A blog post from yesterday and more from the boxes labeled “Mar-a-Lago”.

Yesterday’s blog post was titled, “The Mar-a-Lago Club, 1994–1998: From the ‘King of Clubs’ to the legendary crooner Tony Bennett.”

Yes, it’s true. Yours Truly, Wes Blackman, worked at Mar-a-Lago for a man named Donald J. Trump, the man I used to call “Mr. Trump”. Mr. Trump is now properly referred to as “President of the United States”. Please take a deep breath. The blog post that follows is not about national politics. This blog post is about boxes of memorabilia I’ve collected from my ten years working at Mar-a-Lago beginning in 1993 and until recently boxes that have remained unopened in storage. The boxes are filled with promotional material and newspapers and magazines about the people and events that created so much interest and wonder about that very unique historic place.

Mar-a-Lago is a very special place in American history. A structure that first broke ground in 1924, rising from the “underbrush of jungle-like growth” in the Town of Palm Beach along a strip of land between the sea (in Spanish, “mar”; “to” in Spanish is ‘a’) and what used to be the freshwater Lake Worth (the word for lake in Spanish is “lago”), ergo “Mar-a-Lago” as it was christened by Marjorie Merriweather Post.

In what could only be called one of the most amazing twists from history, from an earlier blog post about the 1995 Christie’s auction held in New York City of items from Mar-a-Lago was this historical background:


“On her death in 1972, she [Marjorie Merriweather Post] left the estate to the Federal Government, hoping that it would make Mar-A-Lago into a place for Presidents and visiting dignitaries to use away from Washington, D.C. [emphasis added] However the government returned the property to the Post Foundation, and, after many years of remaining shuttered, the estate was sold to Donald J. Trump in 1985.”

Photograph circa 1995 taken at Mar-a-Lago
(information on the back of photo has faded away).

Click on image to enlarge:

From left to right: Paul Rampell, Esq., Attorney at Law; Mr. Donald Trump, now President of the United States; cannot recall who the man in the center is; Yours Truly, C. Wesley Blackman, Dir. of Projects at Mar-a-Lago; Howard C. Willson, Operations Manager at Mar-a-Lago.

The year 1993 marked a turning point in my life, advocating and speaking in favor of the Mar-a-Lago estate becoming a private club and thereby avoiding subdivision of the estate, or worse. Once the Town of Palm Beach approved a private club began the ten-year adventure working for then-“Mr. Donald Trump” directing restoration efforts and the intricate work necessary to convert the property from a private residence to a private club working closely with the Town of Palm Beach, the Landmarks Preservation Commission and the National Trust for Historic Preservation in gaining the approvals for amenities and projects necessary to move forward. In 1998 the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation recognized, “Mr. Blackman for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Historic Preservation/Rehabilitation”.

Now to the Mar-a-Lago Club, 1994–1998.

From the “King of Clubs” to the legendary crooner Tony Bennett.

Keep in mind, this blog post is not a political statement. What follows are snapshots in time about a very special place in American history. The snapshots that follow are from a popular magazine, a newspaper, and from promotional material and “Club” brochures. Hope you enjoy this look back in time starting in late 1994 which includes other information you may find interesting as well.

December 1994. Published in “The Magazine South Florida Lives By”:

The front cover title and subtitle in South Florida magazine:

King of Clubs

Will Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Shake
Up Palm Beach?

Opening page of article, p. 28.

Click on magazine page to enlarge:

Find out what former journalist Glenn Albin is up to now: “[L]ives a life today that’s the polar opposite of the one he lived just years ago”.

Page 31.

[Click on images to enlarge if necessary.]

In caption “$25 million” is a typo. The final cost to construct Mar-a-Lago in the 1920s was $2.5M, well above the $1M estimate given to Marjorie Merriweather Post.

December 1995. Front page, above the fold news story in the Palm Beach Daily News (aka, The
Shiny Sheet):

[FYI: Franz Barwig “the Elder” (1868–1931) is cited in the newspaper clipping below. Barwig the Elder was one of Austria’s most important sculptors of his time.]

“. . . erty while they sculpted monkeys with eye glasses reading books for the library, parrots for the swimming pool, and pages to hold lanterns at the estate’s front gates.”

Fall 1996. “Volume 1 Issue 1”

Front page from “The Official Club Newsletter”:

December 7th, 1996: “Opening Gala,
Diana Ross performing”.

On page 2 from the Mar-a-Lago Club Newsletter.

“Growing the Membership”

“A few firm guest rules apply.”

1997. Letter published in “The Jewel of Palm Beach” magazine, Vol. II:

On page 70 a letter from Marjorie Post Dye, the
“First Grandchild and Namesake of
Marjorie Merriweather Post”.


“A Love Letter to The Mar-a-Lago Club”,
written in 1995.

“I took my first steps as a baby at Mar-a-Lago almost 70 years ago.” Those first steps would be circa 1925. Marjorie Post Dye passed away
on April 14th, 2015.

“In 1924, legend has it, Marjorie Post ‘crawled through the underbrush of jungle-like growth’ until she uncovered a site that was large enough for her grandiose plans. . . . The land was an 18-acre parcel that ran the width of the island, from the Atlantic Ocean to Lake Worth. Hence the name Mar-a-Lago (Spanish for ‘sea-to-lake’).”


[FYI: “Lake Worth” in no longer a freshwater lake as it was in the 1920s. “The lake” as it was once called is now the Lake Worth Lagoon, also appropriately referred to as the Intracoastal waterway.]

On page 71:

“Mrs. Post”

“ ‘Mrs. Post could seat 50 guests for dinner 30 days in a row without ever having to repeat a China pattern.’ Simpson recalls.”

That would be Robert Simpson, assistant to the operations manager at Mar-a-Lago in 1988.

Now for a change of pace!

March/April 1998. “Special Events” at Mar-a-Lago Club, L.C.:

Sunday, March 14th, 1998, “THE BEACH BOYS”!

Also at Mar-a-Lago in March 1998: Wayne Newton,
Tom Jones, and Don Rickles.

Delta Burke:

“Eve Wasn’t a Size 6 and Neither Am I”

Saturday, April 4th, 1998: “Tony Bennett”.

Hope you enjoyed this “look back in time” and stay tuned for more interesting stuff from those boxes of archive material.

“[I]t’s not a black thing, it’s not a white thing, it’s not a Haitian thing. It’s a people thing.”

The quote above is from a news report by Palm Beach Post staff writer Nicole Janok published in August 2007.

Click on newspaper clippings to enlarge:

Blue-green algae, Flolfie, press/news media, and the Great American Raft Race on Independence Day, July 4th.

Now is the time to start paying very close attention to beat reporters and press/news media! In just two days is the 17th Annual Great American Raft Race and they’ll all be sneaking around looking for green stuff in the water.

Please remember, this is very important. The 2016 Great American Raft Race in the City of Lake Worth didn’t have to be cancelled. The Neighborhood Assoc. Presidents’ Council (NAPC) was forced to quickly move the event to the now-condemned pool at Beach and Casino complex. Why?

The event was sabotaged!

However, the Raft Race last year went off with no problems at all because City officials, the NAPC, and the public were well prepared and informed ahead of time about that harmless green stuff in the Lake Worth Lagoon.

So to make certain nothing happens again like what happened in 2016 — counting the hours before the big day — now is the time to become vigilant, especially along the Intracoastal and the C-51 and L-4 (Keller) canals here in the City of Lake Worth.

For example, remember the monkeywrenching
by Flolfie two years ago?

The closer it gets to the Raft Race everyone needs to monitor reporters and the media looking around for green stuff. However, The Lake Worth Herald is exempt from scrutiny and can be trusted completely when reporting about green stuff, which is mostly harmless algae that occurs naturally when the rays from the sun cause a reaction with organic matter like decaying grass floating around.

Back in June/July 2016 it was ‘reporters’ at The Palm Beach Post and other local media outlets who acted irresponsibly and misreported about that “blue-green algae” nonsense and forced City officials to cancel the Raft Race, which once again, never had to be cancelled in the first place.

It was images like this that were circulated by the media to frighten the public here in our City.

False ‘news’ reports in The Palm Beach Post fueled the frenzy about “blue-green algae plaguing” our City. Plaguing?

Please remember. It was because of nonsense like this in the press and news media that the City of Lake Worth had to hire a Public Information Officer (PIO).

So if you happen to come across a reporter asking about algae ‘plaguing’ our City get the reporters contact information (e.g., name, business card, phone number) and get that information to the City’s PIO, Mr. Ben Kerr: 561-586-1631; email: bkerr@lakeworth.org

The best thing everyone can do is begin working together to educate the public, press and news media about algae and how beneficial algae can be for our waterways. Not all algae is ‘blue-green algae’ like the algae that is plaguing the Treasure Coast and Indian River Lagoon.

Prior to the Zombies in L-Dub there were the Dummies from Eden Place!

Please watch the instructional YouTube video below, entertainment prior to the July 4th Great American Raft Race in the little City of Lake Worth.

Before we get to the Dummies, what follows is standard protocol and times for the upcoming July 4th Great American Parade heading east on Lake Ave. from Downtown Lake Worth towards Bryant Park along the wonderful and scenic Lake Worth Lagoon, the staging area for the world-famous Independence Day Raft Race:

• Between 10:00 a.m.–11:00 a.m.: Pre-assembly on ’J’ St. between Lake and Lucerne avenues for rafts and crew in the Raft Race Parade. This is the final opportunity for friendly and light-hearted sabotage.
• 11:00 a.m.: Formation and jockeying for position. Blocking out encouraged. Pointing raft race crews in the wrong direction and making up fake rules is perfectly OK.
• 11:30: Official start time of Raft Race Parade down Lake Ave. Troublemakers enter the fray, e.g., using small cups of fake blue-green algae to create little ‘blooms’ along the route. Don’t be frightened! It’s only Lime Green Jello!
• Noon: Arrival of Parade in Bryant Park and pre-Raft Race entertainment begins in earnest.
• 1:00 p.m.: Raft Race in the Lake Worth Lagoon begins, Heat #1.

Prior to the Raft Race here is one example of entertainment one can expect in Bryant Park, the Dummies from Eden Place!

Enjoy the video!

“If the residents of Lake Worth are informed of progress and procedure and made part of the solution, most likely, the public will respond in kind.”

History about the Lake Worth Electric Utility. The public
vs. the City.

LAKE WORTH — Residents and users of Lake Worth’s electric power are ready to pick up the pitch forks, light the torches and charge the castle on the mount.
     The villagers are upset, and rightly so.

Click on newspaper clipping to enlarge.

From November 10th, 2005:

“Welcome To Pioneer Days
Courtesy LW Utilities!”

Continued on pg. 4

The article from 2005 in the Herald continues. . .

     The city is saying it is performing as well as can be expected given the age of the electrical distribution system in Lake Worth. The citizens, especially those in the dark and those who see a quantum leap in their utility bills, aren’t so quick to applaud.
     Residents of Lake Worth pre-1995 know the utility company was on the sales’ block, but encumbrances of bonds, etc., precluded the city from getting out from under.

Utilities Gutted

     Many will not remember a utility board in the 1970’s which designated what repairs would be made and what funds would be set aside for improvements. A shallow-thinking commission and even shallower mayor later dismantled the citizen-appointed board and gutted the utility funds to avoid municipal bankruptcy, leaving Lake Worth with its current, rusting system.
     Now residents would like to just give the department to Florida Power & Light.
     Of course, the legal mechanisms won’t allow the city to gift the utility department to anyone.
     But just as important as the lack of juice flowing to residences, is a perceived attitude that city hall is insulating and isolating itself from blame.
     One irate citizen came straight to The Lake Worth Herald after a visit to city hall and labeled those with whom he dealt, “Supercilious and patronizing.”
     He said he was made to feel he was a small child, being calmed down by a “fat aunt” who “. . . didn’t know what she was talking about.” Said citizen said he received no information, except Lake Worth was doing what it had to do and was ahead of schedule.
     Still another businessman visited the paper and wanted to know how one began a referendum to force the city to sell the power plant. He came back the next day with papers for a political action committee, a precursor to initiating a referendum.
     Yet another resident has already started a petition drive, and no doubt the two parties will meet up . . . probably at the castle with pitchforks in hand.
     It is unfortunate the city imposed charges to bolster the rebuilding of its aging infrastructure in the same breath the city went dark.
     The fuel adjustment charge — which is in place for six months — is more salt in the wound.
     Some folks are complaining they can’t pay their utility bills and have anything left over for food. Or medicine.
     Lake Worth’s City Commission is in juxtaposition with itself.
     The city is saddled with the surcharges and infrastructure charges, and the public is raising hell over the lack of productivity. Even the most hasty generalizations by the public — like “I haven’t seen a Lake Worth utility truck in two weeks” or “Why am I paying all this money for no service?” — has some importance.
     The city just concluded stem-winder* sessions with a company which billed itself as helping to define the mission of the city and getting employees to better understand that mission. Better understanding, better service.
     That seems to have gone with the wind of Hurricane Wilma and replaced by an attitude, unbecoming service personnel who must meet the public.
     City Manager Paul Boyer is a competent administrator, but he is not running a mini-White House, replete with spokesman and designated authorities. The buck stops with Boyer and he should know that. He should know that, especially when the mayor puts out smoke screens, rather than facts. The mayor is one vote on a commission that sets policy. The city manager is the chief operating officer.
     There are no policies to be set during a crisis like hurricanes. Just procedures.
     Boyer should also understand the perception is reality, an old saw, but a true one.
     Lastly, the public should be part of the disaster plan, not excluded from it.
     As Eric Severide said of the 1st Amendment, “There’s no such thing as my end of the boat is sinking.”
     We are all in the same boat.
     If the residents of Lake Worth are informed of progress and procedure and made part of the solution, most likely, the public will respond in kind.
     Wilma punched great holes in Lake Worth’s power plant, and greater holes in its disaster plan.
     For one thing, the stem-winding didn’t work.
     For another, when the city commission meets on Nov. 15, don’t bother telling those assembled what a great job Lake Worth did.
     . . . those assembled Nov. 15 already know.


*Acronym “stem”: Science, technology, engineering, mathematics. Sessions on ways to improve education and competitiveness.

Districts 2 and 4 are up for election next year in this City of Lake Worth.

Election Day is March 12th, 2019.

Click on image to enlarge:

District 2 Commissioner Omari Hardy has a challenger: Cathy Turk. The official two-week Qualifying Period is Nov. 27th–Dec. 11th. Commissioner Herman C. Robinson represents District 4.

“Keep our Bryant Park PUBLIC!” No beer kiosks, no hot dog stands, and no billboards in our City parks.

Remember that failed tabloid that promoted giving away our Bryant Park to developers?

“Gallery Owner Pitches ‘Art Ship’ for
Lake Worth’s Waterfront”: 

This former tabloid was “Always FREE, Delivered FREE” and had almost no advertising. What kind of ‘newspaper’ was that?

Below is an image from “Issue 9” on March 13th, 2015, from that tabloid following the elections that year. Former commissioners Ryan Maier and Chris McVoy, PhD, are shown celebrating their Election Day victories at Mamma Mia’s On The Beach.

But the public later responded. The public spoke and spoke loudly when plans were discovered to let developers take control of Bryant Park. Luckily, the majority on the City Commission — Mayor Pam Triolo and commissioners Scott Maxwell and Andy Amoroso — would have none of that nonsense and the response was loud and clear:

KEEP OUR BRYANT
PARK PUBLIC!

KEEP THE DEVELOPERS OUT OF OUR PARKS.

Giving away our parks is nothing to
laugh or smile about:

Former commissioners Maier (beaming, white shirt) and McVoy (blue shirt, arms raised) along with jubilant already-former-commissioners JoAnn Golden and Cara Jennings. No word on any
plans for a reunion.

A Look Back: Lake Worth Centennial Fireworks, July 4th, 2013.

“Taken from the equivalent of a six story building, this is the 24 minute long fireworks display from last night’s festivities. I put the display to the Music for the Royal Fireworks by Handel. If it’s any indication, the music ends before the the fireworks. That’s a good sign we got our money’s worth. The auto-focus on the camera occasionally freaks out since it has nothing to focus on, but it snaps back quickly enough and creates a certain artistic flair.

A great day in our City’s history and one for the record books!”

Rockin’ Saturday! News about “Rockin’ Saturdays” for kids age 5–10 and it’s FREE!

The Lake Worth Library presents Rockin’ Saturdays for kids age 5–10 as part of the Libraries Rock! Summer Reading Program.

On Saturday afternoons from 2:00 to 3:00 on June 30th [TOMORROW] and on July 13th, 20th and 27th kids will participate in Rockin’ Summer Songs, Lego Building, Rock Painting and so much more.

Where? Right at the Fabulous Lake Worth Library downtown across from the Cultural Plaza.

Kids should bring their library card (or a parent so they can get a library card) and sign up for the Libraries Rock! Summer Reading Program.

All kids will get a Goodie Bag and a Reading Log so they can check out books right away. Each book they add to their Reading Log will earn them a prize when it’s returned to the Library.

The Lake Worth Library is open Tuesday and Wednesday 10:00 a.m.–7:00 p.m., Thursday 10:00  a.m.–6:00 p.m., Friday and Saturday 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. Closed Sunday and Monday. For more information call 561-533-7354; email: lwlibrary@lakeworth.org

Concerned beta-Methylamino-ʟ-alanine (BMAA) will ‘plague’ our water and Lake Worth Lagoon next week?

Are you worried about participating in the City of Lake Worth’s 17th Annual July 4th Raft Race because of something mysteriously ‘plaguing’ the water or maybe even a ‘plague’ of BMAA?

Don’t be distracted by this
silly nonsense!

Why? Because another neighborhood participating in the race or a Raft Race crew being sponsored by a local business or group in this City (and even outside agitators) will be trying to trick your Raft Race team into dropping out of the race by cleverly planting the seeds of doubt and/or distracting your crew of rowers in an attempt to sap their will to win. Remember: A big part of the Raft Race are the tactics and strategy to gain an advantage weeks and even months prior to the race to throw off and confuse all the other teams in the race.

To learn more about the City’s Annual Great American Raft Race click on this link. The editor at The Lake Worth Herald explains it this way:

Winning the race is highly coveted, after all, it gives bragging rights to the victor for a whole year.
     Some of the best shows from the raft race happen after the race, when teams will complain and protest actions of another team. Yes, there will actually be protests, based on rules that do not exist. These protests will be heard and immediately be discarded, as they should. This is all for fun, there is nothing but bragging rights waiting at the finish line and there is no reason to get hot under the collar because someone got one over on you.

A short video from last year’s 16th Annual Great American Raft Race (please take note of all the people splashing around and having fun in the water):

The Parrot Cove Neighborhood was the big winner last year. It was their pre-Race planning, gathering of intelligence, mis- and disinformation, and well-planned sabotage on July 4th which is credited for Parrot Cove’s well-deserved win. In the spirit of Independence Day it’s “worthy” to keep in mind:


Intelligence in the American Revolutionary War was essentially monitored and sanctioned by the Continental Congress to provide military intelligence to the Continental Army to aid them in fighting the British during the American Revolutionary War.

Attention everyone here in the City of Lake Worth, especially all participants in this year’s Great American Raft Race:

Beware the words “plague” and “plaguing”! Do you remember former Commissioner Chris McVoy and his silly Resolution No. 38 in 2016 to “[I]mplement a solution to long standing water discharge issues plaguing the City”? Was that an attempt to sabotage a crew or crews in the Raft Race?

Don’t get distracted by any nonsense ‘plaguing
the City’ unless it’s a reporter from CBS12
planning a plague of silly news.

Concentrate on making the best raft you can to win the Raft Race for bragging rights until next year!

FYI: If you happen to spot anyone from the press or news media and suspect they’re trying to stir up trouble ahead of this year’s Raft Race please do not hesitate! Contact the City’s Public Information Officer, Mr. Ben Kerr. Call 561-586-1631 or by email: BKerr@lakeworth.org


With our City of Lake Worth’s spectacular, nonsensical, and iconic Raft Race only 56 days away this is the stuff (see excerpt below) you have to be aware of from the press and media. This item that was published in the Post last year does not even rise to the standard of Chris McVoy, PhD, an expert on Everglades restoration who warned of “part science and part what you can get politically.”

In fact, in March 2016 the “firebrand ethnobotanist Paul Alan Cox” said in The Palm Beach Post about BMAA:


“No one is claiming BMAA is the only cause,” [emphasis added] he [Cox] said. “There has been all kinds of hypotheses in the past. Aluminum, brain trauma. There are probably lots of different things that lead to these neurological diseases.”


And it wasn’t our City that had a problem with BMAA in the first place. It was BMAA in the St. Lucie River that possibly created that “spike in emergency room visits” and the public there was forced to “escape to more distant lodgings” to cities in Central Palm Beach County that had any hotel rooms available:


“The algae bloom in the St. Lucie River and its estuary certainly appeared and smelled toxic. It caused an overpowering, noxious smell, burning eyes, headaches, flu-like symptoms, respiratory problems, and rashes. The local hospital weathered a spike in emergency room patients. People were forced to evacuate waterside properties and escape to more distant lodgings.”


Have you decided to stop working on your raft for the July 4th Great American Raft Race because of BMAA? Are you considering an “escape to more distant lodgings.” Worried about “burning eyes, headaches, flu-like symptoms, respiratory problems, and rashes” too?

Don’t do that! Our precious Lake Worth Lagoon is doing just fine!

For example, former Post reporter Willy Howard (now a reporter with The Coastal Star) wasn’t all too concerned about health issues or the quality of the water in the Intracoastal when he went, “Paddling the habitats of Lake Worth Lagoon” in May 2017.

Concentrate on making your raft more “Worthy” in the water and faster too! Our Great American Raft Race is on Independence Day, July 4th!

Brochure from Christie’s dated March 1995, auction of items in New York City: “Property from Mar-A-Lago”.

“Marjorie said she was going to build a little cottage by the sea, look what we got!”

—E. F. Hutton, the husband of Marjorie Merriweather Post,
a quote from Christie’s
auction book.* 

From the history of Mar-a-Lago† included
in the Christie’s brochure:

“On her death in 1972, she [Marjorie Merriweather Post] left the estate to the Federal Government, hoping that it would make Mar-A-Lago into a place for Presidents and visiting dignitaries to use away from Washington, D.C. However the government returned the property to the Post Foundation, and, after many years of remaining shuttered, the estate was sold to Donald J. Trump in 1985.”

Click on all images to enlarge.

“The history of Mar-A-Lago in inexplicably entwined with that of its first owner, Marjorie Merriweather Post.”

Christie’s chronicled the long history of Mar-a-Lago in their 145-page color brochure, including black & white images of Palm Beach history. 

“. . . Palm Beach, January 31, 1930.”

Mrs. Post would fly down from Washington, D.C. for The Season in her private plane called Merriweather.

From page 17. . .

“Marjorie was born in 1887 in Springfield, Illinois, the only child of C. W. Post and his first wife, Ella.”

The “Living Room” in 1995;

another image from the Christie’s brochure:

The structure Mar-a-Lago was completed in 1927 but the landscaping took an additional two years. The final construction cost was $2.5M, well over the initial estimate of $1M.

An item for auction in 1995:

In addition to being a noted philanthropist Mrs. Post was a collector of items world-wide.

From page 132:

Mrs. Post wrote in 1927, in another quote from the Christie’s brochure, “Apparently, building estimates are not worth the paper they are printed on. . .”

Mrs. Post’s husband, E. F. Hutton wrote in a 1927 letter included in the Christie’s auction broshure, “Marjorie said she was going to build a little cottage by the sea, look what we got!”

*The source material used by Christie’s
for historical background:

• The Post Family Collections. Michigan Historical Collection, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan.
• Nancy Rubin, American Empress, the Life and Times of Marjorie Merriweather Post (New York, 1995).
• Randolph Carter & Robert Reed Cole, Josef Urban (New York, 1992).
• Donald W. Curl, Mizner’s Florida American Resort Architecture (Cambridge, 1992).
• William Wright, Heiress: The Rich Life of Marjorie Merriweather Post (Washington, D.C., 1978).
• Nettie Leitch Major, Mar-A-Lago (privately printed, 1969).

†The original Spanish “Mar-A-Lago” (Sea-To-Lake) and “Mar-a-Lago” (with lowercase ‘a’) depend on the context: historic or present-day. Taken from source material always keep to the original usage. Over time, however, the lowercase ‘a’ has become the standard in modern American English. But again, that also depends on the context.

City of Lake Worth’s Library Advisory Board meets tonight.

Briefly, have you considered becoming a volunteer board member or volunteering in other ways for this little City of Lake Worth? To learn more about the City’s Volunteers in Public Service program click on this link or contact Olivia Brown, the Volunteer Coordinator by email: obrown@lakeworth.org

The Library Advisory Board meets at 6:00 in the City Hall Annex building located at 414 Lake Ave. (in the Downtown Cultural Plaza across from the Lake Worth Library).

The agenda:

• Roll Call.
• Approval of Minutes.
• Discussion: A) Librarian’s Report. B) FY 2018 budget report. C) FY 2018–2019 budget requests report.
• Public Participation of Non-Agendaed Items and Consent Agenda [three minute limit for public comment].
• New Business.
• Board Comment.
• Adjournment.

Note: One or more members of any volunteer board, authority or member of the City Commission may attend this meeting and speak.

Budget Work Session #2 last night at the Lake Worth City Commission.

The topic at this meeting were the funds: Local Sewer, Stormwater, Sanitation, and the General Fund. The meeting only lasted thirty-six minutes with an interesting back-and-forth between Commissioner Herman Robinson and City Manager Michael Bornstein at the conclusion of the meeting.

The presentations and budget models were delivered by Stantec with Brian Shields, P.E., Director of the Water Utilities Administration in attendance to answer any questions from the dais.

Without further ado. . .

Message from the Clay Glass Metal Stone Gallery in Lake Worth, “Dear Friends in the press and news media.”

“You have been so kind to Clay Glass Metal
Stone Gallery over the years. For that
we are very grateful.”.

See an excerpt below from a Letter to the Editor published in the Coastal/Greenacres Observer.

The Clay Glass Metal Stone Gallery is located at 15 South ‘J’ St. in Downtown Lake Worth.

However, the CGMS artist studio located at 216 South ‘F’ St. (west of Dixie Hwy.) has been put up For-Sale by the owner. Without a studio the artists will have nowhere else to go and the CGMS Gallery in the Downtown may be forced to close.

Despite being heavily and widely promoted in The Palm Beach Post the folks at CGMS have yet to attract a “knight in shining armor” with enough money and interest in the arts to purchase the studio on South ‘F’ St. But it’s quite possible another wealthy benefactor here in South Florida (outside Central Palm Beach County and beyond), could be found to purchase that property and find a way to keep rent low enough so artists can continue to work there. And that’s where YOU come in.

Here is the excerpt from a Letter to the Editor with contact information at the end from Joyce at the CGMS gallery:


     Our building is being sold and we have not been able to raise the funds to purchase it. It is not for trying. We have looked into every crack and under every stone we could to find the funding to purchase our building.
     We will hold on for as long as we can. Without the studio, it is unlikely we will be able to carry on the gallery [on South ‘J’ St.]. Without the studio many of us will cease being artists again. There is no other facility that most of us can afford to become a part of. It is our hope that you will help us promote our gallery shows and our artists until we reach a point that we cease to exist.
     It is also our hope that a knight in shining armor will step up and purchase the building for us and that person will be etched into the walls of history as one of the great patrons of the arts. [emphasis added]

Can you, or someone you know, be that “knight in shining armor” and save the CGMS studio?

Do you know any reporters at the Sun Sentinel, Miami Herald, or even the Tampa Bay Times?

Please share the Letter to the Editor above and include the contact information for Joyce. Call 215-205-9441 or reach out by email: Joyce@FlamingoClayStudio.org

March / April / May 2003 edition of the much-anticipated magazine in Palm Beach: “The Mar-a-Lago Club, L.C.”

Let’s take a break from politics and take a look back to that very special place in Palm Beach County. . .

Entertainment during “The Season”
at Mar-a-Lago fifteen years ago.

Click on image. . .

 Paul Anka is currently on tour with “Anka Sings Sinatra: His Songs, My Songs, My Way”.

In memoriam: Comedian, actress, writer
and producer Joan Rivers sadly passed away on Sept. 4th, 2015.

The monthly calendar of events was a very big deal:

March 4th, 2003: “Beginner Bridge 8:20 a.m. - 9:30 a.m. Bridge - 9:30 a.m. ‘Collegiate Sports Night’ Theme Dinner 6:30 p.m.”

On page 10 of The Mar-a-Lago Club
magazine in 2003.

Click on image to enlarge:

Each edition of this magazine took special care to highlight the staff employed there and the history of Mar-a-Lago as well: “The Historical Society of Palm Beach County will soon announce. . .”