choose to spend part or all of its funds
year, the permanent collection did on an annual art purchase. If, for
grow in 2020 with a John Marin wa- some reason, funds are left over from
tercolor landscape gifted by Graeme an art purchase or if no purchase is
and Claudia Bell, and an oil portrait made, the remaining money rolls into
by Henry Salem Hubbell gifted by the following year’s membership in-
Elizabeth Phillips Marshall. come. With no expenditure made last
year, the Athena Society had a healthy
The Athena Society, whose mem- purchase fund.
bership currently stands at 88, can
afford to give the museum artworks CONTINUED ON PAGE 42

PHOTOS BY KAILA JONES

42 Vero Beach 32963 / April 29, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

ARTS & THEATRE

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 41 the artworks under consideration by
the Athena Society are generally hung
The cramp that the pandemic put together in the main hall, this year
into everybody’s style also changed the museum staff decided to hang
the way the artworks for the society’s only the tapestries in the hall. Each
consideration were displayed this is 9.5 feet high and over 6 feet wide.
year. The half-dozen pieces that comprise
one selection would have made the
Senior curator Anke Van Wagen- other two selections, a human-scale
berg says that in past years, the art figural sculpture and a 14.5-inch-
offerings for the Athena Society have square painting, appear insignificant
been on display to Athena Society by comparison.
members and the public alike, for
about a week prior to the society’s “The other two choices are in the
dinner. That is because when galler- Schumann Gallery,” she says.
ies temporarily loan the artworks to
the VBMA, they are, for that duration, Concerning Smith’s tapestry set,
off-market to other would-be buyers. Van Wagenberg says that people had
a lot of questions about how they were
This year, however, the artworks made.
were installed for an additional two
weeks before the selection. (By the She explains that the designs for
time this article is published, the un- the tapestries were created by Smith
purchased artworks will have gone at the same size as the completed
back to their lenders.) tapestries. In the tapestry trade these
large-scale, preliminary artworks
Standing in front of six large tapes- are called “cartoons.” Smith created
tries designed by American artist Kiki them, says Van Wagenberg, as col-
Smith, Van Wagenberg explains that lages on paper composed not only of
the grouping counted as one choice new art materials, but also of draw-
for this year’s selection. Each tap- ings, paintings and prints by Smith
estry is from an edition of 10 issued that she “repurposed” for her tapestry
by Magnolia Editions, a California- cartoons.
based publisher of multiples on pa-
per as well as tapestry editions. These The cartoons were photographed at
tapestries came from Krakow Witkin Magnolia Editions in Oakland, Cali-
Gallery in Boston. fornia, printed to scale, and then sent
back to the artist for her further cre-
Van Wagenberg says that while all

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / April 29, 2021 43

ARTS & THEATRE

ative work. When Smith decided that of the mighty structure. was the end of Precisionism’s popu- Charles Sheeler, 1948.
her designs were ready to be trans- But for the small figure of a work- larity as an art movement, but not the
lated into tapestries, the completed end of Sheeler’s active art career, as demonstrates. Sheeler died 15 years
cartoons were sent to a Belgian mill man standing between the huge in- “Hydro Electric Power, Hoover Dam,” after that painting’s creation, in 1965.
where a specialized electronic, com- sulators of a nearby structure, you
puterized Jacquard machine scanned might be fooled for a second into Perhaps his greatest achievement
them and created digital matrixes thinking the painting was a hard- was embracing photography and
that directed the machine’s loom to edged abstraction. Its color palette painting as co-equals in his vision of
reproduce them as tapestries. is monochromatic in the limning of a modern art for America. The Athe-
the plant and its structures; the sky, nians chose wisely this year. 
Born in 1954, Smith is the daughter however, is painted in three distinct
of American sculptor Tony Smith. Her shades of blue: a powdery light ultra-
fascination with depicting the hu- marine, a glowing aqua and a rich
man form began in the 1980s, with cobalt. Each color fits neatly into its
the deaths of her father of a heart at- own precinct, as outlined by the hu-
tack at age 67, and eight years later man structures that divvy up that
her younger sister, of AIDS. In that improbable sky.
decade, Smith began casting human
body parts as independent sculptural Born in 1883, Sheeler was both a
works. She also began exploring the photographer and a painter. He ex-
symbolism of fairy tales, Bible stories hibited six paintings in the 1913 Ar-
and accounts of Catholic saints. She mory Show in New York City, and
became interested in transmogrifi- made his living taking architectural
cation of the body through magical photos for paying customers.
curses or religious ecstasy, as well as
by the body’s normal, mammalian He also took photos strictly for art’s
functions. sake. Sheeler used the medium of
photography as an artmaking means
The two most interesting tapes- in and of itself, as well as inspiration
tries of the group portray blond, for his paintings. An observation long
human females in settings that in- ascribed to Sheeler goes, “Photogra-
cluded elements of nature: trees, phy is nature seen from the eyes out-
woodland plants and wild animals. ward; painting from the eyes inward.”
In one of these, a nude woman stands
on the lower branch of a tree whose By 1920, when he showed a collec-
trunk turns into a giant black ser- tion of his photo prints and paintings
pent. The scene recalls Eve, or per- at the de Zayas Modern Gallery in New
haps Eve’s apocryphal, headstrong York, he was hailed as the leader of a
predecessor Lilith, whom Smith has then brand-new style that came to be
also portrayed in a bronze sculpture, known as “Precisionism” for its sim-
versions of which are owned by New plified, crystalline interpretation of
York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art cityscapes and industrial buildings.
and the San Francisco Museum of
Modern Art. In 1939, Sheeler was honored by a
major retrospective of his paintings,
Leaving Smith’s work, Van Wagen- drawings and photographs at the Mu-
berg leads the way into the Schumann seum of Modern Art in New York. It
Gallery to view the other two offerings.

Near the gallery’s entrance is a
sculpture made of hundreds of small
stainless-steel bars welded together
in an openwork, human-shaped con-
figuration. Its there-but-not-quite-
there presence in the gallery suggests
a Star Trek humanoid being beamed
from one place to another.

Titled “Scaffold XVI,” the artwork
was created by the 70-year-old Brit-
ish sculptor Antony Gormley. Of-
fered by the Sean Kelly Gallery of New
York City, the sculpture is slight, but
the artist’s reputation is outsized.
The 1994 winner of the Turner prize,
Gormley was made a Royal Academi-
cian in 2003 and knighted Officer of
the British Empire in 2014.

Charles Sheeler’s “Hydro-Electric
Power, Hoover Dam” of 1950 is itself
a powerhouse of a painting, despite
its small size. It is an abstract “land-
scape” of electrical towers that carry
power from the dam, seen in the dis-
tant center of the painting, through
the rocky terrain on the Arizona side

44 Vero Beach 32963 / April 29, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

ARTS & THEATRE

COMING UP! Have a wild(life) time on ELC’s Pontoon Cruise

BY PAM HARBAUGH you are encouraged to bring your own cludes a boat show and sale, a fishing Market and Treasure Coast Seafood
Correspondent binoculars. To get a ticket, it’s advised show, seminars and merchants offer- Festival runs 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday
to go online at DiscoverELC.org or call ing a whole host of items for boating and Sunday at the Indian River Fair-
1 A jaunt to the Environmental 772-589-5050, ext. 114. By the way, the and fishing. The first 5,000 attendees grounds, 7955 58th Ave., Vero Beach.
Learning Center this weekend ELC is looking for artists to paint mu- get a free goody bag with coupons, Admission is $7 general and free for
rals on eight wooden picnic tables near magazines, samples and more. The children 12 years and younger. For
should be a sweet way to welcome the its lagoon. The area is a peaceful tree- free fishing seminars include: pom- more information, visit FlNautical-
covered spot that is a favorite for guests pano surf fishing 10 a.m. Saturday; FleaMarket.com or call 954-205-7813.
spring. The ELC, founded in 1988 by to relax. The ELC hopes to get artists in surf fishing techniques and how to
the Vero Beach area to volunteer their catch fish, 11:30 a.m. Saturday; shark
members of the Pelican Island Audu- time and talent to paint the murals. If fishing tips and tricks, rules and regu-
the project becomes popular enough lations 1 p.m. Saturday; and offshore
bon Society, has carved out 65 acres with area artists, the ELC might ex- fishing for ladies, 2:30 p.m. Saturday.
pand the project to include a set of 20 The Treasure Coast Seafood Festival
of unspoiled land on the Indian River picnic tables used in the educational offers a huge range of mouth-watering 3 The North Indian River County
classes at the Discovery Station. Artists menu items like fried fish (snapper, Library is holding its 7th Annu-
lagoon Island where you’ll discover may be eligible for up to $100 in reim- shrimp and whiting), conch salad, red
bursement for materials and labor. To snapper stick, stone crabs, oysters,
educational programs and opportuni- apply for the ELC art project, call 772- Maine lobsters and Florida lobsters, al Teen Poetry Contest in this Friday
589-5050 or email [email protected]. fritters, shrimp scampi over rice,
ties for EcoAdventures and just an all- You can also apply online. The Envi- shrimp cocktail, crab fries, Spanish afternoon, April 30. The event com-
ronmental Learning Center is at 255 fish tacos, surf ’n turf burger, grilled
around great way to really enjoy what’s Live Oak Drive, Vero Beach. shrimp remoulade, shrimp po boy … memorates April as National Poetry
hungry yet? Or maybe you’re thirsty.
in your own backyard. On Friday, April No problem, there will also be a beer Month. Organizers hope participants
garden at the event. Visitors can also
30, you can board one of the ELC’s pon- stroll through tents of arts and crafts will write a poem to express what’s in
and generally get their fill o’ fish. The
toon boats to take a relaxing ride on its 12th Annual Indian River Marine Flea their heart or on their mind. Certainly,

Twilight Pontoon Cruise. You’ll watch with the year we’ve all just had, there’s

the beautiful Florida sky deepen with bound to be quite a lot to say. Poems

rich colors into the evening while a will be judged on creativity and style.

naturalist guide helps you observe the Content must be suitable for all ages.

wildlife which make those silky sea- Four poems will be chosen for first and

grass beds their home. The Pontoon third place. There will also be an hon-

Tours begin 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. The cost orable mention. The poems will be on

is $35 adults, $15 children and $12 for 2 The 12th Annual Indian River display in the library through May 15.
Marine Flea Market and Trea-
infants under 2 years of age. There are The event is free and will run 3:16 p.m.

discounts for ELC members. The group sure Coast Seafood Festival runs this to 4:16 p.m. Friday at the North County

tours are limited to eight people per weekend, May 1-2, at the Indian River Library, 1001 Sebastian Blvd., Sebas-

tour. Life jackets will be provided. But County Fairgrounds. The event in- tian. Call 772-400-6360. 

MANY EFFECTIVE TREATMENTS
AVAILABLE FOR

SEASONAL ALLERGIES

46 Vero Beach 32963 / April 29, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

HEALTH

Many effective treatments available for seasonal allergies

BY KERRY FIRTH Dr. Michael Wein.
Correspondent
PHOTOS: KAILA JONES
Spring is in the air – literally.
But along with blue skies, balmy fever,” said Dr. Wein. pets, chemicals or mold.”
temperatures and budding flowers “If you have a fever along with the Mold is a tricky one because it’s
come the dreaded itchy noses and
eyes associated with seasonal aller- sneezing, itchy eyes and nose, nasal present all year long and grows both
gies. discharge and scratchy throat, it’s a indoors and outdoors. Dead leaves
pretty good sign that something other and farm areas are common sources
More than 60 million people in than allergy is the cause. The confus- for molds, as well as indoor plants, old
the United States suffer from aller- ing aspect is that allergy symptoms are books, bathrooms and damp areas.
gies – hypersensitive reactions of the same as those of a common cold – Even foods contain molds.
the immune system to substances and they can increase the frequency of
like mold and pollen. This over- infections. But if the problem is persis- Some allergies can affect the skin as
reaction can cause symptoms like tent, lasting for weeks or months, then well the eyes and nose. Your skin may
runny nose, nasal congestion, it’s most likely an allergy and not a rou- become scaly, bumpy, itchy or other-
itchy, watery eyes, asthma and even tine cold [or other infection]. wise irritated, symptoms that can be
gastrointestinal or skin disorders. caused by a preservative in your soap,
Nasal allergy, known as allergic “If nasal symptoms get worse in the shampoo, laundry detergent or cos-
rhinitis, affects up to 30 percent of spring or fall when the pollen counts metic.
all adults. are higher, it’s most likely an allergy,”
he continued. “If they happen all the So, what do you do if you are experi-
Nasal allergy symptoms can be time, you might have a year-round al- encing any of these symptoms?
hard to distinguish from the symp- lergy due to indoor allergens like dust,
toms of colds, or even COVID-19, The best bet is to consult with a
but Dr. Michael Wein, a board- board-certified allergy doctor to
certified allergy doctor on staff at
Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hos-
pital, offers some guidance: “Gen-
erally, allergy does not result in a

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Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / April 29, 2021 47

HEALTH

evaluate your problem and find a • Change your air filter regu- woolen blankets and woolen Johns Hopkins. He has served as
solution. In addition to gathering a
detailed history and completing a larly in heating and air-con- clothing to cotton or synthet- president of the Florida Allergy So-
thorough examination of the ears,
nose, throat, head and skin, an al- ditioning systems and vacu- ic materials. ciety and was a medical school fac-
lergist will offer advice on proper
environmental control. um cleaners, or install an air • Enclose mattresses, box ulty member at Florida State Uni-

To test for allergies, small amounts purifier. springs and pillows in a plas- versity for over a decade.
of suspected allergens are placed on
the skin of the arms, without the • Keep windows and doors tic barrier.
use of needles. The procedure lasts
about 15-20 minutes. For some pa- closed during heavy pollen • Use over-the-counter antihis- Dr. Michael Wein is board certified
tients, patch testing is performed
with paper tape to apply allergen seasons. tamines and decongestants by the American Board of Allergy and
patches to the back to help with skin
sensitivity and rashes (dermatitis). • Wipe down indoor-outdoor as needed and tolerated. a Fellow of the American Academy of

“Once we isolate the allergy, there animals as they return inside • Sleep with the head of the bed Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. A
is an endless range of treatments
and allergy medications beginning to remove pollen on their fur. tilted upward. Elevating helps resident of Vero Beach for nearly 30
with simple avoidance and includ-
ing many recent interventions such • Use daily saline nasal rinses relieve nasal congestion. years, Dr. Wein is on staff at Cleve-
as monoclonal antibodies and de-
sensitization,” Dr. Wein said. to cleanse your nose and si- land Clinic Indian River Hospital

“In many cases, over-the-counter nuses of allergens. Dr. Wein graduated magna cum and Cleveland Clinic Martin Health.
and prescription medications such
as antihistamines, decongestants, • Rid your home of sources of laude from Brown University and He has offices in Vero Beach and
inhaled nasal steroids, asthma in-
halers, anti-leukotrienes and other mildew. has advanced training in Allergy, Port St. Lucie and can be reached at
anti-inflammatory medicines will
alleviate the symptoms. • Change feather pillows, Asthma and Immunology from 772-299-7299. 

“If that approach doesn’t work, al-
lergy injections, which are a form of
immunotherapy, are proven to be
very effective. This FDA-approved
treatment, also known as allergy
desensitization, may reduce and, in
some cases, even completely remove
allergy symptoms for many years
after the treatment is completed.
Symptom control is most successful
when multiple approaches are used
simultaneously.”

Pets have also been blamed for
allergies. There is a myth that al-
lergies are triggered by animal hair,
but in reality, they are caused by a
protein found in pet skin and saliva.
Some dogs are supposedly hypoal-
lergenic, but that is also a myth.

No dog is 100-percent hypoaller-
genic, but there seems to be fewer
problems with breeds with shorter
hair and less shedding. The good
news for pet lovers is that several
studies provide evidence that expo-
sure to cats and dogs actually lowers
the risk of developing allergic sensiti-
zation in children and young adults.

Left untreated allergies can de-
velop into asthma. “In the United
States, asthma affects only an esti-
mated 8 percent of the population,”
Dr. Wein said. “But nearly 90 percent
of children and 50 percent of adults
with asthma have allergy as the un-
derlying cause.”

Dr. Wein offers a number of
proactive steps to reduce your
exposure to common allergens:

• Wear a pollen mask when mow-
ing the grass or cleaning house.

48 Vero Beach 32963 / April 29, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

HEALTH

Gain pain: Americans packed on the pounds during pandemic

BY LINDA SEARING put on more weight than women (37 vs. looked at changes in such areas as age of 1.5 pounds a month.
The Washington Post 22 pounds, on average), and younger sleep and alcohol consumption. It Those whose weight gain makes
adults have gained more than older peo- noted that adults’ physical health may
Since the pandemic began, about ple (millennials averaging 41 pounds vs. be declining because of problems cop- them overweight or obese face in-
42 percent of U.S. adults have gained baby boomers at 16 pounds). ing with the stresses of the pandemic: creased risk for various long-term
weight – 29 pounds, on average, ac- grief, trauma, isolation and a change in health problems, including high blood
cording to the American Psychological Not everyone has gained, however. daily habits. pressure, diabetes, heart disease,
Association’s latest “Stress in America” Some 18 percent reported unwanted stroke and more. In addition, in a kind
report. weight loss (or weight loss more than In a similar vein, a small study of double whammy, the Centers for
intended). In this group, the average published in the journal JAMA Net- Disease Control and Prevention says
About half of the weight-gainers re- weight loss was 26 pounds, with half work Open found that after stay-at- that people who are overweight face a
ported adding more than 15 pounds; 10 losing at least 12 pounds. home orders were issued in spring higher risk of developing severe illness
percent, more than 50 pounds. Men have 2020, people tended to gain an aver- from the coronavirus. 
Besides weight, the APA survey

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / April 29, 2021 49

HEALTH

IT’S NOT JUST KIDS:
LEAD POISONING CAN
AFFECT ADULTS, TOO

BY FRED CICETTI
Columnist

Question: I know lead poisoning is stored in lead crystal or lead-glazed
a danger to children, but what effect pottery can become contaminated
does it have on adults? because lead can leach in from these
containers.
It’s true that children are more vul-
nerable to lead poisoning than adults HOBBIES. Refinishing furniture,
because lead is more easily absorbed pottery and making stained-glass ar-
by growing bodies. The tissue of chil- tifacts are hobbies that use lead.
dren also is more sensitive to lead’s
damaging effects. However, adults FOLK REMEDIES. There are po-
can suffer from lead exposure. tions that contain lead such as greta
(lead oxide) and azarcon (lead tetrox-
Lead can affect many parts of your ide) that have been used to treat intes-
body, but the primary victim is the tinal problems.
nervous system, which can be weak-
ened by exposure to this metal. CANNED FOOD. In 1995, the Unit-
ed States banned the use of lead sol-
Lead exposure can cause anemia, der for sealing food cans, but some
make you irritable, affect your mem- foods still are imported from other
ory and ability to concentrate, and it countries where lead solder may be
can increase blood pressure, particu- used.
larly in older people. Lead can also
lead to digestive problems and cata- COSMETICS. Kohl, a mixture used
racts. Exposure to high lead levels can in eye makeup, frequently has high
be fatal. levels of lead.

Symptoms of lead poisoning in Here are some steps you can take to
adults may include numbness in ex- prevent exposure to lead:
tremities, weak muscles, headache,
abdominal pain, loss of memory,  Clean up paint chips immedi-
mood disorders and abnormal sperm. ately.

Lead is a natural component of the  Clean floors, window frames,
earth’s crust. However, people have windowsills and other surfaces week-
spread lead throughout our environ- ly.
ment by burning fossil fuels, mining
and manufacturing. Two common  Wash hands often.
sources of lead in our environment  Clean or remove shoes before en-
were paint and gasoline; lead has tering your home to avoid tracking in
been banned from both of them. lead from soil.
 Repair damaged painted surfac-
The following are sources of lead es.
exposure:  Plant grass to cover soil with high
lead levels.
WATER. Plumbing can contain
lead, which you cannot see, smell or To remove lead hazards perma-
taste. You can have the water tested. nently, you must hire a certified lead-
abatement contractor. Contact the U.S.
PAINT. The federal government Department of Environmental Protec-
banned lead-based paint from hous- tion Agency to locate certified contrac-
ing in 1978. Many homes built before tors in your area. For more information
1978 have lead-based paint both in- go to: www.epa.gov/lead. 
side and outside. This kind of paint
can also be found on old toys and fur-
niture. Small children can be exposed
by eating lead-based paint chips or
chewing on objects painted with
lead-based paint.

SOIL. Lead from exterior paint, old
leaded gas or other sources can be ab-
sorbed by soil that you can track into
your home.

DUST. Household dust can contain
lead from old paint or soil brought in-
side.

CONTAINERS. Food or liquids

50 Vero Beach 32963 / April 29, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

HEALTH

Scary times: The best ways to handle a panic attack

BY ANGELA HAUPT year, Trott said, he has had at least
The Washington Post six full-blown panic attacks. “Every
day you hear about the virus on the
Chris Trott had just walked into news, it just gets to you,” he said.
his local grocery store when his
mind began racing. It was midday Panic attacks aren’t rare. At least
on a Sunday in February and the 11 percent of American adults ex-
store was crowded – too crowded perience a panic attack each year,
for his liking. Anxious thoughts and the National Institute of Men-
swirled in his head: How would he tal Health estimates that about 5
avoid walking into other shoppers’ percent of Americans will develop
paths? What if he got too close and panic disorder at some point in
breathed in someone else’s air? their lives.

Within minutes, “I was sweating Panic disorder is characterized
buckets, just profusely, soaking my by sudden and repeated intense
clothes,” Trott said. Then came the panic attacks accompanied by
shortness of breath. He could feel overwhelming worry about future
his heart pounding. “It was terrify- attacks and avoiding places or sit-
ing,” said Trott, 49, of Lansing, Ill., a uations where attacks have hap-
south suburb of Chicago. pened, according to the NIMH.

The uninitiated might assume There hasn’t been much research
that Trott’s sudden symptoms were examining the pandemic’s effect
related to a heart condition. But on panic attacks. But surveys have
Trott knew his heart was fine. He shown that Americans are experi-
was having a panic attack. encing elevated levels of stress and
anxiety, which, experts say, could
“I’ve had them off and on for contribute to panic attacks.
years,” Trott said. But they’ve be-
come more intense during the “Once the baseline levels of anxi-
coronavirus pandemic. In the past ety increase, if you think about
it like a roller coaster, you’re that