10/27/2022 ISSUE 43

A tip o’ the habitat to local
wildlife refuges. P24
A Day in the Life
of the Lagoon. P18

Inspiring stories provide
‘Wow’ at Youth Guidance ‘Luau.’ P14

Brown stepping For breaking news visit
down as county
administrator Vero and Shores
agree to settle
antitrust lawsuit

BY RAY McNULTY BY LISA ZAHNER
Staff Writer Staff Writer

Citing stress-related health Vero has approved a settle-
issues and a desire to spend ment agreement with Indian
more time with his family, River Shores, and the Shores

County Administrator Jason Town Council was set to vote
Brown announced last week this past Tuesday on a three-
that he was resigning, effec- page document designed to
tive Dec. 31, to take a senior end a federal antitrust dispute
accountant’s job in the Clerk filed by the town against the
of Court’s office. city over Vero’s claim to a per-
manent water-sewer service
“Being the county adminis-

trator is an all-consuming job, territory.
The Shores claimed that a
and I felt that I couldn’t make
1989 contract agreement as-
the effort needed to achieve signing one portion of Indian
River County exclusively to
the high level of performance Vero Beach Utilities, and des-
ignating another part for In-
the job requires for the long dian River County Utilities to
serve exclusively, was unen-
term – because the stress forceable because it violates
federal antitrust law.
was beginning to impact my MY
health,” Brown said. VERO WhenVero asked U.S. Circuit
Court Judge Eileen Cannon to
Two votes–one YES, one NO–to shape Vero’s future“Ialwayswanttodothebest dismiss the case, Cannon not
job I can for the county and, as

a result, I put additional pres- BY RAY MCNULTY ture generations with a gift rently occupied by a defunct
sure on myself,” he added. Staff Writer that will improve their quality power plant and soon-to-be-

“The problem is, I probably of life for decades relocated sewage facility –

don’t handle the stress well. I This is our moment in time. This is our chance to en- into a picturesque, park-like

need to take care of those is- This is our opportunity to hance our already-special gathering place that offers only declined, but also shot
sues and my family. leave Vero Beach better than community by transforming amenities we so sorely lack. down all of Vero’s chief argu-
we found it, and present fu- 33 lagoon-side acres – cur- ments, meaning the city would
“This new position should CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

CONTINUED ON PAGE 6 CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

IsanundergroundstripclubtakingoffinSouthVero? Covid again up here, and hospitalizations double

BY RAY MCNULTY advertising “SHOW GIRLS LIVE” and BY LISA ZAHNER at press time was nearly double that
Staff Writer “MAGIC MIKE LIVE” and providing a Staff Writer of the previous week.
local cellphone number.
Is an underground strip club oper- New COVID-19 infections here in- “Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hos-
ating just a few miles from 32963 in And if you called that number and creased 60 percent over the past two pital has nine COVID-positive patients
Indian River County? left a message – or sent a text message weeks, rising from 63 cases to 101 cas- in-house today, none of which are in
– you probably received a response es, according to the Florida Depart- critical care,” Cleveland Clinic spokes-
If you’ve driven around the Vero via text informing you that the next ment of Health, and the number of person Erin Miller said Monday.
Beach area recently, you might’ve no- “Show Girls” event is scheduled for 8 COVID-positive patients hospitalized
ticed the handwritten roadside signs While Florida as a whole has not
CONTINUED A PAGE 10
CONTINUED A PAGE 12

October 27, 2022 Volume 15, Issue 43 Newsstand Price $1.00 One-dose radiation:
New treatment for
News 1-12 Editorial 36 People 13-30 TO ADVERTISE CALL breast cancer. P52
Arts 45-50 Games 39-41 Pets 64 772-559-4187
Books 38 Health 51-59 Real Estate 71-84
Dining 63-65 Insight 31-44 Style 60-63 FOR CIRCULATION
CALL 772-226-7925

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

2 Vero Beach 32963 / October 27, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

My Vero the fate of the city’s plan to develop a velopment as evil, and believe every pansion of the city marina with the goal
dining, retail, social and recreational remaining patch of vacant, publicly of derailing the Three Corners project.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 hub on the mainland waterfront parcel owned land must become a park.
known as the Three Corners, our mes- When you cast your ballot in this
And we can do all of this without sac- sage is: Don’t be fooled by the misrepresen- election, vote “yes” on the city-crafted
rificing any ofVero’s small-town charm. tations being peddled by the Keep Vero referendum asking voters to amend
Don’t blow it. Vero crowd, which has hijacked a neigh- the charter to allow commercial use
To Vero Beach voters about to decide Don’t listen to those who see all de- borhood movement opposing the ex- on the power-plant parcel north of the

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / October 27, 2022 3

17th Street Bridge, if officials can ne- the alliance’s referendum will determine “The outreach to the community “But,” he added, “that was a very high
gotiate a long-term lease with a coop- the fate of the Three Corners project. was huge, and there was a lot of pub- point from which to fall.”
erative developer. lic participation,” Duany said earlier
The city hired celebrated urban plan- this month, when he returned to Vero Duany went on to warn project sup-
Then vote “no” on the Vero Beach ner Andres Duany to produce a design Beach to re-present his concept and porters that the length of the process –
Preservation Alliance-authored, two- concept, which was presented to the answer questions at Walking Tree as well as the many months that have
pronged referendum that asks voters community in a series of well-attended Brewery, where he was welcomed by passed since the City Council voted to
to: charrettes, where he sought public in- a large and enthusiastic gathering of move forward with his plan – could re-
put. citizens, business owners and public sult in an “erosion of enthusiasm.”
 Add the land containing the ma- officials.
rina’s boat-storage facility to the char- His final presentation received a We can’t let that happen.
ter’s list of protected properties. standing ovation.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
 Restrict “any future structures”
added to the charter’s protected prop-
erties to no more than 500 square
feet (slightly more than three parking
spaces), and limit the expansion of
existing structures to no more than 20
percent of their current footprint and
volume, unless approved by city vot-
ers in a referendum.

Do NOT vote “yes” on both ballot ini-
tiatives.

If you vote “yes” on both, you’re
contradicting yourself – because the
delays and uncertainty created by the
alliance’s referendum likely would kill
the Three Corners project.

Think about it: Would any reputable
developer be willing to spend hun-
dreds of thousands of dollars to pro-
duce a site plan, knowing voters could
reject it in a referendum that could be
months away?

What if a voter-approved site plan
needed to be amended to accommo-
date additional parking, or another
sidewalk, or expanded restrooms be-
yond the ridiculously small limits of
the alliance’s referendum?

The developer again would be re-
quired to go to the voters, who would
essentially replace our elected City
Council as partners in the deal.

As former Vero Beach Mayor Harry
Howle put it: “If both referendums
pass, we’re going to have the willing-
ness of the people to allow develop-
ment of the Three Corners property,
but we won’t have the ability.”

That’s why you also should be root-
ing hard for the city to prevail in its
lawsuit, which seeks to void the al-
liance’s referendum by challenging
what it believes are ambiguities in the
ballot initiative’s wording.

At a hearing earlier this month, Cir-
cuit Judge Laurie Buchanan resched-
uled a trial on the matter for Nov. 4
– four days before Election Day. How-
ever, Vero Beach City Attorney John
Turner said she informed both sides
she will not issue a ruling until 7:01
p.m. on Nov. 8, immediately after the
polls close.

“She wants to hear the case before
the election, but she doesn’t want her
ruling to influence the vote,” Turner
said. “She will not know the outcome
of the referendum before making her
ruling. Her decision will solely on the
facts and the law.”

It’s impossible to know how Buchanan
will rule, but city voters should assume

4 Vero Beach 32963 / October 27, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

My Vero put a substantial amount of money in The project also would provide jobs ment would fill a gaping void in our
the city’s coffers. and generate some sales-tax revenue. community, which, unlike Sebastian
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3 and Fort Pierce, lacks open-to-the-
“If the city’s referendum is ap- This shouldn’t be solely about mon- public waterfront dining and a river-
Vero Beach has plenty of parks. It proved, we’re going to select a devel- ey, though. This should be about mak- walk-type experience on the main-
doesn’t need another one, especially oper and negotiate a deal that make ing the best place to live on Florida’s land.
with the cost of maintenance. sense to both parties,” City Manager east coast even better.
Monte Falls said. “But you can expect As the county continues to grow, es-
Vero Beach does need revenue, the lease to reflect what a developer “The Three Corners project,” Howle pecially to the west, the Three Corners
however, and leasing the Three Cor- would pay for prime real estate on the said, “would be the best thing ever to site also would ease the in-season traf-
ners property to a developer would lagoon.” happen to this city.” fic and congestion along Ocean Drive

Certainly, if done right, the develop-

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by providing a dining and socializing it took to complete the sale of the city’s off limits to the public, and vacant for ners property wouldn’t turn Vero Beach
alternative on the lagoon’s west bank. electric utility to Florida Power & Light? years, maybe decades. into Port St. Lucie, nor would it destroy
Or how long the former Dodgertown the feel and flavor of our community.
Downtown Vero is nice and offers Golf Club property sat idle before it The city would continue to mow the
some wonderful restaurants, shops was sold to the county? grass every so often, just to prevent the Vero would still be Vero – as much
and pubs, but it’s not on the water – property from becoming a weed-in- as it can be as the county’s population
and, on the mainland, the Three Cor- The city moves at the speed of ero- fested eyesore that embarrasses all of surpasses 160,000 – but it finally would
ners project might be the city’s last sion. us. But it’s potential would be wasted. offer a much-needed gathering place
best chance to get us there anytime on the mainland’s waterfront.
soon. So if the Three Corners project doesn’t Is that what we want?
move forward now, you can expect that Developing a dining, retail, social This is our moment in time.
Shall I remind you how many years stretch of waterfront to remain fenced, and recreational hub on the Three Cor- Let it be Vero’s finest hour. 

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deemed reliable but are not guaranteed and are subject to errors, omissions or changes without notice. All such information should be independently verified by any prospective purchaser or seller. Parties should perform their
own due diligence to verify such information prior to a sale or listing. Premier Estate Properties, Inc. expressly disclaims any warranty or representation regarding such information. Prices published are either list price, sold price,
and/or last asking price. Premier Estate Properties, Inc. participates in the Multiple Listing Service and IDX. The properties published as listed and sold are not necessarily exclusive to Premier Estate Properties, Inc. and may be listed or
have sold with other members of the Multiple Listing Service. Transactions where Premier Estate Properties, Inc. represented both buyers and sellers are calculated as two sales. Cooperating Brokers are advised that in the event
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affiliations may not be applicable to certain geographic areas. If your property is currently listed with another broker, please disregard any solicitation for services. Copyright 2022 Premier Estate Properties, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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

Jason Brown stepping down job on Jan. 6, returning to the county Commissioner Joe Flescher said he but we owe it to the community and our-
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 agency he started his career with after believes there is “qualified talent in selves to go through the proper process.
college a quarter-century ago. the building,” but he didn’t mention
allow me to do that,” he said. names. Among the likely in-house ap- “If we do,” she added, “I think we’d
Brown, 48, who is married with two “I’ve been thinking about this for a plicants are Assistant County Admin- get some great applicants.”
couple of months,” Brown said, adding istrator Michael Zito and Community
school-age children, has worked for that he explained his concerns to Clerk Development Director Phil Matson. Commission Chairman Peter O’Bryan
the county for 25 years, mostly of that of Court Jeff Smith, who told him he had said he, too, prefers a broad search and
time heading up the Office of Man- a vacancy in his finance department. While Commissioner Susan Adams suggested enlisting help from the Florida
agement and Budget. He has served said she would encourage internal Association of Counties.
as administrator since 2016, when he “An opportunity presented itself,” candidates to apply, she also wants to
was promoted from budget director to Brown said, “and I made a decision conduct a nationwide search. Flescher described the adminis-
replace Joe Baird, who retired. that’s best for me and my family.” trator’s job as a “very complicated,
“I want to cast a net as far and wide demanding and unique position” be-
He is scheduled to begin his new The County Commission is expect- as we can,” Adams said. “There are in- cause whomever the commissioners
ed to discuss at next week’s meeting house candidates we should consider, hire will “answer to five bosses who
the search for Brown’s successor. answer to 165,000 bosses.” 

Cindy Gibbs

Indian River County Schoolboard
Candidate District 2

thanks you for your vote!

Vote again on November 8th for
all kids, all families, all teachers.

Paid Political Ad and approved by Cynthia Gibbs,
Non-Partisan Candidate for IRC School Board, District 2.



8 Vero Beach 32963 / October 27, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

Antitrust suit settled both the town and city had hired. “We got every bit of relief that we freedom to strike a deal with Indian
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Those negotiations resulted in a joint sought from the lawsuit in this settle- River County Utilities, Indian River
stipulation to end the lawsuit. ment,” Shores Mayor Brian Foley said Shores will allow the 1989 territorial
need to reimagine its entire case prior on Monday, calling the whole matter agreement to remain untouched.
to the January trial. Vero agreed not to assert any rights “a colossal waste of time and money.”
under the 1989 agreement, now or in “The parties agree that the city’s
Expert witnesses chimed in with the future, that might prevent the Town Vero Mayor Robbie Brackett seemed stipulation to the terms above does
their analyses, and both parties began of Indian River Shores from obtaining equally pleased about the settlement not constitute any
deposing a list of elected and appoint- water, sewer and reuse irrigation wa- last week when the council voted
ed officials compelled by subpoena. ter service from Indian River County. unanimously to accept it, saying admission of guilt or liability for the
The city also agreed not to seek any he’s happy “to get this off our plate.” conduct alleged in this action. The
Then three weeks ago, the begin- fees or damages should the Shores Brackett, who is the GOP candidate City maintains that the 1989 Agree-
nings of a proposed settlement began obtain utility service from the county for Florida House of Representatives ment remains or is otherwise unaf-
to circulate back and forth among staff after the Shores’ franchise agreement and is favored to win in the November fected and is in full force and effect,”
attorneys and the outside law firms with Vero expires on Oct. 1, 2027. election, has wanted to find a solution the document states.
to the neighbor-against-neighbor dis-
pute before he leaves the city council. This is an important point to Vero
because the 1989 agreement covers
“They want options and as a busi- its utility customers in the unincor-
ness owner we all want options and porated South Beach part of the bar-
that’s what we’re going to give them,” rier Island. The formal utility market
Brackett said. “I think the options are allocation also maintains a balance of
limited. It’s a very expensive decision power between Vero and Indian River
but it’s their decision to make.” County, without which Vero has spec-
ulated that the utilities might be per-
Vero is banking on the Shores dis- mitted to try to randomly poach each
covering that the infrastructure costs others’ water-sewer customers.
that must be borne by town taxpay-
ers to run county water and sewer Now Indian River Shores is free to
lines under the Indian River Lagoon to negotiate with the Board of County
the barrier island would be an insur- Commissioners, with County Admin-
mountable burden, making even Ve- istrator Jason Brown and his successor
ro’s huge planned rate hikes look like to determine what it will take to join
a good deal. the town to the county’s water-sewer
utility system, without interference or
In exchange for the agreed-to con- threats of legal action from Vero.
cessions by Vero giving the Shores the
CONTINUED ON PAGE 10



10 Vero Beach 32963 / October 27, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

Antitrust suit settled Beach residents, who are set to transi- women perform live” in a series of five “If you are in Vero Beach FL,” the
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8 tion to Vero’s proposed “One Rate” plan one-hour shows. Those who attend website states, “come check us out.”
designed to pay off at least $158 million are welcome to enjoy “music, drinks,
Vero had taken issue with Indian in debt Vero will incur to move its sewer snacks, games, prizes” while being en- In addition, Primo-Greetings has a
River County allowing staffers to as- plant off the riverfront. tertained by “sexy fantasy performers.” Facebook page, where it uses photo-
sist the Shores’ utility consultant with graphs of provocatively attired women
a feasibility study. Vero intends to switch all of its util- Oh, and for those wondering: Ad- to advertise activity some might find
ity customers to the single-rate plan in mission to your first show is free, but suspicious: “Beautiful sexy women ser-
At some point in the near future, January, including Indian River Shores. you must RSVP with a name. vicing single men for a fantasy date.”
Shores officials will need to weigh the Meanwhile, a state circuit court appeal
benefits of low, predictable county of a breach of contract lawsuit is still You want more information? You’ll Its most recent post was on Sept. 2,
utility rates against the unknown costs pending in Florida’s Fourth District need to call “Jason,” using the same when it advertised a Sept. 17 “Show
and technical challenges of hooking Court of Appeals over Vero’s alleged phone number posted on those road- Girls” event at its 8th Way Southwest
up to the county water-sewer system. breach of the Shores’ water-sewer side signs. “Jason” did not respond to location and listed the number found
franchise agreement. That dispute is a voice message left by Vero Beach on the local signs.
Vero agreed to give Indian River Shores over rates charged and promises made 32963 seeking comment for this story.
six additional months to determine how in the 2012 contract.  Those roadside signs, in fact, have
the town wishes to proceed with util- This newspaper did conduct a spawned more than 200 comments
ity service from 2027 on, extending the Underground strip club Google search of the phone num- on two postings on Facebook’s wildly
non-renewal notification deadline from CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 ber, however, and the first item listed popular Vero Beach Neighborhood
Oct. 1, 2023 to April 1, 2024. was “Primo-Greetings,” a website page, where most of the remarks have
p.m. to 1 a.m. on Nov. 5 at an address that claims to have been “created for been light-hearted and humorous.
In return for these concessions, immediately west of the Timber Ridge guys who love the touch of a woman,
“The Town takes no position on the community on Oslo Road. and who would like to get away for Some of those who commented,
validity of any portion of the 1989 the weekend” with “beautiful women however, expressed concern about illicit
Agreement not addressed by this Stip- The message also refers you to a trained in the art of pleasure.” – and possible criminal – behavior and
ulation,” the agreement states. Facebook page for “The Shack,” where suggested the Sheriff’s Office investigate
you’ll find photographs of a smiling The website states: “These ladies spe- the activity connected to the signs.
South Beach customers are once young woman in a bikini-type costume cialize in dance, one-on-one baths, and
again left out in the cold as Vero and and a house with a handwritten “THE the most intimate/relaxing massages,” Lt. Joe Abollo, the Sheriff’s Office’s
the Shores come to an amicable resolu- SHACK” sign on a boarded-up window. and the getaways to Miami – which may public information officer, did not re-
tion of the lawsuit. Vero will continue to include a “fantasy video” session – are spond to voice and text messages.
serve the unincorporated south island The page includes an invitation to prizes that can be won in a raffle.
without a franchise agreement, butVero the “ultimate house party,” where you County Administrator Jason Brown
City Manager Monte Falls said a con- can “see beautiful, exotic and talented The Primo-Greetings website, said he was unaware of the signs, but
tract is in the works. Unfortunately, that which includes photographs of the if any of them is posted in a right-of-
proposal offers no protection for South “models,” also advertises The Shack’s way, code enforcement crews will re-
shows, where, it appears, raffle tickets move them.
may be purchased.
He said there are no licensed and

CONTINUED ON PAGE 12



12 Vero Beach 32963 / October 27, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

Underground strip club Covid cases rise mended schedule of routine child, But 14 researchers published a re-
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10 adolescent and adult immunizations. port in the Oct. 12 issue of the Journal
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 of the American College of Cardiology
The move by the CDC raised con- outlining potentially serious drug in-
approved adult entertainment estab- experienced the same uptick in new cerns among parents of school-age teractions if Paxlovid is taken on top of
lishments in the county, and he will infections as Indian River County, sev- children that adding the COVID-19 vac- several commonly prescribed cardiac
have his staff investigate the property eral Omicron subvariants are gaining cines to the childhood and adolescent medicines.
for zoning code violations. steam around the globe, threatening immunization schedules was an incre-
to bring new surge of COVID-19 illness mental step toward mandating children “Given the frequency of Drug-Drug
“If it’s something more than that,” to the U.S. this winter. get the vaccine to attend school. Interaction (DDI) with NMVr, dose ad-
Brown said, “then it’s in the jurisdic- justment or temporary interruption
tion of the Sheriff’s Office.” Even if another onslaught of covid is Within hours of the 15-0 vote by the of these medications may be required
averted, a Centers for Disease Control CDC panel, Gov. Ron DeSantis reassured when prescribing NMVr (Paxlovid),”
According to the comments on the and Prevention committee last week Floridians via a press conference that the study highlights said.
Vero Beach Neighborhood page, the conceded that covid is “here to stay” there would be no COVID vaccine man-
signs have been seen on U.S. 1, Oslo and added the Pfizer and Moderna date for kids as long as he is governor. For those who cannot go without their
Road, Old Dixie Highway, 27th Av- mRNA COVID vaccines to the recom- daily heart medicines, “NMVr (Paxlovid)
enue, 58th Avenue, and 8th Street.  But even among older folks, there are should be avoided when potentially in-
few takers of COVID vaccines locally. teracting cardiovascular medications
LINDA cannot be safely interrupted,” the jour-
While the uptake of new Omicron- nal article said.
MOORE targeted vaccine booster shots re-
mains dismal with fewer than 10 Indi- The American College of Cardiology
FOR CITY COUNCIL an River County residents getting the published guidance on this issue back
jab each week, the results of a recent in June 24. Anyone concerned about
My experience as a business owner and 16 year resident of this study may make people who depend how their medications might interact
community drive my desire to ser ve in public oce and give back to on daily heart and cholesterol medi- with Paxlovid should consult their doc-
a place that has given me so much. As a downtown business owner cations want to get up to date on their tor before they get sick from COVID.
of Kilted Mermaid Restaurant for 11 years, I understand the value of shots and be extra careful not to get
managing our resources and providing the best possible service to our COVID-19. Paxlovid is being purchased directly
customers. I am scally conservative, and commit to watching every tax from Pfizer by the federal government
dollar critically. I am also a strong proponent of protecting our lagoon The oral antiviral cocktail named for $10.6 billion under two contracts
and our beautiful waterways. They are what makes our corner of this Paxlovid – a combination of two doses for a total of 20 million courses of the
beautiful state a true treasure. I will see that the 3 Corners Project gets of Nirmatrelvir plus one dose of Rito- medication at a cost of $530 for the
developed into a wonderful destination, keeping a large percentage navir given the abbreviation NMVr – three-dose treatment. It is free to the
of it as green space for all to enjoy and developing it in a way that has been widely used with great effec- patient, except for the cost of an in-of-
protects the Indian River lagoon. tiveness in preventing hospitalization fice or telehealth visit to get a prescrip-
and death from COVID-19 illness after tion for Paxlovid. 
people do contract the virus.

Param Patel, Leland Middleton
and Jeffrey Howard.

DEEP DIVE INTO DATA INVIGORATES
A DAY IN LIFE OF LAGOON P. 18

14 Vero Beach 32963 / October 27, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

Inspiring stories provide the ‘Wow’ at Youth Guidance ‘Luau’

Claudia Owen and Bob Formisano. PHOTOS: JOSHUA KODIS Trudie Rainone and Phil Barnes. PHOTOS CONTINUED ON PAGE 16
Dorothy and Wilfred Hart.
BY MARY SCHENKEL
Staff Writer Lori and Steve Simmons with Mary Lewisy.

Enrollees in the Youth Guid- Dhalani Henry and Darmeshia Brunson.
ance Mentoring Academy delighted
guests at the 45th annual Tropical school, so I get my on-the-job learn-
Night Luau, held at the Boulevard ing hours and I get my classroom
Tennis Club, speaking passionately hours. So in four years I could be-
about how they participate in the come a journeyman and make some
nonprofit’s many programs. big money,” said Harrington.

As Youth Guidance enters its 50th A trio of 14-year-old young la-
anniversary year, it is embarking on dies – Tavoroua, Elise and Gabby
a capital campaign to fund the ren- – spoke about their involvement in
ovation and expansion of its facility Pathfinders, a youth Exchange Club
to further enhance its offerings. subset, with each girl expounding
on the club’s pillars: Americanism,
In addition to one-on-one and Community Service and Youth Pro-
group scholastic mentoring, pro- grams.
grams include computer skills, ro-
botics, sewing, cooking and gar- Introducing Phil Barnes, YG ex-
dening, and vocational training in ecutive director, auctioneer Neil
bicycle repair and boat mechanics. Saffer recalled their first phone
call, and said “he was unbelievably
“We just learned to sew last se- passionate about youth and chang-
mester,” said 11-year-old Hezekiah, ing lives and building futures. This
who confidently described the sew- is how you change the world. This is
ing machine’s many intricacies. how you change tomorrow.”
Standing alongside him, Kadi, age
10, proudly showed off the hold-all “Everybody here makes what we
“bucket” she had sewn. do possible at Youth Guidance. And
that is, providing our kids a better
Group leader Joseph Gotay said
they partner with Bike Walk Indian
River County, which provides four
instructors to teach students the
fundamentals of bike repair while
rehabbing bicycles for themselves
and others.

“I’ve been in the whole Youth
Guidance program for almost two
years, and I’m finishing my own
bike this year,” said Faith, 13.

There is also a pre-apprenticeship
program to learn career skills in
HVAC, plumbing, welding, carpen-
try and electric. Joseph Harrington,
who went through the program last
year, is now an apprentice with F. V.
Casano Electric.

“He’s sponsoring me to go to

future, making sure that they have the crowd with her infectious en- ing, gardening and the pre-appren- fun, and a fire eater/dancer – not
the skills they need to go out there thusiasm, relating that she has been ticeship, where we provide certifica- surprisingly, not joined by volun-
and become successful adults,” said enrolled at YG for two years and that tions for kids to go out and get jobs teers. Guests dined at tables in the
Barnes, thanking everyone for their making crafts is one of her favorite in the trades, these are the kind of clubhouse and out on the covered
support. activities. programs that we believe will lead to veranda on a Hawaiian feast, com-
successful futures for our kids. And, plete with a whole roasted pig, by
Darmeshia Brunson expressed “Youth Guidance means a lot of course, we’re providing that car- Counter Culture Chef proprietors
her thanks, appreciative that her to me because I get to make new ing guidance along the way,” said Anthony and Lisa Damiano, and
daughter, Dhalani Henry, was able friends, have fun and learn new Barnes. competitively bid on the live auc-
to take part in activities she could things,” said Dhalani, to cheers and tion items.
not do otherwise, such as weekly applause. The evening also featured skilled
horseback riding over the summer. hula dancers, plus some intrepid For more information, visit Youth-
“It just goes to show that what you guests enticed to join in on the GuidanceProgram.org. 
Dhalani, 7, thoroughly charmed see here, between sewing and cook-

16 Vero Beach 32963 / October 27, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

PHOTOS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 14 Michael and Kathie Pierce.
Jeff and Stephanie Pickering.

Elke and George Fetterolf. Duncan MacLeod and Barbara Petrillo. Robin and Brenda Lloyd.

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / October 27, 2022 17

PEOPLE

Christina and Jeremy Cassell. Rachel Gould and Marilyn Wallach.

Nanaleigh Souza and Joy Lees. Wes Radecke and Kathryn Casano Radecke. Karen and Gerardo Fulchini.

Jeff Earlywine, Candy Caldwell and Brian Leonard.

Susan Becker, Shirley Becker and Susan Appel.

18 Vero Beach 32963 / October 27, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

Deep dive into data invigorates A Day in Life of the Lagoon

BY STEPHANIE LaBAFF
Staff Writer

Citizen Scientists made a big Juliette McLean, Kenna Vitter and Macey Miller. STORY, PHOTOS CONTINUED ON PAGE 20 Mason Noecker.
splash during the fifth annual A
Day in the Life of the Indian River “The students are working along- PHOTOS: JOSHUA KODIS conducting a comprehensive study
Lagoon event hosted by the Ocean side environmental experts and of the water’s temperature, salin-
Research and Conservation Asso- professionals in the field. They are neering and Math), they have this ity, dissolved oxygen, pH, nitrates,
ciation. Thousands of participants, learning about what those profes- person they can reference,” said phosphates, and the biological in-
including volunteers, students from sions are like so that if they ever Missy Weiss, ORCA’s director of Cit- ventory of the organisms that live at
36 schools, and partners from more wanted to step into the world of izen Science and Education. the various sites.
than 30 environmental organiza- STEM (Science, Technology, Engi-
tions, collected water quality data Students spent the morning as- A Day in the Life is one of four
and conducted biological invento- sessing the chemical, physical and
ries at 50 locations along the 156- biological parameters of the lagoon,
mile Indian River Lagoon, from
Volusia to Palm Beach County.

In Indian River County, data was
collected at nine sites by volunteers
and students from area elementary,
middle and high schools with the
assistance of professionals from the
Environmental Learning Center,
St. Johns River Water Management
District, Florida Fish and Wildlife
Conservation and ORCA. The over-
all goal was to evaluate the health
of the lagoon.

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20 Vero Beach 32963 / October 27, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

STORY, PHOTOS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 18
Alexis Zanni, Katie Bender and Lauren Hall.

Virginia Barradas and Zavianna Carroll. Trenton Bell and Cole Yousefi.

citizen science projects undertaken The participating students not
by the nonprofit to realize its mis- only get hands-on and feet-wet ex-
sion to protect the lagoon through periences in scientific research,
science, restoration, advocacy and Weiss said, it also enables them to
education. connect with the lagoon.

A Land to Sea project works to re- “Many of these students have
store living shorelines by planting never stepped foot in the Indian
native vegetation to create buffered River Lagoon, let alone known that
coastlines. Their Pollution Mapping it is the waterway they drive by ev-
project has volunteers assist with ery day.”
monitoring and conservation to
understand the depth of the dam- Through Citizen Science projects,
age done to the lagoon. And the One students are able to utilize the skills
Health – Fish Monitoring project as- they learn in science classrooms
sesses the toxin transferal from the by applying them to real-world sci-
lagoon to humans and animals. ence.

The Citizen Science program is “It’s a huge opportunity for stu-
based on the premise that educating dents to collect science research
and engaging the community about that matters and connect with why
the root causes of the degradation it’s so important and valuable,” said
of the lagoon and its connecting Weiss.
waterways, will “drive change and
solve the problems.” “When they see dolphins swim
by, watch pelicans dive, and collect
“This is year five,” said Weiss. “Now fish in the seine net, it becomes a
we can start looking at those sites little more real as to why it’s impor-
which have been with us since year tant.”
one and start looking and seeing and
documenting any changes, whether Once all the participants have
for the better or worse, to see how they compiled and submitted their data,
may have improved or otherwise.” it will be available for viewing at
TeamORCA.org. 

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / October 27, 2022 21

PEOPLE

Alonna Antinozzi, Nathan Garcia and Bithy Kundu.

Quinn Gagnon and Violet Love O’Dell. Juliana Sullivan and Eryn Lawson.

Marylou and Annabelle Robins.

Julianne Daniels and Marylou Robins. Laura La Beur and Gavin Davis.





24 Vero Beach 32963 / October 27, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

Art Show provides tip o’ the habitat to local wildlife refuges

BY STEPHANIE LaBAFF and stewardship of all National Wild-
Staff Writer life Refuges, but especially our two lo-
cal ones.
The Pelican Island Conservation
Society celebrated National Wildlife Indian River County is home to the
Refuge week with a monthlong ver- Pelican Island National Wildlife Ref-
sion that featured a Bird and Nature uge, designated by President Theodore
Art Show at the Environmental Learn- Roosevelt in 1903 as the first NWR in
ing Center. The event highlights and the country. We share the Archie Carr
promotes the awareness, conservation National Wildlife Refuge, a prolific sea
turtle nesting area that spans from Wa-

Barbara Schlitt Ford, Stephanie Hawkins and Andrea Aprea. PHOTOS: JOSHUA KODIS

basso Beach to Melbourne Beach, with “and, hopefully, encourages people to
Brevard County. get out and see Pelican Island.”

Festivities kicked off with the annual Nature lovers satiated their interests
Indian River Bird and Nature Art Show in Florida wildlife and their habitats
in the ELC’s Lagoon Room and Tidal during several weekend sunset wine
Gallery. and cheese cruises that traveled from
the ELC to Pelican Island to view the
Tim Glover, PICS president, said the birds as they flew home to roost.
art show helps to promote the nature
and wildlife associated with the refuge, Along the way Joan Edwards, a long-

PAUL WESTCOTT

INDIAN RIVER HOSPITAL DISTRICT 4

Paul Westcott seeks to improve Cleveland Clinic
Indian River Hospital service to our community
by improving patient satisfaction, employee
morale and retention, and better support for our
independent providers.

HE WILL WORK FOR YOU!

Endorsed by:
Robert Brackett, Mayor of Vero Beach
Joe Flescher, Indian River County Commissioner

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / October 27, 2022 25

PEOPLE

Carolyn Martel, Judy Burgarella, Camy De Mario. Janet McFeaters and Karen McFeaters. Josephine Stokes, Sherrel Galeotti and Diane Boucher.

time environmental advocate, pointed Huey Zaplin and Pam Webb. ciate and know what’s here. We want
out items of interest and shared infor- people to get out and see it and experi-
mation about the local wildlife. Upon ence it,” said Glover.
the return of one trip, adventurers had
the rare opportunity to spot the elusive For more information, visit First
Space X, a flying spectacle of the man- Refuge.org. 
made variety.

Another day, birders David and Dee
Simpson led a group through the ELC’s
64-acre campus on an Owl Hoot. At
dusk, strigiformesphiles – a mouthful
of a word for owl lovers – headed out
in search of owls and other night crea-
tures, the least often spied residents of
the nature preserve.

“We’re trying to get people to appre-

We Must Act Now

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for our Children and Grandchildren before they are lost to Development

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26 Vero Beach 32963 / October 27, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

ORCA enjoys taste of Vero hospitality at Beer Pairing event

BY MARY SCHENKEL
Staff Writer

Bellies were blissfully sated at a Eric Ruiz, Daniel Zoll, Ryan Kasten, Amber Hackal, Chesley Winsett and Kitty Wagner. PHOTOS: JOSHUA KODIS
sold-out Beer Pairing dinner at the
Kilted Mermaid to benefit the Ocean
Research and Conservation Asso-
ciation. The evening featured four
courses prepared by Salvador Deli
and Kilted Mermaid, plus one by Pep-
per and Salt BBQ, each paired with
Walking Tree Brewery beers, and all
donated.

“We are just blown away by the re-
ception that we’ve been getting from
Vero Beach. This is such a heart-
warming example of it. I’m just in
awe; this is amazing,” said Edie Wid-
der, Ph.D., ORCA founder and CEO.

“We love ORCA and we’re very ex-
cited about ORCA moving to Vero
Beach. We care a great deal about the
lagoon and we’re all about science-
based solutions to the problems that
we’re having. Anything we can do to
support them, we want to do,” said
Linda Moore, owner with Rick Norry
of Kilted Mermaid.

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / October 27, 2022 27

She described Salvador Deli, a new PEOPLE
project they co-own with Courtney
Cotherman, as having “artfully ele- PHOTOS CONTINUED ON PAGE 28 ping site, the event raised double that
vated food,” and said it will soon have Lizzie Cook and Dylan Barbee. amount, enabling two sites which will
its own, permanent location. be monitored and tested quarterly.

“So having our first Salvador Deli “We now have 24 of them up and
event be for Orca, just feels like where down the Indian River Lagoon main-
we want to be in our hearts. It’s who tained by citizen scientists like Walk-
we want to be as people and as a ing Tree Brewery, who adopted a site
business and as a community,” said and have been collecting data. And
Moore. now Kilted Mermaid is going to do the
same thing,” said Widder.
“This is our first collaborative char-
ity venture between Kilted Mermaid, “Thank you so much for making
Pepper and Salt Barbeque, Walking this possible and for joining us tonight
Tree Brewery and Salvador Deli. We in this community effort, to figure out
are so honored to have Dr. Edie Wid- how to protect our local lagoon sys-
der and ORCA here in the house,” said tems.”
Cotherman in agreement.
For more information, visit Team
“This is a good way to showcase all ORCA.org. 
these local businesses. Most impor-
tantly, though, help ORCA. We’ve got-
ten so close to their mission.”

During dinner, Mike Malone,
Walking Tree co-owner and head
brewer, introduced the carefully se-
lected beers, and Moore and Cother-
man spoke about the scrumptious
dishes.

Pairings included an Afternoon De-
light Peach Saison paired with kimchi
deviled eggs; Czech Yu’ Lager paired
with two incredible bratwurst variet-
ies; Volksmarsch Oktoberfest paired
with braised wild boar belly; and a
Pantalones De’ Guava Sour sorbet as
an intermezzo. Pepper and Salt BBQ
contributed a smoked wagyu brisket
paired with a Grass N’ Flowers Ex-
perimental IPA. Dessert featured dark
chocolate cups filled with date pista-
chio nougat and maple bourbon cara-
mel served with Duke Snider Imperial
Stout.

A video about ORCA demonstrated
that through pollution mapping, they
are able to identify problem areas.
Widder said in the video: “We have to
recognize that we’re all polluters, and
we just have to work together to find
solutions that we can all live with.”

“I’m just blown away by this eve-
ning. It’s such an amazing event, and
menu, and outpouring. We’re just so
grateful,” said Widder, speaking to
guests directly.

She said that a year and a half ago
ORCA found itself homeless after
being evicted, with just 60 days’ no-
tice, from the Fort Pierce headquar-
ters they had occupied since its 2005
founding.

“We now have a new building, I’m
very proud to announce, just a min-
ute away. We’re on 16th Street, right
next to Indian River Clay,” said Wid-
der, gratefully acknowledging the
support that made the purchase pos-
sible.

“Tonight is an example of that com-
munity support,” said Widder.

While their goal was to raise $2,500
to sponsor one ORCA pollution map-

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

PEOPLE

Mike Malone and John Chianis. Susan Wilkins, Cheryl Normandeau and Sydney Bush.
Courtney Cotherman, Linda Moore and Edie Widder.
Sharon and Willie Ortiz.
Natalie and Patrick Savadge.



30 Vero Beach 32963 / October 27, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

PHOTOS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 27 Lauren Tracy and Michelle Martin. Joe Phelps and Megan Gandy.
Judith and Marvin Martin.

Linda Moore, Courtney Cotherman and Rick Norry. Joe and Joann Decicco. (front) Marilyn and Ed Kindy with (back) George and Janet Watson.



32 Vero Beach 32963 / October 27, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT COVER STORY

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / October 27, 2022 33

INSIGHT COVER STORY

Today, with photographs published Preeminent among illustrated maga-
and consumed everywhere, it’s stagger- zines was Life. Published as a weekly
ing to think that their dissemination news magazine between 1936 and 1972,
was ever concentrated. Life magazine sold in the tens of millions.
When you include pass-along reader-
But between the Great Depression ship, its pages regularly reached about
and the Vietnam War, according to the one-quarter of America’s population.
organizers of “Life Magazine and the
Power of Photography,” an exhibition at Life magazine emerged before the
Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, “the ma- onset of television. What made it revo-
jority of photographs printed and con- lutionary was its emphasis on photog-
sumed in the United States appeared raphy. Previous illustrated magazines
on the pages of illustrated magazines.” used artists’ illustrations. If they used
photographs, they were subordinated

COVER STORY CONTINUED ON PAGE 34

34 Vero Beach 32963 / October 27, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 33 INSIGHT COVER STORY

“At the Time of the Louisville
Flood,” by Margaret Bourke-
White, 1937.

Harlem Gang Leader opening
spread, 1948. Life Magazine.

to the written word. Life put photographs front and Killer sentence. Fantastic use of punctuation. the assignments themselves, the image selections,
center. But Life really did shape lives. It affected people’s the captioning and layouts, and the images’ subse-
understanding of the world and their attitudes, quent impact. It’s not only about how the sausage
Its founder, Time Inc. publisher Henry Luce, was and it took on the power of a shared record, a his- was made, but also how it was cooked, how it was
inspired by picture magazines in Europe. Working tory. “It was all three [TV] networks combined,” says served, who ate it and how it tasted. For anyone in-
in New York with Kurt Safranski, a German Jew who 99-year-old Stan Flink, a former reporter and cor- terested in journalism, photography and ethics, it’s
had come to the United States to escape Nazi perse- respondent for Life, on the exhibition’s audio guide. revelatory – and riveting.
cution, and Kurt Korff, a former editor at “Berliner With its emphasis on visual storytelling through
Illustrierte Zeitung,” Luce experimented with mock- sequenced photographs (instead of one-off images “Life Magazine and the Power of Photography” is
ups and dummies, before typing up a “Prospectus illustrating articles), Life revolutionized the news. a much bigger version of an exhibition that opened
for a New Magazine.” Photographers who worked for the magazine includ- at the Princeton University Art Museum in early
ed Gordon Parks, Margaret Bourke-White, Robert 2020. That show was cut short by the pandemic.
You can see this electrifying document in the exhi- Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson and W. Eugene Smith. If you missed it there and can’t see it in Boston, it
bition’s first gallery. It was like a pitch, so it may help But this exhibition, organized by Kristen Gresh, Kath- comes with an award-winning catalogue full of fresh
to imagine it delivered in the voice of Jon Hamm as erine Bussard and Alissa Schapiro, is not a greatest- research drawn from the archives of Life magazine
ad man Don Draper, replete with pregnant pauses hits selection of iconic images from the pages of Life. and the photographers who worked for it.
for dramatic effect. Its conception is more ambitious than that.
It does include some of the 20th century’s best- Occasionally, photographers would pitch an
The new magazine’s purpose, wrote Luce, would known photographs. Among them: Capa’s pho- idea and have it accepted. Much more often, the
be “to see life; to see the world; to eyewitness great tograph of the 1944 landing at Normandy (which magazine’s editorial team would select the subject,
events; to watch the faces of the poor and the ges- photographer Matthias Bruggman describes on the choose a photographer, and workshop the story us-
tures of the proud; to see strange things – machines, audio guide as “the Mona Lisa of conflict photogra- ing researchers and a story-building team. In other
armies, multitudes, shadows in the jungle and on phy”); J.R. Eyerman’s 1952 photograph of an audi- words, it was a collaboration. The challenge of col-
the moon … to see and to take pleasure in seeing; to ence watching a movie with 3-D spectacles; Alfred laborations, as everyone knows, is keeping everyone
see and be amazed; to see and be instructed.” Eisenstaedt’s 1945 photograph of a sailor kissing on the same page. At Life, things became interesting
a woman on V-J Day; and Frank Dandridge’s 1963 when the photographer in the field (usually accom-
The magazine’s working title at this point was photograph of 12-year-old Sarah Collins, hospital- panied by a reporter) captured things that didn’t en-
“The Show-Book of the World.” Its premise was that ized with injured eyes after the bombing of Birming- tirely align with the story as conceived.
“to see, and to be shown, is now the will and new ham’s 16th Street Baptist Church, which killed her
expectancy of half mankind.” Feel the tectonic force sister and three other girls. It’s fascinating to read letters and telegrams sent
of that statement! The new weekly’s destiny-fulfill- But the show doesn’t just present these iconic from the field by the likes of Margaret Bourke-White,
ing mission was to be carried out by photographers. photographs and their backstories. It delves into ev- Yousuf Karsh (who photographed Winston Churchill)
The magazine, Luce wrote, “proposes to be the big- ery aspect of the photographs – from the magazine’s and W. Eugene Smith. Smith, having spent almost a
gest picture show on earth. … It proposes to scour commissioning process and story researchers to month photographing midwives working in impov-
the world for the best pictures of every kind; to edit erished areas of the U.S. South, wrote to the maga-
them with a feeling for visual form, for history and zine complaining about the “staggering” amount of
for drama; and to publish them on fine paper, every money he had spent on cameras, lenses and portable
week, for a dime.”

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / October 27, 2022 35

INSIGHT COVER STORY

“Normandy Invasion on D-Day, "Audience Watches Movie The Boston show includes more recent work,
Soldier Advancing through Wearing 3-D Spectacles," not affiliated with Life, by three contemporary art-
Surf,” by Robert Capa, 1944. by J.R. Eyerman, 1952. ists – Alfredo Jaar, Alexandra Bell and Julia Wach-
tel – who are interested in the power of images in
strobes, and lamenting the state of his car, “so beat by just their original idea or, conversely, how much journalism. Their works, intended as reflections
the brutality of the backwoods cow paths that I feel I to massage the images (by selection, captioning, on some of the issues raised by the historical por-
must either turn it in upon my return or go through layout or sometimes even manipulation) to make tion of the exhibition, are conceptual and critical
with a complete and expensive overhaul.” Smith them “fit.” of the power structures underlying the production
hoped that his story would strike “a powerful blow … of mainstream news. I found Wachtel’s installation
against the stupidity of racial prejudice.” Were many of their decisions informed by ideo- abstruse, and Bell’s redactions and arch reworkings
logical biases? Undoubtedly. A catastrophic global of New York Times front page articles provocative
Letters sent from photographers in Vietnam and conflict dominated the magazine’s early years and but tendentious (as she evidently feels the original
other war zones are harrowing reminders both of the Cold War followed. So did the civil rights move- articles were).
the risks taken by war photographers and the enor- ment, Vietnam and second-wave feminism. Life’s
mous logistical challenges they faced – not least generally moderate (within a U.S. context) view- Jaar’s installations I found more affecting. The
smuggling rolls of film back to the magazine. point could appear imperialist from a foreign per- Chilean-born, New York-based artist finds simple
spective. And within America, where the magazine but powerful ways to question the effect of news
Inevitably (it’s in the nature of journalism), catered to a mostly White, middle-class audience, it photographs of traumatic events. His work ex-
photographers in the field discovered more than often ignored or misrepresented the experiences of presses empathy for both photographers and their
the story-building team had conceived. The team large swaths of the population. subjects. Photographers, he says on the audio
back at Life then had to decide how much to ad- guide, are often betrayed by photo agencies and
media companies. They send in their work, but a
“photo editor comes in and selects images to fit
the ideological agenda of those media companies.
Perhaps most of the best images were never used
because they do not fit the narrative of the media
and their ideological agendas.”

The point is well taken, but it’s not just about
ideological agendas. It’s also about the constraints
on storytelling within a given format; about work-
ing collaboratively in a context of relentless dead-
lines; and about the bottom line. Life magazine was
a business. People on the editorial side would have
had differing opinions about what images were
most important. Their colleagues on the business
side would have had their own opinions about how
to sell copies and attract advertising. Ideology in-
heres in everything, especially economics. It can be
useful to make this visible. But it is naive simply to
wish these forces away.

These, in any case, are the kinds of big questions
provoked by this fascinating show, which may also
lead us to measure the distance between the end of
Life, which stopped publishing 50 years ago (over-
taken by television and “magazine” format news
programs like “60 Minutes”), and today’s media
landscape, where algorithms rule, infotainment
prevails, cynical manipulation of people’s fears is de
rigueur, deep fakes are commonplace, and the very
idea of a shared reality undergirded by empirical
truth is under sustained attack. 

Life Magazine and the Power of Photography.
Through Jan. 16 at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
mfa.org.

36 Vero Beach 32963 / October 27, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT EDITORIAL

By David Ignatius | Washington Post to run even faster in that direction in the future. The Chinese leader continued: “Some Party mem-
Xi’s speech was encyclopedic. The official trans- bersandofficialswerewaveringintheirpoliticalconvic-
As Chinese President Xi Jinping prepared for his tion. Despite repeated warnings, pointless formalities,
coronation last week as China’s 21st-century emper- lation ran to 60 pages, single-spaced. Its anodyne- bureaucratism, hedonism and extravagance persisted
or, he trumpeted the success of his hard-line poli- sounding theme was “socialism for the new era,” in some localities and departments. Privilege-seeking
cies over the past five years – and, in the process, of- and Xi mentioned this “new era” – the Age of Xi, we mind-sets and practices posed a serious problem.”
fered an ominous warning of what’s to come. might call it – more than 40 times. The speech had 80
mentions of security, 45 of socialism, 23 of technol- On his police-state covid-19 lockdowns, Xi said
Xi’s self-celebration came in the “work report” he ogy. It mentioned freedom once. he had launched “an all-out people’s war to stop the
delivered to the National Congress of the Chinese spread of the virus,” and he made no mention of the
Communist Party. It was an unyielding official affirma- Xi’s tone toward the United States was not bellicose, human costs of these policies. With the coronavirus,
tion of the leftward turn he has adopted – without any but he signaled that China is hunkering down for a pe- China truly has been caught between the health risks
sign that he recognizes the damage these policies have riod of intense competition with what he suggested was for an aging population and the costs of strangling
caused for China’s economy or reputation abroad. a bullying America: “Confronted with drastic changes commerce and social interaction.
in the international landscape, especially external at-
The congress concluded last weekend by granting tempts to blackmail, contain, blockade and exert maxi- As for the economy, Xi defended his neo-Maoist
Xi an unprecedented third term as China’s leader, and mum pressure on China, we have put our national in- emphasis on state-run firms, and the consequent
installing a new generation of reliable Xi supporters terests first, focused on internal political concerns, and throttling of entrepreneurs. He attacked “money
to the ruling Politburo. Most telling in this festival of maintained firm strategic resolve,” he said. worship, hedonism, egocentricity and historical ni-
personal celebration: Xi’s utter lack of self-criticism. hilism” and said of the once-vibrant Chinese inter-
Xi’s most intriguing comments were his attacks net sector, “online discourse was rife with disorder.”
Outside the echo chamber of Chinese propagan- on domestic critics, who have grumbled about the Chinese business leaders were already intimidated
da, there’s growing evidence that Xi is making mis- Communist Party’s ever-tightening control of all sec- by Xi’s attacks; now they are likely to retreat from any
takes. China’s economic growth is slowing, to what tors of Chinese life. Xi ripped these naysayers: “In- Western business contacts that might be dangerous.
many expect could be under 3 percent this year. side the Party, there were many issues with respect to
upholding the Party’s leadership, including a lack of Taiwan is the issue that most concerns many West-
China’s business elite, meanwhile, are struggling to clear understanding and effective action as well as a ern analysts. They will hardly be reassured that Xi got
cope with Xi’s emphasis on inefficient state-run com- slide toward weak, hollow, and watered-down Party loud applause when, after saying he wanted peace-
panies rather than Chinese innovators. And Chinese leadership in practice.” ful reunification, that “we will never promise to re-
citizens have suffered under an oppressive “zero co- nounce the use of force, and we reserve the option
vid” lockdown. of taking all measures necessary.” He blamed “in-
terference by outside forces” (meaning the United
Some analysts expected he might offer some mod- States) and a “few separatists seeking ‘Taiwan inde-
est concessions to his critics at home and abroad – pendence,’ ” for any troubles.
scaling back the zero-covid policy, for example, or
promoting officials who might provide more of the Xi spoke like the modern-day emperor he has
checks and balances that had existed among the Chi- now become. As we read his strident work report,
nese collective leadership until Xi took power in 2012. we should remember that its author will be the most
powerful Chinese leader in history – whose response
But Xi offered no apologies for China’s recent to China’s sagging economy and international isola-
course, only praise for his policies and pointed in- tion is full speed ahead 
sults for his critics. The setting of the party congress
gave his self-assessment special importance. A version of this column first appeared in The
Washington Post. It does not necessarily reflect the
The bottom line: If Xi has been moving in the views of Vero Beach 32963.
wrong direction in recent years, as many Chinese
and foreign analysts believe, he is now promising

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

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / October 27, 2022 37

INSIGHT OP-ED

Eek! There's a mouse in my Airbnb.

When Kristal Bird found a mouse in mouse traps and disinfect the unit. We and lay mouse traps. They said if I the place was under contract by a pest
her Airbnb, she asked the host solve the told him we would stay out of the unit wanted support, that is what I would control company isn't the same thing
problem. When he didn’t, she sought a for four days for him to do this. need to do. as actually doing something about it.
refund.
He responded that no one else had So I did. I caught two mice on the According to Airbnb's terms, a rental
QUESTION: reported any issues. He said the place first night of laying the glue traps. We is "not habitable" if it contains pests.
was under a Terminix contract and also had bait boxes, so I imagine more Airbnb's policy is to delist the home un-
Half-way through a 10-week stay at they would spray. mice ate that bait and will die in the til the host can prove it has been treated
an Airbnb in Houston, my husband vents. by a professional pest control company.
and I saw a mouse. Then we discov- I escalated the issue to Airbnb. A
ered mouse holes in sealed food bags representative said the host informed I sent photos to Airbnb. It didn't re- At the same time, Airbnb was cor-
in the pantry. them he took care of the issue. He told spond. I called Airbnb. A representa- rect to require proof of the rodent in-
me he did a walkthrough and every- tive promised a return call, but no one festation. You had presented it with
We left the rental and contacted the thing was OK. called back. Can you help me? photos of mouse droppings and bags
host. We requested that he lay some with holes, but that wasn't enough. You
Airbnb told me that based on my ANSWER: needed mice – and to your credit, you
evidence – I didn't have any pictures furnished Airbnb with two of them.
of the mouse –if I canceled, I would re- Airbnb rentals should be free of
ceive no refund. mice and other pests. And both your Airbnb should have found you al-
host and Airbnb should have taken ternate accommodations and paid for
I asked if they wanted me to return your complaint seriously. Telling you them while the home was being treated.
to the Airbnb to take better pictures
I would have suggested escalating
this case to an Airbnb executive. I list
the names, numbers and email ad-
dresses of Airbnb's managers on my
consumer advocacy site, Elliott.org.

I contacted Airbnb on your behalf. It
apologized and refunded your remain-
ing nights 

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

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38 Vero Beach 32963 / October 27, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT BOOKS

Now that 89-year-old nally, we saw the shy, gentle writer, not so much dis- Instead, we’re drawn deeper and deeper into the
Cormac McCarthy is widely hailed as one of our dainful of public adoration as inert to it. troubled soul of Bobby Western. His father worked
greatest living authors, it’s hard to remember that with Robert Oppenheimer to create the first atomic
when he published “All the Pretty Horses” in 1992, For the last 16 years, McCarthy’s swelling fan base bombs, and Western still labors under a kind of ge-
few people were waiting for it. Although McCarthy has been circling, picking at crumbs of information netic guilt for unleashing such horror on Hiroshima
had been writing for decades, his work – including about his next project. This month, the moment of and Nagasaki.
the epic western “Blood Meridian” – was still largely unveiling has arrived with a tempest of publicity
the secret treasure of a small retinue of intense fans. that’s sure to draw in even more readers. In a futile attempt to come to terms with that lega-
Inconspicuousness suited the author just fine, but cy and other ghosts, Western chats with a collection
like every fragile thing in the McCarthy universe, it Prepare to be baffled. of barflies who seem to have wandered in from other
would soon die. “The Passenger” exhibits McCarthy’s signature classics.
“All the Pretty Horses,” the first volume of his Bor- markings, but it’s a different species than we’ve spot-
der trilogy, flirted with the bestseller list for months ted before. In these pages, the author’s legendary The style – a mingling of profound contemplation
and then went on to win the National Book Award for violence has been infinitely reduced to the clash of and rapid-fire dialogue, always without quotation
fiction. McCarthy did not attend the New York cer- subatomic particles. marks and often without attribution – is pure Mc-
emony to accept his prize, but the damage was done: Bobby Western, the novel’s contemplative, haunt- Carthy. But so is the irritating tendency toward gran-
He was becoming famous. ed hero, works as a salvage diver. We meet him at diosity.
Nothing, though, could have prepared the author 3:17 a.m. off the Gulf Coast. He and a small crew are
for the clamorous success of “The Road,” which ex- examining a private jet resting on the ocean floor. Brooding and good-looking, Western “is sinking
tended his apocalyptic themes to the literal end of After his partner cuts open the door with an under- into a darkness he cannot even comprehend.” Wom-
civilization. This lean story about a father and his water torch, Western swims into this fresh tomb: en want to save him; men want to befriend him. And
little boy walking through a hellscape mesmerized – why not? Working as a salvage diver sounds exotic
and terrified – readers. The novel won a Pulitzer Prize, “He kicked his way slowly down the aisle above and cool. He earned a scholarship to study physics
which made perfect sense, but it also won a spot on the seats, his tanks dragging overhead. The faces of at Caltech. He used to be a racecar driver in Europe,
Oprah’s Book Club, which felt like a rip in the space- the dead inches away,” McCarthy writes. “The peo- and he still roars around in his Maserati. (He thinks of
time continuum because it meant McCarthy would, ple sitting in their seats, their hair floating. Their the trident symbol on the car’s grill as “Schrödinger’s
for the first time, give an interview on TV. There, fi- mouths open, their eyes devoid of speculation.” wavefunction.” Sure.) And – yes, seriously – he lives
A few minutes later, back in the inflatable boat, off thousands of gold coins he found buried under his
Western shakes his head. “There’s nothing about this dead grandmother’s house.
that rattles right.” The bodies look unaffected by a
crash. And the pilot’s flight bag and the data box are But on the non-sexy side of the ledger, Western is
missing from the cockpit. still pining for his little sister, Alice, a mathematical
Western’s partner asks, “You think there’s already prodigy who wanted to bear his baby. Apparently, dur-
been somebody down there, don’t you?” ing her brief, tumultuous life, they shared more than a
“I don’t know.” love of complex equations.
For several days, Western hears nothing in the
news about a jet crashing into the gulf. Then two One of Western’s friends tries to cast this incestuous
men with badges appear at his apartment in New Or- relationship in terms of a Greek tragedy, but McCar-
leans. They want to know how many bodies he saw thy suggests it’s a geek tragedy. Throughout the novel,
in the plane because “there seems to be a passenger we’re subjected to intercalary chapters about Alice
missing.” and a menagerie of Vaudeville freaks who inhabit her
McCarthy has assembled all the chilling ingre- psychotic hallucinations. Chief among these figures is
dients of a locked-room mystery. But he leaps out- the Thalidomide Kid, who torments her in conversa-
side the boundaries of that antique form, just as he tions so bizarre and relentless that I began to wish I
reworked the apocalypse in “The Road.” Indeed, were on that plane at the bottom of the gulf.
“The Passenger” sometimes feels more reminiscent
of Franz Kafka’s “The Trial.” Western knows he’s sus- When McCarthy descends from Mount Olympus
pected of something, but he’s not told what. The two and writes in his close, precise voice about Western
men who repeatedly question him never drop their carving out the ordinary activities of his day, the novel
formal politeness, but Western knows that his life is suddenly hums with genuine profundity. But many
in danger and that he must run. pages strain self-consciously to explore Big Ideas
First, though, he ruminates, and that sustained about the Nature of Reality. 
rumination creates a very different novel than
the heart-thumping thriller the opening suggests. THE PASSENGER

BY CORMAC MCCARTHY | KNOPF. 400 PP. $30
REVIEW BY RON CHARLES, THE WASHINGTON POST

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / October 27, 2022 39

INSIGHT BRIDGE

NORTH

LET THEM FIND HER FOR YOU J7643

By Phillip Alder - Bridge Columnist AJ5

Ambrose Bierce defined a reporter as “a writer who guesses his way to the truth and K85
dispels it with a tempest of words.”
WEST A2
In a bridge column, the scribe shouldn’t be guessing at the right line of play or defense. — EAST
However, he might use a torrent of words. ?72
Q J 10 9 A
In this deal, South is in six spades. How should he play after West leads the diamond J87543
queen? ?643

North responded with the Jacoby Forcing Raise. South’s three-club rebid showed a 7632
singleton or void in that suit. Then, after North made a three-heart control-bid expressing
slam interest, South used Blackwood. (Note that if you employ Roman Key Card K Q 10 9
Blackwood, North should answer five spades, two key cards and the trump queen,
because he knows of at least a 10-card fit.) If you do not wish to use the textbook Jacoby SOUTH
rebids, keep it simple with natural. Here, South would rebid three spades, showing extra
values but no side suit. North would control-bid four clubs, and again South would ask for K Q 10 9 8 5 2
aces or key cards.
K 10 9
With the trump ace to lose, apparently South must guess who holds the heart queen. But,
instead, he can get the opponent with the spade ace to help him out. Declarer wins with A4
the diamond ace, plays a club to dummy’s ace, ruffs the club two in his hand, crosses to
the diamond king, trumps the last diamond and casts adrift with a spade. 6

What can East do? If he shifts to a heart, that solves South’s problem. Alternatively, if East Dealer: South; Vulnerable: Both
returns a minor-suit card, declarer ruffs in one hand and sluffs a heart from the other.
The Bidding:

SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST OPENING
1 Spades Pass 2 NT Pass
3 Clubs Pass 3 Hearts Pass LEAD:
4 NT Pass 5 Hearts Pass Q Diamonds
6 Spades Pass Pass Pass

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40 Vero Beach 32963 / October 27, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT GAMES

SOLUTIONS TO PREVIOUS ISSUE (OCTOBER 20) ON PAGE 68

ACROSS DOWN
1 Target area (5) 2 Effect (6)
4 Odours (6) 2 Audacity (5)
9 Wall in fortification (7) 3 ‘Money for old --’(4)
10 French farewell (5) 5 Nonsense (8)
11 Ship’s company (4) 6 Kenyan city (7)
12 Allocations (7) 7 Game with racquets(6)
13 Insect (3) 8 Narrative (5)
14 God of thunder (4) 13 Bit (8)
16 Operatic song (4) 15 Progress (7)
18 Juice (3) 17 Plan (6)
20 Dental alloy? (7) 18 Well turned-out (5)
21 Prisoner’s room (4) 19 Nearly (6)
24 Old-fashioned whip(5) 22 Additional (5)
25 Rice dish (7) 23 Children’s game (1,3)
26 Wolf (6)
The Telegraph 27 Leavening agent (5)

How to do Sudoku:

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

The Telegraph

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / October 27, 2022 41

INSIGHT GAMES

ACROSS Bruce the rock star” 42 Possess The Washington Post
1 Experiences 89 “It means ‘batting’” 43 Put into a scabbard
4 With 19 Across, a certain 44 Healthy breakfast SCREAMINGLY OBVIOUS JEOPARDY! By Merl Reagle
93 Financier Khashoggi 46 Place with feeding times
pageant winner 95 Yang’s opposite 48 Perform without ___
8 Terminal info 96 Deadly snake 49 Contorts
11 Fischer finish 97 ___ zero 50 OR site
15 Dallas, TX school 98 David Spade film, 1994 52 Old, to a teen
18 Greenwich CT hours 99 Ex-tree 53 Walk ___
19 See 4 Across 101 Secret org. 54 Three-mile units
20 Brett beat his TD passing 103 Diamond decision 58 Pallid
104 “A teacher needs to see it 59 “Get away!”
record if you’re tardy” 60 Three men’s place
21 SNL first name 110 Peg in a pro’s pocket 61 Mazatlán’s state
111 “___ leap tall buildings ...” 62 Strip
22 Golfer Se Ri ___ 112 Sit in a dump all day 63 Some ratings
23 “As state names go, it’s 113 Ball-hiking cue 65 “___ the season”
115 “It’s the purpose of hooks 67 Clog cause, often
the commonest first word” 68 “Rule, Britannia!”
25 “It’s the part of the and thumbtacks” (with
118 Across) composer
neighbor you never 118 See 115 Across 69 Yale, Old ___
completely see on Home 120 That WNBA star 70 Rice athlete
Improvement” 121 Unabridged dictionary, for 71 Arose in bed
28 Winter runners? 75 Jacob’s twin
29 Place for PIN money? one 76 Clinic attire
31 Prayer 122 Chemical ending 77 Egyptian tour stop
32 Planet, e.g. 123 Powdery mineral 81 Filthy place
33 “This 1982 film starred 124 Exodus hero 83 Sixth sense,
Paul Newman” 125 2000 et al.: abbr.
36 Cookie-crumble candidate 126 Gen. Lee, briefly for short
38 Theater co. 12 7 Dream sleep 84 N.Y.C. to Atlantic City
39 Before, once 128 Free, in a way 86 Head light?
40 Dullard 129 The present time?: abbr. 87 FDR book, ___ Way
41 Laziness 88 Attach securely
42 Bosque bear DOWN 89 Pugilists’ org.
45 Author Octavio 1 Chopped 90 Flora on a moor
47 Very slow rate 2 Put on ___ 91 Listening
49 “He’s on first” 3 Hide, in a way 92 Rental sign
51 “Emeril’s known for doin’ it 4 Errors 93 Behaved
on the Food Network” 5 Charged particle 94 Not as clean
54 Asian nation 6 Effort 98 Small movable platform
55 Eur. nation 7 ___ light (caught on) 100 Cavern
56 Long time 8 Wallis’s guy: abbr. 102 Burmese Peace Nobelist,
57 Facilitators 9 Nevada resort
60 “The jig ___” 10 “I shot ___ ...” ___ San Suu Kyi
64 Jaws town 11 French plateau, the ___ 104 Leaping mackerel
66 “Will Rogers said that 105 Megaton monster
everything is funny as long Central 106 Auxerre’s department
as it is ‘this’ to somebody 12 Committee type 107 Farmer Frome
else” 13 Contaminate 108 Oh Dad, Poor Dad ...
70 SNL last name 14 Printing units
71 German industrial region 15 Piaf’s nickname ending
72 Farm critters 16 Duncan’s murderer 109 Accustom, variantly
73 Realms 17 Small guitar, familiarly 114 The Longest Day, e.g.
74 “It’s pretty much all that a 24 Rend 115 Motive
great white shark has on 26 Like waves 116 Orch. section
its mind” 27 Silly people 117 Lapidary concern
77 Lutelike instrument 30 Pfizer rival 119 Lucas’s FX company
78 Dutch portraitist Peter 34 American Beauty star
79 Sound effect? 35 Nabisco’s ___-Thin
80 Super-sensitive subject?
82 ___’s Gold, 1997 Pretzels
8 4 Lizard’s tail? 37 “So that’s it!”
85 “He’s otherwise known as
41 Telegraphed plea

The Telegraph





44 Vero Beach 32963 / October 27, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT BACK PAGE

Are all connections healthy, or can we skip dull relatives?

BY CAROLYN HAX provides context for your lifetime through small mo- mentia or addiction or without a dime to your name?
Washington Post ments and momentous events. Each may be putting Maybe they will. I hope they don’t need to, obvious-
up with you, too, because the institution of family is a
Dear Carolyn: We’re told from valid shared interest. ly, but I hope they do if you need it.
magazines, television ads, webpages More likely, though, it’ll be a relative or three step-
and more to get connected with oth- And in combination, these conversational black
ers because it’s good for us. Meeting holes may represent, as they do for so many of us, ping in to catch such a precipitous fall.
up with friends is its own reward. I the social equivalent of catastrophic insurance. Will Not always, of course. There are families who cause
crave time with them. But getting those more sparkly people you love and crave agree
together with some extended family members is torture. to meet as a group to figure out how to make sure the problems that friends step in to clean up. And there
We have little in common, and the topics we do share you’re loved and cared for, or at least just off the are families who step in strictly out of duty and feel no
interest in were used up long ago. street, when life goes haywire, leaving you with de- love doing it. I’m not romanticizing anything here.
If getting together with people who interest and
amuse us is good for our mental health, does time spent I am representing, I hope, the reality that peeks out
with the boring or unpleasant drain us of something? from so many hard-luck and end-of-life stories: The
(They make me crazy but only figuratively, as far as I people there for the worst of it are typically related
can tell.) somehow. It’s Mom or Dad on camera for the local
news, or following up with doctors or detectives. It’s
– M. the grandparents taking neglected children in. It’s the
siblings or niblings bickering over whose turn it is to
M.: They drain us of hours, certainly, that we’re nev- handle their elderly mother’s/aunt’s bills.
er, ever, ever getting back. Ever. (Sorry, unnamed rela-
tive I have in mind.) In my experience, family members disproportion-
ately make up the ranks of people who realize either
But with family, as with all things, some work is good they step up for a person in need or nobody will.
work. Our lifetimes are dotted with things we didn’t
want to do and hated doing but are glad we did. The If you want your friends to be that insurance policy
chore I most resented, for example, and would have for you, then great. I regard families of choice as equal
dropped forever within a nanosecond of receiving to families of origin. You just need to nurture those
permission to, was writing papers in school. Ha. kinds of friendships – which includes being “family” to
those friends. Which, irony alert, involves sticking by
So those dreary relatives may represent far more to them long after they, too, grow too sick or addled or
any of us than good or bad company. Each one con- cranky or familiar to interest you anymore.
tains a portion of your history, if nothing else. Each
So, yes, connection is important. Connections, plu-
ral, are important – of all kinds, to meet many kinds
of needs. Think of your part in such a reciprocal web
before you go cutting the threads. 

PAINTING OR TEACHING,
HAHN FINDS

CREATIVE PROCESS A ‘DELIGHT’

46 Vero Beach 32963 / October 27, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

ARTS & THEATRE

PAINTING OR TEACHING, BY DEBBIE TIMMERMANN | CORRESPONDENT
HAHN FINDS CREATIVE
PROCESS A ‘DELIGHT’ “I was always the class artist,” says
Cathleen Hahn. As a young girl, Hahn
BY MARY SCHENKEL | STAFF WRITER says, she always had a pencil in her
hand and “was very comfortable”
drawing, even winning art competi-
tions as a child.

Despite that early proclivity, Hahn
didn’t begin to paint seriously and
professionally until 2012, by which
time she had moved to Hutchinson Is-
land year-round (2008), having been a
snowbird since the early 1990s.

Before that, Hahn had attended
Pratt Institute in New York, majoring
in interior architecture, before com-
pleting her education in Massachu-
setts with a degree in psychology.

“When I was at Pratt I had to move
into painting. It was traumatic for
me, and I was having nightmares,”
says Hahn. She explains that she had
been used to pencil drawing and was
suddenly tasked with making broad
strokes of varying colors. “That was a
tough transition for me.”

Hahn combined her skills to create
and run an advertising and graphic
design business in Massachusetts
for about 10 years before eventually
moving back to her home state of New
Jersey.

In 1992, after the dissolution of the

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / October 27, 2022 47

Cathleen Hahn. ARTS & THEATRE

PHOTOS BY JOSHUA KODIS have bits and pieces of an idea, she worked from a photograph, but
like a sky scape, but you want took the unusual step of turning it up-
to blur it, make it less realistic.” side down, so that it was less lifelike.

Put in front of a canvas, Hahn “That keeps you from painting too
says she is never sure what form tightly,” she explains, adding that when
the painting will take. “I have an it was almost done, she flipped the
idea, and I get excited about the photo and the painting right-side up,
idea, and then I start, and then the and made a few adjustments. “I was
idea might not translate.” pleased with the effect.”
But once she begins painting, she
says the work starts to develop and Her early drawing skills have made
come alive, “and then I go from there. her adept at tight, realistic portraitures,
Never trying to be too, too realistic, and she moderated the Vero Beach Art
but always having that imaginary Club’s Life Draw class for a number of
thread.” years. “I’m good at figurative paintings
In Hahn’s painting “Tumbledown,” and portraits. That’s really easier for

CONTINUED ON PAGE 48

USSR, Hahn moved to Kyiv and created dination, to relieve boredom I would
the Gloria Ministries Crisis Center for switch to abstraction, which is much
Women, named after her Ukrainian more difficult.”
mother. Collaborating with a doctor
from Indiana, they also brought over Although she says realism can be an
a container of humanitarian aid for easier sell and was the norm here 25 to
children and families. She returned to 30 years ago, she feels that the younger
the U.S. in 1997 and taught fine art in crowd moving in are looking for more
local schools. contemporary work and the level of
sophistication for art in Florida over-
Like many artists, Hahn experi- all has grown.
mented with various mediums be-
fore deciding which to pursue. She “A lot of people think their 5-year-
decided against watercolors which, old grandchild can do abstract work.
while lovely, she says are also fragile Anybody can throw paint on a canvas.
and don’t necessarily last as long. And, But to actually make it appear to be
while acrylics were easy to work with, something, not all abstract painters
she found that the colors could change do that, but I do,” says Hahn.
when the paint dried.
“Almost everybody likes realistic
Eventually, Hahn chose oils, which work, because they look at it and say
she calls the Cadillac of paints. “It was ‘oh, I could never do that,’ so they’re
a conscious decision for me and I’m not impressed by it. But from an artis-
sorry I chose it; it’s wonderful.” tic point of view, abstraction is much
more difficult to get something that
When Hahn began seriously paint- resonates, with the [viewer] as well
ing, she shifted from realism into ab- as yourself, the painter, to find your
stract painting, but muses that “it’s a thread. What appeals to you as a
continuum as well,” and that she often painter is a journey, which is unique
goes back and forth between the two. for every painter.”

“I have a low tolerance for boredom, Hahn explains that with abstract
and when I got tired of doing realistic painting, “it’s coming out of your
work, which is a lot of hand-eye coor- mind, out of your emotion. You might

48 Vero Beach 32963 / October 27, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 47 ARTS & THEATRE

me than abstract.” from a photo, explaining, “With the eye, to plein air painting, which she used ing indoors, at home, in a controlled
She has found that few people want to you see much more color variation than to do “between the fishermen” under environment.”
you do with a camera.” the bridges. “I started out doing that
sit and hold the same expression or pose, every day, but decided to set up paint- When teaching beginning oils at the
but she prefers working live to working That doesn’t necessarily translate Vero Beach Art Club, she advises her stu-

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / October 27, 2022 49

ARTS & THEATRE

dents to evaluate their own work, find involving realism, landscape, and ab-
what works best for them, and then to stract, she has volunteered at the Juve-
just go for it. nile Detention Center in Fort Pierce.

Though some of her paintings sell “Everybody has different gifting,” says
quickly, Hahn admits that she likes to Hahn, who hoped her words of encour-
hold on to others for a while. agement might spark an interest in art
down the road. “You just never know
“The creative process is a delight how much your words can mean to
sometimes, and the painting becomes someone.”
special to me. Paintings are like chil-
dren, and sometimes you want to keep Currently some of Hahn’s work can
them around just a bit longer before be viewed at the newly renovated VBAC
they are sent out into the world,” she Gallery (formerly known as the An-
explains. nex), and she is hoping to find a com-
mercially zoned studio where she can
In addition to teaching at the VBAC, paint, teach, create, and evolve in her
where she says the Limited Palette, five- chosen craft. 
week course is a “pretty intense” course

50 Vero Beach 32963 / October 27, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

ARTS & THEATRE

COMING UP! Much to a-maze you at Countryside Family Farms fest

BY PAM HARBAUGH ning 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 28 at River-
Correspondent view Park in Sebastian. The event is
free. You should bring your own chairs
1 This will be your last weekend and blankets. The movie screened will
to enjoy family fun galore at the be Disney’s “Hocus Pocus.” The cos-
tume contest will be held at 6:15 p.m.
Countryside Family Farms Fall Festi- The movie starts at 7 p.m. The event is
hosted by the Sebastian Police Depart-
val & Maze. This should be a most de- ment. Riverview Park is at U.S. 1 and
County Road 512, Sebastian. The same
lightful way to usher in fall. Some of night, the Women’s Club of Vero Beach
will hold its Halloween Double Feature
the offerings include kiddie and tod- Movie Night. It begins at 6:30 p.m. $12.
No word yet on what the movies will
dler zip lines, hayrides, rubber ducky be, but they will fit for all ages. The
Women’s Club of Vero Beach is at 1534
21st St., Vero Beach. Call 772-205-2259
or visit VeroBeachWomensClub.org.

5 More Halloween events include
a Halloween Parade & Costume

Contest hosted by the Women’s Club

of Vero Beach. That begins 10 a.m.

ed. Dogs in costume get a free milk ing tickets online. Free admission Saturday, Oct. 29, along 14th Avenue
bone. And if you’re a bit more adven- to those 12 years and younger. Rock
turous, head to “Flashlight Nights” City Gardens is at 9080 N U.S. 1 in to the Community Center where the
running 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Friday Sebastian. Call 772-589-5835 or visit
races, kiddie train rides, a jump pil- and Saturday, Oct. 28-29. Bring your RockCityGardens.com. costume contest will be held. There
low, a barnyard ball zone, mower- own flashlight and try to find your
go-round, nature trail, hillbilly hoo- way through the maze in the illumi- are no entry free. For more informa-
tenanny music station, pumpkins, nated darkness. There will also be
ring toss, bubble stations, graffiti car floodlights galore for you to enjoy the tion, visit COVB.org or call 772-231-
and, of course, that maze, which here rest of the fun. Call 772-581-0999 or
is made out of sorghum rather than visit CountrysideCitrus.com. 4787 or 772-567-2144. A special way
corn. There will also be plenty of food
to purchase, from tacos and pizza to 3 You can still get into a Hallow- to work off those Halloween candies
hamburgers and hot dogs. And there een-ish mood and not confront
are plenty of sweet treats as well – key is by participating in the Enchanted
lime pie, kettle corn, pecan pie and
cinnamon buns. The Countryside such ghoulish characters when the Lantern Chase 2-Mile beginning 5
Family Farms Festival & Maze runs
10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sun- Community Church of Vero Beach p.m. Saturday, Oct. 29 at the Envi-
day, Oct. 29-30 at 6325 81st St., Vero
Beach. Admission is $17.95 plus tax screens the silent film “The Hunch- ronmental Learning Center. There
at the gate. Get discounts if you go
online to buy tickets at Countrysi- back of Notre Dame” complete with will be music, refreshments and food
deCitrus.com. Children 2 years and
younger are admitted free. There is 2 Head a little bit north to find music courtesy of Andrew Galuska, trucks. The Environmental Learn-
a special “Howl-o-ween” on Sunday, more fun at the Spooktacular
Oct. 30, when furry friends are invit- the church’s very accomplished or- ing Center is at 255 Live Oak Drive,

and Haunted Gardens, beginning 7 ganist. The event begins 6 p.m. Sun- Vero Beach, Fla. To sign up, head to

p.m. at Rock City Gardens in Sebas- day, Oct. 30. Tickets are $10 with a RunSignUp.com. Capt. Hiram’s is

tian. The event brings out some zom- $1.50 processing fee. The Commu- the place for the “Fire & Ice” Hallow-

bies as well as other spooky char- nity Church of Vero Beach is at 1901 een Bash, which begins 7 p.m. Sat-

acters. At 8 p.m., Maleficent holds 23nd St., Vero Beach. For more in- urday, Oct. 29. There will be a 3-cat-

storytime. There will be hayrides formation, call 772-562-3633 or visit egory costume competition, but you

with headless horsemen, a witch’s CCOVB.org. need to pre-register. There will also

brew, and trick or treat. The event be live music, food and drink. Capt

begins 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, 4 More season-appropriate mov- Hirams is at 1580 U.S. 1, Sebastian,
ies will be screened at the Family
Oct. 29-30. Cost is $15 general with Fla. Call 772-388-8588 or visit Hi-

discounts available for purchas- Movie Night & Costume Party begin- rams.com. 