It’s a rare day when a clover leaf on Interstate-95 get as much attention as it has been getting recently.
But there they were, a crew of landscapers, unloading stacks of trees, their roots wrapped in burlap and pots of heart-shaped duck potato.

By Oct. 30, most of the dense growth of willows and kudzoo were history.
In their place, native trees, such as bald cypress, slash pine. They sat with soft soil mounded around supple trunks, supported by a tripod of two-by-fours. The hope is that they will provide a more hospitable habitat for wildlife.

“The non-native [plantings] provided habitat but not food,” said Raul Mederos, a certified arborist with the state’s Department of Transportation. “This will provide more food for them.”

Mederos said there are plans to do interchanges where Interstate-95 intersects Hillsboro Boulevard, Southwest 10th Street and Copans Road.

The idea, he said, is to do away with non-native species including cattails and replace them with aquatic species that provide better erosion control and are inviting to wildlife.

As with all Florida Department of Transportation projects, the redesign, he said, is funded through gas tax, not ad valorem tax.
No need to worry that the recent drop in gas prices will affect revenue, however. “It’s funded through a tax per gallon,” he said.

“Each interchange has its own profile,” he said. “They are ripping out the invasive aquatic vegetation located next to the retention ponds on the inside of the loop and replacing it."

> Discuss this entry

Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0) | Share:

If you want to know what’s happening in Deerfield Beach to commemorate Veteran’s Day Nov. 11, the answer is: not much.

Municipal offices and schools are closed.

Quiet Waters Park is closed.
But at Community Presbyterian Church of Deerfield Beach, parishioner Peggy Everett will put on her other hat as president of Fiddleworks for the group’s second Veteran’s Day concert in seven years.

The hour features the fiddlers, musicians, singers and dancers. In seven years the ensemble grown from 30 to 52 violin students.

The hour–long concert, which begins at 6 p.m. also features a grandfather on upright bass, a mother playing banjo, a father on guitar and church organist on piano.

“Keili – pronounced 'Kay-Lee' – is a Gallic word that means, "Let’s get together and play,’” Everett explained.
The program includes "The Star Spangled Banner," "America the Beautiful," "You’re a Grand Old Flag" and other songs.

The concert is free, and begins at 6. Call 954-426-2827.

> Discuss this entry

Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) | Share:

The GFWC Woman’s Club invites new and potential members to a membership tea, to learn about 88 years of doing good works in Deerfield Beach and the world.

Most recently, the group embraced Heifer International.
Heifer helps families in the United States and worldwide achieve self-reliance through a donation of livestock and training. Last year, the nonprofit had 867 projects in 83 countries and 29 U.S. states.

Selected as the “President’s Project,” woman’s clubs throughout the state are hoping to raise funds for a donation that spells long-term development for families, helping them become self-sufficient, produce their own food and income.
Women, who make up 70 percent of the world’s poor, grow 80 percent of the food, according to Heifer International.

But feeding the world isn’t the woman’s club’s only mission. The Deerfield Beach group is asking for donations of clothes suitable for job interviews, to be distributed by Women in Distress of Fort Lauderdale to women in search of a job.
For information, call Carole Henson, membership chairwoman, at 954-421-4700.
Or stop by for tea.
The GFWC Woman’s Club of Deerfield Beach membership tea is at 1 p.m. Nov. 4, at the club house, 910 E. Hillsboro Blvd.

> Discuss this entry

Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) | Share:

It was the City of Lighthouse Point’s first new ladder truck in 17 years and the fire department celebrated this week by spending three days learning how to use it.

Makers of the truck met with 26 firefighters and introduced them to aerial ladder operation and truck’s modern safety features.

Next lesson: extrication equipment that is located at the front of the truck instead of the rear for greater versatility, then updated breathing apparatuses with larger bottles that last a full 45 minutes.

They will learn to use new storage areas for fire fighting foam, thermal-imaging cameras and for tools that are lighter to handle. And those highlights don’t even touch on the truck itself.

In addition to turning on the large-equipment-equivalent of a dime, this truck has a seat the firefighters won’t have to adjust every time they respond to a fire call.

“Everybody who gets in to drive it will have an optimal view of the road,” said Assistant Fire Chief Dave Raines of a seat that is self-conforming to weight. “You have the same visual space through the windshield whether the driver is 150 of 300 pounds.”

> Discuss this entry

Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) | Share:

There is a life preserver of sorts available to Deerfield Beach's battered real estate sector – but only if the city submits a plan by Dec. 1.

Gerry Ferguson, the city's director of planning and growth management, said the sector got a potential $2 million infusion earlier this month when the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program appropriated funding.

Now, Ferguson said, "We have to develop a plan for how to spend the money, purchasing and rehabbing foreclosed homes, [then selling them] to low- and median-income individuals and families."

Government-funded projects must go through a bidding process that can take six months and the city has just 18 months to spend the $2 million.

Ferguson said the program helps preserve property values.
"You get these foreclosed properties and houses sit empty and get run down. I heard a statistic that property values decline 50 percent in an area surrounding a vacant house," he said. "The idea is to [help] cities prevent the negative impact of foreclosed properties."

District 2 Commissioner Sylvia Poitier said she began to spread the word when she learned about the funding.

“It was published in the federal registry and [available] to all entitlement cities,” with designated economic development taxing zones, she said. “It is to help with foreclosed, vacant and abandoned properties.”

To get it, however, the city has to have a postmarked application sent by Dec. 1, and it has to demonstrate need.

Hence the meeting Poitier has convened for 7 p.m. Nov. 12 at Westside Park’s community center.

> Discuss this entry

Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) | Share:

Deerfield Park Elementary School has been preparing for a long-delayed ceremony honoring a special teacher.
Ruth T. Giles taught in Deerfield Beach for 46 years.

She began her career at the former Braithwaite Elementary and Junior High School near the Northeast Focal Point Senior Center. The remainder she spent at Deerfield Park Elementary on Third Avenue. She taught luminaries such as Sylvia Poitier, the city’s vice mayor, and pioneered a lunch program at Braithwait.

So when Deerfield Park’s administrative team nominated her to be the building namesake, it didn’t take the School Board of Broward County long to approve it.

But that was in 1994.

Fourteen years later, Giles still awaits the honor she is due.
Principal Constantina Pettis with the administrative team resurrected the project, invited the Fort Lauderdale honoree and put to together a celebration for Deerfield’s special teacher and the school board’s executive board.

“It was just brought to our attention that the actual naming of the building did not happen,” said Assistant Principal Donna Rucker.

On Friday, all that will change – along with the name of the library.
“The library is the hub of the school," Rucker said.

> Discuss this entry

Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) | Share:

When cash-strapped Deerfield Beach saved $500,000 by eliminating special events, some worried that cherished traditions like the Halloween hoedown would go the way of Republicans.
But Halloween is on – in Deerfield Beach and in Lighthouse Point as well.

Westside Park, 445 SW Second St., is organizing a carnival and costume contest for the entire family at 6 p.m. Oct. 29.

Princesses and vampires can ride the train, play video games in a mobile arcade, enjoy a bounce house and compete in a costume contest.

Chances of winning? Quite a few. Categories include prettiest, scariest, most creative, in four different age groups. Arts and crafts are available for a fee, and food.

Villages of Hillsboro Park, 4111 NW Sixth St., offers a Halloween Hoedown petting zoo, scarecrow building and costume contest at 6:30 p.m. sharp Oct. 30.

Prizes for three age groups, teens, canines and for families with theme-related costumes.
Visit Deerfield Beach or call 954-480-4494 for the Hoedown at Constitution Park or activities at Westside Park, 954-480-4480.

Lighthouse Point residents celebrate Oct. 31.

The annual city Halloween party goes on from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m at Dan Witt Park, 4521 NE 22nd Ave., and organizers pledge free games, candy, prizes for all children in costume, with contest prizes in the kids, open and family divisions. Visit www.lighthousepoint.com or call 954 943-6500.

> Discuss this entry

Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0) | Share:

The clouds were gray enough to turn seas frothy white. The wind slapped the water with enough force to keep boaters at home. But the Hillsboro Inlet District’s new dredge stood solid as a lighthouse, repelling both waves and, as it turned out, the bottle of champagne intended to christen it.

“Welcome to the dredge christening,” announced Jack Holland Wednesday morning. The chairman of the eight-member inlet special taxing district explained how the stationary dredge transfers sand from where it accumulates and pumps it into a submerged line, sending it to Pompano Beach to continue its drift south.

The old dredge did yeoman’s duty for 35 years. But, he said, it is past its best.

“Every time something broke, there were a lot of parts we couldn’t get so we had to make our own parts,” said Holland, Pompano Beach district representative. “Everything was rusting.”

The $1.8-million replacement, funded through the district’s property tax levy of .086 mills, features people-friendly non-smoke-belching low-pollution engines.

It features stainless steel fittings and water pipes to resist salt-water corrosion.

It has air conditioning for the five-member crew and a meter to measure how much sand goes on Pompano Beach.

“Regulators all want to know how many hundreds of cubic yards of sand are being put on the beach,” Holland said.

With Hillsboro Beach officials and district representatives on hand, Capt. Woodworth Draughon swung the bottle on the string – then swung it again, shattering the glass against the ladder.

> Discuss this entry

Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0) | Share:

So successful was last year’s Jewish Heritage Series that this year’s series will go on as planned at Century Plaza Branch Library, despite a cut in funding.

“This time we don’t have the grant [from] the Jewish Heritage project,” said Medha Engineer, librarian I at Century Plaza Branch library, where last year’s lectures drew capacity crowds to the community room. “This year it is being funded by Friends of the Library.”

Still, this year, $2,500 mustered through thrift shop sales and tireless volunteers has paid for programs on four successive Wednesdays in November.
Programs include two book discussions and four lectures, ending Dec. 1 with a lecture and book signing by Alan Berger.

Nov. 5, the subject is “The Mysteries of the Dead Sea Scrolls” with Eli Kavon and a discussion about what the scrolls reveal about Judaism and Christianity in the ancient world.

Nov. 12, Kavon leads a discussion of “The Masada Complex? The Heroism and Folly of the Jewish War Against Rome.”

Nov. 17, the Ruth E. Cohan Jewish Book Review looks at "People of the Book" by Geraldine Brooks

Nov. 19, Kavon is exploring the history of the Jewish community in the diaspora in the ancient world: "The Rise and Fall of the Jews of Alexandria," and how they balanced the influence of the Hellenistic world and their Jewish identity.

Kavon’s final lecture in the series will be Nov. 26, when he discusses the controversy surrounding a heroic figure in Jewish history, “Bar Kokhba: Rebel Hero or Failed Messiah?”

The series ends Dec. 1 with a lecture and book signing by Alan Berger and, Engineer says, only Berger is speaking for free. Instead of a fee, the library is allowing him to do a lecture and book signing.

Century Plaza Branch Library is at 1856A W. Hillsboro Blvd. in Deerfield Beach. Call 954-360-1330.

> Discuss this entry

Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0) | Share: