04/06/2017 ISSUE 14

Taxpayers to get no say in
new school budget. P10
Rock the Boat fundraiser

benefits Youth Sailing. P26
Wounded Vero bar owner had
been set for weekend wedding. P6

Heaton adds Hospital puts
star attorney to $100M tower
defense team plan on shelf

BY LISA ZAHNER BY MICHELLE GENZ
Staff Writer Staff Writer

A federal judge in West Palm A nighttime shot of the Emergency Room at the Indian River Medical Center. PHOTO BY GORDON RADFORD A preliminary proposal to
Beach last Wednesday agreed build a $100 million tower
to give Vero Beach Hotel and School District’s planner champions Common Core containing upgraded patient
Spa developer George Hea- rooms at Indian River Medi-
ton’s attorneys more time to BY KATHLEEN SLOAN members are anti-Common intendent Mark Rendell last cal Center has been put on
analyze evidence and pre- Staff Writer Core, and board member month hired Battelle for Kids, hold indefinitely, according to
pare a defense to nine felony Shawn Frost made elimina- a company known as a Com- sources – an apparent casualty
counts of defrauding and con- Common Core State Stan- tion of the standards one of his mon Core advocate, to author of the financial and leadership
spiring to defraud four banks dards are not popular with planks while running for office the School District’s five-year upheaval at the hospital and a
– charges carrying 30-year many in Indian River County. in 2014. strategic plan. newly mounted strategic look
prison sentences and millions At least two School Board at its fundamental ownership
in fines, if Heaton and his two Despite that, School Super- CONTINUED ON PAGE 7 structure.
co-defendants are convicted.
News of the shelving of the
Also last week, Heaton add- proposed hospital addition,
ed a third criminal defense at- which would have contained
torney to his team. Top-rated larger state-of-the-art patient
criminal attorney Bruce Zi- rooms, emerged during a pre-
met of Fort Lauderdale joins sentation a week ago by con-
two West Palm Beach-based sultants hired to study IRMC’s
attorneys, Jack Goldberger of future.
Atterbury Goldberger & Weiss,
P.A. and David Roth of Roth & Hospital CEO Jeff Susi had
hired an architect last year to
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
CONTINUED ON PAGE 9

Michael’s Table joins Pier collapse dumps
Orchid Island Brewery woman into lagoon
at Vero City Marina

BY STEPHANIE LABAFF BY SAMANTHA BAITA
Staff Writer Staff Writer

Michael's Table has re- Michael Lander. PHOTO BY GORDON RADFORD On Saturday afternoon, a
turned to the island, this woman who lives aboard her
time in partnership with boat at the Vero Beach City
the Orchid Island Brew- Marina and her dog were
ery, which opened almost dumped into the lagoon when

CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

Woman and dog saved after crumbling pier collapses. PHOTO BY GORDON RADFORD

April 6, 2017 Volume 10, Issue 14 Newsstand Price $1.00 Niña and Pinta
create yachts of
News 1-10 Faith 74 Pets 72 TO ADVERTISE CALL excitement. P32
Arts 37-42 Games 53-55 Real Estate 77-88 772-559-4187
Books 52 Health 57-62 St Ed’s 73
Dining 66 Insight 43-56 Style 63-65 FOR CIRCULATION
Editorial 50 People 11-36 Wine 67 CALL 772-226-7925

© 2017 Vero Beach 32963 Media LLC. All rights reserved.

2 Vero Beach 32963 / April 6, 2017 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Marina pier collapse Marina staff, fellow boaters and crew main anonymous for fear of retribution herself out. Fortunately there were
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 members from the two tall ships all from marina management said others neighbors nearby who dragged her to
came running to help. have fallen from crumbling docks, in- the main dock and hauled her to safe-
the concrete “finger pier” on which cluding one marina employee. ty, but not before she sustained a nasty
they were standing collapsed. The The “finger piers” are narrow con- gash on her arm.
woman suffered bruises on her arm in crete – and sometimes wood – struc- Vero Beach 32963 reported on dis-
the fall, but was able to make it out of tures extending out perpendicular to repair at the marina last March, but “The only docks I've seen in Florida
the water and onto the dock. Her dog the main docks, in-between the docked city officials dismissed the reports. in worse shape are in Tarpon Springs,”
was also rescued. boats, allowing boaters access to their one resident commented at the time.
vessels. About half the pier next to the At that time, several resident boaters
Another resident boater stated that slip where the woman's boat had been and frequent marina visitors pointed A year later, the docks don't appear
numerous people were present when docked was gone – sunk to the bottom out numerous cosmetic and structural to have improved. One resident point-
the incident occurred, including a of the lagoon, in about 7 feet off water. problems, including the slippery, run- ed out extensive cracks in the con-
large crowd of men, women and chil- There was nothing left to be seen but down condition of the docks. crete on the remaining finger piers,
dren who had come to tour the Co- a small broken chunk of concrete with some appearing to extend all the way
lumbus Foundation Nina and Pinta rusty re-bar embedded in it, hanging A source related an incident in through the concrete. “The only thing
replica ships docked at the marina. from the rotting pier post. which a resident boat owner slipped holding some of them up are these
on her dock, and tumbled into the wa- two strips of wood” that frame the
A resident boater who wished to re- ter next to her boat. With no ladder on concrete, the resident said
her stretch of dock, she couldn't pull
The boater who occupies the slip
next to the woman who fell on Satur-
day helped her move her boat to a slip
with a still-intact finger pier.

He pointed to the rusty re-bar stick-
ing out of the chunk of concrete on
the collapsed pier. “Mine will be next,”
he said. “That's old re-bar. And there
should be a platform and ladder next
to her boat. I've never been to a ma-
rina that didn't” have ladders easily
accessible to all slips.

Last year, Marina residents said they
were told a lack of funds was the main
reason their concerns hadn't been ad-
dressed. City Manager Jim O'Connor
said the Marina's tight budget pre-
cluded a lot of upgrading.

As an enterprise fund, the Marina is
expected to operate solely on its income,
and it is currently burdened by a $4.7
million loan taken out in 2007 to pur-
chase a dry-storage structure and docks
on 1.19 acres just south of the adjacent
Vero Beach Yacht Club. The Marina will
be making payments for 11 more years.

Despite the tight budget, Harbormas-
ter Tim Grabenbauer said he is trying to
get the docks fixed, negotiating with con-
tractors to repair or replace the collapsed
pier, along with another section that was
damaged by Hurricane Matthew.

He said he also is working to get a
grant from the Florida Inland Naviga-
tion District to upgrade the docks.

When the Columbus Foundation
ships visited in March 2015, the Ma-
rina did a bit of sprucing up to make
a good impression on the hundreds of
extra visitors. And there was certainly
some spit-and-polish applied for this
year's visit, as well. 

George Heaton

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Duncan, P.A. on Heaton’s legal team.
Zimet made national headlines in

2012 defending a Jacksonville woman
who used Florida’s stand your ground
law as a defense for shooting her hus-
band, but more pertinent to the Hea-
ton case, Zimet defended three people

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / April 6, 2017 3

NEWS

in the Daytona area who were even- but the principal name listed with the took money out of the loan proceeds. with her mailing address in Greenville.
tually convicted in a very complex State of Florida on the inactive Vero The other charges involve the sale Prosecutors also allege that Baggett
$10 million mortgage-fraud scheme Strategic Investments LLC is another
involving “straw buyers,” no-money- man’s name, referred to in court pa- of multiple units from Heaton to his entered at least two clients’ personal
down closings, falsified loan docu- perwork as “S.M.” longtime bookkeeper, Deborah Den- and financial information, and “pur-
ments and flipping properties. try Baggett, who now lives in Tennes- ported signatures” on loan applica-
Court papers describe the convo- see. Baggett purchased several units tions and other documents, without
Goldberger’s cases often cause him luted transactions, saying Heaton and via at least three different Limited Li- their knowledge.
to appear on local television news, coconspirators concealed incentives ability Corporations, and sold some of
as he’s one of the go-to lawyers that from Orion Bank to obtain a 30-year, them, but still owns several of the units Heaton Companies boasts a huge
South Florida billionaires like con- $2.8 million loan for a buyer, and also under various LLC company names portfolio of projects all over the United
victed sex offender Jeffrey Epstein call
when they get into hot water. Among CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
Roth’s many high-profile cases is one
that Vero readers might remember, NEW LISTING
involving two priests (one convicted
and the other pled guilty) charged in Exclusively John’s Island
2006 with misappropriating $8.7 mil-
lion in cash from donations to St. Vin- The lure of breathtaking ocean views. The appeal of luxurious appointments. All
cent Ferrer Catholic Church in Del- on the largest oceanfront lot in JI. Nestled on a cul-de-sac, privacy is paramount.
ray Beach. Roth also represented and The grand, double-height living room commands brilliant ocean views from this
served as media spokesman for for- luxurious 5BR retreat designed for indoor/outdoor living around the poolside
mer Congressman Mark Foley amid terrace with summer kitchen. Impressive features include 14,574± GSF, gourmet
his 2006 sex scandal. island kitchen, butler’s pantry, 1st floor master wing, library, wine bar, elevator, 2nd
level master suite and guest en suites with private balconies, and 4-car garage.
Heaton, his former bookkeeper and 692 Ocean Road : $12,500,000
the closing agent he used on suspect
condominium deals at the Ocean three championship golf courses : 17 har-tru courts : beach club : squash
Drive resort are accused of falsifying health & fitness center : pickleball : croquet : vertical equity membership
closing documents and engaging in a
scheme whereby Heaton paid buyers 772.231.0900 : Vero Beach, FL : JohnsIslandRealEstate.com
back hundreds of thousands of dol-
lars after closings took place, thereby
leading banks to believe that down
payments and other funds came from
buyers when they did not.

Court documents say the nine
transactions in question involved the
sale of 11 condo-hotel units between
2006 and 2009, as Heaton pre-sold
many of the 113 condo units at the
hotel during the massive remodel
and expansion of the old Doubletree
resort into the Vero Beach Hotel. Hea-
ton’s new hotel opened in 2008.

As owner of the hotel and the origi-
nal owner of most of the units, Heaton
– along with his co-defendants – is ac-
cused of profiting from these transac-
tions to the tune of more than $11 mil-
lion, which federal prosecutors want
paid back should they succeed in pro-
ducing a guilty verdict on all counts.
Heaton has entered a plea of not guilty
on all counts and asked for a jury trial.

Many of the charges center on a
transaction for four units – 206, 314,
407 and 414 – sold to a single buyer,
Vero Strategic Investments LLC, in
February 2009. The total reported
sale price for the four units was, ac-
cording to county property records,
$3,735,000. All four of those units were
taken back by Iberia (Orion) bank in
May 2010 as part of a “certificate for
title” arrangement, in lieu of foreclo-
sure, according to property records.

All of the units have since been re-
sold after the bank held onto them for
two to six years as the real estate mar-
ket recovered. The LLC traces back
to the home address of Heaton’s Live
Oak Title closing agent, Eric Granitur,
on Greytwig Road in Central Beach,

4 Vero Beach 32963 / April 6, 2017 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

George Heaton Table resembles a gastro-pub, with Chef Michael Lander and Orchid the brew house is now offering beer
food and beer prepared using locally Island Brewery owner Alden Bing. pairings that showcase the relation-
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3 grown, seasonal ingredients. ship between food and brew.
PHOTO BY GORDON RADFORD
States, from hotels and restaurants to “We started out with 'bar food' “Pairing is the crux of this relation-
housing communities. His Florida and as this project has evolved we've Chef Michael Lander and Bing met ship,” according to Bing. “One of the
ventures run the length of the state, been able to shift our focus more to- several years ago when Bing dined at ways people are learning more about
from Tallahassee to Sanibel Island to ward the front of the house,” explains Michael's Table at its former location craft beer is through food. Having
Islamorada in the Florida Keys, along brewery owner Alden Bing. “The on Ocean Drive, a few blocks from the the world's best citrus growing here
with the Old Oak Lane development national trend is moving toward lo- brewery. “Alden introduced himself – for a food or beer guru, that's like a
in Vero’s Central Beach on the site of cal and nutritious food for craft beer and offered me a growler of something holy grail in terms of ingredients. We
the former St. Edwards Lower School. drinkers. Folks are interested in Mi- he was home brewing at the time,” re- knew from the outset we had to rise
chael's approach to food and a part- calls Lander. to the level of the citrus with the beer
With Heaton’s extensive interests nership with him just rang true.” and the food in order to continue that
in other real estate ventures involv- “We always knew we were operat- legacy.”
ing buyers, sources close to the case ing on a similar wavelength. It was
say investigators are now looking at just a matter of time before we got The scale of the brewery enables
the way real estate transactions were into the same rhythm,” adds Bing. the partners to be very artistic. “We're
handled at Heaton’s current and re- having a lot of fun because we've got
cent development projects, to see if In addition to an a la carte menu, the autonomy to do what inspires us.
he or his network of associates bor- Michael did some pretty radical stuff
rowed from the pattern of buyer in- at Michael's Table that wasn't imme-
centives alleged on the Vero condo- diately received because it was so pro-
hotel sales.  gressive. We've done that here in the
brew house too,” explains Bing.
Michael’s Table
Lander, one of the founders of the
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Farmer/Chef Summit more than 10
years ago, spent 12 years as the ex-
three years ago in the Portales De ecutive chef at The Moorings Yacht &
Vero complex. Country Club before opening the orig-
inal Michael's Table in 2013. The res-
The brewery until recently offered taurant closed a year and a half later.
pub grub along with its artisanal
IPAs. The new iteration of Michael's Everything at the new incarnation
of Michael’s Table is produced on site,
to-order and fresh in a chef-driven,
open kitchen where you can sit at the

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / April 6, 2017 5

NEWS

Chef's Table and have a beer and chat. an appearance, as well as a salad of on the menu. “To have the mussels Looking ahead, Bing and Lander hope
“We offer a chef touch bar menu the moment made with fresh pro- cooked with that ale, reduced down to offer a lunch menu and, eventu-
duce from Osceola Organic Farm and and topped with butter. Then have ally, Sunday brunch. The tavern and
with high quality ingredients, an tomatoes Lander picked himself at that beer beside it. Things like that kitchen are open Tuesday through
evolving menu with nightly specials Crazy Hart Ranch. just go hand in hand,” says Lander. Saturday, often with live music. Both
and a three-course, prix fixe menu,” indoor and outdoor seating is avail-
says Lander. Sea scallops and bal- The PEI Mussels in Nuth'n Fancy With the change in growing sea- able. 
samic braised short ribs have made Brown Ale also is a popular item sons, the menu and brews will vary.

6 Vero Beach 32963 / April 6, 2017 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

MY Wounded bar owner was scheduled to wed this weekend
VERO

BY RAY MCNULTY The wedding, though, was postponed According to police, who described no information as to what ignited the
Staff Writer after Capak, 31, one of The Grove Bar's the shooting as an “attempted homi- initial confrontation, nor did they re-
owners, was shot outside the downtown cide,” Capak was shot during an "al- lease any details about the extent of
Andy Capak should be spending Sat- Vero Beach night spot shortly before 2 tercation" that began with a distur- Capak’s injuries.
urday night celebrating with his new a.m. Friday. bance inside the bar. Police provided
bride, Tiffani, at their wedding. However, several sources who
claimed to be familiar with the inci-
Instead, the 2003 St. Edward's School dent, speaking on the condition of an-
graduate and local pub owner will re- onymity, said Capak intervened when
main in an area hospital, recovering at least one of two or three men began
from multiple gunshot wounds while harassing women inside the bar. The
his friends gather at a beachside coffee, dispute became physical and moved
desert and wine bar to raise money to outside the establishment, where it
help pay his medical bills. escalated into a shooting.

"Now that it looks like he's doing At least four shots were fired, the sourc-
well and will be able to recover, we're es said, and Capak was shot twice in the
organizing a huge fundraiser at Grind torso and twice in the leg. He was still in
& Grape," said Ryan Wykoff, a lifelong the intensive care unit Monday night.
friend who launched a Go Fund Me
campaign for Capak on Sunday. Vero Beach Police Department
spokeswoman Anna Carden said
"We're already getting items to auc- Monday she could not confirm those
tion off," he added. "We'll have a place accounts. Bar employees and wit-
where you can throw money into a jar. nesses said they were told by police
And we'll have something set up to show to not talk to the news media.
people how to use the Go Fund Me site.
Carden said detectives had inter-
"We'll also have East Harbor, the viewed as many as 10 witnesses and
band that was supposed to play at An- were continuing to talk to bar employ-
dy's wedding reception." ees and patrons who were on the prem-

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / April 6, 2017 7

NEWS

ises at the time of the incident, but as pak's other friends tried to estimate fiancée and family because he's going to friends and how eager the community
of Monday night, no arrests had been the cost of his medical care. He said he need help with these bills and I wanted is to help," he continued. "Not only
made in connection to the shooting. was pleased with the early response to to get the ball rolling," Wykoff said, add- does he have a lot of friends, but he's
the campaign, which had raised more ing that he didn't know if Capak's fian- very well known around town – a re-
Vero Beach police urged anyone than $27,000 by Monday afternoon. cee, Tiffani Atteo, would attend Satur- spected businessman who was part of
with information to contact detec- day's fundraiser, which starts at 7 p.m. the downtown revival.
tives, while Treasure Coast Crimestop- The Go Fund Me page includes a pho-
pers, which allows tips to be anony- tograph of Capak in his hospital bed. "Judging by the response so far, it's "I wouldn't be surprised if we break
mously phoned in, was offering a evident how much Andy means to his $250,000." 
reward of up to $2,000. "I started this with the blessing of his
In fact, Battelle for Kids was integral intendent did not give the board a
"Now that there's a reward," Carden Common Core in instituting Common Core Standards copy of the district’s contract with Bat-
said, "we might have someone who in 30 states. telle or go over the framework he and
can help come forward." CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Battelle had developed for creating the
Ohio Representative Andy Thomp- plan that will guide the School District
In the meantime, Capak's friends He took the action without School son wrote December 2015, “One of the for the next half a decade.
were doing what they could to help – Board approval or revealing the com- architects of this [Common Core State
financially and emotionally. pany’s Common Core affiliations. Standards Initiative] was/is Bill Gates, Battelle personnel declined to say
who has funneled money to a multi- when asked if they had developed stra-
"I got a call at three in the morning and “This five-year plan is extremely im- tude of non-profits . . . Kids are merely tegic plans for other Florida districts –
was one of the first ones to get to the hos- portant to me, but as co-founder of ‘human capital’ according to Battelle they have not – and would not provide
pital," said Wykoff, whose mother and Florida Parents Against Common Core for Kids, an Ohio-based think tank that out-of-state examples of their work.
stepfather, Barbaralee and Rick Monday, and FreedomWorks’ national adviser received more than $25 million from
own Grind & Grape. "Eventually, as word on eliminating Common Core, I would Gates to help ‘train’ teachers in imple- Research reveals they developed
got around, everybody got there. never have approved hiring this group,” menting Common Core. In its wake, strategic plans for Ohio schools that
said board member Laura Zorc. this top-down, one-size-fits-all take- are each about 10 pages and contain
"There's a group of us who all grew over of education has left students, generic goals such as “increase student
up together, played youth soccer to- “Battelle for Kids has deep ties to parents, teachers and administrators achievement and growth” and “provide
gether, went to St. Ed's together, grad- the Gates Foundation [which supports overwhelmed by what amounts to a a safe environment for students, staff
uated together . . . And a lot of us came Common Core] . . . and they created grand experiment on our kids.” and stakeholders.”
back here after college because we a teacher evaluation method tied to
love Vero Beach," he said. "We've been Common Core assessments. The Com- When Battelle was introduced to the Rendell can approve expenditures un-
friends since we were thigh high, and mon Core Standards, assessments and School Board and public at a February der $50,000 without the school board’s
we all love Andy. teacher evaluation method have stifled meeting Rendell arranged, the super- approval. The contract he signed with
education across the country.” Battelle was for $48,410. 
"Thank God he's alive."
Wykoff set the Go Fund Me goal
at $250,000 after he and some of Ca-









12 Vero Beach 32963 / April 6, 2017 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

1 23
44
BINGO CAPTIONS

1. Tuni Hill, Patrice Stowe, Pud Lawrence and Ann Marie

McCrystal. 2. Kay Brown, Concie Fowler and Karen

Pierce. 3. Ginger Smith, Chris MacBeth and Kathie

Pierce. 4. Carol Fischman, Carmen Stork, Maggie

Foreman and April Dooley. 5. Jean Oglethorpe

and Este Brashears. 6. Anna Valencia-

Tillery. 7. Heather Swanson and Dawn

Michael. 8. Brenda Lloyd, Nicki Maslin and

Susan Clay. PHOTOS: DENISE RITCHIE

5

67 PHOTOS CONTINUED ON PAGE 14 8

Big Apple-themed Bingo lunch benefits seniors

BY MARY SCHENKEL “Sometimes you have to think outside necessities as plane tickets, a map and provide nutrition and adult day care
Staff Writer the box.” earplugs. And when Lawrence called to the county’s vulnerable seniors.
out a votive candle, Lloyd was ready,
What could make an entire room- Before heading into lunch, pianist happily pulling one out of her purse. Karen Deigl, SRA president/CEO,
ful of women so quiet you could hear a Judy Carter put guests into a “New shared that Meals on Wheels volun-
pin drop? Why Bingo, of course. Daub- York State of Mind” with a selection of The theme carried into the dining teers currently deliver hot, nutritious
ers at the ready, their eyes glued with tunes highlighting the City that Never room, where lovely rose centerpieces meals to 220 homebound seniors five
total concentration to the sheets in Sleeps as they mingled over mimo- were surrounded by toy replicas of the days per week, adding that additional
front of them, close to 200 guests vied sas and champagne and perused an Statue of Liberty, Empire State Build- volunteers are always needed. Unfor-
for donated prizes at the popular 12th assortment of silent auction items. ing and famed yellow taxies, and clev- tunately, there are currently another
annual Bingo Luncheon to benefit the Many were carrying heavy tote-sized er New York Times menus proclaimed 107 people on a wait list, who cannot
Senior Resource Association. handbags, filled with what they hoped a luncheon of Caprese salad with be accommodated because of a lack of
would earn a prize in the infamous grilled chicken and, of course, New funding.
Guests brought their Big Apple best “purse game.” York-style cheesecake.
to the Oak Harbor Club last Wednes- Adult Day Care is offered at SRA
day for the New York, New York- “I’ve got my purse filled with stuff,” “I am in fact a novice to Bingo but facilities in Vero and Sebastian, pro-
themed event featuring, as New York- said Brenda Lloyd, lugging her weighty I am not a novice to fun,” said Anna viding welcome respite for caregivers
ers everywhere will agree is “The City satchel to the table. Valencia-Tillery, who broke the Bingo whose loved ones cannot stay home
so Nice They Named It Twice.” glass ceiling as the SRA’s first female alone. The SRA also operates the Go-
Prior to Bingo, honorary event caller. And, no offense to the men who Line public transit system and the
“Do you know who I am?” asked chairwoman Pud Lawrence presided served so well in the past, but this door-to-door Community Coach for
Trudie Rainone, resplendent as Lady over the purse game, presenting in- lovely lady was a non-stop livewire. eligible riders.
Liberty, the iconic symbol of freedom verted umbrellas (they close upward
and liberty. She added with a laugh, to keep moisture away from you) to The levity aside, the fundraiser For more information, visit
ladies whose purses held such NYC served a serious purpose – to help seniorresourceassociation.org. 



14 Vero Beach 32963 / April 6, 2017 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

PHOTOS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12 9 10
11 12
14
BINGO CAPTIONS

9. Barbara Morgan, Pat Arnold, Shelli Gordon
and Mary Sue Brown. 10. June Gaston, Joanna
Meyers, Lorry Gartner and Sharon Baungardt.
11. Trudie Rainone. 12. Jean Kelly and Sherry McMahon.
13. Wheatie Gibb and Susan Pyles. 14. Suzanne Conway,
Wanda Lincoln and Ellen Donahue.

13

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / April 6, 2017 15

PEOPLE

15 16

17
BINGO CAPTIONS

15. Elke Fetterolf and Carol Kanarek. 16. Karan Morein,
Jennifer Watson and Beth Smith. 17. Anna Valencia-Tillery and
Sara Almond. 18. Celeta Arden and Patty Rennick. 19. Nancy
Offutt and Jerrie Connelly.

18 19

16 Vero Beach 32963 / April 6, 2017 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

‘Friends’ resolve to tackle
substance-abuse scourge

BY STEPHANIE LaBAFF
Staff Writer

“This is not who we are,” said Sarah Kate Hoffmann and Christine Walker.
Garrett, as she shared the story of her
son’s struggle with drug addiction at wants to receive,” recalled Garrett.
an Evening with Friends, hosted by the “He was calling to tell me that he
Substance Awareness Center of Indian was in my home with my son and the
River County last Friday evening at the paramedics were there too.”
Indian River Shores Community Cen-
ter. Her teenage son, an honor student
at Vero Beach High School, and two
Substance addiction is one of those friends had decided to try hash oil.
dirty little family secrets traditionally When Garrett’s son had an adverse
swept under the rug. But the preva- reaction, his friends left him to fend
lence of drug use and addiction among for himself.
teens has forced Americans to face the
facts. “As you can imagine, my emo-
tions were all over the place. First
According to a national Monitoring and foremost I was very concerned
the Future survey, “alcohol is the sub- for my son. But I was also angry, sad,
stance abused most frequently by ado- disappointed, confused and embar-
lescents, followed by marijuana and rassed,” recalled Garrett. “I thought
tobacco. As much as 35 percent of high at that time it was going to scare my
school seniors reported drinking alco- son enough to stay away from it all.
hol and 21 percent using marijuana.” But I was wrong. The months that fol-
lowed were hell.”
The Substance Awareness Center
is working to reduce the incidence of She did what all good parents do:
substance abuse through prevention, grounded the youngster, yelled at
treatment and recovery support. him, restricted his privileges, and
took the phone and car keys away. “I
“We believe in the science that pre- did everything to get this child’s at-
vention works and we believe in the tention and nothing that I was doing
science that says treatment works. We was working. I felt lost and defeated,
build all of our programs around that and I could not for the life of me fig-
science,” said Carrie Maynard, SAC ure out how we got to this point, be-
clinical director. cause this is not who we were.”

Through SAC’s Life Skills Training After a second incident, this time
program, almost 6,000 third- through at school, Garrett found herself face-
eighth-grade students will receive so- to-face with the school resource offi-
cial, emotional and drug-resistance cer. Her son was given a Civil Citation
training this year. And for students and would have to complete an eight-
who have had drug- or alcohol-relat- week program with the Substance
ed incidents they offer Civil Citation, Awareness Center.
which has shown good results through
collaborative efforts with local law en- “I had no idea who the Substance
forcement and the school district. Awareness Center was, much less the
programs that they offered.”
“Arresting youth and over interven-
ing had worse outcomes and increased The counseling encompassed
recidivism rates in youth,” said May- the whole family and, while it was a
nard, citing research by the Depart- bumpy road involving a choice be-
ment of Juvenile Justice. tween a residential facility and Teen
Court, Garrett proudly stated that her
“If a youth has an infraction at school son was doing well today.
they are offered the ability to receive
programming at our office. This shift “The program itself changed his
away from zero tolerance has signifi- life. I’d go so far to say that it saved his
cantly decreased expulsion rates, from life,” shared Garrett.
120 expulsions down to 19. We want
our kids in school learning, not out of For more information, visit SACIR.
school unsupervised,” explained May- org. 
nard.

While statistics can generalize the
success of programs, the real confir-
mation was related by Garrett, who
told of the day a sheriff’s deputy called.

“It was the call that no mother ever

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / April 6, 2017 17

PEOPLE

Buddy Render, Sebastian Police Chief Michelle Morris Vero Beach City Councilman Harry Howle, IRSO Lt. Eric Flowers Dr. Liana Urfer, Gwen Lamothe and Susan O’Bryan.
and Christina DeFalco. and County Commissioner Peter O’Bryan.

Michelle and Colby Servos with Tiffany Justice. Kathy Jones, Famous Erwin and Signe Torres. PHOTOS: DENISE RITCHIE Jennifer Pridgeon, Nicole Menz and Terra Mundy.

Bettye Buchanan and Lynda Moore. Sarah Garrett, Vaughan Judd and Carrie Maynard.

Pat Collins with Steve and Mindy Struwas. Regina and T.P. Kennedy.

Larry and Leslie Spurlock. Racheal Akers, Kim Brady and Malaika Zokirova.

18 Vero Beach 32963 / April 6, 2017 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

Philanthropy thrives through ‘Head, Heart and Hands’

BY STEPHANIE LaBAFF Kristi Walsh, Elizabeth Logiodice, Janey Wawerna and Michele Lee. PHOTOS: DENISE RITCHIE do, and we thank you for allowing us
Staff Writer to have an opportunity to share that
ementary school children, providing more; in turn broadening their reach with you.”
Thirteen local nonprofits received teacher assistance, greeting buses throughout the community.
a helping hand from the “Heart” of and performing landscaping tasks. What is also special is that resi-
the Indian River Club community at The committee received 29 grant dents of the Indian River Club have
a poolside reception last Thursday af- To keep their fingers on the pulse requests this year, each vetted by a united as a community to help others
ternoon. The Head, Heart and Hands of the community, the group devel- rotating group of eight volunteers by using their heads to learn about
Community Outreach program, oped a monthly speaker forum, hear- who visit the sites before determin- needs, their hearts to share what they
formed in 2013, utilizes a multi-fac- ing firsthand from service providers ing which of the applicants will be have, and their hands to help build a
eted approach. The “Head” focuses and those affected by social issues, funded. better world. 
on learning more about community on what the nonprofits need to help
needs, the “Heart” through philan- them accomplish their missions. The While the recipients were thrilled Alzheimer’s & Parkinson Association
thropy and the “Hands” through vol- growth of the philanthropic initia- to receive their grants, it was also - Caregiver Respite
unteerism. tive has enabled the group to give heartwarming to hear grant chair-
man Larry Salustro thank the non- Big Brothers/Big Sisters -
“This is our third year of giving profit leaders and their staff mem- Family Engagement
out grants,” said Marybeth Cun- bers for the work they do in the
ningham, board chairman in her community. Childcare Resources of IRC -
welcoming address. “The first year summer tuition
we gave out $40,000 worth of grants, “This is a special thing for us be-
and we thought we were doing pret- cause there’s a boy at the Sunshine Children’s Home Society -
ty darn good. Last year we gave out Physical Therapy Clinic who now Youth Transition Center program
$80,000 and this year we are giving feels more in control of his body.
out $105,000.” It’s special for us because there’s a Economic Opportunities Council -
woman living alone who plans her Early Bird at Indian River Academy
As part of their volunteer efforts, day around a visit from the Meals on
more than 60 Indian River Club resi- Wheels volunteer who provides a hot Education Foundation of IRC -
dents lend a hand at the Indian River meal and a little bit of conversation,” Algebra Counts
Academy each week, tutoring the el- said Salustro. “What’s special is that
there’s a horse out there somewhere Gifford Youth Orchestra -
who is about to become the new con- College of Performing Arts
stant companion and new best friend
for a young woman at Special Eques- Hibiscus Children’s Village -
trians. What is special is what you new appliances

Senior Resource Association -
Emergency Meals on Wheels

Special Equestrians -
therapy horse

Sunshine Physical Therapy Clinic -
Sunshine Kids

United Against Poverty -
STEP program

Youth Guidance -
South County programs

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / April 6, 2017 19

PEOPLE

Larry Noesen, Donna Polk and Larry Salustro. Lou Boccabella, Doug Borrie and Peter Polk. Sharon Wolf, Peter Polk and Karen Nelson.

Ed Perry, Judith Lemoncelli, Peggy Cunningham and Bruce McEvoy. Marybeth Cunningham, Joe Eriksen and Lynne House. Dr. Crystal Bujol, Donna Polk and Annabel Robertson.







Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / April 6, 2017 23

PEOPLE

Mary Graves, Nat Jackson, Hugh and Nancy Reichardt, and Helen Brackins. Jose Garcia, Clarice Helfand, Ernst Furnsinn and Dick Turnbull. Angelica Ramirez, Larry Salustro and Mary Silva.

Russell McKinnon and Patrick Westcott.

Sandy Mann and Michelle Servos.

Claudia Haller, Margie Zunk and Suzanne Jones.

Alice Donars and Claire Starrett.

Betsy Hartnett, Carol DiFazio,
Evelyn Mayerson and Barbara Greene.

24 Vero Beach 32963 / April 6, 2017 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

Presidential scholar informs, impresses at fundraiser

BY STEPHANIE LaBAFF er County last Wednesday evening at
Staff Writer Northern Trust Bank.

More than 150 guests experienced Brinkley, a professor of history at
a history lesson like no other at An Rice University, CNN presidential his-
Evening with Douglas Brinkley, who torian and author, reviewed presiden-
spoke about “Culture and Controver- tial accomplishments over the past
sy: U.S. Presidential Elections through 200 years, explaining how historical
History” at a fundraiser to benefit the lessons of the past can apply today and
Scholarship Foundation of Indian Riv- in the future.

Dubbed by CNN as “the man who

Donald and Deborah Winkler. PHOTOS: STEPHANIE LABAFF

knows more about the presidency and he did it all without a lot of notes,”
than any human being alive,” Brinkley said Camilla Wainright, Scholarship
didn’t disappoint as he worked his Foundation executive director. “Truly
way from America’s founding father someone who is passionate about his-
through the Obama administration. tory, well read and has published a lot
of books; not only on presidents but
In this time of political unrest, it was others throughout history.”
refreshing to hear about the human
side of American presidents. Brinkley The mission of the Scholarship
highlighted their accomplishments Foundation of Indian River County
and touched on events, many outside is to “offer hope, encouragement and
their control, which have contributed scholarship opportunities to students
to the shaping of policies. with financial need who demonstrate
the desire and academic ability to suc-
Many attendees were already aware ceed in pursuing a post-secondary
that President Theodore Roosevelt education.”
created the National Wildlife Refuge
system, beginning with Pelican Island Brinkley, a lifelong student, is the
in our backyard. But it was the story epitome of the organization’s roots;
behind it that they found especially driven to learn about those who have
compelling. shaped the nation and eager to pass on
his knowledge through education.
Prior to his presidency, Roosevelt’s
mother and wife had died on Valen- “Professor Brinkley is one of the pre-
tine’s Day, sending him into a deep eminent if not the preeminent histo-
depression. As a result, he spent some rians of our generation,” shared Vero
time exploring the wilds of our vast resident Dane Ullian, who had been
country, where he discovered the need one of Brinkley’s students at Tulane
for environmental preservation. Dur- University. “It was impressive to hear
ing his presidency, to protect the land his systemic view of what’s happen-
and its wildlife, he created the Nation- ing. That’s the majesty of a historical
al Wildlife Refuge System, which even- perspective. Generally speaking, a
tually encompassed 234 million acres. historical perspective is not judging
based on the rightness or wrongness,
“I was amazed by all the facts and but what they’ve accomplished and
stories about the various presidents,

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / April 6, 2017 25

PEOPLE

Tim Mullan, Norris Cook, Ted Herget and Joseph Smith.

Steve Healy and Katy Faires. Gaye Ludwig, Mary Alice Smith and Mary Mullan.

Nancy and Dick Shoemate. Bailey Brackett and Lacee Givans.

what legacy those accomplishments be awarded in May.
leave.” “Since our inception in 1965, we

“I think the important thing is that have provided over $10.4 million to
people realize that education is the 2,812 local students. We are currently
foundation of life and it’s so impor- in the midst of our student/parent in-
tant to help kids with their tuition,” terviews, and I can assure you we have
said Ted Herget, a five-year supporter a very talented, deserving and appre-
of the organization. ciative pool of candidates from which
to select this year,” shared Joan Cook,
Proceeds from the evening will help board president. 
fund college scholarships, which will

26 Vero Beach 32963 / April 6, 2017 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

Rock the Boat puts funds in till(er) for Youth Sailing

BY MARY SCHENKEL ment of silent-auction items indoors. know how to get across a start line presiding over the live auction of
Staff Writer “This is great to be able to see the and race a course; passing some of enviable items and the Name a Boat
their instructors when they race. It’s portion of the evening.
“We sailed in at just the right sailors out there,” said Amy Pat- just nice to see kids out on the wa-
speed,” quipped 18-year-old Alden terson, whose husband Don Reeser ter. We’re not going to stop technol- “Every guy here should buy a
Findley, referencing the beautiful is a YSFIRC coach. “I’m so proud of ogy, but if we can stop it for just a few boat for his wife!” exclaimed Gavin
Club 420 sailboat gracing the lobby them. Kids that a few years before hours it’s great.” Ruotolo, popping up to encourage
of the Moorings Yacht and Country wouldn’t have known where the the bidding.
Club two Sundays ago. The boat was wind was coming from now they Founded in 2009 by Charlie and
one of several that had its naming Chris Pope, Youth Sailing Founda- Sailing Director Mary Morgan put
rights auctioned off during the live- tion staff and volunteers have spent the value of what they do in perspec-
auction portion of Rock the Boat, the last eight years offering free sail- tive, highlighting the story of one of
a fundraiser to benefit the Youth ing instruction to the children of In- their most stalwart students, who
Sailing Foundation of Indian River dian River County, instilling in them has overcome adversity with the
County. a sense of self-confidence and inde- support of the organization to suc-
pendence while teaching them life- ceed both on and off the water. The
As Findley, now captain of the Vero long skills. young man has become a great sail-
Beach Varsity Sailing Team, and or and will now teach at this year’s
other YSF students greeted arriving Each week, certified U.S. Sailing summer camp. A request was also
guests, other students were out on instructors and volunteers teach made for guests to sponsor $250-per-
the water sailing, providing every- safety, sailing and sportsmanship to child scholarships for the summer
one with a wonderful demonstration students utilizing their 60-plus sail- camps, which are held each year at
of the skills they have learned. boats, including the original 8-foot, the Moorings.
single-person Opti boats; 12-foot
“It set the stage with people on the 420s, used in high school and col- The Youth Sailing Foundation’s vi-
balcony overlooking the water,” said legiate sailing; and a variety of sup- sion for the future is to build a Com-
Sheila Marshall during the cocktail port boats. munity Sailing Center on the lagoon,
hour, watching as some of the 160 providing public assess, boat rentals
guests enjoyed the demo outside “OK, shipmates, I’m ready to go,” and storage facilities in hopes of de-
while others perused a large assort- said John Moore, a captain’s cap veloping the area into a hub for sail-
perched jauntily on his head, before ing and paddle boating. 

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / April 6, 2017 27

PEOPLE

Al Ebstein, Vero Beach Mayor Laura Moss, Stu Keiller and Christine Luca. PHOTOS: DENISE RITCHIE Pat Harris, Eleanor Dixon, Alison Schlitt and Bill Krueger.

Richard Findley and Mary Morgan. Jim and Marge Fuller with Chris and Charlie Pope. PHOTOS CONTINUED ON PAGE 28
Stephen and Tricia Boyle.

28 Vero Beach 32963 / April 6, 2017 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

PHOTOS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 27 Jim Miskel, Barbara and Larry Munson, and Rey Neville. Nancy and Herb Whittall with Elke Fetterolf.
Barbara Ebstein with Bill and Bobbi Walker.

Paul and Heather Schlitt with Jerry and Jackie Carlon.

Jeff and Bobbie Bartell with Marg and Larry Kiefer.

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / April 6, 2017 29

PEOPLE

Julia Harris with Gerry and Sheryl Peterson. Christy Osborne, Marie Young and Janet Krueger. Tom and Carol Holochwost with Elaine and Mark Stuhlman.

Amy Patterson and Don Reeser with Sheila Marshall.

Mikki and John Powers.

Shae Riley, Sydney Ohs, Holly Gandolfo
and Alden Findley.

30 Vero Beach 32963 / April 6, 2017 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

A magnificent seven ‘Thank
Yous’ for United Way

BY CHRISTINA TASCON
Correspondent

At the United Way of Indian River Dawn and Ted Michael. PHOTOS: DENISE RITCHIE
County Thank You Celebration last
Wednesday evening at the Grand lives were affected by all their hard
Harbor Golf Club, seven figures took work.
center stage, and it was not just the
final digits of the annual United “Because of you and your commit-
Way Campaign. The true purpose of ment to healthy families, I was able
the campaign was brought home as to benefit from services to improve
seven individuals, whose lives have my life and the lives of my children,”
been directly aided by funding, each
revealed a number in the final total
and shared their stories.

The annual celebration is a way
for the United Way to show its grati-
tude for all those who helped raise
money throughout the community
with workplace campaigns, indi-
vidual donations and volunteerism.
Debbie Morgan, campaign co-chair
with husband Kyle, came up with the
concept of showing them how actual

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / April 6, 2017 31

PEOPLE

Sue Tompkins with Kyle and Debbie Morgan. Andrew Weintraub, Jenifer Pariagh, Jaclyn Brown and Derek Weintraub. Page Woodward, Bill Penney and Judi Miller.

one mother told them, her voice “I think this is my last hurrah,” to do things like Day of Caring, work atypical year when we had seven
choked with emotion. laughed Kyle Morgan, who has risen with clients or who donate in some co-chairs; traditionally we have a
through the ranks over the 10 years way,” said Debbie Morgan. “It is just couple or a team or two or three peo-
“I guide them in how we do busi- he has volunteered with United Way. an incredible community, so gener- ple,” said UWIRC CEO Michael Kint.
ness at United Way and sort of lead “I wanted to give back because I ous with their time, their talent and “It went very well. It is all about the
them to people who have helped in grew up in this community. I asked resources, and to experience it to- volunteers and having such a good
the past, but always invite the co- what the best organization was to gether as a couple is very special.” team.”
chairs to modify that process in any help and my mentor said United
way to improve it,” said UW cam- Way. I then started on the Citizens With their combined talents and At the end of the evening, Kyle
paign director Tracey Seagal, add- Review Panel.” knowledge, the pair not only reached Morgan announced that the next
ing that co-chairs all offer a unique their impressive $3,035,000 goal, but campaign will be led by Bill Penney
style and perspective. “Debbie’s for- Agencies under the UWIRC um- bested it by more than $16,000. The and the Marine Bank Team.
mer marketing career has been very brella are meticulously vetted by the local United Way has raised in ex-
helpful to bounce ideas from that panel. cess of $57 million since its founding “I am blessed to work with a won-
perspective and Kyle is a numbers in 1961. derful group of people,” said Penney.
guy and very much on point to make “We moved back here 11 years ago “They all give back to the communi-
goals through the whole process.” and for us it has actually been grati- “The reality is that this year is ty so this is something we can all do
fying to meet people who volunteer more normal. Last year was the together as a team.” 

32 Vero Beach 32963 / April 6, 2017 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

Voyage to Vero: Niña, Pinta create yachts of excitement

BY MARY E SCHENKEL they will remain docked until April 9.
Staff Writer The visit was sponsored by the Vero
Beach Chamber of Commerce in con-
History sailed into town last Thurs- junction with the City of Vero Beach,
day with the arrival of the Niña and the Vero Beach Power Squadron and
Pinta, replica ships owned by The Sunrise Rotary.
Columbus Foundation. Capt. Morgan
Sanger piloted the floating maritime Built as a historically accurate rep-
museums up the Indian River Lagoon lica, the 65-foot Niña was construct-
to the Vero Beach City Marina where ed by hand, without the use of power
tools, and first set sail in December

PHOTO: GORDON RADFORD

1991. The Niña is a replica of the ship 30 and 40 stops along the Gulf Coast,
Columbus used to sail across the At- East Coast, Great Lakes and the Mid-
lantic on his three voyages of discov- western River System.
ery to the new world beginning in
1492; sailing the tiny ship more than “I’m the cook,” said Allison Asher,
25,000 miles. a member of the all-volunteer crew.
“I was working at a marina bar/res-
The new Niña visits ports all over taurant in Lake City, Minnesota, and
the Western Hemisphere as an educa- I saw the Niña traveling along on her
tional tool along with her sister ship, own 18 years ago. I heard the canon
the 85-foot Pinta. A larger version of and saw this black ship on Lake Pe-
the archetypal caravel, the Pinta was pin. The crew came in and I asked
built in Brazil and launched in Feb- them how to get a job. I came on for 10
ruary 2005. The pair travels about 10 days and stayed for five years. I have
months of the year, making between come and gone ever since.”

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / April 6, 2017 33

PEOPLE

Joe O’Keefe with Sharron and Pete Rosati. She said that while the work can be but it’s like camping in an RV.”
hard, the travel is fun and the people Originally from Tallahassee, Wilson
they meet along the way are interest-
ing. “It challenges you. It uses every- joined the ship in Grafton, Illinois.
thing you’ve got,” said Asher, adding She has since attended Sea School in
with a smile, “We don’t do it for the Bayou La Batre, Alabama, receiving
money.” her Captain’s License upgrade to Near
Coastal Master up to 100 Tons, and her
And despite the close living con- Auxiliary Sailing Endorsement.
ditions – considerably better than in
the days of Columbus, but still not a “I had never even seen the ships be-
luxury yacht – the crew all gets along fore,” said Wilson. “My father drove
well. me up and I moved in that day. I’ve
been on it ever since. The best part
“Living conditions are cozy,” said is seeing the different cultures in my
Kat Wilson, who signed on to the own country that we get to experience
Pinta in August 2015 and is now First as we travel.”
Mate. “They’re certainly nice com-
pared to what Columbus’ men had, For more information, visit the
nina.com. 

Crew members Kat Wilson, Tom Vaeth and Allison Asher.

Norm and Ellie Turner. PHOTOS: DENISE RITCHIE

Nikki Mosblech with Lucas and Kieran.

34 Vero Beach 32963 / April 6, 2017 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

Hot for chili at the Arc’s Brews and Beans bash

BY STEPHANIE LaBAFF Mike “Mojo” Brown performs with the Mixers. Kirchner won Hottest, Matt Phil- “There are only so many things
Staff Writer ips was dubbed Most Creative, and that we’re able to put our efforts to-
for the senses. Libby and Jesse Diehl were declared ward,” said Lynn Anderson. “We like
Pareidolia Brewing Company had The chefs had a lot of fun nam- Best Overall chili makers. to help the people that really, really
more than just beer on tap last Sat- need our help.”
urday at the second annual Brews ing their creations, with Buffalo Bill, As guests sampled chili, the Mixers
and Beans Chili Cook-off & Brew Kitchen Sink, Burn-A-Butt and Kill provided toe-tapping music and the “The more we get the word out
Expo to benefit the Arc of Indian Shot on the menu, but also took the Boilover Boys and Red Buoy Brew- about who we are and what we do
River County. And no beans about competition seriously. And, while ers Home Brew Clubs gave brewing the better,” said Mary Beth Vallar,
it – the fundraiser was a big success. the contest was no joking matter, it demos. Additionally, winners of Pa- board chair. “We rely heavily on do-
It was the perfect day to gather for was April Fools’ Day, so one jokester reidolia’s third annual Face it, Beer nations from the community so we
good food and family fun. entered a Ghost Chili version – an is Good Home Brew Face-off were can completely serve our people.
empty crock pot. announced. This work is so important because
“The Chili and Brew is twice if we’re about the only ones that take
not three times the size it was last In the tasters’ choice judging, Pat “I have worked for several non- care of them.”
year. We can’t thank Pete and Lynn profits in the past doing exactly
enough for making the Arc the ben- what they do at the Arc,” said Pete Arc executive director Chuck
eficiary of this event,” said Noreen Anderson. “When I had the chance Bradley added, “This event is great,
Davis, Arc marketing director, ref- to do something good and give back, and it helps the Arc to continue to
erencing Pareidolia owners Pete and right away my heart went to the Arc. provide services for about 200 folks
Lynn Anderson. I know what is involved in doing that in this county.
kind of work. It’s a vital service and
More than 20 chili aficionados laid very under-appreciated. I wanted “What’s really cool is you have a
their ladles on the line to compete for them to know we know what they’re local business and local people sup-
the title of best chili. Entries includ- doing and we care.” porting this event.”
ed a broad range of secret ingredi-
ents, including bison, brats, venison, The Arc supports and empowers in- Join the Arc for the Starlight &
chicken and everything in between, dividuals with special needs to achieve Sneakers Gala Greenhouse Garden
and with hints of chocolate, smoke their life goals by providing vocational Party on April 20 at Rock City Gar-
and peppers it was a smorgasbord skills training, supported living, trans- dens and the annual Ocean Grill
portation and behavioral services. Night on May 9.

To learn more, visit ArcIR.org. 

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / April 6, 2017 35

PEOPLE

Charles and Rosemary Sanford. PHOTOS GORDON RADFORD Joe McManus performs with the Mixers. Beth Weatherstone and Carole Johnson.

Sue and Rick Kirscher. Karen and Steve Paul. PHOTOS CONTINUED ON PAGE 36
Katy Hall and Michelle Sanders. DeeDee and Roger Smith. Jesse Diehl Jr., Darren Woodruff, Jesse Diehl, Mary Nicholas, Jeff Nacquarrie.

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36 Vero Beach 32963 / April 6, 2017 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

PHOTOS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 35 Ginny Blossom, Chuck Bradley, Noreen Davis, Heather Dales. Julie Downing, John Frazier, Rachel Garceau, Mike Flynn.
Jim Irizarry, Charlie Irizarry, Crystal Whitney, Art Neuberger II.

Elaine and Walt Delap.
Miriam and Mike Burns.
Cara Irwin with Giulliana and Annabella.

ARCHITECTURAL PERSPECTIVE
IS ARTIST PILLORGÉ’S FORTE

38 Vero Beach 32963 / April 6, 2017 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

ARTS & THEATRE

ARCHITECTURAL PERSPECTIVE IS ARTIST PILLORGÉ’S FORTE

BY STEPHANIE LABAFF George and Debbie Pillorge. years ago, when he and his wife trad- bie picked up her oboe once again.
ed in their sea legs and became land “It’s nice to know you can still learn
Staff Writer PHOTO: DENISE RITCHIE dwellers once again. things at our tender ages,” she says
with a chuckle.
George Pillorgé sees things from foot sailboat, the Puffin. The couple “In a way, I think our time on the
a different perspective. It’s through spent the next eight years sailing boat made us both hungry to pursue The creative couple credit their
his eyes that we can see the beauty from Maine to Venezuela. It was our interests,” says Debbie Pillorgé, recent accomplishments to the en-
of “Everyday Life and Places,” which during this time that he picked up a herself a pianist and oboist. “George couragement of others. Debbie has
opens Friday at the Center for Spiri- paintbrush and began to paint small started watercolors on the boat. I studied under Marcos Flores in her
tual Care. watercolor studies capturing scenes tried to bring a guitar on board but resurrection of her musical inter-
from the boat deck as they went had to sleep with it in my bunk, and ests. Pillorgé takes great pleasure in
As a young boy, he loved to draw, where the wind blew them. that didn’t work so well.” his wife’s music; he admits that after
says Pillorgé, but he doesn’t see his seeing her perform in a little con-
early work as anything more than A full life of experiences was Pil- Pillorgé began to experiment cert at Connecticut College all those
“what all children love to draw.” lorgé’s training ground for what he with pastels as a medium and Deb- years ago, he was a goner.
refers to as his “third career.” He
After flipping through the cata- didn’t begin to seriously hone his As in everything he pursues, Pil-
logue of the Massachusetts Institute skills as an artist until about eight lorgé sought out professionals and
of Technology, Pillorgé thought ar- took art lessons first in Maryland
chitecture sounded “really interest- and then at the Vero Beach Museum
ing.” He graduated from M.I.T. and of Art with Dawn Miller and Debo-
went on to Harvard for master’s de- rah Gooch. Miller helped him to get
grees in architecture in urban design down the anatomy of the human fig-
and city planning. He was awarded ure and Gooch worked with him to
the Grunsfeld Prize from M.I.T. and loosen things up a bit.
a Fulbright Fellowship for studies in
Paris. Gooch wasn’t the first to realize
her humble student had something
Other than a stint teaching at Har- special. He had already won top hon-
vard and the University of North ors in human figure drawing from
Carolina at Chapel Hill, Pillorgé the Academy Art Museum in Easton,
spent his career working in Balti- Maryland. And twice he has taken
more for RTKL, an international ar- first place in the Vero Beach Art
chitectural firm. Club’s Art by the Sea exhibition.

“This was at a time when cities were Of their teachers and mentors
beginning to be redeveloped. We de- Debbie Pillorgé says, “These people
signed the rebuilding of key parts of have really made it meaningful for
Baltimore,” recalls Pillorgé. Before us. They’ve taught us so much and
retiring, he led the urban design team been so encouraging. That is one
on the Baltimore Orioles baseball sta- common element for both music and
dium project at Camden Yards. art. You are going to get better at it,
but it’s work.”
For Pillorgé, architecture is the
framework for his art. “I think that ar- According to Carol Ludwig, the
chitecture is so appealing because it Center for Spiritual Care director, it
draws on your whole brain. It’s not left was Gooch that first brought Pillor-
brain or right brain. It’s really a kind gé’s work to her attention.
of technical and artistic feel that has
to consider both. That’s where my art “She spoke to me about him and
starts. I can’t just start working on a said this guy has only been painting
painting, I have to plan it.” eight or 10 years but he’s amazing.
He’s really grabbing hold of it.”
Pillorgé retired in 1992, and he
and his wife Debbie set sail on a 44- Pillorgé brought some of his work

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Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / April 6, 2017 39

ARTS & THEATRE

over for Ludwig to take our own experiences.” Cabaret veteran DiMenna
a look at, she recalls. What most peo- brightens Vero music scene
“On the face of it the ple would pass by
topic is ho-hum, without a second BY KATE SHANAPHY MAINGOT DiMenna, a cabaret singer and ra-
but his execution thought, Pillorgé Correspondent dio host for many years in Darien,
was so amazing stops to watch. An Conn., has just moved permanently
and so wonderful. elderly lady read- The face of Lynn DiMenna is becom- to Vero Beach after a decade of visit-
The more I saw of ing the newspaper ing increasingly familiar to music fans ing in season.
his work, the more I on a cold winter day around Vero Beach, particularly those
realized that this guy who love the music of the Great Ameri- With decades of live-performance
is on to something. He’s at Panera has a crutch can Songbook. experiences ranging from famous NYC
a really terrific artist.” leaning against her
chair. From Pillorgé’s per- CONTINUED ON PAGE 40
On another level, Pillorgé’s spective, one wonders why she
work is perfectly in tune with the needs the crutch, where she’s come
Center, explains Ludwig. “The whole from and what she will be doing lat-
idea of everyday people and places er that day. The painting draws the
is what the center is all about. We’re viewer into her story.
not all great at everything. We’re In a recent review, Warren Obluck
never going to be good at everything. describes Pillorgé’s work as painter-
We have to get over that in our lives. ly, comparing his style to the likes of
His work represents everybody, ev- Toulouse-Lautrec, Matisse and Larry
erywhere. It gives an authenticity to Rivers. He extolls his use of light and
perspective. “As a re-
Napping Under a Newspaper. sult, even in his most
Florida-centric pieces
PHOTO: DENISE RITCHIE we see the sunrise, not
in the sky but soaking
Showers Over The Ocean. into the sand of an ear-
ly morning beach.”
PHOTO: DENISE RITCHIE
As for the man be-
hind the art, Ludwig SEE THESE AND OTHER FINE THINGS AT VERO’S FINEST
says, “This is a man COLLECTION OF AMERICAN-MADE ART AND JEWELRY
who has had a huge
career with an inter-
national architectural
firm doing stuff all
over the world. You
would think he might
be full of himself but
he’s humble and eager
and curious and al-
ways learning.”

Confucius once said
“everything has beauty,
but not everyone sees
it.” At 80, Pillorgé is
up early in the morn-
ing walking along the
boardwalk, camera in
hand, looking for the
beauty: looking at peo-
ple, looking at everyday
life and everyday plac-
es. He has a file full of
photographs of people
and places he wants to
give a new perspective.
He’s looking from a dif-
ferent place.

As visitors look
at George Pillorgé’s
paintings Friday, wife
Debbie will play oboe
with the Tropical
Winds Quartet.

The reception for THEL AUGHINGDOGGALLERY.COM 2910 CARDINAL DR.
“Everyday Life and VERO BEACH, FL
Places” is from 5 p.m. to 7 72 . 2 3 4 . 6711
7 p.m. at the Center for
Spiritual Care, located
at 24th Street. 

40 Vero Beach 32963 / April 6, 2017 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 39 ARTS & THEATRE

cabaret locales to massive sports are- and pain. She had been honored with as an au pair with a fam-
nas, DiMenna considers Vero to be the an invitation to sing “The Star-Span-
musical treasure of the Treasure Coast. gled Banner” for a local political rally ily living in Rome. With
for Nelson Rockefeller. The rally was
And she should know. DiMenna was held at Larchmont, New York’s train nights and weekends
born into a musical family. Her grandfa- station and a large crowd had gathered
ther came to the U.S. from Italy playing for the event. free, DiMenna seized the
cornet for a big band. He began a sheet
music company in the 1900s printing DiMenna’s stage was a makeshift, opportunity to perform
music for some of the most popular wooden platform 6 feet off the ground,
songs of the day. His success allowed filled with dignitaries including the at nightclubs and resorts.
him to move his family out of New Rockefellers. Just at the “rockets’ red
York’s Little Italy to the bucolic and up- glare” line, the platform collapsed, and That year gave DiMen-
scale area of Westchester County. dozens of dignitaries with it.
na a deep appreciation
There, years later, his granddaughter “I’m singing and the whole group,
Lynn got her first taste for singing and Rockefeller, everyone, they just went for her Italian heritage
musical performance in the teen vari- crashing and tumbling down. It was ter-
ety shows at Westchester Country Club. rifying,” she recalls. and she cherishes it to
In high school, DiMenna became part
of a folk group that performed in com- Somehow, the spot she was standing this day. She also believes
munity centers in towns like Bronxville, on withstood the collapse. As women
Tuckahoe and Larchmont. cried and the crowd shrieked, she just that the chance to per-
kept singing. “All these people were top-
She smiles at a flyer she kept: “Price of pling and crashing into one another and form and “play out” with
admission is $1.50 at the door and $1.00 there I was – to my great relief and my
for advance tickets.” Tickets would like- chagrin – singing and standing without gifted musicians was in-
ly be higher today considering her band a scratch.”
mates in “The Hylanders” were Don strumental in shifting Lynn DiMenna. PHOTO: DENISE RITCHIE
McLean of “American Pie” fame and re- No one was hurt, but the event still her mindset as a vocalist.
nowned food critic John Mariani. made the morning papers.
She now had experience
DiMenna also performed on her DiMenna found herself in the news a
own during high school, primarily at few years later, during her sophomore outside of the hometown halls and the Open tennis tournament for two
weddings, funerals and singing “The year at Dunbarton College in Wash-
Star-Spangled Banner” and “God Bless ington, D.C., when a recording she had encouragement of friends and family. years and for the next 10 years at the
America” at area events and games. made of the classic Italian Christmas
But when she recalls her first solo pub- song “Tu Scendi Dalle Stelle” was aired Now she had held her own on overseas College Hall of Fame Football Dinner
lic appearance, it is with a mix of pride worldwide over Vatican radio.
stages and won the respect of apprecia- in New York.
After graduation, DiMenna worked
tive audiences and fellow musicians. The ’90s found DiMenna hosting

The year DiMenna returned to the her own radio show, “Welcome To

states she went to work as assistant to The Club,” interviewing hundreds of

the A&R director of the Longines Sym- performers from Bobby Short to Kitty

phonette, where she learned the ins and Carlisle. At the same time, DiMenna

outs of record production and distribu- was fine-tuning her own gift as a vo-

tion for national TV. calist performing with the orchestras

She also met her future husband of Stan Rubin, Count Basie, Artie Shaw,

John, with whom she will celebrate their Les Brown and Glenn Miller. She also

46th wedding anniversary this May. produced and performed her own cab-

The then-newlyweds moved to Darien, aret shows at venues like the Skylight

Conn., and DiMenna learned the mod- Room, Tavern on the Green and the

ern balance of motherhood and work- Algonquin. Four of her albums are still

ing professional. available on Amazon.

Following her passion for singing, After 10 years on air in New York, Di-

Enter the A.E. Backus DiMenna joined local choral groups, Menna moved on to Connecticut where
Museum’s Juried
Photography Show including The Blue Notes in Darien and she co-hosted the show “At The Ritz.”

Open to all photographers The Grace Notes in Greenwich; through Guests included Artie Shaw, Mickey
$25 Fee Per Entry
those groups, she learned the American Rooney, Frank Sinatra and Marilyn
Work may be dropped off May 10 – May 27, 2017
Wednesday – Saturday 10 am. to 3 pm. Songbook repertoire. Maye, whom today she calls one of her
Sunday noon – 3 pm. Closed Monday & Tuesday
“I fell in love with the lyrics of Berlin, greatest inspirations and cherished
No work will be accepted after 3pm., Saturday, May 27, 2017
Gershwin, Porter and Mercer. Like ev- friends.
Six Categories
eryone did, like everyone still does.” In 2008, DiMenna left radio to con-
Digital - Great Outdoors, (Plants, wildlife & animals)
Digital - Great Outdoors, (Scenery, structure, cars, boats, etc.) In the late 1980s with four small centrate on her work in promoting the

Digital - Color still Life / Portrait children and a busy career, DiMenna arts, reviewing shows and writing for
Digital - Black & White, Any Subject
Manipulated Imagery - Digital & Film decided to enter an amateur singing the magazine Cabaret Scenes.
Film - Color & B&W, & Traditional Raw Photography, Any subject
contest on WNEW’s Ted Brown show. DiMenna and her husband made
Cash prizes will be awarded!
She won a trip to Las Vegas and was the permanent move beachside in

subsequently asked to sing “The Star- 2016. She has appeared multiple times

Spangled Banner” at Kick-Off Classic at with the Jordan Thomas Orchestra,

Giants Stadium to 78,000 fans. including at Grind and Grape and

After the Giants gig, DiMenna was Cobalt, where her next appearance is

asked to sing the anthem at the U.S. April 20 from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. 

Exhibition open to public June 1, 2017

For more information or to get a copy of the Photography Show
complete rules, visit BACKUSMUSEUM.COM Sponsored by:
or call the Backus Museum at 772/465-0630.
Jiffy Photo & Frame
Backus Museum, 500 N. Indian River Dr. and
Fort Pierce, 34950









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46 Vero Beach 32963 / April 6, 2017 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT COVER STORY

hen his stepbrother At least two adults 2013, a clash broke out between the
starved to death in Jan- or four children per nation’s president and vice president,
uary, Matthew Yaw bur- 10,000 people are soon becoming a broader ethnic con-
ied him in the sand next dying each day. flict. As many as 50,000 people have
to the family’s shack of sticks and plas- been killed. More than 40 percent of
tic, one more grave at the epicenter of Nyarier Niey, right, and his son-in-law South Sudan’s 12 million people are
the world’s most severe hunger crisis. James Gawar, center, who fled Mayen- now classified as “food insecure.”
It is a man-made disaster – born not dit, are being hosted by Simon Gadiet,
of drought or floods but a vicious con- left, in Ganyiel. The warring parties – particularly
flict that destroyed the livelihoods of government troops – have restricted
farmers like Yaw and then prevented “When you get one month of food Five years ago, the world celebrat- humanitarian assistance in ways large
aid workers from entering their villages. for three months, you go hungry,” said ed South Sudan’s emergence as the and small. Some of their actions ap-
A U.N. declaration of famine in Feb- Yaw, 37, a tall man who leaned on a world’s newest country, following a pear to be brute thuggery, like the theft
ruary was supposed to bring a surge stick, his ankle shattered last year by a peace process with Sudan that was by soldiers last summer of more than
of assistance to this northern county, bullet as he fled the fighting. championed by Washington. But in 4,000 tons of food from a warehouse
Mayendit. But within days, the South in Juba, the capital, enough to feed
Sudanese government ordered aid 220,000 people for a month.
workers to leave ahead of a planned
offensive, and the area was soon con- But aid workers fear the government
sumed with fighting. is intentionally denying aid to regions
Yaw and his neighbors have been re- where it says residents support the
duced to eating waterlilies and an occa- rebels. The U.S. deputy ambassador to
sional fish from a nearby river. The few the United Nations, Michelle Sisson,
relief workers who managed to visit May- said last week that the government’s
endit county in recent days saw people actions “may amount to deliberate
languishing half- naked. Their clothes starvation tactics.”
had been burned in the last attack.
There are now four hunger crises There are now more than 70 check-
across the Middle East and Africa in points on the 400-mile stretch of road
what is emerging as the greatest hu- between the capital and Bentiu, a ma-
manitarian disaster since World War jor city north of Mayendit, with sol-
II, according to the United Nations. In diers and other armed men demand-
each place – Nigeria, Somalia, Yemen ing money or food before allowing aid
and South Sudan – aid workers are be- trucks to continue.
ing blocked from reaching the needy,
in some cases by insurgents, in oth- At least 80 times a month, according
ers by soldiers or bureaucratic restric- to a U.N. tally, the South Sudanese au-
tions. Twenty million people across thorities and rebels reject permits for
the four countries could starve if they planes to take off bearing emergency
don’t quickly get help, according to the food or medical aid, or deny access
United Nations. to entire cities. Humanitarian groups
were recently stunned to learn that the
government was considering requiring
a $10,000 license for every foreign aid
worker in the country.

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / April 6, 2017 47

SOURCES: FEWS AND AIDWORKERSECURITY.ORG INSIGHT COVER STORY

South Sudanese officials say that the THE WASHINGTON POST research group Humanitarian Out-
government doesn’t have a policy of ob- Famine was declared in comes. The findings for 2016 have not
structing aid, but that the country’s dire Mayendit in February, yet been released. Seventy-nine aid
economic situation has led to rogue meaning that at least workers have been killed since the war
soldiers making their own demands. 30 percent of the pop- began, including six who were slain a
ulation was acutely week ago Saturday in an ambush on
“Individual officers might stop a malnourished. the road from Juba to Pibor, in the east.
humanitarian convoy and harass hu-
manitarian workers, but that doesn’t Nyakuma Tap, left, and her older sister Nyakuoth In Mayendit, one of two regions
represent the view of the government,” Kuol say an attack in October by armed men officially experiencing famine, the
said Hussein Mar, the minister of hu- destroyed their home in the village of greatest barrier to reaching starving
manitarian affairs. “In a war situation, Dablual in Mayendit. residents has been the near-constant
there are people who will take the law fighting between government forces
into their own hands.” and rebels. In some cases, even after
the United Nations airdropped food,
South Sudanese leaders on both soldiers ransacked villages and stole
sides of the conflict rarely acknowledge the provisions from civilians.
the impact of their restrictions on aid
workers. Last week, on a scorching afternoon,
a small team of U.N. officials landed in
“It is extraordinary in a place where Mayendit in a white helicopter, trying to
a famine has been declared for the first figure out what they could do to improve
time in five years that we’re not hear- their access to the hungry. It was a par-
ing more from the leadership about ticularly tense moment. Eight aid work-
the problems facing the people,” Da- ers from the North Carolina-based char-
vid Shearer, the top U.N. official in ity Samaritan’s Purse had recently been
South Sudan, said in an interview. detained in the area for a day by rebels.
There were rumors that government
Aid workers are often caught in the forces were planning another attack.
crossfire. In 2015, there were 31 attacks
against relief workers in South Sudan, “They can’t behave like this and ex-
more than any other country in the pect humanitarians to continue going
world, according to the Aid Worker in,” said Joyce Luma, the World Food
Security Database maintained by the Program (WFP) country director, who
was on the trip.

The U.N. team disappeared into a
small, run-down building with rebel
leaders. They had become accustomed
to this kind of negotiation – nearly ev-
ery food drop, convoy and official visit
requiring a litany of permits and dip-
lomatic entreaties. A WFP team now
keeps a satellite phone with dozens
of numbers for rebel and government
commanders at hand.

In some cases, relief workers have
been able to persuade commanders to
delay offensives while they deliver bags
of food. But in many others, they have
not.

In Juba, aid officials said privately
that the government was restricting
assistance to starve those it perceived
as its enemies, including women and
children in rebel-held regions like
Mayendit. But the aid officials, fearing
that their efforts will be further imped-
ed, have been reluctant to speak pub-
licly about such tactics.

“When the government carries out
a counterinsurgency campaign, they
end up treating civilians as the ene-
my,” said one senior relief official.

Mayendit’s descent into famine took
years, as spurts of violence ravaged
the county, eroding the ability of lo-
cal farmers and herders to provide for
themselves.

Aid officials warned again and again
that the county was falling apart. With-
out a political solution to the war, they
said, they would be racing to keep peo-
ple alive after each clash. That political
solution never came.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 48

48 Vero Beach 32963 / April 6, 2017 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 47 INSIGHT COVER STORY

Aid workers watched helplessly as Women who fled Mayendit of the population was acutely mal-
the situation deteriorated. Employees rest in a shelter in Ganyiel. nourished, and that two adults or four
of an Italian development organiza- children per 10,000 people were dying
tion, Intersos, described how students baje,” or “Father has come.” But there each day. The lack of food wasn’t the
and teachers in its schools were forc- were long gaps between those drops – only problem – cholera had broken out
ibly recruited by armed groups on both not just because of the fighting but be- because of the scarcity of clean water
sides of the conflict. Over time, as fight- cause the United Nations has enough and poor sanitation. And people con-
ers destroyed crops and stole livestock, money to regularly feed only a fraction tinued to die from the violence itself,
hunger began to stalk the region. of the South Sudanese in need of aid. particularly bullet wounds.

When the schoolchildren spotted aid “The children stopped coming to The only hospital in the region, lo-
airplanes flying overhead, preparing to school because their parents told cated in Leer, was looted four times in
drop bags of sorghum or maize, they them to hunt for fruit,” said Herbert two years, with medicine, equipment
ran out of the classroom singing “Ba- Mayemba, a health officer for Intersos. and fuel stolen. Doctors Without Bor-
ders, the global medical charity, closed
Ganyiel has become a Famine was declared in Mayendit the hospital last year and instead dis-
destination for hundreds and neighboring Leer county in Feb- patched small, lesser-resourced health
of people fleeing violence ruary, meaning that at least 30 percent teams to Mayendit.
and famine in the counties
of Mayendit and Leer, which “We see Mayendit as a place badly
are under the control of in need of help, but it’s just too dan-
gerous for us to work there,” said an
opposition troops. official from one organization that
had pulled its staff from the county.
He spoke on the condition of anonym-
ity because he was afraid to be seen as
criticizing the government.

These days, even the most basic ill-
nesses can’t be treated.

In the village of Dablual, a 50-year-
old woman named Nyatuai Dem said
she had been suffering from diar-
rhea for over a week after subsisting
on nothing but waterlilies. She hadn’t
received any treatment for the illness,
which can be fatal. Her family wrapped

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / April 6, 2017 49

INSIGHT COVER STORY

a piece of fabric around her stomach “We came here because we were tired Yaw is one of them. He can’t walk with- pointed with his walking stick to the
and pulled it tight as an attempted fix. of our food being stolen,” said James out pain, and he’s not sure he would fields in the distance.
Gawar, 35. “Our children were sick. We survive the journey from his home in
Thousands of other people have needed a place where there was help.” Dablual to a displacement camp. “We used to be able to cultivate for
poured out of the county, walking for ourselves. We didn’t need any help,” he
days to reach displacement camps like About 80,000 people have decided From his shack, he can see the farm- said. “Now we can just wait for the next
one in Ganyiel. to stay in Mayendit. For now, Matthew land where he once grew maize. He donations.” 

50 Vero Beach 32963 / April 6, 2017 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT EDITORIAL

Time for advertisers to get tough with the online ad industry

In the old print world, a newspaper or a magazine of clicks – the platforms lose all the targeting data The first one is to allow outside auditing. Compa-
knew what it was running and where. Unfortunate they sell at a premium. nies should be able to prove to the client that their
juxtapositions still happened; you might guess the targeting works, and that requires outsiders to scru-
Press Journal felt bad (or at least it should have) last Even worse, there are extremely sophisticated and tinize the data.
Saturday when it ran a story about the shooting of a lucrative schemes to roll ads so that nobody sees
downtown Vero bar owner directly about a big ad – them, such as opening an invisible window in the The second one is to rewrite the viewability stan-
with a blood red headline, no less – for a gun show. background of which the user isn't even aware. If an dards to reflect actual human consumption. A video
ad is running on a hidden page and you never see it, ad has not been seen if it only played for a second
But today, the massive digital platforms filled with should the advertiser be charged for that view? or two.
user-generated content don't even know what they
are running, let alone whether it is appropriate to And then there are the industry standards for ad Thirdly, platforms should take the time and ef-
pair it with specific ad campaigns. Trying to control viewability. These standards are adopted by the In- fort to craft more specific offerings for advertisers,
the content would be prohibitively expensive. teractive Advertising Bureau, an organization fund- the way old-school newspapers and magazines do.
ed by "more than 650 leading media and technology It's not enough to allow a client to exclude specific
That, of course, is the root of the problem with on- companies" – that is, firms that sell, not buy, ads. channels from a package – the package YouTube
line advertising, and why it's unlikely to be solved by sells to a specific advertiser should include a set of
the companies that led the industry to this sorry state So no wonder IAB's guidelines for digital video appropriate, well-annotated, demonstrably effec-
of affairs. But advertisers can start leveling the playing ads, for example, consider an ad "viewed" the mo- tive channels. Only if the advertiser wants broader
field by making specific demands of the tech giants. ment it begins to play in a user's browser – that is, access should the platform be able to place ads the
about two seconds before a user curses and closes it. way it does now, with no guarantees.
Google's continuing problems with an advertiser
boycott of YouTube should spark the beginning of a In the rare cases where an ad turns out to be pre- Unless the industry drastically increases its trans-
major shakeup of the digital ad market. If Google, cisely targeted, it can be disturbing. That can reduce parency, it will be eaten by three monsters that are
Facebook, Twitter and Snap are smart, they will act the ad's effectiveness, especially when the advertiser already gnawing away at it: the randomness of ad
preemptively and start proving to clients that what involved doesn't enjoy a high level of audience trust. placement that can lead to boycotts such as the one
they're selling is legit. threatening YouTube; fraud, which, according to a
In a world dominated by Google, Facebook and recent study, reaches 20 percent of the market vol-
Unfortunately, Google's first response, offered as programmatic advertising exchanges that anony- ume now; and ad blocking software, which, accord-
it's threatened with hundreds of millions of dollars mize the ad selling process – which, in the pre-dig- ing to eMarketer, a third of U.S. internet users will
in losses, was inadequate. While promising stronger ital era, was intensely personal – advertisers have resort to this year.
content censorship and better tools for advertisers gotten accustomed to pouring money into a black
to control their campaigns could represent a partial box. There, they've been told, smart algorithms Technological disruption is exciting, but it should
solution, maybe, it's hardly enough to overcome the work hard-to-pinpoint magic to connect the adver- lead to improvements on the status quo, not just to
fact that Google and other platforms have little idea tisers with customers. upheavals.
who actually sees the ads and in what context.
Facebook and Google don't allow external audit- Advertising spending is growing faster than the
Everybody in the industry understands that, but ing of ad campaigns; they provide their own data. global economy: It increased 5.7 percent last year
the platforms won't admit it officially. That's mostly fine for an advertising manager in- while global economic output went up 3.1 percent,
side a large corporation, but it can be traumatic for and it's expected to exceed economic growth again
The UK website Digiday has a running series on a small or medium business that suddenly discovers in 2017. To advertisers, this means diminishing re-
"confessions" from digital marketing insiders – a that the fans who "like" its page are fake. turns on their spending.
good source of frank and cynical, though anony-
mous, descriptions of a deeply dysfunctional busi- Big advertisers were complacent about online ads' To change that, they shouldn't be in awe of those
ness. One particularly snarky piece contains an in- problems for a long time. It took an investigation by selling digital ads that are seizing an increasingly
terview with a long-time ad tech developer who calls The Times of London, which showed ads were run- large share of the advertising pie. Instead, they should
a lot of online advertising a "con." ning alongside inflammatory content, to spur com- demand their money's worth more insistently. 
panies such as Verizon, Starbucks or Wal-Mart into
If the user deletes the cookies tracking their be- action. If they really want to fix the problem, they'll This editorial draws extensively on a column writ-
havior – something that can be done with a couple put a few items on the table. ten by Leonid Bershidsky for Bloomberg.