01/27/2022 ISSUE 04

Shores, Vero declare impasse
in federal lawsuit. P8
My Vero: Rosario

wasted staff’s time. P12
New rental community near
hospital moving forward. P10

Vero Council sets For breaking news visit
rare night session
for riverfront vote Covid may have
peaked, but not
hospitalizations

BY LISA ZAHNER BY LISA ZAHNER
Staff Writer Staff Writer

The Vero Beach City Coun- New COVID-19 infections

cil has now scheduled a rare 6 here reported to the Florida

p.m. session next Tuesday, Feb. Department of Health eased

1, for the climatic public hear- slightly last week with 1,929

ing at City Hall on the proposed cases, down 14 percent from

Master Plan for the Three Cor- Indian River County’s all-time

ners riverfront. high of 2,255 cases, but un-

At the Jan. 18 council meet- fortunately, the hospitaliza-

ing, Councilman John Cotugno tion of patients with COVID

had suggested Vero hold regu- seems to still be on the rise.

lar evening meetings to bet- As of Monday afternoon,

ter accommodate people who Cleveland Clinic Indian River

work daytime jobs and cannot Hospital had 57 COVID-19

attend the 9 a.m. meetings cur- positive patients, up from 48

rently held on the first and third the previous week. Of those 57

Tuesday of the month. Cotugno PHOTO BY ROSS ROWLINSON patients who had been admit-

said evening meetings would We get no train service, but pay $440K a year for rail crossings ted, 54 were in the COVID unit
encourage participation from a and three were in the inten-
more diverse group of citizens, sive care unit.

and from students. BY GEORGE ANDREASSI of safety improvements won’t in Indian River County paid According to the Centers for
Mayor Robbie Brackett Staff Writer spare local governments more than $2.2 million to Disease Control and Preven-
from paying an average of FECR during the past five tion’s COVID Data Tracker for
responded that when an is-

sue is big enough, and when Indian River County’s legal $440,000 annually to Florida years for the maintenance Indian River County, 74 CO-

people are worked up about settlement with Brightline East Coast Railway for main- and licensing of 29 public rail- VID-19 positive patients were

a potential city action, resi- passenger trains for instal- taining railroad crossings here. road crossing, records show. hospitalized in the past seven

dents pack the chambers no lation of $31.6 million worth Three local governments CONTINUED ON PAGE 6 days, up from 61 hospitaliza-

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

Soaring prices of real estate on island Fate of vacant Press Journal building again seems up in the air
make it challenging to find fair comps
BY RAY MCNULTY museum on the 3.75-acre par-
BY STEVEN M. THOMAS it hard to settle on an offering Staff Writer cel, similar to his Wayne’s Toys
Staff Writer price for new real estate list- Tucson Classic Car Museum.
ings, and has complicated the When automobile enthusi-
ast Wayne Gould bought the Now there’s an “Available for
Lease” sign on the property –

The speed at which prices homebuying process when a former Press Journal building and Gould isn’t talking.

have rocketed upward over mortgage is involved. on U.S. 1 in December 2020, the Contacted by email, Gould

the past 18 months on the Vero Bankers, mortgage brokers, longtime island resident said wrote: “We have nothing to say

Beach barrier island has made CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 he wanted to open a classic-car CONTINUED ON PAGE 4

PHOTO BY KAILA JONES

January 27, 2022 Volume 15, Issue 4 Newsstand Price $1.00 Quail Valley
Charities, at 20,
News 1-14 Editorial 36 People 15-30 TO ADVERTISE CALL gives its all. P18
Arts 45-50 Games 39-43 Pets 59 772-559-4187
Books 38 Health 51-58 Real Estate 71-80
Dining 64-68 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 / January 27, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Riverfront vote then be able to submit proposals.
But before formal proposals are
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
sought, Vero voters will get the chance
matter what time meetings are held. to decide whether the city’s riverfront
The other council members also property should be leased for 99 years
to a developer for a hotel, dining, shop-
rejected shifting to night meetings, ping and entertainment complex. The
but agreed that for especially impor- former Big Blue power plant may or
tant votes like the one on the future of may not be preserved and incorporat-
Vero’s riverfront, an evening meeting ed into the new hotel structure.
is warranted.
The meeting will be televised on
Once the riverfront plan is approved public access Channel 13 and live
by the council, city planning staff will streamed on the city’s website at www.
develop and publish a Request for In- covb.org. The proposed plan can also
formation so developers can respond be viewed on the city’s website. Com-
with expressions of interest and their ments can be sent to council members
credentials. Staff and consultants will via the city clerk by email at tbursick@
pre-qualify developers who would covb.org. 

Finding real estate comps price went up a dizzying 32.5 percent,
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 according to Zillow.com.

real estate appraisers and island agents “Appraisers typically look back 12
all say that comps – the abbreviation months for comps, but in this market
for comparable sales in your area and what happened a year ago is irrelevant
long the standard by which property today,” said Richard Boga at Premier
is valued when it is put on the market Estate Properties. “In fact, anything
– have become less accurate in many older than 90 days is old news.”
cases, and often “irrelevant,” in Vero’s
high-flying market. Buyers usually have appraisal con-
tingencies in their purchase contracts
Comps are the main way real estate and if the appraiser says the house is
agents traditionally zero in on a list worth less than the contract price, they
price for a property going on the mar- sometimes are able to balk and ask for
ket, one that nets the highest return a price reduction, which can compli-
but doesn’t sit on the market. cate or kill a deal.

Brokers and agents look at MLS re- Appraisals based on backward-
cords to see what houses like the one looking comps “have the potential to
they are listing sold for within the past blow up a lot of deals,” said Vero mort-
six months or year to get a sense of gage broker Clay Collins.
what a buyer is likely to pay.
If a home in Castaway Cove goes
When a buyer and seller make a deal under contract for $1 million and an
through their agents, a professional appraisal based on outdated comps
appraiser comes in and repeats the comes in with a value of $900,000,
process in great detail, looking at size, the buyer under some circumstances
features, condition and location of could walk away if the seller wouldn’t
the property, and then finding nearby renegotiate.
houses that most resemble it to come
up with a market value. At the same time, if the buyer is getting
a mortgage, a low appraisal means the
But the backward-looking nature bank wouldn’t give them a loan based
of comps undercut their accuracy in on the contract price, which could tor-
2021 when single-family home prices pedo the deal unless they come up with
in Indian River County jumped 20 per- the cash to bridge the gap.
cent, according to Floridarealtors.org.
On the island, the median home sales “We have seen it,” said Marine Bank
chief lending officer Shaun Williams.
“What ends up happening is our bor-
rower, armed with the lower apprais-

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

NEWS

al, goes back to their agent and asks run the numbers, but I still get sur- adding a kind of pandemic surcharge adds a higher percentage than if com-
them to renegotiate with the selling prised,” says Landers. “The question to account for rapidly increasing pric- petition is greater.
agent. But that very seldom works [in is, how much over the comp value es. But she doesn’t do it in a rigidly for-
a market with many multiple offers] should I list the house? At Pointe West, mulaic way. “That is the formula we are using,
because the selling agent says, ‘Fine, I take my comps and add 20 or 30 per- and it has worked,” Daley said. “We
we will just go on to the next buyer.’ cent, and they still sell in a few days – “You can’t just look in the rearview just sold a house in Queens Cove down
sometimes for over the asking price.” at comps,” Daley said. “You have to in North Hutch that the comps were
“The bank would love for the ap- look at the competition in the current like $765,000. I told the clients I want-
praisal to be accurate,” Williams add- Island broker Sally Daley uses a market.” ed to list for $800,000, $35,000 over the
ed. “We understand they are backward percentage system, too, figuring the comps. That made them a little ner-
looking, but we are highly regulated comps that apply to her listings and If her client’s home is in good con-
and aren’t in a position to go further dition and has little competition, she CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
than the appraisal. We have to base
our decision on something, and the
appraisal is it. We might feel intuitively
that the property is worth more, but
we have to value it according to the ap-
praisal.”

Marine Bank president Bill Penney
said the bank would still be willing to
provide a mortgage loan based on the
appraised value of the hypothetical
Castaway Cove home if the buyer was
able to bridge the gap by putting more
cash into the deal.

“As long as they have the cash to put
in, we are fine – unless it depletes their
cash reserves, which could cause a
problem with underwriting,” said Wil-
liams.

“Appraisers weren’t making the num-
bers last year and that meant there had
to be some kind of adjustment some-
where down the line,” according to Karl
Dietrich, an AMAC Alex MacWilliam
agent and longtime professional prop-
erty appraiser, who said the fast-mov-
ing market “made his job more chal-
lenging, no doubt about it.”

Dietrich said he is allowed to factor
in the rising market when he apprais-
es a house, but that it is tricky. “Yes, I
can make a positive time adjustment,
but it is a thin line. You better be sure
you can back it up.”

Berkshire Hathaway agent Chip
Landers, who sells homes on the is-
land and the mainland, said houses
“that don’t appraise” are more of a
problem for buyers at the low end of
the market who need a mortgage and
don’t have extra cash on hand than for
island buyers.

“I had a buyer who was trying to buy
a house for $220,000 that appraised at
$210,000 and they didn’t have the extra
money to close the deal,” Landers said.

On the island, most buyers pay cash
or have the resources to make up the
difference if the contract price and
bank appraisal diverge.

But that still leaves island agents
out in a no man’s land when it comes
to setting a listing price.

Brokers and agents have to navigate
between pricing a property too low,
based on traditional comps, causing
their client to leave money on the ta-
ble, and giving in to sellers intoxicated
by rising values who want to list at a
price that is crazy high.

And it is a challenge.
“I am a numbers guy and I always

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

NEWS

Finding real estate comps pared to what things sold for historical-
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3 ly, informs the price quite a bit,” Boga
said.
vous that we might be too high, but we
sold it the first day for $811,000.” “If people who were looking up to
$10 million now say they are ready to
Zeroing in on the perfect asking spend up to $12 million or $13 million,
price gets harder the higher up in the that means, psychologically, that they
real estate stratosphere you go. are prepared to pay 20 or 30 percent
more than the last guy did for a similar
There are fewer comps to begin home,” because they know how fast
with for ultra-luxury homes, $10 mil- the market is rising and really want the
lion and up; the properties tend to be property.”
more unique so that two oceanfront
houses the same size might not be all “We do have a science to pricing
that comparable due to features, fin- the big properties,” said O’Dare. “It is
ishes and condition. based in part on knowing everything
else in the same price range that is on
And because they are trophy prop- the market on the east coast of Florida.
erties, there’s always the possibility Being a member of the Palm Beach
that a wealthy buyer will be willing to Board of Realtors and having connec-
pay well over “market value” to secure tions in South Florida through Premier
a property that strikes their fancy and and due to my past selling in Miami,
really suits their needs. we are aware of all the big, beautiful
oceanfront estates.”
“Emotional value became market
value in many cases in 2021, abso- “When we listed 1920 A1A, we
lutely,” said Premier Estate Properties priced it where we did because we
broker associate Cindy O’Dare. knew it would be the only property of
that caliber with acreage on the ocean
Due to that phenomenon, O’Dare anywhere between here and Miami
and her partner Richard Boga were offered for under $30 million.”
more willing to test the market last
year, listing at a high price compared That market knowledge and stra-
to comps to try and meet sellers’ ex- tegic thinking paid off in November,
pectations. when 1920 A1A sold for $27 million,
which was $10 million more than it
That strategy paid off in record- sold for in 2015 and the highest price
breaking sales on the ocean and the ever paid for a piece of residential real
river, but they did not pursue it blindly. estate on the barrier island.

Instead they relied on a feel for the Pricing challenges may lessen in
market developed over decades of 2022. Zillow predicts that home prices
selling homes on the island and wide on the island will rise “just” 17 percent
array of data, including proprietary in- this year, about half of the 2021 price
formation. gain.

“If we had a similar house under In the meantime, those backward-
contract for well over what the comps looking comps and low appraisals
would support, that wasn’t public aren’t necessarily all bad. Island bro-
knowledge, but it gave us a sense of kers, bankers and even appraisers
where the market was at and helped say they can be a useful brake on the
us come up with the right price,” market that helps keep it from getting
O’Dare said. too overheated and turning into a wild
boom headed for a bust. 
Also, “knowing the list of buyers we
have, what they are willing to pay com-

Vacant Press Journal building based real estate broker that includes
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Gould’s property among the listings
on its website, where it advertises two
regarding this property at this time,” adjoining outparcels measuring 2.07
then didn’t respond to a follow-up in- and .84 acres.
quiry from Vero Beach 32963.
According to the listing, Pink Bird Car
His refusal to provide an explana- Wash – a West Palm Beach-based com-
tion for the sign was puzzling, consid- pany looking to expand – has proposed
ering he had not previously been shy opening a Vero Beach location on a
about discussing with local media his third outparcel, occupying .84 acres of
plans for the two-story building, locat- the property’s northeast quadrant.
ed between 18th Street and 18th Place.
The entire property, which is locat-
Even more curious was Gould being ed within the Vero Beach city limits, is
quoted by a local niche publication zoned for commercial use.
as saying, “I have not authorized that
sign,” adding that he had made “no fi- MarketLink Commercial’s listing
nal determination yet” on the future of states that Gould’s property will be
the property. ready for delivery in the first quarter
of 2023, offers “prominent exposure
The sign was erected by Market- and visibility to U.S. 1” and is “ideal
Link Commercial, a West Palm Beach- for high-profile retail, retail medical,
drive-thru, fast casual and storage.”

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 27, 2022 5

NEWS

Elizabeth Wright, one of MarketLink Although MarketLink’s tenant roster “Pricewise,” she said, “it doesn’t make staff to a downtown office before sell-
Commerical’s co-founders, said the includes two Aldi markets in Orlando sense.” ing its newspaper chain.
property has been listed for “only a and one in Deland – and the company
month,” adding that the owner is “still has shown interest opening a grocery The Press Journal building has been More than five years later, Gould
trying to figure out what to do with it.” store in Vero Beach – Wright said it’s vacant since 2015, when Vero Beach bought the property from Summers
unlikely local shoppers will see one on resident Bill Summers paid $1.4 mil- and, at least initially, expressed excite-
She said listing has attracted “just a Gould’s property. lion to acquire the property from ment about opening a car museum
few” inquiries.” Scripps, which moved its downsized
CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

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

NEWS

Vacant Press Journal building He hoped to renovate the 42,000-
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5 square-foot building and open his
museum here by the end of 2021, but
and moving some – if not all – of his he put his plans on hold last summer,
cars to Vero Beach. with no construction permits sub-
mitted and no visible improvements
Gould, who has owned a home in made to the property.
Vero Beach since 1998, currently stores
his collection of 60 to 75 classic and He did not reply to an email asking if
historic cars at his Wayne’s Toys: Tuc- he had abandoned his museum plans
son Auto Museum in southern Arizona. and decided to do something else with
the property – and, if so, why. 

Covid may have peaked here encrance said.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Local pharmacies saw shortages of

tions the previous week. rapid antigen COVID at-home tests
New restrictions on non-emergen- this past week, as most health insur-
ance carriers began a new policy of
cy procedures put in place due to the covering these DIY tests, or reimburs-
Omicron surge in cases were set to ing policy members for several tests
be lifted on Saturday, but Cleveland each month.
Clinic Indian River Hospital President
Dr. Greg Rosencrance said on Monday, But the federal web portal for order-
“Cleveland Clinic Florida hospitals ing free tests through the U.S. Postal
have not modified operational policies Service is now up and running.
or procedures since last week.
As rapid home testing that’s not re-
“We are continuing to monitor the ported to the Florida Department of
situation on a daily basis to ensure Health becomes more widespread or
vital medical services are not inter- even routine, public health officials
rupted and that we are providing the will need to analyze the reported data
safest possible environment for our more closely and creatively to estimate
patients, visitors and caregivers,” Ros- how much the virus is actually spread-
ing within the community as reported
numbers may be artificially low. 

Maintaining rail crossings speed tracks connecting Cocoa and
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Orlando International Airport.

Florida Department of Transporta- Brightline started daily training op-
tion paid another $117,132 to FECR erations for engineers and conduc-
over the past five years for the twin tors last Thursday along the 130-mile
crossings for State Road 60 at 19th stretch of FECR tracks between West
Place East and 20th Street in down- Palm Beach and Cocoa.
town Vero Beach.
Two days earlier, Brightline ran its
The costs of maintaining the 31 first train across the St. Sebastian River
public railroad crossings in Indian Railroad Bridge, which is being recon-
River County can only increase as structed, to the Holly Street railroad
Brightline ramps up construction this crossing in Micco.
year, including furnishing additional
safety measures in the FECR right- PHOTO BY KAILA JONES
of-way under a June 2021 settlement
agreement. The trial runs will continue through-
out the year, said Brightline spokes-
The extra safety features include woman Katie Mitzner. The Brightline
pedestrian gates and additional warn- trains will travel 40-to-60 mph, same
ing signals, signs and road markings at as the FECR freight trains, and carry
railroad crossings. Fences will be built no passengers during these trials.
in hazardous areas along the tracks.
Federal rules require the freight and
Brightline anticipates operating 32 passenger train engineers to blow their
trains per day – 16 in each direction – horn as they approach at-grade rail-
at speeds of up to 100 miles per hours road crossings, Mitzner said.
through Indian River County en route
between South Florida and Orlando Brightline reported ridership of 61,045
starting in early 2023. passengers in November between its

Construction is more than 70 per- CONTINUED ON PAGE 8
cent complete on the $2.7 billion exten-
sion of Brightline’s high-speed railroad
tracks from West Palm Beach to Orlan-
do International Airport, Mitzner said.

The project includes upgrading the
FECR tracks between West Palm Beach
and Cocoa and building new high-



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

NEWS

Maintaining rail crossings vember and into December, according New train stations in Boca Raton and Miami, is owned by Fortress Invest-
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6 to Brightline’s December 2021 quarterly Aventura are expected to be completed ment Group, while Florida East Coast
unaudited financial statement report. in the fall, the report says. Brightline LLC, of Jacksonville, is owned by
three stations in South Florida since also plans to build a new station at Dis- Grupo Mexico. Both were spun off by
resuming service on Nov. 8. More than 50,000 people opened ney Springs. Florida East Coast Industries of Mi-
user accounts since services resumed, ami.
The company had suspended ser- the report says. Brightline anticipates Brightline negotiated with FDOT for
vice on March 25, 2020 in response to increasing ridership and ticket prices right-of-way access in the Interstate 4 Indian River County’s settlement
the COVID-19 pandemic, but contin- in December, the report says. corridor for train track construction agreement with the two companies
ued construction on the extension to between Orlando and Tampa. The concluded political, administrative
Orlando. Brightline also started offering a new deal is expected to be finalized by and legal efforts regarding passenger
electric car service that picks up or March. train safety that began in 2014 and
Ridership accelerated throughout No- drops off passengers within a mile of a cost nearly $3.8 million. 
Brightline station. Brightline Trains Florida LLC, of

SHORES, VERO DECLARE IMPASSE IN FEDERAL LAWSUIT

BY LISA ZAHNER time the Shores would be tied to Vero’s “So if we would be willing to be sub- ro’s territory. The town says that 1989
Staff Writer utility system. But as the Shores’ attor- ject to anticompetitive conduct for agreement should be declared invalid
ney Kevin Cox from the Holland and another 15 years and not complain because it violates federal law protect-
After nearly two hours of talks ref- Knight law firm explained, none of about that anticompetitive conduct ing consumers from anticompetitive
ereed by a mediator, attorneys for the the scenarios pitched did anything to for another 15 years, then after that we business practices.
Town of Indian River Shores and the address the town’s biggest immediate would be freed from that anticompeti-
City of Vero Beach have reached yet concern – the fact that it cannot pur- tive conduct?” Cox asked rhetorically. Mediator Howard Marsee of Mai-
another stalemate in a federal lawsuit sue competitive options for an essen- tland – a last-minute substitute for
in which the Shores alleges that Vero’s tial service. To that, Vero Beach City Attorney retired Judge Paul Kanarek who had
claim to a permanent water-sewer said, “We have a very good defense.” been scheduled to mediate the Jan. 20
utility territory violates antitrust law. One rejected proposal would have Vero has touted the strength of its case, session – warned the Shores that he
kept the Shores on Vero’s system un- including documents and testimony doesn’t think there’s enough time to
Several proposals were tossed out til 2042, then provided for an amend- from the 1980s when the territory map get a ruling from a federal court before
by the mediator and by Vero’s negoti- ment to the service territories. To that, was drafted by city and county officials. the Shores would have to put Vero on
ating team, including two deals that Cox pointed out the insanity of that notice in October 2023 that the town
would have extended the amount of proposal from the town’s point of view. Vero’s most pressing concern is will not renew its existing water-sewer
knowing how many water-sewer cus- franchise agreement in 2027. Marsee
tomers will be on its system in four to said that in his experience, federal
five years when its planned, state-of- court cases take at least two years to
the-art wastewater treatment plant at resolve, plus time for an appeal.
the airport is completed and goes on-
line, to replace the sewer plant on the Marsee asked the Shores’ negotiat-
river. Those customers would pay for ing team what the town would do if
the $60 million-plus cost of the new the clock runs out, October 2023 rolls
plant and other system upgrades. around and they still don’t have a rul-
ing from the federal court. There was
Indian River Shores’ current water- no ready answer to that question.
sewer franchise with Vero expires in
2027, and town officials want to nego- It’s not even clear if Indian River
tiate the best possible rates for town County has the ability or desire to take
residents by letting providers compete the Town of Indian River Shores on as
for the town’s business. a utility customer. The Shores says the
county has been constrained from ne-
Vero claims that a 1989 agreement gotiating in earnest about a proposal
between the city and Indian River for serving the Shores due to threat-
County carved the county into perma- ened legal action from Vero.
nent utility service territories with In-
dian River Shores being drawn into Ve- Vero has taken issue with the county

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 27, 2022 9

NEWS

assisting the Shores with a water-sewer Indian River Shores Town Attorney utility rate study to set new rates for cus- agreement that Indian River Shores sign
service feasibility study. That study, the Pete Sweeney said after the media- tomers inside and outside the city in Oc- with Vero in 2012 ties town customers’
results of which were due out last fall tion session that Marsee will notify the tober.Vero officials have said that all of its rates to Indian River County rates. The
but are now expected by Feb. 1, should federal court that no agreement was utility customers – including Indian River new rate structure is expected to re-
provide approximate costs of hooking struck, then the parties will proceed Shores – will be subject to a rate that re- ignite another pending lawsuit in state
the town up to the county’s potable with the next steps in the case. flects the city’s cost to provide service. court in which the town has sued Vero
water and sanitary sewer systems. for breach of contract over rates. 
Meanwhile, Vero is proceeding with a Through October 2027, the franchise

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

NEWS

New rental community near hospital moving forward

BY LISA ZAHNER and townhome development was vet- Orthopaedics and Neurology facility. retention ponds. One board vote is still
Staff Writer ted on Jan. 6 by the Vero Beach Plan- The driveway-to-parking lot commute pending from the Land Trust before
ning and Zoning Board and the site to Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospi- the city can issue a development order.
Though it won’t be finished in time to plan presented was found to be in tal will be three to four minutes.
house the current wave of people mov- compliance with code, and approved Vero Planning Director Jason Jeffries
ing to Vero Beach, a new 189-unit rent- to move forward. A total of 349,727 square feet of three- said the project does not need to go
al community, Grand Pointe, could in story buildings with an overall height of before the city council based upon the
a few years become a very convenient Grand Pointe will be located just 46 feet is planned on the 23.6-acre par- current plan. “The Grand Pointe Multi-
housing option for people working in south of Harbor Chase and Regency cel, including an amenity center, com- Family Project public hearing at the
Vero’s 37th Street medical corridor. Park, and across Indian River Boulevard munity swimming pool, landscaped Jan. 6 Planning and Zoning Board was
from Solaris Senior Living and the new courtyards and a leasing office. a Major Site Plan. Final approval for a
A Master Site Plan for the apartment $22 million, 70,000-square-foot Vero Major Site Plan is from the Planning
The triangular-shaped property, and Zoning Board,” Jefferies said.
owned by John’s Island resident Warren
Schwerin’s company Schwerin Asset Ad- Phase One of the Grand Pointe de-
visors LLC, is bordered by conservation velopment is expected to be complet-
land to the east. The southeast portion ed by early 2025, with Phase Two com-
of the property will be maintained as a ing online a year later. The traffic study
wetland area, according to the site plan. completed said the project should not
necessitate any improvements to In-
An environmental assessment on the dian River Boulevard.
land describes it as “historic citrus lands
that were abandoned in the 1990s.” In No local residents spoke against
the meantime, invasive Brazilian pep- approval of the Master Site Plan last
per trees proliferated on the property. week. Developer Tom Cavanaugh held
a neighborhood workshop about the
Engineer Kevin Roberson of Kimley- project at Vero Beach City Hall in June,
Horn and Associates said the owner is but only one person showed up, and
seeking a drainage easement from the that was another developer who was
Indian River Land Trust to provide for curious about the new community. 
a system of dry and wet stormwater

First of elder care fraud trials set for February

BY LISA ZAHNER most a year. The recovery has been
slow and is ongoing,” Stone said. “The
Staff Writer undersigned is not medically able to go
through an extended trial for the period
Chiquita McGee, a 33-year-old Fort required in this case and there is no as-
Pierce woman accused of defrauding surance that said attorney will be able
an elderly John’s Island couple in her to do so anytime in the near future.”
care by charging luxury purchases to
their credit card, will be the first of two Stone was admitted to the Florida Bar
co-defendants to be tried in the case in 1964 and served as an assistant pub-
on Feb. 21. lic defender before being elected State
Attorney of the 19th District in 1972. He
McGee’s cousin Sophia Monae Shep- served in that capacity for 13 years.
herd, 34, aka Sophia Brown, of Vero
Beach will be tried second. Both de- Shepherd has been declared indi-
fendants will go to trial with different gent, but the court has yet to designate
lawyers than the ones who have repre- an attorney to represent her. Stone has
sented them for nearly four years. asked that she not be represented by
a public defender because that agency
Shepherd was set to go to trial this has a conflict representing co-defen-
past Monday but her longtime private dant McGee.
attorney, Bob Stone, backed out of the
case. He filed a motion to withdraw on McGee had been represented by
Jan. 10, noting he’d represented Shep- Public Defender Diamond Litty’s of-
herd since her arrest in 2018. fice, but she recently hired defense at-
torney James Regan out of Palm City to
“During that period of time there handle her upcoming trial on a first-
have been several events that have degree felony charge of exploitation
caused delay. There have been ongo- of elderly or disabled adult of $50,000
ing plea negotiations between the un- or more, and a second-degree felony
dersigned and the State. During said charge of a scheme to defraud a finan-
period there has been a pandemic that cial institution. Three weeks ago, Vero
closed down the Court system for al- Beach attorney Doreen Regent was
most a year,” Stone wrote. added to the defense team.

“Subsequent to the pandemic, the The two CNAs are accused of run-
undersigned had several medical prob-
lems which incapacitated him for al- CONTINUED ON PAGE 12



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

NEWS

Elder care fraud case tracked before the pandemic because
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10 the remaining victim is in her 90s and
cases involving elderly victims can be
ning up the elderly couple’s credit card made to move faster by the judge, but
bills with shopping sprees for luxury then court closures and COVID pro-
items, trips to casinos, a stay at the tocols in 2020 and 2021 delayed the
Plaza hotel in New York, the rental of trials.
a Rolls Royce and even cosmetic sur-
gery. If convicted, they could face up The elderly couple’s daughter is ex-
to 30 years in prison for the most seri- pected to testify at trial, as she com-
ous charge. They have both been out municated with the CNAs while they
on bond since the spring of 2018. were charged with caring for her par-
ents in their John’s Island home.
Assistant State Attorney Lev Evans
said he is determined to try McGee’s Evans said he’s not sure how long
case before he retires early this year. it will take for Shepherd to face trial
Evans pushed to have the case fast- with brand-new, yet-to-be-appointed
counsel. “Her attorney will request a
long continuance,” he predicted. 

MY RScohsoaorliod’isstrreiqctusetsatfffo’srtdimoceuwmaesntetds
VERO

on

BY RAY MCNULTY So unless I’m missing something ob-
vious, her wrongheaded and self-serv-
Staff Writer ing pursuit of this matter is indefensible.

I shouldn’t have been surprised According to Ron Fagan, the district’s
School Board member Jackie Rosario chief financial officer, staffers spent a
didn’t answer my emailed questions . total of 25 hours at a cost of more than
$1,200 in salary alone to search for and
She also didn’t reply to follow-up produce the requested information.
text and phone messages regarding
the thousands of pages of documents Moore described those numbers
she received in response to her inquiry as “generous” – because they didn’t
into the school district’s donation of $70 include the time and expense of pro-
worth of bottled water to a local charity cessing the data collected.
that provided 700 Thanksgiving meals
to the needy. But what’s most troubling is that a
staffer in the district’s already-over-
Really, what was she going to say? worked Information Technology De-
That she wasted three full workdays partment, which juggles as many as 20
of district staffers’ time and effort on projects at any one time, was forced to
a search for evidence of a scandal that conduct a frivolous search that Fagan
existed only in her mind? said produced 15,000 to 20,000 emails.
That she spitefully pushed on with her
extensive request for emails, receipts and There were so many emails, in fact,
other documents, even after Schools Su- they couldn’t simply be forwarded to
perintendent David Moore explained to Rosario. They needed to be loaded onto
her the water came from the supply the a thumb drive delivered to her and the
district kept in storage because of the other board members earlier this month.
COVID-19 pandemic and its expiration
date was approaching? So, instead of working on meaningful
That she was merely throwing a tan- projects that actually helped educate our
trum because Moore and other School students, this IT staffer spent the better
Board members supported the charita- part of a week chasing a bogeyman.
ble venture of TeamSuccess and its pres-
ident, Michael Marsh, who as a private That’s cause for concern.
citizen had been pummeling her with Still – in the interest of fairness, now
relentless social-media attacks? that she has had an opportunity to re-
There’s no way Rosario, who last week view the materials she requested – I
filed to run for re-election to her District wanted to give Rosario a chance to tell
2 seat, was going to say anything that her side of the story.
might undermine her campaign, even In addition, I wanted to know if there
though she was still unopposed earlier was anything in the emails and other
this week. documents that she found troubling,
She must know that publicly com- and whether they included problems or
plaining about our school district giv- issues she’d like to discuss for publica-
ing to charity a few cases of soon-to- tion.
be-stale bottled water and a collection Finally, I wanted her to explain why
of canned foods donated by district she believed the time spent address-
employees won’t win her many votes. ing her request was an appropriate
and worthwhile use of the district
staff’s time, and how our school chil-
dren benefited from her inquiry.

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 27, 2022 13

NEWS

Certainly, county voters have a right which the information was delivered. Rosario’s request took time away from Rosario denied that her questioning of
to know why this matter was so im- School Board Vice Chairman Peggy the mission of the district. the district’s donations to TeamSuc-
portant to her, given the urgent tone cess was motivated by Marsh’s tor-
of the Dec. 3 email in which she re- Jones said she doubts she’ll “ever look “I agree with my fellow board mem- ment and antagonism. Nor does she
quested from the superintendent: at those emails” because she has “no bers that our job is to work in collabo- want to be perceived as being opposed
interest” in their contents. ration with our superintendent, dis- to feeding the needy.
 All emails sent between board trict staff and the community,” Schiff
members and Moore, his cabinet or “I’m upset because it was a waste of said, “and not as adversaries.” But she said she was unaware of any
district staffers in connection with the district staff’s time,” Jones said. other such donations by the district dur-
Marsh and/or the Thanksgiving do- As for Marsh, who continues to ing her time on the board, and she want-
nations made to the charity. “What’s the point here?” she added. target Rosario in a barrage of social- ed to make sure the charities are prop-
“Our superintendent has the author- media posts, he said his attacks were erly vetted and policies are followed.
 All policies, procedures and stat- ity over purchases and expenditures prompted by her fierce alliance to
utes governing school district dona- up to $50,000. This was $72 worth of what he believes is a “politically parti- Perhaps so, but within days of her fil-
tions to outside organizations. bottled water.” san” group of mothers who have orga- ing her request, Moore told her all she
nized, locally and nationally, in an at- needed to know about the donations.
 All email conversations regard- Mara Schiff, who is in the final year tempt to influence school policy. Yet she persisted.
ing any donations made by the district of her School Board term and hasn’t
in November, as well as all relevant tax yet announced whether she’ll seek In an interview last month, however, Why? 
forms, itemized lists of what was do- re-election, said it was a “shame” that
nated, donation letters and receipts,
sources of funding for the purchase of
donated items, departments the do-
nations came from, who delivered the
items, where they were delivered and
how much did the deliveries cost.

Just so you know: If you or I had re-
quested the exact same information, it
would’ve cost us as much as $50,000 –
because district staffers would’ve been
required to read each email and redact
any names, addresses, phone num-
bers or other information not accessi-
ble under Florida’s public-records law.

“We’re talking about 20,000 emails,
so the number of hours required to do
all that would be astronomical,” Fa-
gan said.

“I couldn’t even begin to tell you
exactly how many, but if you allow
3 minutes to read each email, that’s
60,000 minutes, which is 1,000 hours.
And at $50 per hour …”

School Board members don’t pay
for such information, of course, and
unless documents contain student re-
cords, redactions aren’t necessary.

The district staffers dutifully did their
job. We don’t know if Rosario did hers.

“My understanding is that she got
everything she requested,” Moore said.
“It’s a lot of information and maybe
she’s still reviewing it. There have been
no additional requests.”

It’s difficult, though, to see any value or
pressing need for the data she requested.

The other School Board members –
all four of them took my calls and spoke
frankly last week – said they had re-
ceived the thumb drives containing the
information Rosario requested, hadn’t
read what’s on them and probably
won’t bother to do so.

“It’s not high on my list of priori-
ties,” School Board Chairman Teri
Barenborg said.

Previous chairman Brian Barefoot
took a stronger position, reiterating the
words of disgust he exhibited during the
superintendent’s workshop earlier this
month, describing Rosario’s request as
“ridiculous” and saying it “borders on
harassing the staff.”

Barefoot added that he hadn’t taken
the thumb drive out of the envelope in



Steve Boyle.

ALL HAIL QUAIL

‘AMAZING’ NONPROFIT,
NOW 20, STILL GIVES ITS ALL P. 18

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

PEOPLE

Grant-astic! ‘Impact 100’ members hear from grateful nonprofits

Gladys LaForge, Tracy Sorzano and Mary Ellen McCarthy. Brenda and Robin Lloyd. PHOTOS: MARY SCHENKEL Terry Treat, Marley Butcher and Phil Barnes.

Pilar Turner and Susan Smith. Linda Beardslee, Joanne Hackenburg and Dr. Suzanne Conway. Sandy Pancoast and Sandy Rolf.

BY MARY SCHENKEL “We are women who collectively for real-world, meaningful careers. ues, Butcher said they can now house
impact the lives of individuals in our “The STEAM project developed out administration, academic and athletic
Staff Writer community through collaborative giv- programs all in one building.
ing,” said Sorzano. of a realization on our staff’s part that
Current and prospective members of our kids aren’t really graduating high “We’re an organization that’s only
Indian River Impact 100 gathered at the Impact 100 members contribute school with the skills they need to eight years old, so for us to receive an
Bethel Creek House to hear from rep- $1,100 annually; $100 toward admin- meet these jobs that are in demand,” Impact 100 grant was very profound for
resentatives of three of the four most istrative expenses and $1,000 pooled, said Barnes. This grant has enabled our organization. It’s really strength-
recent Community Partners, who had with members voting in April to deter- them to add clear pathways to mean- ened our presence in the commu-
each received a $100,000 transforma- mine which finalists will receive that ingful careers in trades such as HVAC, nity. We’re very grateful for that,” said
tional grant this past spring. The Im- year’s $100,000 grants. welding, plumbing, carpentry and Butcher. Speaking of the first time the
pact Day event, sponsored by Robin electric, where students will graduate students saw the extensive facility be-
Lloyd & Associates, with member spon- “Over the past 13 years, we’ve made with six professional certifications, ing developed specifically for them,
sor Cindy Galant, provided an oppor- grants totaling more than $5 million to and through free apprenticeship pro- she said staff was touched by their
tunity for recipients to share informa- support over 65 nonprofit programs in grams. emotion and excitement.
tion about the status of their programs Indian River County. Our goal this year
and the impact of the grants on their is to reach 500 members and award five “We have already started building “Not a lot of them show emotion.
organizations and the community. $100,000 grants at our annual meeting relationships with local businesses These are tough, hard-exterior kids
in April.” within the trades,” said Barnes. “These that we work with. You don’t expect
The nonprofits – Crossover Mission, are careers that are in demand and are 19-year-old boys to have tears in their
SafeSpace, Veterans Council of Indian LaForge introduced the panel par- used very frequently. I can’t thank you eyes while they’re standing on the
River County and the Youth Guidance ticipants and gave a brief description of enough for the difference you are mak- court,” said Butcher.
Mentoring Academy – cater to a vast ar- each project, noting that Youth Guid- ing.” He noted that they hope to serve
ray of clients, including disadvantaged ance and the Veterans Council were 250 students this year and bump it up Terry Treat is program manager of
youths, victims of domestic violence, also 2018 Impact grant recipients. to 300 or 350 next year. the Veterans Helping Veterans pro-
and aging veterans who, having served gram. This grant goes toward their Vet-
our country, now need our support. Phil Barnes, Youth Guidance execu- Marley Butcher, Crossover Mission eran Families Quality of Life program.
tive director, spoke about the Learn- general manager, said the build-out of It is an expansion of the 2018 Impact
Prior to a panel discussion moderat- ing Center at Youth Guidance, where a Multi-Media Learning Center within grant, which provided free home re-
ed by immediate past president Gladys students ages 5 to 24 are receiving the new Crossover Center for Achieve- pair and improvement services solely
LaForge, current president Tracy Sor- mentoring, life skills and vocational ment and Tutoring, a former citrus to veterans, to now include surviving
zano introduced Vii McFall, a senior at training in a vast array of trades, from packing house, is well on its way. Their spouses and veterans living in homes
Indian River Charter High School, who cosmetology to mechanics. It builds goal is to support and direct at-risk owned by family members.
wowed attendees with her outstanding on the 2018 grant for STEAM (Science, students through afterschool athletics
a capella performance of “I’m Here” Technology, Engineering, Art and and academic mentoring. While the “There are over 17,000 veterans in In-
from the musical “The Color Purple.” Math) programs. All aim to break the build-out of the new facility contin- dian River County. If only 10 percent of
cycle of poverty by preparing students them need our help, that’s 1,700. We get

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

PEOPLE

Meredith Egan, Suzi McCoy Shriner and June Fitzgerald. Ann Butera and Kristin Rohr. Lynne MacLean, Liz Locke and Barbara Ruddy.

Michael Naffziger and Vii McFall.

to about 50 or so a year,” said Treat.
“The stringent requirements that

Impact 100 has regarding applying for
grants, reporting and monitoring our
results and our progress, fundamen-
tally changed our organization. Our
reporting is much more stringent, our
oversight is much more onerous, our
procedures are much sharper than
they were before, because that first
$100,000 helped a lot of veterans and
we wanted to do it some more.” Like
Butcher and Barnes, Treat said that
receiving an Impact grant gave them
more standing in the community and
helped them to get funding from other
sources.

Teresa Albizu, SafeSpace CEO, was
unable to attend. The Domestic Vio-
lence Emergency Center renovation
will provide a 19-bed emergency shel-
ter in our county to victims of domes-
tic violence. Women and their children
will find safe shelter from abusers and
receive support and education, ulti-
mately helping them to create inde-
pendent lives free from violence.

For more information or to become a
member, visit impact100ir.com. 

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

PEOPLE

All hail Quail: ‘Amazing’ nonprofit, now 20, still gives its all

BY MARY SCHENKEL
Staff Writer

Despite continuing uncertainties Executive Chef Joe Faria and his talented staff. WINE DINNER Jessica Linus Watford, Jimmy Linus and Julia Butterworth.
caused by the pandemic, organizers of
annual multi-week Quail Valley Chari- nonprofit in 2001, which began with a PHOTOS: MARY SCHENKEL & KAILA JONES Young, owner of Sift Bake Shop in
ties events remain optimistic that they two-day golf tournament that funded Mystic, Conn., introduced his new
will meet their goal of cresting the cu- 12 agency programs. Since then, Quail & Sale and a 20th Anniversary Celebra- book “Sift” at a fabulous three-course
mulative $10 million mark in funding Valley Charities has contributed more tion Dinner. And while some events luncheon, which included a demon-
grants over the past 20 years to local than $9.3 million, with $10 million continued to be limited in size for safe- stration on how to whip up the crème
charities that focus on children and clearly in site. ty’s sake, members made up for it with brûlée recipe in his book, including
education. contributions. torching the sugar on the spot.
In addition to the continuing golf
“With Quail Valley celebrating its tournaments, events this year includ- “They’ve been so generous to us with “What’s outstanding about this
20th anniversary, I have to thank our ed a Kids Fun Run and 5K Walk/Run, their donations,” said Trudie Rainone, property is the culture. I’ve never
membership once again for volun- tennis tournaments, Mah Jongg and Quail Valley Charities vice chair. “Our seen anything like it from a back-of-
tarily giving of themselves to help duplicate bridge games, a Tower Shoot goal is to raise enough money so that house perspective in any operation
Quail Valley Charities reach its goal of at Blackwater Creek Ranch, a Keenan all of our charities can get what they I’ve worked in across the nation. And it
funding more than 35 children’s chari- Wine Dinner and a Wine Dinner with asked for.” starts from the top down,” said Young,
ties of Indian River County in another “Little Chef” Jamey Maloof, a Cook- referencing the “outstanding leader-
tough year,” said Quail Valley Golf Club book Signing Luncheon, an Art Show “It’s not only donors, but also spon- ship” of Faria and Kevin Given, COO/
owner Kathy Mulvey. “It is truly amaz- sorships; we have more sponsorships general manager.
ing how we all pull together, the mem- than ever this year,” agreed Wanda
bers and our terrific staff, and all their Lincoln, Quail Valley Charities chair. “They do so much to impact the in-
hard work in achieving this goal. We She explained that many of the spon- dustry nationwide, as truly innova-
couldn’t do it without them.” sors, who may not have attended be- tive leaders in our industry and setting
cause of COVID, have continued to the benchmark for what hospitality is
Quail Valley Charities has continu- support the cause. supposed to look like. There is not a
ally modified the scope of its events day that goes by that I don’t think in
and activities since the creation of the “They’ve also exhibited great faith in my own operation now, ‘Well, what
the vetting process,” said Lincoln, re- would Kevin do, what would Joe do,
Join us for Sunday Worship ferring to the extensive interviews and how would Mr. Mulvey (the late Steve
8:30, 9:30 and 11:00 AM visits to the charities that are under- Mulvey) handle this?’ It’s nice to see
taken by volunteers to ensure that the that network span across the nation. I
Quality discipleship, fellowship, music, money raised is being well-spent and see so many of my colleagues working
youth programs, and more - for all ages! accounted for. all over the United States, taking a little
We would love for you to join our church family! piece of Quail Valley with them.”
“There’s always a different series
Sunday, January 30th of events; there’s always something Young brought a bit of Sift to Vero
unique,” said Lincoln. with him as well, with the introduction
This week’s message: of a multi-course Wine Dinner with
“A Promise to Rebuild” One of the newer events was the Art “Little Chef” Jamey Maloof, executive
Show & Sale, which featured the tal- sous chef for the Sift Bake Shop, whose
Jeremiah 1:4-10 ents of 21 member artists, an expand- diminutive stature contrasts greatly to
ed number from last year, whose works that of 6-foot-5 Young.
Dr. G. Timothy Womack, Senior Pastor included paintings, photography, jew-
elry and crafts. Other events, such as Festivities concluded with an elegant
520 Royal Palm Blvd First Presbyterian Preschool the tennis tournaments, have grown 20th Anniversary Celebration Dinner,
Vero Beach, FL 32960 www.firstpresbyterianpreschool.org considerably over the years. a gourmet banquet to pay tribute to 20
(772) 562-9088 PRIMO School of Performing Arts years of sponsors, participants, donors
www.FirstPresVero.org “I was here Saturday afternoon for and the tireless volunteers and staff,
www.PRIMOMusic.org the last women’s tournament, and it who have contributed to the success of
was big; it was a party. I thought, oh my Quail Valley Charities.
gosh, how proud Sam must be for what
he’s built,” said Lincoln, referencing In his welcome to guests at the
Sam Garcia, director of tennis. “Along dinner, Given gave particular thanks
with the charities, it’s helped the club to representatives from Becker Hold-
in being able to provide for its mem- ing, George E. Warren Corporation
bers the kinds of things that they like. and Nelson Morgan Wealth Man-
So, it’s a win-win.” agement for their generous contri-
butions since its inception, and to
At one of the new events this year, Lincoln and Rainone for their un-
longtime members were happy to re- wavering guidance. 
connect with Chef Adam Young, who
had worked as Quail’s pastry chef un-
der the excellent mentorship of Execu-
tive Chef Joe Faria from 2004 to 2009.

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 27, 2022 19

PEOPLE

Wanda Lincoln, Trudie Rainone and Kathy Mulvey. Steve and Carrie Trooboff with Lynn and Barry Wicksten. PHOTOS CONTINUED ON PAGE 20
Gerry Smith with Al and Angela Diaz.

Harry and Pat Allex with Jean and Edd Hyde. Harold and Lianne Cordner with Michael Keenan and Eric Ruiz. Michael and Rhonda Horowitz with Norma and Larry Noesen.

Marie Olvey, Debbie Huryn and Geri Kent.

Kathleen aand Dennis Byrne. Sue Sharpe and Susie Kintner.

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

PEOPLE

PHOTOS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 19 TENNIS
Tyler Lesneski. PHOTOS: KAILA JONES
Trey Higdon.
George Nagyl.

Dennis and Kathleen Byrne. ART SHOW
Cindy Phelan and Carol Jones.

Dr. B. LynnWilliams

Psychiatric Medication Management • Psychotherapy • Telepsychiatry

Children through the Elderly

772-231-1379

www.yourmindhealth.com

Vero Beach, FL

Mind Health, PL

Family Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner • FLAPRN-IP 714562
Clinical Health Psychologist • PY 7808

[email protected]

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

PEOPLE

PHOTOS CONTINUED ON PAGE 22

Betsy Carothers.

Tracy Wheeler and Bonnie Jones. John and Lee Moore.

Sally Lurie, Lucinda Foley and Chris Semisch.

ART SHOW

Sally Lurie, Lucinda Foley and Chris Semisch.

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

PEOPLE

PHOTOS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 21 Linda Proctor, Heidi Rose, Carol Kanarek and Mary Lou Christy. Gail Shepherd and Sue Sharpe.
Robin Williams, Kay Brown and Lucia Bailey.

Chef Adam Young demonstrates making crème brûlée. Scott and Wendy Douglas with Bernedette Douglas.

Cindy Long and Vickie Lautenbach. Sidney Kaliher and Diane Dilling.

COOKBOOK LUNCHEON
Wanda Lincoln, Martha Redner, Carol Kanarek and Trudie Rainone.

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 27, 2022 23

PEOPLE

PHOTOS CONTINUED ON PAGE 24
Susan Perry, Kevin Given and Karla Spooner.

“Little Chef” Jamey Maloof with David and Erin Vatland.
Executive Chef Joe Faria and Chef Adam Young.

David and Connie Hanson. Bo and Sherry Means.

WINE EVENT

Elke and George Fetterolf with Linda Kastner.

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

PEOPLE

PHOTOS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 23 Carol and Tom Corr with Kathy Mulvey. Ron Chesley and Jennifer Cancio with Debbie and Kyle Morgan.
Brace Young and Landis Becker Young with Jean and Andrew Taylor.

Ellie Sexton and Tom Nelson. Carol Fischman, Kevin Given and Martha Redner.

Suzanne Leigh and Marcelo Vilas. Beth and Tim Wright.

Evy Lynch and Charlie Long. Wanda Lincoln, Kathy Mulvey,
Debbie Bower and Trudie Rainone.

Denmar and Ellen Dixon with Angela and Al Diaz. GALA
Frank and Laurie Hover with Kim and Sam Garcia.

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

PEOPLE

Good will haunting: ‘Paranormal Dinner’ was spirited affair

before highlighting numerous Vero- seek out unexplained phenomena. and died in the zoo adjacent to the
centric accounts, including Waldo Sex- Stapleton, previously a sceptic, re- building in today’s Pocahontas Park.
ton’s influence on the area, the reign
of the Brooklyn Dodgers and the grue- called walking through the property As guests walked about with Lawson
some tale of Barbecue Charlie. with the Hauntings crew and, despite and his team, energy readings were
no discernible answer when the crew picked up in the Citrus Museum, most
Between courses, guests broke into asked whether anyone had died on notably near the smudge pots on dis-
groups to learn about the tools that the property, when the recording was play. Inquiring minds were left won-
Lawson and his crew use during their played back later, there was an audible dering what the story was behind these
paranormal investigations. Lawson re- response. “Alice.” tools, used to heat citrus groves when
tired after 40 years in law enforcement
and now uses his investigative skills to Unbeknownst to Lawson and his STORY, PHOTOS CONTINUED ON PAGE 26
crew, Alice was a bear that had lived

Nancy Riendeau and Lynn Telenko. PHOTOS: KAILA JONES

BY STEPHANIE LaBAFF
Staff Writer

Guests at a recent Paranormal Din- CRISTELLE CAY
ner at the Heritage Center experienced
an evening of delicious dining mixed One must not wait until dusk to see how splendid life can be
with “hair-raising fun-raising” to ben-
efit Vero Heritage Inc., the nonprofit Oceanfront Cristelle Cay is entirely surrounded by preserves in perpetuity
that manages the Heritage Center and Find matchless quality and value in a wide pristine beach setting
its adjacent Indian River Citrus Mu- Each condominium has a 32’ x 8’ direct oceanfront patio balcony
seum.
All windows and sliding glass doors exceed the Florida Building Code
In addition to stories from the past, Custom design ceilings~Marble Bathrooms~Engineered wood floors~Painting
guests supped on an appropriately
citrus-themed, five-course, gourmet Custom Gourmet Kitchen
dinner prepared by Edgewood Eatery’s 9-unit SAILFISH has three 3-bedroom & 3-bathroom condos remaining
Chef Zachariah Campione, paired 12-unit MAHI-MAHI has five 2-bedroom & 3-bathroom condos remaining
with Orchid Island Brewery’s star ruby Garage parking - AC storage units - Gym - Gated Entry - Dog Walk - Barbecue
grapefruit beer.
Design-Developed by Cardinal Ocean Development LLC
The iconic location was the perfect 52-years Florida oceanfront condominium development
setting to learn about and search for
paranormal activity, as the building Peer-reviewed engineering integrity
and its environs are ripe with historical
happenings. Throughout its 87-year Now Under Construction
history, the facility has served, among
other things, as a community center, 4804 Atlantic Beach Boulevard (A1A) North Hutchinson Island, Florida
servicemen’s club and teen center. Fifteen minutes south of Vero Beach 17th Street Bridge
Email: [email protected] Tel: 772.321.9590
“We like to say the Heritage Center is from $1,025,000
the town’s original community build-
ing that’s still building community,” 60% Sold
said Heather Stapleton, Vero Heritage
executive director. Sailfish Mahi Mahi

Stapleton shared her “zest” for the
Heritage Center and Indian River Cit-
rus Museum, giving an insightful talk
about the history of the building and
Millie Bunnell’s fight to save the facil-
ity in 1990. That led to the creation of
Vero Heritage, Inc., which is tasked
with stewarding and operating the
conjoined facilities, while promoting
and preserving Vero’s heritage.

“We’ve been able to honor Millie’s
legacy and do even more than I think
she might have ever imagined,” said
Stapleton, noting that Bunnell’s spirit
is still felt.

“You can’t understand or appreciate
the paranormal unless you have a love
for history,” said Larry Lawson, owner/
operator of Indian River Hauntings.

He proceeded to regale the crowd
with a bit of local history, starting in
the 1840s as settlers began to arrive,

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

PEOPLE

STORY, PHOTOS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 25 Kyle and Danielle MacCarthy. Brenda and Mike Bullock. Heather Stapleton and Mark Wygonik.
Dr. Darrell and Susan Horn. Heidi Evans with Kelly and Eric Menger. Chris Sexton, Bob Bruce and Janice Broda.

the weather turns dangerously cold, asking what could have left such
strong residual energy behind.

Stapleton said they have been conducting private tours of the Cit-
rus Museum and have opened up usage of the building for events
outside their typical private rentals, such as celebrating National
Citrus month, participating in Downtown Fridays, hosting an “Or-
ange” Friday, and opening up to a Dabble in Color painting event.

“As COVID continues, we have now lost $112,000 in canceled
contracts, a big portion of our revenue stream,” said Stapleton, not-
ing that event proceeds will support the general operating budget.

“We’re looking at ways that we can still get people using the
building that might not be a private rental. What are the other ways
that we can make use of this building?”

For more information, visit veroheritage.org or indianriver
hauntings.com. 

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

PEOPLE

For Moorings-Habitat team, home is always where their heart is

BY MARY SCHENKEL Eve Kyomya, David Sommers and Kimeria Colley. own lives and their children’s lives.” “Indian River Habitat is the com-
Staff Writer Potential homeowners contribute munity’s and club’s longest philan-
these ladies might not have a new thropic partner and we on the board
Trevor Loomis, who moved from home and a new direction in their hundreds of “sweat equity” hours are very pleased to have members
Louisville in November to become life’s journey.” on their homes, save a nest egg, and come together to support this cause,”
president and CEO of Indian River take financial and homeownership said Maggie Selby, president of the
Habitat for Humanity, left the Moor- Sommers said the Moorings made classes. The homeowners pay a zero- Moorings Club board of governors.
ings Yacht and Country Club with a conscious decision two decades interest mortgage which, when re-
a smile on his face and a check for a ago to focus its efforts on Habitat, paid, is ‘recycled’ to future homes. “The club itself contributes to Hab-
whopping $672,000, presented at the whose homebuyers are “willing and itat directly through the State Com-
recent Moorings Habitat Sponsor able to work hard to improve their Sommers said Moorings residents munity Contribution Tax Credit Pro-
Luncheon. have contributed more than $8 mil- gram. For every volunteer who works
lion to Indian River Habitat over the at home sites and the ReStore, the
David Sommers, who chairs the past 24 years, enabling 78 homes to hours that they donate goes toward
Moorings Habitat Partnership Com- be built. Another six are being built the club’s ability to redirect sales tax
mittee, welcomed and thanked the using last year’s $500,000, for a total directly to Habitat. Over the last 10
assemblage of major sponsors, com- of 84 homes. Additionally, funding years, this has allowed us to redirect
mittee members, Habitat homebuy- is used to repair homes and provide $2.3 million. Last year we donated
ers, and representatives of Habitat scholarships to students from Habi- $172,000 of sales tax, thanks to our
and the Moorings Club. tat homes. volunteers. These are really impres-
sive numbers. The combined total
“Last year we raised $500,000 in Over the past three years, Sommer for last year’s Habitat Weekend, from
our COVID-limited 2021 Habitat said, 16 single-parent families have contributions as well as the tax credit,
Classic Weekend. That was a truly moved into Moorings-sponsored total $672,000,” said Selby, presenting
remarkable achievement,” said Som- new homes, adding, “those 16 homes the check.
mers. The 2022 Habitat Classic Week- house 46 people, including 30 chil-
end will take place Feb. 18-21. dren.” “We’re beyond grateful for the re-
lationship with the Moorings and the
“Sponsorships provide the vast Residents and Moorings staff also incredible generosity of the member-
majority of our fundraising,” said contribute hundreds of volunteer ship here,” said Loomis. “Twenty per-
Sommers. “Without your support hours at the ReStore, building sites
and fundraising events.

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 27, 2022 29

PEOPLE

Shirley Becker, John Sameth and Susan Becker. PHOTOS: MARY SCHENKEL Peter McLaughlin and Heidi Sommers. Jean and Edd Hyde with Marsha Sherry.

Craig Lopes, Maggie Selby and Trevor Loomis. Sandy Parent and Pam Delaney. Gary Parker and Jan McLachlan.

cent of every Habitat house built in daughter, said that when she attend- ANY TIME
Indian River County has been spon- ed the luncheon two years ago, her
sored by the Moorings. home was under construction, and HOME WATCH
she is now a “proud homeowner.” Bonded and Insured
“What we do is create opportuni- Personal Property Manager
ties for people in need to change their After college, Colley became a lo- 17 Years Experience in Florida
lives. The real magic happens when cal middle school teacher and was Peace Of Mind While Out Of Town
we partner together,” said Loomis, determined to become a Habitat Veteran Owned Business
adding that Indian River County has homeowner, like her mother before
demonstrated 30 years of “hand-up her. After receiving a Habitat scholar- 772.696.3132
partnerships,” proving that the Habi- ship, she graduated in December as a
tat model works. Licensed Practical Nurse and just re-
cently obtained her “dream job.”
“We build opportunities for hard-
working families that want to build a “I’m excited to be here and I thank
better life,” said Loomis. you for everything that you’ve done
for me as a homeowner and I know
One of those hard-working individ- these girls are just as grateful,” said
uals, Kim Colley, a two-year home- Colley, referencing the other equally
owner of a Moorings-sponsored thankful Habitat homebuyers. 
home, and the mother of a 4-year-old

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

INSIGHT COVER STORY

From Karuna Clayton’s window, she For the last nine months, this has independent,” she says. “Before the pan- Launched in December 2021 by the
can see a gondola bobbing in a Vene- been Clayton’s home and workspace. demic, I traveled a lot. I often went to Università Ca’ Foscari and the Fon-
tian canal and a simple white stone Formerly a commercial food photogra- work elsewhere in Europe: three weeks in dazione di Venezia, a nonprofit group
church on one side of a small campo, pher based in London, she now shares Sweden, a month here, a month there.” that protects Venice’s cultural heritage,
or city square. Normally there would an apartment in Venice with her part- Venywhere aim is to convince people
also be a steady trickle of tourists walk- ner and two-year-old daughter, run- Young, skilled and nomadic, the who can do their jobs from anywhere
ing below, but on a January afternoon ning a coaching business and teaching 35-year-old Clayton represents exactly to do so in Venice – and its founders
amid the pandemic’s omicron wave, yoga alongside her photography. the demographic that the new Venice- believe that the lagoon city, studded
the square’s empty. based project Venywhere is trying to with crumbling palazzi and half-used
“I’ve always called myself location- attract.

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

spaces, is the perfect laboratory to ex- INSIGHT COVER STORY
periment with new ways of working.
workspaces, language lessons and
Inspired by the Tulsa Remote work recreational amenities off the beaten
program in the U.S. and a slew of tourist paths. In return, Venice will
similar efforts from around the world, get an influx of young profession-
leaders in the Italian city are eager als, rejuvenating a city whose his-
to bring in young professionals who torical center has seen its population
want to live and work there, not just dwindle to about 50,000 – down from
vacation. 174,000 in the 1950s.

Florence, which has had its own Venice is also an aging city: The lat-
struggles with overtourism, launched est population data shows that there
a similar program called Be.Long in are twice as many people in their 50s
April. The hope is that these cities that living in the historical center as there
have long relied on visitor revenue can are people in their 20s. Sara Ajazi, a
diversify their economies and repopu- 26-year-old project manager at Veny-
late their historic centers. where, says that she was the only one
of 300 students in her management
“The pandemic has created a large class to stay and work in the city af-
population of highly skilled people ter graduating from the Università Ca’
who want to move,” says Venywhere Foscari.
founder Massimo Warglien, a profes-
sor of management at the Università For freshly minted graduates who
Ca’ Foscari. He believes that the pan- don’t want to be gondoliers, tourist
demic’s disruptive impact on the world guides or waiters, building careers in
of work, from the “Great Resignation” Venice can be a challenge.
to a new breed of flexible and remote
workers, could present a solution to Oliver Knick, a German theater di-
Venice’s chronic brain drain. “This is a rector, costume and stage designer
way of repopulating Venice,” he says. who has been living and working re-
motely from Venice for five years, says
The project is designed with free- that he’s noticed the lack of young
lancers and remote workers in mind, professionals in the city. “People in
but also wants to entice companies their 20s and 30s are the missing de-
willing to send entire teams to live mographic in Venice. I often think it’s
temporarily in Venice – a sort of three a shame that all of the great art that
month-long team-building exercise in is shown in Venice is produced else-
one of the world’s most beautiful cit- where. In London or Berlin, artists live
ies. and make art that is shown in those
cities.”
Unlike remote-worker programs in
less-charismatic sites, Venywhere isn’t So could an injection of remote
offering cash incentives to prospec- workers reverse this demographic
tive residents. Instead, digital nomads trend? The Venywhere project is bank-
who want to move to Venice will pay ing on a domino effect: If large firms
a one-time fee to get access to a con- send remote teams to the city, that
cierge service that eases them into will attract investment and, eventu-
Venetian life: viewing apartments on ally, more startups who would hire the
their behalf, advising them on how to city’s graduates.
get a SIM card or access the health sys-
tem, and even showing them where to CONTINUED ON PAGE 34
shop.

The platform promises to help
newcomers navigate the city’s many
eccentricities, connecting them with

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

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 33 INSIGHT COVER STORY

Venywhere plans to repurpose
portions of art studios and exhi-
bition spaces, such as the Fon-
dazione Bevilacqua-La Masa, as
offices for remote workers.

A beautiful-but-impractical
Venetian coworking set-up.

The Standard of Saint Mark, the
flag of the Venetian region, flies
next to gondolas in Piazza San
Marco in 2019. Heavily depen-
dent on tourism, Venice is eager
to attract young professionals
who want to live in, not just visit,
the historic city.

Remote work in Venice means setting
up your laptop in a boat workshop.

But some people say it’s hard to see Digital nomads tend to look for places Solving connectivity problems is one We will have an ecosystem of spaces
Venice transforming into an entre- with a big nomad community.” of the first things Venywhere plans to around the city that you can go to ac-
preneurial hub or hot destination for address, in part by creating a network of cording to what you have to do that
remote workers anytime soon. “It’s Clayton agrees. “Venice isn’t set up for open-air Wi-Fi hotspots around the city. day. You don’t need to go to the same
not the easiest city to live in,” says Ric- remote workers, unless you have a nice office just to keep your seat warm.”
cardo Longobardi, a former Venice space to work in. There are almost no co- “People now understand that there’s
resident and the founder of the Digital working spaces and it’s not a thing here little sense in going to the office just What makes this citywide hot-de-
Nomads in Italy Facebook group. “It’s to sit at a café for a few hours, getting cof- because you have to,” says Warglien. sking feasible is the city’s walkability –
very beautiful, but it’s a bit isolated. fee or lunch and working on your laptop. “We want to play more with this idea the main island is less than eight miles
Lots of places don’t even have Wi-Fi.” of the whole city being your office. across and unmarred by highways,

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

INSIGHT COVER STORY

parking lots or other automotive in- tricky is finding long-term accommo- as a welcome alternative after months ing on the buying power of dollar-rich
frastructure. “Venice is the archetypal dation that hasn’t been swallowed up of uncertain income during the pan- Americans to lure remote workers.
15-minute city, although it’s actually by a vacation rental platform. demic.
more of a 20-minute city. You can get For Clayton, it became easier to live
anywhere you want in 20 minutes.” The activist project Inside Airbnb, Project leaders are also in discus- and work in Venice once she stopped
which publishes data on the compa- sions with the country’s foreign min- trying to recreate her London experi-
Like other historic European city ny’s impact on cities around the world, istry on the development of a remote ence, with its multicultural shops and
centers, Venice’s heart is dense and reports that 4,821 apartments in the workers’ visa for Italy – something that restaurants, coworking spaces and af-
dominated by centuries-old structures. historical center are rented to tourists could attract more non-EU residents ter-work pub drinks.
Built on a series of islands, the centro all year round, taking them off the resi- eager to dip their toes into remote
storico reached its physical limits cen- dential market. working. “I’ve surrendered to what is avail-
turies ago – it cannot expand upwards able here,” she says. “My life is very
or outwards, and new development Venywhere hopes to convince lo- Caribbean countries like Barba- Venetian. My day is structured around
is rare. To accommodate new work- cal landlords to list their apartments dos and Antigua and Barbuda have those Venetian things: Every day, you
ers, Venywhere proposes repurposing through the project rather than on launched similar digital nomad visas, have your morning coffee in a campo,
historic buildings, scattering workers home-sharing sites like Airbnb. The while elsewhere in Europe, Estonia and at 6 o’clock you meet for your
across several sites. draw for them would be the regular- was the first country to establish an e- aperitivo, for a little spritz. You do have
ity of rent payments, which may come residency program. Argentina is focus- to live by Venice’s rules.” 
The economics campus of the Uni-
versità Ca’ Foscari, where the team be-
hind Venywhere works, is a perfect
example of this: Sleek, white-painted
coworking stations, student cafete-
rias and tutor rooms occupy mid-19th
century brick buildings that used to
be the municipal San Giobbe slaugh-
terhouse.

Alternatively, remote workers could
hop on a vaporetto and head to Gi-
udecca island, where the bare stone
galleries and vaulted ceilings of former
tanneries, mills and shipyard buildings
in the Giudecca Art District are more of-
ten used to host art exhibitions during
the Venice Biennale. Venywhere plans
to use spaces like these, along with un-
used rooms in museums, artists’ stu-
dios that lie empty without an artist-in-
residence, vacant hotel rooms and even
restaurant tables between mealtimes
as alternatives to the traditional rent-a-
desk coworking set-up.

“This isn’t an expensive project be-
cause we are using what is already
there. So many structures in the city
are only half-used,” says Warglien.

The same can be said for the city’s
rental housing during the pandemic.
Living in Venice can be expensive: In
the last few decades, efforts to build
social housing have stalled as the re-
gion’s conservative politicians have
chosen instead to turn residential lots
over to the more lucrative tourist mar-
ket, driving up prices in the city center.

Venice has become increasingly
unaffordable for Venetians, many of
whom have migrated to terraferma,
the mainland. The apartments that
they left behind have been bought up
by private companies for rent to tour-
ists through platforms like Airbnb and
Booking.com. Ocio, a local organiza-
tion that investigates the city’s hous-
ing issues, has found that there are
now as many beds for tourists in the
city as there are for residents. In 2000,
there were only 14,000 beds for tour-
ists against 76,000 for residents.

With visitor rates still limited by
the ongoing pandemic, remote work-
ers who come to the city through the
Venywhere program should find no
shortage of places to stay. What is

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

INSIGHT EDITORIAL

Americans don’t need a de- that while current law forbids troduced it last year after news Sens. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) and dren? And what about stocks
gree in law or finance to un- any American from trading on broke that numerous lawmak- Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) just in- purchased before a member is
derstand that there’s some- “insider information,” it’s very ers were making questionable troduced a bill similar to the elected? Should those have to
thing fishy about members hard to prove someone did stock trades in the pandemic’s House measure. Sen. Josh Haw- be sold or is it sufficient to put
of Congress being allowed to that, especially if that some- early days, when Congress was ley (R-Mo.) has his own propos- them in a blind trust?
trade individual stocks. one is a member of Congress receiving frequent closed-door al. Several candidates on the
who needs that information to briefings by health and nation- 2022 campaign trail have also But a good start would be
Senators and representa- make policy decisions. al security officials. endorsed the idea. to ban lawmakers and their
tives receive a substantial spouses from trading individ-
amount of information that Reps. Chip Roy (R-Tex.) and “We said, ‘This is ridiculous. Yes, there are questions to ual stocks while in office, while
the public does not, including Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) are How is this even allowed?’" be worked out. Is it enough to still allowing them to invest in
details about how U.S. com- the lead sponsors of one bill, Ms. Spanberger said. simply ban members of Con- mutual funds. That is easy to
panies operate and how the which they have christened the gress from trading individu- understand – and implement.
government scrutinizes busi- Trust in Congress Act (c’mon, On the other side of the Capi- al stocks? What about their
nesses. stop laughing). They first in- tol, there is also new momen- spouses and dependent chil- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
tum to make this ban a reality. (D-Calif.), one of the wealthi-
The fact that so much con- est members of Congress, has
gressional stock trading goes emerged as one of the biggest
on – with thousands of stocks roadblocks to the ban. Her
traded each year by members husband, Paul, has been a fre-
of both parties – raises legiti- quent trader over the years.
mate questions about wheth-
er lawmakers are using their Last month, Ms. Pelosi
access to that information stunned many when she de-
to enrich themselves, rather fended congressional stock
than to serve the public. trading. She argued it’s enough
that lawmakers have to disclo-
There’s a simple solution to sure their trades for the public
restore trust: Ban trading of to see. In reality, 54 members
individual stocks by members of Congress failed to disclose
of Congress, something that is their trades on time in the past
gaining bipartisan support on two years, according to an In-
Capitol Hill. sider investigation.

The wisdom of such a pro- It’s time to put a stop to this
hibition is obvious. A majority highly questionable behavior.
of Republican, Democratic, If lawmakers want to play the
and independent voters sup- market, they should select a
ports prohibiting lawmakers different career path. 
from trading stocks, a recent
Morning Consult poll shows. A version of this opinion piece
first appeared in The Washing-
It’s also widely supported by ton Post. It does not necessarily
good governance groups and reflect the views of Vero Beach
ethics experts, who point out 32963.

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

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

INSIGHT OPINION

After Jonathan Sinnwell updates the minding me to install the update for I’d be happy with my current laptop stalled Linux, an open-source OS. The
hardware drivers on his new Dell laptop, about four weeks. Even-tually, about functioning as expected. Short of that, computer works like a charm now.
the device stops working. Dell can't fix the two months after I received the laptop, a return with either a store credit or re-
problem. Does he deserve a full refund? I installed the BIOS update. Immedi- fund would be acceptable. I'm telling you about our BIOS battle
ately after applying the update and re- because, ultimately, your fix may have
QUESTION: booting the computer, the computer ANSWER: been exiting the Windows ecosystem.
stopped outputting video on the USB- But hey, I'm a consumer advocate, not
I ordered a Dell laptop recently. About C port to the monitors connected to my Dell should have fixed this laptop for a computer expert.
a month after it was delivered, I began Dell dock. you quickly or refunded your purchase.
receiving notifica-tions from the Dell It looks like you have a long paper
support tools preinstalled on the com- Conservatively, I’ve spent 15 hours of A quick sidebar: My son, who just trail between you and Dell. You did a
puter that a critical BIOS update was my personal time dealing with this sup- finished his applied computing degree great job of keeping records, which is
re-quired. port case, including more than three at the University of Ari-zona, needed a helpful when you're trying to prove that
hours of the tech on-site working with Windows computer for his classes last you went through all the right channels
I ignored the continual pop-ups re- me. This does not include the time it year. He also had a BIOS issue. (By the to get something fixed. It looks like you
took me to install all applications and way, BIOS stands for Basic Input Output ultimately tried to contact someone at
configure the laptop for my purposes. System, which is firmware that helps a higher level at Dell (I list the names,
your computer's components run.) numbers and email addresses on my
Replacing the motherboard did not consumer advocacy site, Elliott.org.)
resolve the issue because the new board After several agonizing weeks, he That didn't work, unfortunately.
contained the same version of BIOS. informed me that he'd found a fix: He
I’ve had a support case open with Dell erased the operating system and in- Sometimes, cases like yours get stuck
for months. in a seemingly endless loop. Even with
an excellent pa-per trail and a strong
The laptop has not been usable for case, you still can't get out – and you
my purposes. I hope that by reaching need a little help.
out to you, I can find a contact who can
take ownership of this case to help find I contacted Dell on your behalf. The
a resolution, I’ve been bounced from company asked you to return your lap-
support engineer to support engineer top and issued a full refund. 
with promises of return calls with no
follow-up. Get help with any consumer prob-
lem by contacting Christopher Elliott at
http://www.elliott.org/help

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

INSIGHT BOOKS

Greta Garbo died in 1990. Her last film was tions that propel so many star biographies. Socially by scholar Marjorie Garber to describe speculative
produced 80 years ago. Her retirement, much of it unacceptable realities often hidden or downplayed scenarios in celebrity biographies about who might
characterized by her refusals to be interviewed and by Hollywood’s publicity machines – such as child have slept with whom. Gottlieb acknowledges the
her penchant for taking long walks around Manhat- abuse, multiple marriages, drug or alcohol abuse, great likelihood that Garbo’s lovers included men
tan, lasted longer than her career in films. economic exploitation, mental illness, perverse sex- and women, and that she usually referred to herself
ual behaviors, career comebacks – won’t be found as a “boy” or “old man,” but doesn’t apply labels for
Yet we are in the midst of a (textual) Garbo reviv- here. These were not a part of Garbo’s life (although what he knows is only speculation.
al: “The Savvy Sphinx: How Garbo Conquered Hol- a comeback was, for a time, considered). In fact,
lywood,” by film and photography historian Robert one suspects that if these realities had been a part The last quarter of Gottlieb’s book is composed of
Dance, was published in November, and Donna Rif- of Garbo’s narrative, Gottlieb would not have been a photographic portrait gallery and a “Garbo read-
kind’s “The Sun and Her Stars: Salka Viertel and Hit- interested in writing a book about her. er” – essays and anecdotes written or recounted by
ler’s Exiles in the Golden Age of Hollywood,” a study other writers who knew, crossed paths with or were
of actress-screenwriter Viertel’s salon of European Gottlieb, well-known for his career editing books as enchanted by Garbo as Gottlieb is. These sections
emigres (including Garbo) in 1930s-’40s Hollywood, by celebrities (Katharine Hepburn, Lauren Bacall, might offer answers to the question “Why Garbo?,”
came out last winter. It arrived on the heels of the Bob Dylan) and prizewinning writers (Joseph Hell- which he gives to both the first and the last chapters
republication of Viertel’s memoir, “The Kindness of er, Toni Morrison, Doris Lessing, Salman Rushdie) of the book.
Strangers,” in which Garbo has a co-starring role. as editor in chief at top publishing houses Simon
And this season brings us “Garbo,” Robert Gottlieb’s & Schuster and Alfred A. Knopf, and as editor of Perhaps Garbo speaks to us through the years
engaging and intelligent retelling of the star’s life the New Yorker, is also a longtime writer on music, as modernity’s “new woman” – in her confound-
and meditation on her power to fascinate. dance and performing artists. His “Garbo,” like his ing gender and sexual identities, in her refusal to
previous biographies of actress Sarah Bernhardt be exploited, and in her disinterest in domesticity
Gottlieb does not offer new evidence about the and choreographer George Balanchine, is invested as a woman’s destiny. Gottlieb dismisses many of
star. He relies substantially on – and generously cites in the complicated mixture of temperament, talent, Garbo’s films as silly or as “trash,” but maybe taste is
– evidence and opinions uncovered or suggested by nonconformity and outsize public expectations beside the point if we find in her work the audacity
previous biographers and historians, such as Barry that is responsible for making the famed famous. of that “new woman.”
Paris, Karen Swenson and Mark Vieira. Nor does But Gottlieb does not privilege potential, or real-
“Garbo” justify its existence with the kind of revela- ized, infamy over an artist’s contributions to cul- If so, we might turn our attention toward the pho-
ture. tographic portraits of Garbo that have circulated for
decades, preserving her iconic stature even when her
“Garbo” is also invested in the star’s relationships. films were hard to find. We might want to give more
Some were marred by what can only be described as serious consideration than Gottlieb does to Garbo’s
her helplessness (and stinginess) about money and costumes (by designer Adrian), which in films set in
reliance on others to attend to a variety of practical her contemporary times aligned her with the notion
matters on her behalf. Other friendships and love of an androgynous and mobile modern woman and
affairs were undone by the star’s fear (often, but not in period films supported her tragic romanticism.
always, justified) that her privacy would be violated
by friends and lovers seeking economic or status Gottlieb rightly focuses on the contribution of her
rewards. However, Gottlieb emphasizes that her re- acting – a mix of craftsmanship and intuition – to her
lationships were mainly characterized by Garbo’s persona. His observations on the way Garbo’s per-
eccentric behavior, yet genuinely playful and affec- formances brought the codified gestural language of
tionate need to be with others. silent film acting into sound film suggests the rarity
of it being accomplished by her contemporaries. Her
Other biographers have given attention to her re- acting style served as a bridge for what was best in
lationships, but perhaps it is Gottlieb’s editorial tal- both silent and sound film performances; her pro-
ent that we are spared the minutiae of their course. jection of reserve and seeming indifference to love
He perceptively depicts the paradox of Garbo’s soci- made her eventual submission to intense feeling all
ality and reserve: her need to be controlled (by her the more moving. Thus, for Gottlieb, film was a ve-
director-mentor Mauritz Stiller and later by her pos- hicle for Garbo to reveal her humanity, a reminder of
sible lover George Schlee) and to be let alone (by the the pain and worth of living. 
studio publicity machine, by the public, by lovers or
friends who bored or displeased her). GARBO

Gottlieb’s approach to the sexual nature of Garbo’s BY ROBERT GOTTLIEB. | FARRAR, STRAUS AND GIROUX. 448 PP. $40
relationships and her gender identity mostly avoids REVIEW BY MARY DESJARDINS, THE WASHINGTON POST
the “prurient wishful subjunctive,” the term devised

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

INSIGHT BRIDGE

WHAT IS THE PLAY FOR THREE TRICKS? WEST NORTH EAST
J942 K65 10 8 3
By Phillip Alder - Bridge Columnist 843 A J 10 9 752
Q9 K43 10 8 7 6
Dave Kellett, the creator and cartoonist of the webcomics Sheldon and Drive, wrote, J 10 9 8 K72 Q65
“The English language was carefully, carefully cobbled together by three blind dudes
and a German dictionary.” SOUTH
AQ7
I doubt everyone — anyone? — would agree with that, but this deal needs to be played KQ6
carefully, carefully by declarer to gain three diamond tricks. AJ52
A43
North, who knew the partnership had 34 or 35 points between them, might as well
have jumped straight to six no-trump. Using Gerber to check on aces was unnecessary. Dealer: South; Vulnerable: North-South
North-South could not be missing one ace and one king, and a grand slam rated to be
at best on a finesse. The Bidding:

South has 11 top tricks: three spades, four hearts, two diamonds and two clubs. A SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST OPENING
minor-suit squeeze is possible, but unlikely. Instead, try to collect a third diamond trick. 2 NT Pass 4 Clubs Pass
But how should declarer attempt to do that? 4 NT Pass 6 NT All Pass LEAD:
J Clubs
Since South can afford to lose one diamond trick, there are two possible plays. First,
cash dummy’s king, then play low to the jack. Second, cash the ace, cross to dummy’s
king and lead a third round toward declarer’s jack.

The difference in probability is not great. Finessing the jack succeeds whenever East
has the queen, or West has a singleton queen (it drops under dummy’s king) or West
has queen-third. That comes to approximately 69 percent.

Playing two rounds, then leading toward the jack, also works whenever East has the
queen or West has a singleton queen or West has queen-third, but in addition it brings
home the Speck when West has queen-doubleton (see the diagram). This improves the
odds to 77 percent.





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

INSIGHT GAMES

SOLUTIONS TO PREVIOUS ISSUE (JANUARY 20) ON PAGE 72

The Telegraph ACROSS DOWN
1 Exercise rail (5) 1 Tart; resentful (6)
4 Alcoholic drink (3) 2 Stagger; dance (4)
6 Pair (3) 3 Significant incident (5)
8 Frank Sinatra/Debbie 4 Deity (3)
5 Arctic whale (7)
Reynolds film(3,6,4) 6 Maize cake (8)
9 Rubbish (5) 7 Fish-eating bird (6)
11 Uncommon (4) 10 Stadium (5)
13 Passage between buildings (5) 12 High-street trader (8)
14 Potter’s device (5) 14 Small woodpecker; knew cry
15 Gauge (5) (anag.)(7)
16 Profit (4) 15 Strike a ball badly (6)
18 W.B. --, Irish writer (5) 17 Small in width (6)
21 Fairground slide (6-7) 19 Sugary (5)
23 Rocky hill (3) 20 Celebrity (4)
24 Equipment (3) 22 Take a seat (3)
25 Chucked (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 / January 27, 2022 43

INSIGHT GAMES

ACROSS 105 Pan dessert 59 7-foot-2 actor Richard The Washington Post
1 Airline once run by Eddie 106 Where 68 Across hang out 63 Kwame of Ghana, 1960-66
64 Despair’s opposite YOU’RE ALL A BUNCH OF ANIMALS By Merl Reagle
Rickenbacker after work? 65 Name that sounds like a
8 Wit or good looks, e.g. 110 Start of a Midwestern capital THE Art & Science
13 Did a squirrel job 111 Court zinger nobleman
19 E.T. setting 114 Queen of Spain, 1906-31 68 No-longer-available avian of Cosmetic Surgery
20 Pack animal 115 Attack 69 New York city
21 Cracker with cheese 116 The oldest bank in the 70 They’ll see you now
22 Animals who are standing 71 Polite question
animal kingdom? 72 Where bacon may be bakin’
by to take your calls? 121 Threatening words 73 Oyster homes
24 Trail’s end, ca. 1850 122 Love Story star 74 An econ. indicator
25 Like many AARP members 123 Irrigation measures 76 Chocolate substitute
26 Navy rank: abbr. 124 Does a sentence? 77 Paul’s Oscar-winning
27 Eskimo knife 125 Adorned, as with parsley
28 Type of party that leaves 126 Teal’s relative daughter
78 Australian gem
everyone feeling a little DOWN 79 Holy day
slimy? 1 California’s motto 82 Pool alternatives
30 HI instrument 2 Let up 83 Exhalation of frustration
31 Runner-up 3 Early Presley label 84 Pronoun that’s capitalized
35 Yogurt shop crumble 4 Bark place
36 Today’s testifiers in 5 Black, to Blake in the Bible
kangaroo court? 6 Cut (wood) with the grain 85 Shoreline structure
41 Elephant feature 7 Not, to a Scot 86 Desire
45 Reset numbers 8 Mother-of-pearl source 87 Landon and an alien
46 Type of whiskey 9 Certain stitching job 90 Lung sacs (anagram of I
47 Bulrushes 10 Sellout sign
49 SE Asian language 11 Commit a foul LOVE L.A.)
50 Voter who wasn’t there 12 Flip 91 What “i.e.” stands for
54 The drink of choice at animal 13 Clean, as pots 94 Sequoia contents?
weddings? 14 Firing range cutout 95 In scoring position
57 Women, to Cervantes 15 ___ the road 97 Eliminated one
58 Alias letters 16 Road ___ 98 Lake that’s the source of the
60 Like Rome
61 Part of AMPAS (driver anger) Mississippi
62 Convert into code 17 Narrative poetry 99 Letter insert
66 Reaction to a mouse 18 Nick’s cousin? 100 Like Pegasus
67 Interstate, e.g.: abbr. 19 Clean, as pots 101 Most minuscule
68 They cover the waterfront? 23 Out of practice 103 Actress Phoebe
71 Often angry group 29 Get totally flustered 106 Turbulence, to pilots
74 Picked up 32 De Niro’s ancestors’ dinero 107 ___ avis
75 Act 33 MGM dog 108 “That’s all;
76 Bat’s home 34 Red October, for ex.
77 Paris exclamation 37 Attendees back to you”
80 Bruce or Brandon 38 A coon’s age 109 Industrial haze
81 Tried 39 ___ memory 112 Rob Reiner’s dad
84 Where animals do their 40 Freestone peach 113 First name in stunt lore
heaviest drinking—I mean, 42 Arm bone 117 Santa ___
thinking? 43 Salt, briefly 118 Where to catch poissons
87 Bayer essentials? 44 Famed Indian diamond, the 119 Son of Noah
88 Saving option, familiarly 120 “___ man
89 Light ___ (weightless) ___-i-noor
90 Trouble 48 Take the wheel answers ...”
92 In the past 50 Miles off
93 Round of gunfire 51 Bandit in black SPECIALTIES INCLUDE:
96 Where most animals can be 52 Spot • Minimal Incision Lift for the
found on league night? 53 Marketing VP, e.g.
102 “Going ___ ...” 54 Climbs mountains, in a way Face, Body, Neck & Brow
104 Item of attire for a 55 Marketing VP’s boss: abbr. • Breast Augmentations
barbershop quartet 56 Mom’s bro
58 Height, in combos & Reductions
• Post Cancer Reconstructions
• Chemical Peels • Botox
• Laser Surgery • Tummy Tucks
• Obagi Products • Liposculpture
• Skin Cancer Treatments

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MD, FACS

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

INSIGHT BACK PAGE

In-laws reject their grandchild’s combined last name

BY CAROLYN HAX by this and am hoping you can advise me on how If he’s less bothered by it than you are, then does
Washington Post he at least respect how you feel? Is he prepared to
to handle this for myself. stand up to them – for you, for his own reasons, on
Dear Carolyn: Our young child principle?
has both my husband’s and my – Name Game
last names, no hyphen and no If he is not prepared to do that, then can you re-
middle name. My husband’s par- Name Game: Every in-law problem is a marital spect his decision to let it go?
ents have voiced disapproval, do problem if the couple aren’t in agreement.
not recognize our family’s choice Your in-laws stirred up this trouble, but now,
and only address our child by my spouse’s last What does your husband think of his parents’ unfortunately, it’s yours unless you can neutralize
name when sending him cards, gifts, etc. My hus- disapproval and of their petty insistence on call- it somehow – by finding their pettiness too sad,
band’s sister has been married multiple times and ing his child the wrong name? (Those are two dif- for example, or too pathetic to be worth mount-
has multiple children – each given their father’s ferent things.) ing any resistance to it. If you can’t get to a place
last name – and no one in her family has the same honestly of no fluffs left to give – about what they
last name. Their respective dads are not involved think of your name choices or what name they use
in their lives. How my husband’s sister’s family – then it’s important to talk to your husband about
chooses names is of course their business, but I find coming up with a strategy together to neutral-
it interesting that my in-laws are OK with the va- ize your anger. Yes, they’re your feelings and are
riety of names in their daughter’s family, but our therefore yours to manage, but your nursing along
inclusion of my last name is offensive. a seething hatred for his parents is a problem that
My extended family isn’t prolific, and I don’t be- will quickly become his, too.
lieve only men have the right to have their names
carry on. If I disliked my last name, I’d have no at- That strategy can be something such as laughing
tachment to it and would gladly change it. them off, deciding they’re not worth the rage, mark-
As much as we talk as if we’ve come so far as a ing their letters “return to sender” or withholding
society, the pushback from relatively minor mat- access to their grandchild. Whether he talks you
ters like this (in the grand scheme of things) shows off the ledge or you talk him onto it doesn’t mat-
we still have a long way to go. ter; what does matter is that you both commit un-
Every time I open a card addressed to our young flinchingly to the family you two have formed.
child incorrectly is a reminder of my in-laws’ rejec-
tion. That won’t be changing. I find myself irritated That’s why, after all, the in-laws’ resistance is so
offensive; it’s an assertion of their supremacy over
how you conduct your family. There are as many
ways to deny them that claim as there are couples.
The two of you need only find your one. 

‘OUTSIDE’ INFLUENCES INSPIRE
QUARTET OF PLEIN AIR ARTISTS

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

ARTS & THEATRE

‘Outside’ influences inspire this quartet of plein air artists

BY SAMANTHA ROHLFING BAITA continued the practice of exiting the
STAFF WRITER confines of their studios, and heading
outdoors to capture the changing de-
The colorful, light-filled works of tails of light and weather in real time.
four members of Plein Air Painters of
the Treasure Coast – Susan Miiller, Today, en plein air painting is a popu-
Lori McNamara, Diane Mesagno, and lar, powerful and rewarding practice
Judi LeBlanc – are on display at the embraced and cherished by artists and
Main Street Vero Beach Gallery all this art lovers alike.
month. Their works are excellent, ap-
pealing examples of the airy, color- Artist and show coordinator Susan
ful, multi-tonal qualities, often loose Miiller (the double i’s are not a mis-
brushwork, and softness of form that print) says she can’t remember a time
make plein air artworks so appealing. when art was not a passion of hers. Born
in the ‘Big Apple,’ Miiller earned a BFA
For centuries, artists have painted in in painting from the State University of
studios, limited by four walls and the New York at New Paltz, where she is a
accepted guidelines of the time, which teaching faculty member, and an MFA
tend to create a pre-determined look. from the University of North Texas.
Although outdoor painting has always
Long drawn to Florida’s unique sub-
PHOTOS BY KAILA JONES tropical ecosystems, Miiller describes
her work as being “infused with the
been practiced randomly, it wasn’t energy of the oceans, rivers, estuaries,
until the 1800’s, according to
Artistsnetwork.com, that en lagoons, mangrove
plein air (French for outdoors) swamps, wildlife,
painting was developed into a aquatic life, birds
true art form by the French Im- and beaches of
pressionists. Florida.”
Then, artists schlepped Through her
easels, canvases, paints and work, she says
brushes to the fields and she hopes to
woodlands in order to “paint “instill in the
light,” capturing its ever-
changing, ephemeral quali-
ties. And ever since, aided
by the development of
more portable equip-
ment, artists have

Susan Miiller. Diane Mesagno.

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

ARTS & THEATRE

Best known for her natural Florida Austria before earning a degree in ar-
landscapes, executed with a bold, im- chitecture from the New York Institute
pasto technique, McNamara, too, de- of Technology. She says her entree into
scribes her style as Impressionistic. Es- painting was “definitely a progression,”
chewing brushes, she wields a palette and the more comfortable she became,
knife to produce thick layers. Her visible the more she enjoyed it.
knife strokes catch the ambient light in
diverse ways, the juxtaposition of light The newest member of the foursome,
and shadow creating interesting con- Judi LeBlanc, is a British artist who
trasts. McNamara describes her tech- studied fine art at Wimbledon College
nique as “very loose. Like icing a cake.” of Art in London. She arrived in Florida
“just as COVID hit, and I fell in love with
Fellow plein air painter Diane Mesa- the Treasure Coast.”
gno describes it as “painting with pud-
ding.” It didn’t take long for LeBlanc to
discover the Plein Air Painters group
Born and raised in New York, the and soon felt quite at home among
ebullient Mesagno studied sculpture in
CONTINUED ON PAGE 48

viewer an understanding and apprecia- Born in Fort Pierce, McNamara still re-
tion of the natural world. I love oil paint- sides in her “old Florida” family home
ing and nature and I hope the viewers there, on scenic Indian River Drive.
can be touched in the same way.”
“I’ve loved painting forever. Since I
A follower of Impressionism, Miiller was a little kid,” she says, adding that
says her art is influenced by Monet’s she even received a few lessons from
unparalleled use of “the brightest col- renowned Florida landscape painter
ors” as well as that of the Hudson River A.E. (Beanie) Backus himself.
School artists and Thomas Cole. Her
work reflects her love of “turning up the McNamara’s passion for painting is
volume, painting shadows in purples, clearly and wonderfully reflected in her
greens, brown, even blues.” work, which captures those subjects
with which she is intimately familiar,
Florida native Lori McNamara heads places she’s known and cherished all her
the Plein Air Painters of the Treasure life, such as “old Florida, the beach, the
Coast and organizes painting field trips, woods, the palms, the savannahs, old
referred to as “paint-outs.” These excur- Florida houses.”
sions, she explains, typically take place in
the morning, ending around noon. She While the arthritis she has dealt with
and Miiller have been pals for 20 years, for years has slowed her a bit, it has not
about as long as the Plein Air Painters of stopped her from leading paint-outs
the Treasure Coast has been in existence. and sharing the joys of plein air paint-
ing with fellow artists.

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

ARTS & THEATRE

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 47 sive, joyful works with a tropical vibe, Gallery, where the works of all four to capture the ever-changing light and
turning up the volume on her vibrant, painters are on display, Miiller and shadows.
the welcoming group. “The friendli- island-flavored paintings of sea, sky, Mesagno spoke about the varying
ness of the people and the stunning sand, boats, beach umbrellas and plein air techniques of the four artist “Some days,” muses Miiller, “the po-
landscape are a constant source of in- palms with aquas, bright greens, or- friends, what it takes to create a plein etry is in the sun on the trees and flow-
spiration,” says LeBlanc. anges, yellows. air painting. ers or reflecting in the water. On a dark
day, the sky might be of interest, or the
Having lived for a time in the Ca- Inside the Main Street Vero Beach First, they agree, you have to be fast dark, dense foliage.”
ribbean, LeBlanc imbues her expres-
Miiller says they inspire each other,
adding with a grin, “and we help and
critique each other. Sometimes, we
have to tell each other, ‘Step AWAY
from the painting.’”

“It’s like a dance,” says Mesagno.
“People love watching us. They ask,
‘How can you paint a whole picture in
just an hour?’ But, in reality, it has taken
30 years to get to this point. There is a
vibrancy, an urgency, in plein air paint-
ing. It allows us to be aggressive.”

Dispelling any images of solemn
painters suffering for their art, she
laughs and says, “It’s fun. Our group is
hoot! All of us painting, paint flying, us
laughing. That’s when painting comes
as natural as breathing.”

As Miiller explains it, the cycle that be-
gins with the creation of a work is com-
plete when someone sees it, connects
with it, and decides to own it, sharing a
part of the artists’ vision and passion.

Stop by the Main Street Vero Beach
Gallery to enjoy these joyful plein air
works before month’s end, when the
show closes. 

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

COMING UP! ARTS & THEATRE

Guild debuts Studio Theatre with ‘Buyer and Cellar’

BY PAM HARBAUGH had six gold records. They claim to have magnificent and will evoke wonderful Hans Zimmer’s exciting theme to the
Correspondent sold more records than the Beatles. Some memories of the films. The program animated movie “Madagascar,” and,
of their top-10Billboard hits include includes compositions such as: Elmer of course, a few compositions by John
1 The Vero Beach Theatre Guild “Young Girl,” “Woman Woman,” “Lady Bernstein’s delicate theme to “To Kill Williams. There are many more truly
has opened a new venue – the Willpower” and “The Girl is a Woman a Mockingbird,” Maurice Jarre’s re- wonderful musical themes on the
Now.” Starting to see a theme here? Two markable grand theme to “Lawrence program. The concert begins 3 p.m.
Studio Theatre. It’s an intimate of their popular singles have themes that of Arabia,” Bernard Herrmann’s tense Sunday, Jan. 30, at Vero Beach High
seem to cancel each other out, at least theme to “Psycho,” Alan Silvestri’s School Performing Arts Center, 1707
space with about 45 seats. Plans as far as their titles: “Keep the Customer sweet, innocence-evoking theme to 16th St. Tickets are $35 at the door.
Satisfied” and “Don’t Give In to Him.” “Forrest Gump,” James Horner’s hero- The orchestra also offers a “Sympho-
are to bring both dramas and com- The group appeared frequently on tele- ic, awe-inspiring theme to “Apollo 13,”
vision and currently tour international- CONTINUED ON PAGE 50
edies to that space. Its inaugural ly. It’s bound to be a romantic show filled
with some great singing, wonderful lyr-
production is the delightful “Buyer ics and melodies. You remember those,
don’t you? The show starts 7 p.m. Thurs-
and Cellar,” a one-man play that day, Jan. 27 at the Emerson Center, 1590
27th Ave., Vero Beach. Tickets are $40 to
tells a fictionalized story based on $95. For more information, call 800-595-
4849 or visit MusicWorksConcerts.com.
the real-life private shopping mall

of sorts that Barbra Streisand has

in her Malibu home. The show runs

7:30 p.m. Sundays in the Studio

Theatre at the Vero Beach Theatre

Guild, 2020 San Juan Ave. Tickets are

$30. Call 772-562-8300 or visit Vero-

BeachTheatreGuild.com. 3 The Space Coast Symphony Or-
chestra presents “Hooray for

2 Live! from Vero Beach presents Hollywood, Part II” this weekend at
one of the most iconic bands of the
the Vero Beach High School Perform-

1960s – Gary Puckett and the Union Gap. ing Arts Center. The concert will fea-

One of the era’s most successful musical ture some of the best-known themes of

groups, Gary Puckett and the Union Gap Hollywood films. These themes are all

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

ARTS & THEATRE ida artists held at a local appliance
store. It’s the 11th Annual Jetson
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 49 Highwaymen Show, which runs Sat-
urday at Jetson’s flagship store in
ny for Everyone” program that offers Fort Pierce. The show will feature
discounted tickets. For more informa- works by surviving Highwaymen
tion, call 855-252-7276 or visit Space- artists, known for their vivid use
CoastSymphony.org. of color in depicting the exoticism
of Florida. The event will include
4 The Vero Beach Museum of demonstrations by Roy McLendon
Art will have its Art Gala 2022: and R.L. Lewis, plus John Jetson’s
large collection of vintage art by the
Masterworks in Art and Music this Highwaymen, whose paintings are
among those in the Smithsonian
weekend. The grand event is sold out, Collection and have been the sub-
ject of stories on NPR and in the New
but here’s a little reminder of when/ York Times. There will also be bar-
becue served up by Traeger and Broil
where/what if you were smart enough, King. KitchenAid will raffle off some
small appliances and Samsung will
and philanthropic enough, to get one give away a television. And if you
want to own your own Highwaymen
of those $550 tickets. The Gala begins art, talk with one of the dealers who
will also be there. The event is free
with cocktails at 6 p.m. then offers and runs 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday,
Jan. 29, at Jetson’s, 4145 S. U.S. 1 in
dinner at 7 p.m. In addition to enjoy- Fort Pierce. Call 772-464-7050 or vis-
it ShopJetson.com. 
ing jazz, swing and boogie woogie by

the Mickey Freeman Trio and more,

you’ll get an early preview of the

“Vero Collects: Hidden Treasures Re-

vealed” exhibition, a collection of pri-

vately owned art from Vero Beach col-

lectors paired with works culled from

the museum’s permanent collection.

That exhibition opens to the public

Jan. 29 and runs through May 15. Gala

2022 will be held Friday evening, Jan.

28, at the Vero Beach Museum of Art,

3001 Riverside Park Dr. Call 772-231-

0707 or visit VBMuseum.org.

5 Here’s something that yells out
“Florida” through and through:

an art exhibition of legendary Flor-