Presenting Lake Worth history and some surprises along the way. . .

What should come as no surprise is the renaming of this City to Lake Worth Beach is going exceptionally well. The honoring of Lake Worth history continues with the “BEACH” giving even more significance to the City and its residents.

The largest crowd ever for the City’s historic awards program assembled at The Book Cellar bookstore in downtown Lake Worth Beach last night (see program below). This annual event is held to honor and celebrate exemplary work in the restoration and rehabilitation of historic structures.

Here is the program and a listing of properties recognized by the City and the Lake Worth Historical Society (click on image to enlarge):

You will notice after the award portion of the program Yours Truly gave a talk using images from historic postcards, pictures and Sanborn maps to illustrate and highlight surprises discovered while looking back into the history of Lake Worth and the development of South Florida.

Note the official City seal with the “BEACH”!

It was a prime opportunity to announce that The Cottages of Lake Worth book received designation as a finalist in the 2019 Next Generation Indie Book Awards. The book was placed with seven other works in the Coffee Table Book/Photography category. This is a BIG DEAL as it gives our City national coverage and puts it in front of an audience we have yet to reach.

Could a third printing be in the works? We’ll see.

The Next Generation Indie Book Awards are referred to as the ‘Sundance’ in book publishing, these are literary awards honoring authors and publishers of notable and noteworthy independently published books in seventy categories ranging from “Action/Adventure (Fiction)” to “Best Overall Design Non-Fiction”.

Would you like to see the Cottages book? It is available at the following locations:

The Book Cellar bookstore in Lake Worth Beach (more details below), the Lake Worth Beach Public Library located at 15 North M St., the Maria Paz Art Studio at 515 Lake Ave. and at the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County at 601 Lake Ave.*

The Cottages of Lake Worth book is cited by the Next Generation Indie Book Awards in the category of “Coffee Table Book/Photography”:

Here is the front cover of

The Cottages of Lake Worth hardcover book:

Worth noting is The Book Cellar bookstore in downtown Lake Worth Beach where one can peruse The Cottages of Lake Worth book on display. The Book Cellar is located at 801 Lake Ave. at the corner of Lake and J Street.

*Other locations outside Lake Worth Beach: Hand’s Art Supplies at 325 E. Atlantic Ave. in Delray Beach, the Palm Beach Book Store at 215 Royal Poinciana Way in the Town of Palm Beach, and several venues in West Palm (Excentricities, 1810 S. Dixie Hwy; Mecox Gardens, 3900 S. Dixie; Norcross Patio and Gift, 5023 S. Dixie; and The Painted Ox at 5800 S. Dixie.

Lake Worth Beach official website still not available for the public. Down for over two months.

UPDATE: The expected launch of the City’s new website did not happen today. Now the new message is, “our new website is set to launch this summer.”

Summer does not officially begin until June 21st, almost three weeks from now. Today, June 1st, is the beginning of Hurricane Season.

YouTube video from Tuesday, May 21st:

Suburban Lake Worth ‘beach’ news: Village of Royal Palm Beach will celebrate its 60th anniverary this month.

Do you live out in far western Palm Beach County in an unincorporated area west of the cities of Greenacres and Lake Worth Beach using a ‘Lake Worth’ zip code? Then please save the date: June 30th will celebrate a significant milestone. The news as reported in The Town-Crier is below.

Royal Palm Beach is located north of the Village of Wellington. Note that zip codes 33467 and 33449 are two of several unincorporated ‘Lake Worth’ zip codes (click on map to enlarge).

To celebrate their 60th anniversary Royal Palm Beach will be changing their municipal flag to include a new slogan. Have an idea? “A beach town only twelve miles from the Atlantic Ocean!”

Here is an excerpt from the news published in
The Town-Crier datelined May 17th:

The Village of Royal Palm Beach will celebrate its 60th anniversary this year, and the Town-Crier is publishing a special souvenir magazine in June to commemorate the milestone.

The magazine is just one part of the anniversary celebration, which also includes a special event on Sunday, June 30 saluting six honorees and an observance at the village’s annual Fourth of July Celebration.

“We have teamed up with the Town-Crier newspaper to produce this special souvenir magazine,” Royal Palm Beach Mayor Fred Pinto explained in a letter to local businesses. “This publication will be filled with interesting and enjoyable stories about our founding fathers; the way our village grew; our schools; our recreation department; our facilities, parks and playgrounds; and, of course, our 60th anniversary celebration.”

The Town-Crier has been publishing historical publications for milestone village anniversaries going back 30 years.

“This has become a tradition, as we have been doing an issue every 10 years to commemorate another decade anniversary,” Town-Crier Publisher Barry Manning said.

and. . .

The anniversary will also be observed at the annual Fourth of July celebration and fireworks display at Royal Palm Beach Commons Park.

“In addition to our regular festivities, we hope to have the honorees on stage to be recognized at about 8:30 p.m. before the fireworks begin,” Recchio [Parks and Recreation Dir. Lou Recchio] said.

Recchio remarked that the celebration will also include the unveiling of the new banner with the new village slogan imprinted on it.


To read the entire article published in The Town-Crier click on this link to learn more about the upcoming festivities in Royal Palm Beach.

Tonight at 7:00 in downtown Lake Worth Beach.

Event sponsored by the City of Lake Worth Beach,
the City’s Dept. of Historic Preservation, the
Historic Resource Preservation Board and
Historical Society of Lake Worth.

LWB Summer Camp 2019: $500 for eight weeks of fun, ages 6–16.

Now accepting registrations for “Hello Summer, Summer Camp 2019”.

Summer Camp location is the Norman J. Wimbley Gym and Osborne Center located at 1515 Wingfield St. Registration ends on June 6th. Summer Camp is from June 10th through August 2nd from 8:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m. Camp is for freshman (ages 6–8), sophomore (9–10), junior (11–12) and seniors (13–16).

Register at either of these two locations:

Norman J. Wimbley Gymnasium after 4:00 p.m. (call 561-540-5133) or visit the office of Leisure Services at 501 Lake Ave. (561-260-7593).

For more activities offered by the City including flag football, Pickleball, youth soccer, baseball, basketball and football, the Senior Club and Horseshoe Pitchers Club or how to become a volunteer coach call one of the numbers above and leave a message or stop by and visit the Osborne Center or go downtown and visit 501 Lake.

School board member Erica Whitfield receives Prime Time PBC Community Champion Award 2019.

“The mission of Prime Time Palm Beach County is to help children and youth succeed by strengthening and expanding quality in after school programs and summer camps.”





Prime Time Palm Beach County is a non-profit, “Dedicated to Quality Out-of-School [OST] Time”:


Prime Time oversees a system for reaching quality standards through assessment, program improvement and quality coaching. It also provides professional development, career advising and networking opportunities to OST practitioners, and through partnerships, supports a range of enrichment activities available to OST programs countywide.

History

The hours between the time that children get out of school and the time that working parents come home is considered “prime time” for continuous learning and growth or risky behaviors. This critical window of time after school presents not only challenges but also opportunities to impact youth development. Recognizing that the majority of violence, drug and alcohol use, and sexual experimentation among young people occur during these after school hours, educators realize the value of quality, accessible afterschool programming. In 1996, key stakeholders in Palm Beach County, Florida, convened to share resources to improve the quality of local afterschool and summer programs.

Four years later, in 2000, the group formed a separate non-profit organization, Prime Time Palm Beach County, Inc. The organization was — and still is — dedicated to ensuring that afterschool programs are of the highest quality so as to keep youth engaged in learning, and on track for academic success and healthy social development.

May is Preservation Month.

Looking east from the downtown in Lake Worth Beach.

About Preservation Month: “Established in 1973 by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the event is co-sponsored by local preservation groups, State historical societies, business and civic organizations across the country. . . . [E]vents are planned to promote historic places for the purpose of instilling national and community pride, promoting heritage tourism, and showing the social and economic benefits of historic preservation.”