The New Year is ushering in a new era at The Cove.
Deerfield Beach’s signature shopping plaza on Hillsboro Boulevard at the Intracoastal Waterway has long been sliding gently into decay. Now, after much study, more discussion and extensive planning, the city is preparing to embark on a complete transformation.
When it is finished sometime next year, the redesigned plot will feature more landscaping, pedestrian greenways and a signature entryway.
Pompano Beach consulting engineers Keith & Associates soon will pull up the existing parking lot, turning it into 500 parking spaces with extensive landscaping, said Gerald Ferguson, the city’s director of planning and growth management.
Plans for handling the temporary parking crunch are still being worked out.
“We can’t [eliminate] all parking because the whole thing would be closed down,” Ferguson said. “There will be areas you can park in while other areas are worked on.”
Traci Scheppske, Keith & Associates’ senior engineering manager, said that before her firm begins construction, it expects to meet with city staff and the people who own the businesses in the shopping center.
“We want to make sure everyone is on the same page with the master plan,” she said. “We will meet with them in January and be done by the end of January. Then we start on designing the plans and permitting.”
The existing plan is the result of city-organized meetings in August 2007. Out of those meetings came plans for a project that will eventually bring brightly colored buildings with Key West-style shutters, smooth stucco exteriors and gingerbread accents. Before that, however, parking will disappear as pavement is uprooted, the lot reconfigured and aesthetic elements added.
Dick Maggiore, who owns the Tipperary Pub and the office building that it’s in, said it can’t get any worse.
“We don’t have any parking now. That’s how bad it is, and here is my sore spot,” he said. “They put up two-hour parking in one section, and those signs apply 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Why would you have two-hour parking at 2 a.m.? Those stores are closed but we are open, and it affects us during the day because the people who used to park in those two-hour spaces now are parking in front of us.”
Maggiore and others can expect construction to begin in April, May or the summer months, with completion of the pavement area anticipated before the next tourist season begins in the fall.
Ferguson said that’s the plan, right now.
“Whatever [Keith & Associates] said, that’s what they’re trying to accomplish. But we can’t get any more detailed than that,” Ferguson said. “Until we go out for bid, receive bids and get a contract, we won’t know for sure what the time frame is.”
Property owners are responsible for bringing their own buildings into conformance with the master plan, but the city is providing assistance.
To encourage property owners to improve their buildings, the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency has offered to match their contribution up to $10,000 through a facade assistance program, Ferguson said.

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Paper? Plastic? Those new reusable bags? If that issue has your knickers in a twist, consider the Christmas dilemma:
real tree - or artificial?

On one hand, a real tree smells good, looks good, feels like Christmas, and returns needed nutrients to the earth in the New Year. On the other hand, chopping one down kills nature’s most efficient air-recycling device and creates a problem of a different sort.

What to do with it later, for example.

It is a problem faced by many today - especially those in the Town of Hillsboro Beach, where a newly instituted recycling program leaves residents with trees to make their own arrangements.

Christmas is over. Gifts that once burst the confines of the bottom branches have been opened. Nothing is left but a bent and battered tree waiting – for what?

Tradition calls for curbside disposal some time around Epiphany, Jan. 6. Post-Christmas incineration is out of the question for most cities. The cost, $98.86 per ton, is designed to be a deterrent.

“A lot of cities are choosing to pay a processor or chip it themselves because there is a ban on organics,” Deerfield Beach’s Recycling Specialist Cheryl Miller said. “The processing fee is less than half the cost of incineration – so they are saving an extraordinary amount of money doing this.”

In Lighthouse Point, a rare community with a city-run chipping program, that means about 800 trees last year (up from the year before) reduced to mulch at, by and for the city.

In Deerfield Beach, it matters not whether the tree is by the curb, or hauled to a Broward County Park with a tree chipping program like Quiet Waters Park. Either way, it gets crunched into chips and recycled as mulch.

A good thing? Maybe.

Miller says the real vs. fake Christmas tree issue has proponents on both sides. Supporters of artificial trees say keeping trees intact is important in addressing climate change.

“Everything I’m reading in the past couple of days says it is really nice to have a real tree in the home now because it is absorbing all the Carbon Dioxide in the home,” Miller said.

On the other hand…

The Children’s Health Environmental Coalition has concerns about some artificial trees, Miller says, related to toxic emissions.

What to do? We have to weigh both options here,” Miller said. “We are in a transition mode.”

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There were bicycles for kids who had never owned one, gift cards for older children and chicken wings for everyone – more than 100, certainly more than Syliva Poitier anticipated when she invited children at The Palms to celebrate Christmas at the Old Schoolhouse on Tuesday.

Based on three years of giving such parties for different disadvantaged neighborhoods in Deerfield Beach, Poitier, now mayor and formerly the city's commissioner representing District 2, said she anticipated more than 75 children. But the group, many Haitian immigrants who brought friends and family, outstripped her expectations. They crowded into the room, sat quietly in chairs and lined up both inside and outside the schoolhouse.

There were so many were there that Santa Claus Steve Miller brought an emergency supply of chicken wings when he arrived to give out the gifts.

There were so many were there that the dozens of toys donated by Deer Creek’s Dr. Deborah Brown and given out by her son Arie Brown, a senior at Pompano Beach High School, ran out. Deerfield Beach Fire Rescue personnel had to raid the department’s Toys for Tots supply to ensure no one went home disappointed.

But the word was, no one did.

“What boy or girl has never had a bicycle?” Poitier asked.

Five hands shot up. Five children got the pledge of a bicycle from the fire department.

Three-year-old Darnel Cedleu cradled his large, red-wrapped box as the gift-exchange continued, and clutched it like a life preserver when his older brother reached out to take a closer look.

But no one left disappointed, not even his brother.
“Everybody left with a gift or two and, for those who didn’t get a gift, the fire department Chief Tony Stravino, always gives me gift cards for babies and children who are 14, who usually get left out,” Poitier said. “The fire department brought over at least 1,000 toys – four huge boxes of gifts I gave out to kids in front of the Menorah in front of Old School House."

“This year, I just couldn’t count them,” she said.

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If everything goes according to plan, down-at-the-heels houses in Deerfield Beach could start looking better some time next year.

Not that the economy is improving.

Not that the housing market is easing.

No, the federal government has announced that Deerfield Beach will be getting a $2 million share of funding available to help communities that are facing high rates of foreclosure.

“The city did get [the application] in on time. Now we wait for them to tell us if it is OK or not,” said Gerald Ferguson, the city’s director of planning and growth management. “We are not expecting anything until some time in January.”

Getting to this point was a stretch. The city made an eleventh-hour decision to apply for an available grant. The grant allows Deerfield Beach to use the funds in the context of its Community Development Block Grant program to do two things simultaneously: help struggling neighborhoods with gentle facelifts performed on decaying homes, and help low-income residents get into a house.

The decision to apply for the money was made in November. The application for federal funds had to be in by Dec. 1. But the application made it under the door.

When the money becomes available, the city will use it to buy foreclosed properties. These it will either demolish, or renovate and sell them to low- to median-income buyers.

The city will have no shortage of options. A study released earlier this year by RealtyTrak.com indicates there are 1,193 foreclosed, auctioned or vacant homes in Deerfield Beach alone. The only problem might be that the city has just 18 months to spend the entire sum.

“How long does it take to get an appraisal? To negotiate a price? It can take six months just to close on a property and if it needs to be repaired, the legally-required bidding process takes a while,” Ferguson said. “You can’t just all of a sudden buy a house.”

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With 50 percent of Deerfield Beach residents now without an elected official, the question raised by Cathy Maggi was food for thought: “Who do you contact if you don’t have a commissioner?”

The Deer Run resident had reason for concern. Her elected representative in District 4, Steve Gonot, had just resigned after being charged by the state attorney with stealing $5,135 from campaign contributions. But Maggi’s district wasn’t the only one lacking representation.
Mayor Al Capellini had been suspended from office by Gov. Charlie Crist so he could fight felony charges that he received unlawful compensation for voting on projects on which he was a paid consultant. Not only has Capellini not resigned, but he has proclaimed his innocence and announced he will run for re-election in March.
As a result of his suspension, Vice Mayor Sylvia Poitier stepped in to serve as Mayor of this city for the first time since 1978, this time until the election – leaving her district, District 2, without a commissioner.
So here’s the answer to Maggi’s query, according to City Manager Mike Mahaney. If it is a logistical problem, residents should call
call Mahaney at 954-480-4263.
If it is a policy decision, such as asking the commission support an additional homestead exemption or adopt a formal code of ethics, for example, Mahaney said residents should call the mayor.
Which, as you will recall, is former Vice Mayor Sylvia Poitier, formerly the commissioner for District 2. Call Poitier at 954-553-1534.
The situation is only temporary. On Jan. 13, the date that commissioners agreed they would meet to name possible replacements, they will choose from among those who submitted resumes.

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The date was set, the permission slips signed, and about 215 fourth-graders at Quiet Waters Elementary School showed up for what was touted as a “field trip” marking Red Ribbon Week, a time dedicated to raising awareness about the importance of adults and children uniting for a drug-free America.

Organized by the National Family Partnership in 1988, the campaign has since reached millions of U.S. children in hundreds of ways. This year Broward County Sheriff Deputy Barbara Dyer, the school's resource officer, decided to make it memorable and fun, by having the kids spell out “drug free” at Quiet Waters Park.
The day of the outdoor excursion, however, it poured down rain.

So, the Deerfield Beach elementary school marked Red Ribbon Day Dec. 11 instead. On that day, the fourth graders trekked through the fence behind the school into Quiet Waters Park. There, they moved into the formation they had practiced at the school the day before.
“Everybody knew what letter they were in and where they were supposed to stand. We had put everyone in a line,” Dyer said. From a second floor window, fourth grade teacher Tara Nitowski tweaked the formation, rounding curves, straightening lines and signing off as each letter achieved perfection.

The next day at the park, it took just an hour for the students to gather and arrange themselves in formation. All 215 of them had to hold the pose until crime scene technician Cliff Frommer could duck up from an armed robbery he was investigating in Pompano Beach in a sheriff's department helicopter. The aerial photos took just a moment more. Then everybody played kick ball before returning to school.

Which seems to be what the kids remembered most.

“It’s fun for the children, and it’s another activity to talk about being drug free,” Dyer said.

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If beachside food, music and entertainment aren’t enough of a draw, consider this: all funds raised at Deerfield Beach’s upcoming annual festival of the arts go to help Deerfield Beach students pursuing secondary education in the arts.

“The Deerfield Beach Cultural Committee raises scholarship funds throughout the year and assists me in any of the cultural events throughout the city,” said the city’s recreation supervisor Jan Muenzenmaier of the two-day event. “They use the profits from the entry fees from artists, food vendors and their booklet, as well as from other events like the Santa photos at the tree lighting.”

The 29th annual Festival of the Arts in Deerfield Beach breaks out on the beach Jan. 24. As last year, it will erupt between Hillsboro Boulevard and Southeast Third Street and all signs point to it being packed. By last week, 30 percent more artists had signed up for booths than last year. Muenzenmaier credits the economic downturn.

“Some artists are from out of state, but a lot of people are not traveling as far as they used to,” she said.

For Judi Stanich, chairwoman of the Deerfield Beach Cultural Committee, the best art on display is at the school art booth where top pieces from six elementary schools are shown. Students from Quiet Waters Elementary, Deerfield Park Elementary, Deerfield Beach Elementary, Highlands Christian Academy, Zion Lutheran School and Norcrest Elementary in Pompano Beach will exhibit and, Stanich says, “It’s a big hit every year. It’s fabulous to see what a great job these young children can do with art.”

Not into art? There’s always food and music. Entertainment runs until 8 p.m. Seating is in front of the main beach parking lot and food vendors run the gamut from Greek to Tipperary at The Cove.

Parking is free at the Cove Shopping Center, at the intersection of Hillsboro Boulevard and the Intracoastal Waterway. Buses run between there and the beach.

The 29th annual Festival of the Arts in Deerfield Beach runs from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Jan. 24 and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Jan. 25, with free parking and buses from the Cove Shopping Center. For information, visit www.deerfield-beach.com or call 954-480-4433.

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His grandmother had barely parked before Christopher Little was out of the car and headed for Villages of Hillsboro’s park.

In his eyes: excitement.

On his face: purposefulness.

On his hands, black gloves so newly printed with the character from his favorite movie – “Cars” – that the trim was blindingly white.

"They have another hay ride!” shouted the 5-year-old preschooler at Zion Lutheran School in Deerfield Beach.

The annual event didn’t disappoint. For two and a half hours Dec. 18, less time than it took the staff to set it up, kids and caregivers thronged to winter experiences some knew only by reputation. And for two and a half hours, it was winter.

True, the “snowmen” in the “Build-your-own-snowman” booth looked a bit like overstuffed trash bags. To the children stuffing and tying and decorating them, however, they were perfect.
As was every single cookie decorated at the cookie table. Seven-year-old Ashley Muraskin took a sugar cookie from Constitution Park’s Recreation Leader Maxine Hudson. She held it like it was the Hope Diamond, took it to a table set with colored frosting and jimmies and, moments later, it was barely visible though the decorations.

There was snow, of course, two hills sculpted from crushed ice crystals.
Camryn Berger, 22 months and adopted from Guatemala just 12 months ago, touched this latest wonder over and over again, watching crystals disappear in the warmth of her hand.

Those with experience knew exactly what to do and so many kids that they were admitted only in shifts raced up the four-foot peaks, wrestled for position and slid to the bottom, playing King of the Mountain as if they had actual hills at home.

Matthew Walton was even better prepared than the mitten-wearers. Walton had the event's only pair of waterproof snow pants. Made by Mom Lydia from an oversized bag, they helped him slide faster, stay drier and clearly have fun. “I didn’t want their butts to get wet,” his mom said of her inspiration; “Plus there is more speed…”

Even snow had nothing on Santa, however. The line to whisper requests to Santa John Chikerotis was so long, that volunteer Norbert “Knobby” LaRochelle was handing out popcorn to sustain people.

Santa cradled 5-month-old Chloe Sinclaire in one arm, and balanced Hailey Sinclaire on his knee, as mom Janet snapped the perfect Christmas photo before handing the camera to a bystander and taking her place in the picture.

“I’m just going to put it in a frame,” she said, “and keep it at home.”

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They are back to Square One.

Almost seven months after they were presented with the first updates to the town’s governing document in 69 years, the Town of Hillsboro Beach is left with a charter virtually unchanged.

The town commission agreed Dec. 2 to let voters decide two issues. One would clean up antiquated language in the existing charter and the other would decide whether or not to let voters institute term limits. What voters will never see, however, is wording painstaking arrived at one word at a time.

The two revisions they will never see? Those would have real revamped the town hall. One would have changed the things that have put the town in political gridlock, giving a town administrator the power now held by the commission – to hire and fire key personnel apart from the police chief. The other would have redefined what has been a de facto strong-mayor form of government. The new system would have seen a hands-off Mayor with power shared among a town administrator and town commission.

The current system has seen the town has run through five clerk/manager employees in two years. As is often the case on such controversial issues, the vote pitted Mayor Carmen McGarry and Vice Mayor Dan Dodge, allied with a compliant Commissioner Celinda Sawtelle, against Commissioners Alan Polin and Tom Puleri.

“They denied 1,646 people the opportunity to vote on these issues by voting not to put it on the ballot,” said Puleri. “Before she made the motion, Celinda [Sawtelle] said, 'I’m going to commit political suicide and make a motion not to put it on. She sides with the Mayor and Dan [Dodge].”

Claire Schubert, who was chairwoman of the charter review committee’s for four months of deliberations, said it is precisely that kind of polarity the revisions were designed to address. Now, she said, voters won’t even see the proposals.

“We made the proposals because this is what we felt our town needed – a format that would allow the town to function properly. We are frustrated – extremely frustrated,” she said. “We haven’t been able to hold on to a town clerk or a strong administrative person because the structure is not proper.”

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It was a party with true holiday spirit.
True, there was a lot of eating and drinking. The Dec. 12 gathering was a chance to hang out with co-workers and forget the daily grind. Beyond that, however, the annual Christmas party organized by Mike Anderson, a deputy with the Broward Sheriff’s Office, was a chance to smile as well.
That’s because Anderson, who was charged with organizing a Christmas party for sheriff deputies, took the mission a step further. A former professional baseball player accustomed to dovetailing work with charity, he turned it into a fundraiser for a good cause.
Deputies who gathered at Crabby Jacks in Deerfield Beach knew that 10 percent of what they spent on food and drink would be donated to The Smile Train, a charity nonprofit organization dedicated to surgically repairing cleft pallets and lips of children unable to afford surgery. The Smile Train works with thousands of partners and programs in 75 of the world’s poorest countries.
“I just got a fax from a guy in India, and he was in awe that I have collected money and put it into an account at Bank of America,” said Anderson, who lives in Plantation. “It is $250 per surgery per child. I got $50 from almost every employee and raised $8,500. That buys 40 smiles.”
So why have a fundraiser in Deerfield Beach? Anderson said he has organized a few of these functions and Deerfield Beach was convenient to more people. Deputies who live in Palm Beach County find Plantation, the location of his past two fundraisers, a bit far to trek. An initial thought, having it at Bru’s Room in Margate, died when he learned the bar was going to be inundated with football fans.
But Deerfield Beach’s Crabby Jacks offered a good compromise. Anderson had hoped to get between 50 and 100 to turn out at the party. Barring that, however, he already had embraced Plan B: last February, he asked everyone to donate $2 per pay period.
“I put it into a Christmas Club account online,” he said. “My goal was to raise $10,000 – that’s 40 children taken care of.”
For more information visit www.smiletrain.org.

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When the robotics team from Quiet Waters Elementary School won first place in the eighth annual First Lego League Robotics Competition in Pompano Beach, the 10 fifth-graders wiped out chairs on the way to claiming victory.
"We beat eighth graders and stuff," said Emily Lima, 10, of the group’s scramble to the stage.
Winning was no easy task. Ten-person teams from 25 schools wrote skits about climate change, used Lego software to program Lego figures to do as many tasks as possible in 150 seconds while demonstrating teamwork working on a board.
"They had to research the effects of global warming on the planet and come up with a solution," said Maryellen F. Pinzon, club mentor and teacher of the gifted programs at Quiet Waters. "Their idea was to float wind turbines over the ocean."
But to beat out middle school competitors? That was sweet. "We’re going to cherish it for life," said Kaitlyn Ridgeway, 10, of Riverglen, caressing the four-foot trophy.
"We’re going to cut it up in tiny pieces and each take a piece home," suggests 11-year-old Amanda Wacker of Pompano Beach.
To listen to these two is to get an idea of how the project came together. The club meets after school. Many members come five nights a week. They speak simultaneously, tossing ideas into a ferment that crystallizes around a single theme.
In this case, the problem was global warming. The quest for a solution took them from the Museum of Discovery and Science in Fort Lauderdale to a beach clean up. For help with programming, they sought out club alumnus Aidan Pace of Pompano Beach High School.
Aidan’s brother Kyler, a Lego whiz, translated the proposed solution — wind power — into figurines. Then, with the Lego-provided program, they programmed the figures to turn off a light and deposit a polar bear in a tiny igloo and other tasks. As the clock ticked and the team worked, cheers "Let’s go G.G. Let’s go!" won them teamwork points.
In blue satin capes made by media clerk Gail Kolcz and crested helmets borrowed from Monarch High Schools band, they performed a play about global warming written by Amanda Wacker and Emilia Kosonen — who hugged her mom on the way to the stage.
The trophy puts the team into the state competition in Melbourne Jan. 24 where, win or lose, they have been forever changed by simply taking part.
"We are really close together," Emily said. "We have gone through a lot and," Amanda finishes her thought, "Now everyone works better as a team," she said.

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Community Presbyterian Church of Deerfield Beach is looking to a new year of field trips for The Prime Timers, a group not just for members of the church, but for the young of heart.

Starting its tenth year of fun, the group offers weekly Wednesday get-togethers and a calendar of day trips. Destinations include places such as Key West (which sold out for this year) and the Rinker Play House.
The Wednesday gatherings begin at 9:30 a.m. and include fellowship and intellectual stimulation such as the Christmas party scheduled for Dec. 17.

Day trips in 2009 include a trip to Key West Jan 12; a trip to the House of Refuge on Hutchinson Island on Feb. 6, including lunch at Prawnbroker and a visit to the Florida Oceanographic Society.
Feb. 27, it’s a Miami Duck Tour aboard a unique boat, complete with personal guide.
For information, visit www.communitych.org or call 954-427-0222.

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Ask Barbara Gagliardi why she is ever faithful in promoting the blood drive at American Legion, Lofley Hinson Post 162, and the self-appointed publicist has a simple answer.

“We do it because we know how important the blood banks are,” she said. “Blood is only good for 42 days.”

Use it or lose it, as they say.

So it’s a case of never-ending demand. To date, the American Legion at Palm Plaza, American Legion Way, has been unremitting in its commitment to supporting this cause. Every 10 weeks, Gagliardi gets on the publicity bandwagon. The bloodmobile shows up at the appointed time – and rarely are organizers disappointed.

“The last event, we had 25 donors. We have had as many as 30,” she said. “We’ve been doing very well during our independent sessions.”

Gagliardi said the American Legion members are particularly sensitive to the acute need of the blood banks. The group has its regular donors. But it is a group in its dotage and membership is slipping as time goes on.

“That’s what is so nice about this. We have lost donors but we have other members of the American Legion stepping up,” she said. “They want to do everything they can to get the blood to the hospitals.”

The group accepts donations from nonmembers as well. The American Legion, Lofley Hinson Post 162 blood drive gets under way from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dec. 13 at the American Legion hall. That’s at Palm Plaza, American Legion Way, 820 SE Eighth Ave. in Deerfield Beach.
For information, e-mail BloodDrive162@msn.com, or call 954-302-5802.

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It’s a tiny toy drive that in its first year produced such dramatic results, that the second annual toy drive just got under way.

This year, Opal Towers West is launching another single-condominium holiday toy drive, and organizers of the Hillsboro Beach project witnessed such generosity last year, that they are hopeful they can once again provide many with a merrier Christmas.

Letters sent to all 35 condominiums ask residents to drop off toys for distribution before 2 p.m. Dec. 16. Like last year, the towers are asked to send one representative with the collected toys to Opal Towers West – and stop for refreshments Dec. 16.

“We’re looking for nothing too expensive, just an unwrapped toy for a young person between the ages of 3 and 12,” said Claire Schubert, who is coordinating the toy drive.
Last year, residents filled three cars with toys for distribution by St. Ambrose Catholic Church in Deerfield Beach. Most of those were dropped off at the end of the toy drive.

For information, call Schubert at 954-426-4394.

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Picture a chocolate orb filled with cake, cream and butter cream. Susan Shank had to build this wedding confection in a freezer to keep it from melting, but she said she is used to such culinary challenges. She makes cupcakes that look like dogs and cookies that look like sharks.

Her favorite baked goods, however, are the ones she makes with children.

“Cookie baking has gone by the wayside. Everything is in a bag or a box,” she said. “But I think it’s a great way to spend time with the children.”

Friends of the Century Plaza Branch Library concur. On Dec. 20, they have invited children ages 8 to 12 to join her in decorating holiday cookies. Shank is bringing everything but the kids.

“I just love to be around the table with other people especially at things where we have mothers and daughters trying to do something together,” she said.

It is what brought her to a career as a cookie decoration instructor. Shank, who lives in Coral Springs, said she was doing medical billing until her oldest was born. As her family matured, she found the joy of baking together and stumbled onto a new career.

“I took the [cake decorating] course then candy-making,” she said. “I thought I’d have a business, but I did not want to sit at home making candy.”

It was at Michael’s Arts & Crafts in Coral Springs that Shank found a balance. There, she teaches the intricacies of the cake-decorating equipment the craft store sells. A librarian who noticed Shank doing cupcakes, saw it as a component of the children’s programming. In the three years since, Shank’s reputation has brought her to other libraries as well.

Maureen Ruiz, the children’s librarian at Century Plaza, said the cookie decorating is the perfect holiday activity.

“It’s edible and it leads into the holiday spirit,” she said. “When we were younger, we baked cookies with our moms. This is a fun thing to do, decorating cookies that somebody else’s mom made.”

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Bill O’Dea navigated the crowded parking lot best known for fronting the popular Muddy Waters, simultaneously reading amorphous directions to Deerfield Auto Tag Agency he held at the top of the steering wheel, and elusive addresses on the mostly vacant stores. His quest: the only place in Northern Broward county where residents who drive can go to renew expiring tags.

Like them, the Pompano Beach resident stopped first at the courthouse on Hillsboro Boulevard, only to learn the office had relocated. Like many, he was handed a two-inch-by-four-inch card with a map identifying the new location as somewhere between Palm Beach County and Pompano Beach, somewhere off of Hillsboro Boulevard.

“I’ve been hunting for it maybe a good half-hour,” he grumbled as he approached the parking area. “It’s impossible to find. There are no signs or nothing.”

O’Dea is not alone in his frustration. It remains a matter of considerable debate whether the agency's 10-foot sign constitutes a hardship meriting replacement with what would have been the largest sign in the shopping plaza. What is beyond debate: most people making a pilgrimage to Deerfield Auto Tag Agency experience some measure of hardship getting there.

No exceptions are granted for rank or privilege.

“I purchased my tag from them and I went by three times!” said Deerfield Beach’s District 2 Commissioner Sylvia Poitier. “You have to stop. You have to read all the signs in the little L-shaped market. You really can’t see it in the dark. It’s more of a hazard.”

But a bigger sign? The problems began when Broward County turned the job of tag renewals over to a private vendor. Deerfield Auto Tag Agency is the only renewal office outside of Coral Springs, a mecca of sorts for frustrated residents. The residents arrive at the courthouse – only to be given a postcard of directions to the West Hillsboro Boulevard address.

As O’Dea’s experience shows, even then, the new office isn’t easy to find.

Lobbyist and attorney Ali Waldman said business is down for her client. She made no mention of tanking car sales that have sucker-punched vehicle registrations. She said folks aren’t lining up because they are lost. “Our customers are elderly and they are used to coming to the courthouse,” she said. “We need to educate them – with the sign,” she said adding that there is no reason why the office should stay in Deerfield Beach.

Commissioners pointed out that the law is supposed to reduce clutter. They said a hazard is not a hardship and a motion to allow a larger sign died for lack of a second.

But so did a motion by turn down the request.

A subsequent motion to deny passed with three votes. The odyssey continues.

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Guess the age group targeted by the flurry of holiday activities in Deerfield Beach: a tree lighting with Santa, phone calls from Santa, holiday social with Santa and a visit from Santa at the Winter Wonderland in Villages of Hillsboro Park.

That doesn’t mean those just beyond the age of magic are forgotten. They get a roster of activities too.

“We are trying to do stuff for teens,” said Teen Center Supervisor Inger Knowles. “The other events are for younger kids.”

The holiday spirit endures. Knowles said teens assembled holiday baskets and delivered them last week to five families chosen by each of the city’s five schools.
“Each house we went to, I took a picture,” she said. “It was done in the spirit of giving.”

Now it’s the teens' turn beginning Dec. 5 with the Up All Night Overnight Trip for Teens: 24 hours of dinner and fun and breakfast for $40.
Plans call for the bus to leave the Teen Center, 580 S. Powerline Road at 5 p.m. for pizza at Cici’s and a trip to Santa’s Enchanted Forest in Miami.
There, attendees will tour the light displays, and check out the rides, before leaving at midnight for two hours of bowling.
At 2 a.m., it’s back to the Teen Center for a 6 a.m. breakfast of eggs, bacon and pancakes, and a 7 a.m. pick up.
Registration is limited to 20. Call 954-571-4568.

Dec. 20, it’s a holiday dinner at the Teen Center offers 100 teens and their families turkey from Boston Market, ham from Honey Baked Ham, pies from Denny’s.
“The Founders Day Committee donated $500,” Knowles said. “Our space is not that big so we are looking at the first 100 people and asking them to bring an unwrapped gift for any age, to donate to Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital.”

And that’s just the start of the fun.
The Teen Center Winter Camp from Dec. 22 to Jan. 2 costs $80 for the full camp; $35 and $45 for week one and two respectively, or $15 daily. The camp features daily trips to places such as Laser Quest, Sawgrass Mall, Metro Zoo and bowling.

For information, visit city's web site, or call the Teen Center at 954-571-4568.

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