11/17/2022 ISSUE 46

‘Unstruggle’ campaign focused
on mental health care. P58
Ducks bring bucks for
TC Community Health. P26

Peter O’Bryan passed over for
interim county administrator. P16

For breaking news visit

MY VERO The rainbow at the end of the storm No sign locally
of covid uptick
BY RAY MCNULTY PHOTO BY JOANIE WACHTER seen elsewhere

Elections set right tone A rare November hurricane swept down on Vero, and departed leaving a rainbow behind. BY LISA ZAHNER
for community’s future And while it also left a trail of destruction along island beaches, the rainbow reminded us Staff Writer
Nicole could have been much worse. Story, Page 10. Special Photo Coverage, Pages 11 to 15.
As it turned out, we didn’t Hospitalizations of patients
we didn’t need Circuit Judge with COVID-19 locally de-
Laurie Buchanan to trash the clined by nearly one third this
Vero Beach Preservation Alli- past week, and the number of
ance-authored referendum, new COVID infections here
which was as poorly worded reported to the Florida De-
as it was wrongheaded and partment of Health remained
threatened the wildly popular steady in the high 80s.
Three Corners project.
With 89 new cases the week
By the time she issued her ending Nov. 3 and 87 new cas-
order voiding the desperate es this past week, Indian River
and deceptive ballot initiative County is not seeing the uptick
– just minutes after the polls in community spread of the vi-
closed Tuesday night – city rus occurring in other parts of
voters had already spoken, the country.
delivering a staggering blow
to the Keep Vero Vero crowd But a relatively small num-
and embracing a bold mes- ber of people got tested last
sage filled with optimism, vi- week with the hubbub of Hur-
sion and civic pride. ricane Nicole. The Centers for
Disease Control and Preven-
Not only did voters sound- tion reported only 498 COVID
ly reject the alliance’s thinly tests at local labs, so the coun-
veiled attempt to thwart Vero ty’s positivity rate was higher
Beach’s plans to create a din- than 17 percent.
ing, retail and recreational
hub on the mainland’s wa- Five people were admitted
terfront, but they also over- to the hospital with COVID-19
whelmingly approved a city-
endorsed referendum to allow CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
commercial development on

CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

Mardy Fish Tennis Championships moving to Timber Ridge Real estate mystery: More homes coming on
market, but island prices so far remain strong
BY RAY MCNULTY be played April 24-30 at the 1995 and is widely regarded as
Staff Writer Vero Beach Tennis Club, locat- one of the best-run, entry-level BY STEVEN M. THOMAS up 250 percent to about 180
ed in the Timber Ridge com- tournaments in the world. Staff Writer properties, and sales of single-
The Mardy Fish Children’s munity on Oslo Road. family homes and condos so far
Foundation Tennis Champion- According to the founda- There is a bit of a real estate in 2022 are only about half what
ships are moving again. The United States Tennis tion’s executive director, Lynn mystery on the barrier island. they were at this point in 2021.
Association Pro Circuit event, Southerly, the tournament is
After a four-year run at The which features singles and moving for “financial reasons” Inventory has increased dra- Yet, prices in 32963 are sta-
Boulevard Tennis Club, the doubles competition, has been – after donating the use of its matically since its March low,
$15,000 men’s tournament will played in Vero Beach since CONTINUED ON PAGE 8
CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

November 17, 2022 Volume 15, Issue 46 Newsstand Price $1.00 ‘H.A.L.O. Howls’
scares up funds for
News 1-18 Editorial 40 People 19-34 TO ADVERTISE CALL pet projects. P23
Arts 49-55 Games 43-45 Pets 56 772-559-4187
Books 42 Health 57-67 Real Estate 79-92
Dining 72-77 Insight 35-48 Style 69-71 FOR CIRCULATION
CALL 772-226-7925

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

2 Vero Beach 32963 / November 17, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

No COVID uptick locally people in the hospital declined from The CDC reports that only 10.1 per- and Moderna shots were approved in
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 16 the previous week. cent of U.S. residents age 5 and older, early September.
or about 31 million people, have re-
illness last week, according to the CDC “Indian River Hospital has 11 COVID- ceived the updated Omicron-targeted By comparison, on the local level,
Data Tracker, but as the week ended, positive patients in-house, none in the COVID-19 booster shot, with Florida 72 percent of Indian River County resi-
the total number of COVID-positive ICU,” Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hos- falling behind in uptake of the newly dents age 5 and older have completed
pital spokesperson Erin Miller said on formulated vaccine since the Pfizer either the Pfizer or Moderna two-shot
Friday afternoon. COVID-19 vaccine regimen, and half

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / November 17, 2022 3

NEWS

of those have had at least one booster in the ground and pretend that what Beach voters opposed the alliance’s were motivated to vote in favor of the
shot of the original vaccine formula. happens in the county doesn’t impact referendum, which would’ve severely referendum.
us,” he added. “The county is growing, restricted the size of improvements
When the new Omicron-targeted and those people eventually find their that could be made to the city’s mari- Meanwhile, nearly 80 percent of the
boosters were approved by the FDA way to the city, where they use our na, parks and other charter-protected Vero Beach voters approved the city’s
and recommended by the CDC, there roads, eat in our restaurants, shop in properties, including the Three Cor- power plant parcel referendum, which
was much speculation about the fact our stores and visit our beaches. ners parcels on the west end of the 17th amended the city charter to allow the
that the new boosters had only been Street Bridge. city to pursue a long-term lease with a
tested on mice. “You can’t stop progress, but you can developer intrigued by the Three Cor-
manage it.” In real numbers, though, fewer than ners design concept created by cel-
Moderna on Monday released pre- 3,000 of the city’s 11,600-plus registered
liminary results of a study of its new Statistically, 55.5 percent of Vero CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
booster on 511 adults age 19 to 89,
announcing that in trial subjects, the
new boosters was shown “to trigger
a superior antibody response” when
compared to yet another dose of the
original formula. Moderna found the
new booster, when given to previously
vaccinated people, resulted in a 15-
fold increase in antibodies to the BA.4
and BA.5 subvariants.

“We are pleased to see that both of
our bivalent booster vaccine candi-
dates offer superior protection against
Omicron BA.4/BA.5 variants com-
pared to our original booster, which is
encouraging given COVID-19 remains
a leading cause of hospitalization and
death globally. In addition, the supe-
rior response against Omicron per-
sisted for at least three months after
the mRNA-1273.214 booster,” said Sté-
phane Bancel, Moderna’s chief execu-
tive officer.

Moderna says the new booster was
equally as effective in test subjects age
65 and older as it was in those age 19
to 64, and that adverse reactions were
observed less frequently after people
got the new formulation than with
the original booster. It’s unclear if the
study figured in that the test subjects
had already been vaccinated numer-
ous times prior to the clinical trial and
were simply more accustomed to the
typical post-vaccination reactions, so
less likely to mention a reaction that
they knew to be normal for them.

Pfizer also released positive data
in October about its updated booster
based upon a human clinical trial, but
the initial test results were not quite as
promising as the numbers Moderna
announced on Monday. This new infor-
mation has yet to be peer reviewed. 

My Vero

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

the property on which the defunct
municipal power plant currently sits.

“The outcomes of those referen-
dums send the message that people
like the direction we’re moving,” said
outgoing Vero Beach Mayor Robbie
Brackett, who easily won election to
the Florida House of Representatives
and will soon head to Tallahassee.

“The city has no obligation to pro-
vide services and amenities to county
residents, but we can’t stick our heads

4 Vero Beach 32963 / November 17, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

My Vero can’t always predict how these things goal of derailing the Three Corners It was no coincidence that city voters
are going to turn out.” project. were presented with seven ballot ini-
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3 tiatives – including a countywide ref-
This one, though, was a slam dunk. They understood that the uncer- erendum pertaining to the purchase of
ebrated urban planner Andres Duany City voters weren’t fooled. They tainty created by the alliance’s ref- environmentally sensitive land – and
and presented to the community in a didn’t buy the alliance’s misleading erendum, which would’ve required the alliance’s question was the only one
series of well-attended charrettes. claims. They recognized that an obvi- voter approval for all but the smallest they rejected.
ously dwindling Keep Vero Vero fac- improvements to charter properties,
“We’re obviously pleased the vote tion had hijacked a neighborhood would have deterred developers from And it should surprise no one that
came down on our side,” Vero Beach movement opposing the expansion investing in site plans and other pre- alliance organizers did not respond to
City Manager Monte Falls said. “You of the municipal marina with the construction work. requests for comment.

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NEWS

What could they say? about where the city stands on the cent) and John Carroll (14.4 percent) – Moore, co-owner of the Kilted Mer-
That they should’ve limited the scope project, which will only enhance our and all of them have expressed support maid restaurant in downtown Vero
of their referendum to the marina ex- already-special community by trans- for the Three Corners development. and a political newcomer, served on
pansion? That they misjudged the will forming 33 lagoon-side acres into They also opposed the alliance’s refer- the Three Corners Steering Commit-
of a vast majority of city residents? That a picturesque, park-like gathering endum. tee. Carroll is a civil engineer who has
they were duped by the Keep Vero Vero place that offers amenities we so served on the city’s Planning & Zoning
gang? sorely lack. One of the two defeated incum- and Code Enforcement boards.
The results of the city elections, bents, Bob McCabe, had voted against
even beyond the two Three Corners- Three new City Council members the project, and it likely hindered his Both Zudans and Carroll have spouses
related referendums, spoke volumes were elected – Tracey Zudans (15.5 per- re-election bid in what proved to be a who were City Council members, so they
cent of the vote), Linda Moore (14.7 per- tight eight-candidate race.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

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deemed reliable but are not guaranteed and are subject to errors, omissions or changes without notice. All such information should be independently verified by any prospective purchaser or seller. Parties should perform their
own due diligence to verify such information prior to a sale or listing. Premier Estate Properties, Inc. expressly disclaims any warranty or representation regarding such information. Prices published are either list price, sold price,
and/or last asking price. Premier Estate Properties, Inc. participates in the Multiple Listing Service and IDX. The properties published as listed and sold are not necessarily exclusive to Premier Estate Properties, Inc. and may be listed or
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6 Vero Beach 32963 / November 17, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

My Vero that often put her on the losing end of Mardy Fish tennis tourney couldn’t justify paying The Boulevard
4-1 votes. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 management’s asking price, which she
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5 described as a “very big fee.”
Endorsed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, Ro- courts and other facilities the past
should have a feel for what’s coming. sario won comfortably against a polit- three years, The Boulevard requested Neither Southerly nor Ed Shanaphy,
As for other election matters: ical newcomer. However, she was the payment for the 2023 event – as well as The Boulevard’s director of club op-
 Showing a willingness to invest lone Republican on the countywide the need for a larger footprint. erations, would disclose the amount
ballot to receive less than 65 percent of the fee.
in the community’s future, a whop- of the vote. Southerly said the foundation plans
ping 78 percent of voters countywide to expand the event beyond the tennis Shanaphy, who was hired Oct. 1,
approved the land-purchase referen- That means Republicans who voted courts and create a “mini Miami Open said The Boulevard has adopted a fee
dum, which allows the County Com- for DeSantis, Brackett, Sen. Marco Ru- feel” to the tournament by adding structure for use of its facilities by out-
mission to borrow $50 million to pur- bio and Congressman Bill Posey didn’t booths, tents and even food trucks. side groups, including nonprofit orga-
chase and preserve environmentally vote for her. nizations, which qualify for a “charity
sensitive lands west of Blue Cypress She said the foundation could not rate” that is higher than the club’s “pri-
Lake and I-95, as well as along the In- Why? pursue those plans at The Boulevard, vate party rate.”
dian River Lagoon.  While Brackett will now focus his where the club’s membership has
attention on issues beyond Vero Beach reached its capacity, new programs He said the growth of the club’s
Some of the money will be used to – he expects to spend up to five months and activities have been added, and membership and increase in activity
provide public access to the proper- each year in Tallahassee and plans to the demand for court time continues made it impossible to accommodate
ties and build parking lots, trails and buy a home there – he said he will keep to increase. tournament organizers – especially
restrooms. tabs on what’s happening here. with the foundation’s plans to expand
Especially the Three Corners proj- “The Boulevard’s membership has its offerings.
According to the referendum en- ect. grown a lot the past three years, and
dorsed by the Indian River Land Trust, “I think a tone has been set and a they’ve got a lot of activity going on all “They’ve outgrown what we can do
the loan will be repaid by a property- loud message has been sent to the do- day long and throughout the week,” for them,” Shanaphy said. “We’re bus-
tax increase. The owner of a $250,000 nothing people,” Brackett said. “We Southerly said. “It would’ve been dif- ier than ever now, and we’re busy all
home can expect to pay an additional have to accept the county is growing ficult for us to work around all that. day, so it’s harder for us to give them
$44 annually for 20 years. and recognize that Vero Beach is a as many courts as they need. We can’t
tourist town. “So, it’s not that The Boulevard told just shut down our programs for a
Another example of civic pride. “There are 100,000 people on three us no, but they said they couldn’t pro- week.
 Incumbent Jackie Rosario re- sides of us,” he added. “If we don’t vide the flexibility we needed,” she
ceived 55 percent of the vote to de- make the right decisions regarding added. “The tournament is our big- “We’re already having problems with
feat challenger Cindy Gibbs and win infrastructure, traffic, parking and gest fundraiser, and we want to bring parking.”
a second term on the School Board, the other challenges we’re confront- in more money, but our footprint there
where she has strongly advocated for ing now, our problems are only going was getting smaller and smaller.” The Boulevard’s afterschool juniors
the culture-war issues pushed by the to get worse.”  program has been wildly successful,
Moms For Liberty and taken positions Also, Southerly said, the foundation but it also has put a strain on the club’s
late-afternoon parking availability, as

CONTINUED ON PAGE 8



8 Vero Beach 32963 / November 17, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Mardy Fish tennis tourney “It’s a special event that helps us help
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6 so many children, and there’s the ob-
vious connection to Mardy, who grew
many parents stay to watch their chil- up here. But everything was under
dren play. consideration.”

Usually, when The Boulevard plays Tournament organizers inquired
host to big-crowd events, the club gets about another return to Grand Har-
permission from the county to allow bor, but the club is preparing to host
overflow parking along the west side the Vero Beach International Open,
of Indian River Boulevard. a $60,000 USTA Women’s Pro Circuit
event scheduled for Jan. 16-22.
But Southerly said parking wouldn’t
be the only challenge, explaining that Southerly said Grand Harbor couldn’t
it would be difficult to conduct a pro- accommodate a second event three
fessional tennis tournament amid the months later.
noise and activity of the club’s after-
school program, which runs from 4 As for the Vero Beach Tennis Club,
p.m. to 6 p.m. Southerly said the Van Deinses are not
charging the foundation to use the fa-
There should be no such problems at cilities there.
theVero Beach Tennis Club, where bud-
ding pros will compete in a 32-player “We had a great run at The Boulevard
singles draw and 16-team doubles and enjoyed our time there, which was
bracket. beneficial for both of us,” Southerly
said. “They had new ownership and
Both Southerly and foundation were trying to promote their club, and
president Tom Fish, Mardy’s father and we needed a place to hold our tour-
longtime tennis director at Windsor, nament. It’s not easy to leave a place
said they were excited about taking the where you’ve been very successful.
tournament to the South County club,
which offers more courts, more parking “But we were no longer on the same
and more room for other activities. path,” she continued. “They’re look-
ing to increase their profits, and as a
“Our goal is to make the tournament nonprofit, we have a responsibility to
bigger and better and more exciting, make sure our dollars are going to the
and making this move allows us to do kids. We really couldn’t justify paying
that,” Fish said. “The Van Deinse fam- what The Boulevard was asking.
ily has done a great job of improving
that facility. Hopefully, this new part- “At the same time, we also want to
nership to be beneficial to both of us.” expand the tournament’s footprint,
and we couldn’t do that at The Boule-
Longtime Michigan teaching pro and vard,” she added. “We can do it at the
entrepreneur Tom Van Deinse, along Vero Beach Tennis Club.” 
with sons Joseph and James, bought
theVero Beach Tennis Club in 2016. The Real estate mystery
younger Van Deinses have managed CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
and operated the facility since.
ble or still climbing.
“The foundation approached us Looking just at single-family homes,
and asked if we’d be interested in host-
ing the tournament, and we’re thrilled the supply on the island has more
to have this opportunity,” Joseph Van than tripled since March, up from a
Deinse said. “We’ve been steadily low of about 30 to more than 110 last
working to improve the facility for al- week, but home values remain strong.
most seven years now, and we’ll do ev-
erything we can to get it ready. “Prices in John’s Island were up 10
to 20 percent in the first half of 2022
“Our club has been growing every [on top of huge gains in 2021], and
year since we started,” he added, “and we have maintained it,” said John’s
hosting the tournament will continue Island Real Estate broker Bob Gibb.
to get our name out there.” “The market hasn’t given up anything
on prices and I don’t expect it to.”
The tournament was played at
Grand Harbor from 1995 through 2009 “If you have a blue-chip property, a
before moving to The Boulevard in beautiful home in JI or The Moorings
2010. After seven years, the event re- or something move-in-ready on the
turned to Grand Harbor in 2017. ocean or the river anywhere on the
island, you can ask more for it today
In 2019, the tournament moved than you could a year ago,” said high-
back to The Boulevard, where the CO- end expert Cindy O’Dare, broker-
VID-19 pandemic forced the founda- associate at ONE Sotheby’s Interna-
tion to postpone the 2020 event until tional Realty.
October, when it was unsanctioned by
the USTA. So, what happened to the “law” of
supply and demand?
Now, the tournament – which was
briefly homeless, prompting Souther- Turns out it’s still operating behind a
ly and Fish to explore sites outside the sometimes confusing flurry of statistics.
county – is headed for its third home.
“Yes, inventory is up quite a bit from
“We didn’t want to see this town earlier this year, but it is still very low
lose the tournament,” Southerly said.

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / November 17, 2022 9

NEWS

by historical standards,” says O’Dare. 400 single-family homes for sale, plus erties listed for sale [in John’s Island],” ers still have leverage and don’t need
“Oceanfront inventory is the lowest condos and co-ops. added Gibb. “Right now, we have sev- to sell at a discount.
I have seen it in my career and river- en.”
front is the lowest it has been in many “Even with the increase, supply is One reason inventory has gone up is
years.” not high enough to have an adverse With houses and condos still scarce because the number of sales has gone
effect on prices,” said O’Dare’s partner by historical standards – and in rela- down, from 881 at this point in 2021 to
In fact, in a typical pre-pandemic Richard Boga. tion to the level of demand among 456 as of last week, according to fig-
year, island inventory hovered around people who want to live in Vero – sell-
“We usually have about 20-25 prop- CONTINUED ON PAGE 16

10 Vero Beach 32963 / November 17, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

Impact of Hurricane Nicole could have been much greater

BY LISA ZAHNER
Staff Writer

Our community was in the head- further notice” – and said “assessments Public Works Director Matthew Mitts. Alma Lee Loy Bridge and portions of
lines all around the world last week as of beach conditions will be conducted “No clogged pipes or culvert failures we Indian River Drive east,” Mitts said.
the National Weather Service reported daily and beaches may be closed if con- are aware of. The flooding on East Causeway Boule-
that Hurricane Nicole made landfall in ditions change.” vard closed the eastbound span of the
Florida just south of Vero Beach. “We experienced storm surge that bridge, and at the A1A intersection, a
Storm debris in the water posed caused flooding in low lying areas of breaker box caught fire.
But while the hit-and-run storm a danger to swimmers, so as select the city including the east side of the
robbed precious sand from the island’s beaches reopened, it was for walking Power went out at 11 city utility lift
storm-weary beaches, swelled the In- and sunbathing only. stations. Utilities Director Rob Bolton
dian River lagoon, and flooded road- said the “Water Plant never lost pow-
ways and parks, it was in the end just Heavy rains and a 3-foot storm surge er and the wastewater plant only lost
barely a hurricane – and the impact inundated Vero’s Veterans’ Memorial power for a short time. We did not ex-
could have been far worse. Island, cancelling the city’s Veterans perience any wastewater spills or wa-
Day ceremony last Friday, as water ter line breaks.”
Damage to homes and businesses was still ankle deep.
was minimal, and power outages No city buildings were damaged,
were resolved relatively quickly, Vero’s stormwater system “performed but “the floating docks at the River-
thanks to post-Hurricane Ian repairs as designed, before and after the storm” side Park boat launch are damaged
to the Florida Power & Light system. despite a half-foot of rain, according to and that boat launch will be closed
Of the 25,000 people who lost power, until further notice. The bottom half
more than half got their lights back of the Bahia Mar Beach Access dune
on Thursday, and everyone was back crossover stairs were destroyed and
in service by early Friday afternoon. that beach access is closed,” Mitts
said.
Beaches on the northern end of the
barrier island, already chewed-up by “Jaycee, Conn Beach, and Humiston
Hurricane Ian, took the worst beat- boardwalks and beaches and Sexton
ing from Nicole. Indian River Shores Plaza beach are closed until further
building and code enforcement offi- notice due to beach erosion. South
cials surveyed the damage on Satur- Beach is littered with debris and we
day. are picking it up today,” Mitts said Fri-
day.
“There is severe erosion along the
entire Town coastline,” Indian River Indian River Shores Deputy Chief
Shores Town Manager Jim Harpring Mark Shaw called the storm “unevent-
said. ful.” The Public Safety station never
lost power and town building sus-
The town’s beach access stairs were tained no damage. “As far as I know the
washed away or seriously damaged, cell tower was operational through-
and out of commission. out,” he said. 

“Most areas lost between 10, and in
some areas, up to 25-30 feet of dune
with approximately 10 feet of height or
more washed out,” Harpring roughly
estimated.

Harpring said the town plans “vig-
orous and close cooperation with the
county to secure emergency beach re-
pair funds through pursuit of some of
the $20 million just authorized by Gov.
(Ron) DeSantis for emergency beach
repair.”

Indian River County deployed work-
ers to the beaches and parks “and in
some cases made repairs to open fa-
cilities ASAP so citizens could enjoy
the holiday weekend at their favorite
location if at all possible,” Indian River
County spokesperson Kathy Copeland
said on Monday.

“Wabasso Causeway boat ramps
experienced damage. Crews were out
early Friday morning to rebuilding
one of the ramps and by Friday after-
noon it was open.”

The county announced that “sub-
stantial damage occurred at Wabasso
Beach Park and Tracking Station Beach
Park – these beaches will be closed until

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / November 17, 2022 11

Some of the beachside scenes evoked memories of 2004 – dune cross-
overs ripped apart by the surf, sections of the Conn Beach boardwalk
torn away, and high escarpments along the 32963 coast where sand had
been clawed back out to sea. But Hurricane Nicole fortunately proved
a far tamer version of Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne, and caused little
of the wind damage we remember from two decades before. Driving
about the island in the aftermath of the storm, there were pools of wa-
ter in low-lying areas, and ample cleanup work for gardeners. But there
were relatively few downed trees, and no sign of the blue tarps cover-
ing breached roofs that became the signature of the 2004 storms. On
the next few pages, however, we offer a selection of photos taken by
our chief photographer Joshua Kodis and others as a reminder of what
could have been – but happily this time largely wasn’t.

12 Vero Beach 32963 / November 17, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / November 17, 2022 13

14 Vero Beach 32963 / November 17, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / November 17, 2022 15

16 Vero Beach 32963 / November 17, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Real estate mystery But island brokers say October was slight seller’s market trying to lean to- “Every year, Vero Beach continues
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9 just an unusually slow month and is ward a balanced market,” he told Vero to be discovered by more and more
not predictive. According to Boga, the Beach 32963 last week. people in the Hamptons and Nan-
ures provided by ONE Sotheby’s bro- number of sales that went pending in tucket and other places,” said O’Dare.
ker-associate Hank Wolff – but sales the first 10 days of November was up O’Dare and Boga think the market “We have really good inquiries from
stats can be deceptive too. 187 percent compared to the number has edged over into balanced territory people in New York, Chicago, Califor-
that went pending in the first 10 days and become “a great market for both nia, South Florida – Miami, Fort Lau-
For instance, only 23 sales closed of October. buyers and sellers.” derdale, Boca, Palm Beach – and even
in 32963 in October. Divide that low abroad, from England and Sweden.”
number into the available inventory of “Looking at one slow month doesn’t In a report she compiles weekly, Sal-
180 houses, condos and townhouses, tell the whole story,” said Wolff. “There ly Daley at Douglas Elliman said sin- “Business is good,” said Gibb, who
and it looks like there’s an 8-month have been 456 closings on the is- gle-family buyers actually have a slight expects to sell around 90 homes this
supply of properties for sale – which land year-to-date. That’s about 45 per advantage, island wide, while it is still year, in total, down only slightly from
would mean that a buyer’s market month. At that rate, we have about a a slight seller’s market for condos. the 110 or so he and his agents sell in a
has taken hold and price declines are four-month supply, which is still a typical year.”
likely. slight seller’s market.” Boga notes that the distinction be-
tween seller’s and buyer’s markers is The national press has painted a
Gibb sees it that way, too. “It is still a murky and not definitive, because so scary picture of the real estate market,
much depends on specific neighbor- with recent headlines like, “Housing
hoods and properties. While it may be markets face a brutal squeeze,” in the
a seller’s market for a beautiful, move- Economist, and “Housing Market Hits
in-ready waterfront home, with mul- Brakes as US Prices Fall Most Since
tiple offers and a quick close, the own- 2009,” in Bloomberg. And prices have
ers of older house in a so-so location dipped in some places as sales slowed
that needs work could find themselves due to interest rate hikes. But island
in a buyer’s market, forced to negoti- brokers mostly agree Vero Beach has
ate on price and terms. and will continue to defy national
trends.
“There is a lot of gray area,” said
Boga, adding that the increase in in- “Florida is the last place to feel the
ventory, instead of depressing prices, effect of a national housing decline,
will actually boost sales. and Vero is the probably the last place
to in Florida, and John’s Island is the
“There were a number of people last place in Vero,” said Gibb.
who chose to stay on the bench when
inventory was super-low,” Boga said. “I don’t think Bob is wrong,” said Boga.
“They said, ‘There isn’t enough for “Prices are not going to plummet
us to consider. We aren’t going to fly here,” said O’Dare. “It just isn’t going
down to look at just one house.’ Now, to happen. We have settled at a new
with more inventory, with three or benchmark and you will never see pre-
four houses that interest them, they pandemic prices again. If you bought
will come down.” a blue-chip property here anytime in
the past few years, you are a winner.
Gibb sees strong demand, too, from You will make money when you sell.”
John’s Island residents who want to So far, the stats back up brokers’
move within the community, down- optimism, with prices up substan-
sizing or going bigger for friends and tially year over year and year to date in
family who are traveling again, and 32963.
from outside, from JI’s traditional Baby Boomer demographics, an on-
northern feeder markets. going migration to the sunbelt, remote
work, low taxes and the general allure
He said much of the pent-up inter- of palm trees and white-capped blue
nal demand comes from club mem- water all support home prices in Flor-
bers who haven’t been able to find ida. Add in Vero’s special virtues that
what they want so far or who put off earned it the nickname “Hamptons of
making a move during the pandemic. Florida,” and it isn’t surprising the is-
Much of the external demand comes land housing market is holding its own
from the latest wave of business own- despite national real estate gloom.
ers and executives who have decided “People can’t believe that a place
they can do their jobs remotely, and like this still exists,” said O’Dare.
who want to make a move to Florida “We are expecting a strong season,”
now, instead of 10 years from now. said Boga. 

“Instead of waiting until they are 60
or 65 as they planned, they are coming
now in their 50s,” Gibb said.

O’Bryan passed by for interim county administrator

BY RAY MCNULTY ed unanimously last week to postpone
Staff Writer any further discussion of the search
for an interim administrator until for-
Retiring County Commission Chair- mer sheriff Deryl Loar is sworn in to
man Peter O’Bryan will not serve as replace O’Bryan on Tuesday.
the interim county administrator after
he leaves office. The vote came in the meeting’s
opening minutes, after Commissioner
The other four commissioners vot-
CONTINUED ON PAGE 18



18 Vero Beach 32963 / November 17, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Interim county administrator but he was surprised by the timing of all decided they want to do some- ty administrator who has been in that
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 16 Flescher’s motion and the commis- thing else.” position for a lot of years and could
sioner’s unwillingness to even address step up,” he added. “We also have di-
Joe Flescher made a motion to remove the pitch he made for the position two Outgoing County Administrator Ja- rectors and a county attorney.”
the item from the agenda. weeks ago. son Brown, 48, announced last month
that he planned to resign from his Assistant County Administrator Mike
By tabling the discussion – and de- “I didn’t see it coming,” O’Bryan said $211,000-plus position effective Dec. Zito, 58, is an attorney who has worked
laying their decision – the commis- in a phone interview after the meet- 31. He has served in that position for the county for more than 20 years,
sioners effectively spiked O’Bryan’s ap- ing. “To pull it from the agenda before since 2016, when he was promoted including the past 17 in his current
plication for the job, because, if hired, we got to it? I was surprised they didn’t from budget director to replace Joe job. He was a finalist for the Indian
he needed to notify the Florida Retire- at least allow discussion on it. I think if Baird, who retired. River Shores town manager’s position
ment System that he was rescinding we got to it and discussed it, I had an before former Undersheriff and Sher-
his scheduled retirement date. even chance. At its Nov. 8 meeting, the commis- iff’s Office attorney Jim Harpring was
sion voted 4-1 to spend up to $35,000 hired in April 2021.
Instead, O’Bryan, 65, said he will re- “But if any of the commissioners to hire an executive recruiting firm to
tire on Monday as planned. wanted me to do it, they would’ve conduct a national search for Brown’s Dylan Reingold has served as coun-
said, ‘Let’s discuss it,’ and that didn’t successor. ty attorney for the past nine years
He said he wasn’t disappointed, happen,” he added. “So I guess they
Flescher, elected this year to a fifth Flescher said he wasn’t opposed to
term, cast the lone opposing vote. He considering O’Bryan for the tempo-
urged the commission to interview rary position, but he didn’t want to
and evaluate any in-house applicants eliminate other possible candidates,
before embarking on a national search including some already working for
that could take up to six months and the county.
produce an administrator he said
would need time to understand what “I just didn’t understand why we
makes the county special. weren’t going to consider all appli-
cants,” he added. “There are some
The commissioners then each put people in this building with years
forth a wish list of attributes they’ll seek of experience and the institutional
in a new administrator. knowledge to lead a staff of nearly
1,000. So, if we’re going to have a con-
When they concluded their dis- versation, we should look at all of the
cussion, O’Bryan asked the commis- possibilities.
sioners whether they should also talk
about the interim administrator’s po- “It’s an interim position, but we
sition or wait until the next meeting. don’t know how long the search for a
permanent administrator will take,
Commissioner Susan Adams quipped, and we still want to get work done.”
“Well, you’re retiring ...”
Adams said she believes O’Bryan
O’Bryan seized on the opening to “would’ve done a good job” as the in-
announce that he not only had consid- terim administrator, but she agreed
ered the position, but that he already that Loar should participate in the dis-
had discussed it with his wife and the cussion and decision.
county’s human resources director.
She said she doesn’t know which
He went on to make his case for the direction the commissioners will go
job, citing the experience he gained in hiring an interim administrator,
during his 16 years as commissioner, but she wants to address the matter
his institutional knowledge of the soon.
county and its operations, and his re-
lationships with department heads “Part of my thought process is: How
and their staffs. long is the search for a new adminis-
trator going to take?” Adams said. “Are
He also argued that having an in- we just putting an interim in there to
terim manager “who has no interest babysit? Or will that person be there
in the job on a long-term basis” would longer and need to make decisions
enhance the county’s search for a new that will impact the long term?
administrator – because applicants
would know they’re not competing “I’d love to have a new administra-
against someone already doing the job tor hired by the end of March, but that
and that the position is truly open. might be wishful thinking,” she added.
“The process is going to take time, and
The other commissioners seemed the holidays are right around the cor-
to embrace the idea, and further dis- ner. It could us take longer than we ex-
cussion was placed on the agenda for pect.”
last week’s meeting.
If so, the interim administrator likely
Five minutes into the meeting, how- will be required to do much more than
ever, Flescher made his motion to re- fill Brown’s chair.
move discussion of the interim position,
saying the matter should be postponed “I’ve said all along I didn’t want the
until Loar could participate in the deci- job, and my wife didn’t want me to ap-
sion. ply for it, but that I would postpone
my retirement and make myself avail-
“When I made the motion to pull able if the commissioners wanted me
the item, nobody questioned it – not to fill in,” O’Bryan said.
even Peter,” Flescher said. “There’s no
reason to rush through this, and Deryl “So there are no hard feelings,” he
should be involved in the decision, added. “The commissioners did what
since he’ll be working with the interim they felt they needed to do, and I’m
administrator. good with it. We’ll start our retirement
in early December.” 
“We already have an assistant coun-

Arabella, Anne,
and Preston Numes

with Neptune.

‘H.A.L.O. HOWLS’

SCARING UP FUNDS FOR SHELTER PROJECTS P. 23

20 Vero Beach 32963 / November 17, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

Sweet sentiments for selfless mentors at ‘Big’ bash

Joan Ohl, Brad Lorimier and Barbara Ruddy. PHOTOS: JOSHUA KODIS Anna Valencia Tillery with Gary and Melinda Johnson. PHOTOS CONTINUED ON PAGE 22
Lee Moore, Toni Robinson and John Moore.

Alan Ryall, Nathan and Reena Ryall, Chris Ryall, Deb and Alan Polackwich and Bob Wiss. Charles and Marybeth Cunningham with Dr. William Cooney and Gerri Smith.

BY MARY SCHENKEL Tom Hammond, Jennifer Taylor, Christine Barry and John Taylor. who made a contribution, frankly, we’d
Staff Writer just have this giant line of people who
John Moore. They were introduced by United Way, Hospital District, Afford- are here from the staff to the board,
At the annual Chocolate, Cham- Lee’s mother, Toni Robinson, direc- able Housing Commission, Holy Cross and especially to the Bigs who are here
pagne and Chefs dinner at the Quail tor emeritus of the Indian River Land Catholic Church, Indian River Land tonight,” said John. “And so we gladly
Valley River Club, supporters of Big Trust, and Randy Brennan who, like Trust and Impact 100. Additionally, accept this, but on behalf of everybody
Brothers Big Sisters of St. Lucie, Indian John, is a fellow attorney and a U.S. John has served as master of ceremo- else here.”
River and Okeechobee counties, raised Coast Guard Auxiliary Aircraft Com- nies and auctioneer for innumerable
their champagne glasses to toast the mander. nonprofit organizations and received “And also, John and I would not have
‘Bigs’ who serve as mentors and allies the Florida Bar President’s Pro Bono learned community service if it weren’t
to the organization’s ‘Littles.’ Brennan spoke of how the pair have Service Award for his volunteerism. for so many people in this room, and
been notably proactive in the local from our parents,” said Lee, referenc-
“How many of you have ever been community, involved individually or “The truth is, if we were doing what ing her own mother, as well as John’s
asked the question, ‘Why?’ – especially as a couple in organizations such as the we should do, in honoring everybody parents, Pat and John Moore, and oth-
by your children or grandchildren?” ers who have inspired them. “So all
asked Debbie Hawley, to chuckles and we’re doing is following in footsteps,
head nods. As the evening unfolded, humbly, and we are grateful to all of
Hawley, who became BBBS CEO in July you.”
2022, said guests would discover the
‘why’ behind what they do. Following a gourmet dinner, guests
devoured delectable chocolaty good-
“Our Bigs are our heroes, because ies from creative chefs: Tim Blouin,
every week they’re meeting with their Grand Harbor Club; Adrienne Drew,
Littles and making such a tremendous Catering by Adrienne Drew; Shari
difference in their lives. I’m also so Pierce, A Kitchen of her Own; Brenda
proud to be the leader of a fabulous, Maerkle, Quail Valley Golf Club; and
fabulous group of individuals who Matt Piscitelli, Flavored Fork Catering.
make up our staff. We are small but we Among the numerous desserts were
are mighty,” said Hawley. an adorable chocolate mouse too cute
to eat (almost), Key Lime tarts dipped
The organization annually honors in white chocolate, chocolate brown-
a community partner or leader for the ies swirled with pumpkin cheesecake,
good work that they do, and this year’s chocolate doughnuts topped with cot-
power couple honorees were Lee and

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / November 17, 2022 21

PEOPLE

ton candy, and chocolate flavored ravi- parents. After moving here in 2018, her face. As a result of their phenomenal that they currently serve more than
oli with a pumpkin pie filling. grandmother enrolled her in school progress, Nancy Esplen was named 700 children in this county, and could
and counseling, and in March 2018 she 2022 Big Sister of the Year for the State serve double that number with addi-
Later, Hawley related the story of a was matched with a compassionate of Florida, and together they were tional mentors.
young girl who, after years of neglect Big. Under her tutelage, by the 2021- named Match of the Year.
and sexual abuse, was taken away 22 school year, the fifth-grader was on For more information, visit BBBSBigs.
from her addict parents by DCF, who the honor roll and there was joy on her “This is our ‘why.’ This is why we do org. 
eventually found her paternal grand- this every day,” said Hawley. She added

22 Vero Beach 32963 / November 17, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

PHOTOS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 20 Jan Harrell, Linda Teetz and Jean Kelly. Elke and George Fetterolf with Barbara Petrillo.
Sid Banack with Michelle and Rusty Banack.

Jesse Wakefield and Angie Schepers. Debbie Hawley, Helen Robertson and Judi Miller. Marcelo Vilas and Suzanne Leigh

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / November 17, 2022 23

PEOPLE

‘H.A.L.O. Howls’ scares up funds for shelter’s pet projects

Chief Rich and Darlene Rosell. Phoenix Collins, Nataly Reyes and Anamaria Ramirez. Sophia and Bobby Fisher. PHOTOS CONTINUED ON PAGE 24

BY MARY SCHENKEL PHOTOS: JOSHUA KODIS
Staff Writer
build a $1.5 million, 5,000-square-foot ment as possible for the ones that

facility have been put on hold, they don’t get looked at; get them rehabili-

are going ahead with construction of tated and into homes. It’ll be directly

an 800-square-foot, 12-room Fresh for the animals, and it will be a sig-

Start Center for dogs that have been nificant help. It’ll help us intake more

there longer and/or that need behav- because it will free up the cages that

ioral training. “So they can come out they’ve been in.”

of the kennels and go into a room type

environment, which helps decom- On Dec. 9 H.A.L.O. will host its

press them,” said Petrone. Masquerade Fur Ball at Cobalt. For

“I’m really excited about it because more information, visit HALORescue-

Myra. I’m trying to create as much move- Fl.org. 

There are few things cuter than pared to prior years, “so we’ve got
costumed children and pups, and great dogs that are sitting longer than
the Indian River Shores Public Safe- normal.” To compensate, they period-
ty Complex and Community Center ically hold sponsored adoption events
were awash in both at the third an- where fees are waived.
nual H.A.L.O. Howls event to benefit
H.A.L.O. No-Kill Rescue. After Hurricane Ian, they took in
dogs from a Fort Myers shelter. Un-
“We’ve had a good relationship with fortunately, five out of 12, including
H.A.L.O. for years,” said Indian River a gorgeous husky named Myra, were
Shores Chief Rich Rosell, adding that heart-worm positive.
they used to foster shelter dogs at their
headquarters and hope to do so again. “With heartworms it’s frustrat-
ing, because once they start their
Public Safety employees went all injections their heart rate can’t get
out with their annual haunted house, elevated. So then they can’t go into
filling the entire first floor of the fire- a home,” said Petrone. “We try to get
house with things that go bump in the them into foster or adoption before
night, including oh-so-creepy charac- the injections start. If not, they kind of
ters from scary movies. get locked in for two to three months
before they can go back for adoption.”
“The kids love it; actually, some of
the kids have gone through like two or They also take in dogs from the is-
three times,” said Det. Tony Starzyn- lands, such as Bobby, a very friendly
ski. “It’s great; the chief goes all out. Bahamian potcake (a mixed breed
He’s all about community policing.” common to the islands).

There was also a much less fright- “He’s a sweet, sweet boy,” said Al-
ening hayride, raffles, a costume con- lyson Bootes, director of develop-
test and, inside the Community Cen- ment. “We try to rescue them off the
ter, vendors and refreshments. And, of islands as much as possible and help
course, there were some adorable and the Humane Society of Grand Ba-
adoptable pups. hama, because down there they only
have about a 10 percent adoption rate.
“We’re excited to pick events back We’re all a bunch of bleeding hearts,
up. It’s a beautiful time of year and and Jacque’s the worst of all of us. She
it’s great getting together again,” said just doesn’t like to say no. So anytime
Jacque Petrone, H.A.L.O. executive di- we get asked for help, we try our best
rector. to bring them in.”

She said that surrenders have been While Petrone said their plans to
extra high and adoptions low com-

24 Vero Beach 32963 / November 17, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

PHOTOS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 23 Cooper and Colin Parker with Dylan Sholander and Knox Jones.
Brooke Cunningham and Kat Brown.

Kenna Jones and Bobby Wall. Janice Goldsberry with Micah and Judah Stewart. Tripptyn the Tornado and Ember.



26 Vero Beach 32963 / November 17, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

‘DERBY’ WINNERS:

Ducks bring bucks for
TC Community Health

BY STEPHANIE LaBAFF
Staff Writer

Cheered on by the crowd, 5,000 yel- The nonprofit TCCH serves more
low rubber duckies bobbed their way than 25,000 clients yearly, many who
in a ‘race’ to the shoreline at the Capt. are at or below the Federal Poverty
Hiram’s Sandbar during the 10th an- Level, providing accessible, cost-ef-
nual Duck Derby to benefit Treasure fective, high-quality, comprehensive
Coast Community Health. The first healthcare to everyone, regardless of
three ‘adopted’ ducks that made it their socio-economic circumstances.
to shore amid the turbulent waves
fetched cash prizes for the ‘lucky Duck Derby proceeds will help
ducks’ in the crowd. them provide a variety of treatments,
including substance abuse, dental
Before the nail-biting race, attend- care, behavioral and mental health
ees went quackers over the glorious services, vision and medical health-
afternoon as they danced to music by care at costs based on income.
Johnny and the Blaze, participated
in raffle drawings, and enjoyed the “This year, the need is great all
overall camaraderie. Indy the Duck over,” said Soulé. She explained that
– an American Pekin duck – stopped proceeds were previously designated
by to ensure nobody’s feathers were for a specific healthcare need, but
ruffled, although Quackers, the TCCH now they will be used for anyone who
Duck Derby mascot, wasn’t quite sure needs additional care.
what to make of the usurper. Vision care is one of their newer
services. A part-time optometrist spe-
The Vero Beach Art Club earned a cializing in adult eye diseases can
feather in its cap for coloring outside perform full-scope eye exams and, if
the box with a silent auction they held needed, will refer patients with cata-
earlier in the week that featured duck racts or glaucoma to an ophthalmolo-
divas designed by local artists. Con- gist.
tenders included everything from a “We’re also putting glasses on chil-
pirate to a surfer and a peacock to a
cowboy.

“We’ve sold out two years in a row,”
said Vicki Soulé, TCCH CEO, of the
rubber duck adoptions. “Next year,
we will have more ducks to put in the
water. The community support is phe-
nomenal, and we’re very grateful that
we can pass that on to the patients
who need it.”

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

PEOPLE

PHOTOS, STORY CONTINUED ON PAGES 28-29 PHOTOS: JOSHUA KODIS
Danny Hardee and Kenna Sellers with Indy the Duck.

Sloan Serynek and Dylan Wright. Dale Samson and Tammy Enders.

Elizabeth Adolphe and Betty Young. Judi Miller

Oscar Sales, Maximus Shields and Karen Franke.

28 Vero Beach 32963 / November 17, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

PHOTOS, STORY CONTINUED FROM PAGES 26-27 Lucas, Karla, Zoe and Max Visconti.

Leticia Garden and Maria Lasa. Barbara Schlitt Ford, Elise Mahovlich, Andrea Barkett and Wes Whitaker.

(LOL) Laughing Out Loud

With Carl Hiaasen

Come and Celebrate LRJF’s
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THURSDAY, JANUARY 19, 2023 • 6:30 PM - 9 PM
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For More Info Call LRJF at (772) 569-6718

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / November 17, 2022 29

PEOPLE

Seated: Cookie Burtnett, Marie Conrad and Patrice Gajda. Standing: Tim Conrad and Karen Conrad.

dren,” said Soulé, explaining that chil- know that trees have leaves? They’re Vicki Soule and Judi Miller.
dren often don’t realize they have vi- not just green. I can pick the leaves,
sion problems. and we can make things with them.’”

“If they’ve got a cough, we hear it. TCCH offers services in eight loca-
If they have an earache, we see them tions in Indian River County and has
rubbing their ears. If they have a in-house pharmacy services in three
toothache, there might be swelling. of them. Currently, she said their big-
The kids are identifying this hurt. gest issue is a lack of space to meet the
There’s none of that with vision. If increasing needs.
you have poor vision and you’ve had
it since birth, that’s all you know,” she “We are out of room. We just com-
continued. pleted the purchase of the land right
next to our Oslo site with the intention
Noting the difference glasses can to build another building there,” said
make to a child, Soulé said: “One of Soulé.
the first little boys that we fitted with
glasses came back and said, ‘Did you For more information, visit TCCHI-
NC.org. 

30 Vero Beach 32963 / November 17, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

Rock City starts winning ‘shriek’ with Haunted Gardens

BY MARY SCHENKEL Lennon and Mary Keeney with Olivia DeCosa. a greenhouse who loudly banged and
Staff Writer rattled the door, screaming to get out.
We were finishing up right to the start went through it,” said Knief.
Rock City Gardens, known for its of the event; we were hustling,” said Additionally, two stations offered “He went above and beyond what
beauty and serenity, took on a whole Knief, whose costume was that of a I was expecting; he was awesome.
new look the Saturday and Sunday clown ringmaster running the circus. a Witches Brew Punch, courtesy of With a lot of the stuff, they just kind
before Halloween with its inaugural Twisted Pickle, and a Headless Horse- of ad-libbed. I had people that were
Haunted Gardens, complete with zom- Little ones were given bags at the en- man drove brave souls on a hayride just supposed to stand around and do
bies, ghouls, witches, skeletons and all trance and amassed candy at six Trick- around the spooktacular 7-acre gar- things, but they took it to the next level
variety of things that go bump in the or-Treat stations scattered about the den. and brought the scare factor out,” said
night. property. Knief.
To supplement staff volunteers, they
Tyler Knief, a project manager at “We bought a boat load of candy and enlisted help from Charter High School “I try to play off of everybody’s fears
Rock City and a self-professed Hal- ended up having to go back out later students who really got into the spirit of and phobias. Everybody’s got a little
loween enthusiast, said he had been in the evening to get more because we things, such as a man “trapped” inside something. So I was trying to throw a
approached by Anna and Stan Tassev, little bit of everything in there.”
who took ownership earlier this year
from Tom and Rhonda Lowe. He estimated that at least 500 people
went through on Saturday and roughly
“They came to me out of the blue, half that the second night.
because they know that I do Halloween
at my house, and asked me if I would “It was an awesome turnout. I think
do it,” said Knief. “I had a good old time word of mouth will get out and then
putting it all together.” next year is going to be that much bet-
ter. I mean, it was a little scary in some
While planning began in September, spots for little kids, but what we did
he said they set it all up that Saturday. here is not something that you have in
this area,” said Knief.
“We got here first thing in the morn-
ing. I had some volunteers that came “There were a lot of things that we
in and helped us organize all this stuff didn’t do but we’ve got a great start-
and get it put out as fast as possible. ing point. We’re going to build on it to
make it bigger and better next year.” 

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / November 17, 2022 31

PEOPLE

Jaxon, Landon, Hailie and Jennifer Moxley Hannah and Sarah Burris. PHOTOS: JOSHUA KODIS Lilly Hutton, London Thomas, Madison Segal and Violet Starr.

Lillian and Zackery Quynn with Zayden Diaz. Treva and Tilly Cofer. Elliot and Isla Starr.

32 Vero Beach 32963 / November 17, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

Senior Collaborative honors ‘tireless’ community champions

BY MARY SCHENKEL with first going to the community,”
Staff Writer said Cantwell.

The Senior Collaborative of Indi- PHOTOS CONTINUED ON PAGE 34 PHOTOS: JOSHUA KODIS The process involves determin-
an River County recently hosted its Randy Riley and Peggy Cunningham. ing what is working and what can
first annual Members Awards Lun- be done better, planning and im-
cheon at Regency Park Independent plementing programs to better the
Living, event sponsor with the Se- community for all ages and, at the
nior Resource Association and In- end of the five-year process, review-
dian River Home Care. In addition ing it to ascertain what improve-
to the presentation of Community ments might be needed.
Champions awards, guests learned
about successful age-friendly com- She explained that the Livable
munities from guest speaker Lau- Communities initiative engages
ra Cantwell, associate director of through the built environment,
AARP Florida, Livable Communi- which includes areas such as hous-
ties. ing, public spaces and transporta-
tion, and the social environment,
Caldwell said that by 2034 there looking at civic participation and
will be more people over 65 nation- social respect, communication, en-
wide than under 18 for the first time gagement and healthcare, and she
ever. As a result, she said, it is im- provided examples of successful
portant to ensure that communities initiatives in other Florida commu-
are designed to work with people of nities.
all ages.
Cantwell congratulated Indian
“We’ve been doing that through River County for completing an ac-
a program called AARP Network of tion plan that is focused on health,
Age Friendly Communities, which housing, financial security and
is a five-year process, and it starts communication.

“What’s just incredible to me is

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that you launched right before CO- the Indian River County Health De-
VID, but this did not stop your mo- partment.
mentum at all. It’s something that
we have talked nationally about, Additionally, Riley presented the
as a model for how during COVID, Volunteer of the Year award to Se-
Treasure Coast Community Health nior Collaborative board secretary
provided surveys at vaccination lo- Abby Walters, saying: “For the last
cations,” said Cantwell, noting that four years, she has just been instru-
more surveys were collected here mental in doing every facet of our
than anywhere else. age friendly work.”

“I want to say a big congratula- Established in 2018, the Senior
tions to Indian River County. Your Collaborative of Indian River Coun-
action plan is really going to be a ty links older residents, their fami-
leader in Florida and especially the lies and caregivers to resources, and
way that community is centered to serves as the lead agency for Indian
this work. It’s really exciting to see,” River County’s Age-Friendly desig-
said Cantwell. nation with Livable Indian River. An
action plan created by the nonprofit
Randy Riley, Senior Collaborative to address housing, health, commu-
executive director, and Beth Mitch- nications and financial assistance/
ell, outgoing board chair, present- employment issues was approved
ed seven Community Champion by county commissioners Sept. 20
Awards. and will be released in November.

Riley said awards were: “For un- In addition to its Livable Commu-
selfish service and tireless work en- nity program, the Senior Collabora-
suring the safety and protection of tive offers a Navigation Program to
the seniors of Indian River County connect people to more than 550
Florida during the COVID-19 pan- for-profit and nonprofit providers
demic. The dedication and concern in areas including: Housing; Trans-
for the senior population undoubt- portation; Food and Meals; Com-
edly saved lives and provided life- munity and Government Agencies;
saving vaccines, healthcare, food Financial Assistance, Counseling
assistance, transportation and oth- and Employment; Education, Social
er services to the most vulnerable and Spiritual; Health and Medical;
population in Indian River County.” Arts and Entertainment; and Parks
and Recreation.
The awards were presented to
representatives of: Cleveland Clinic On March 23, 2023, they will host
Indian River Hospital, the Indian a Senior Expo from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
River County Board of County Com- at the Indian River County Fair-
missioners and county staff, Trea- grounds.
sure Coast Community Health, the
Senior Resource Association, Whole For more information or to search
Family Health Center, the United services, visit SeniorServicesIRC.org
Way of Indian River County, and or call 772-469-2270. 

34 Vero Beach 32963 / November 17, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

PHOTOS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 32 Patrick Topp and Misty Kartner.
Carol Jackson and Brian Langworthy.

Vicki Soule, Clay Humphreys and Ann Marie Suriano.

Abby Walters and Theresa Baxter.



Merchant Mario García at El Zonte beach accepts Bitcoin.

who international creditors, saying he’d Bukele made it legal tender would’ve the crypto crash. Behind the debacle
cashed in a retirement account or stim- solve El Salvador’s financial problems lost big: Bitcoin has dropped 61% since was a small group of evangelists from
ulus check to buy crypto. El Salvador’s with Bitcoin instead. “#Bitcoin is FU September 2021. wealthier countries – startup CEOs, in-
President Nayib Bukele did it with his money!” he tweeted. fluencers, grifters.
country’s treasury. In a country where many live on less
A year in, it’s clear the move is failing. than $10 a day, Bukele spent hundreds They enlisted an entire country in a
In September 2021, the country be- Almost no one in the country is using of millions of dollars to turn himself publicity stunt and cheered on Bukele
came the first to declare Bitcoin a legal Bitcoin, and the few who bought after into a crypto influencer just in time for even as he ordered mass arrests and
currency. Bukele gave $30 in Bitcoin packed the Supreme Court, which sub-
to each citizen, plunked down Bitcoin sequently ruled he could run for re-
ATMs in every town plaza and told election despite a constitutional ban.
businesses to accept Bitcoin as pay- Salvadorans are still dealing with the
ment. consequences.

He also used government funds to “It’s volcano energy, yeah!” yelled
buy $100 million worth, mostly when Stacy Herbert, a pink-haired former TV
prices were peaking, then trolled crit- producer, referring to Bukele’s scheme
ics by tweeting that he’d done it on his to harness the power of El Salvador’s
phone, in the bathroom, naked. And Conchagua volcano to mine Bitcoin.
with the country on the edge of a debt
crisis, the 41-year-old Bukele told off

Top:Bitcoin sign in El Zonte, El Salvador. El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele.
Center: A surfer walks by a Bitcoin-tagged
trash can at El Zonte beach.

Herbert and her husband Max Keiser
are Bukele’s most prominent, if unpaid
and unofficial, Bitcoin advisers. A few
years ago they produced a conspiracy-
theory-heavy news show on Russia’s
state-owned RT network. Now they eat
at El Salvador’s best restaurants and fly
in military helicopters to tour govern-
ment crypto projects.

The couple describe El Salvador’s
problems as the fault of evil West-
ern bankers who’ve conspired to ex-
ploit the country. It’s an explanation
Bukele uses, too. At the time he made
his Bitcoin play, the government was
in talks with the International Mon-
etary Fund for a low-cost loan to fill
its budget gap. But the IMF was de-

CONTINUED ON PAGE 38

38 Vero Beach 32963 / November 17, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 37 INSIGHT COVER STORY

manding spending cuts that would’ve youth “won’t have to resort to crime or streets as $300-a-night hotels. The area Martínez, told me he got sick of telling
been painful. violence,” and the country “won’t have has been swarmed by Bitcoin influ- visitors he didn’t want to handle such
immigration problems. encers, travel bloggers and TV crews, a volatile currency. “The tourists think
So instead, in June 2021, Bukele had who’ve dubbed it Bitcoin Beach. Fans everybody accepts Bitcoin,” he said.
Jack Mallers, a 28-year-old startup “Today, humanity takes a tremen- were excited there was finally a place in
founder from the Chicago area, an- dous leap forward in re-instilling hu- the physical world where Bitcoin could Bukele’s approval rating still hovers
nounce to the world at a Bitcoin confer- man freedom,” Mallers declared. buy stuff, which they saw as an impor- around 90%. Salvadorans tend to blame
ence in Miami that El Salvador would tant step toward global adoption. his predecessors for the country’s prob-
be adopting a new national currency. Ten months later, after it was clear lems. El Salvador had the world’s high-
the leap had landed somewhere short Right away during my visit, there est homicide rate in 2017, but the fig-
Mallers, elfin and curly haired, paced of tremendous, Mallers gave a talk at were signs the locals didn’t find slow, ure has since dropped below those of
the stage in an oversize hoodie and a another Bitcoin conference in Miami. complicated electronic payment apps neighboring Mexico and Honduras.
baseball cap, giggling and cursing as When I caught up with him and asked as thrilling as Bitcoiners did. At the
he described a spring he’d spent in El if he’d been to El Salvador to see how first store I entered, when I mentioned I saw even less Bitcoin use elsewhere
Zonte, a beach community about 30 its Bitcoin project was going, he said he Bitcoin, the clerk snatched the bottle in El Salvador than in the revolution’s
miles south of San Salvador. A surfer couldn’t remember the last time he vis- of water I was trying to pay for out birthplace, El Zonte. In downtown San
from San Diego was helping the poor ited. “It’s very important to know that of my hands. “Trash,” he said. “I will Salvador, I spent an afternoon walking
there by teaching them to use Bitcoin. it’s not my project, you know,” he said. never use it.” My hotel wouldn’t accept through a market looking for some-
Mallers came to help. One of Bukele’s it either, and a beachfront restaurant one who accepted Bitcoin. I didn’t find
brothers somehow learned he was vis- In August, I went to El Zonte. There, next door displayed a handmade sign anyone who said they used it. “Some-
iting, then messaged him on Twitter chickens hop down rutted dirt roads, saying, “No Bitcoin.” Its owner, Julio times it’s up, sometimes it’s down. For
and asked to meet. Before long, Mallers and many residents live in houses me it doesn’t work,” said a man run-
was advising the government on how made of corrugated metal, on the same ning a small pharmacy. Even at up-
to use Bitcoin to help the 70% of Salva- scale restaurants catering to tourists,
dorans who don’t have a bank account. cashiers accepted Bitcoin only reluc-
tantly, often going to a backroom to
As Mallers told this unlikely story, he look for a device loaded with a Bitcoin
started to cry. He said Bitcoin would let app.
Salvadorans in the U.S. send money
home for free, saving them hundreds El Salvador’s Bitcoin project is cen-
of millions of dollars in money trans- tered on a smartphone app the gov-
fer fees. And with Bitcoin powering
the economy, he asserted, El Salvador’s

Chivo ATM in San Salvador.

Bitcoin largely hasn’t been embraced as an alternative.

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / November 17, 2022 39

INSIGHT COVER STORY

ernment runs called Chivo, slang for sitions with the government. The coun- to fix Chivo. (The deposition was part code that allowed users to buy Bit-
“cool.” It allows users to send each try awarded the contract to develop the of a payment dispute with Athena; coin, then trading at about $60,000,
other dollars or Bitcoin and convert app to Athena Bitcoin Global, a tiny Overton declined to comment for this at a rate of $1 instead. By the time the
funds from one to the other. A user can Bitcoin ATM company in a Chicago story.) Not even 150 people had signed error was caught a few hours later
scan a QR code to buy a $1 pupusa, suburb. It was the only company that up before the software designed to and the transactions reversed, Chivo
and Chivo will send $1 worth of Bit- said it could meet the government’s check their identities crashed, Over- users had accumulated $10 billion
coin at the current exchange rate. The deadline, according to a spokeswoman ton said. Rather than slow the roll- worth. Even when the price was ac-
fees are minimal. for Athena. Corporate filings show that out, the government decided to turn curate, the software was designed to
El Salvador paid it about $4 million to off all safeguards. Anyone could sign update it only once per minute, al-
People can also withdraw US dollars develop the app. Initially, enthusiastic up with a false identity and withdraw lowing users to make easy money by
from their digital wallets at the coun- day traders sent Athena’s stock soar- $30 worth of free, untraceable Bitcoin. waiting for the live price of Bitcoin
try’s 200 Chivo ATMs. Each machine ing as high as $33, briefly making its Some users submitted photos of pot- to go up, then buying it on Chivo at
is in a blue-roofed hut with a desk for founder, Eric Gravengaard, worth $10 ted plants as proof of their identity the old, lower price. Overton said one
two staffers to assist users. Soldiers billion on paper. (It has since crashed instead of selfies. Overton estimated trader exploited the bug for $400,000.
stand guard around the clock. below $1.) that as many as 20% of the app’s 4 mil- “We had pretty much the entire coun-
lion sign-ups were fake. “There was try turn into day traders,” he said.
The government released Chivo in The code Athena produced was rid- literally no supervision whatsoever,” “They could buy and sell risk-free.”
September 2021. Those who signed up dled with bugs, according to a deposi- he said.
got $30 in free Bitcoin, about an aver- tion given in August by Shaun Over- The Chivo app has worked bet-
age day’s wages in El Salvador. More ton, president of Accruvia, a software At one point, Overton said, a pro- ter since El Salvador replaced Athe-
than half the country’s 6.5 million citi- development company Athena hired grammer introduced a bug into the na with AlphaPoint Corp., a crypto
zens did. What they found was an app software company in New York. The
that barely worked. Users reported Site of a projected Bitcoin City Athena spokeswoman said that the
that it crashed regularly and that pay- near the Conchagua volcano. company continues to work with the
ments often failed or took hours to government but that a confidential-
process. Others said they couldn’t sign ity agreement prevents it from saying
up because someone had stolen their more.
identity and their bonus.
Even though Chivo allows for free
Bukele had delegated responsibil- transfers from abroad, few people are
ity for the Bitcoin project to his three using the app for them. It accounted
brothers and his Venezuelan campaign for only 2% of remittances in the first
adviser, none of whom hold official po- five months of 2022, according to El
Salvador’s central bank. And after the
initial wave of sign-ups, usage plum-
meted generally, according to the Na-
tional Bureau of Economic Research
in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which
surveyed a sample of 1,800 households
and found almost none had down-
loaded the app this year. Salvadorans
say they “do not understand it, they do
not trust it, it is not accepted by busi-
nesses, it is very volatile,” the research-
ers wrote.

“Trash,” the clerk said. “I will never
use it.” 

Bukele at a Bitcoin
conference in El Salvador.

40 Vero Beach 32963 / November 17, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT EDITORIAL

John spent the winter of 2020 shoveling snow off country, according to a survey from mobility company gration issues, some of which can affect companies’
his Philadelphia front porch. Or at least that’s what he Topia, and a growing number of workers say they would bottom lines, said Chantel Rowe, vice president of
told his boss he was doing. rather quit than be forced back into the office. product management at Topia. Firms may be on the
hook for additional taxes if employees spend a cer-
The tech consultant was actually traveling the Chris, a New Yorker living with his parents, spends tain amount of time – usually more than half the year
world, going to Lebanon, Dubai, Vietnam, Canada about seven months of the year abroad, something – in another country. They also face fines if employ-
and Australia. He kept doing it even when he started his U.S.-based company doesn’t know. ees work abroad without the proper work permit.
a new job last year with an employer who believes he
lives and works in Houston. The 29-year-old software engineer for a large me- To avoid that risk, along with cybersecurity and
dia company started traveling in late 2020. He went safety concerns, many firms prohibit employees from
John (not his real name) uses a VPN to disguise to Cancun in Mexico before heading to Colombia, working abroad.
where he lives, works U.S. hours, uses virtual Zoom Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Greece, Turkey, South Africa
backgrounds and watches the Houston weather so and Israel. His $130,000 yearly salary, and lack of rent “I definitely feel like the Covid free pass is running
he can drop cues about his supposed location. To payments, allow him to fly around and enjoy $25-a- out,” Rowe said. “Companies are saying: ‘We’ve got
keep up the facade, the 30-year-old flew to Houston night stays in Airbnbs. big problems to deal with, without having tax and
in May to pick up a laptop his new company sent to immigration authorities cracking down on us.’”
the home address he gave them – actually a friend’s Chris is aware he risks losing his job – something
house – before heading back to Dubai. that’s already happened to a friend and a friend of a Employees don’t feel remorseful about lying about
friend – but he said it’s worth it. He wants to travel where they work. Many say their location shouldn’t be
John is one of many “stealth workers” who are ly- now rather than when he’s older and in worse shape. decided by their companies to start with. And there’s
ing to their bosses about their location. Bloomberg pressure on companies looking to retain talent: About
agreed to keep their real names private because they “Since the pandemic, people feel like they have 41% of employees say flexibility to work from home is
were concerned about being fired from their jobs. more entitlement over their own lives,” said Outpost’s a reason to change jobs, according to the Topia survey.
They’re driven by the high cost of living in large US Abraham. “They don’t want their bosses telling them
cities, the flexibility of remote work and a desire for where to work. As long as the job gets done, they say: Kate, a Warsaw-based marketing consultant, saves
better work-life balance. They know they risk losing ‘What’s the difference?’” up to travel the world whenever she can. The 31-year-
their jobs if they get caught, but they say it’s worth it. old American spent a month in Kenya, two in Cape
This laissez-faire attitude clashes with how most Town and one in Nigeria in the past year, all while
“People want the freedom to work from anywhere, employers feel about digital nomads.While some com- working from Airbnbs.
and they don’t stop just because their bosses try to panies still offer flexibility – Salesforce Inc. and Spotify
get them back in the office,” said David Abraham, co- Technology SA have announced work-from-anywhere She goes to extremes to convince her bosses she’s in
founder of Bali-based coworking company Outpost. policies – many others have told workers they must re- Poland, waking up at 2 a.m. for a call while attending
turn to the office at least a few days a week. a wedding in the Caribbean, and taking a Zoom meet-
The pandemic upended work culture, giving many ing from a Jeep on her way to a safari. The Los Angeles-
employees the opportunity to work from home for Working abroad comes with a raft of tax and immi- born employee said she doesn’t tell her bosses where
the first time. For some, not being tethered to an of- she is because she’s worried they’ll think she’s slacking
fice meant they could move to a different city or even off, which she says isn’t true.
a new country. Suddenly it was possible to work, say,
from Portugal for a company based in New York. “People were stuck at home during the pandemic
and had no choice,” said Shaun Prime, chief execu-
As life returns to normal and many employers tell tive officer of community travel company Remote
workers to go back to the office, there’s growing push- Year. “Now they want to travel, immerse themselves
back from those who don’t want to give up their re- in an experience and have a better life.” 
mote-work lifestyle.
A version of this column by Alice Kantor and Pau-
About 66% of employees don’t tell their employer lina Cachero first appeared on Bloomberg. It does not
every time they work from outside their home state or necessarily reflect the views of Vero Beach 32963.

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

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / November 17, 2022 41

INSIGHT OP-ED

When Budget charges Russ DeVries $450 ANSWER: normal vacuuming of the car, exces- didn't have a dog. I see cases like this
for a pet cleaning fee on his rental, he sive odor, smoke odor, and cigarette all the time. Among the car rental com-
has a problem paying: No dog. If you didn't bring a dog with you, then burns. We find that the location has panies' favorite fees is charging non-
you should not have to pay a clean- provided documentation of the condi- smokers a cleaning fee for "smoking"
QUESTION: ing fee. tion of the vehicle at return." in a rental vehicle. But pet cleaning fees
seem to be a close second.
Budget charged me a $450 cleaning fee I reviewed the correspondence be- Budget said it would gladly remove
for a vehicle that had dog hair in the tween you and Budget, and here's how the charge if you could show the con- In your email correspondence, Bud-
back seat. I only had the rental car for it justified the fee. dition of the car before you rented it. get insisted it had the evidence. But it
one day. I traveled from the airport to That's a valid request. You should al- couldn't show you any evidence that
my meeting, to the hotel and then back "Charges for cleaning vehicles that ways take a picture of your car – inside proves you (or your non-existent dog)
to the airport the following day. I nev- are returned in such poor condition and outside – before you leave the lot. messed up the back seat of your rental.
er had an animal in the vehicle at any that the vehicle must be sent out for
time. Can you help? detailing will be charged in proportion Budget then told you about the dog Here's another problem with your
to the level of cleaning that is needed," hair, which you vehemently denied. case: Budget didn't notify you of the
it said in an email. "This includes, but You were on a business trip and did not cleaning fee. Instead, it simply charged
is not limited to, vehicles returned with bring a dog with you. your credit card. You had to ask the car
food stains on the seats, dog or animal rental company about a mysterious
hair that cannot be removed through In the end, it's difficult to prove you $450 charge on your card. Come on. At
least the company could have let you
know it was billing you – and maybe
asked for your side of the story.

A brief, polite email to one of the
executives at Budget might have pro-
duced more evidence. Or it might have
convinced the powers that be of your
innocence. I contacted Budget on your
behalf. It refunded the $450. 

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

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT BOOKS

In “G-Man,” Beverly Gage’s masterful account of the men he served in the White House and Congress. a highly nuanced – sometimes even sympathetic –
the life and controversial career of J. Edgar Hoover, It was President Franklin Roosevelt who first autho- account of the man. Hoover was a racist who spent
the former FBI director, emerges as a strangely tor- rized Hoover to use wiretaps to collect domestic po- much of his career trying to break the Ku Klux Klan.
tured man who wielded power within the Justice De- litical intelligence. And Hoover regularly briefed the He believed that bringing Southern lynch mobs to
partment for an astonishing 48 years. Hoover’s story White House and Congress on COINTELPRO. justice would shore up faith in federal power. By the
illustrates the unique power of biography to enter the 1940s, he had become the “darling of the New Deal
life of another human being. The genre can provoke No loose cannon, Hoover was actually the con- establishment,” Gage writes. While Hoover hounded
a rare response: It can persuade one to change one’s summate cautious bureaucrat, the keeper of the files American communists, the leftist journalist I.F. Stone
mind. This magical leap can happen when a good – really more of an uptight, puritanical librarian. In- conceded that he used his power to face down Joe
biographer is able to seduce the reader into under- deed, his first job out of college and law school was McCarthy. Hoover thought of Richard Nixon as a
standing another soul. “G-Man” is Gage’s first biogra- at the Library of Congress, where his mentor Herbert personal friend and political soul mate, but he hated
phy, and she turns out to be a marvelous biographer. Putnam taught him the power and magic of the li- John Birchers and Second Amendment absolutists.
brary’s catalogue of 50,000 index cards. According to
After reading Gage, I have changed my mind about Gage, Hoover used his skills as a librarian to become Hoover was complicated – and never more so than
Hoover. He is not the caricature villain I thought I a master politician, managing to ingratiate himself in his personal life. Gage is brilliant in showing us
knew when I came of age in the turbulent 1960s. through eight presidential administrations. who the man was without using any labels. He was
Hoover was a man of profound contradictions. While a dedicated “bachelor” who had no use for women.
he had enough empathy to send flowers to Jenkins, he Gage is a professor of 20th-century American his- Drawing on “an extraordinary cache of letters,” Gage
also orchestrated the FBI’s notorious COINTELPRO tory and the Brady-Johnson professor of grand strat- shows Hoover “by turns funny, tender, solicitous, and
intelligence operations against civil rights leaders egy at Yale University. Last year, she resigned as di- flirtatious” in his correspondence with a young FBI
and antiwar activists, wiretapped Martin Luther King rector of Yale’s Grand Strategy program when a donor agent, Melvin Purvis. By the mid-1930s, he had trans-
Jr. and many other private citizens, and enabled the tried to influence its curriculum. Her first book was ferred his affections to Clyde Tolson, who became
rise of a deeply racist conservative movement that is “The Day Wall Street Exploded: A Story of America in Hoover’s associate director. “Where Hoover went,
still poisoning the American body politic. Gage pro- Its First Age of Terror,” about the 1920 dynamite at- Tolson went too,” writes Gage. “Not only to the office,
vides proof that Hoover was no rogue elephant, act- tack on Wall Street that killed 38 people. It was pub- but to the nightclub and the racetrack, on vacations
ing entirely on his own. Instead, we learn that Hoover lished in 2009, and ever since then Gage has been and out for weeknight dinners, to family events and
invariably did what he did with the full knowledge of working on Hoover. White House receptions. They were in essence a cou-
ple.” Gage does not pretend to be in their bedroom,
Scholars have long anticipated this volume, the but by the end of his life, when Hoover became the
first new biography of Hoover in nearly 30 years. nursemaid to an ailing Tolson, there was no doubt of
Back in the 1950s, Fred Cook wrote a series of in- the enduring love between these two men. The biog-
vestigative pieces attacking the FBI, and in 1964 he rapher has succeeded in humanizing the public im-
published “The FBI Nobody Knows.” But the first age of the coldhearted secret police chief.
real biography did not come out until 1987, when
Richard Gid Powers published “Secrecy and Power.” “G-Man” is a very sad story. Hoover’s highest ideal
This was followed a year later by Athan Theoharis’ was the nonpartisan public servant, dedicated to
“The Boss.” Both were very good pieces of schol- burnishing the notion that the federal government
arship but were less than full biographies. In 1991, was a force for good. And yet by the ’60s, Gage shows,
Curt Gentry came out with “J. Edgar Hoover,” an- Hoover’s reactionary instincts prevailed, and his ac-
other muckraking account of Hoover’s career. And tions helped to sow distrust of the federal govern-
then in 1993, the British author Anthony Summers ment from both the right and the left. In the end, he
published “Official and Confidential,” a colorful bi- was a “confused, sometimes lonely man.” Gage con-
ography that made headlines with its thinly sourced cludes, “We cannot know our own story without un-
accounts of Hoover’s alleged cross-dressing at a pri- derstanding his, in all its high aspiration and terrible
vate party in New York. cruelty, and in its many human contradictions.”

Gage’s biography now becomes the definitive work, This book is an enduring, formidable accomplish-
not only because it is deeply biographical about the ment, a monument to the power of biography. 
man but also because the author was able to tap
into such previously classified sources as the records G-MAN | J. EDGAR HOOVER
of Operation Solo, the Venona intercepts of Soviet
cable traffic, Hoover’s office logs and appointment AND THE MAKING OF THE AMERICAN CENTURY
books, and most important, the reprocessed version
of Hoover’s “Official and Confidential File.” This new BY BEVERLY GAGE | VIKING. 837 PP. $40
material is simply stunning, and Gage uses it to write
REVIEW BY KAI BIRD, THE WASHINGTON POST

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / November 17, 2022 43

INSIGHT BRIDGE

TRY TO ALLOW FOR THE WORST WEST NORTH EAST
J98 754 Q 10
By Phillip Alder - Bridge Columnist K Q 10 7 5 4 J8 92
A4 Q962 10 8 7 3
Jim Morrison, who was the lead singer for The Doors, said, “Some of the worst QJ A743 10 9 6 5 2
mistakes of my life have been ...” what?
SOUTH
If you go down in this week’s contract, you should play “Riders on the Storm,” but if AK632
you make it, enjoy “Light My Fire.” How should South play in four spades after West A63
leads the heart king? KJ5
K8
North wasn’t enthusiastic about his two-spade raise, but he had 7 points and a
doubleton. South wondered about three no-trump but did not expect to have nine Dealer: South; Vulnerable: North-South
runners (immediate winners), and if he had to lose the lead while establishing tricks,
he would have the “Roadhouse Blues.” So he settled into four spades. The Bidding:

With a loser in each red suit, South needed to find trumps 3-2. However, how SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST OPENING
was he going to ruff his third heart without risking a trump promotion if East had a 1 Spades 2 Hearts 2 Spades Pass
doubleton in both majors? 4 Spades Pass Pass Pass LEAD:
K Hearts
The original declarer won the first trick and returned a heart. West played a third
heart, East overruffing the dummy. Then East put West in with the diamond ace and
ruffed the next heart, effecting an uppercut that produced down two. The defenders
took one heart, one diamond and three spades. The dummy said, “You’re Lost Little
Girl.”

Declarer should have ducked the first trick, won the heart-queen continuation,
cashed his two top trumps and then ruffed his last heart. Even if East could have
overruffed, it would have been with his natural trump trick. The dummy would
probably have said, “We Could Be So Good Together.”

Jim Morrison’s mistakes were haircuts!

Established 18 Years in Indian River County

(772) 562-2288 | www.kitchensvero.com
3920 US Hwy 1, Vero Beach FL 32960

44 Vero Beach 32963 / November 17, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT GAMES

SOLUTIONS TO PREVIOUS ISSUE (NOVEMBER 10) ON PAGE 78

The Telegraph ACROSS DOWN
1 Own (4) 2 Apex (4)
4 Healthy (4) 3 Deserved (6)
8 Third man (4) 4 Empty (6)
9 Belladonna lily(9) 5 Dawdle (6)
11 Noble (6) 6 Exuberant (9)
13 Dedicated (7) 7 Pleased (4)
15 Dark image (6) 10 Passenger carrier (7)
16 Neglectful (6) 12 Eyot (4)
18 White herons (6) 13 Mar Friday (anag.) (5,4)
20 Delicacy (6) 14 Galvanic; cat viol (anag.)(7)
22 Initially (2,5) 17 Eyelid sore (4)
23 Biased (6) 19 Narrow passage (6)
25 Sailing vessel (9) 20 Defuse (6)
26 Dreadful (4) 21 Tel Aviv’s country (6)
27 Tiny particle (4) 23 Unfasten (4)
28 Loch (4) 24 Stow (4)

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 / November 17, 2022 45

INSIGHT GAMES

ACROSS 100 Biafra, today 46 Anagram of CROATIAN The Washington Post
1 Sofia’s land: abbr. 101 Co-writer with Buddy 47 Dead ___ (lookalike)
5 Popeye creator Elzie and Rob 48 Benz follower REINDEER GAMES By Merl Reagle
10 Butler’s bride 104 Sault ___ Marie 49 E.g.
15 Mason, e.g. 106 Supermodel Campbell 51 Nostalgic
18 Nichelle, on Star Trek 108 Christmas Day football 55 Greek letter
20 NASA booster rocket of 57 Ye ___ Pie Shoppe
the 1960s option? 59 Never been done before
21 Philosopher Kierkegaard 118 An article, amigo 60 Natalie Wood’s given name
22 Corrida cry 119 Love of money, at 62 Come up
23 Refusal from Santa? 64 No-refunds condition
26 St. Nick sidekick Christmastime? 65 Wartime Johnny
27 Nerve-wracking event of 120 Metrical tribute 70 Exasperated
121 Like the Otariidae seals 71 One at ___
Christmas 1962? 122 Skirt fold 72 Old car co.
29 Hasn’t a lick of ___ 123 The larval, e.g. 80 Shapiro of NPR
30 Space scribe Willy 124 Adieu 81 Poet’s word
31 Feedbag morsel 125 Exults 83 Capek classic
32 Orbit extremes 126 Waste maker 85 “___ Only Just Begun”
36 You do it after Christmas 127 Besides that 88 Bearded beast
38 Stat. calculation 89 Follow Olivier
41 Soft touch DOWN 91 It’s okay, in Orleans
42 Sot’s yuletide remark 1 Non-swing tactic 92 Stationary-bike mecca
2 Word of worry 94 Bothersome one
about having a designated 3 Life founder 95 “See ___ and fill it”
driver? 4 Mkt. 96 Third Hebrew letter
50 Experience is one 5 Fine fabrics 97 “Diamonds Are ___ Best
51 Exhilarating 6 Curmudgeonly
52 One more time Friend”
53 Losing tic-tac-toe line exclamations 100 Write down, as chess
54 A slitherer for Ramses 7 “___ to the Church moves
56 Mouth opening? on Time” 102 Huitzilopochti worshiper
57 Net-surfing, e.g. 8 Against 103 The Merry Widow
58 Make a mistake 9 Cheers composer
59 Acting Jillian 10 Acting Davis 104 Scatter
61 Acting Elliott 11 ___ contested 105 Sounds of the falls?
63 Dr. Menninger 12 Indy 500 champ Luyendyk 106 Neck backs
66 Gerund finale 13 Big name in 1960s toys 107 Monk who has reached
67 Private aid gp. 14 The end of ___
68 Temporary sensation 15 Blow and Doakes nirvana
69 Yule remark to avoid 16 “___ want for Christmas is 108 Major dollop
self-incrimination? 109 Kenny Rogers hit
73 Vile abode ...” 110 Grasping comment?
74 “How was ___ know?” 17 Boxer separators 111 Overfed Wolfe
75 Ending for “colour” 19 Pleases 112 19th Hebrew letter
76 “Yeah, sure” 24 Fencing swords 113 Sexy secretary in The
77 Treasure medium, 25 Cruise stopovers
maybe 28 Slanted, as a news story?: Producers
78 Gretzky’s ground, once 114 ___ noire (pariah)
79 “Also” affixation abbr. 115 Of grandparents
80 Muttered mots in movies 32 Hard-to-beat one 116 Slangy smokes
82 Money-saving idea: abbr. 33 Notes need 117 Painter Paul
84 Be in control of 34 Yule transplant participant?
86 Memorized no. 35 Right turns
87 Prompt again 36 Puzzling
88 Entire range 37 Manner
90 Deputy Strate of Hazzard 39 Preparin’ a Christmas
93 Yule detective comedy?
96 Said uncle feast?
98 “... of Orient ___” 40 Patton’s Scott
99 Word after chess 42 “___ the fields
or chest we go ...”
43 Japanese poem
44 Sci-fi Solo
45 Air force base in Western

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48 Vero Beach 32963 / November 17, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT BACK PAGE

Spouse wants to be ‘more loving’ to husband of 53 years

BY CAROLYN HAX Aren’t we (over)due to have more re-
Washington Post alistic expectations, and to take these
restorative steps out loud?
Dear Carolyn: I have
Readers’ thoughts:
been with my hus- ·Re: “more irritable and more short-

band since we were tempered. … I think I want to live alone”:
I have never heard a clearer statement of
16; we are now 71, an introvert who is not getting enough
alone time, and with it the ability to re-
and we have been coup some socializing energy.

married for 53 years. If this resonates with you, can you
build some quiet alone time into your
We were insanely in love, and over the life on a regular basis? Even an hour
out of a day is immensely useful. As is
years, I have become less in love, more a room in your home you can relax in
with the expectation that nobody is go-
irritable and more short-tempered with ing to come invade it and bring more
people into it. Even ones you love. Be-
him – and everyone else, I might add. cause even people you love use up your
social energy.
There are more and more moments
· You don’t mention what he is like
when I think I want to live alone. or whether he is lovable to you. Think
of what you really want at this point
What can I do to make myself be museums, one loves visiting cities and take offense, even if he would benefit in your life. What happiness or con-
the other fishing in the mountains, etc. from it as much as you would. tentment looks like. Who you want to
kinder and more loving with him? I If you have a difference in tastes that be, including being pleased over your
has evolved organically, then it’s much But to draw some fortitude, think interactions with others. If you are
have tried therapy, which did not help. easier to suggest you pursue them for of all the ways people have found this grouchy because you are not living a
a time apart, and it’s more likely to be space away from their spouses over the life that satisfies you, take time with
Help me love my husband again. restorative to your relationship. When years that had the appearance of so- your values to see what might be pos-
you get to exercise some selfhood that cial acceptability: men’s and women’s sible. 
– Irritable you haven’t in a while, it’s easy to see clubs, weekend golf/fishing/shopping/
how you could come back to each oth- lunching, workaholic tendencies, vol-
Irritable: Can you afford, and man- er feeling refreshed. No promises, but unteering at church.
age logistically, some time where you it’s worth a try.
live apart? I’m not talking about a legal Think of the whole repertoire of mid-
separation; I mean things such as al- And if it’s about you, not him (thus century battle-of-the-sexes-type yuk-
ternating solo vacations with ones you your impatience with “everyone else”), yuk jokes, and underneath the sexism,
take together, or studying for x weeks at you may see that more clearly, too. you can make out the foundation of
y program, or spending a season in one reality: that too much togetherness can
place while your husband spends it in Because there’s a strong socializing be tough on a couple, and we’ve known
another. current against doing this, he might this for a really long time.

This is where separate interests are
a lifeline. One loves golf and the other

PORTRAIT OF AN ARTIST
BOUNDLESS TALENT AND ENERGY

50 Vero Beach 32963 / November 17, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

ARTS & THEATRE

Portrait of an artist who exudes boundless talent and energy

BY DEBBIE TIMMERMANN
Correspondent

Artist Judy Burgarella has devel- Artist Judy Burgarella. PHOTOS: JOSHUA KODIS
oped a following of devoted students,
having taught countless classes here, ily life. While raising two children in years later, after tragedy struck her None of them smoked and no other
primarily at the Vero Beach Museum Clinton, Conn., she taught crafts sev- family. cause could be attributed to it, but
of Art, and through the Vero Beach eral days a week and wrote for a craft they died from the cancer, one after
and Sebastian Art Clubs. Although magazine but didn’t paint until 30 Her sisters, at the time in their late the other, about two years apart.
she has instructed in a variety of me- 30s, began developing lung cancer.
diums and subjects, she is particu- “There were just four of us, and I
larly known for her portraiture skills.

A self-taught artist, Burgarella was
raised in West Haven, Conn., and
discovered her creative talents at an
early age.

“In the first grade, my teacher gave
me some clay, and I shaped it into [a
likeness of] the principal. I just did
it,” says Burgarella.

While her teacher and others who
saw it were “blown away” by the
piece, she says, “I didn’t understand
why everybody couldn’t draw a face.
I think it was in me.”

Burgarella says that her talent
gave her a confidence that carried all
through her sometimes-chaotic fam-