Rare Fruit Council Plant Sale buyers last year with their choices at checkout.

Delray Beach resident Lori Vinkoor is active in her Tivoli Isles neighborhood association and as vice president of the Alliance of Delray Residential Associations Inc., a resident watchdog group 71,000 strong. But, this weekend Vinkoor will don her gardening gloves, as she is involved with her passion, the Tropical Fruit Tree and Plant Sale 9-2 p.m. Saturday, July 11, at the South Florida Fairgrounds Agriplex in West Palm Beach.
The Palm Beach Chapter of the Rare Fruit Council International sponsors the semi-annual Tropical Fruit Tree and Plant Sale.
“There is no other plant sale like this on the planet. With hundreds of varieties of fruit and spice plants to choose from there will be something available for every taste and every space,” Vinkoor said.
If you’re looking for a specific type of banana or an early producing mango, or even that elusive jaboticaba, Vinkoor said you’ll probably find it at this event.
“The growers and members of the Rare Fruit Council will also be present to answer questions related to care and propagation of tropical fruits,” Vinkoor said.
The Rare Fruit Council’s own “Fruitilizer,” a fertilizer specifically formulated to Rare Fruit Council specifications, will be available for sale. “Fruitilizer” provides the proper nutrients and minerals for optimum tropical fruit crop production. The Rare Fruit Council Meets the second friday of every month 7:30 PM at the Mounts Botanical Garden in West Palm Beach.
“We’re dedicated to promoting and furthering the cultivation and use of tropical and rare fruit both in South Florida and throughout the world,” Vinkoor said.
To get to the The Palm Beach Chapter of the Rare Fruit Council International semi-annual Tropical Fruit Tree and Plant Sale, take Interstate I-95 to Southern Bouleavard then west to Fairgrounds Road and head north to Gate 8, which will be on the right. Directions from State Road 7 (U.S. Highway 441): take Southern Boulevard east to Fairgrounds Road north. Gate 8 will be on the right.
For more information call Lori Vinkoor at 561-495-4694 or e-mail at vinikoor@bellsouth.net

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Parking meters on Ocean Boulevard (A1A) will soon be phased out. The city is planning a parking meter system conversion to new Pay-N-Display machines. Fourteen pay stations will be installed where customers will receive a receipt to be placed in the driver’s side window. Coins, debit and credit cards will be accepted. Dollar bills will not.
Parking management specialist Scott Aronson said the change will offer various benefits including reduced citations issued in error due to a wrong space number being programmed into the older style meters by customers, and the fact receipts will be automatically printed providing a record of the parking transaction. In the past residents, tourists and visitors to the beach had to plug in their spot number at parking machines or force feed loose change into meters.
Aronson said the city will also release its new Smart Card Program on July 18. The Smart Card is the same size as a debit card or credit card and allows the user to replenish in 25-cent increments. Each “Pay-N-Display” machine will have the capability, thanks to a microchip in the Smart Card, to tell the user how much money is left on their Smart Card.

For more information on “Pay-N-Display” call Scott Aronson at 561-243-7196 or e-mail aronson@ci.delray-beach.fl.us

Pay-N-Display machine in the public parking lot just north of the Delray Marriott.

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A Pahokee bluesman entertains a group of fans.
Entirely devoted to a slice of life in Pahokee as the town prepared for World War II, a new photo exhibition will open July 9 at the S.D. Spady Cultural Heritage Museum. “Pahokee Prepares for War,” featuring the trials and tribulations of the people of Pahokee, an agricultural center of the Glades area in Palm Beach County, will run through Sept. 30.
The exhibition is by an unknown photographer who captured the images of Pahokee life starting in the late 1930s. Vegetable fields, black and white migrant workers who worked the fields Christmas to April, the packing plants, refrigerated train cars, stores, bars, and even gambling houses were taken by the unknown photographer.
That photographer also took photos of heightened security around Lake Okeechobee and Bahamian labor, imported to help harvest snap beans, the main crop of Pahokee at that time.
Dr. Cunningham of the U. S. Employment Service conducting registration of Bahamians as they arrive at Camp Everglades. Next to him is the Migratory Health assistant clerk.
“The Glades area has such a rich history, known for its fertile soil and corps, the stories of the people who worked and live there are just as rich. This exhibit is an opportunity to look at the community, its history and the contributions of the migrant workers,” museum educator Brandy Brownlee said.

The Spady Cultural Heritage Museum is at 170 NW Fifth Ave. in Delray Beach. Museum hours are Monday – Friday, 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.; Saturday – 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for seniors and free for students and members. For more information, call 561-279-8883 or visit www.spadymuseum.com

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Delray Beach resident Pat Gerretson is dedicated to giving back at the 15th annual Mark Gerretson Memorial Fishing Tournament planned for Aug. 8. Gerretson's son Mark died in 2005. He started the tournament with the dedicated involvement of the Delray Beach Jaycees.

"It benefits so many people. So many young people," Pat Gerretson said.

Programs include the Delray Beach Police Departments Holiday Toy Drive, Kids & Cops Program, Literacy Program, Adopt-A-Class, Teen Karate Class, Delray Rocks Football, Easter Egg Hunt, Annual Baseball Camp and a Jaycees $1,000 scholarship to a Atlantic High School graduate.

"It's a lot more than just a kingfish, dolphin, wahoo fishing tournament. If you don't fish come down to Veterans Park to watch the festivities and weigh-in by Delray Beach Police's Jeff Messer," Gerretson said.

A Captain's Meeting will be held at 6 p.m. on Friday Aug. 7 at the Delray Beach Elks, 265 NE Fourth Ave.

Entry fee is $175 per boat (four anglers).

As for prizes, there are $5,000 Trifecta Bonus, $200 Top Lady Angler, $200 for Largest Family Fun Fish, $200 for Largest Dolphin, $200 for Mystery Fish (decided at Captain's Meeting) $200 for Largest Wahoo and $200 for largest Kingfish.

For more information call Florida Bait & Tackle at 561-738-2246 or Jeff Messer at 561-243-7841 or e-mail buce@ci.delray-beach.fl.us

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The Greater Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce is planning a trip to the Far East from Nov. 11 to 19. The Greater Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring the $1,999 trip, which includes air fare, land transportation, English tour guide and guaranteed four- or five-star hotel accommodations.
Residents from Delray Beach will be traveling with North Palm Beach Chamber of Commerce members and residents of North Palm Beach.
“The Grand Junction contingent just returned from China and the response from our people was just amazing. Everyone, without exception, was impressed and excited about the experience,” President/CEO of the Grand Junction Chamber, Diane Schwenke wrote in a media release.
Representatives from the Greater Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce say plenty of spots are available for residents interested in the China trip.

For more information call 561-1380, ext. 12

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City Commissioner Mack Bernard has filed for the vacancy left in the State House’s District 84 after the announcement by State Rep. Priscilla Taylor, District 84, that she would seek the office of Palm Beach County Commission, District 7.
Bernard (D) said that he plans to finish his city commission appointment until March 2010, the election for State House District 84 representative is in November 2010. Bernard was appointed to a partial term on the Delray Beach City Commission filling in for former commissioner Brenda Montague in 2008 and was elected, without opposition, in March 2009.

If elected as state representative, Bernard said his job tasks will be creating jobs, improving public education and supporting more affordable housing while keeping taxes low.

“We didn’t make this decision hastily. It was important to come out with this news today to raise money for the election, support and get my name out there,” Bernard said.
Bernard, 33, is married and has two young daughters. He’s a 23-year resident of Palm Beach County and holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science and Criminal Justice from Florida State University; a law degree, with honors, from the University of Florida and a Master of Laws in Taxation from the University of Florida. Bernard is an attorney and the managing partner of Bernard and Auguste, P.A. He’s also a member of the Florida Bar, admitted to the U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida; the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida and the United States Tax Court. Bernard is also president of Bernard Title Guaranty, Inc.

Bernard said District 84 is a Palm Beach County only, Democrat majority district that includes all or parts of Lake Park, Riviera Beach, Mangonia Park, West Palm Beach, The Acreage, Belle Glade, South Bay and Pahokee.

“I’ve been the second vice president in the black caucus. I’ve tackled issues and plan to address affordable housing, a rise in insurance and the rise in unemployment,” Bernard said.

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Dan Uggla signs a helmet for one of the Bucky Dent Baseball School campers.

The Bucky Dent Baseball School hosted Dan Uggla of the Florida Marlins as part of its third week of summer camp. Uggla, the All-Star second baseman for the Florida Marlins, played guest instructor at the Bucky Dent Baseball School in Delray Beach.

According to Larry Hoskin, the school's director, Uggla is a former alumni of the camp who took a short break from his back-to-back game schedule, to stop by the school and speak to the campers.

Uggla attended the Bucky Dent Baseball School back in 1993 with his hometown team from Tennessee. He said that he attended the school as a catcher and stressed the importance to the campers of being willing to play any position and to work hard every day. Hoskin said Uggla answered questions about himself and baseball, and even shared with campers that his favorite home-cooked meal is spaghetti. He also posed for pictures and signed autographs.

Hoskin said the Bucky Dent Baseball School is running training camps throughout the summer. In July, guest instructor Jeremy Hermida, left fielder for the Florida Marlins, will speak with the campers. The school is in its 35th year of operation and will be hosting camps for players’ ages 5 to 18 through Aug. 16. Space is still available.

Call Larry Hoskin at 561-265-0280, e-mail pr@buckydentbaseball.com, or visit www.buckydentbaseballschool.com.

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Fellow reporter Mike Rothman, the other half of Hometown Downtown. He's overdressed while writing a story from the beach on a 100-degree day.

I received a call from Rothman that we’d been invited to a charity fundraiser for Microgiving.com at a beachfront mansion in Manalapan. So I donned my best board shorts, a new white T-shirt and slipped into my Reef sandals. Then Rothman rang.
“Hey, the event's on Saturday and wear your best threads… There’s going to some big dogs there,” Rothman said.
I wore a nice, white long sleeve shirt and charcoal polyester pants and dress shoes. Thanks Rothman! Way out of place…Why did I listen to him?
So we met in a supermarket shopping center parking lot on the second hottest day of 2009. We waited on blacktop for a van to pick us up for the shindig at the mansion. We were driven down a few windy beach roads and arrived at the mansion. Rothman dropped our names on the list to no avail. The women were dressed in nothing but bathing suits and the men were in board shorts. Boy, we stuck out like swollen sore thumbs.
We were nicknamed the “sweat hogs” by partygoers who used us at the expense of their laughs. But, it was worth it. The party featured a gorgeous mansion poolside bar, with stairs down to the beach with a stage, another tented bar and the most amount of beach activities taking place this side of Cancun.
Money was being raised everywhere for Microgiving, an online social community that facilitates the giving of micro-donations online empowering anyone to give spare pocket change to help people or organizations.

Read more about this story in the July 1 issue of the Delray Forum.

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Delray Beach has received necessary permits from the U.S. Coast Guard for the July 4 firework show that will take place over the ocean in Delray Beach. That show will be one of four South Florida fireworks shows that will be conducted from sea barges. The U.S. Coast Guard asked that fireworks vendors involved in those shows at Delray Beach, Pompano Beach, Hollywood and Fort Lauderdale conduct public service announcements in an effort to save endangered species and critical marine habitats that could be affected by vessels and partygoers.

According to Eileen List, spokeswoman for the Delray Beach Downtown Marketing Cooperative, an entity of the Greater Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce that produces the fireworks show in Delray Beach, stipulations of that approval include special advisories.

Boaters cannot anchor on a coral reef. If they anchor in the Elkhorn/Staghorn coral critical habitat, they must do so over a sandy bottom that is free from coral or Johnson’s sea grass. List said it’s also the boater’s job to maintain a lookout for endangered species. She said they are especially concerned about sea turtles and manatees. List also said boaters are asked to proceed at a safe speed, especially at night, to avoid striking any marine mammal or sea turtle.

A federal or state agency may impose a civil fine of $25,000 and/or a criminal penalty of $50,000 and/or up to one year in jail for violating the Endangered Species Act or state statute by taking an endangered or threatened species or damaging coral.

“A take is defined as harassing, harming, pursuing, hunting, shooting, wounding, killing, trapping, capturing, collecting or attempting to engage in such conduct,” List said.

The special advisory also asks that any incident be immediately reported. Any collision with, injury or deaths of manatees or marine turtles must be reported to the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Law Enforcement hotline at 888-404-FWCC for rescue and/or recovery.

Boaters are also asked to report any marine animals (most importantly sea turtles and manatees) they notice dead of natural causes on the ocean surface.

List said beach spectators can’t use flashlights on the beach during the July 4 show. Delray Beach also asks that residents don’t shoot fireworks on the beach or disturb sea turtle nests. Dispose of all trash and leave the beach at the conclusion of the firework display.

Report marine mammals to the SE U.S. Stranding Hotline at 877-433-8299

Report sea turtles to the NMFS SE Regional Office at 727-824-5312

For information call 561-279-1380, ext. 17 or visit www.DowntownDelrayBeach.com

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The man who committed suicide June 23 at the Delray Shooting Center has been identified as Danny Kenney, 41, of Laval, Quebec.

Delray Beach Police Department Public Information Officer Jeff Messer released the information this morning and said Mr. Kenney’s family in Canada has been notified of his death.

According to Messer, investigators are working to answer two questions: Why did Mr. Kenney take his own life? Why he would come to Florida from Canada to do so, and why he would do it in such a public place?

When that information is released Messer said the Delray Beach Police Department will share it with the public.

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