01/05/2023 ISSUE 01

Three Corners grand opening
may be 5 years off. P13
Capt. Hiram’s
River Challenge. P19

Strunk Funeral Home owners
seek to disqualify circuit judge. P8

For breaking news visit

MY VERO Ancient Chinese game of Mah Jongg gains fans here Breeze Airways
advances start
BY RAY MCNULTY of Vero service

Questions go unanswered By Ray McNulty
at Sheriff’s Department Staff Writer

If it wasn’t obvious before, Clockwise from top left: Karen Burkeu, Hollis Edwartds, Kathy Erickson and Monica Makcham. PHOTOS BY JOSHUA KODIS Breeze Airways won’t begin
then it should be now: Sheriff commercial passenger service
Eric Flowers sees one of his By Pieter VanBennekom ancient Chinese game of in and out of Vero Beach Re-
captains, Milo Thornton, as a Staff Writer Emeritus Mah Jongg – in its American gional Airport on Feb. 15 as it
serious threat to his already- version – is showing signs of initially announced.
shaky re-election bid. While it’s not likely to over- making a strong post-pan-
take duplicate bridge as this demic resurgence in Vero. Instead, flights will start
He won’t say so, publicly. area’s most popular table here on Feb. 2.
He doesn’t need to. game anytime soon, the One of the big Mah Jongg
The sheriff’s actions – along “We were able to launch a
with those of his command- CONTINUED ON PAGE 10 bit earlier,” Breeze spokesman
staff enablers – speak volumes Gareth Edmondson-Jones said
about his fear that Thornton, last week, “so we did.”
who currently oversees school
security throughout the coun- Early last week, in fact, the
ty, will challenge him in 2024. carrier’s website was offering
And, yes, those actions go Feb. 2 flights connecting Vero
far beyond Flowers’ pathetic Beach and Hartford, Conn., for
attempt early last year to dis- round-trip fares as low as $128.
credit Thornton with a bogus Round-trip flights between
in-house investigation into Vero Beach and Westchester
trumped-up allegations that
resulted in a politically driv- CONTINUED ON PAGE 5
en demotion.
But they’re just as troubling. Covid starts 2023
In a detailed, three-page with rise in cases,
complaint sent to Undersher- hospitalizations
iff Thomas Raulen on Sept.
16, Thornton claims to have By Lisa Zahner
Staff Writer
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

Surge in condo prices on island currently outpacing single-family homes

By Steven M. Thomas homes, according to brokers Indian River County ended
Staff Writer and online data. 2022 with a 26 percent uptick
in weekly new COVID-19 in-
The overall housing market All the stats haven’t been fections, and began 2023 with
has cooled considerably since compiled for December yet, a 120 percent increase in the
the peak of the pandemic but in November the median number of people hospital-
boom, but condo prices on the price of a condominium in ized for COVID illness.
island and mainland continue 32963 was up 34 percent com-
to show strong price apprecia- pared to a year earlier, from Cases reported to the Flori-
tion, outpacing single-family $540,000 to $725,000, while da Department of Health rose

CONTINUED ON PAGE 13 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

PHOTO BY JOSHUA KODIS

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2 Vero Beach 32963 / January 5, 2023 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Covid starts 2023 up here New York and New Jersey continue
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 to post large daily case numbers, and
South Carolina, Kentucky and the
from 98 during Christmas week to 124 District of Columbia showed steep in-
during the week of the New Year’s holi- creases over the Christmas holidays.
day.
The case numbers and testing figures
Seven people were newly hospital- tracked by the CDC do not include the
ized last week, and as of Monday, ac- millions of Americans who routinely
cording to Cleveland Clinic spokes- use at-home COVID-19 test kits – only
person Erin Miller, “Cleveland Clinic the results of tests performed at a medi-
Indian River Hospital has a total of 11 cal office, clinic or pharmacy that re-
COVID-positive patients in-house to- ports data to the health department.
day, two of which are in the ICU.”
Worldwide all eyes are on China,
That’s more than double the five peo- where the number of new COVID-19
ple who were hospitalized just before have mushroomed since “Zero COVID
Christmas Eve. According to the Cen- Policy” lockdowns and forced isola-
ters for Disease Control and Prevention, tion was lifted. Last week the United
2.3 percent of staffed hospital beds lo- States announced that travelers en-
cally are being used by COVID patients. tering the country from China would
need to show a negative COVID test.
Testing also increased by 17 percent
last week, and the county’s case positiv- The Washington Post on Saturday
ity rate was 16.81 percent, with 10 per- reported public health experts are pre-
cent being the threshold public health dicting from 600 million to 900 million
officials aim for counties to stay under. new COVID-19 infections in China
during 2023, resulting in 1.7 million
New COVID-19 infections, hospital- Chinese COVID deaths in the first
izations and deaths are seeing a slight quarter of the year, based upon model-
incline statewide, as only 25 of Florida’s ing derived from Hong Kong outbreak
67 counties remain in the CDC’s Low statistics. It’s tough to model beyond
COVID Community Level category. April because of unknown factors.

Indian River County and Brevard “The death toll depends on the in-
County to the north remain in the fection fatality rate of the virus, which
green, but St. Lucie, Okeechobee and is the ratio of deaths to infections. The
Osceola counties are now color-coded rate is difficult to calculate. Infections
yellow for Medium COVID Communi- often go undetected or are misdiag-
ty Level. Again this week, Miami-Dade nosed, and deaths can be misattrib-
County is orange, the worst in Florida. uted. The rate also shifts over time de-
pending on levels of immunity, which
Nationwide, the number of new can rise with vaccinations or fall be-
infections reported to local and state cause of the natural waning of anti-
health departments declined by 11 bodies,” the Post reported. 
percent over the past two weeks, but

My Vero prior administration, served as a dep-
uty chief under Flowers until his April
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 demotion. He was the highest-ranking
black law enforcement officer in the
been targeted and harassed by Flow- nearly 98-year history of a county that
ers’ upper-echelon wingmen, who say has never elected a black constitutional
they don’t trust him, make him feel un- officer or county commissioner.
welcome at command-staff meetings,
and relentlessly question him about Despite the treatment he described
whether he plans to run for sheriff. in his complaint, Thornton did not
specifically use the term “hostile
They also blame him for the criti- workplace,” but he wrote that he
cal columns Vero Beach 32963 has run “dreaded” going to the Sheriff’s Office
about their boss. campus for meetings and feared “re-
taliation and/or harassment” from
In fact, the complaint cites an April Flowers, Rich and captains Pat White
11 meeting in which Deputy Chief and Tony Consalo.
Lonnie Rich allegedly told Thornton
several of the command-staff mem- He referred to a “tumultuous climate
bers believe he’s responsible for what within the agency” and a “leadership
I write about Flowers and that he will style of intimidation and retaliation,”
“remain a target until McNulty stops.” both of which left him feeling too “un-
comfortable” to address these matters
If what Thornton wrote in his “offi- with the sheriff.
cial notice memorandum” is true, we
all should be alarmed that the sheriff’s Many of the concerns in Thornton’s
closest advisors would make such ri- memo were directly related to Rich,
diculously false assumptions. White and Consalo repeatedly ques-
tioning him about rumors that he
Remain a target? plans to run for sheriff. Rich allegedly
Of what? said he had heard from several high-
For those who don’t know: Thornton, profile members of the community,
who rose to the rank of major in the

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 5, 2023 3

NEWS

including a county commissioner, that Thornton sent copies of his com- Raulen wrote in his response that he might be construed as harassment or
Thornton would enter the race. plaint memo to the Sheriff’s Office’s In- informed Rich and the two captains of intimidation is to be avoided.”
ternal Affairs and Human Resources di- Thornton’s concerns – particularly the
The memo states the Thornton-for- visions, but there’s no evidence that any questions about his possible political Raulen then warned Rich, White
sheriff rumors prompted Consalo to official investigation was conducted. aspirations – and advised them to re- and Consalo that there were to be “no
say he didn’t want Flowers’ potential strict their future communications with reprisals” against Thornton for taking
opponent to participate in command- Based on records obtained by Vero him to the “business of the agency.” his concerns to him.
staff meetings. Beach 32963, Raulen provided the lone
response to Thornton’s complaint after The undersheriff, in his response, He also encouraged Thornton to
“We share very important informa- reviewing the memo and meeting with also “suggested that staff meetings fol- contact him if he believes that he is
tion in these meetings … that could be Rich,White and Consalo in early October. low an agenda, and that anything that being treated “in an inappropriate
used against Sheriff Flowers,” Thorn-
ton quoted Consalo as saying in that CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
Sept. 6 meeting.

Thornton responded by saying he
was “extremely uncomfortable with
the conversation and the direction in
which it was headed,” prompting Rich
to rush to Consalo’s defense.

Rich allegedly told Thornton that if
he was planning to run against Flow-
ers, “I understand why these guys do
not want to talk to you.”

Thornton indicated in his memo
that he tried to avoid discussing his fu-
ture with Flowers’ command staffers,
but the questioning persisted, some-
times in a “harsh manner.”

After initially telling Rich he in-
tended to finish his remaining years
with the Sheriff’s Office and pursue
his real-estate ventures – a conversa-
tion Rich allegedly shared with White,
Consalo and others at a Sept. 6 meet-
ing – Thornton opted to follow his at-
torney’s advice that he respond to only
questions about his agency duties.

However, Thornton wrote, his refus-
al to answer questions about a possible
run for sheriff “was not well received”
by Rich, White and Consalo, and he left
the meeting with “great concerns re-
garding the outlook of my career.”

Thornton then met with Raulen,
the memo states, and told him he had
never – in his 20 years with the agency
– “experienced this sort of behavior di-
rected at me.”

In addition, Thornton’s complaint
recalls an April 5 meeting in which
Flowers told him he had interviewed
the entire command staff and none
of the members trusted him.

The revelation prompted Thornton
to attempt to verify Flowers’ claim with
other command-staff members. Sev-
eral told him they hadn’t been inter-
viewed by the sheriff and had no issues
with the newly demoted captain.

Also, the memo states, Rich ques-
tioned Thornton at the Sept. 1 meet-
ing about his participation in a public-
service radio advertisement for The
Learning Alliance, then informed him
that Flowers no longer wanted him to
perform such duties.

Rich allegedly told Thornton to for-
ward to him any future requests, so
either Flowers or one of his designees
could fill the role.

When Thornton suggested that he
was being singled out, Rich reportedly
said, “Look, you know the guy’s career
is hanging on by a thread.”

4 Vero Beach 32963 / January 5, 2023 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

My Vero development of our organization with taken against Rich, White and/or Con- responded by phone or email as of
you as a command staff member.” salo? If so, what were they? If not, why? noon Monday.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3
Which was nice.  Was Thornton’s complaint re- So we have no explanation as to
manner by your supervisor or peers.” But Raulen’s one-page, three-para- corded in the personnel files of Rich, why Rich, White and Consalo received
Finally, Raulen praised Thornton’s graph response leaves too many un- White and/or Consalo? If not, why? nothing more than a talking-to from
answered questions, including: the undersheriff in October, just eight
work leading the Sheriff’s Office’s  Was Thornton’s complaint also Those questions were sent via months after Thornton was forced to
school-security division – he called it investigated by the IA division? If so, email last week to Flowers, Raulen endure a publicly embarrassing sus-
“exemplary” – and stated that he looked what was the finding? If not, why? and Lt. Joe Abollo, the agency’s pub- pension while the IA team conducted
forward to the “continued professional  Were any disciplinary measures lic information officer. Alerted to an 11-week investigation that pro-
my deadline, none of the three had

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duced a 300-page report and included itself. But we can only wonder about filed within days of this newspaper Breeze Airways
interviews with 18 witnesses. the toll the past year has taken on him. exposing Flowers’ extramarital affair,
and the clown show that followed was CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
Both complaints alleged the cre- The IA investigation cleared Thorn- as calculated as it was concocted.
ation of a hostile work environment. ton of violating any agency policies, County, N.Y., on Feb. 3 were selling for
but Flowers demoted him, anyway – The nothing-to-see-here treatment as low as $148.
So why did one merit an intensive cutting his annual salary by $10,000, Thornton’s complaint received from
IA investigation, and the other re- reassigning him to the School Safety the Sheriff’s Office was merely more of The fares for both routes were based
quired only a meeting with the un- Division and effectively banishing him the same, and for the same reason. on standard seating, which Breeze re-
dersheriff? from the Sheriff’s Office campus. fers to as “Nice.” The airline also offers
Flowers is worried Thornton will
Thornton declined to comment, The complaint against Thornton was run against him in 2024.  CONTINUED ON PAGE 6
allowing his complaint to speak for

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6 Vero Beach 32963 / January 5, 2023 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Breeze Airways jets, however, the airport needed to “We told Breeze we didn’t have the Scher said the city will embark on its
upgrade its security measures to the money to do it, and they offered to plan to transform the two banquet
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5 “highest” level, which Scher said cov- help,” Scher said. “That was one of the rooms at C.J. Cannon’s restaurant – lo-
ers the airport’s entire perimeter. problems we had with Elite. They cated inside the airport’s terminal build-
“Nicer” seats, which provide slightly wanted to bring in larger aircraft, but ing – into an indoor baggage-claim area.
more legroom, a snack and one checked “We were doing that to some degree they didn’t want to pay for the upgrad-
bag, as well as “Nicest” seating – the car- before, but we were left to our own ed security.” “The city didn’t take away those
rier’s version of first-class accommoda- judgment as to what we needed to do,” rooms,” Scher said. “Cannon’s wanted
tions, which includes two checked bags. Scher said. “Now, we need to meet the Elite hasn’t flown in or out of Vero to get out of the banquet business, and
TSA requirements, and they’ll be in- Beach since June 30, but the airline’s we wanted the space. So, they’ll get a
Fares increase with the levels of seat- specting what we do.” president, John Pearsall, said the Maine- reduction in rent, and we’ll get the in-
ing and service. A round-trip flight in based carrier intends to resume service door baggage-claim area we need.”
the “Nicest” section can cost $738 per Scher said the security upgrades in the first quarter of 2023 and that he’ll
person. won’t be noticeable to the public, but issue a press release “right after New Apparently, the marriage between
they will be costly – so much so that the Year’s.” Breeze and Vero Beach is off to a prom-
“When we first started talking to the city, which owns and operates the air- ising start.
Breeze people last summer, they want- port, told Breeze representatives the air- If Elite returns to Vero Beach in the
ed to launch on Dec. 15, probably to line needed to help cover the expense. coming months and wants to use larg- In November, less than a month af-
get the holiday traffic,” Vero Beach Air- er jets, Scher said, the airline would be ter Breeze announced it was adding
port Director Todd Scher said. “They The upgrades are expected to cost required to pay 35 percent of the costs Vero Beach to its route map, Edmond-
were pushing us, but we needed time “just under $200,000” annually, Scher to upgrade the security program. son-Jones said the airline’s executives
to make the necessary upgrades to our said, adding that the number is only a were “thrilled” with the early response
security program. “very rough” estimate. While awaiting Breeze’s arrival here, from the community here.

“We couldn’t give them the go-ahead “The early indications are that the
until we met the federal requirements,” flights are selling really well,” he said.
he added. “That was the biggest issue “We started getting calls as soon as we
for us.” announced. It’s obvious Vero Beach is
a very popular destination.”
Scher said the Vero Beach airport
has been operating at the Transporta- Scher said Breeze indicated it would
tion Safety Administration’s “interme- initially book flights into early May,
diate” security level, which covers only but the airline’s website is already of-
the terminal building and was suffi- fering flights into September.
cient for the smaller jets used here by
Elite Airways until the boutique car- “So they must be doing well,” he said.
rier suspended service last summer. Edmondson-Jones said Breeze will
monitor its ticket sales to and from
To accommodate the Breeze’s larger Vero Beach, and will add flights and
routes to meet the demand. 

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8 Vero Beach 32963 / January 5, 2023 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Strunk Funeral Home owners seek to disqualify circuit judge

By Ray McNulty per month in rent until the case is re- that Strunk owes him nearly $600,000 that his firm once represented in a
Staff Writer solved. in back rent. “But we’ll be the prevail- lawsuit a redevelopment company
ing party in the end.” in which the judge’s husband, David,
The owners of Strunk Funeral Home In the latest development, though, was a partner.
& Crematory are asking an appeals Croom granted Strunk’s request to In Strunk’s Dec. 8 motion, Kop-
court to disqualify Circuit Judge Janet give the company until Jan. 6 to post chak claimed in a sworn statement She also claimed to have discovered
Croom from presiding over “any fur- the bond. By then, though, the owners that Croom’s conduct and comments that local attorney George Collins Jr.,
ther proceedings” in the company’s le- had already filed their appeal in West during a Dec. 1 hearing, which lasted a material witness in the Strunk-Mil-
gal battle over ownership of the prop- Palm Beach. more than eight hours, caused her to lennium case, is a partner in a law firm
erties on which it conducts business. question the judge’s impartiality and that represented Croom and her hus-
The appeal is the latest twist in a mul- doubt whether the company would be band in a real-estate matter.
In its filing with Florida’s Fourth tifaceted case in which Strunk president treated fairly at future hearings and if
District Court of Appeal in West Palm Mary Strunk Kopchak and her siblings the case goes to trial. Kopchak stated that Croom did
Beach just before the holidays, Strunk are challenging Millennium Funeral not disclose those possible conflicts
claims Croom’s relationship with two Home’s ownership of the properties on Kopchak accused Croom of implying to Strunk, and Strunk repeats that
Vero Beach attorneys connected to the which their business operates. that her testimony during cross-exami- claim in its appeal, which also seeks to
case puts her ability to be impartial in nation was “being coached,” and scold- maintain the existing lis pendens – le-
question. Kopchak is the daughter of Glenn ed her and Sneed in a “very derogatory, gal notice that a lawsuit has been filed
Strunk, who owned and operated the condescending and pejorative tone.” disputing ownership of the properties.
The appeal was filed two weeks after funeral home for 47 years before his
Croom – without explanation or com- death in February 2020. She also alleged that Croom “advo- Under Croom’s order, the lis pen-
ment – denied a Strunk motion accus- cated” of behalf of one attorney during dens will automatically be discharged
ing her of being “biased” and request- Attorney Richard Sneed, who rep- questioning, and seemed to favor an- if Strunk fails to submit the bond pay-
ing that she recuse herself from the resents the Strunk owners, did not re- other attorney throughout the hearing. ment to the Clerk of Court’s Office
case. spond to messages left at his office. within the allotted time.
Kopchak goes on to state that her
Croom issued her denial less than Vero Beach attorney Louis “Buck” concerns about Croom’s actions If the lis pendens is discharged,Young
three hours after the Strunk motion Vocelle declined to comment on the prompted her to make inquiries into would be free to sell or lease the prop-
was filed on Dec. 8. A week earlier, appeal, but Millennium owner James the judge’s relationship with Vocelle, erty, if he so desired. “It’s good for our
she ordered the company to post a Young Jr. called it a “another delay tac- who is representing Millennium. case because it allows Jimmy some flex-
$3.1 million bond within 20 days and tic” in a case that has been ongoing ibility,” Vocelle said after Croom’s ruling.
pay into the court registry $25,800 since March 2020. Those Dec. 2 inquiries, Kopchak
claimed, revealed Croom previously Croom said the bond amount was
“We’ve been dealing with this for al- had worked at Vocelle’s law firm, and “supported by the evidence,”and was
most three years,” Young said, claiming

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Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 5, 2023 9

NEWS

equal to the price Young paid to pur- mother didn’t have the legal authority tent, substantial evidence” and it isn’t If Millennium wins the case,
chase the Strunk properties from to sell the properties. Dorothy Strunk speculative. Young would not be entitled to the
Glenn Strunk’s widow, Dorothy, in died this past May, and there was no entire $3.1 million, “but he would
June 2021. mention of her stepchildren in her She said the bond and rent amounts be able to file a claim against that
paid obituary. are “reasonable,” based on the dam- money for damages,” Vocelle said.
Two days before his death, Glenn ages Millennium has shown will likely
Strunk gave the business to his three As for the rent, Croom said she deter- result if the court rules the lis pendens He added Croom “wants this case to
adult children, who claim their step- mined the amount based on “compe- was “unjustified.”
CONTINUED ON PAGE 10

10 Vero Beach 32963 / January 5, 2023 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Strunk Funeral Home was aware of, participated in and bene- learned the original Chinese version Mah Jongg has literally snowballed
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9 fitted from the arrangement, which had in London while her husband was sta- in our community, says Gabriel, who
been in place since 1981, and therefore tioned there for a Swiss bank. Bell is so once was president of the Vero Beach
go to trial sooner rather than later.” knew she didn’t solely own the proper- into the game that her car has a vanity Bridge Club and still loves that game,
Vocelle said he was hoping to go to ties she sold to Millennium to enrich license plate that spells MAJ-ONG. but has become too busy teaching
herself at her stepchildren’s expense. Mah Jongg. The presence of retired
trial as soon as March, but that was “We are loud, with all the clicking of people with time on their hands ex-
before Strunk filed its appeal. Young continues to defend his pur- the tiles, the laughing and the excite- plains a lot about the popularity of
chase, saying Dorothy Strunk alone ment when we win a few quarters, and Mah Jongg here.
Young, meanwhile, said he doubts held the title to the properties after the bridge people need quiet to con-
the Strunk siblings can come up with her husband’s death.  centrate,” Bell says. “So when there are Many of the country clubs and club-
the $3.1 million to post the bond, Mah Jongg and bridge games going on houses at gated communities now run
adding, “If they can’t post the bond, Mah Jongg in the same room, it’s not a happy situ- Mah Jongg games, and tournaments
we’ll move forward with eviction. … ation. We get shushed all the time.” like the one planned for the Elks Club
They’re squatting on my property, but CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 have also proliferated.
the judge’s order delivered a big hit.” But the shushing doesn’t seem to be
games here is held on Monday after- dampening the enthusiasm of Mah Other local charity tournaments are
Dorothy Strunk attempted to re- noon at the Elks Club, and attendance Jongg players, and Melody Gabriel, 80, in the works for the Quail Valley River
solve the property-ownership dispute – while reckoned in the dozens com- who runs the game at the Elks Club, Club on Jan. 9 for a half-day and at the
in March 2020, when she took the mat- pared to considerably larger numbers recently decided Vero Beach was ready St. Sebastian Catholic church on Jan.
ter to court where she opposed her for tournaments at the Vero Beach to host a one-day charity tournament 25 for a full day. An inter-club league,
three adult stepchildren: Kevin and Bridge Center – is now back to more to raise funds for veterans’ housing called MJLOV is also starting up in
April Strunk, and Kopchak. than 50 percent of pre-pandemic levels. and set Feb. 16 as the date. 2023 with half-day events planned at
John’s Island, the Orchid Island Golf
However, County Court Judge Robyn Perhaps it is a sign of the times that The game committee decided to limit and Beach Club, The Moorings and
Stone dismissed the case in May 2021 the Vero Beach Bridge Center, which entries to 80 people. Quail Valley, with Bent Pine and the
for “lack of prosecution.” has seen attendance seriously decline Vero Beach Country Club to follow
in the pandemic, has offered the Mah “After two days,” Gabriel says, “reg- later, says Bell.
The Strunk siblings argue that the Jongg players some of the unused istrations had already hit the limit, so
disputed properties were jointly owned space in its huge building, a former we decided to raise it to 90, and then Getting started in Mah Jongg seems
by the business, because business op- bowling alley across from Crestlawn we raised it again and, in the end, we easy enough. The Vero Beach Book
erations covered the costs of their ac- Cemetery, but they have declined. wound up with 120 people.” More Center sells sets of tiles, other acces-
quisition, maintenance and capital im- than 90 local businesses have donated sories and how-to books, and the In-
provement, as well as expenses such as “The bridge ladies and the Mah door prizes and awards for winners. dian River County Intergenerational
taxes, insurance and debt service – even Jongg ladies just don’t get along very Entries aren’t cheap – at $55 per per- Center runs easy games at 10 a.m. on
though the properties were titled in the well,” explains Lorraine Bell, who son, they’re considerably more than Tuesdays and 1 p.m. on Thursdays
names of Glenn and Dorothy Strunk. the $40 that bridge tournaments now
charge for an all-day double session. CONTINUED ON PAGE 12
They contend that Dorothy Strunk



12 Vero Beach 32963 / January 5, 2023 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Mah Jongg PHOTO BY JOSHUA KODIS sics in eight lessons, new players are described as a “rummy-like tile game.”
sometimes intimidated by the veter- While playing the game requires skill
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10 Mah Jongg is often compared to ans who have perfected their game for and strategy, there’s also some luck in-
bridge, and Gabriel is in a unique po- years and know a million bidding con- volved.
with a modest $2 entry fee. With the sition to make the comparison since ventions. To get really good at bridge
supplies, you can get as fancy as you she’s been at the top of the game on takes much longer.” The game first came over from Chi-
want. There’s even a $1,200 electronic the local scene in both worlds. na in the 19th century, and the name
tile-dealing machine, one of which is People who have played card games comes from a Chinese word for “spar-
in existence in Vero Beach. “Mah Jongg is probably a little more before seem to learn Mah Jongg more row,” since the clicking of the tiles re-
social and a little less competitive than quickly, and the mathematical minds sembles the sound of chattering spar-
Mah Jongg has attracted mostly bridge,” Gabriel says. “You don’t need also catch on faster, Gabriel says. rows. The altered American version
women, although a few ladies have a partner, and the great advantage is now played across the United States
dragged their husbands along. “Per- that once you’ve taken your first cou- Despite the cultural comparisons with 8 jokers started in the Roaring
haps it gives the women something to ple of lessons, you pretty much know with bridge, Mah Jongg probably bears ’20s. It became popular with Jewish
do that’s competitive but very social how to play. The third and fourth les- more resemblance to gin rummy as far women in New York and South Florida
while their husbands are out playing sons are about strategy and defense. as the actual rules of the game. It’s often in the ’50s, but has since broken out
golf,” Gabriel says. In bridge, even after they learn the ba- into all sectors of society.

Bell has a slightly different explana- The game is played with a set of 144
tion or the gender gap. “We play the tiles based on Chinese characters such
American game for small stakes, quar- as Bamboos, Dots, Flowers, Winds and
ters that the ladies bring in their Mah Dragons. A roll of the dice starts the
Jongg purses. The most people can game and each of 4 players at a table
lose in a game is maybe about $3 so no begins with 13 tiles (the dealer has 14).
one gets hurt. The ladies seem to like The players take turns drawing and
that and even the small winnings cre- discarding tiles until they can com-
ate a lot of excitement. plete a set, a pair or a special combi-
nation. Although the classic version re-
“But I’ve played at big Mah Jongg quires four people at a table, there are
parlors in China and other places in also variations for three or two players
Asia, where mostly men gamble for and even a solitaire version has been
big stakes,” Bell says. “I’ve even been invented for computer play.
thrown out of some of those parlors by
the bouncers because women weren’t A national Mah Jongg league, based
allowed. Maybe the men draw up their in New York City, sets the rules for the
noses at a small-stakes game like ours game and on April 1 each year, issues
– not enough of a thrill in it for them.” a new “Card” from which players can

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 5, 2023 13

NEWS

choose their starting hands. Cheating years, but started teaching the game in 20 or more people around town, includ- believe many of them are still playing.
has been known to occur with nifty Vero Beach 12 years ago “at someone’s ing at the Vero Beach Country Club and For more information about the
sleights of hand, but Gabriel says she’s kitchen table.” One of the women she for a while at The Moorings.
never heard of anyone trying to cheat taught belonged to Quail Valley, which Inter-Club Mah Jongg League, call
in Vero Beach. led to an invitation to teach at Quail, and “Over the years, I must have taught 772-205-8443. To play online, visit my-
Gabriel now regularly teaches classes of between 700 and 800 people to play Mah jongg.net. For lessons, contact melody
Gabriel has played Mah Jongg for 22 Jongg inVero Beach,” Gabriel says, “and I [email protected] 

Grand opening of Three Corners may be five years off

By Ray McNulty For example: forward with its plan to replace its out- ifications the project manager should
 Requests for proposals from po- dated wastewater-treatment plant on possess.
Staff Writer tential developers must be issued. the lagoon with a new facility at Vero
That is scheduled for late April, with a Beach Regional Airport – a transition The selection committee will judge
And the grand opening of the much- deadline for submissions in July. that would clear the 16-acre parcel to the developers’ proposals using sever-
anticipated Three Corners dining, re-  A selection committee, which the south of the bridge for develop- al criteria, including how closely their
tail and recreational hub on the main- likely will include city staff directors, ment. plan conforms to the Master Concept
land’s waterfront will be … will be appointed to review the devel- Plan, their timelines and how much
opers’ proposals and present to the Falls said the city hopes to have the they’re willing to pay to lease the prop-
Summer of ’28? City Council a small number of final- new facility in service by July 2027, erty from the city, Falls said.
Wait, what? ists – a process expected to conclude with demolition of the existing plant
It’s going to be more than five years by Oct. 1. scheduled for April 2028. He said he expects developers will
before we see what a developer does  The city would then spend the invest more than $100,000 in prepar-
with the Master Concept Plan that the next six to nine months negotiating He said developers who’ve expressed ing their proposals, and the City Coun-
Vero Beach City Council approved for with the committee’s top choice. If interest in the Three Corners project cil must balance conformance to the
those prized 33 acres on the banks of a deal can’t be struck, the city would have told him they would not proceed master plan with maximizing revenues
the Indian River Lagoon, at the west move on to the second choice, then without the city’s commitment to move to the city.
end of the 17th Street Bridge? third choice, and so on. the wastewater plant off the lagoon.
Really? Even if the city can successfully ne- “These proposals will be pretty com-
Well, no – not necessarily. gotiate a contract with the committee’s For now, though, Falls said the most prehensive,” Falls said, “so it’s going to
The wait could be even longer. No. 1 pick, Falls said it was unlikely con- pressing need is for the city to hire a take a lot of time and effort for the com-
The summer of 2028 projection pre- struction would begin before Septem- Three Corners project manager whose mittee to go through them and rank
sented by City Manager Monte Falls at ber 2024. sole job is to oversee the operation them.”
the City Council’s Dec. 16 special-call As Falls explained to council mem- from start to finish. He hopes to have
workshop meeting was optimistic, bers, land-use designations on the someone on the payroll during the first While some local residents might be
based on the assumption that there lagoon-front properties – they’re cur- quarter of 2023, preferably by Feb. 1. surprised the Three Corners develop-
are none of the delays that often ham- rently occupied by the city’s defunct ment won’t be completed until 2028,
per such developments. power plant and still-active wastewater- “We can hire someone who works di- Falls said five years is not uncommon for
It also assumes none of the five city treatment facility – must be changed. rectly for us, or we could contract with a multifaceted project of this magnitude.
elections between now and then pro- The parcels also must be rezoned. a firm,” Falls said. “We haven’t made
duces council majorities that aren’t as Under Falls‘ timeline, the City Coun- that decision yet. Whichever way we go, “It’s not like you can just start con-
excited about developing the Three cil would adopt those changes by Feb- though, it’s going to be a full-time job, struction next month,” he said. “There’s
Corners parcels as those who’ve en- ruary 2024. Then, the developer’s site especially once the project gets going. a lot that needs to be done before we
thusiastically embraced the project plan could be submitted to the city’s get to that stage. We’re not only devel-
since it was proposed. Planning & Zoning Board for approval. “The project manager will be our oping the Three Corners. We’re also
“A lot can happen in five years,” Falls The city also must continue to move quarterback, working hand-in-hand building a new wastewater-treatment
said last week, “and there’s a lot that with the city and the developer to make plant and demolishing the old one.
has to be done.” sure things get done,” he added. “It’s im-
perative that we get the right person.” “We’re going to have two of the big-
gest construction projects in the city’s
Falls said he already had met with history being undertaken at the same
local professionals to discuss the qual- time.” 

Condo prices and aren’t quite done with their phe- the market and they end up buying to walk to everything and be in Cen-
nomenal run. something else,” said Compass team tral Beach but don’t have the budget
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 leader Scott Reynolds. for that – by the time they buy a house
Ironically, the epic jump in island and fix it up – they realize can get a
houses were up only 11 percent year- house prices during the boom is the That could mean shifting focus to like-kind condo for substantially less.
over-year. main force pushing condo apprecia- upscale mainland subdivisions to find
tion higher. a desirable house they can afford, or it “That is especially true for buy-
Countywide, median condo sales might mean getting in an elevator and ers who only plan to live in Vero for
prices in November were up a whop- A market snapshot provided by riding up to the top floor in a condo to three or four months a year,” Reynolds
ping 54 percent, year over year, while Douglas Elliman broker-associate see what life looks like from up there. added. “They see that a condo will get
house prices were flat, according to Sally Daley shows the median list them on the ocean or in Central Beach
ONE Sotheby’s most recent market re- price of a house in 32962 last week was “I call it Plan B,” said Daley. “And it or someplace else where they might
port, which zeros in on counties and $1,950,000 while the median list price is becoming more popular as the price not be able to afford a house and that
select ZIP codes from Miami to Jack- for island condos was $789,000. delta between fully detached and con- it will work for them on a seasonal ba-
sonville. dos grows.” sis.”
So, if a buyer arrives from the snowy
House prices are still up year over north with a desire to live on the bar- “ONE Sotheby's has seen an in- At some point price and lifestyle
year, too, but they declined slightly rier island but only a million dollars in crease in condo sales and prices,” cross paths and the buyer finds the
month to month during late summer pocket, condos quickly become an ap- agreed ONE Sotheby’s broker-associ- home that suits them.
and fall, so they aren’t keeping pace pealing alternative. ate Bobbie Holt.
with condos – which have more than A house typically provides more
doubled in value in the past two years “Buyers sometimes come in looking “Usually the condo trigger depends space and privacy, but condos come
for one thing but their thinking totally on the importance the buyer puts on
evolves when they get familiar with location,” Reynolds said. “If they want CONTINUED ON PAGE 14

14 Vero Beach 32963 / January 5, 2023 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Condo prices PHOTO BY JOSHUA KODIS downstairs and have a cocktail at the dos under construction in 32963, along
Vero Beach Hotel and Spa,” and Spires with Indigo and Surfsedge, where units
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13 13 condos to look at in November,” residents can walk to all the shops and go in the millions, which is a third factor
Reynolds says. “A buyer looking in the restaurants in Central Beach. buoying condo price appreciation on
with a convenient “lock and leave” $500,000 to $750,000 range had 15 or 16 the island.
lifestyle and a range of community choices. I think that scarcity has helped Sea Cove is next to a beautiful beach
amenities that often includes ocean condo prices stay strong.” park with lifeguards on a wide, accret- The top-priced, $3,995,000 island
views that can be hard to come by in ing beach right across the street from a condo shown in the November report
a house. Condos account for about 35 percent row of restaurants that range from fine was at Indigo, next to Tracking Station
of sales closed by The Reynolds Team at dining to a popular pizza place. Park, and the second-priciest condo, list-
“With condos you are getting less of a Compass, so Reynolds is familiar with ed for $3.8 million, was right next door at
real estate footprint, but you are getting the genre. He said popular complexes Blue at 8050 Ocean is new construc- Surfsedge, in Indian River Shores.
a premium location and a lower price include The Spires, Sea Cove and Blue. tion on the ocean, with huge luxury
because 50 or 100 people are sharing in apartments, a clubhouse, gym, pool A few sales in that range can push
the cost of the oceanfront property and “The Spires is always popular, right and putting green. the median island condo price up a
property insurance,” Reynolds said. on the oceanfront with great views and fair bit when sales volume is low like it
a nice oceanfront pool, very sought after Blue is one of three new luxury con- is right now.
Illustrating that point, Holt told Vero because of its location. You can go right
Beach 32963 that oceanfront condos Meanwhile, over on the mainland,
currently start at $395,000 and go up it is a seller’s market for condos in ev-
to $3,995,000, while oceanfront hous- ery Indian River County ZIP code, ac-
es on the island start at $3,995,000 and cording to Daley’s market snapshot,
go up to $27 million. and condos are outpacing houses in
price appreciation in neighboring
A report based on MLS data pro- counties and throughout the state of
vided by Reynolds shows there were Florida.
62 condos available on the island in
November, including 42 under $1 mil- November condo prices were up
lion. By last week, condo inventory 53 percent in Martin County and 23
was up to 87, according to Daley. percent in Brevard compared to No-
vember 2021, according to the ONE
That gives buyers a fair number Sotheby’s report. House price appre-
of choices, but the inventory is still ciation was 11 percent in Martin and 9
squeaky-tight compared to pre-pan- percent in Brevard.
demic norms, which is another factor
in condo price appreciation Statewide, the average sales price
of a condo was up 10.1 percent year
“For someone whose budget was over year, compared to 5.5 percent for
$500,000 or under, there were only houses. 

JAKE’S FLAMINGO WEEKEND
DOUBLES AS HOMETOWN HOMAGE P. 28

16 Vero Beach 32963 / January 5, 2023 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

At Donor Launch, Learning Alliance details precious progress

Liz and Peter Remington. PHOTOS: JOSHUA KODIS Shanti Sanchez and Betty MacMillan. PHOTOS CONTINUED ON PAGE 18
Jennifer and David Moore.
BY STEPHANIE LaBAFF
Staff Writer

Ray Oglethorpe, Chris Clifford and David Dyer. Debbi Peniston with Pat and Carol Welsh.

BY STEPHANIE LaBAFF Pat Schlitt and Kristen Matteucci. families needing additional support. poof! – have gone away,” he said.
Staff Writer Oglethorpe said TLA has gained na- “Fortunately here, thanks to the
made a significant difference in coun-
The Learning Alliance blasted off ty literacy scores. tional recognition, by earning its 10th people in this room, we’re in much
with a Donor Launch Party at the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading better shape than the rest of the coun-
John’s Island Club to promote its Each year, TLA supports 4,500 stu- Award and said that the school dis- try. It’s no longer just two moms and
Moonshot Mission of having 90 per- dents in kindergarten through third trict’s ranking has gone from 28th to a crazy guy [referring to founders Bar-
cent of Indian River County children grade through in-school, afterschool 12th out of 67 districts in Florida. bara Hammond, Liz Remington and
reading at grade level by the end of and summer programs; trains and himself] who supported them behind
third grade. supports 350 teachers; assists families “When you live on this barrier is- this thing. We now have the State of
with children from birth to kindergar- land, you don’t realize that there’s Florida, who has decided that maybe
Ray Oglethorpe, TLA founder and ten through the Moonshot Families another world over there. This school what we’re doing down here in Indian
board chairman, welcomed guests af- program; and last year distributed district is one of the poorest in the River County is right,” said Ogletho-
ter a three-year pandemic hiatus, say- 5,000 books and 1,500 Literacy Kits to state of Florida,” said Oglethorpe. rpe.
ing that despite the tumultuous past Despite that challenge, he said the
few years, there is also good news. increased ranking is the result of the He explained that Florida has co-
dedicated staff at the school district opted policies and curriculum that
“The Learning Alliance is still here. and TLA. TLA supports, along with its Moon-
Not only are we still here, but we’re shot Moment slogan and goal of 90
also pleased to be in a strong, strong “Even with all these successes, percent grade level reading.
partnership with the School District we’re still a way from our 90 percent
of Indian River County and the super- literacy goal,” he cautioned, adding Oglethorpe said TLA is “pushing
intendent, Dr. David Moore. Stronger that COVID-19 has impacted educa- the pedal to the metal” by increasing
than ever. We have a lot to celebrate tion across the country. its budget by 33 percent, adding $1.2
this evening,” said Oglethorpe. million to overcome the impact of CO-
“Our country has stepped back VID-19, and by launching a Moonshot
He explained that TLA currently to where it was in 1992. That’s the Acceleration School at Vero Beach El-
provides funding for Early Literacy impact that COVID-19 has had on ementary School.
Coaches and Interventionists in the the education system in the United
local elementary schools, which has States. All the gains that have hap- “We’re accelerating support to
pened over the last two decades – teachers at this specific school so it can

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 5, 2023 17

PEOPLE

serve as a model to all other schools ments,” said Moore. from other elementary schools are be- have, and we celebrate as a school sys-
in our county,” said Superintendent “We’re creating what we call a play- ing brought in to observe the practic- tem, is purely in place because of the
Moore, noting that donor funding has es, skills, and behaviors that have been expectation you all have created across
made the Acceleration School a reality. book about how to transform and im- developed. this entire community,” he added.
prove an elementary school in order
“What we’re seeing at that particu- to ensure by third grade every single “What you all have done over the For additional information, visit
lar school is growth head over toe. We student walks out of there at three or last 12 years is really propel this system TheLearningAlliance.org. 
are really seeing significant improve- above,” said Moore, noting that staff forward. Some of the success that we

18 Vero Beach 32963 / January 5, 2023 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

PHOTOS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 16 Katie and Rick Kelley.
David and Harriet Dyer.

Yomaira Lagos and Leslie Connelly. Andy and Paulette Sowers. Nancy and Dick Shoemate.

Megan Kendrick and Vita Reinoso. Rosemary and Dick Haverland.

Chris and Keena Clifford with Chrissy and James Heyworth.

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 5, 2023 19

PEOPLE

Fit show real grit at Capt. Hiram’s River Challenge Triathlon

Jessica Domster and Anne Patrick. PHOTOS: JOSHUA KODIS Tammy Foster Gavin Ross and Hannah Wintermyer.

Samantha Pierson and Sara Pierson. Keesha Willingham, Max Willingham and Micah Williams. Joshua and Yulinni Goodfellow.

BY STEPHANIE LaBAFF
Staff Writer

Triathletes tested the water and Michael Harris.
their meddle during the 10th annual
Capt. Hiram’s River Challenge Tri- Florida’s marine resources, and the
athlon. Environmental Learning Center, a
64-acre nature center designed to
Despite the challenging weather, encourage active stewardship of the
about 80 athletes accepted the chal- environment through education, in-
lenge to “Get off your ass and save spiration and empowerment.
some seagrass.” In the end, Michael
Harris won first overall, coming in at For additional race information,
1:00, and Kristen Swayze won first fe- visit Hirams.com/Triathlon. 
male finisher at 1:12.

While the triathlon is geared to-
ward beginners, Will Collins, Capt.
Hiram’s president and an event par-
ticipant, said there were quite a few
repeat triathletes, including one gen-
tleman who has run all 10 years.

Participants swam a quarter mile
in the particularly choppy waters,
biked 12 miles, and ran for 3.1 miles
along Sebastian’s beautiful water-
front.

Rewarded for their efforts with an
After Party at the SandBar, the weary
athletes enjoyed a post-race breakfast,
live music, and an awards ceremony.

The goal of the event is to raise
money and awareness of the chal-
lenges facing the Indian River La-
goon, with proceeds supporting eco-
logically focused nonprofits. This
year’s beneficiaries were the Coastal
Conservation Association, which
is dedicated to the conservation of

20 Vero Beach 32963 / January 5, 2023 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

Vero-bound ORCA shares deep data dive with supporters

BY MARY SCHENKEL final stages of its $1.2 million Capital ence Building in his memory. raise the money for this,” said Widder.
Staff Writer Campaign to purchase and renovate Rainone shared that her son, who “So the point of this report to do-
the new headquarters.
The Ocean Research and Conser- loved the ocean, told her that he want- nors is to share with you some of the
vation Association founded by Edith They received a significant boost ed to be cremated and have his ashes remarkable data that we’ve been able
“Edie” Widder, Ph.D. in 2005, will this past spring, when Trudie Rain- scattered there. She explained simply, to collect. The data that we’ve been
soon begin a new chapter with its up- one contributed $500,000 from the “So my son is in the ocean and now I able to collect is even more powerful
coming move to Vero Beach. estate of her son, Donald “D.J.” Rain- have to take care of the ocean.” than I would have imagined.”
one, who passed away in November
At a reception at the Quail Valley 2021 after a courageous battle with “This is such a special night for There are currently 18 Kilroy wa-
River Club supporters of the nonprofit cancer. The building will be named ORCA. I can’t tell you how happy it ter-quality monitors that are map-
were informed that ORCA was in the the D.J. Rainone Research and Sci- makes me. We are so, so grateful to the ping pollution along 156 miles of the
people that made it possible for us to lagoon, and they will soon add four
more. The devices are essentially an
early-warning system for the toxic
algal blooms caused by nitrogen and
phosphorus.

“Do not think it cannot get worse; it
can get a lot worse,” said Widder.

“A lot of people think we understand
how our life support systems work on
this planet. We don’t, especially in an
estuary, which is one of the most com-
plicated systems there is in terms of
the biology of the planet,” said Widder.

Missy Weiss, director of Citizen Sci-
ence & Education, said that regardless
of age or background, anyone can par-
ticipate in their Citizen Science data
collection initiatives.

Land to Sea (formerly Living Shore-
line Monitoring) volunteers are in-
stalling buffered shoreline barriers
between land and waterways to limit
excess nitrate, phosphate and am-
monia runoff from entering the water
systems. Weiss said that not only are
they beautiful, but they also provide
wildlife habitat, increase biodiversity
and minimize erosion. They are also
easy to do and can make an immedi-
ate impact.

Pollution Mapping volunteers are
monitoring 25 sampling sites across
four counties four times a year, col-
lecting and measuring water-quality
parameters and collecting sediments
that are tested for toxicity, microplas-
tics, herbicides and other contami-
nants such as, increasingly, glypho-
sate, the active ingredient in Roundup.

One Health Fish Monitoring looks
at the interactivity between environ-
mental, animal and human health,
particularly whether the toxins and
pollution in the commonly consumed
fish is transferring to humans.

Volunteers dissect and test for
microcystin, mercury, cadmium,
glyphosate and microplastics, which
she says are everywhere, from the air
we breathe to the food we eat. They
partner with the University of Florida
to have some specimens tested for
such chemicals as pharmaceuticals
and controlled substances.

A Day in the Life of the Indian River
Lagoon introduces students to science

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 5, 2023 21

PEOPLE

Edie Widder, Herb Fitz Gibbon and Trudie Rainone. Ed Reefe, Mary Chapman and Nora Lea Reefe. PHOTOS: JOHN BIONDO PHOTOS CONTINUED ON PAGE 22
Patrick and Tiziana Lahey.
research through a one-day annual
event that partners with environmen- Judy Drexel, Mary Ellen McCarthy and Margo Montgomery.
tal organizations to test 47 sites along
a 156-mile stretch of the lagoon.

“We can’t do any of this without
our supporters. We can’t do anything
without our citizen scientists, but
we need to be able to have the funds
to continue the hard work that we’re
doing and that they’re doing. And we
thank all of you in this room who have
supported us in our journey and con-
tinue to do so,” said Weiss.

For more information, visit Team Carrie Franco, Zack Franco, Dale Arden, Andrew Simmens and Edie Collins.
ORCA.org. 

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22 Vero Beach 32963 / January 5, 2023 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

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PHOTOS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 21 Dave and Nina Piacquad. Suzanne and Leslie Carter.
Jean Catchpole and Buzz Davies.

Philip and Sandy Mills. Wayne and Dolores Mills. Susan Cook with Ed and Jo Massey.

Linda Moore, Rick Norry and Brooke Malone.

Alice Johnson with George and Sheila Marshall.

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 5, 2023 23

PEOPLE

Windsor sculpture captures founder’s exemplary character

pleasure of knowing him,” he said. stands straight, it stands tall, just like
Craig-Martin said he had difficulty Galen was. It’s very straightforward,
there’s a slightly anthropomorphic as-
determining what single object could pect to the sculpture, it’s symmetrical
best represent Galen Weston. and it seems like the proper classical
image.”
“I chose the compass because I
thought what this place is, is the re- Baillie thanked Craig-Martin and
sult of vision and planning and real- all those involved in making the
ization. People can have dreams, not commemoration possible, before
everybody realizes them,” said Craig- proposing a toast “To Galen, a man
Martin. for the ages.” 

“I love the compass also because it

Betsy Neale, Ramsey Lyons and Sarah Baine. PHOTOS CONTINUED ON PAGE 24

PHOTOS: JOSHUA KODIS

BY MARY SCHENKEL 1995, was scheduled to speak but, as
she was dealing with a bout of laryn-
Staff Writer gitis, husband Andy stepped in to read
“Valerie’s encomium to Galen.”
Windsor residents gathered re-
cently for a ceremony to dedicate the “Like everyone, the first thing that
W. Galen Weston Memorial Sculpture struck me about Galen, apart from his
in honor of the community’s vision- dazzling good looks, was his enthusi-
ary founder, who passed away in April asm, his curiosity and his kindness,”
2021. said Pringle.

Artist Sir Michael Craig-Martin said “He was modest, unassuming and
he designed the statue as a compass, kind. In many ways, Galen was de-
saying of it: “The compass’ monu- fined by his enthusiasm, his energy
mental scale seems a fitting tribute to and his excitement,” said Pringle. She
capture his boundless ambition and noted that he was also a great athlete,
achievements.” whether on the tennis courts, the polo
fields or the golf course.
Explaining the genesis of the trib-
ute, Charlie Baillie said a group of resi- Pringle said Hilary was Galen’s clos-
dents wished to honor Galen Weston est advisor in their 55-year marriage.
and the “halcyon” Windsor commu- Likewise, Galen had been supremely
nity he and Hilary Weston had cre- supportive of Hilary during her time
ated. as the 26th Lieutenant Governor of
Ontario, and she said family was very
Baillie said of Weston, “I have al- important to him.
ways been intrigued with his positive
approach to life, his ability to perceive “They made a remarkable and for-
the silver lining in every cloud and to midable team,” said Pringle.
take advantage of the opportunities
presented.” “I want to finish by saying, I think it
is really a beautiful, and I think a mor-
An initial committee, Guy Carr- al, compass which speaks to Galen’s
Harris, Norman Bierman, Georgia character and is such an example to
Welles and Baillie, quicky grew as the us all. We are the few who owe Galen
enthusiasm proved contagious. and Hilary so very much for creating
Windsor, this magical community,
“We began with two guiding prin- this beautiful and special village by
ciples. It would be a member-driven the sea,” said Pringle.
initiative, although we recognized
that the Windsor staff and manage- Craig-Martin commented on the
ment have been extraordinarily sup- Westons’ legendary support of the
portive. And secondly, Hilary would arts, noting that they had graciously
make the decisions as to the form the introduced his work to Windsor in a
memorial would take, its location, and 2019 show.
any wording associated with the me-
morial,” said Baillie. “It was an honor and a challenge to
have been invited to create a sculp-
Valerie Pringle, a Canadian televi- ture in memory of Galen, who is so
sion host and a Windsor resident since greatly missed by all who had the

24 Vero Beach 32963 / January 5, 2023 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

PHOTOS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 23 Joss Bierman, Courtney Nelson, Steve Baine and David Nelson.
Valerie and Andy Pringle.

Frank and Sylviane Destribats with Laura Destribats and David Fleiss. Sir Michael Craig-Martin and Hilary Weston. Dick and Betsy DeVos with Gordon Nixon.

Charlie Baillie and Georgia Welles.

Alexandra, Helene, Helena and Brad Jefferson.

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 5, 2023 25

PEOPLE

Peter and Lori Gonye with Carl and Gigi Grimstad. Terry and Denise Scherck with Mary and Ren Carlson. Brady and Hannah Roberts with Sir Michael Craig-Martin.

Jan and Michelle Hagemeier with Craig Reicher.

Louise Larlee, Susan Perren and Hannah Freedberg.

Marilyn and Alexandra Baillie.
John Geany and Dr. Michaela Scott.

26 Vero Beach 32963 / January 5, 2023 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

Youth Guidance’s new program ‘homes’ in on helping parents

BY MARY SCHENKEL
Staff Writer

As it enters its 50th anniversary Phil Barnes and Elke Fetterolf. PHOTOS: STEPHANIE LABAFF Brian Connelly, Kathryn Casano Radecke and Wilfred Hart.
year, the Youth Guidance Mentoring
Academy is embarking upon a $1.5 dren who go home to a broken-home fundamental knowledge for high-
million Capital Campaign to turn its environment are less likely to thrive, demand HVAC, welding, plumbing,
62-year-old building into a state-of- they initiated a Parent Aid program carpentry and electric jobs.
the-art facility to house its mentor- that has been implemented by agen-
ing, life skills and workforce develop- cies in 23 other states. Trained staff With some 1,630 local trades con-
ment programs. spend up to nine months with the tractors paying an average annual
family, developing a plan where par- wage of about $55,600, Barnes said:
Youth Guidance was founded to ents become advocates for their chil- “That’s a great wage for our students
provide one-on-one and group men- dren’s success. to earn and start providing for them-
toring programs to children from selves and their families, to again,
low-income families. Today, in addi- For youth participants at the acad- break the cycle of poverty and be-
tion to mentorships, the expanded emy, the three main areas of focus are come self-sufficient adults.”
curricula of their afterschool and academics, life skills and vocational
summer programs teaches them the To be able to expand their cur-
skills needed to secure meaningful rent programs and add others, they
careers and lead productive, positive have partnered with Banov Archi-
lives. tects to completely reconfigure the
8,600-square-foot facility, currently a
Additionally, Phil Barnes, YG exec- maze-like warren filled with wasted
utive director, told guests at a break- space.
fast at the Quail Valley River Club,
“We’re now making strides in the Plans call for a commercial kitch-
home environment to better help the en and dining room, multipurpose
child achieve.” rooms with dividing walls, a work-
shop for in-house vocational train-
With the understanding that chil- ing, a state-of-the-art technology
center, a library and tutoring wing,
Trudie Rainone and Razvan Ilie. an outdoor terrace, garden, and an
outdoor play area.
trades. Students are given homework
help and additional training in areas “We are going to completely gut the
such as STEAM (science, technology, interior of the building and start from
engineering, arts and math), with scratch,” said Barnes.
a goal of having every one of their
students graduate high school or ad- Attorney Brian Connelly spoke
vance on time to the next grade level. emotionally about his own experi-
ence where, as the first YG mentee 49
Barnes said that while 98.7 percent years ago, he had been paired with
of their participants did just that, a loving, stable family who provided
their goal is 100 percent, “and we’re the guidance he needed. Ten years
getting closer to that every year.” ago, he and wife Laurie began men-
toring two boys, now 18 and 19, and
Life skills programs include sewing, he described the rewards on both
growing vegetables, creating budgets, sides as “incredible.”
basic food preparation, career skills
and recreational activities, with regu- “I firmly believe that breaking that
lar assessments to measure students’ cycle that is quicksand for so many
ability to perform certain tasks. kids in poverty is exactly what Youth
Guidance does for the kids today,”
Through vocational training they said Connelly, encouraging dona-
are readying the next generation tions to the organization.
to secure meaningful, high-paying
jobs. Students ages 12 to 18 can take “Its goals are doable. They’re not
part in a bicycle repair program and pipe dreams.”
keep the fruits of their labor.
For more information, visit Youth-
“And that’s really exciting because GuidanceProgram.org. 
some of our kids have never owned a
bicycle before,” said Barnes.

There is a boat mechanic program
in partnership with Youth Sailing
Foundation, as well as agricultur-
al and culinary programs. And a
state-certified pre-apprenticeship
program, for ages 16 to 24, teaches

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 5, 2023 27

PEOPLE

Pam O’Donnell and MIke Murphy. Martha Redner and Wanda Lincoln. Kathy Mulvey and Carol Kanarek.

Michelle Julian, Theresa Kilman and Francie Kirkpatrick. Steve Corrick and John Jaeger. Maureen Lee and Laurie Connelly.

Bernadette Emerick with Malaysia Campbell, Major Cypress and Dhalani Henry.

Laurie Collings, Dee Giannotti, Dee Locke and Mary Blair.

28 Vero Beach 32963 / January 5, 2023 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

Jake’s Flamingo Weekend doubles as hometown homage

BY KERRY FIRTH
Correspondent

There’s no place like home, accord- Cami and Rusty Cappelen with Jake Owen and Erica Hartlein. PHOTOS: JOSHUA KODIS
ing to country music star Jake Owen,
who returned to his hometown of Vero
Beach to host his 12th annual Flamin-
go Weekend. Once again, he brought
some of his country music friends to
join him in raising money for the Jake
Owen Foundation.

Proceeds from each of the week-
end’s events will provide financial as-
sistance to youth organizations and
charities in Indian River County and,
nationwide, through the St. Jude Chil-
dren’s Research Hospital in Memphis,
for children battling cancer and other
childhood diseases.

“I’ve been on the road a lot this year
and this is a great way to end it all,”
said Owen.

“Arriving here this week after
spending Thanksgiving with my fam-
ily and celebrating my granddaddy’s
100th birthday, and then seeing my
friends and supporters at the golfers’
reception at Quail Valley River Club,

I realized that my whole family, my “I didn’t know that I would be given
lifelong friends, my whole life, is right a voice to raise awareness, much less
here in Vero Beach.” round up people like y’all. Now I know
that if there is anything I’m good at,
The Flamingo Jam held at the Cor- it’s bringing people together. I’m so
porate Air Hangar was the highlight happy to see everyone here, the en-
of the Flamingo Weekend. Fans from tertainers, the golfers, the fans and
all around the country came to hear the whole community giving back to
Owen and his friends sing their hearts those in need,” he added.
out for charity. This year Owen, who
introduced each guest with heartfelt “I’ve been so lucky. My music career
accolades and tributes before they has been great, but my biggest joys in
performed, brought along former Ala- life are raising my two daughters and
bama lead singer Randy Owen, fellow giving back to others through the Jake
country icon Tracy Lawrence and tour Owen Foundation. What kind of per-
mate Travis Denning, an Opry Next- son you are and what you do with your
Stage recipient, to perform with him. life is what really matters.”

Owen wowed his rapt audience with In addition to the Flamingo Jam,
a few of his favorite hits and, of course, Owen and his golfing buddies had teed
brought the hometown crowd to its off to play in the Flamingo Golf Clas-
feet with “Beachin’,” written about our sic at Quail Valley Golf Club. Some of
own Vero Beach. the brightest rising talent in Nashville
were introduced during a Flamingo
“This man, Randy Owen, has raised Songwriter Series held at Waldos and
over $1 billion – yes, I said $1 billion the Vero Beach Hotel and Spa, and a
– for St. Jude Children’s Hospital,” Flamingo Fishing Classic on Sunday
Jake Owen exclaimed, before Randy at Riverside Café closed things out.
kept the crowd dancing and swaying
to “Mountain Music” and ‘’Feels so The Jake Owen Foundation, estab-
Right.” lished in 2010, is committed to helping
people in the places they call home,
PGA pro golfer John Daly, better raising nearly $5 million for charitable
known for his tournament titles than causes and other nonprofit organiza-
his singing prowess, proved he is a tions to date.
master at both after joining Jake on
stage to close out the show. Funding is primarily generated
though the Jake Owen Benefit Con-
“When I moved to Nashville, I didn’t cert, Songwriters Showcase and Fla-
know that I would do anything other mingo Golf Classic held annually in
than sing songs and play my guitar,” Vero Beach. 
said Owen.

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 5, 2023 29

PEOPLE

Jarrod Owen and Victoria Henson. Mitzi and Steve Owen with Nancy and Ray Hipp. PHOTOS CONTINUED ON PAGE 30
Joe Noto and Josh Del.

Nate Hall, Chris Lemmond, Johnathan Page and David Wender. Keith Gale and Matt Pingel. Carlene Spiegel, Kathy Mulvey and Marianne Sullivan.

POOL DECKS • DRIVEWAYS • WALKWAYS
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30 Vero Beach 32963 / January 5, 2023 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

PHOTOS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 29 Sheana Firth and Milo Thornton.
Taylor Cespedes and Bree Lemons.

Chris Mazzarella, Lance Padgett and Megan Padgett. Jake Owen. PHOTOS: BRITTANY NORAIR Jon Urbana and Jon Galletti.

(LOL) Laughing Out Loud Travis Denning.
Ray and Nancy Hipp, Linda Proctor, Mary Jane Dryer, and Sarah and David Owen.
With Carl Hiaasen

Come and Celebrate LRJF’s
30th Anniversary

THURSDAY, JANUARY 19, 2023 • 6:30 PM - 9 PM
The Community Church of Vero Beach

For More Information On Speaker Visit prhspeakers.com

General Tickets Include Live Speaker Event With Carl • 6:30 PM - 8 PM
Limited VIP Tickets Include the General Session
with Carl and Meet & Greet Event 8 PM - 9 PM

Tickets Available At:
lauraridingjackson.org/LRJFS-30thanniversary/

SCAN TO BUY TICKETS 

For More Info Call LRJF at (772) 569-6718

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 5, 2023 31

PEOPLE

Jarrod Owen and Victoria Henson. Dale and Matilde Sorensen. Sondra Parsons, Katie Neal and Courtney Haines.

Mitzi Owen and Nancy Hipp. Elisha Culpepper and Patrick Sullivan. Ellen Lane and Kristel Holtz Rath.

Meghan Beswick, Lauren Carroll, and Luke McBrien. Bill Mills, Mary Jane Mills, Monty Falls, Michelle Falls. April Porter, John and Betsy Rothermel, and Lauren Schwenk.

32 Vero Beach 32963 / January 5, 2023 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

Critters help spread the ‘tail’ of Busch Wildlife Sanctuary

BY STEPHANIE LaBAFF
Staff Writer

Things got a little wild at the O’Dare Amy Knight, Hoot (Great Horned owl), Stephanie MacWilliam, Emmy Tate Sexton, Susan Perry, Kate Perry and Jack Perry. PHOTOS: JOSHUA KODIS
Boga Group ONE Sotheby’s Interna-
tional Realty office during a series of owl and a great horned owl wisely
intimate gatherings that included al- seemed to ask, “If people don’t help
ligators, birds and snakes, oh my! take care of us ‘whoo’ will?”

Julia Busch, a recent addition to the Nigel, a brown pelican, wandered
team, chose to feature the wildlife around as if looking for a perma-
sanctuary her family has supported nent place to roost, winning the
for more than 30 years through the hearts of everyone in attendance,
Peter W. Busch Family Foundation despite his fishy breath, in his role
to rehabilitate wounded wildlife and
provide environmental education.
Each year, more than 150,000 people
visit the sanctuary, the only one of its
kind in the area, according to Peter
Busch.

The nonprofit cares for more than
6,000 native wildlife annually and,
although the goal is to rehabilitate
and re-release them, some 200 ani-
mals live at the sanctuary, unable to
be re-released, due to permanent in-
jury or habituation.

Among the menagerie brought to
the new office, an Eastern screech

Lisa Wynne, Julia Busch, Cindy O’Dare, Vanessa Bynum, Anne Wallace, Dan Downey and Richard Boga.

as a sanctuary ambassador. deer, foxes, raccoons, bald eagles,
Peter Busch explained that what bobcats, bears, Florida panthers, a
serpentarium, otter, alligator, croco-
started as a small hospital has evolved dile, tortoises, state-of-the-art reha-
over the years as injuries to native wild- bilitation facilities for each species,
life continue to increase. Education is an avian flight complex, amphithe-
an essential component in their quest ater and education facilities.
to reduce wildlife injuries, 98 percent
of which are caused by humans. “The great thing about the Busch
Wildlife Sanctuary is how it is
“The more that we can get people reaching out to the public and how
to realize how important this is, the through education we’re able to not
better it is for the animals,” he added. only try to save these magnificent
creatures that live in the state of
“We definitely would not be where Florida but also engage young kids
we are if it weren’t for the kindness of so that they’re able to realize how
the Busch family and the Busch Fam- important it is for us to live in perpe-
ily Foundation, who partnered with a tuity and harmony with these crea-
very small wildlife hospital decades tures,” said David Busch.
ago and turned it into what it is to-
day,” said Amy Kight, BWR executive “As the animals continue to lose
director. their habitat and more and more
people move to the area, it’s impor-
Having outgrown their current fa- tant for us to raise awareness about
cility, they have raised about $6 mil- all the beautiful animals that live in
lion toward an $18 million Capital our area. The Busch Wildlife Sanc-
Campaign to increase the sanctuary’s tuary is a very special place,” added
size from its current 11-acre property, Julia Busch.
leased from the Loxahatchee River
District, to a newly purchased 20- For more information, visit
acre property in Jupiter Farms. buschwildlife.org. 

The expansion will include habitat
areas for several varieties of birds,

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 5, 2023 33

PEOPLE

Isla Dyer and Gertie Busch. Landon Schlitt and Juno. Liz and Rob Kusch.

Liliana Defago and Kristin Dobson.

Jordan and Sayre Schwiering with Pia.
Ron and Kathy Edwards.

34 Vero Beach 32963 / January 5, 2023 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PETS

Color Bonz amused by best-bud bros Bodhi and Vero

Hi Dog Buddies! pawsome. (Which we Totally BPoHOdThO:iJO&SHUAVKOeDrISo. “Troo!” agreed Bodhi. “I usta be a
ARE!) We’re high-po-aller-GEN- Grazer, but now, with this goofball
Bodhi an Vero Strouse were the per- ick, an don’t shed. Much. Plus, they should get a ever-ready to grab my dinner, I hafta
fect joyful innerviewees for the Christ- we’re Verry Smart. An lovable. Partner-in-Crime for Bodhi, is how they gobble it right up. But, bottom line,
mas/New Year holidays. You HAD to be So, when Momma an Dad were put it. An at the same time our human he’s my Liddle Brother an I’ve gotta
in a Good Mood from hangin’ out with lookin’ for a pooch, a fren of sister Ashley an her huz-bun Lee up in make sure nothing bad befalls him.”
that pair. Momma’s knew someone on o-HI-o also wanted to get a pooch. They
the eye-lun in Wabasso who all wisely decided to get a Wooo-dle, so “That’s PAWsome,” I said with ad-
A nice man an lady answered the door, knew someone who hadda lit- Momma an Dad got me, an Ashley an miration. Then, to Vero, “Where’d
with two frenly, curly-haired, long-leg- ter. (MY litter!) Momma went Lee got my brother, from a famly in o- you get that Cool Kibbles name?”
gedy doggos bounce-bounce-bouncin’ to see us, an I right away KNEW HI-o.”
up for welcoming Wag-an-Sniffs. “We’re she was My Furever Mom. I “Momma an Dad an our other hu-
SO STOKED you’re gonna write about us sat in her lap an snuggled to “I’ll tell this part,” Bodhi said. “Me an man sister Chelsea an her husbun
in the PAY-per,” said the one with the red make sure she knew it, too. Of Momma an Dad were livin’ down here Gary were thinkin’ what to call me an
collar. “I’m Bodhi Strouse. I’m 4. I’m a course, she did. by then, so we all drove up to o-HI-o. Chelsea said, ‘Well, you live in Vero an
Golden Doodle! This is my liddle brother Ackshully, at the time, I thought we were you really, really love it an it’s a nice
Vero, our Momma, Karen, an our Dad, “I’ve always been a Very Good Boy, but, just visitin’. Me, an my o-HI-o pooch pals name so … why not call him Vero?’
Darryl.” when Momma an Dad came to pick me Maggie an Chandler and this other silly Everybody agreed. I think it’s Totally
up, I was only 8 weeks old. Altho I didn’t liddle pupper had fun playin’ together. Crispy Biscuits, too. Don’t you?”
“Golden?” I blurted, having noticed need Mommy Milk anymore, I cried. All “Abso-woofin’-lutely!” I replied. “U-
both pooches were totally black. the way home. An all night. Night after “But THEN, when it was time to go, neek, even. So what kinda stuff do you
night. Then, my human brother Christo- Momma an Dad plopped HIM into the like to do? Any pooch pals?”
“I KNOW. It’s a liddle confusin’, me pher, an his wife Hillary told Momma an back seat! With ME! I had No Idea this “I love toys,” said Vero, “speshully my
bein’ a not-golden Golden Doodle. All Dad they should let me sleep in their bed nutty, bouncy liddle twerp was going chewy alligator. No stuffies, tho. I kinda
eight of us littermates are black, like our an, when I got wiggly, they should take HOME with us. I was like, ‘WHA-AT? duh-molish ’em!”
pooch-Mama, even though our pooch- me outside to P. Dad said ‘ABSOLUTELY Sharin’ MY backseat? I don’t THINK so!’ “I’m not into toys,” noted Bodhi. “I do
Dad is golden.” NO!’ But I kept cryin’ every night so fi- But it was TROO! I looked at Momma love Tug with Rings. And, sometimes,
nally he said ‘FINE, then!!’ an Dad in disbelief. ‘WHAT HAVE YOU Fetch. We play with Jax, a Golden Doo-
“An,” piped up Vero, turning from my DONE?’” dle, when she visits from o-HI-o with
notebook, which he had been studiously “I still sleep with Momma an Dad. Chelsea an Gary; an Dixie, a Labradoo-
snuffling. “I’m a WOOO-DLE!” So does Vero. An I’ve NEVER, EVER P’d “Yeah,” explained Vero. “He usta growl dle down the street, who we stay with
where I shouldn’t. I usta hafta stay in my at me or ignore me, which was hard when Momma an Dad are Away.”
“A what?” I asked, even more con- crate when Momma an Dad were away, cuzza me bein’ a bouncy puppy an all. Headin’ home, I was thinkin’ about
fused. but now I don’t. We stay in our speshull But, finally, I guess he ree-lized he’s my the two energetic, fun-loving brothers,
room (AKA Momma’s office), where I Big Brother, Totally The Boss. I’m good livin’ their Best Life with their Furever
“Sorry, Mr. Bonz,” replied Bodhi, on sit on My Couch by the front window with that. I just wanna puppy around all Family. An thinkin’ about making a
behaff of his liddle brother. “A Woodle’s an watch for Momma an Dad to come the time anyhow. He doesn’t mind ’cept Doodle/Poodle/Woodle/Noodle Chart
a mixture of a Wheaton Terrier anna home. when I, on occasion, sneak a liddle tidbit to learn more about a Big Segment of the
poodle breed.” from his bowl. Pooch Population.
“I also usta chew stuff a lot, soft stuff
“What he said,” agreed Vero. like rugs, BLANK-utts, PILL-ohs, COME- The Bonz
“I appreciate the clarification,” I said, fer-ters. But not anymore.”
writing as fast as I could. “It IS a liddle Don’t Be Shy
con-fusing at first. I must compliment “How ’bout YOU, Vero? What’s your
you both on your Exceedingly Cheerful, tail?” Vero trotted over from where he’d We are always looking for pets
Crispy Biscuits Diss-paw-ZISS-shuns! been hangin’ out with my assistant, get- with interesting stories.
So, how did you meet your Furever Fam- ting under-the-chin scratches.
ly?” To set up an interview, email
“I’ll go first cuzza bein’ oldest,” said “I’ve only been here since something [email protected].
Bodhi. called Aug … Aug …”
I turned a page, an Bodhi began. “So,
back in o-HI-o, Momma an Dad had “August,” said Bodhi.
some frens who had Golden Doodles, “Right, August, whatever that is. Any-
which Momma an Dad thought were way, Momma an Dad thought maybe



36 Vero Beach 32963 / January 5, 2023 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT COVER STORY

Xi Jinping was 13 when he was dragged into a court-
yard and forced to don a dunce’s cap. The iron cone, so
heavy that he had to prop it up with both hands, was cov-
ered in Chinese characters that revealed his crime: Xi was
a counter-revolutionary. The crowd shouted “down with
Xi Jinping”. By the stage sat Xi Jinping’s mother, pumping
her fist in the air and chanting along with the hordes.

That was 1966 and the Cultural Revolution was just
getting going. Xi ended up in a detention center for the
children of purged government officials. Sometime af-
ter his mother was forced to denounce him, Xi escaped
through a window and ran home in the pouring rain:
“Mum, I’m hungry,” he said, his teeth chattering. His
mother tossed him back out into the night in his sodden
clothes, stomach still rumbling. Then she reported him
– two of her other children were at home and hadn’t yet
been denounced.

These were years of isolation and terror. Aged 16, Xi
Jinping was sent to the countryside to learn from the
peasants, along with millions of other young, urban Chi-
nese. The first time he came across meat there, he was so
hungry he ate it raw.

More than half a century on, that frightened runaway
now sits at the helm of the party that once threatened
to crush his entire family. When he was anointed leader
of the Chinese Communist Party in 2012, some hoped
that this victim of its brutal machinery might gradually
reform it. Instead, Xi Jinping’s China is the world’s most
surveilled state, defined by control and his own personal
command.

After the madness unleashed by Mao, his successors
vowed never to let a single person hold such sway again:
responsibilities would be shared by leaders; decisions
would be made by consensus. Xi has ripped up that rule
book, consolidating power in himself and scrapping
a convention that leaders are limited to two five-year
terms. The future of China’s 1.4 billion people, and so
many more people beyond, hinges on the mind of one
man. Yet so tightly controlled is the flow of information
about him, that only through excavating his past can we
glean clues about what makes him tick.

Xi had once been expected to hand over power at last
year’s party congress in Beijing. Instead, the 2,300 mem-
bers of the Communist Party present – and all of China
– were required to applaud Xi as he embarked on a third

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 5, 2023 37

INSIGHT COVER STORY

term of office, unprecedented since Mao. The boy who Many members of the party elite,
once withstood humiliation and starvation at the hands including Xi Jinping’s father, were
of his peers showed that no one, now, can defy him. publicly denounced in the Cultural
Revolution.
Xi Jinping wasn’t the only member of his family to be
cast down. By the time he experienced his own humilia-
tion, his father, Xi Zhongxun, had already been purged as
a close adviser to Mao. During the decade-long Cultural
Revolution, Mao Zedong tried to oust his critics by un-
leashing mobs loyal to him, called Red Guards, who beat,
tortured and killed anyone they saw as an enemy.

The Xi family remember their patriarch sitting at home
silently, alone and in darkness. He was subjected to “self-
criticism” sessions and repeatedly hounded by Red
Guards. On one occasion they “blinded him with a spot-
light and screamed in his ears through a megaphone,”
according to Xi Jinping’s sister. Xi Zhongxun was sent
away, first to a distant factory, then to a labor camp: Xi
Jinping didn’t see his father for seven years.

There were other sorrows, too. The family home was
ransacked. Xi was repeatedly locked up and forced to do
hard labor. At one point, Red Guards threatened to kill
him: “They said I deserved to be shot 100 times,” Xi Jin-
ping said in an interview published in 2000. “I thought

Xi’s father, Xi Zhongxun, was a close adviser to Mao During the Cultural Revolution,
Red Guards beat, tortured and
being shot once is no different from being shot 100 times killed anyone they saw as an
so what’s there to be afraid of?” enemy.

Worse was to come. One of his sisters, also persecuted
by Red Guards, committed suicide. (In public, Xi Jinping
has talked of only four events in his life that made him
cry. Her death is one of them.)

In many ways Xi Jinping’s experience of China in the
1960s was far from unique. It was his response to the bit-
terness that made him unusual. When the Cultural Revo-
lution ended with Mao’s death in 1976, many rehabilitat-
ed “princelings” – children of revolutionary families such
as Xi’s – drank and dated, lapped up Western movies and

COVER STORY CONTINUED ON PAGE 38

38 Vero Beach 32963 / January 5, 2023 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 37 INSIGHT COVER STORY

“The Little Red Book” was founding royalty. He grew up in a gated compound re-
required reading in Mao’s China. served for the party elite and peopled with nannies, se-
curity guards and housekeepers at a time when most of
the country eked out an existence. His father had three
children from his first marriage and four from his second.

Xi was the second-youngest. All of them attended the
country’s top schools.

Life wasn’t entirely luxurious. To keep the frugality and

Students relied on public notices to find out
which leaders were no longer in favor.

books. Others concluded that the system was irrevocably discipline of the revolution alive, Xi Zhongxun forced his
broken and left China. son to wear hand-me-downs. “I had one older brother
but four older sisters so it wasn’t great,” Xi once remem-
Xi did something different. He “chose to survive by be- bered. “Floral clothes, floral shoes, there was no way I’d
coming redder than the red” as one insider put it. Rather ever want to wear any of this stuff but I had no option.”
than turn away from the ideals of the revolution, he de-
cided to dedicate himself to it. The problem during the His father was also a brutal disciplinarian. Xi had to re-
Cultural Revolution wasn’t the party itself, he concluded. main standing until his father sat down. He’d be smacked
It was that the party had lost control. if he didn’t kowtow to his father properly at Chinese new
year, according to a family friend.
He likes football, claims to swim 1,000 meters a day
and is a fan of “Sleepless in Seattle,” “The Godfather” and In 1985 Xi spent two weeks in America
“Saving Private Ryan.” These are among the short, care- with a Chinese delegation.
fully choreographed list of details we know about the
world’s most powerful man. Most of all, Xi and his siblings were raised to believe
they were the inheritors of Mao’s great cause. “He would
We have far more detail on his official backstory – the tell us that we too would be revolutionaries,” said Xi in an
hardships he suffered when, along with millions of other interview in 2003.
urban Chinese, he spent years toiling in the countryside
in a remote village in the 1960s. These fables tell us how They didn’t all follow the red-brick road. Xi Jinping’s
Xi wants to be seen: a man who withstood great pain be- younger brother, Yuanping (the one who visited him in
fore rising to his rightful place in the highest office. the countryside), became “both obese and very wealthy…
sporting expensive jewellery and designer clothing”
The approved narrative of Xi’s early years, parroted in in Hong Kong, where he moved while it was still under
articles, books and television shows produced by China’s British rule, according to the diplomatic cable. His sister
propaganda machinery, is part of what gives Xi credibility An’an left China for Canada.
in China.
Xi, meanwhile, was working the family name. With Mao
Chinese state television documentaries with titles such gone, Xi’s father was back in government, an eager sup-
as “The Scholar in the Cave”, tell how Xi came to see the porter of the new Chinese leader, Deng Xiaoping, who was
errors of his entitled ways: after just a few months in the opening up China’s economy. With the help of his father,
countryside, he fled back to Beijing but was arrested and in 1979 Xi got a cushy job as a private secretary to a top
made to join a hard-labor gang laying sewer pipes. general, Geng Biao, who had been asked to modernize
and strengthen the People’s Liberation Army after China
It is useful for Xi to circulate such anecdotes partly be- suffered unexpected losses in a brief war with Vietnam.
cause he was not, in fact, like other Chinese. His father
had fought alongside Mao to forge the communist revolu- The next year, Xi married Ke Lingling, the daughter of
tion, and became one of the chairman’s right-hand men.

After Mao took power, the Xi family held a privileged
position as a “red family,” part of the Communist Party

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 5, 2023 39

INSIGHT COVER STORY

the then-Chinese ambassador to Britain. The couple re- finally reaching the top of the party, an uneasy feeling be-
portedly fought a lot, and three years into the marriage, Xi’s gan to spread that its grip on power might be wavering.
wife wanted to return to London. Xi had different ideas. He
left his army position for a low-level job as the number-two When Xi assumed power in 2012, some observers were
official in a rural county in Hebei province. Xi Jinping and cautiously optimistic that his ascent pointed to a more
his wife split up: Xi knew his future was in China. cordial future between China and the United States. In
1985, Xi had spent two weeks in America with a delegation
In the spring of 1989 huge pro-democracy demonstra- of five other Chinese officials. After his hosts found out Xi
tions broke out in Beijing. The protests exacerbated ex- had read Mark Twain, they took a boat out on the Missis-
isting splits in the party and the hardliners won: on June sippi. Xi went to a potluck dinner and tried popcorn for the
4th, Deng Xiaoping ordered troops to clear Tiananmen first time. Even Xi’s second wife looked like the model of
Square. Hundreds, if not thousands, of demonstrators an American First Lady compared with her less glamorous
were killed in the surrounding area. forebears. The couple had sent their daughter to Harvard
University. The cold war was over. Hadn’t America won?
This infamous scene wasn’t the only site of turmoil.
By then, Xi was the top official in Ningde, one of the big- Yet Xi Jinping had drawn a very different conclusion
gest towns in the mountainous province of Fujian. Even from the end of the cold war. The intensity of his feelings
before the carnage in the capital, Xi stopped a convoy of didn’t become clear until a speech he gave much later, in
students entering Ningde to join the protests. He behaved 2012, in which he attributed the fall of the Soviet Union
exactly as the party hardliners wanted. Then he gave a to ordinary people losing faith in a corrupt party with a
speech invoking the traumas of the Cultural Revolution: hollow ideology. “Why must we stand firm on the party’s
“Can these days be repeated? Without stability and unity, leadership over the military?” Xi said. “Because that’s the
lesson from the collapse of the Soviet Union.” The Soviet
On June 4th 1989 People’s Liberation Army leadership was so weak that it lost control. And when
troops opened fire on protesters in Beijing. Gorbachev allowed the breakup to happen, Xi said, “no-
body was man enough to stand up and resist.”
nothing is possible.” His new wife Peng Liyuan, a singer
famous across China for her patriotic hits, even sang to Xi clearly thought that he was man enough. After his ex-
the troops in Beijing after the massacre. periences during the Cultural Revolution, and nearly two
decades navigating the corruption, crime and extraordi-
During the 1990s, as China’s economy roared, and of- nary changes in Fujian, Xi knew how power worked.
ficials and businessmen sought to make a quick buck,
the biggest corruption scandal in the history of the Peo- In appointing Xi as the country’s leader, the Commu-
ple’s Republic took place in Fujian. Somehow, Xi Jinping nist Party elders had chosen a true believer, someone for
somehow came out of it looking like the only clean offi- whom the party was an inheritance to be protected. For
cial in the province. How did he escape? Perhaps he could Xi, ensuring that China does not follow the fate of the So-
viet Union means ensuring the party never loses its way
Xi Jinping spent 17 years in Fujian again – the chaos of the Cultural Revolution or the pro-
province rising through the ranks. democracy protests of 1989 cannot be repeated.

As far as Xi is concerned, only he is qualified to navigate
the passage. But even the elders may have underestimated
just how far Xi Jinping was prepared to take this belief – and
what it might mean for China and the rest of the world. 

afford to be incorruptible, at least as far as money was In the 1980s Xi was seen as a diligent party official
concerned. Or maybe he was saved by his father’s name,
or cut a deal. We may never know.

For Xi, the 1990s were a period of steady ascent. After 17
years in Fujian, he was promoted to lead a wealthy province
nearby, then parachuted into Shanghai to clean up a cor-
ruption scandal involving the city’s recently ousted leader.
In 2007, he was anointed heir-apparent. But just as Xi was

40 Vero Beach 32963 / January 5, 2023 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT EDITORIAL

The long-awaited cancer vaccine that cancer cells use to hide from the Another measure that eventually sales in 2023. Bancel suggested that the
revolution is getting a little closer to re- immune system. Amazingly, the com- could accelerate the development of vaccine might even make possible re-
ality. New data from Moderna Inc. and bination worked. the melanoma vaccine would be to sponses in tumors where Keytruda has
Merck & Co. suggest that after decades simplify the vaccine’s components. failed, either on its own or by acting syn-
of failures, researchers are finally figur- Moderna had been working on vac- ergistically with Merck’s drug.
ing out the right way to design a vac- cines for cancer for more than a decade Researchers also would like to un-
cine that can teach immune cells how when the coronavirus pandemic hit, derstand whether certain types of tu- That’s an optimistic claim – worth
to recognize and combat tumors. prompting the company to pivot to de- mors rely on common drivers that, if studying, but a feat that has eluded other
veloping a Covid shot that, along with a discovered, could be the foundation cancer immunotherapies. Melanoma is
Last month, the companies said that similar one developed by Pfizer Inc. and for a more broadly designed vaccine what’s known as a “hot” tumor, or one
when used in concert with Merck’s can- BioNTech, became the first widespread that could have some tailor-made that features many mutations and has
cer immunotherapy Keytruda, Mod- commercial application of mRNA tech- components sprinkled in. plenty of immune cells milling about,
erna’s mRNA cancer vaccine reduced nology. ready to be pushed into doing their can-
the risk of certain skin cancers from re- Burton says that Moderna so far cer-killing job. It’s reasonable to be hope-
turning or patient deaths by 44 per cent Building a successful cancer vaccine hasn’t seen any common drivers that ful that Moderna’s vaccine could extend
compared with Keytruda alone. will be much more difficult. Moderna could help generalize components of Keytruda’s benefits in other hot tumors,
starts with a biopsy of a patient’s tumor, the vaccine, but that data are limited such as those found in lung cancer.
That number justly generated a lot of which it then sequences and uses arti- — and the hope is that some clues
excitement. It’s the first time an mRNA- ficial intelligence to pick out the muta- might emerge as the vaccine is used But “cold” tumors, or ones without
based cancer vaccine has proven itself tions likely allowing the cancer to thrive. and many more people are treated. that crowd of immune cells ready to be
in a randomized study, and with an un- Then, mRNAs encoded for the most activated, are a tougher proposition. In
ambiguously positive outcome. relevant cancer-driving proteins are Scientists also still need to study the an earlier small study of the Moderna
packed inside a delivery system called a best way to use this vaccine for long- vaccine in solid tumors, none of the pa-
But there are a lot of steps between lipid nanoparticle, the same kind of de- term suppression of cancer, consider- tients with colon cancer – a notoriously
achieving early, positive data for a sub- livery method used in Covid vaccines. ing, for example, whether people need “cold” tumor – responded, Bauman says.
set of melanoma patients and develop- to continue taking it every three weeks
ing a widely accessible, cost-effective From tumor biopsy to first vaccine for life, or if they can get by with a pe- Another immense challenge is the
treatment. Among the more daunting dose, the process can take between riodic boost. And if someone’s disease very high likely cost of a personalized
challenges: The vaccine needs to be tai- eight and 10 weeks, says Moderna Chief progresses, does the vaccine itself need therapy on top of Keytruda, which on
lored to the genetic makeup of an indi- Medical Officer Paul Burton. to be retooled to match new mutations its own carries a list price of around
vidual patient’s tumors. that might have cropped up? $185,000 per year.
Now imagine doing that for a com-
The study was small, enrolling just 157 mercial drug earmarked for thousands Perhaps the biggest question right All that money flowing into Mod-
melanoma patients who had undergone rather than for a few hundred people in now is whether the effect seen in mela- erna’s cancer vaccine will teach the
surgery to remove any signs of their can- a controlled study. There are nearly noma can be extended to other types field not just about that one product,
cer. Unlike vaccines the public is used to 100,000 cases of melanoma annually of cancer. Moderna Chief Executive but how to design, test and use other
taking – mass-produced shots that aim in the U.S.. While most cases are curable Officer Stephane Bancel said the com- ones. Let’s hope that’s the catalyst for
to prevent people from catching a con- when detected early, more than 7,500 pany is moving aggressively into Phase the true cancer vaccine revolution, one
tagious disease like the flu or polio, Mod- people die every year of the disease. 3 studies with the belief that “anywhere that could convert cancer from a lethal
erna’s cancer vaccine instead is intended Keytruda works, this should work.” illness into a chronic, stable disease. 
to keep the disease from returning. Bringing down the “needle-to-nee-
dle” time between biopsy and immu- Keytruda, meanwhile, is approved to A version of this column by Lisa Jar-
The hope was that the vaccine would nization will be critical to ensuring the treat a long list of cancers beyond mela- vis first appeared on Bloomberg. It does
amplify the already substantial benefit treatment is practical and accessible noma – so many, in fact, that it’s expect- not necessarily reflect the views of Vero
of Keytruda, which blocks a method to anyone who might benefit from it. ed to bring in more than $24 billion in 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 / January 5, 2023 41

INSIGHT OP-ED

What happened to Stefanie Rogers' investigation, that the package was de- continues to insist that you received your search for your missing Christmas
Christmas tree? And why won't Home livered correctly. the tree and that you even signed for it. tree. But what's the solution? The fix
Depot refund her for the plastic Tan- But you insist that’s not true. Home Depot had in mind – your asking
nenbaum she never received? The Wells Fargo investigation is un- FedEx and then going to war with Wells
derway. FedEx advised me to have It's interesting that Home Depot Fargo – puts the burden entirely on you
QUESTION: Home Depot file a lost package claim, publishes a page on its site about on- to come up with a solution.
but Home Depot states they do not file line orders but never ad-dresses the
I ordered a $390 Christmas tree from this type of claim. possibility that your shipment fails Instead, Home Depot should take
Home Depot to be shipped to my to get delivered. I mean, you can't be ownership of this problem. You didn't
home. I did not receive the item. I have now purchased a second tree the first to whom this has happened. get your Christmas tree, so the first or-
Home Depot advised me to contact and would like my money back for the der of business is getting you a Christ-
FedEx and my credit card company, one I did not receive. Can you help me? However, Home Depot publishes a mas tree. If you had to buy another tree,
Wells Fargo. FedEx opened a case but vision statement that promises "quality then Home Depot should have refund-
later emailed me and stated, per their ANSWER: products, service, price and selection" ed the one that never arrived. And it
and says it will "go the extra mile to give should be the responsibility of the busi-
Home Depot should have delivered customers knowledgeable advice about ness – not you – to get this resolved.
your Christmas tree as promised. But merchandise and to help them use those
instead, it looks like it handed off the products to their maximum benefit." A brief, polite email to one of the
tree to FedEx, which then claimed that Home Depot executive contacts listed
it delivered your tree. You say it didn't. I think it's safe to say Home Depot is on Elliott.org, my con-sumer advocacy
not living up to that vision statement by site, might have gotten things moving in
The online chat between you and referring you to FedEx and your bank in the right direction. But by the time you
Home Depot is pretty illuminating. It contacted me, Christmas was almost
here and you wanted some good news.

I contacted Home Depot on your
behalf. The company apologized for
you not receiving your Christmas tree
and refunded your $390. 

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





44 Vero Beach 32963 / January 5, 2023 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT BOOKS

In May 2021, Colonial Pipeline Co. paid some $4.4 a massive undeciphered of transactions that had
million in cryptocurrency to hackers who were hold- corpus of an ancient lan- previously been unlinked.”
ing its computer systems hostage. The culprits were guage, hid a wealth of se-
part of a cybercriminal ransomware gang known as crets in plain view.” If you understand this
DarkSide, and the group helpfully provided the com- much about the me-
pany with an address for a digital wallet where Colo- What Meikeljohn dis- chanics of bitcoin and
nial could deposit the ransom. covered – and Greenberg the blockchain, then the
lays out so well – is that whole smoky world of
Cryptocurrency such as bitcoin has become the there was a way to collapse crypto starts to open up.
currency of choice for cybercriminals who believe some of bitcoin’s addresses You can piece together
that using it protects them from law enforcement be- into single identities. Some- how law enforcement has
cause it is anonymous and untraceable. times a bitcoin transaction
comes from several differ- managed to claw back
It turns out they are only half right. Less than a ent addresses – as if, for a ransoms (as in the Co-
month after Colonial paid DarkSide, the Justice De- $10 transaction, you pulled lonial Pipeline case) and
partment was able to claw back nearly half of the a $5 bill out of your pocket lift the curtain on how
ransom. How could that happen with an untraceable and fished another one out cybersecurity and threat
currency? Technology journalist Andy Greenberg ex- of your wallet. Bitcoin soft- intelligence companies
plains in his new, immensely readable book, “Tracers ware makes that transaction have started tracing
in the Dark: The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of by listing two addresses as
Cryptocurrency.” inputs, and then whoever re- cryptocurrency trans-
ceives them as one output. actions back to their
An editor and reporter at Wired, Greenberg is source – not as manu-
known for his ability to explain complicated technol- That’s a pattern you can see ally as Meiklejohn has
ogy in a way anyone can understand, and he doesn’t on the blockchain – and that done, but with soft-
disappoint when he tackles crypto. Among other was Meikeljohn’s epiphany. ware designed for that
things, he explains that cryptocurrency’s giant public “She scanned her blockchain purpose.
ledger, the “instantaneous check of the blockchain, database for every multi-input
the unforgeable public record of who possessed every transaction, linking all those double, triple or even “Tracers in the Dark”
single bitcoin,” isn’t quite as secret as criminals had hundredfold inputs to single identities,” Greenberg doesn’t stop there. With the fundamentals ex-
imagined. writes. “The result immediately reduced the number plained, Greenberg takes readers on a romp through
of potential Bitcoin users from twelve million to date some of the most infamous dark web takedowns in re-
“In Bitcoin, for good and for ill, everyone was wit- to around five million, slicing away more than half of cent memory: the 2½-year track and trace that identi-
ness to every payment … [which] offered an enor- the problem.” fied the founder of the Silk Road market, 29-year-old
mous collection of data to analyze,” he writes. “Who Texan Ross Ulbricht; the 25-year-old Quebecois en-
could say what sorts of patterns might give away us- Meiklejohn then started buying random things with trepreneur, Alexandre Cazes, who masterminded the
ers who thought they were cleverer than those watch- bitcoin to see how the wallets worked, and she dis- drug market that took its place, AlphaBay. The stories
ing them?” covered a quirk. “Many Bitcoin wallets only allowed are the stuff of thrillers, complete with stakeouts and
spenders to pay the entire amount of coins sitting at missed opportunities.
To tell his story, Greenberg assembles an unusual a certain address,” Greenberg explains. “Each address Greenberg specializes in taking complicated tech
cast of characters, from IRS and DEA agents to math- was like a piggy bank that has to be smashed open and making it understandable. His last book, “Sand-
ematicians such as Sarah Meiklejohn at the Univer- to spend the coin inside. Spend less than the whole worm: A New Era of Cyberwar and the Hunt for the
sity of California at San Diego, who first heard about amount in that piggy bank and the leftovers have to Kremlin’s Most Dangerous Hackers,” was a prescient
bitcoin in 2011, during her PhD studies. She had been be stored in a newly created piggy bank.” cautionary tale about Russia’s hacker corps and its
focused on privacy research, studying things like sys- vicious cyberattacks against Ukraine. He has now
tems that would allow people to pay road tolls with- So if you are paying someone “6 bitcoins from a done something equally deft in demystifying cryp-
out revealing their personal movements or how ther- 10-coin address … your change, 4 coins, is stored at tocurrency. 
mal cameras could be used to track the codes people a new address, which your wallet software creates for
punched into ATMs. you,” Greenberg writes. And that address where your TRACERS IN THE DARK
change is sent can be used as an identifier. Meikle-
When she began to dig into the blockchain, she john realized that if she could “link the change ad- THE GLOBAL HUNT FOR THE
saw a puzzle that could be solved. “Yes, identities dresses to the addresses they had split off from, she
behind those payments were obscured by pseudony- could make her own signposts. She could follow the CRIME LORDS OF CRYPTOCURRENCY
mous addresses, long strings of between twenty-six money despite its branching paths. The result was
and thirty-five characters,” Greenberg writes. “But to that Meiklejohn could now link together entire chains BY ANDY GREENBERG | DOUBLEDAY. 367 PP. $32.50
Meikeljohn, this seemed like an inherently dangerous REVIEW BY DINA TEMPLE-RASTON, THE WASHINGTON POST
sort of fig leaf to hide behind. … The blockchain, like

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 5, 2023 45

INSIGHT BRIDGE

NORTH

TRICKS PAY BETTER THAN POINTS A

By Phillip Alder - Bridge Columnist 83

All beginners learn that they need about 26 points for game in no-trump or a major Q 10 4 2
and 29 points for game in a minor. At best, these are rough guidelines. When there
are voids and singletons around, often it is possible to make game with far fewer WEST A 10 9 6 5 2
points. In “Moonraker,” James Bond made seven clubs redoubled with 8 high-card K64 EAST
points in his hand and a Yarborough in the dummy. Of course, it didn’t hurt that he A K Q 10 6 2
knew the deck had been rigged. Today’s deal was also unusual. The North-South J QJ9752
hands contained no voids, only one singleton and just 19 combined points, but K87
Bond brought home his five-diamond contract. J75

Cover the East-West hands. West cashed the heart king and heart ace (leading king 975
from ace-king at the five-level and higher) before shifting to a spade. Bond drew
trumps in three rounds, West having a singleton. How did declarer continue? J

Three diamonds was a brave 007 bid, but the secondary club support strengthened SOUTH
his hand.
10 8 3
Bond had to play the club suit for no losers. There were two chances: West had
a singleton king or East a singleton jack. In the former case, Bond would cash 94
dummy’s club ace, then finesse East out of his jack. In the latter, he would lead the
queen from his hand, pinning East’s jack and finessing West out of his king. AK863

Which was more likely? Given that West had a singleton diamond, he was unlikely Q43
to have a singleton club as well. Therefore, Bond led the club queen from his hand.
When the jack appeared from East, Bond claimed his contract and smiled at his Dealer: West; Vulnerable: East-West
partner, Miss Moneypenny.
The Bidding:

SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST OPENING
3 Diamonds 1 Hearts 2 Clubs 2 Hearts
4 Hearts 5 Diamonds All Pass LEAD:
K Hearts

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46 Vero Beach 32963 / January 5, 2023 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT GAMES

SOLUTIONS TO PREVIOUS ISSUE (DECEMBER 29) ON PAGE 66

ACROSS DOWN
1 Tote (5) 2 Collided (7)
4 Fine; authorise (4) 2 Herb (8)
7 Sheepish noises?(4) 3 Thine (5)
8 Rising punch (8) 4 Monster (4)
9 Signature tune (5,4) 5 Sky blue (5)
10 Bishopric (3) 6 Cleaning item (6)
12 Soared (anag.) (6) 11 Desperate-looking (4-4)
14 Draw out (6) 13 Hi-fi (6)
16 Rowing paddle (3) 15 Prudential, e.g. (7)
18 Type of Christian (9) 17 Drying frame (5)
21 Sweater top (4,4) 19 Long-range pedestrian (5)
22 Famous bishopric(4) 20 Get; stick (4)
23 Haul; bore (4)
24 Detection system (5)

The Telegraph

How to do Sudoku:

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

The Telegraph

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 5, 2023 47

INSIGHT GAMES

ACROSS 86 Swinish remark 45 Figurative try The Washington Post
1 First position 87 Swinish retreat 46 Harry S’s successor
5 Ms. Dickinson 88 “Rule, Britannia!” 48 Ehrich Weiss PERSONALITY BREAKDOWN By Merl Reagle
10 It has a staff position 50 Got older
14 Belt’s cousin composer 51 Sundae, e.g.
19 Where polo originated 89 Aussie animal + Close to + 52 Paeans
20 Unleashed 54 Flipper?
21 Eiffel’s eye Precipice = Media exec 56 Within reach, as quotas
22 Kidder 92 Kin of “Count me in” 60 Write
23 Stigma + Scenery chewer 93 1950s singer Julius 61 ___ a million
94 Lou’s partner 62 Hanks film
+ Nauseous 95 Some guy + Pat + 63 A Christmas Carol ghost
= Actor 64 In a snit
25 Least amount + Greatest Veronica = Actress 65 Soprano Tebaldi
amount + Train = Actor 100 Stair steadiers 66 Like fresh cake
27 Interrupt rudely: slang 105 Took a chance + Kennedy 69 The word before “the night
28 Radio need
+ Partition + Wise guy = + Car company = Actress before ...”
Journalist 106 Natural 70 U.A.E. neighbor
29 W.C. Handy’s birthpl. 71 Impulse carriers
30 Garden statuary + Shampoo brand 73 “What am ___?”
33 Model played by Angelina = Musician-exec 74 Chinese gang
34 Driving need + Turn over + 108 Supply supper, perhaps 75 Japanese drink
Turnover maker = Actress 109 Ms. Anderson 77 “Over there”
38 Bergman in Casablanca 110 “What, ___?!” 78 Langston Hughes poem
40 1860s org. 111 Eye area 80 Some Slavs
43 Incomplete game? 112 Oscars turnout 85 Put in a new order
44 ___ night (any time) 113 Smooth 86 Sphinx outwitter
45 Sported 114 English poet Alfred 88 Sum people
46 Irrigation method 115 Darned 89 Laura composer David
47 On-air market: abbr. DOWN 90 Metal container?
48 Laugh start 1 Sheepish one 91 Quiet time
49 Store + A hurry + Growth 2 Son of Rebekah 92 Part of ICBM
= Home expert 3 Comes on 93 “Rawhide” singer
53 False 4 ’60s African vet series 95 Basic stuff
55 Stonewall Jackson taught 5 Loretta Swit co-star 96 Pie ingredient, sometimes
there: abbr. 6 Pitcher Hideo 97 “___ boy!”
57 Gold-medal skater 7 Passing 98 Field bundle
Rodnina 8 Wake, e.g.: abbr. 99 Ukrainian city
58 Souls 9 Wallet skin 101 Rose’s guy
5 9 Insect stages 10 More intimate 102 Ms. Campbell
61 Falstaff, e.g. 11 Vichyssoise needs 103 Spread
62 Started 12 Banshee’s land 104 South Park kid
63 Built + Garland + Patricia + 13 Circulation 106 Harrison role
Sunny 14 Impassive 107 Vanity
= Secretary 15 Coil man
66 Marne morning 16 Pro ___
67 Council site, ca. 1560 17 In ___ (shortly)
68 Valid, briefly 18 Soccer great
69 Van Damme film, 24 Hawaiian city
Nowhere ___ 26 Fridge sticker
70 Jack of The Great Dictator 28 Pompadour, for example:
71 Mad guy’s inits. abbr.
72 Tweaks text 31 Author Wolf
76 Determination + Poetry 32 Prudhomme veggie
unit + Stop + 9 = Actor 34 “Be My Love” lyricist
79 Donkey 35 Ran preceder
81 Fur scarf 36 Diatribe
82 Sailing 37 Of an insect stage
83 Like Patrick Stewart 38 Like some bank money
84 Rich cake 39 Night bear
40 Tie type
41 Pull-over sound
42 Super’s concerns: abbr.

The Telegraph

48 Vero Beach 32963 / January 5, 2023 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT BACK PAGE

Is it disloyal to stay friends with brothers’ ex-wives?

BY CAROLYN HAX is about as self-defeating as explaining a joke, but dent of the family tie, then it’s only natural for your
Washington Post I’ll do it anyway: Excommunicating these exes now loyalties to reflect that independence. In fact, integ-
would send the message that you were nice to them rity demands it. Memo to your husband: Where one
Dear Carolyn: My husband says only because you had to be. spouse shows integrity, it’s on the other spouse to
that, because my two brothers di- show some respect.
vorced, their exes are out of our That will certainly be true with some relatives; you
family. I am nice to my brothers’ put on a civil face with Aunt Toad only because your Integrity also demands, of course, that you be ju-
new girlfriends, but the marriages uncle married her, and because recoiling with horror dicious in maintaining ties to exes, as well as being
were both for 20 years, and I think and screaming at the Thanksgiving table aren’t polite kind to any newcomers. You don’t want to blather
of the exes as my sisters. ways to react. If your uncle were to divorce her, then on about the ex in front of the new squeeze, or invite
Also, I’ve known my husband’s brother’s ex-wife you’d be under no obligation to stay in touch. the ex just to spite others, or otherwise exploit your
since junior high school – longer than I’ve known my friendship with the ex to advance your own agenda.
brother-in-law. We still hang out, and I consider her But where the affection is genuine and indepen- And although you don’t need to explain yourself to
a good friend. My husband says my loyalty should be anyone, you should be clear on your own reason-
with the new women and none of the exes. ing, so your behavior remains principled and con-
I don’t want to be thought of as disloyal, but I have sistent.
a very hard time with this situation. I don’t want to
have to pick one side. Conveniently, by making sure any against-the-
spousal-grain decision is also a thoughtful one, you
– Troubled inoculate yourself against behavior that would be
legitimately disloyal: fraternizing with an ex who
Troubled: I don’t want to take sides either, so I’m did something inexcusable. If one of these exes
going to have to figure out a nonpartisan way to abused your brother-in-law, for example, or mis-
point out that your husband is being a complete tool. treated him without showing any indication of re-
morse, then your husband, alas, would be right: You
The responsibility of adults to behave like adults would be obligated to pick a side.
isn’t situational; we all bear it every day, under pres-
sures big and small. However, the more complicated I’d conclude by saying that it’s not about family,
the situation, the more urgent it becomes that peo- it’s about justice, but even that would be off the
ple resist the temptation to behave like miffed ado- mark; in deciding the right thing to do, the only
lescents. absolute that applies is that there are no absolutes.
The “right thing” is unique to each situation – so the
You don’t just discard people because they’re in right thing for your husband to do is to accept that
a new place on the org chart. Explaining decency you’ll decide for yourself. 

THE ‘LONG’ VIEW

PAINTINGS SHOULD TELL A STORY
– AND BRING JOY

50 Vero Beach 32963 / January 5, 2023 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

ARTS & THEATRE

The ‘Long’ view

Paintingsshould tell
a story – and bring joy

BY DEBBIE TIMMERMANN | CORRESPONDENT Long says her artistic journey started PHOTOS BY JOSHUA KODIS
at an early age, with drawing. Grow-
Professional artist Madeline Long ing up in Melbourne Village, Fla., there od, created in the 1860s by Charles Her training gave her the insight
says she discovered that she needed were a lot of artists for her to look up to. Bargue and Jéan-Leon Gérome, whose that, while contemporary art may look
to adjust her color palette when she legendary publication was compiled simple, there is still structure there.
and husband George moved to Vero “A friend’s father was a member of as an entirely pictorial instructional
Beach from New Canaan, Conn. the American Watercolor Society, and manual for drawing students. “Why is your eye moving this way
he was a big Andrew Wyeth fan. I still around the painting? Sometimes it’s a
“The light is so different, a whiter am. I think Wyeth is one of America’s Her work there included Bargue shift of color, whether the color comes
light, it affects how the colors read,” foremost abstract painters. If you drawings, cast drawings in charcoal forward or recedes. It gives the paint-
says Long, noting that in addition to look closely at his backgrounds, you of sculptures, and working in full ing depth. Little things just make the
adjusting colors, her subject matter can see how loosely, but masterfully, color from live models. Long explains painting click,” says Long, adding that
and style changed as well. they’re painted.” that these basics form a solid base it can take time to make it work.
for serious artists, not only to gain
Consistent with artists who paint Beginning in 2009, Long worked expertise in traditional styles, but to “I don’t find resolution in abstract
day in and day out, her style has with classically trained instructors branch out into all painting genres, happens as quickly [as in tradition-
evolved over the years, and is now a from the Florence Academy of Art, including figurative drawing. al],” says Long.
recognizable style that has created a founded in 1991 by Daniel Graves.
following of serious art collectors. There, she studied the Bargue meth- “This was my passion until we Her work since moving to Vero more
moved to Vero in 2013,” says Long. frequently falls into the abstract cate-
“They talk about how artists flock gory and, though the paintings are less
to certain areas because of the light. detailed than traditional works, Long
Well, my dark, tightly constructed says she spends more time on them,
paintings seemed out of place here, building up their texture and color.
and I became totally captivated by
the special light quality of this area.” She approaches each painting as a
way to share a story or to evoke a con-
nection or mood.