08/19/2021 ISSUE 33

Will redistricting impact County
Commission race? P10
Distillery to open
in old downtown. P12

Private schools start year
with mandatory facemasks. P6

It’s not just homes. For breaking news visit
Vero commercial
property also is hot COVID-19 surge
filling ICUs at
local hospitals

BY STEVEN M. THOMAS BY MICHELLE GENZ
Staff Writer
Staff Writer
It is a great time to own PHOTO BY KAILA JONES
commercial property in Vero The COVID-19 surge here is
Beach. Lease rates weren’t Seaside Grill, Jaycee Park icon, decides 30 is enough pushing local hospitals closer
knocked down by the pan- and closer to the breaking
demic, demand for retail and BY SAMANTHA ROHLFING BAITA lunches to regulars and tour- who along with wife Rose has point.
prime office space is surging, Staff Writer ists for the last time next May. operated the business since
and property values are rising, April 1992. More than 100 COVID pa-
according to commercial real The Seaside Grill, a Jaycee The restaurant is not closing tients were hospitalized at
estate brokers and owners. Park icon for almost three because of COVID. While it is possible someone Cleveland Clinic Indian River
decades, will see its current else may take over the facility, as of Monday, doubled up in
The boom appears to be owners serve breakfasts and “Eighteen hours a day, sev- which is leased from the City rooms. Twenty patients were
driven by many of the same en days a week for 30 years is packed into the hospital’s
factors pushing the Vero enough,” said Dan Culumber, CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 ICU, also two to a room, most
housing market to record on them on ventilators.
heights – a continuing influx
of wealthy people fleeing “They are turning the post-
large urban areas and bring- anesthesia recovery area into
ing their purchasing power an ICU,” a doctor working
and business activities to the long hours with COVID-19
Treasure Coast. patients texted. “After that, no
further ICU beds. We’re gonna
This migration includes ex- be in TROUBLE!!!!!!”
ecutives looking for satellite
office space and entrepre- Nearly every day, COVID
neurs launching new busi- patients die, sometimes as
many four in a day. In prep-
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 aration for bigger troubles
ahead, a refrigerated truck
Vaccine booster shots available Pandemic leads to time off was staged at a bay behind
locally now for those eligible for one third of city workers the hospital; it has not yet
been pressed into service as a
BY MICHELLE GENZ BY LISA ZAHNER temporary morgue, a spokes-
Staff Writer Staff Writer man said.

Jeff Powers has dealt with his share of Jeff Powers of John’s Island gets booster shot at Publix. Nearly one third of the City But he added: “We have
bad luck: a bad bout of COVID-19 when of Vero Beach’s employees have taken a number of steps to
no one even knew it was in town; a nerve taken time off during the last ensure we are as prepared as
disorder triggered by serious back surgery; year and a half either because possible if the current COV-
and most recently, torn Achilles tendons they were diagnosed with the ID-19 surge continues for an
that have left him in a wheelchair. COVID-19 infection or had to extended period of time.”

CONTINUED ON PAGE 8 CONTINUED ON PAGE 6 Healthcare workers are
quitting in exhaustion, or
catching COVID-19 them-
selves. Cleveland Clinic ear-

CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

August 19, 2021 Volume 14, Issue 33 Newsstand Price $1.00 Aerial Antics Youth
Circus puts on a
News 1-12 Editorial 26 People 13-20 TO ADVERTISE CALL thrilling show. P16
Arts 37-40 Games 31-33 Pets 56 772-559-4187
Books 28-29 Health 41-47 Real Estate 59-68
Dining 52-55 Insight 21-36 Style 48-51 FOR CIRCULATION
CALL 772-226-7925

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

2 Vero Beach 32963 / August 19, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Commercial property hot locations and as high as $35 per foot
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 on Miracle Mile.

nesses to meet demand for goods and “Landlords have stuck to their ask-
services that’s growing along with the ing prices,” says Moss.
population.
The busy leasing environment is
The good times are most apparent driven by favorable economic con-
on the island but extend to the main- ditions, according to Bill Penney,
land as well. president and CEO of Marine Bank &
Trust.
“Leasing activity right now is the
strongest I have seen in my career,” “Commercial real estate is lo-
says developer and landlord Michael cal, based on the strength of the lo-
Rechter, who owns two large plazas cal economy, and Vero’s economy is
on U.S. 1. between 17th Street and very strong,” says Penney, basing his
12th Street. assessment on the unemployment
rate, housing starts, housing values
“We were worried last April and and other metrics tracked by Ma-
May, but the market surprised us. We rine Bank, which has a loan portfo-
typically stay pretty full, 90 to 91 per- lio equally split between residential
cent leased up, but now it is more like mortgage loans and business loans.
98 percent leased, which is a huge
difference. “We haven’t seen the negative im-
pacts we feared going into the pan-
“More new businesses are being demic,” adds Penney. “Big retail is
funded than ever and there is almost struggling, but neighborhood centers
no vacancy in our Vero centers,” says are doing well, hospitality is doing
Rechter, president and CEO of Fort very well and there is strong demand
Lauderdale-based Integra Real Estate for office space.”
Company, who has approximately
100 Vero tenants occupying half a “Office space is probably the most
million square feet of retail and res- challenging segment in commercial
taurant space. real estate today” in many locations,
says Mike Yurocko, vice president/
“We don’t get reports from every broker at SLS Commercial Realty &
tenant, but the ones we know about Development.
are doing very well.”
“Fortunately, we don’t have an
On the island, Josh Stalls, manag- overbuilt market, especially on the
ing member of Backus Land Manage- island. I represent the owner of the
ment, says “we have filled up in the Transocean office building and we
past two months and we continue to are getting close to full. I’d say there
get phone calls every day from peo- are fewer office vacancies today than
ple looking for space. We are starting before the pandemic began. The in-
wait lists.” flux of people moving here is creating
great demand in a place with static
Backus owns three properties on supply. You have people opening sat-
the island, including Pelican Plaza on ellite offices and if they live on the is-
A1A and buildings on Cardinal and land, they prefer to have their office
Dahlia, with 74 office, retail and res- on the island, too, so they are close to
taurant tenants. home.”

“Everybody seems to be very posi- “Even with all the home offices,
tive,” says Stalls. “I can’t tell you how many people moving down here
many times I have heard from people want a small office outside the house
that they are having their best year where they can work in peace,” says
ever. We have seasonal people we Moss. “There are still some office
usually find office space for, but we vacancies on the island – some ten-
may not be able to find them those 4- ants moved to the mainland, where
to 6-month leases this winter the way lease rates are lower, and others have
we have in the past.” downsized.

Commercial real estate brokers see “But the beach remains attractive
the same picture. for many businesses, such as finan-
cial services companies that have cli-
“The market is very active,” says ents on the island who don’t want to
Derek Arden, a broker with Avison have to drive across the bridge.”
Young Commercial Real Estate who
handles many of the leases on Ocean Surging demand is pushing com-
Drive. “We have filled a lot of the va- mercial property values higher, too –
cant space in the past few months.” though it is difficult to come up with
a clear-cut percentage of increase.
“Retail vacancies on the beach are
few and far between,” says Billy Moss, Arden says commercial property
a broker with Lambert Commercial sales on the island are rare, which
Real Estate who specializes in retail makes it hard to compute a precise
and restaurant properties. “You see trend line, and even those buildings
a lot fewer for-lease or for-sale signs that are sold are scattered around in
these days.” distinct sub-markets where values
are inherently different. Property val-
Lease rates are strong, too, as much ues – and lease rates – are much high-
as $50 per square foot in prime island

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / August 19, 2021 3

NEWS

er on Ocean Drive in Central Beach Hospital ICUs full According to the latest federal usual capacity: The report shows 89
than in other parts of the island, for CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 hospital utilization records, all four out of 80 at Sebastian River, and 136
instance, so it doesn’t do much good hospitals in our area are essentially out of 132 beds occupied at Palm Bay.
to compare a sale there to a prior sale lier this week was forced to cut the at capacity, with 245 out of 245 beds Where they are finding staff for those
a mile north or south along A1A. outpatient clinic schedules of its phy- occupied at Indian River and 379 out extra beds is hard to imagine.
sicians in half to use their staff to shore of 407 occupied at Lawnwood in Fort
The best way to get a sense of what up the ranks in the hospital. This fol- Pierce. There were no ICU beds left at
is happening with values is to com- lowed an earlier decision to postpone Lawnwood or Palm Bay last week.
pare a recent sales price with the pri- all non-emergency surgeries. Two hospitals serving northern There were four at Sebastian River and
or sales price of the same building. Indian River County appear to have three at Indian River.
But even going that route is a chal- pressed beds into use beyond their
lenge because the details of many CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
commercial real estate transactions
are masked in county property re-
cords, which often show a building
changing hands for $100.

Nevertheless, the records that
are available do indicate an upward
trend. For instance, a small office
condo at 3418 Ocean Dr. in cen-
tral beach that sold five years ago
for $300,000 is currently listed for
$625,000, more than double the last
sales price, and a small retail prop-
erty at 3309-3315 on Ocean that in-
cludes two storefronts is listed for
$2.5 million, more than four times
the last recorded sales price.

That prior sale was nearly 20 years
ago, so it’s hard to read too much into
the price increase, but the building
certainly has not lost value.

Moss says buildings that are
“move-in ready” are commanding
the highest prices, with end-users,
including national tenants, willing
to pay a premium for finished space
instead of facing the escalating costs
and long delays involved in building
or extensively remodeling a property.

“Oh yeah, existing buildings have
gained value,” says Penney. “The
time and cost to build have gone up
and if you are in need of space you’re
probably willing to pay a premium
for move-in ready.”

“Right now, prices are very high
… probably overheated, in my opin-
ion,” says Rechter.

At the same time, Rechter thinks
the current economic boom and
good times for commercial real es-
tate “will keep going for the foresee-
able future – at least the next couple
of years.”

“We watch carefully for hints of
bubbles and haven’t seen any indica-
tions,” says Penney.

“All the bubbles in history, right
back to the Tulip Mania in the 17th
century and including the stock mar-
ket crash of 1929, have come after pe-
riods of easy financing. Today, mort-
gage underwriting is more realistic.
You don’t have the very easy access
to financing that preceded all prior
bubbles.”

“The inflow of people is what will
keep us going,” says Moss. “With
more people you have more revenue,
and you still have a lot of people
coming down, which is why it is still

a seller’s market.” 

4 Vero Beach 32963 / August 19, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Hospital ICUs full Seaside Grill lunch and dinner, but soon dropped have seen a lot of changes – in the town
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3 dinner, concentrating on the robust and the business – primarily, says Dan
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 morning and midday traffic. Culumber, “more people. The popula-
No hospital beds, exhausted staff, tion has grown. And people seem to be
school starting. of Vero Beach, a Seaside Grill under “Customers love to come for break- coming down earlier, staying longer.
ownership of someone other than the fast and the sunrise. On Sunday, during
Yet barely half of county residents Culumbers simply won’t be the same. season, every seat’s taken and there’s a “In August and September, they
are fully vaccinated – around 53 per- line down the steps to the sand, some- used to roll up the streets at night,”
cent. And the county’s COVID positiv- Dan and Rose Culumber met while times with a 3-hour wait,” he said. he says. “There were only about sev-
ity rate is 27 percent. working at a Burger King in Chicago en restaurants that did dinner on the
and moved to Vero Beach to be near At one of the patio’s round, concrete beach. Now there are 15 or more, the
Amid all this frightening data and Dan’s parents Rudy and Mary Culum- tables, the Culumbers reminisced slices of the pie keep getting smaller,
cries of distress, there is a parallel uni- ber, shortly before the city invited bids about the last three decades, as waves and there are many more people in
verse in our local government, where lapped the shore a few dozen a few the service industry.”
it is as silent as space. to lease a snack bar then known as the
Seaburger in 1991. Dan’s father made yards away, the conversation With the restaurant’s transformation
When county administrator Jason a successful bid, and the lease was as- continually punctuated by Dan from a snack bar to a real restaurant,
Brown declared a State of Emergency signed to Jaycee Park Seaside Grill, Inc. waving and hollering greetings there came, says Culumber, “a whole
last week, he called the move strictly or goodbyes to customers. different clientele”: island residents,
administrative – a way to smooth the A fat scrapbook the Culumbers as- shopkeepers, office and government
path to getting supplies, should they sembled over the years records the As Dan and Rose juggled 24/7 workers, visitors, John’s Island resi-
be needed. project which transformed the Sea- restaurant responsibilities and dents, many of whom have become
burger into a restaurant, seating 135 a growing family, grandparents regulars – and good friends.
The health department’s website inside and on patio. At first, Culumber Rudy and Mary happily volun-
display on generators, meanwhile, is said, the Seaside Grill served breakfast, teered to babysit their sons Nick “Our kids know each other, they
equal in size to the one on where to and Dan. On occasion, Culum- grew up here. We go out together. And
find a COVID vaccine – and the covid ber recalled, “Rose’d be working our staff, most of them have worked
vaccine link on Monday didn’t even the front of the house, and I’d be here for years. How long have you been
work. Other less prominent links lead in back cooking, with Nicholas. I’d set here, Shannon?” he asked a server who
to alerts from more than a month ago. him on a counter and give him some was en route to a couple of coffee re-
bread to keep him occupied. fills. “Seven years! I love these people,”
Last week, Gov. Ron DeSantis hinted “Back then, I had to drive down to she said of her bosses.
that bringing back a county breakout Dania to get the Vienna Beef we used.
of cases and deaths from COVID-19 I’d go down after work, sleep in the “My cook, Alex Jacobs, started work-
“might not be a bad idea.” truck, pick up the food and drive back ing here when he was 15,” Culumber
up to get to the restaurant by 5 a.m.” said. “Now he’s 43.”
The governor failed to mention it In the three decades since the origi-
had been he who abruptly canceled nal lease was signed, the Culumbers Rose Culumber added, “I remember
when Alex’s wife Amy was pregnant.
the daily reports on June 3. 

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / August 19, 2021 5

NEWS

Now their son works for us.” decorate for Christmas and Easter. As to deal with emergencies like the time edges. However, “I’m not going to open
The Culumbers consider their em- word of the Culumbers’ decision to re- when a French fry got stuck in the noz- up another restaurant. I worked seven
tire gets around, more and more cus- zle of the fryer? days a week for 30 years. All I do is work.
ployees and guests family, comparing tomers and staff are voicing dismay. I haven’t had a vacation in 10 years. I’m
the warm and welcoming seaside res- Many friends (and Rose) think there’s ready for a permanent vacation.
taurant to Cheers, where “everybody After what will likely be a big fare- a chance he’ll get a little stir crazy, gear-
knows your name.” well bash, what will Dan Culumber do ing down from overdrive to zero after “But, first,” he smiled, “I’m going to
post-Seaside Grill? When he won’t have 30 years. Perhaps, Culumber acknowl-
Some regulars even come in to help clean the garage.” 

6 Vero Beach 32963 / August 19, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

LOCAL PRIVATE SCHOOLS OPEN
WITH MANDATORY FACEMASKS

BY LISA ZAHNER the case positivity rate as one of several
benchmarks for hopefully getting rid
Staff Writer of masks at some point in the school
year at St. Helen and John Carroll.
While public schools grapple with
whether to defy a statewide executive According to the latest CDC data, In-
order and require facemasks on cam- dian River County is reporting a 26 per-
pus, local private schools took action, cent positivity rate, which is more than
deciding it was time to mask up in- two and a half times the level school
doors – at least temporarily. leaders want to see.

The evening before the first bell of “Factors such as the county case rate
fall classes rang at St. Helen Catholic consistently below 100 per 100,000,
School in Vero and John Carroll Cath- the new case positivity rate below 10
olic High School in Fort Pierce, the percent and the transmission level at
Catholic Schools Office of the Dio- moderate or low, will allow us to recon-
cese of Palm Beach declared a mask sider having facial coverings/masks
requirement for students, teachers as optional rather than required. De-
and staff. cisions will be made on a county-by-
county basis based on a monthly re-
“While the diocese was hopeful to view of data,” the memo stated.
re-open our schools this August with
the protocols and guidelines that were The last-minute memo described
circulated to parents on July 15, 2021, the situation with COVID-19 and its
the significant increase in positive variants as “very fluid.”
cases and the high level of community
transmission indicated below, call for “The path of the virus has pushed
a temporary return to the requirement our medical and governmental au-
of facial coverings or masks indoors, thorities to respond in different ways
on buses and in large gatherings for at different times. The Catholic Schools
all individuals (teachers, staff, parents, Office of the Diocese of Palm Beach
visitors, students K-12) on our school continues to follow the data and make
campuses,” the Catholic Schools Office our decisions as to what we think will
memo reads. be the safest protocols for our children,
faculty and staff,” the memo said.
On the barrier island, St. Edward’s
School started classes on Wednesday, “Parents have voiced strong opin-
with a requirement of masks for every- ions on all sides of many of these is-
one on campus on a temporary basis. sues such as whether to vaccinate or
not, and whether children should wear
“We are going to be masked indoors masks or not. We have taken your com-
for the next 30 days, with a plan to re- ments and the supporting evidence
assess and communicate any changes under consideration.
after that time period,” said school
spokesperson Monica Jennings. “Keep in mind that one’s personal
choices may also impact others. In
“Our Head of School Dr. Stuart Hirst- this regard we want to protect all of the
ein (who is an Army Desert Storm vet- children entrusted to our care. None
eran) put it so well,” Jennings said. “He of us would want to be responsible
said, ‘Why would we go into battle for the transmission of this virus to
without our armor? You can always another person,” it stated, noting that
take your armor off if you don’t need it, the decision was made not only by of-
but it’s pretty tough to put it on in the ficials at the diocese, but also by local
heat of battle.’” school principals, as well as officials in
the neighboring diocese. Both Miami
While St. Ed’s will weigh the data in to the south and Orlando to the north
30 days to determine what’s best for its
students, the Palm Beach Diocese cited are requiring masks, too. 

Time off for city workers “closed” sign temporarily appears on
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 the door of a salon or small store.

quarantine after exposure to some- But the fact that the city’s records
one who tested positive. of employees out due to COVID are
public gives a glimpse into how the
It’s tough to quantify the toll the pandemic is playing out in the larger
pandemic has taken on private busi- community.
nesses because that information isn’t
released to the public. The impact Ninety-three people, or roughly 30
is most noticeable when a restau- percent of the city’s 318 employees,
rant closes for a deep cleaning, or a have used the pandemic benefit of up
to 10 paid days of leave for employees

CONTINUED ON PAGE 8



8 Vero Beach 32963 / August 19, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Time off for city workers From April through the end of 2020,
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6 the paid covid time off cost $93,652,
which was reimbursed to the city.
sick with COVID-19 or quarantined Time off during the 2021 extension of
after exposure, with 20 of those em- the policy has cost $29,582 so far, so
ployees exhausting the entire 10 paid the total cost of all the time off is ap-
days off. proaching $125,000.

The majority of the employees who Falls said the policy helps keep ev-
used the COVID-19 time off took be- eryone safe, including the residents
tween three and seven of the avail- who must interact with city employ-
able 10 days to recover or quarantine. ees, and it doesn’t cost extra in the
The affected employees span most current budget because the city bud-
city departments from office workers gets for the employee to be paid for
to lifeguards, including several po- 52 weeks of the year, whether that
lice officers. Sixty-eight men and 23 pay is for worked time, sick or vaca-
women appeared on the list, reflect- tion time.
ing the heavily male makeup of the
city’s public works, utility, solid waste “The city continues to enjoy a great
and law enforcement staff. deal of employee buy in and sup-
port for all of the covid policies and
At this Tuesday’s City Council granting this leave would allow us to
meeting, the council was set to con- continue to have the support of all
sider a request from Vero’s human employees,” he told council in his re-
resources department and from City quest.
Manager Monte Falls to continue the
policy of offering the 10 paid days of “We want to encourage employees
leave as had been provided for in the to continue to notify us when they
Families First Coronavirus Relief Act. have been exposed to covid as well as
to stay home if they are ill.”
Starting in April 2020, the city of-
fered this benefit so employees would Indian River County does not have
not need to burn their sick and vaca- numbers available for COVID paid
tion days if they got infected. The cost leave taken by its 619 employees af-
of this time was reimbursable under ter Dec. 31, so neither the January
the federal CARES Act funds through post-holiday surge or the current
Dec. 31, 2020, but the city continued Delta variant surge are captured, but
the benefit into 2021, absorbing the between April and December 2020,
cost into the city budget. Falls point- 125 employees took time off because
ed out that the city is getting some tax they had either tested positive for
credit for the city’s portion of the pay- COVID-19 or had to quarantine due
roll taxes paid on the leave time. to exposure and could not work re-
motely. That’s 20 percent of people

on the county payroll. 

Booster shots high risk of severe COVID-19 disease.
Now with a booster, he more than
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
meets the vaccine mandate for coaches
Powers is ready to end that streak. of Float Hope, the Gifford-based swim
Last weekend, he became one of the school for economically challenged
first to get a vaccine booster shot kids that he supports.
against coronavirus.
“We are strong on the vaccine,” he
As he wheeled up to the pharmacy said, adding that all five of his own kids
of the Publix on Miracle Mile Sunday, it are vaccinated.
was the medication for the nerve disor-
der that earned him the right to the first In the meantime, vaccine mandates
COVID-19 booster shot the pharmacy are popping up at local clubs and busi-
had given out. nesses. John’s Island Club issued a
mandate over the weekend that all em-
Eligibility is on the honor system – no ployees must be vaccinated by October.
doctor’s note required. “There wasn’t a
soul there,” he said. “Even in the wheel- “The membership is all behind
chair, the whole thing didn’t take me 15 (general manager) Brian Kroh lead-
minutes.” ing the charge,” said Powers, who lives
in John’s Island. He said for several
Powers was a hyper-athletic 60-year- months, only vaccinated club mem-
old when he got very sick with what bers have been allowed to eat at Raf-
was apparently COVID-19 in early Feb- ters, a casual on-site restaurant. John’s
ruary 2020; he later tested positive for Island members have an “extremely
antibodies. “After that, I was panicked high vaccination rate – 97 percent of
to get a shot when it came out,” he said. those over 70,” he said.

Powers was able to get the CO- Booster vaccinations got their first
VID-19 vaccine early because of his official approval – albeit only in certain
nerve disorder, which requires heavy cases – just a week ago when the FDA
doses of corticosteroids that depress amended its emergency use authoriza-
his immune system, putting him at tion to include a third shot of the Mod-

CONTINUED ON PAGE 10



10 Vero Beach 32963 / August 19, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Booster shots specialist and founder of the Whole
Family Health Center.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8
Pierone has also been seeking to in-
erna and Pfizer vaccines in people with crease awareness of another drug treat-
compromised immune systems who ment, the monoclonal antibody cock-
may not get full protection from the tail REGEN-COV, made by Regeneron.
two-dose regimen.
A week ago, the FDA authorized the
With vaccines in plentiful supply use of REGEN-COV in people exposed
in the U.S., and the applicant’s word to COVID-19 who are at high risk of
enough, the only hurdle in the two- severe disease, but have not yet tested
page booster registration form is being positive. The drug can prevent or lessen
able to check at least one box on the list severe disease if administered early on
of the CDC’s guidelines for who is eli- by IV.
gible for the shot.
REGEN-COV is available at several
The FDA’s acting commissioner, Dr. infusion centers and infectious dis-
Janet Woodcock, said in a tweet that ease practices in the county, includ-
“others who are fully vaccinated are ad- ing Whole Family Health. Pierone has
equately protected and do not need an treated more than 100 patients with the
additional dose of COVID-19 vaccine at Regeneron cocktail since early June.
this time.” Last Saturday, the clinic treated five
patients, with 10 more scheduled Mon-
Even before Friday’s change, booster day. And demand is growing.
shots were being given in Indian River
County on a case-by-case basis by Dr. “We are trying to figure out how
Gerald Pierone, an infectious disease to build capacity to meet the need,”

Pierone said. 

Joe Flescher to seek re-election, and
opponent worries about redistricting

BY RAY MCNULTY commissioners in voting on a new re-
districting plan, which will be in effect
Staff Writer for the 2022 election.

The Florida Constitution requires “I can see her concern, but there’s
the state’s 67 county commissions no gerrymandering,” Flescher said.
to set new district boundaries every “All five county commissioners will
10 years, after they receive the latest vote on a plan recommended by staff,
population numbers from the U.S. using the data we get from the federal
Census Bureau. government and based on the Florida
statute, which requires that we have
But a candidate who filed last five districts equal in population and,
month to run against County Com- where possible, squared off by natural
mission Chairman Joe Flescher for and man-made boundaries.”
his District 2 seat in 2022 said the
four-term incumbent should recuse Flescher said he plans to seek re-
himself from any vote on a redistrict- election, but he hasn’t yet filed to run.
ing plan that eliminates her as his op- Currently, Flescher’s district includes
ponent. Orchid and the unincorporated North
Barrier Island north of the Wabasso
“He shouldn’t participate in the Causeway, Grand Harbor, Gifford
commission’s vote to approve a plan south to 41st Street and parts of north-
that redistricts his competition out of west Sebastian.
the race,” Gifford resident Elizabeth
Siebert said. “There’s not only the ap- As for Siebert’s allegation that ap-
pearance of impropriety, but he has an proving a redistricting plan that elimi-
obvious conflict of interest. nates her from the race presents him
with a conflict of interest, Flescher
“If my district changes, it leaves me said the commission’s final vote will be
dead in the water,” she said. conducted before the end of the year,
allowing several months for other can-
Siebert is concerned that, because didates to challenge him.
of the county’s growth over the past
decade, the district lines could shift in County Attorney Dylan Reingold,
a way that moves her home to a dis- who is overseeing the redistricting
trict in which the commission seat is process, said he isn’t aware of “any
not up for election next year. Only the conflict of interest” in connection
seats held by Flescher and Vice Chair- with commissioners voting on district
man Peter O’Bryan will be on the 2022 boundaries.
ballot.
Leslie Swan, the county’s supervisor
Flescher shrugged off Siebert’s con- of elections, said she couldn’t predict
tention, saying he will fulfill his consti-
tutional duty and join the other county CONTINUED ON PAGE 12



12 Vero Beach 32963 / August 19, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

21st Amendment Distillery to open in Vero downtown Redistricting

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10

BY STEPHANIE LABAFF into what I’m trying to where the new lines will be drawn,
but candidates whose residences are
Staff Writer do. I’m trying to bring moved into a different district have
two options: “They can either move or
If the city approves, area residents back that ‘buy American’ wait for the next election in their new
can look forward to a distillery and district.” Swan said there were no simi-
tasting room – the 21st Amendment mentality. To put Ameri- lar complaints during the redistricting
Distillery – opening in February in Ve- process 10 years ago when the Town of
ro’s old downtown across 13th Avenue cans back to work. All Indian River Shores was moved from
from the Post Office. Flescher’s district to then-commis-
my equipment will be sioner Bob Solari’s district, which in-
Jeff Palleschi, an ex-Marine who be- cludes the City of Vero Beach and the
came passionate about bourbon while made in America,” said South Barrier Island.
serving in the U.S. Marine Corps, says
he had time to develop and set in mo- Palleschi. The only other county commission
tion plans for the distillery during the candidate to file thus far is Joann Bin-
COVID-19 lockdown when he could Since bourbon must ford, who is running for the District 4
not travel as a sales representative for seat held by O’Bryan.
manufacturing companies. age for four years,
Reingold began preparing for the re-
“I knew what I wanted to do, so I Palleschi says he plans districting process last month, but the
started planning and saving money. county staff can’t begin studying the
I was consumed with it. I learned ev- to open the tasting data until it receives the final numbers
erything I could about it and, now, from the Census Bureau on Sept. 30 –
here we are,” Palleschi said. room with aged bour- five months later than usual.

“We’re going to start small in Vero, bon sourced from an PHOTO BY BRENDA AHEARN The county staff, which received pre-
then expand across the Treasure Coast established distillery. It liminary data from the Census Bureau
and Florida’s East Coast. I want to last week, will seek input from Swan’s
work my way up to New England and will be bottled in Vero Jeff Palleschi plans to open the 21st Amendment Distillery. office, the county’s municipalities and
eventually be a household brand.” the public during the redistricting pro-
Beach under the 21st cess, Reingold said. Ultimately, he said,
For him, the distillery’s name – 21st the commissioners will be presented
Amendment Distillery – means more Amendment label until his bourbon “Indian River County is the citrus with two or three plans.
than the end of prohibition in the
United States. It stands for unity. has been aged. The fourth year, the capital of North America. That’s in- In a memo to the commissioners,
Reingold wrote that – to the extent
“The country right now is not as bourbon Palleschi distilled and aged credible. I am going to honor where possible – the five districts shall be
united as it has been in the past. We’re nearly equal in population, compact
going through some difficult times. will be ready for bottling. we’ve come from,” he said. rather than sprawling and contiguous.
The 21st Amendment is our history.
Harkening back to the 1700s, when Wanting to keep everything hyper- The newly drawn lines should pre-
“To me, the 21st Amendment is all serve the geographical core of the
about an America where people unit- barrels were placed onto flatboats local, Palleschi said they would be existing districts, including neigh-
ed. It sums up who we are,” he said, borhoods and other communities of
noting that bourbon is America’s where the bourbon aged as it traveled using Florida corn. Then, instead of interest, and follow natural or man-
spirit. made boundaries, such as major road-
along the rivers, Palleschi believes in throwing away the spent grain – the ways, rivers, bridges and canals.
In the U.S., bourbon must be pro-
duced from at least 51 percent corn the science that states constant mo- grain byproduct after distillation – it “No district shall be drawn to split or
and aged in new charred oak barrels. minimize the political influence of any
The type of grain and barrels used tion in the barrel creates better color will be donated to local farms to feed group of residents,” Reingold wrote,
differentiate bourbon from other and an incumbent commissioner may
whiskeys. and flavor. He is having a barge built livestock. not be redistricted out of his or her
current district.
“Bourbon is ours. It’s made in Amer- so that he can age the bourbon on a The distillery’s 5,000-square-foot
ica. That 21st Amendment bleeds over The public got its first chance to pro-
floating rickhouse on the Indian Riv- space once housed one of Vero’s first vide input on the redistricting process
at the County Commission meeting
er Lagoon. grocery stores, according to Palleschi. earlier this week, when the commis-
sioners were expected to approve the
“The theory is that it’s going to im- In addition to the distillery produc- criteria upon which the new lines will
be drawn.
part a lot of different flavors. It won’t tion area, he plans to have a full bar,
Then, the county staff was sched-
be a quicker age, but it will give the tasting room, retail area, private tast- uled to begin work on conceptual dis-
trict maps, which will be presented to
bourbon a very unique flavor. That’s ing rooms and event space. He envi- the public on Oct. 19, when the com-
mission will provide instructions for
going to impart flavors from the la- sions the bar area in leather and old the development of a final proposed
map.
goon. The brackish water and sun wood with a speakeasy vibe reminis-
A third public hearing to discuss and
can’t be replicated anywhere else,” he cent of the Roaring ’20s. approve a final proposed district map
is scheduled for Dec. 7, though dates
explains. You’ll be able to take a tour, taste might change because of the delay in

Bourbon won’t be the only thing the products, and purchase your fa- getting the Census Bureau data. 

produced at the distillery. Palleschi vorite bourbon, gin, cello and more.

says gin, vodka, cellos, bitters, bour- Working with a new restaurant open-

bon barrel coffee and, eventually, rum ing next door, Palleschi says they plan

will be made on-site as well. Taking to have food available as well.

advantage of local citrus availability “We’ll give tours of the production

and fame, he plans to offer orange, area every day, have some special re-

grapefruit, lemon and lime cellos lease bottles, a ‘bottle your own spir-

along with canned cello seltzers. it’ program and a younger whiskey

– an entry-level whisky that’s a little

bit lighter,” shares Palleschi of a few

things he plans to offer.

“Making bourbon is a form of art.

One thing I’m going to be crazy about

is our consistency. We will document

how much water we use and how

much corn, down to the kernel. It’s

important to do that, especially in the

beginning because you’re trying to get

your recipes down. Consumers want

a consistent product. That’s where art

and science meet,” says Palleschi.

Look for the new craft distillery

to begin offering off-site tastings of

hand-crafted spirits in late 2021, with

a projected 2022 opening of the on-

site distilling operation and tasting
room. 

Aaron Zeichman
and Claire Zeichman.

NIGHT-SKY-HIGH PRAISE FOR ELC
PERSEID METEOR SHOWER PARTY P. 18

14 Vero Beach 32963 / August 19, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

Bigger ‘Impact’: Nonprofit eyes membership boost to 500

Chris Hayes, Lynn Byrnes and Jasmin Pelletier. PHOTOS: KAILA JONES The Impact 100 model is a simple
but very effective formula: one woman,
BY MARY SCHENKEL $1,100, one vote. (Consistent with Im-
Staff Writer pact 100 chapters nationwide, a $100
administrative fee to maintain tech-
At a recent gathering at the Vero nology and other expenses has been
Beach Yacht Club, a group of new added to the annual $1,000 member-
and prospective Indian River Im- ship contribution.)
pact 100 members were welcomed by
Beth Wright and Barbara Ruddy, who Tracy Sorzano, Impact board presi-
serve on the membership committee, dent, was unable to attend the recep-
and Sherri Kolodziejczak, board trea- tion, but spoke with Vero Beach 32963
surer. earlier in the day about plans for the
2021-22 cycle, which they fervently
Following an all-virtual year, the hope will remain in-person.
nonprofit is planning some in-person
wine and cheese receptions to wel- “Right now, the greatest challenge
come and connect with new members is being able to continue to engage
while imparting information about the with our members and our prospec-
organization and how they can partic- tive members, given that the environ-
ipate. Members are invited to become ment is still so tentative, said Sorzano.
as involved in the process as they wish. “Unfortunately, COVID hasn’t helped
us in that process. That’s the biggest
Through Impact members’ collec- obstacle that all organizations are fac-
tive giving, more than $5 million has ing; particularly membership ones like
been awarded to local nonprofits as Impact.”
$100,000 High Impact grants and merit
awards. Despite the difficulties of an Sorzano said the 2021-22 grant
all-virtual COVID year, the 2020-21 cycle is already underway. A virtual
cycle closed with 425 members, who grant-writing session for nonprofits
voted in April 2020 to grant a total of was held in June, and an in-person,
$436,000 (there were some additional nonprofit information training ses-
donations). sion is scheduled for Sept. 8. The on-
line application for nonprofits to ap-
Ruddy said she was enthusiastic ply for a grant went live as of June 15
about growing the membership to 500
this year and encouraged everyone to Cindi Shelburne and Beth Wright.
help spread the word.

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / August 19, 2021 15

PEOPLE

Barbara Ruddy and Lynn Miller. Dr. Siera Reiner and Pam Sandzen.

Liz Locke and Sherri Kolo.

and will be accepted until Nov. 3.
“That’s earlier than we’ve ever done

it. We worked really hard to update it
and make it available to our nonprof-
its as early as we could,” said Sorzano,
adding that Michele Peters is the new
director of operations.

Additionally, the membership year
was streamlined to make it less con-
fusing; enrollment is now 12 months
from the date that a member last con-
tributed. To cast a vote at the April 2022
Grant Awards and Annual Meeting,
contributions must be made by Feb.
28, 2022.

“Once you join, you remain a mem-
ber in good standing for a full calen-
dar year. You just need to renew your
membership by your original mem-
bership date every year to be able to
serve on grant panels and attend spe-
cial member activities,” said Sorzano.
“We want to continue to maintain our
gold standing as an organization for
women in our community.”

She said they are always looking for
individuals and businesses to become
Friends of Impact sponsors, particu-
larly women-owned businesses.

“We’re grateful for our members,
we’re grateful for our community part-
ners (grant recipients), and we’re grate-
ful for our sponsors,” said Sorzano.
“We’re excited about the upcoming
year. We hope it will be as successful as
years in the past have been.”

Other scheduled events include a Nov.
17 Kickoff Brunch and Jan. 12 Impact
Day. For more information or to join,
visit impactir.com. 

16 Vero Beach 32963 / August 19, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

Read it and leap! ‘Aerial Antics’ puts on thrilling show

Macee Holshouser.

Saige Lupo and
Andrea Woodson.

Hope Peterson and Eliza English. PHOTOS: KAILA JONES

BY STEPHANIE LaBAFF
Staff Writer

Hot off the presses, the newspa- Saniah Smith.
per-themed 47th annual Aerial An-
tics Youth Circus at the Saint Ed- the Olympics, one aerial act fea-
ward’s School Gonzalez Activities tured Olympic rings. And, just as
Center gymnasium was a must-see the Olympians recently did, every
event worthy of its ‘Extra, Extra local gymnast aspired to perform
Read All About It’ publicity. their best.

Excited to watch their favorite The children really brought it
performers, family members and home with their Newspaper Fi-
friends gathered to view more than nale, which began with a group of
200 children, from age 3 on up, as newspaper-reading performers sit-
they tumbled, danced and per- ting upon a couch engrossed in the
formed acrobatics on silks, circus headlines of the day, before break-
straps, loops, hoops and rings. The ing into a dance routine.
three-day show featured enrollees
in the City of Vero Beach Aerial An- In an effort to err on the side
tics Camp and Performing Arts De- of caution, the children had per-
partment. formed in their home groups, said
Howard.
From fancy footwork to soaring
through the air, gymnastics stu-
dents and campers each had their
moment in the spotlight.

“We choreographed and made
music selections to match a tra-
ditional newspaper, with sports,
weather, entertainment and head-
line stories,” explained Patty How-
ard, assistant recreation director.
“It’s been fun; the kids really got
into it.”

Little cowgirls kicked up their
heels and older performers danced
in the rain with umbrellas that be-
came part of the act. With a nod to

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / August 19, 2021 17

Deja Miller. PEOPLE

Loralei Horsley. Kaitlyn Left.

Annabelle Whiting.

It was just one of the creative ad- Aerial Antics children partici-
justments made by the coaches so pate in recreation programs at the
that children could “deliver” this Centerstage Acrobatics Complex,
special edition, and the perfor- and the twice-yearly performanc-
mances were equally spectacular. es enable them to showcase what
they have learned. The Recreation
“We want to keep the kids as safe Department approaches fitness as
as possible, so we didn’t combine a means to “promote self-esteem,
groups this year. The program was leadership and performing expe-
a little different than in years past.” rience through skill-building and
positive encouragement.”
The in-person event was a wel-
come change from last year’s Aerial Fall gymnastics registration take
Antics Circus and Holiday Drama, place at 8 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 21 at
both of which were recorded at the Leisure Square. The annual Aerial
Centerstage Acrobatics Complex Antics Holiday Drama will take place
and then aired online so that fami- Dec. 5 at the Vero Beach High School
lies could watch their little stars Performing Arts Center. For more in-
from the safety and comfort of their formation, visit covb.org. 
own homes.

18 Vero Beach 32963 / August 19, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

Night-sky-high praise for ELC Perseid Meteor Shower party

BY STEPHANIE LaBAFF related things as well,” said Barbara
Staff Writer Schlitt Ford, ELC executive director.

More than 200 astrophiles gathered She noted that the meteor shower
under the stars at the Environmental event allowed them to invite the com-
Learning Center for an out-of-this- munity out for a rare nighttime excur-
world evening at the recent Perseid sion. “We wanted to bring folks out to
Meteor Shower & Star Party. Viewers campus and connect them to the out-
left the campus better able to experi- er limits of our natural world,” added
ence and observe the meteors at their Ford.
peak visibility the following week.
As people waited for the sun to go
The ELC, located on an island in the down and the stars to come out, early
middle of the Indian River Lagoon, birds could grab dinner from the On
has as its primary mission the goal the Hook food truck and cool off with
of creating active stewards of the en- ice cream from Yami’s, before heading
vironment, and by doing so, enhance out to explore the 64-acre nature cen-
their own well-being. ter and choose their optimal viewing
spot.
Although the ELC is primarily a day-
time destination, an ideal place to ex- Others opted to visit the Touch
plore native flora and catch glimpses Tank in the Discovery Station, view
of local fauna, this time all eyes were environmental artwork by local art-
turned skyward to search out stars, ists, or just explore the campus. The
meteors and other celestial bodies. celestial evening also included such
space-themed activities as storytime
“Everything we do is about con- and crafts, and guest speaker Ken
necting people to the natural world, Verderame gave an in-depth talk on
so they have an appreciation for it. the vastness of the universe.
While a lot of the things we do are
water- and land-related, we do space- Members of the International Dark-
Sky Association shared informa-

Jackson Sansalone, Bryce VanVlake
and Ken Diller. PHOTOS: BRENDA AHEARN

Stephanie Taylor and Kelly MacCrum.

tion on protecting the night sky from Ford said that the Discovery Station
light pollution, which can impact the and Touch Tank will be closed for sev-
health of humans and wildlife, and eral weeks as an eco-flooring system
contribute to climate change. is installed, featuring illustrations of
local ecosystems hand-painted by
Volunteers from the Brevard As- Crystal Ploszay, CEO of Unicorn Ep-
tronomical Society were on hand to oxy.
answer questions and offer the use of
high-powered telescopes to give in- During the month of October, the
quiring minds a close-up look at the Pelican Island Conservation Society
night sky. Lucky viewers could spy Bird and Nature Art Show will be on
Saturn’s rings, Jupiter’s moons, mete- display in both ELC galleries.
ors and constellations.
For more information, visit discov-
After a busy summer with campers, erelc.org. 

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / August 19, 2021 19

PEOPLE

Ginger Heller.

Nancy Hilzinger and Pete Brocke. Harper and Carmen Kesselman.

PHOTOS CONTINUED ON PAGE 20
Britney Melchiori, Barbara Schlitt Ford, Sara Piotter and Nancy Puglio.

20 Vero Beach 32963 / August 19, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

PHOTOS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 19 Quentin, Cynthia, Naomi and Glen Million with Wendy Knowles. Linda Scott, Merritt Scott and Debbie Avery.
Cristina Geremia, Troy Nathan and Madelline Mathis.

Brenda, Ginny and Bill Faitella.

Barbara and Pat McGowan. Michael and Julia Adamsky.

Don and Norma Couture. Will, Beth and Henry Jefferson.



22 Vero Beach 32963 / August 19, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

Travel Chaos

COVID-19 WILL DISRUPT JOURNEYS FOR YEARS TO COME

BY THE ECONOMIST bought a ticket via New York, where After hours of pleading and “emotionally devastated”, he says.
he could crash with friends for a searching for alternatives, he re- Governments have succeeded in
Tom Maples spent five days and al- few weeks. But officials squabbling signed himself to flying straight
most $7,000 getting home to London over paperwork barred him from home. But he had another setback: taking the joy out of travel this sum-
from Tanzania in May. Many African his first flight. He booked a second officials demanded he pay the mer. Britain has introduced rules
countries are on Britain’s “red list,” but was stopped on his layover in $2,400 quarantine bill before be- of tooth-grinding complexity. In
meaning anyone who has visited one Germany. America’s borders were ing allowed to board the flight. By theory its traffic-light system rates
in the previous ten days must quar- open to non-Americans travelling then he had maxed out his credit countries by COVID-19 risk and sets
antine in an expensive airport hotel from Tanzania, he was told, but not card and had to ask a relative to lend travel rules accordingly. In practice
before entering England. to those coming from Europe. him money. The experience left him it is arbitrary, unpredictable and
constantly changing.
Eager to avoid that bill, Maples

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / August 19, 2021 23

U.S. policies are equally baffling. entry regulations compiled by the latest surge, Australia had just 1,800 land had to scrap that plan this week
The Biden administration has failed International Air Transport Associa- new cases. Britain had 100 times that when a labor shortage prompted the
to adapt restrictions in line with tion (IATA), was updated 200 times in figure. According to a survey by the government to say it would reopen
vaccination and infection rates one day last year. Australian Broadcasting Corporation, borders a bit despite a low vaccina-
overseas. All around the world, a 80% of Australians agree the border tion rate.
jumble of rules causes confusion, The confusion is made worse by should remain closed until the pan-
chokes tourism and leaves busi- governments taking very different demic is “under control globally.” A second group of governments is
nesses struggling to work out who approaches to travel. East Asia and asking people to live with the virus.
can do what and go where. Australasia are largely locked down. With only 18 percent of people By June only 13 percent of countries
The poorest regions, such as sub- fully vaccinated, Australia relies on in Europe remained closed to inter-
All of this means travel will re- Saharan Africa, are largely open. The the bluntest of policy instruments: national travelers, compared with
main out of reach for many and United States and Europe are some- locking people up to quarantine in 70% in the Asia-Pacific region, ac-
messy for all for some time. The where in between. government-approved facilities. Pete cording to the UN’s World Tourism
chaos is unlikely to subside soon, McGregor, who flew in from London Organization.
as new outbreaks emerge and gov- The most hermetically sealed to visit his ailing father in February,
ernments struggle to co-ordinate countries, which are typically either felt lucky to be placed in former la- Widespread vaccination makes
policy. Travelers must scour myriad islands or dictatorships, have kept borers’ digs outside Darwin rather opening easier. Pent-up demand
ministry and airport websites to cases under control by shutting bor- than an airless hotel. Residents held for travel makes it popular. Back in
piece together the rules. ders and aggressively stamping on virtual quiz nights and celebrated a February searches for internation-
outbreaks at home. Australia’s gov- fellow inmate’s birthday. McGregor al flights by people in France were
Even as the European Union be- ernment recently halved its cap on still describes the trip as “hell.” just 30% of what they had been two
gins to reopen, the average member overseas arrivals to 3,000 people a years earlier; now they are at 76%
state has 330 restrictions on inter- week, even though 38,000 Australian For such countries, the only way of pre-pandemic levels, according
national travel, according to UBS, a citizens wish to return home. to reopen safely is to vaccinate most to Kayak, an online travel agency.
Swiss bank, up from five in March people first and then experiment, as Meanwhile in China flight browsing
2020. Timatic, a database of visa and Tough rules can work. In the first Singapore is considering. New Zea-
week of August, in the midst of its CONTINUED ON PAGE 24

24 Vero Beach 32963 / August 19, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT COVER STORY

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 23 like they have found another way to
discriminate against us here in Afri-
remains stuck at around a fifth of ca,” says Itunu Kuku, a Nigerian living
pre-pandemic levels. in Senegal.

Rich countries that are trying to Overseas trips will continue to be a
open up are devising systems to re- hassle well beyond the northern sum-
duce the risks. Last month the EU mer. If air travel returns to 75 percent
launched a Digital Covid Certificate, of pre-pandemic levels and airline
which people can use to prove they staff have to continue to cross-check a
have been vaccinated, tested or re- spaghetti-spill of apps and forms, pas-
cently recovered from COVID-19. sengers will spend an average 5.5 hours
waiting to be processed at airports, es-
But policies are often inconsistent. timates Nick Careen of IATA, up from
America remains closed to visitors 1.5 hours before the pandemic.
from Austria and Germany but not
Colombia or Thailand, where vacci- International travel could come
nation rates are lower and COVID-19 to feel exclusive, much as it used to
infections more widespread. And in the middle of the 20th century.
airline crews struggle with the dif- Those worried about tough checks
ferent forms and passes, often giving at airports or catching the virus on
a cursory glance and waving people a packed flight are already choosing
through rather than scanning QR to travel by road or rail. Some will
codes. Lufthansa, a German carrier,
says staff will be able to scan docu- fly again as rules
ments only if test and vaccine certi- are streamlined
fication is standardized globally.
and fear of germs
Careful planning and reams fades. But ex-
of paperwork are distant pensive tests
concerns for globe-

trotters and rising airfares mean two-day Border rules cannot prevent out-
from a bachelor parties in Cabo San Lucas breaks unless they are paired with
third group strict domestic rules. People mov-
of countries: or Cancun could become less com- ing within a country spread the vi-
the poorest. Most mon (to the relief of some) where- rus, too. The highly contagious Delta
such places are as once-in-a-lifetime safaris in variant is now spurring fresh out-
struggling to get jabs Zambia will still appeal to breaks even in countries that closed
in arms, yet cannot af- those who can afford one. their borders. Australia has had to
ford to shut their borders. George Kipouros, edi- extend local lockdowns and deploy
They remain cut off. Be- tor of Wanderlust, a travel the army to enforce stay-at-home or-
cause rich countries impose magazine, says it would be ders. China has launched mass-test-
some of the toughest quaran- a good thing if people began ing drives and introduced new curbs
tine and testing requirements to see travel as something on domestic travel.
on poor countries, travel has become special again, and so ap-
unaffordable for an emerging middle preciated it more. Many of the safety measures that
class that was just getting a taste for it. But for most would-be accompany partial reopening are
Even those who have been jabbed of- travelers, a less open flawed. Asking someone to isolate
ten received vaccines made in India or world means less free- at home cuts their contact with the
China, which may not be recognized dom. The loss is made outside world by 75 percent, com-
by rich-world authorities. “It seems more galling by rules pared with 90 percent for hotel quar-
that often make antines, reports the Lancet.
no sense. A year
and a half into Another study suggests that a cost-
the pandemic, ly polymerase-chain-reaction (PCR)
policy mak- test before a flight is
ers finally worse than a
acknowl-

edge what
epidemiologists
have long known:
there is no straight line be-
tween curbing travel and curbing
infections.

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ INSIGHT COVER STORY Vero Beach 32963 / August 19, 2021 25

cheaper alternative. It is more accu- the pandemic. That may not be until
rate than an antigen test, but slower. 2024, by some estimates. Even then,
So travelers have more time to get in- daft rules could stick. The U.S. ban on
fected between clinic and boarding travelers with HIV was introduced in
gate. A negative antigen test taken on the 1980s and abolished only in 2010.
the day of a trip, as many EU states ac- Likewise, airlines could be asking for
cept, reduces the number of infected COVID-19 papers for years to come.
people who make it over a border to 24
percent of levels without any testing Vaccine certification may well
compared with 33 percent for a PCR make sense in the long run. But bans
test taken two days before a flight. on visitors from certain countries
or caps on international arrivals do
Temperature scanners are also not. The risk is that these rules and
unreliable. Initial research suggest- regulations may outlive their pur-
ed about half of travelers infected pose not because governments can-
with COVID-19 would be caught; not undo them, but because no poli-
recent analysis found the young in tician wants to be the first to try. 
particular slip through, as most nev-
er develop a fever.

At this stage of the pandemic,
governments’ wishes for a balanced
approach to travel are understand-
able. But evidence of the benefits of
many restrictions is murky, whereas
the costs are clear. In America only 6
percent of the workforce were in the
travel business in 2020, but they suf-
fered a third of total job losses.

Globally, nearly one in five jobs sup-
ported by tourism was lost in 2020.
Poor countries, especially, rely on it
for work. The World Travel and Tour-
ism Council estimates that the size of
the international travel and tourism
industry halved from 10.4 percent of

global GDP in 2019 to 5.5
percent in 2020, a $4.5
trillion loss.
Only when the
world is adequately
vaccinated will trav-
el start to feel as it
did before

26 Vero Beach 32963 / August 19, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT WORLD NEWS AND OPINION

AN UNDECLARED WAR IS BREAKING OUT IN CYBERSPACE

BY DAVID IGNATIUS | THE WASHINGTON POST ing a string of public advisories explaining how to slang boasting: “We pwned you.”
reduce vulnerabilities, such as securing wireless de- “The recovery of the Bitcoin ransom has been an
If you go to the website of the National Security vices in public places.
Agency and scroll down half a page, you’ll come to excellent move that should have happened far earlier
a link for what the NSA calls its “Cybersecurity Col- Russia is a special threat. Biden warned Presi- and far more often and should be repeated,” argued
laboration Center” for sharing ideas with tech com- dent Vladimir Putin about cyberattacks in their Jean-Louis Gergorin, a French cybersecurity expert.
panies about stopping malware attacks. June summit meeting in Geneva and demanded He also said he was “convinced” that the FSB’s Bort-
that Russia pursue criminal hackers operating nikov has curbed some Russian ransomware attacks
That openness is a clear indication of how bad the within its territory. He also proposed an agreement as part of “some kind of implicit mutual restraint
cyber threat has become. The Biden administration that 16 areas of vital infrastructure should be “off agreement between Russia and the United States.”
has decided that the danger of cyberattacks from limits” to attack, the way hospitals are under the
Russia, China and other nations is so serious that it Geneva Conventions. China’s recent cyberattacks have been as brazen
is mobilizing all parts of the government, including as Russia’s. Microsoft revealed in March that the se-
an organization once so secretive it was known as Russian actions are hard to judge, but the Krem- curity of its widely used Exchange software had been
“No Such Agency.” lin appears to have responded favorably. Two weeks breached, compromising tens of thousands of net-
after the summit, Alexander Bortnikov, the head of works worldwide.
Cyberattacks on U.S. targets have, if anything, es- Russia’s FSB security agency, said in Moscow: “We
calated since Biden took office. A ransomware as- will work together [on locating hackers] and hope In July, the Biden administration revealed that this
sault by Russian hackers in May crippled the Colonial for reciprocity.” devastating hack was organized by China’s Ministry
Pipeline; China’s spy service in March breached the of State Security, working through a network of crimi-
Microsoft Exchange Server software used by many The NSA and other intelligence agencies have also nal contract hackers. Joining this startling attribution
thousands of companies. given a public hint of U.S. retaliatory capabilities. Two of Chinese “irresponsible behavior” were the Euro-
weeks after Colonial Pipeline paid a ransom of 75 bit- pean Union, Britain and NATO.
But the United States at least appears to be fighting coin to a Russian hacking group called DarkSide, the
back. Over the past seven months, Biden has taken Justice Department announced it had seized about As the Exchange hack illustrated, a low-level cy-
a series of actions, often with little fanfare, to mobi- 64 bitcoin, worth about $2.3 million, from a hidden berwar is being fought on terrain that is largely pri-
lize a response across the government and private cryptocurrency wallet. vate. Part of the Biden administration’s response has
sector. It’s led by NSA veteran Anne Neuberger, who been to work more closely with technology compa-
served there for 10 years, most recently as director of “The private key for the Subject Address is in the nies to respond better to attacks – and prevent new
cybersecurity, before national security adviser Jake possession of the FBI,” said an affidavit revealed June ones. After the Exchange breach, the White House
Sullivan recruited her to the White House as a deputy 7. That’s the law enforcement equivalent of hacker connected with Microsoft President Brad Smith,
national security adviser. and the company quickly developed a patch for vul-
nerable software.
The countermeasures sound bureaucratic, but
they have teeth. A May executive order mandated And the invisible gremlins at the National Security
better commercial security standards within six Agency? They joined other intelligence agencies in
months and created a Cyber Safety Review Board to publishing 31 detailed pages explaining the tactics,
assess malware attacks the way the National Trans- techniques and procedures the Chinese were using
portation Safety Board investigates air crashes. to get inside private networks.

The White House is responding to breaches with a “The Fort,” as NSA headquarters at Fort Meade
“Unified Coordination Group” that includes private is known, doesn’t seem to be a closed bunker any-
companies as well as government agencies. The NSA, more. 
FBI and Department of Homeland Security are issu-
This column does not necessarily reflect the views of
Vero Beach 32963.

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

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / August 19, 2021 27

INSIGHT WORLD NEWS AND OPINION

Help! My new freezer doesn’t work and Frigidaire won’t fix it

Kerri Nigro’s new Frigidaire freezer ing dry ice every week while we try to to fix it. Your freezer is guaranteed to be speedy resolution.
doesn’t work. The company tried, but save the food. free of materials defects or component I contacted the company on your
can’t fix it. How about a replacement? malfunctions, according to the warran-
Frigidaire has compensated us ty. The company “will repair, without behalf. A representative responded,
Question: with a $200 debit card but would not charge, any problem that occurs during “I’ll ask our consumer team to reach
Frigidaire delivered a new freezer replace the machine, saying we had the first year after the original date of out to see if we can help resolve this
to us two months ago and it hasn’t to give them a chance to fix it first. A purchase.” The warranty doesn’t specify situation.” Electrolux agreed to re-
worked since they plugged it in. few days ago, the door arrived, but it how long Frigidaire has to attempt the place your freezer. 
There have been three service visits. was damaged. Can you help us? We repairs. Even after three unsuccess-
Frigidaire had to order a new door. A just want a freezer that works. ful visits by a technician, the company Get help with any consumer prob-
Frigidaire representative said it could wanted to keep trying. Come on. lem by contacting Christopher Elliott
take a month or longer for the part to Answer: at http://www.elliott.org/help
arrive. Meanwhile, we’ve been buy- Your freezer should have worked. If it I noticed that you first went through
didn’t, Frigidaire should have promptly the front door at Frigidaire, contact-
sent you one that did. Instead, you had ing the company through its website.
to wait weeks – and hope that one of its When you have a problem like this,
technicians could fix it. you’ll want to appeal it to someone
This is a common problem for people higher up. I list the names, numbers
who buy new appliances. When some- and email addresses of Frigidaire’s
thing goes wrong, the company almost (Electrolux) executives on my consum-
always insists on sending a technician er advocacy site, Elliott.org.
to your home and trying to repair it.
That’s much less expensive than replac- And that’s what you did. But it looks
ing your freezer. But it’s also inconve- as if you blasted emails to all of the Elec-
nient for everyone. trolux executives without first contact-
It was nice of Frigidaire to send you a ing the managers, who were your first
$200 debit card to cover ice and spoiled level of appeal. Also, your emails didn’t
food, but it doesn’t make up for a freezer contain any identifying information
that doesn’t work. about the product or specifics about
The warranty on your freezer ex- the repair problem. That probably
plains why Frigidaire can keep trying confused Electrolux and prevented a

RECENTLY MOVED FROM A HIGH TAX STATE?

Make sure your money isn’t left behind!

Uncertainty calls for a disciplined approach to managing your financial future.
We’ve spent decades providing professional advice to Vero Beach families.
Let’s have a conversation.

Investment Management • Trust & Estate Services • Financial Strategies

Barbara E. Magee, Charlene Padgett Tucker, Sue M. Tompkins,
Alexander S. Batt and Thomas J. Rollando

772.494.7660 l 3055 Cardinal Dr, Suite 305, Vero Beach, FL 32963
www.warrencapitalmanagement.com

Investment products and services are offered through Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network, LLC (WFAFN),
Member SIPC. Warren Capital Management is a separate entity from WFAFN.

28 Vero Beach 32963 / August 19, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT BOOKS

The history of political and diplomatic weapon, but ing out of control. In line with its increasing activism
eager to preserve U.S. protection and on foreign policy issues, Congress often challenged the
modern interna- obtain high-tech weaponry. In ex- very foundations of petrodollar interdependence, de-
change, the United States preserved nouncing the authoritarian nature of partners like Iran
tional relations is its hegemony, enjoyed profitable op- and Saudi Arabia, the threat they posed to the security
portunities for exporting its goods of Israel, and their violations of fundamental human
inextricably en- and services to these immensely af- rights.
fluent but still underdeveloped part-
tangled with that More important, the United States ended up em-
ners, and – more important – found powering countries whose fundamental policies could
of oil, the key en- an apparently unlimited source take a drastic U-turn in the event of regime change.
of funding for its banks, financial Spurred by the harsh political repression of the shah,
ergy resource of the firms and public debt. By the early and a growing anti-Americanism that petrodollar in-
1980s, for example, the Saudi share terdependence helped aggravate, Iran saw the most ex-
post-World War I of the U.S. Treasury securities held treme of regime changes with the 1979 revolution and
abroad approached $40 billion, al- the birth of an Islamic republic radically opposed to the
era. Oil has been at United States and its regional allies. The Iranian revo-
most 30 percent of the total, and lution shocked the world and shook the very bases of
the center of mul- Riyadh decisively contributed to petrodollar interdependence. Despite the predictions,
finance American deficits thanks it did not lead to its end – on the contrary, it reinforced
tiple struggles – over to its $20 billion petrodollar de- some of its basic premises, rendering the relationship
posits in the United States. between the United States and Saudi Arabia even more
its control, price, fundamental. It also exacerbated its contradictions,
Iran and Saudi Arabia used with the United States ever more embroiled in the sup-
flows, profits – and their wealth to buy ever more so- port, defense and armament of authoritarian partners
phisticated weapon systems pri- such as Saudi Arabia, and petrodollars financing an ar-
has decisively con- marily, but not exclusively, from ray of problematic foreign policies – from Iran contra
the United States (from fiscal 1973 to 1979, U.S. military to the anti-Soviet Afghan resistance – that would often
tributed to the global deliveries totaled $10 billion to Iran and $4 billion to backfire in later years.
Saudi Arabia, 31 percent and 13 percent, respectively,
integration of the past of the world total, Wight writes). They joined the band- “Oil Money” offers a rich, thorough and sophis-
wagon of financial globalization, contributing their ticated description of how petrodollar interde-
century. For its part, petrodollars to foster and accelerate it. They purchased pendence has shaped and transformed modern
durable goods and services, with numerous U.S. engi- international relations, global capitalism and U.S.
the United States has neering and construction companies benefiting from hegemony, or as Wight prefers to call it, the American
the bonanza of the grandiose – and at times unrealis- “cooperative empire.” The narrative is at times a bit
progressively occupied tic – developmental schemes of Riyadh and Tehran. Fi- dry and often overlooks the role and agency of Wash-
nally, they were tasked with a specific geopolitical func- ington’s European partners, which played their own
the center stage in that tion that a prostrated post-Vietnam America was all too important parts in the story (not least because petro-
eager to outsource: contributing to the containment of dollars were massively channeled also to Europe’s fi-
integration, the con- the Soviet Union and its allies in North Africa and the nancial markets). But the book admirably blends the
Middle East. many facets of the post-1960s petrodollar universe,
temporary global order Petrodollar interdependence was both a driver and from geopolitics to political economy, diplomacy to
a key product of the post-1960s U.S.-led global inte- culture. In doing so, it provides us with a fundamen-
being in many regards gration: a defining feature of contemporary globalized tal introduction to one of the driving forces behind
capitalism. However, many contradictions and short- today’s world and its many contradictions. 
U.S.-centered and circuits ensued. The United States transferred sophis-
ticated and pricey weapons to countries that were ada- OIL MONEY
dominated. Washington mantly hostile to Israel, which had become a special,
indeed unique, ally of Washington. To offset that, and MIDDLE EAST PETRODOLLARS AND THE
has thus developed a specific role in handling the issue to counter the growing criticisms from many Ameri-
can supporters of Israel, different U.S. administrations TRANSFORMATION OF US EMPIRE, 1967-1988
of oil, chiefly in ensuring unhindered access to it, and had to significantly expand military aid to Tel Aviv, thus
contributing to a regional arms race that risked spiral- BY DAVID M. WIGHT | CORNELL. 347 PP. $49.95
in dealing with the producing countries, particularly REVIEW BY PAMELA NEWKIRK, THE WASHINGTON POST

some of the extraordinarily oil-endowed nations of the

Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

In this very fine book, “Oil Money: Middle East Pet-

rodollars and the Transformation of US Empire, 1967-

1988,” David M. Wight discusses the key rupture of the

late 1960s and 1970s when, he writes, “petrodollar in-

terdependence” replaced the previous, highly unequal

relationship between the United States and the oil-pro-

ducing countries. Whereas the latter relied on cheap

and abundant oil to fuel the economic growth of mod-

ern industrial societies, which in exchange granted aid

and protection to the oil-producing countries, this new

form of interdependence was based on high oil prices,

skyrocketing revenue and an immense pool of liquid-

ity – “petrodollars” – to be injected into increasingly de-

regulated financial markets.

During that period, Wight shows, the terms of the

exchange between the United States and the relevant

MENA actors (first and foremost Iran and Saudi Arabia)

changed radically. Instead of supplying cheap oil, the

oil-producing countries now offered abundant pet-

rodollars. Washington had to accept higher oil prices

and more unruly partners, willing now to use oil as a

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

INSIGHT BOOKS

In Dust Bowl-ravaged Iowa in meant in practice. In and laugh. The toddlers’ stimulating new environ-
1934, an indigent, unmarried, 1934, Hoffman’s IQ test ment could not have contrasted more with the ne-
pregnant woman named Viola had the power to seal glectful care they had previously known. Their new
Hoffman arrived visibly disorient- both her fate and her environment had made the difference.
ed at a hospital maternity ward. son’s. Her score of 66 was considered in the
To help gauge her condition and low range. As a result, after she gave birth to her son Skeels and Skodak soon arranged to monitor the
guide her care, the staff followed via C-section, she was sterilized. It was assumed progress of 11 additional “low-intelligence” children
their usual routine: They gave that her son, Wendell, also would experience little from the orphanage who would be similarly cared
her an IQ test. intellectual advancement. Hoffman left him in the for by adult women from the state institution for the
care of the state with the expectation that he would mentally disabled. Hoffman’s son was among them.
Odd as it sounds today, the remain institutionalized for the rest of his life.
test was typical for that era, But he did not, thanks to the work of pioneer- Like the others in that group, he experienced
psychologist Marilyn Brook- ing staff psychologists at the Iowa Child Welfare substantial IQ gains and was among nine who were
wood explains in her gripping, Research Station at the University of Iowa: Harold subsequently adopted into loving families. The con-
meticulously researched ac- Skeels, Marie Skodak and Beth Wellman. trast group, who had remained in the grim care of
count, “The Orphans of Dav- At first, they were simply puzzled by their results. the orphanage, all experienced severe IQ declines;
enport: Eugenics, the Great In 1932, Wellman found that, rather than remaining four remained in institutions for the rest of their
Depression, and the War Over stable as Terman’s theories would have predicted, lives. “A stimulative environment saved one group
Children’s Intelligence.” Hoff- the IQ scores of children attending preschool rose, while its absence doomed the other,” Brookwood
man’s IQ test was just one with those enrolled in full rather than half days writes. “Remarkably, the mean IQ score gain for the
manifestation of the crucial making the greatest gains. Had the preschool envi- experimental group, 27.5, almost exactly equaled
scientific battle over the ronment sparked the difference? the 26.2 loss in the other.”
origins and development of Next, Skeels reviewed the IQ scores of the young-
children’s intelligence. Was sters warehoused in the Davenport orphanage’s The highly publicized study created a frenzy of
it nature by itself (heredity) or cramped conditions and found that those scores attention for the Iowans. Then came the backlash.
nurture (environment and upbringing) that deter- had not remained stable, either. In fact, from the Terman enlisted powerful allies in politics and aca-
mined the intellectual growth of a child? The stakes children’s arrival onward, they had dropped con- demia to attack and discredit the researchers pro-
were high, and echoes of the fight continue today. tinuously. Could that be because of the institution’s fessionally and personally. The crackdown stifled
environment of neglect? the researchers’ careers, leaving their findings rel-
On one side was the powerful Stanford psycholo- Then Skeels and Skodak together witnessed a egated to the same neglect as the orphaned children
gist Lewis Terman, whose highly successful career transformation that contradicted Terman’s assump- they had hoped to help.
was based on his development of the wildly popular tions most vividly of all. On visits to the orphanage,
Stanford-Binet intelligence test. Like the majority of they had observed infants so listless they were un- It wasn’t until the 1960s, Brookwood writes, that
American educators and psychologists of his day, able to do anything but endlessly whine and rock, child psychologists fully turned their focus again
he believed that intelligence was not only inherited, isolated in their cribs, as harried, overworked nurs- to the pivotal impact of environment in promot-
but genetically fixed at birth and immutable for life. es hurried by with no time to respond. Hoffman’s ing social, intellectual and emotional skills. Today,
He was also an advocate of the racially prejudiced son was one of these. a continuous stream of neuroscience-based studies
and class-biased pseudoscience of eugenics: the They took note of two particularly forlorn baby makes it ever clearer how nurture, education and
belief that genes deemed “bad,” “inferior” or “un- girls and arranged their transfer to a state institu- stimulation contribute to the optimal growth, de-
desirable” should be bred out of existence to im- tion for the mentally disabled. Eight months later, velopment and functioning of young brains.
prove the nation’s genetic stock. According to this they came across these same toddlers again, now
view, since IQ was entirely inherited, a newborn’s completely unrecognizable as playful, active, en- The bracing revelation of Brookwood’s book is
IQ score would reflect that of the parents and would gaging little girls whose IQ scores had risen to the that these essential lessons in countering the ef-
also predict the baby’s life potential: The higher the “normal” range. fects of neglect and disadvantage came frighten-
IQ the brighter the prospects, the lower the score What had happened? It did not matter that the ingly close to disappearing without a trace. Discov-
the bleaker the outlook. In this way, IQ was like a adult women among whom the girls were sent to ering that past helps us recognize just how far we
life sentence handed down from generation to gen- live had mental ages no higher than 9, the research- still have to go to provide opportunities to help all
eration. ers concluded. What made the difference was the young minds realize the promise they possess. 
loving, attentive, nurturing care these women had
On the other side of the debate stood a lesser- bestowed on the girls, bathing and feeding and THE ORPHANS OF DAVENPORT
known group of Iowa psychologists and research- playing with them, teaching them to walk and talk
ers. They did not intentionally set out to challenge EUGENICS, THE GREAT DEPRESSION, AND THE
Terman’s theories. But as they monitored Iowa’s in-
stitutionalized orphans, they stumbled on findings WAR OVER CHILDREN’S INTELLIGENCE
that made them question the idea of fixed potential.
Those findings in turn led them to studies demon- BY MARILYN BROOKWOOD | LIVERIGHT. 339 PP. $28.95
strating that it was not heredity but environment – REVIEW BY DIANE COLE, THE WASHINGTON POST
one rich in nurture, care, stimulation and education
– that drove the development of young brains and
provided fuel for them to flourish.

Brookwood emphasizes that these are the prin-
ciples that underlie our current understanding of
early-childhood development and are reflected in
every reputable parenting guide. They also lie at the
heart of Head Start and other early education pro-
grams aimed at countering the effects of poverty
and disadvantage.

That is why this clash from not so long ago mat-
tered. Its outcome would affect the path, Brook-
wood writes, for “potential reforms in education,
child psychology, medical training in child develop-
ment, protections of the social safety net, judicial
decisions, and parents’ encouragement of their
children.”

Brookwood bluntly shows what those beliefs



Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / August 19, 2021 31

INSIGHT BRIDGE

SAFETY FIRST IS THE ORDER OF THE DAY WEST NORTH EAST
J986 743 2
By Phillip Alder - Bridge Columnist K Q 10 9 — A8653
Q83 AJ75 K 10 9 4 2
Confucius said, “The superior man, when resting in safety, does not forget that danger 54 AQJ863 72
may come.”
SOUTH
Substitute “bridge player” for “superior man,” and you have a recipe for success. In A K Q 10 5
this deal, for example, where would North-South like to rest; and if they stopped in six J742
spades, how should South plan the play after West leads the heart king? 6
K 10 9
If the spade suit is running for five tricks, seven clubs and seven spades are almost
cold. The declarer takes 12 top black-suit tricks plus a heart ruff in spades or a Dealer: North; Vulnerable: East-West
diamond ruff in clubs.
The Bidding:
Here, of course, seven spades is hopeless; and what lead by East would defeat seven
clubs? SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST OPENING
Pass 1 Clubs Pass
In the auction, after North rebids two clubs, South should continue with a forcing two 1 Hearts 2 Clubs Pass LEAD:
hearts. Then North should support spades; I like three spades to express a suitable ?? K Hearts
hand, but can understand only two with such weak trumps. Over either bid, South
should support clubs. Then North might bid three or four diamonds; or repeat spades;
or, if his partner would read it correctly, jump in hearts to show his shortage. It isn’t
clear-cut how to proceed.

In six spades, after ruffing on the board at trick one, it is tempting to try to draw
trumps. When the bad split comes to light, declarer will presumably shift to clubs, but
West can ruff in and continue hearts to defeat the contract.

To allow for a bad trump split, South should play a spade to his 10 at trick two. Then
there is still a trump in the dummy to take care of another heart lead from West.

Finally, a trump lead will capsize seven clubs.

Professional Cabinet
Design Available

CARPET ONE Creative Floors & Home has more for your
CREATIVE FLOORS entire home from the floor up! With Flooring,
Tile, Cabinets and even vacuum cleaners!
& HOME
772.569.0240

1137 Old Dixie Hwy • Vero Beach
creativefloorscarpet1verobeach.com

32 Vero Beach 32963 / August 19, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT GAMES

SOLUTIONS TO PREVIOUS ISSUE (AUGUST 12) ON PAGE 58

ACROSS DOWN
1 Culinary herb (5) 1 Mathematical proposition (7)
4 US singer and actress(4) 2 Brightly coloured bird (12)
8 Snakelike fish (3) 3 Test (4)
9 Find out (9) 4 Spiny desert plant (6)
10 Bird; chess piece (4) 5 Tea blend (4,4)
11 French wine region (8) 6 New York concert venue (8,4)
12 Owns (3) 7 Sole; merely (4)
13 Soft silky material (6) 11 Public house (3)
14 Paltry (6) 12 Hero of a Longfellow poem(8)
16 Wages (3) 14 Small rug (3)
17 To a certain degree (8) 15 Old (7)
18 Repair (4) 16 Royal residence (6)
20 Powerful dog (5,4) 17 Epic tale (4)
21 Tune; broadcast (3) 19 Brawn; meat (4)
22 Be concerned (4)
The Telegraph 23 Young female horse (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 / August 19, 2021 33

INSIGHT GAMES

NOTE: The American 66 Architect Pei’s first 28 Baby’s ring The Washington Post
Crossword Puzzle Tournament, name 29 Roll call reply
which Will Shortz founded in 32 Vegan’s protein source LEAP YEAR CELEBRATION By Merl Reagle
1978, is the longest-running 68 Eschews the tiramisu, e.g. 33 Cobb and Hardin
crossword tournament in the 69 Et cetera, et cetera 36 Game with netted sticks
United States. I actually entered 71 Cougar, to car fans 38 Terse rave
it in 1979 (and finished third 74 Corpus ___ 40 Ho ___ Minh
but since 1980 I’ve been one of 76 To be, in Brest 42 Fury
its judges and one of its regular 77 Go over again, 43 Bomb squad on a good day
puzzle contributors. The cros 45 Role for Ingrid
word on this page was Puzzle as text 46 Abbr. after LBJ’s name when
No. 3 from the 1996 tournament. 79 Where to get your yaks
The champ did it in eight minutes, 81 Hook’s helper he was a Senator
and aren’t you just thrilled to know 83 Agile though aged 47 Morales of La Bamba
THAT. 84 Mother from Albania 49 Indefinitely, in Latin
87 “Tunnel of Love” singer 50 Wine cask
ACROSS 90 Blah, blah, blah 53 Crucial convention event
92 Popular icebreaker 55 College cofounded by Noah
1 Animal in the bedroom 93 Actress Jane who plays
4 Mount Rushmore attractions Webster
9 Quick quality Daphne on Frasier 56 Pear variety
16 Champagne chum 96 Fed. expenditure watchdog 57 Egyptian life symbol
17 Zany Zero 97 Org. for attys. 58 Dullea of 2001
18 Toyota model 98 This crossword is one of 60 Old-fashioned social
19 Judges hastily 65 Fish story suffix
20 More of the same them 67 Cockney’s residence
23 Tankard drink 102 You get the idea 69 Trident-shaped letters
24 Motel-rating org. 103 Zones 70 Do ___
25 “Eek!” 104 A Marcos
26 Potpie morsel 105 Dig in (slangy money)
27 Beer ingredients 106 College board member 72 Undid, as a law
30 Part 2 107 Squabbles 73 1980s doll seen on
31 Playful sea mammals 108 Wash’s partner
34 Father’s Day exclamation Saturday morning TV
DOWN 75 Suffix with suburban
(said with feigned surprise, 1 Overnight duds 77 Letter signoff
probably) 2 Tries to equal 78 Manchu, for one
35 Christmasy first name 3 Chronology chart 80 African pest
37 Young Jetson 4 Relative of hallelujah 82 Swallow up
39 A Roman or an Indian 5 New Mexico, 84 Jazz guitarist Farlow
41 Eliot Ness stratagem 85 Get by
44 Line of scrimmage infraction for example, 86 Direct
48 Murder, She Wrote doc to a Mexican 88 Beetle Bailey’s
49 Caches 6 From ___ Z
51 The rest of it 7 Beginning of 10 words? rank: abbr.
52 Pre-stereo system 8 Instant replay speed, 89 Set another match to
54 Gas up again slangily 91 Drink with a straw
55 Between ports 9 Point the finger at 94 Where Munster is a
56 Prepare for a church 10 Capitol types
sale 11 Test type province
59 Not outside the legal playing 12 Refusals 95 Interstate hauler
area 13 Clint and Lee’s Ugly 99 It’s tender all over Europe
61 The second half co-star, in a western 100 Parking places: abbr.
62 Dress for the modest 14 Hillside 101 He’s a Bunny kind of guy
63 “Previously ___” 15 More cogent
(narrated intro to a 17 Film rating org.
popular medical show) 21 KLM continuation
64 Whose Pieces? 22 KLM competition

The Telegraph





36 Vero Beach 32963 / August 19, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT BACK PAGE

A beloved mom’s sudden death and the grief left behind

BY CAROLYN HAX Readers’ thoughts:
Washington Post  I lost my wonderful, beloved
father just as unexpectedly, and
Dear Carolyn: My mom died you’re in for a very rough ride that
you will survive. I feel more ter-
three weeks ago of an aggressive rible for you than I can say. The
first Mother’s Day, birthday, holi-
cancer that had been diagnosed day season – they’re all terribly
hard. I just want to add my sup-
just a month prior. I’m having a port to Carolyn’s, plus one thing
my grandmother said: The pain
really hard time. I still can’t fully doesn’t get any less, but your abil-
ity to cope with it grows. Hugs.
grasp that she’s gone. I am filled  After my mother died, I found
great peace as I sat down and
with grief to think I’ll never talk to her again. We wrote a biography of her. Remem-
bering sweet memories, some
talked every day. I know you went through this with honest memories and seeing her
through my adult eyes instead of childhood eyes
your mom and would love to hear any advice for was very meaningful and comforting.
 My mother died of cancer when I was a teen-
dealing with this. ager, when my opinion of her was deeply tinged
with adolescent conflicts. Then I watched my
– Grieving friends’ relationships with their mothers as
adults, and when I achieved something, I imag-
Grieving: I am so, so sorry. think of her and miss her without the acute sense ined how she would appreciate it. Sometimes
I wish I could take some of the pain away for of loss. I find out something new about her, and once I
you, but I don’t think it’s in anyone’s power. found a pair of letters from her to me at camp
Feeling the pain, though – in this unrelenting This can be hard to envision now, so just trust that I had forgotten about. So her memory lives.
flood of it now, then in waves as the waters start to that it’s coming. This will happen for you. You can bring your
recede, then intermittently throughout your life, mother forward into your life in this way. 
whenever it feels like washing over you – is how In time, too, you will be able to see this yearning
you get through it. as a way of keeping her memory close. You hurt so
The pain is going to find you whether you let it much because she meant so much, and you were
or not. When you give yourself over to it, though, so lucky to have had each other. You carry a lot of
you take the intensity upfront, and get started ear- her with you, and just because you are no longer
ly on the body’s process of adjusting. adding new memories of her to your collection,
I’ve said often that intense emotions are hard that doesn’t mean you won’t rediscover some of
to sustain; we naturally adapt to them and to the the old ones or see her in new ways as you move
changes that brought them. So, you won’t love or through your life.
miss your mother any less, you’ll just be able to

‘Team Haaland’ making impression
on Vero arts scene

38 Vero Beach 32963 / August 19, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

ARTS & THEATRE

‘Team Haaland’ making impression on Vero arts scene

BY PAM HARBAUGH Sherry Haaland.
Correspondent
Chuck Haaland.
When they’re young and
PHOTOS BY KAILA JONES starting out in life, some indi-
viduals will put their artistic
talents on the back burner,
choosing instead to follow
more conventional courses
in order to pay the bills. But for

award-winning artists Chuck
and Sherry Haaland, follow-
ing the paths of their creative

abilities was a smart deci-
sion that brought in money
as it expanded their worlds.

A digital photographer,
Chuck Haaland is the latest
addition to the Artists Guild
Gallery on 14th Avenue in
Downtown Vero Beach, where
Sherry, a pastel artist, has been a
member for a few years.
Photography became a sec-
ond artistic career for Chuck,

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / August 19, 2021 39

ARTS & THEATRE

hosted “Saturday Night Live” in 1992. a darkroom I made under the cellar Best” juried art exhibition in 2012 in
You can see her opening monologue stairs. They came out good.” her category, and has won a First Place
on YouTube; Chuck is the young man in award for pastel/graphics in the Vero
the center, wearing a red flannel shirt. Today, Chuck experiments with Beach Art Club’s 2013 and 2016 Art by
printing, primarily printing his vivid, the Sea shows, held annually at the
There’s also the vivid memory of color-saturated images on a special alu- Vero Beach Museum of Art. She is now
Close inviting the couple to the pre- minum medium, but canvas and fine co-chair for that event.
miere of the 1996 movie “101 Dalma- art paper have also caught his eye.
tians.” Close even loaned Sherry a Geof- Visitors to the gallery are drawn to
frey Beene outfit. His photography has won him their art, says Fran San Miguel, treasur-
awards, including First Place in the er of the Artists Guild Gallery.
“It was a party to die for,” Chuck says. manipulated imagery category at
“We were plopped down in the midst of the 2019 A.E. Backus Museum & Gal- “Sherry does a lot of commissioned
all this glamor.” lery “Through the Eye of the Cam- work of people’s pets,” she says. “Chuck
era,” the gallery’s annual juried pho- does wonderful photography. He ma-
While Chuck was expanding his ca- to exhibition. nipulates it, plays with the colors, ex-
reer as a craftsman, Sherry, who had al- perimental about the way he has it
ways wanted to be an artist, was man- Not to be outdone, Sherry won printed. It’s quite striking.” 
aging a sign shop. Third Place at the Backus’ “Best of the

whose initial vocation was building “My mom used to send us in the sum-
furniture. mer to a lady down the road who did
classes,” Sherry says. “There was one
His introduction into carpentry be- painting I did of forsythia. My mother
gan in the 1980s, assisting his father in liked it and had it on her secretary for-
building houses in Connecticut. At his ever and ever. I was so proud of that.”
father’s urging, Chuck experimented in
woodworking, and soon began making At the sign shop, Sherry hand-let-
wooden decoys with an antique look to tered custom signs and would some-
them, as well as furniture items such as times find opportunities to embellish
coffee tables, chairs and desks. the signs with a bit of art.

In his early entrée into commis- “For me, it was like I needed to pro-
sioned work, a storeowner asked him to duce something I knew could make
make a large table for $300, which at the money,” she says. “When I moved down
time Chuck thought was a pretty nice here, I told myself I wasn’t going to get a
price. He quickly wised up. full-time job. I was going to do my art.
Luckily, that’s what happened.”
“I used to just drop them off at the
store,” he recalls. “One day, the sales- The two have a natural, easy-going
girl showed me the invoice. It was like relationship marked by some affec-
$2,500 for this table that he was giving tionate teasing when recalling how
me $300 for. So I tripled my price.” they began dating.

Haaland says that day changed They grew up in Mahopac, N.Y., and
him. He began making coffee tables went to the same small high school,
and offering them for $1,000. They where they were not a couple but did
sold like hotcakes. “I was making know each other casually. In fact, Chuck
them as fast as I could make them.” was dating Sherry’s best friend.

He sold his creations in high-end Chuck says he was “more quiet and
boutiques in Greenwich, Conn., reserved” in high school, whereas Sher-
and it was there that one of his cof- ry was a baton twirler for the school’s
fee tables attracted acclaimed ac- football team.
tress Glenn Close, who was renovat-
ing a home in nearby Bedford Hills, During their college years, they re-
N.Y. She asked to meet the artisan turned home for a visit and, at a party,
who made it, and she soon became rekindled their friendship.
his No. 1 customer.
“I was with my girlfriend who used to
“She had just done ‘Fatal Attrac- date him, and she was like ‘No, I don’t
tion,’” Chuck says. “She was build- want to be with Chuck,’” Sherry says.
ing a farmhouse and I said, ‘Meet “When she said that, it was like, open.”
my dad.’ He got the job. That was a
three-year re-do of the house. It was They married in 1979.
an incredible journey. I ended up The couple moved to Vero Beach
making everything in her house. The in 2006, and while Chuck worked as
whole house was almost built around a carpenter for the Windsor Club,
my little coffee table.” Sherry, who received a B.S. in art edu-
Chuck would eventually build nu- cation from State University of New
merous other furniture pieces for her York at New Paltz, taught art at schools
homes, and soon after she asked him throughout Vero.
to manage her properties when she was It wasn’t until he retired that Chuck
away. It evolved into a relationship that became fully engaged in photography,
lasted 25 years. In a letter, she called although his interest in it actually be-
him “one of the most gifted craftsmen gan when he was about 7 years old. At
that I have ever met.” the time, his father was remodeling the
Their affiliation was so warm and country home of famed photographer
convivial, in fact, that Close invited Carmine Schiavone.
Chuck to be one of the 15 townspeople “(Schiavone) was big back then,”
sharing the stage with her when she Chuck says. “He gave me a bunch of
stuff – a big enlarger for black and
whites, an old camera, a tripod. I
learned how to develop pictures in

40 Vero Beach 32963 / August 19, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

ARTS & THEATRE

COMING UP! All aboard for fun at Saturday’s Paddle Dash

BY PAM HARBAUGH
Correspondent

1 The big fun thing this weekend
has got to be the annual Paddle

Dash, hosted by Paddles by the Sea

and benefiting the Keep Indian Riv-

er Beautiful organization. The event

includes paddleboard and kayak

races with beginner, intermediate

and advanced race courses. While

the event is going to be fun as can be

for participants, it’s also a great way

for spectators to spend some time

at the water’s edge, says Paddles by

the Sea owner Chris Woodruff. The

race, which starts 8 p.m. Saturday

at Alex MacWilliam Park in Vero

Beach, has four different events.

The long-distance group, designed

for advanced paddle boarders, takes

participants on a route about 8 miles

long. “It’s pretty far for a paddle,”

says Woodruff, a surfer who started

paddle boarding in 2012. The next

event takes paddle boarders on a

3-mile round trip from the Barber

Bridge to the 17th Street Bridge and

back. The shortest event is about 1.2

miles and takes participants from

the marina to Memorial Island and

back. There’s also a relay race with

three paddlers going a short course.

That’s the best one for spectators Paddles by the Sea. Rentals start at need in the relatively chilly waters states: “… give your creative spirit free
$25. All proceeds from both the event off San Diego. Almost immediately, rein!” Artists must be either members
to watch and cheer on the athletes. entries and rentals will go directly to Woodruff packed up his life in San of the Cultural Council or members
Keep Indian River Beautiful. Wood- Diego and came here. He opened of a gallery or art club that belongs to
As a bonus, you can also sign up for ruff, who is a board member for the Paddles by the Sea in 2014 and has the Cultural Council. To enter, submit
charity, says paddle boarding is a been expanding ever since. His up to five images of your works no lat-
the Sprint Race, which is perfect for great way to understand the beauty business rents out equipment, holds er than Sept. 29. If selected, your work
of the waters here. Woodruff himself classes, conducts snorkeling tours, needs to be delivered by Oct. 13. The
a friendly competition, Woodruff is a big believer in the special gifts offers jet ski guided tours, fishing exhibition will run Oct. 27 to Nov. 28
the area has. Raised in San Diego, he charters and more. The Paddle Dash at the Vero Beach Museum of Art Pat-
says. “That way, if you have a friend came to Florida to visit relatives and begins 8 a.m. Saturday at the marina ten Community Gallery and Museum
was stunned that water sports could by Paddles by the Sea, 3321 Bridge Art School. By the way, the Vero Beach
who says they’re faster, you can go be enjoyed year-round here, with- Plaza Dr., Vero Beach. Call 772-444- Museum of Art’s upcoming exhibi-
out a wet suit, which was a yearlong 7871 or visit PaddlesByTheSea.com. tion is “American Perspectives: Sto-
on the course and see who really is For more information about the ries from the American Folk Art Mu-
Paddle Dash, visit KeepIndianRiver- seum Collection,” which runs Oct. 2
faster.” The cost to participate in a Beautiful.org. to Jan. 2, 2022. For more information
on the call for art, call 772-770-4857,
Paddle Dash event is $25 to $45 for visit Cultural-Council.org or email
[email protected].
adults and $15 to $25 for youths. The

fee for the Sprint Race is $10. If you

don’t have your own paddleboard,

you can rent one, or a kayak, from

2 Artists, get ready to participate
in something exciting this fall.

As part of the public arts program and

to celebrate the Vero Beach Museum 3 Enjoy an organ recital when
Ryan Kasten, the resident or-
of Art’s upcoming folk art exhibition,

the Cultural Council of Indian River ganist and director of music at St.

County will present a concurrent ex- John of the Cross, performs 4 p.m. to

hibition of folk art by local artists. To 5:30 p.m. this Sunday, Aug. 22. The

that end, the Cultural Council has is- concert is part of the church’s Fine

sued a call to artists for the following: Arts Series. Joining Kasten as guest

2D and 3D works in the style of folk organist will be Father Brian Camp-

art. That may include (but is not lim- bell, the church’s new pastor. St. John

ited to) painting, photography, tex- of the Cross Catholic Church is at

tiles, needlework, woodcarvings, bas- 7550 26th St., Vero Beach. Call 772-

kets, clay art and jewelry. As their call 563-0057 or visit StJohnsVero.org. 

MANY YOUNG ATHLETES STRUGGLE
WITH MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES

42 Vero Beach 32963 / August 19, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

HEALTH

Many young athletes struggle with mental health issues

BY KERRY FIRTH Anne Posey. PHOTOS: KAILA JONES sports but in their public lives.
Correspondent These Olympic games were espe-
cially difficult because athletes’
When Olympic star Simone Biles families weren’t allowed to attend,
withdrew from competition due to the athletes had very limited move-
mental health issues, it shocked the ment outside of their bubble, and
world. But the spectacularly talent- they were constantly being tested
ed U.S. gymnast is far from being the for COVID.
only athlete who has struggled or is
struggling with mental or emotional “The fact that they could be test-
problems. And these problems are ed and be COVID-positive weighed
not limited to elite athletes. Kids heavily on these athletes,” Posey
participating in high school and said. “Everything they worked their
college sports and younger children whole lives for could be over. It actu-
competing in sports like gymnastics ally did happen to a few of them.
can face similar issues.
“Then you have the added pres-
“It’s more common than you sure of social media where fans
might think,” said Anne Posey, di- freely voice how they feel about your
rector of the Behavioral Health Cen- performance. Everyone thought
ter at Cleveland Clinic Indian River Simone Biles would come in and
Hospital. “The most important dominate like it was a walk in the
thing to remember about athletes park. There is a huge amount of
is that they are people, too. A lot of pressure to power through. If they
athletes are coming forward about have trouble coping, they are con-
pre-existing mental health issues sidered to not have the heart of the
and how they’ve struggled over the champion. Yet if they compete with
years with anxiety and depression.” a mental or physical injury, they can
end up ending their career or worse
While Posey has never met or their lives.”
treated Biles, her own daughter
Such was the case with Elena
$79 COSMETIC DENTISTRY competed in gymnastics, so she Mukhina, a Russian gymnast who
GENERAL DENTISTRY is familiar with the sport and the broke her neck doing a skill so dan-
NEW PATIENT SPECIAL dangers that can come with it. “A gerous it is now banned. She actu-
gymnast has to make their brain ally told her coach she was going to
COMPREHENSIVE EXAM DENTAL IMPLANTS and body connect. Sometimes when break her neck doing that stunt, but
FULL SET XRAYS GUM SURGERY they are under a great amount of her coach responded that people
WALK-INS WELCOME stress with different things going on like her did not break their necks.
TREATMENT PLAN FINANCING AVAILABLE in their lives, their brain can kind of
CLEANING* DENTAL LAB ON PREMISES shut off and they lose where they are The 20-year-old felt she couldn’t
in the air,” she said. “When they are refuse. She knew what the public ex-
*Not in combination with any other offer. Offer trying to twist in the air you have to pected of her as the star of the up-
good for new patients only and cleaning in absence have a good body awareness. Years coming 1980 Olympic Games. Less
of periodontal disease. Xrays are non transferable. ago, it was called balking, today it’s than a month before the Moscow
called twisties. Kids are not able to Games, Mukhina underrotated the
(D0150) (D1110) (D0210) (D0330) perform stunts they had done every maneuver and landed on her chin.
day. It’s a mental block.” She was permanently paralyzed and
died in 2006 at the age of 46 from
There’s a lot of pressure on these complications of quadriplegia.
athletes to perform, not only in
The history of women’s gymnas-
tics is filled with stories of athletes

HARBOR PRIMARY CARE

THET L. TUN M.D.

Board Certified Internal Medicine

Locally Owned for 25 Years • Accepts Medicare

Call 772-562-5051 • Dr. Tun is an active member of
the medical staff at Cleveland Clinic
CromerAndCairnsDental.com
Indian River Hospital since 2011

The patient and any other person responsible for payment has a right to refuse to pay, cancel payment, or be reimbursed for 1300 36TH ST, STE 1G • VERO BEACH, FL 32960
payment for any other services, examination, or treatment that is preformed as a result of and within 72 hours of responding
to the advertisement for the free, discounted fee, or reduced fee service, examination, or treatment. Medical Arts Center West of Hospital Emergency Department

1225 US HWY 1, VERO BEACH, FL 32960 JULIE A. CROMER, DDS PLEASE CALL 772-562-3960 FOR APPOINTMENT

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / August 19, 2021 43

HEALTH

who sustained life-altering or life- in their sport. Parents, teachers and health and substance abuse issues. It land Clinic Emergency Room will see
ending injuries after being pres- coaches should watch for warning teaches you how to talk to someone mental health walk-in patients 24/7,
sured to attempt skills they knew signs like seeing their athlete anx- you think may need help. Knowing but not all are hospitalized. After an
they couldn’t do safely. ious or depressed, or having trouble what to say could save a life.” evaluation they may be referred to
eating, sleeping or concentrating. other mental health facilities with less
Happily, Simone Biles had the And they should make the effort to “Generally, an athlete is able to restrictive rules. The Behavior Health
courage to say ‘no more’ when she talk to them about what is going on. work through the mental break with Center will soon be starting a new out-
lost her bearing in the middle of a time and support,” Posey concluded. patient program for adolescents as a
vault and barely landed on her feet. “When someone has a heart attack “In Simone’s case, she needed to way to keep them out of the hospital.
She knew it was too dangerous. or stroke, we know what to do,” Posey go back to the basics. Fortunately, Behavioral Health Center profession-
added. “But when we see someone mental health treatment is becom- als also engage in community out-
“There’s a lot of stigma around having a mental health challenge, ing more accepted, and people now reach programs to create awareness
athletes that they are supposed to we’re very uncomfortable, so we realize that the safety of the athlete about mental health problems and
push through at all costs,” Posey ex- don’t know how to talk to that person should be paramount whether the treatment options. The Behavioral
plained. “If a gymnast has the twist- or help them. Mental Health First Aid injury is physical or emotional.” Health Center is located at 1190 37th
ies, they can turn to mental health (www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org) is a St., Vero Beach. The phone number is
counseling so they can compete bet- skill-based web training course that The Behavioral Health Center is an 772-563-4666. 
ter. Competition has been the focus teaches participants about mental inpatient psychiatric hospital and a
instead of the pressure and issues Baker-acted receiving facility. Cleve-
they are coping with that may be the
real cause and need to be evaluated
and treated.”

These mental lapses happen in
all sports, not just gymnastics. High
school athletes often struggle with
identity and their entire self-image
is tied to their sport. Excelling in a
sport might be their ticket to college
or means to support a family. There
is a lot of pressure competing at a in
their sport while going to school and
oftentimes working, too.

“Being an athlete is a full-time
job,” Posey said. “They go to school
full time. They have to maintain
a certain grade point average and
they may train six days a week for
four hours a day. That’s not counting
the competitions in and out of state.
People don’t understand the level of
pressure on these kids.

“Add to that the disappointment
of a high school athlete not getting a
college scholarship, and that athlete
may have trouble adjusting. After
all, for years they’ve been devoting
themselves to perfecting their sport
and now that opportunity is gone.”

One in five adults in the United
States live with mental illness in
normal times, and according to the
CDC the number has increased to
two in five since the onset of the
pandemic.

“Thirty-three percent of college
students experience depression and
anxiety, and of that group 30 percent
will seek help,” Posey continued.
“Yet only 10 percent of the college
athletes will get help. Athletes are
human. They are not superheroes.
They have their own lives, their own
struggles and their own challenges.
Yet many perceive mental health
problems as a weakness.”

Athletes, their families and their
coaches need to recognize that
anyone can have mental health is-
sues. They need to help the athlete
maintain a healthy balance and en-
gage in activities away from their
sport. They also need to help the
athlete understand that their iden-
tity is more than how they compete

44 Vero Beach 32963 / August 19, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

HEALTH

Easing pain of chafed skin after exercising in sticky heat

BY PAM MOORE hikers, surfers, cyclists and swimmers. known as intertrigo or irritant contact it’s completely rubbed off.
The Washington Post But you don’t have to be a fitness buff dermatitis, to a dry riverbed. “When Applying pre-activity petroleum
to experience chafing: Simply going water evaporates out of that area, the
The warmer weather and longer about daily activities in warm weath- mud or dirt will crack.” When your skin jelly to susceptible areas is one of the
days of summer – as well as continuing er is enough to create issues for some cracks after too much continuous ex- best forms of prevention. But if you’re
concerns about visiting indoor work- people. posure to sweat, water, and/or friction, wondering how to deal with angry skin
out facilities – mean more outdoor ex- it becomes red, itchy, and painful, and that’s already chafed, here’s what you
ercise, more sweat and more potential “Summer is a big setup for chafing,” in extreme cases, bloody. As Min Deng, need to know.
for skin chafing. Generally caused by says Harry Dao, dermatologist and a dermatologist at MedStar Health in
a combination of excess moisture and chair of the dermatology department Chevy Chase explains, the top layer of To prevent infection, Dao recom-
friction, chafing can affect runners, at Loma Linda University. He com- skin can “exfoliate” to the point where mends gently washing the chafed area
pares skin affected by chafing, also with lukewarm water and a “very mild”
cleanser such as Albolene, a facial wash

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / August 19, 2021 45

HEALTH

designed for eye makeup removal. “I Also, be mindful of your materi-
tell my patients if it’s safe for your eye- als. While cotton allows your skin to
lids, it’s probably safe anywhere else,” breathe, it doesn’t offer the sun protec-
says Deng. He emphasizes the impor- tion that UPF clothing does. Kheterpal
tance of avoiding scrubbing and mak- suggests wearing cotton when you’re
ing sure the wash is completely rinsed inside and UV-blocking blends when
off to prevent further irritation and a you go outside.
potential rash.
If your chafed skin is exposed to the
Once the area is clean, pat it dry sun, it’s best to apply sunblock before
(never rub) and apply an emollient an emollient. Dao suggests zinc or ti-
right away to lock in moisture, soothe tanium-based products, as they’re less
and promote healing. According to likely to aggravate chafed, tender skin.
Dao, “plain old greasy petroleum jelly”
is perfect. Deng says a zinc oxide-based Whatever exercise you do, apply a
cream like Desitin (the diaper cream) layer of petroleum jelly before your
is an effective alternative: “It’s so thick workout. Then, Dao encourages people
and it creates a really good barrier.” to “start slow and work your way up.” If
a 30-minute moderate session is toler-
If you have issues with sweat, Dao able, try a longer, more intense session
suggests adding a layer of powder on next time and increase gradually from
top of the emollient. “Powders soak there based on how you feel.
up excess sweat that appears over the
course of the day.” Nonprescription an- Is it safe to swim while you’re chafed?
tifungal products such as Ziazorb and That depends. If you got chafed while
Dr. Scholl’s work well, he says. “Fungus swimming, you’d definitely want
likes to grow when it’s sweaty, hot and to wear a swimsuit or wetsuit that
moist. And so those powders are de- doesn’t put pressure on the areas that
signed to pick up excess moisture.” If are already raw. Otherwise, Dao asks
possible, Dao suggests changing out of his patients how long they’d wait be-
sweat-soaked clothes into dry ones if fore jumping in a lake or pool with a
you exercise during your lunch break. scraped knee. “Ninety-five percent of
my patients tell me, ‘I’d jump in the
If you use adhesive bandages to pool right away.’ And so that’s probably
avoid getting petroleum jelly on your the answer for most folks.”
clothes, do so sparingly, says Shilpi
Kheterpal, Cleveland Clinic dermatol- According to Kheterpal, water (par-
ogist. She suggests wearing a bandage ticularly chlorinated pools) can be ir-
only as long as necessary and make it ritating, But, she says, it’s fine to go in
as tight as possible to avoid trapping the water as long as you apply a zinc-
additional moisture that could create based waterproof barrier cream before
“an even worse environment.” Another you go in, and rinse and pat the affect-
reason to avoid adhesive bandages is ed areas dry and reapply an emollient
that the adhesive can cause an allergic as soon as you get out.
reaction, Dao says.
Deng says pools are generally safer
Stay away from topical antibiotics than lakes and oceans, where you’re
such as Neosporin, the experts say. more likely to come into contact with
As Kheterpal puts it, simply hearing bacteria and parasites. “There’s po-
the word “makes every dermatologist tential for infection, so I’m always very
cringe.” She adds that 8 to 10 percent cautious about recommending going
of the population is allergic, includ- into an open body of water.”
ing people who have used it previously
without incident. Kheterpal also sug- Most cases of chafed skin resolve
gests avoiding Aquaphor, which con- within a week or two with the conser-
tains lanolin, another potential aller- vative treatment described above, says
gen. If you have an infection, she says, Dao. If your chafing isn’t responding
your doctor will prescribe topical or or it’s getting worse, see a doctor. Signs
oral antibiotics as needed. of infection include skin that’s grow-
ing warmer, redder, more swollen and
Other products to avoid include gels, painful, or oozing and crusting.
lotions and creams. According to Dao,
these products have a relatively high Dao acknowledges it can be “embar-
alcohol content, which makes them rassing and scary” to ask your derma-
sting. tologist or primary care physician to
examine your skin, particularly the
For pain, most people respond well areas you’d prefer to keep private. But
to emollients and protecting the chafed other diagnoses, including inverse
area from touching or rubbing against psoriasis, an erythrasma infection,
clothing. For more TLC, Kheterpal sug- and extramammary Padgett’s disease,
gests icing the area (with some gauze a rare form of cancer, can be mistaken
between the ice and your skin) or tak- for chafing. If untreated, the problem
ing ibuprofen. will linger at best, and threaten your
life at worst.
Choose looser clothing while your
skin is healing, says Kheterpal. Tight But most of the time, some petro-
clothing can cause the friction and leum jelly and a break from the con-
rubbing that caused the chafing in ditions that caused your chafing are
the first place. all you need. As Dao suggests, “keep
things pretty simple.” 

46 Vero Beach 32963 / August 19, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

HEALTH

Seniors, be extra cautious about over-the-counter drugs

BY HALLIE LEVINE
The Washington Post

You might not think twice about
reaching for an over-the-counter
pain reliever for a headache, or an
OTC antihistamine when seasonal
allergies flare up. But experts say you
should.

“Many seniors consider these over-
the-counter medications harmless,
but they’re drugs, and the older you
get, the more susceptible you are to
their side effects,” says Jeffrey Kull-
gren, an associate professor of in-
ternal medicine at the University of
Michigan’s Institute for Healthcare
Policy and Innovation in Ann Arbor.

So, while it’s important for every-
one to follow instructions for OTCs,
it’s essential for older adults, he
adds. And go over all your meds –
prescription, supplements and OTC
– with your primary care doctor
or pharmacist at least once a year.
This can help you ensure that you’re
taking the right meds at the proper
doses, says David Hochman, an in-
ternal medicine physician at Keck

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / August 19, 2021 47

HEALTH

Medicine of USC in Los Angeles. Be cautious with products that Be cautious with stimulant laxa- blocker such as famotidine (Pepcid
This is key for older adults, who contain the decongestants phenyl- tives such as bisacodyl (Correctol, AC and generic) is fine for occasional
ephrine or pseudoephedrine, such Dulcolax and generic) and senna (Ex- heartburn, Linnebur says.
are more likely to use multiple meds. as certain OTC multisymptom cold Lax, Senokot, and generic), which can
About half of those between ages 50 and cough remedies. These ingredi- cause diarrhea and fluid loss if taken Be cautious with proton pump in-
and 80 report regular use of at least ents are sometimes not advised for too often, Linnebur says. Stool soft- hibitors, such as omeprazole (Prilo-
two OTC drugs, a University of Mich- older adults because they can drive eners, such as docusate (Colace and sec OTC and generic) and omeprazole
igan National Poll on Healthy Ag- up blood pressure, affect sleep and generic), may work no better than pla- and sodium bicarbonate (Zegerid
ing published in 2020 found. Among cause urination problems, Linnebur cebos. For diarrhea, it’s best to avoid OTC and generic), without checking
those who used five or more pre- says. products with bismuth subsalicylate with your doctor. They can lead to low
scription drugs, 32 percent took an (Pepto-Bismol and generic). Salicy- magnesium and vitamin B12 and hike
additional five or more OTC meds. Another ingredient to avoid is the lates are similar to aspirin, which can the risk of bone fractures, pneumo-
antihistamine diphenhydramine, be a problem for older people, Linne- nia and serious Clostridioides diffi-
It’s also important to know that which is often found in OTC night- bur says. cile infection if used for long periods.
some OTCs are more appropriate time cold and cough medicines and “Many older adults start taking them
for older adults than others, says has been linked to dizziness, sleepi- To get help for heartburn: Consider and never go off them, when in reality
Nina Blachman, assistant professor ness and cognitive impairment in using an OTC antacid with calcium they should only be on them for a few
of medicine and geriatrics at NYU seniors, Blachman says. Certain OTC carbonate, such as Tums, or an H2 weeks,” Linnebur says. 
Grossman School of Medicine in cough and cold products also con-
New York. OTC drugs you tolerated tain acetaminophen, so if you’re al-
well in the past, such as nonsteroi- ready taking acetaminophen on its
dal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs) own, “you run the risk of an acciden-
like ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB) and tal overdose,” Blachman says.
naproxen (Aleve and others), could
become problematic. You might not To reduce allergy symptoms:
need medication for a problem such Consider using an OTC steroid nasal
as a cough or mild heartburn, but if spray such as fluticasone (Flonase
you choose to take meds, this guide and generic), triamcinolone (Nasa-
can help you pick the safest options. cort AQ and generic) or budesonide
(Rhinocort Aqua). These are the
To ease pain or fever: For most frontline treatments for allergies and
people, acetaminophen (Tylenol and are considered safe for seniors, Worz
generic) is best for pain and fever. says. A simple saline spray can also
“I tell my patients that if they were help flush allergens and mucus from
stranded on a desert island, the one your nose.
medication they’d want to have with
them is acetaminophen,” Hochman Be cautious with the OTC antihis-
says. For arthritis pain, another op- tamines chlorpheniramine (Chlor-
tion is the over-the-counter NSAID Trimeton and generic) and clemas-
gel diclofenac (Voltaren). tine (Tavist and generic), unless your
doctor advises it. These often cause
Be cautious with Ibuprofen, sedation, especially in older adults,
naproxen, and other oral NSAIDs, Worz says. Avoid diphenhydramine
which can cause side effects such (Benadryl and generic). It’s an anti-
as gastro­intestinal bleeding with cholinergic, a type of drug that has
chronic use, Hochman says. Aspirin been linked to a higher risk of de-
is generally not recommended as a mentia in older people.
pain or fever reducer for older adults.
(It’s wise to keep a small bottle on To stop constipation or diarrhea:
hand, in the event of symptoms that You can help ward off constipation
may signal a heart attack, or to take a by consuming about 20 to 25 grams
daily baby aspirin if your doctor ad- of fiber per day, Blachman says. An-
vises it to protect your heart.) other option is an OTC fiber supple-
ment such as psyllium (Metamucil),
And skip oral pain relievers be- which gets your GI tract moving. But
fore the coronavirus vaccine if your these can take several days to work.
intention is to prevent side effects. The OTC laxative polyethylene gly-
“There’s some concern that it may col (MiraLax and generic) may offer
decrease the immune response a faster fix for constipation. “Make
your body will have after it gets the sure you consult with a physician if
vaccine,” says Chad Worz, chief ex- daily or regular use of any laxative is
ecutive of the American Society of required,” Blachman says.
Consultant Pharmacists. Taking an-
tihistamines before getting the vac- To ease diarrhea and possibly pre-
cine to prevent allergic reactions af- vent the dehydration it can cause,
terward is also not recommended. you can try loperamide (Imodium
and generic) as long as your tempera-
To quiet a nagging cough: Consid- ture is below 100.4 degrees and your
er using: Guaifenesin, which is found stools aren’t bloody, Worz says. (And
in OTC products such as Mucinex. drink extra fluids that contain water,
It thins mucus in your lungs so that salt and sugar, such as Pedialyte, to
you can bring it up more easily, says replace what your body has lost.) Call
Sunny Linnebur, a clinical pharmacy your doctor if diarrhea is persistent,
specialist at the University of Colora- you have blood in your stool, your
do Hospital Seniors Clinic in Aurora urine is dark yellow, you’re urinating
and past president of the American only a few times a day or you develop
Geriatrics Society. Drinking plenty a fever.
of fluids also helps.

48 Vero Beach 32963 / August 19, 2021 Style Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

Greta Thunberg on Vogue cover: Hypocrite or eco-winner?

BY CAROLINE LEAPER ing themselves as ‘sustainable,’ ‘ethical,’
The Telegraph ‘green,’ ‘climate neutral’ or ‘fair.’ But let’s
be clear: This is almost never anything
The 18-year-old climate crisis activist but pure greenwash.”
Greta Thunberg has posed for the in-
augural issue of Vogue Scandinavia, in Thunberg’s points are all, entirely,
an editorial that the magazine states is correct. Greenwashing is rife in the
designed “to explore the idea of living in fashion industry – it’s the term used to
harmony with nature.” describe misleading marketing spin
convincing customers that a product is
Thunberg sits in woodland and in some way eco-friendly.
strokes a horse in what is undoubt-
edly a stunning cover image, chiming Yet I wonder whether Vogue Scandi-
with Vogue’s mission to celebrate new navia was the right place to air that opin-
beginnings across its 27 international ion? In releasing this statement about
September issues. her Vogue participation, Thunberg is ei-
ther a total hypocrite who fails to see the
Writing on Twitter, Thunberg, who irony of her actions, or a quietly savvy
was nominated for the Nobel Peace eco-winner out to prove a bigger point.
Prize three years in a row, explained
that her motivation to do the shoot Vogue is the ultimate global brand
was the chance to highlight how the name in fashion trendsetting, yet the
fashion industry is one of the most new Scandinavian outlet has deliv-
polluting in the world. ered a tremendous effort of bonus
reading material around their own
“The fashion industry is a huge con- sustainability principles.
tributor to the climate and ecological
emergency,” Thunberg said. “Many Its aim, it says, is to be “the most
make it look as if the fashion industry is sustainable media organization in
starting to take responsibility, spending existence” and it already can claim
fantasy amounts on campaigns portray- to be carbon neutral after offsetting
all of its emissions to date via a com-
pensation partner (presumably do-

nating to a tree planting service). office for more information, asking
It’s a noble effort, yet it becomes diffi- who made the clothes, and all that was
shared was that “a Swedish and a Dan-
cult to tally with some of the other con- ish designer” were involved.
tent in the debut issue.
This was, in my opinion, a missed
Thunberg has been styled in custom opportunity to educate and showcase
made clothing – a trench coat made to the Vogue audience what sustain-
from several discarded coats and a car- able clothing really is, how much it
digan produced using certified natural might cost, and how you can get some
and deadstock materials. for yourself, at home.

I contacted Vogue Scandinavia’s press

DR. KEITH KALISH

OVER 30 YEARS EXPERIENCE

Bunions • Hammertoes
Corns • Ingrown • Fungal

Warts • Calluses • Heel
Arthritis & Diabetic
Custom Orthotics
& Diabetic Shoes

Same Day
Appointments

DUAL BOARD CERTIFIED MEDICAL
& SURGICAL FOOT

SPECIALIST PODIATRIST

772-567-0111 I KALISHFOOTCARE.COM

VERO BEACH I 1285 36TH ST I SUITE 203

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Style Vero Beach 32963 / August 19, 2021 49

with its inaugural issue, who will editor around in circles in order to prompt
Martina Bonnier choose to star on the any true change in the fashion indus-
cover of its second issue, and how will try. Thunberg must continue pushing
she ensure that all future issues are at herself into all areas of the media spot-
least as clean as Greta’s? light, the press must continue dissect-
ing and questioning every element of
It’s an argument that has to keep what she does. 
happening and that will keep going

A few pages later (or clicks if you’re though: For every act of eco-good that
going green and reading the paperless occurs in fashion, you could roll out a
online version) and you come to other counter argument that denies it.
features in the inaugural issue. The most
jarring, perhaps, is a ‘Roaring Twenties’ Plenty of brands are attempting to
photoshoot promoting the idea of over- take steps toward change – some ex-
the -op dressing, of piling on the crys- clusively use organic materials, oth-
tals, feathers and tulle in an 80,000 euro ers offset emissions, others upcycle old
Dior dress and diamanté Chanel ear- clothes. But few currently manage to tick
rings. “Isn’t it about time we had some every box as it becomes too costly, or too
fun?” the copy asks. niche, for the average consumer to buy.

Could Vogue be accused of deliv- Being eco-friendly isn’t currently a
ering exactly the kind of tokenistic, cut-and-dry, are you in or out, matter –
greenwashy mixed-messaging that its there are efforts being made in the mid-
cover star so despises? Or was Thun- dle, and a long way to go.
berg’s idea, all along, to preach to
what she knew might be the hardest Thunberg, in the accompanying
audience to convert? Vogue interview, explains that she hasn’t
bought anything for three years and in-
I’m picking on Vogue Scandinavia stead borrows clothes from friends. Even
here. Mariann Jacobsson, the maga- that, you might say, was a flawed idea.
zine’s head of sustainability, acknowl-
edges in the launch press release that Where did your mates get their
it’s “very hard for any organization to clothes from? If anything, her com-
be fully sustainable,” and it’s good to ments have only further highlighted the
see any fashion magazine making any fashion industry’s incredibly complex
effort to be greener. and tangled web of problems.

The whole episode proves a point It will be interesting to see where
Vogue Scandinavia goes from here. Af-
ter making such a bold eco statement

50 Vero Beach 32963 / August 19, 2021 Style Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

How gingham became the hit print of summer 2021

BY ELLA ALEXANDER April, after being seduced by a green cheerful and summer-ready in the face response we have had to our debut
The Telegraph gingham dress with puff sleeves by No- of tumultuous weather and a seemingly collection, and it’s been such a plea-
body’s Child. It felt feminine and opti- endless wait to be double jabbed. sure to see so many different women
Uplifting, flattering and versatile, ging- mistic, but also modern when teamed wear the clothes,” says Albaray’s chief
ham is the old friend to welcome back to with a pair of Ganni hiking boots. It is also very easy to wear. “The beau- creative officer Karen Peacock. “The
your wardrobe this summer. ty of gingham is that depending on the gingham just seemed to hit a sweet
I have worn it to picnics and BBQs, color and styling, it can be perfect for a spot and appealed to women of differ-
For as long as anyone can remember, birthday dinners and drinks and also to variety of different occasions,” says No- ing ages and body shapes. The puff-
florals have been the dominant sum- family reunions where I was told I looked body’s Child head designer Anna Pip- sleeve midi dress is cut with a low
mer print. Sure, we had 2020’s tie-dye like a tea towel. It became my post-lock- korn, adding that the brand’s gingham back but still covers the bra and it also
moment, a DIY look born of lockdown down sartorial go-to, making me feel must-haves were born out of the idea has pockets, features that have been
boredom, and who could forget Zara’s of simple pleasures, whether picnics or well-received.”
scene-stealing polka dot dress of 2019, baking and gardening.
but really the print winner of the sun- Although gingham does have a
shine season has always been pretty, in- I’m not the only one to see the appeal bombshell edge (see Brigitte Bardot
offensive florals. in gingham this summer. The first pro- at her wedding to Jacques Charrier),
motional shot of the feverishly discussed its latest incarnation has more whole-
Most recently, there has been a focus “Sex and the City” reboot, “And Just Like some roots, going beyond our ward-
on frumpy florals, a shamelessly elitist That,” sees 56-year-old Sarah Jessica robes to our homes. Cottagecore – an
look that mostly only suited exception- Parker as Carrie Bradshaw in a black and interiors trend characterized by its
ally tall and genetically gifted models white gingham skirt by Norma Karmali, homely, cozy aesthetic – has boomed
and made the rest look like a curtain ad- signaling that this is a print that is no over the last 18 months.
vert from the Eighties. longer reserved for the under-fives.
As the world outside became increas-
We were long overdue a summer print Kitri’s Margot gingham dress, first ingly unpredictable and chaotic, we
that suits everyone and makes us feel as introduced as part of summer 2020 hunkered down inside, creating living
light and hopeful as a floral. Enter ging- collection, has become the undisput- spaces that felt comforting and warm –
ham, technically a fabric rather than ed dress of the season – a scoop-neck, gingham is a prime example. Scandina-
a print, which hits the rare, feel-good flattering midi style that can be worn vian homeware brand Att Pynta reports
sweet spot of nostalgia and freshness. on or off the shoulders. Such is its that its Wes gingham cushions sold out
popularity that the Margot has been within days of being restocked.
I abandoned my trusty floral midi in restocked twice already. “We always
look to capture a mood,” says Kitri “During the last tough year and this
founder Haeni Kim. uneasy feeling throughout the nation,
customers are gravitating towards com-
“The green gingham Margot dress fort and styles that feel familiar,” the
was originally from our summer 2020 brand’s co-founder, Kai Price, observes.
collection, and at the time of design- “They’re adding cozy textures, layering
ing it, we were all in lockdown. Our patterns and colors to create a ‘lived-in’
best hope was to be able to spend the homely look that perhaps reminds them
summer in our back gardens or the of their childhood home.”
nearest park, so we created a picnic in
a dress.” Author, fashion writer and gingham
fan Katherine Ormerod agrees that
Ganni’s seersucker black gingham cottagecore has influenced how we
styles have become bestsellers, while dress. “It has reclaimed many ‘house-
new British label Albaray has become wifey’ looks as well as tasks, baking
an Instagram favorite based on its four sourdough anyone? As we’ve all been
gingham pieces alone. The first delivery spending so much time at home, may-
of its oversized check dress sold out in a be we’ve all become a bit Stepford -
week, as did the green gingham shorts men included,” she says.
and short-sleeve top.
Gingham might be reassuringly fa-
“We’ve been overwhelmed with the miliar, but its summer 2021 look takes
a slightly differently form. Colors are
brighter, think acid green and orange,
and shapes are more relaxed. If you
want to take two steps back from the
cottagecore aesthetic, it’s just a case
of styling.

Ormerod advises teaming gingham
with utility footwear, while stylist Florrie
Thomas recommends “chunky grandad
sandals, which give it an edge and dials
down the kitsch factor.” She says bright
tones will prevent gingham from be-
coming too twee and suggests “choos-
ing a maxi style which gives more classic
hues a fresh twist.”

Uplifting, flattering and versatile,
gingham is the old friend to welcome
back to your wardrobe this summer. 