RiverWalk Talk

Volume 22, Issue 7/8 A Newsletter Covering Life in RiverWalk July/August 2018

In This Issue What’s So Special About July 4th? By Elaine Confino Treasurer's Report...... Page 2 Calendars...... Page 24-25 The 4th of July is one of our major summer holidays, which today is often Activities...... Page 29 celebrated with parades, backyard cookouts, and fireworks displays. But we Clubs/Classes...... Page 38 tend to forget that it is actually Independence Day—that day in 1776 when the Second Continental Congress ratified the United States Declaration of Independence whereby Congress declared independence from Great Britain. Okay, I know this event took place 242 years ago—it’s called “history.” I’m ACC MEETING DATES not up to speed on what passes for American History in our schools these days, but I remember taking that class, and the highlight of the school year Monday, July 23, 10 a.m. was our class trip to Boston to walk the Freedom Trail. Our tour started at the Architectural Control Committee Old Granary Burial Ground and ended with a tour of the USS Constitution (a.k.a. Old Ironsides), which is docked at the old Charlestown Navy Yard. I’ve Monday, August 27, 10 a.m. walked the Freedom Trail many times over the years, and it always leaves me Architectural Control Committee in awe of patriots who risked their lives to keep us free. So let’s take a look at some of the history that led to the signing of the Happy Birthday, Declaration of Independence: U S A! 1765 – Great Britain passed the Stamp Act, which the colonies (Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and Carolina) protested because they had no say in any governing body. When You Need Help: Therefore, it was taxation without representation. 1770 – Heavy British military presence in Boston caused tensions to rise, In an Emergency, Call: resulting in brawls between soldiers and civilians. Troops discharged their muskets, killing three civilians and wounding several others. This event became known as the Boston Massacre. 911 1772 – The HMS Gaspee, a British customs schooner that had been enforcing the Navigation Acts in and around Newport, Rhode Island, ran Non-Emergency aground while chasing the packet ship Hannah, and a group of men led by Police, Call: Abraham Whipple and John Brown attacked, boarded, and torched the ship. 1773 – After officials in Boston refused to return three shiploads of taxed 822-1900 tea to Britain, a group of colonists, disguised as Indians, boarded the ships and destroyed the tea by throwing the chests into Boston Harbor. That event has come to be known as the Boston Tea Party. The British responded by closing Boston Harbor, rescinding Massachusetts Bay Colony’s rights of self- government, and caused the other colonies to rally behind Massachusetts.

July 4th: Continued on page 4 July/August 2018 RiverWalk Talk Page 2

The most recent financial statements completed To assist our unit owners with reminders of are dated April 30, maintenance fee due dates, the Treasurer has 2018, and these may proposed the following proactive measures: be located on the HOA website at the following address: • Utilizing the Property Manager’s weekly email blasts to announce maintenance fee billing due dates; • Sending a separate email blast from the Treasurer to alert unit owners of the maintenance fee • http://RiverWalkofwpb.com/ billings; • Resident Login • Displaying a notice on the bulletin board in the • My Community Post Office; and • Forms and Documents • Posting a notice on Channel 63 related to • Financial Document maintenance fee billings.

Additionally, our CPA firm has completed the audit for fiscal year 2017. Ms. Nicole Johnson-Pendergrass It is further noted by the Treasurer that any unit owner will be attending the next board meeting to answer can access their HOA account balance by doing the any questions from unit owners related to the audit following: report. The 2017 audit report is also located on the HOA website. • Log in to your account Our cash balances from the May 31, 2018, bank • http://RiverWalkofwpb.com/ reconciliation total $4,885,436. The cash balances • Resident Login consist of the following categories: • My Community • My Account • Account Balance & History • Operating Cash $1,434,784 • Stop by the HOA office and ask the office staff to • Reserve Cash $3,450,652 look up your account balance • Make arrangements to pay any amount due as As of May 31, 2018, we have delinquencies totaling soon as possible $114,958. This is comprised of the following categories: If you have any questions related to this report, please don’t hesitate to contact me via my cell phone at 828- • Attorney and/or bankruptcy status – 14 accounts 575-3970, or my RiverWalk Director email address at totaling $75,975 [email protected]. • All other past due accounts to include active collection, demand letter, and reminder notice Respectfully submitted, status – 248 accounts totaling $38,983

The third quarter 2018 maintenance fees and billings Arthur C. Morris, will be due and payable as of July 1, 2018. Please locate your payment coupon book and be prepared RiverWalk Treasurer to pay on the due date. July/August 2018 RiverWalk Talk Page 3

We have a benefit with the Xfinity Please try out our new Centanni Café at RiverWalk. system that I haven’t used until lately. The café looks very different since the latest renovation, Editor's It’s called “Music Choice,” and appears and we do want to make our restaurant a success. I dined Note from Channel 801 to Channel 850. at the café recently, and I highly recommend the Hot I watch all my shows from the DVR; Antipasto Starter. It’s a meal in itself! Remember, there is I hate commercials, so I keep the also a great takeout menu. channel selector set on Channel 847 for “Singers and Swing.” These are all the I’m sorry to report that we have no President’s or beautiful songs with vocals that I heard as a Manager’s Reports in this issue. The Board did not meet, child. (I believe that RiverWalk uses Channel 848, Easy so no reports were given. Listening, as the background for Channel 63.) With 50 channels available, there has to be some music that suits Patricia Bird your mood. Take a trip though the channels and find the Editor in Chief one that works for you. To assist our readers, a list of the available channels and the type of music they deliver, is on page 18.

The RiverWalk Talk is a monthly newsletter. During the summer, it is a bimonthly publication. All that we can do is present you with the best information that we have at the time the newsletter is sent to the printer. The staff does its best to be accurate, but things do change after the RiverWalk Talk is printed. We do what we can.

RiverWalk Talk Mission Statement RiverWalkA newsletter covering life in RiverWalkTalk The purpose of the RiverWalk Talk newsletter is to provide community information to the RiverWalk homeowners. The newsletter also will do its best to include interesting articles and ads. However, any claims in the ads have not been investigated by the staff, and they are not endorsed in any way. Editor in Chief ...... Patricia Bird Associate Editor..Elaine Confino It is the responsibility of the reader to check the claims in the ads and whether Advertising Manager ...... Kathy Wolf the business’s licensing is current. Activities Director...... Ilissa Shannon Activities Editor...... Fran Shay Any report of the President, Treasurer, or Property Manager will be Accounts Manager ...... Ron Frano printed with no changes by the editors but for spelling and grammar thereby Calendar...... Fran Shay maintaining the integrity of the article and the author’s meaning. Minor Contributing Writers. . . . Steve Bucar, changes to an article’s length could be requested by the editors. Greg Christoph, Len Fintzy, Bea Fries, Lisa Gammon, Dianne Golder, Betty Handel, No personal attacks will be printed, and coverage of Association meetings Phyllis Kingsbury, Marianne McCann, will be reported as accurately as possible. Sandra Masters, Pat Minkler, Heather Sandarr, Steve Wolf Photo Editors...... Elaine Confino, Nancy O'Keefe, Steve Wolf Graphic Design & Layout. .Patricia. Bird The Editorial Board reserves the right to edit all submitted copy, except for the articles mentioned in the Mission Statement, for fit and content according to policies set forth by the Board of Directors of the RiverWalk of the Palm Beaches Homeowners Association.

RiverWalk Talk will accept feature articles, news items, club reports, photos and other items that are of interest to the majority of our residents. All such pieces should be placed in the RWT box in the main office or sent to the Editor at Patricia Bird at [email protected] Articles should be in Word format, photos in .JPG or .PDF. Include your name, email address, & phone number.

All queries concerning advertising should be directed to our Advertising Manager Kathy Wolf at 242-0329. July/August 2018 RiverWalk Talk Page 4

July 4th: Continued from page 1

1774 - The First Continental Congress was a the Mississippi River and south of the Great Lakes, with meeting of delegates from 12 of the 13 colonies who Great Britain retaining control of Canada, and Spain met in September and October at Carpenters’ Hall in taking Florida. Philadelphia. It was called in response to the “Intolerable So, this July 4th, please take a moment to think about Acts” passed by the British Parliament, which the British the patriots who risked everything in order to gain referred to as the Coercive Acts, with which the British freedom and independence for us all. And, if you have intended to punish Massachusetts for the Boston Tea an American Flag, display it proudly. Party. Their petition to King George for redress of those grievances had no effect. 1775 – The Massachusetts Provisional Congress, which included patriots Samuel Adams and John Hancock, was sitting in Concord, the site of one of the larger caches of patriot military supplies. When British activity suggested the possibility of troop movements, Joseph Warren sent Paul Revere to warn the Congress, and Concord residents began moving the supplies away from town. One week later, General Gage was directed to disarm the rebels and capture Adams and Hancock. Joseph Warren alerted Paul Revere and William Dawes, who set out to raise the alarm. They picked up other riders along the way and spread the word to “every Middlesex village and farm,” according to the poem, Paul Revere’s Ride, by American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Upon arrival of the British, a battle ensued, and the American Revolutionary War had begun. 1776 – The Second Continental Congress, in determining that King George’s rule to be tyrannical and infringing on the colonists’ rights as Englishmen, directed the Committee of Five (John Adams of Massachusetts, Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, Roger Sherman of Connecticut, and Robert Livingston of New York) to draft and present to Congress a document that would become America’s Declaration of Independence. It was ratified by Congress on July 4th, and published on July 5th. Unfortunately, the Declaration of Independence didn’t end the war, which raged from Canada to the American South. It was effectively ended in the fall of 1781 when a combined American-French force captured a second British army at Yorktown in Virginia. The Treaty of Paris was signed on September 3, 1783, formally ending the conflict and confirming our nation’s complete separation from the British Empire. The United States took possession of nearly all the territory east of July/August 2018 RiverWalk Talk Page 5 A Democratic Republic By Ron Frano

Many Americans call our government a democracy. But, in reality, we are not. We are a republic, or a democratic constitutional republic. A true democracy has every issue or matter voted on by the people–an impossible task. In a republic, on the other hand, the citizens elect representatives to stand for the people in the operation of the government. Every level of governance: federal, state, city, and HOA, has a republic format. The people in all these environments have a right to petition their representatives. However, the ultimate arbiter of performance is the ballot box.

Which brings me to a more local concern: An HOA has a Board of Directors elected by the people to oversee the affairs of the community and its management. RiverWalk has 1,367 homes, and each of those homes has a vote for Board positions. The people who sit on the Board are elected by a majority of the votes submitted, thereby representing all homeowners, not just a vocal few. Board meetings are held to conduct the business of the community. Just a note: The phone number for Centanni's that Residents have many means of contacting Board members to voice concerns or complaints. One of the is in the RiverWalk Directory 2018- least productive methods is to cause disruption or chaos 2019 is incorrect. The correct number at a Board meeting. People have a tendency to believe is: that their views or opinions are shared by all. But with 1,367 homeowners, 20 or 30 people at a meeting do not 561-815-5060 represent a majority of the community. If a homeowner is not satisfied with the performance of Board members, they have the ultimate weapon—the ballot box. The homeowners have a right to speak for three minutes at the Board meetings, but there is no requirement that they be televised.

Bringing concerns to a meeting is a good use of our democratic process, but angry rants are counterproductive. Remember, the Board’s responsibility at a Board meeting is to conduct official business. Board members make a personal sacrifice to help their community and need to follow the will of the majority of homeowners. The will of the people is determined at the ballot box. July/August 2018 RiverWalk Talk Page 6 w I N E

Napa Valley. The Castello dell'Amorosa with vineyards around, it looks very similar to a Tuscany landscape. C O U N T R

Sonoma Valley. The French - Venice style Villa of Ferrari-Carano with its terrace looking Y over vineyards. [Photos by Roberto and Elisabetta Massanti.] July/August 2018 RiverWalk Talk Page 7 A Short Trip to California’s Sonoma and Napa Valleys By Roberto and Elisabetta Mazzanti As Italians, actually Tuscans, we are naturally its central square. We first visited the famous Rodney attracted by vineyards and wines or, as I said to an Strong Winery where, in addition to tasting great white American couple who asked me whether I was a wine and red wines, we could talk of wines and art with a maker, “No, I am genetically planned for it!” Thus, vinery expert. We also chatted with a nice couple from we decided to make a short visit to the most famous Arizona whose daughter is studying art at the University American areas for wine production—the Sonoma and of Rome in Italy, number one in the world for antique Napa Valleys in California. art. We left windy and cold San Francisco at noon, Later, we decided to go north, first to the Pedroncelli crossing over the Golden Gate Bridge that towers over Winery, clearly of Italian origins with its nice production San Pablo Bay, which was almost invisible to us because of white and red wines, and then we headed to the of fog. After an hour of easy driving heading north, Ferrari-Carano Winery. This winery is worth the travel we entered into the Sonoma Valley. At the beginning, in itself. The Villa is astonishingly beautiful and is the landscape around us was not so exciting, with surrounded by a fantastic garden full of flowers and sweet hills covered by green lawns and clumps of trees vineyards. It is also possible to experience your wine where cows and horses grazed quietly. The landscape tasting seated on a terrace overlooking the beautiful reminded us of the area north of Lazio, near Rome, garden. or South Tuscany. Suddenly, after Sebastopol, the Afterwards, we returned to Healdsburg, reserving landscape changed into a marvelous woodland of huge a table for dinner in one of the best restaurants of the red oaks that covered part of the country with large Sonoma Valley, Dry Creek Kitchen. While waiting for intervals where vineyards were so well-kept they looked dinner, we had a great experience in the tasting room like gardens. We entered into the Russian Valley, so of the Stonestreet Winery, whose wines can only be named because of the presence of the beautiful Russian enjoyed in restaurants or by purchasing them online. River, with water and banks so clean they are commonly used as beaches. The dinner was terrific: slices of pate served on a small pie and a bouillon (dadolata) of small cubes of Our little hotel in Guerneville, The Cottages of strawberries and watercress as an appetizer, and their Sonoma, was so nice that we were really lucky to have miraculous “focaccia,” a delicate bread served with friends who suggested we go there. It is comprised of warm butter. As the main dish, we had a tender roast several little cottages, and is ecofriendly. We had dinner breast of duck with mushrooms reduced with Porto red in a small, I would say, tiny restaurant, Boon Eat + Drink, wine. Our wine was a delicious Cabernet Sauvignon where we had a fantastic “vellutata di peperoni” (soup 2015, Bear Point Vineyard by Stonestreet Winery. of red peppers) and delicious hamburgers. If you go Finally, only for Roberto, a bavarois of lemon with little there, remember— they do not take reservations, and meringues and toasted pistachios. the restaurant is full at 5:30 p.m. The next morning, after a large breakfast, we drove The next morning, after a great breakfast, we to Napa Valley crossing the mountains and woods were in front of the Korbel Winery that is one of those partially burned last summer by huge fires. Once in producing California champagnes. It was three miles Napa Valley, an area more touristy and expensive than from our hotel. Great place and welcoming, and it’s Sonoma, we visited Castello di Amorosa, a winery possible to taste all their champagnes for a few dollars. owned by Italian immigrants that tries to look like an After leaving Korbel, and crossing beautiful country antique, medieval, stone-built Tuscan castle. It’s an similar to our Tuscany with woods and vineyards by emotional sight as it sits on land that looks quite similar the west side road, our next stop was the Healdsburg to Tuscany. It is very different from the original, and we wineries. Healdsburg is a little town with restaurants and shops, and it is nice walking along its sidewalks and A Short Trip: Continued on page 46 July/August 2018 RiverWalk Talk Page 8 July/August 2018 RiverWalk Talk Page 9

Meet Dr. Don Grossman – Board Member By: Marianne McCann

Dr. Donald Grossman became a member of Don and Joan moved to RiverWalk because it was RiverWalk’s Board of Directors when, in February 2018, not a 55+ community. They liked the demographics of he was appointed by the Executive Committee to fill a community with no age restrictions, and the amenities the seat vacated by Jeff Guenther. His term will expire in that RiverWalk offered. He mentioned that HOAs that March of 2019. are 55+ offer a larger and more ornate club house, a glamorous entrance, bus service, and a social director, Don was an internist for 20 years and then took on and they also have maintenance fees that are often $550 roles of a physician executive in managed care for 25 to $600 a month. According to Don, our Board works years. A position as chief medical officer of a Medicare very hard in balancing requests, trying to continue to Advantage Plan brought Don and his wife, Joan, to West keep maintenance fees reasonable, and attempting to Palm Beach (and RiverWalk) in 2006. limit special assessments.

Although he misses the individual patient The only downside that Don finds in RiverWalk is interaction, he has chosen to improve health for a the negativity and misinformation that is sometimes population, such as helping to develop plans for spread through NextDoor. He feels this causes general diabetes or asthma patients, and by helping physicians dissension in, and disservice to, the community. He adapt to the changes in medicine. would like to see it return to its original intent of neighbor helping neighbor; and instead of initiating When I asked Don what he liked about RiverWalk, confrontation, he would love to see it become a tool of he said he was immediately impressed with the consensus-building. beauty of the drive up RiverWalk Boulevard, the overall maintenance of the development, and the lakeside view So the next time you see Don out and about in from his potential home. He likes the camaraderie of the RiverWalk, introduce yourself. community and the friendly greetings he receives as he rides his bicycle around RiverWalk Circle. His circuits enable him to enjoy all our beautiful plantings, graceful bridges, and the variety of bird life.

Don and Joan have made many friends, not only on their block, but throughout the community. Don participates in the men’s golf league and previously joined the die-hard group who met in the gym at 6:00 a.m. on weekdays. He and Joan both joined CERT (of which he is the medical director), and Joan is now a member of the Social Committee. Even though he is still working part-time, Don plans on being more active socially.

As a director, Don’s particular assignment is to lead the Facilities Committee. This group’s responsibility deals with maintenance of, and improvements to, the facilities of RiverWalk. It discusses issues, possible improvements, the amenities, and a “wish list.” The committee forwards suggestions to the Board, which must prioritize “desires” against “needs,” keeping in Director Dr. Don Grossman. [Photo by Nancy mind the constraints of the budget and the reserves. O'Keefe.] July/August 2018 RiverWalk Talk Page 10 July/August 2018 RiverWalk Talk Page 11 July/August 2018 RiverWalk Talk Page 12

Crazy Corner By Sandra Masters

How times have changed! Remember getting up in the morning, putting on the coffee and walking out to the driveway, waving to your neighbor as you get the morning paper, and anticipating the aroma of that Folgers in your cup? Remember savoring those quiet moments while reading the headlines and checking the box scores?

Now, we wake up to our customized cell phone alarm tone, Keurig coffee pod at the ready, and almost immediately check our laptop, iPad, smart phone, or Apple Watch for Instagram and Facebook posts. We have become social media addicts. Psychology Today magazine says some researchers suggest it is making us all a little anxious and possibly depressed. Why? Because Facebook isn’t a representation of everyday reality—just the edited version. But I, for one, don’t have a problem with that.

Studies indicate that many social media users tend to post only their most attractive pictures and announce only the good things in their lives. But isn’t it delightful to log on to Facebook and see pictures of a friend’s SLIDING DOORA ND new baby, or a family member’s graduation? I enjoy seeing retirement vacation photos and new puppy pics. WINDOW REPAIR Facebook and Instagram have reconnected long-lost family and friends. FaceTime and Skype have enabled people to be “present” at birthdays and bar mitzvahs, when distance may have prevented us from attending. And what a fantastic blessing for grandparents whose grandchildren live too far away to visit often.

Recently, I came to appreciate social media for a 561-805-9855 whole new reason. My daughter has been traveling in Asia for two months. She was hiking the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal. At 16,000 feet she developed altitude sickness and had to be helicoptered out and taken to a hospital. She was diagnosed with pneumonia. I couldn’t rush overseas to be with her, which was certainly a reason to be anxious if not a little depressed, but I could FaceTime, Facebook, cell phone, and Instagram with her. Thankfully, she has recovered and is now headed to “EXCEEDING YOUR EXPECTATIONS” Thailand, Bali, Japan and, finally, Hawaii. I can’t wait to see the pics on Insta-Face-Skype-gram. Oh, and I will be meeting up with her in Hawaii—in person! July/August 2018 RiverWalk Talk Page 13 July/August 2018 RiverWalk Talk Page 14 July/August 2018 RiverWalk Talk Page 15 July/August 2018 RiverWalk Talk Page 16

Osprey in flight, just before landing in a tree. [Photo Osprey devours a fish. [Photo by Greg Christoph.] by Greg Christoph.]

At RiverWalk: Cattleya orchid in full bloom; Curious squirrel; Our first pineapple; Glorious royal poinciana. [Photos by Elaine Confino.] July/August 2018 RiverWalk Talk Page 17 Birds of RiverWalk: Osprey Text and photographs by Greg Christoph

Ospreys are powerful birds of prey that occasionally accordingly many times better than ours. After spotting patrol the sky over our lakes at RiverWalk. They do a suitable fish while flying at a cruising altitude of 30 so because our lakes contain a lot of fish, and fish are to 130 feet above the water, an osprey hovers briefly pretty much the only food they eat. Indeed, some and then folds its wings back and dives almost straight people call the bird a fish hawk. down, accelerating quickly with the pull of gravity. It plunges into the water feet first, using its talons to grab Ospreys are hardly the largest raptor, but they are a fish swimming a foot or less below the surface. It does still fairly large, about two feet from beak to tail with not strike often, but when it does, it rarely misses. The a wingspan of almost six feet. Their feathers are a very bird spends only a second or two in the water, and dark shade of brown that is almost black, pure white, with a few powerful wingbeats it becomes airborne and a mixture of the two. The underside of the torso again with a tight grasp on its prey. For aerodynamic and parts of the underside of wings are white, but most efficiency, the bird immediately orients the fish so the of the lower wing surface is a blended pattern of brown- fish’s head faces into the airstream. An osprey can catch black and white. The upper surface of the wings and and carry surprisingly large fish, sometimes about a torso are brown-black. The head is mainly white with a foot long and weighing more than four pounds, which distinctive brown-black mask over the eyes that wraps is greater than the weight of the bird alone. Small fish around the back of the neck. The specific shapes formed less than a few inches in length are generally ignored by the dark mask and the bits on the top of the head are as they are not worth the effort required to catch and unique to each bird. A skilled observer can use these carry them. The bird may carry the fish for several miles markings on the head to reliably identify individual to, for example, its nest site in order to feed its young, or birds in the field from one day to the next. it may just find a nearby tree limb to feast on the meal by itself. Flying is energetically demanding, and you In evolutionary terms, the osprey we see today is may sometimes see an osprey perched in a tree near the a fairly new species. They evolved from now extinct water, resting between episodes of hunting for fish. species in the genus Pandion between one and two hundred thousand years ago, probably on the west The osprey’s feet are well-adapted to its catch- coast of North America. The osprey, taxonomically and-carry fishing lifestyle. Its sharp, curved talons are known as Pandion haliaetus, is the only survivor among particularly long, even compared to those of other various species in the Pandion line that has existed raptors that are known for long claws. The muscles for over ten million years. From its origins on the West that operate the toes are quite strong, and the tendons Coast, the contemporary osprey dispersed fairly rapidly that attach them to the bones of the toes have a robust and now occupies every continent around the world locking mechanism. Once engaged, this locking system except Antarctica. Geographic separation for many makes it possible to maintain a grip on a fish without thousands of years is usually sufficient to promote constant muscular effort. Finally, the bottom of the toes further differentiation into separate bird species, have a series of pads with the texture of sandpaper that so it is unusual for a single species to be so broadly help prevent a slippery fish from slipping away. distributed around the world. The absence of further species differentiation is therefore a testament to the As you stroll around RiverWalk, remember to scan osprey’s fitness for survival in a variety of environments. the sky over the water. The reward for doing so might In southern Florida, many ospreys are year-round be a sighting of this magnificent fish hawk in flight and, residents, but some migrate as far north as Canada or as perhaps, observing its dramatic dive into the water to far south as South America at different times of the year. catch a fish.

Like all raptors, an osprey has superb eyesight. The [See the photos of the ospreys at the top of the number and density of photoreceptors in its eyes are previous page.] much greater than our own eyes, and its visual acuity is July/August 2018 RiverWalk Talk Page 18

IT PAYS TO RICK L PLATZ, LUTCF (561) 684 8801 SWITCH.

8480 OKEECHOBEE BLVD. STE 6 WEST PALM BEACH [email protected]

Drivers who switched to Allstate saved an average of $375 a year. Call me today.

Savings based on national customer-reported data for new policies in 2011. Actual savings vary. Allstate Fire And Casualty Insurance Company: Northbrook, IL. © 2012 Allstate Insurance Company July/August 2018 RiverWalk Talk Page 19 July/August 2018 RiverWalk Talk Page 20 July/August 2018 RiverWalk Talk Page 21

Oh, the Exhilaration! By: Phyllis Kingsbury

Sometimes it doesn’t take much to recover from a On a whim, I changed my direction, which took me less than ideal start to one’s day. Turning on the radio down Clematis Street in West Palm Beach where the just in time to hear of a large traffic accident up ahead, ten-story Comeau Building loomed ahead of me. In the I changed my morning commute route to avoid a long late 1970s, I worked there on the 9th floor. There was an delay. elderly man, or woman on certain days, operating the elevator and delivering a crew of us safely to our places My spirits were high as I headed east on a road of business on various floors. Some 40 years later, I work with few traffic signals, and I decided to open all four one street over, riding an impersonal elevator where windows of my white Volkswagen Tiguan. The wind and I press the number 4 button, and no one says “have a cool air rushed in as I picked up speed. It was early April, good day” as I exit. coincidentally the same week that I moved to Florida in 1975. The beautiful weather was repeating itself … clear Finally, making it to work, I felt an overwhelming blue skies, cool crisp spring air ... and suddenly I was 21 sense of sadness pulling into our parking garage. I again. went from carefree, exuberant 22-year-old Phyllis, to responsible and sometimes weary 64-year-old Phyllis. The oldies channel was playing several of my I sat in my SUV for a few minutes facing the entry door favorites. Remember, “There’s a Kind of Hush” by and imagined not going in. I could just head up I-95 Herman Hermits? “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” to who-knows-where just for the day, I told myself, by the Beatles? While those songs may not have been wanting the happy emotions to continue. playing in 1975, hearing them in 2018 took me back to that earlier year. My long hair was almost down to Practical, responsible me turned off the ignition and my waist then, and I drove the cutest 1972 tomato red instead walked into the building and into the executive Volkswagen Fastback. I loved that car, and can still hear offices. I was early, as usual, and the office was dim and the sound of the engine, which was located in the rear; silent. I opened the plantation shutters near my desk so it was a cross between the purr of a fine car and the that I could occasionally peek outside into the open-air sound of an electric egg beater. As typical in those days, courtyard while I worked. From my vantage point on the my Volkswagen lacked air conditioning, and my neck fourth floor, the very tops of the palms sway on breezy would be wet with sweat by the time I arrived at work. days, and I often hear the birds singing their morning This time my hair was much shorter, allowing the wind song. Sometimes a flock of wild parrots—bright green to sweep it up and around like a soft serve ice cream with an intense red ‘hat’ on top—will descend upon the cone, while the ends slapped frantically back into my trees to eat the berries. It is a magical sight, and I always face stinging my eyes. It was glorious and I laughed. stop working and watch them from the window.

At one point there was a yellow school bus riding No birds being in sight that morning, nor anything next to me, windows blacked out with film preventing else to distract me, I turned on my laptop and scanned me from seeing the children inside. While invisible the emails in my inbox. The first one to catch my eye to me, I imagined them laughing and yelling to one was from our Human Resources Department titled, another across the aisle. The bus itself was quite noisy “Important Notice about Being Eligible for Medicare.” and the fumes drifted into my open-windowed car. While that may sound like a downer after such a The discomfort, however, was not enough to dim my carefree start to my day, the timing was perfect. The pleasure of enjoying the connection to all that was freedom and joy that I felt driving to work was proof around me. At one point, I felt a little dizzy, which I that being young, excited, and vital is in the mind, and chalked up to the increased oxygen being rapidly not in the number of birthdays. pushed up into my nostrils. July/August 2018 RiverWalk Talk Page 22

O’NEAL, JR. ROOFING

FREE ESTIMATES

561-656-4945 or 561-798-7393 12918 Casey Road • Loxahatchee, FL 33470 Licensed-Insured-Bonded • Lic.# U-19278 RE-ROOFING AND REPAIRS • SHINGLES • SKYLIGHTS • GUTTERS • SOLAR TUBES • TILE ROOFS • FLAT ROOFS

*** Member of BBB *** Family Owned and Operated with 18 years of Experience July/August 2018 RiverWalk Talk Page 23

RiverWalk Newcomers

Walter Blasberg Jeryl Lauro John Dewane 2274 Blue Springs Road 7219 Crystal Lake Drive From: Davie, FL From: North Hero, Vermont Shirley A. Legato Deborah & Greg Colalella 2807 Livingston Lane 2816 Livingston Lane From: Wellington, FL From: West Palm Beach, FL (Baywinds) Robin Petyan Kaylee Colvard 7752 Nile River Road 7774 Olympia Drive From: Boca Raton, FL From: West Palm Beach, FL KM! RA Sherri D'Amico & Lori D'Amico 7634 Quida Drive 2676 Kittbuck Way From: Palm Beach Gardens, FL From: Jupiter, FL Ralph G. "Dusty" Rhodes & Irene W. Rhodes Conrado De Jesus Gutierrez & 7774 Nile River Road Maria Concepcion Munoz From: Colorado Springs, CO 2181 Blue Springs Road From: Colombia Todd & Debbi Weeks 7159 Fish Creek Lane Mark & Grace Joyce From: Charlotte, NC 2127 Tigris Drive From: Loxahatchee Groves, FL David Windell 7772 Nile River Road Joanne Baker Knoetgen From: Little Neck, NY 2825 Hancock Creek Road From: Royal Palm Beach, FL & Buffalo, NY

July/August 2018 RiverWalk Talk Page 26 It’s Hurricane Season Again! By Len Fintzy The season officially started Junest 1 After a major storm calms down, and continues until December. We all CERT volunteers will try to help our hope for good weather, but we must be fellow residents as quickly and efficiently prepared for a storm. as possible. Please note that CERT If a significant hurricane (category regulations prohibit volunteers from 3 or higher) comes this way, we can entering a home with a pet that is not reasonably expect problems with secured in a cage or room. And all of us electricity, water, 911, emergency services, can help by carefully clearing street drains pharmacies, banks, supermarkets, etc. So after the storm passes (NOT during the lull protect yourself: of the storm’s eye). Remember that the back end of the hurricane (after the eye • Bring in all outdoor objects that would become passes) is often worse than the front end. missiles (yes, even those heavy plants). Want to know more about how to protect yourself • Stock up on water (freeze several gallon water and others? Become CERT-trained. To get CERT bottles [90% full] and keep them in your freezer information, please complete a form which is in the and refrigerator to maintain cold), and keep CERT mailbox in the office. We will call you to answer all several gallons per person on hand to drink and your questions. for cooking. • Have at least several days’ worth of medicines on hand. • Have cash available since banks and ATMs might be shut for a few days. • Put all your valuable documents in something waterproof and off the floor. • Stock up on food that does not need electricity to open or cook. • Make arrangements for pets since most shelters will not accept them. • Check/lubricate your hurricane shutters now, before you might need them. • Have at least one telephone that plugs directly into the wall and needs no electricity. • Do NOT plan to use candles; DO have many flashlights and extra batteries. • Have a battery-operated radio with extra batteries. • Check your fire extinguishers; replace any that are low/empty or more than a few years old. • If you have a generator, use it outside ONLY and not while it’s raining. July/August 2018 RiverWalk Talk Page 27 July/August 2018 RiverWalk Talk Page 28

R July/August 2018 RiverWalk Talk Page 29

lk Activ “The days draw a it out, the weather gets bring your own drinks; you may bring alcoholic W ie beverages. If you would like to attend, please call r s warmer, and it’s what e we call summer, with a or email the RiverWalk Office. Booze & Bites Mingle v rd i bitter laugh when we’ve will take place on the 3 Friday of every month.

R said it.” Stan Barstow Come join the fun and meet some new neighbors! Stay tuned to Donations Needed! The cats and dogs at Peggy Comcast Channel Adams Animal Rescue need your help. New or used 63, the Post Office items include: cat/dog food, dishes, blankets, towels, and Town Center beds, leashes, toys, etc. Please drop off animal donations bulletin boards, the RiverWalk website at the RiverWalk Office. We are also collecting non- (RiverWalkofwpb.com) and your emails for perishable food items for The Oasis Compassion Agency updates. Please check with the RiverWalk Office in Greenacres. Please drop off food donations in the to make sure we have your email address! RiverWalk Office. Please do not leave any donations in the RiverWalk Post Office. Thank you for your generosity! Bingo Bash! Join us for Bingo on Friday, July 6th, and Friday, August 3rd, in the Town Center. Bingo cards will be on sale from 6:45 pm - 7:15 pm, and we will Events and trips fill up quickly. Everything provided is play Bingo from 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm. You may bring on a first-come, first-serve basis for seating, so please bring your own drinks and snacks. Please bring cash only your payment in to reserve your seat. Thank you in advance! to purchase your Bingo cards, $5 or $10 sets of cards. We will also be selling $2 Bingo daubers to mark your numbers. Sign-ups will begin on the 15th of every month We offer rentals of the Town Center facility for for the following month’s Bingo. Please call or email your upcoming special events! Keep us in mind the RiverWalk Office to sign up – seats fill up fast. We when planning your next Anniversary, Birthday will have only 80 seats available; please, no walk-ins. or Meeting. Please call or visit the office for details. Bingo will be held on the first Friday of every month. Movie Night! Illustrated Properties invites you to Please contact the RiverWalk Office with any the movies on Friday, July 27th, for a showing of Girl questions or suggestions at: on the Train, and on Friday, August 24th for a showing of Serendipity. Admission is FREE!! Gather on the lawn Phone: (561) 697-7712 behind the RiverWalk Town Center at 7:30 pm, or inside the Town Center if it rains. The movie will start promptly at 8:00 pm; popcorn will be provided. Please bring your own chairs for outside seating. You may bring your own drinks and snacks. For more information, please check your email, the bulletin boards or you may contact the Real Estate Office. Enjoy the movie!! Paint-A-Pot! Saturday, July 21st, and Saturday, August 18th, from 10:00 am - 12:00 pm. Pottery painting for the whole family at the Town Center! All pieces are either $5 or $10; please bring cash only. There will be cups, plates, figurines and more to choose from. Booze & Bites Mingle! Join us on Friday, July 20th, and Friday, August 17th, from 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm. Bring an appetizer or dessert to share and July/August 2018 RiverWalk Talk Page 30 Miami Bound By Dianne Golder For the first weekend of Brightline’s inaugural West exploration, the early settlers, World War II, and up to Palm Beach to Miami run on May 19th and 20th, not only the present day. I especially enjoyed the section that were passengers greeted by the company’s president dealt with the development of Miami from swampland and staff, but they were also treated to an arcade, solar- into America’s Riviera. powered photo booth, meditation class, and a mojito Admission to the HistoryMiami Museum is $10 for bar at the Miami station. Local deejays spun tunes, and adults, $8 for seniors, $5 for children 6-12, and free a number of Miami restaurants fed attendees. Udonis for children 5 and under. Museum hours are Tuesday Haslem of the Miami Heat made an appearance as did through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and some of the team dancers. The cost for all this? Just $3 Sunday from 12:00 to 5:00 p.m. It is closed on Mondays each way. and most holidays. The hoopla and low prices are a thing of the past. Vizcaya Museum and Gardens: 3251 South Miami The price of a West Palm Beach to Miami ticket is Avenue (305-250-9133). Visiting Vizcaya is like taking a currently $15 one way in Smart Service (the basic ride), quick trip to Europe. The magnificent 34-room estate, and $25 one way in Select Service, which includes built at a cost of $15 million in the early 20th century, was snacks and drinks. The trip takes one hour and twenty the winter home of James Deering of the McCormick- minutes, and parking in the Brightline garage is free for Deering/International Harvester fortune. It is lavishly the moment. furnished with European art, sculpture, and antiques— The Miami station is only one part of the six- some dating back as far as 2,000 years. The magnificent block-long Miami Central complex, which is still in Italian Renaissance gardens are dotted with fountains, development. For now, just the sleek, colorful, ultra- sculptures, and hidden grottoes. modern three-story station is open but, ultimately, it To visit Vizcaya, take the Metrorail from the Overton/ will become part of a mix of commercial, residential, and Lyric Theater station, one block north of the Brightline office spaces. station, to the Vizcaya station. Admission is $18 for If you have always wanted to visit Miami but adults, $12 for seniors 62 and older, $10 for students were turned off by the drive, the traffic, and parking, with IDs and wheelchair visitors, $6 for children under Brightline is a quick, efficient, and easy way to get 12, and free for children 5 and under. Museum hours are there. The station is positioned to take advantage of Wednesday through Monday from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Miami’s bus and rail systems. Metrorail, which travels It is closed on Tuesday, Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. throughout the Greater Miami Area and to the airport, Pérez Art Museum Miami: 1103 Biscayne Boulevard has a station one block north and costs $2.25 a ride. The (305-375-3000). This museum is renowned as much Metromover, which travels only through the downtown for its daring architecture as for the paintings within. area, is one block south and is free. Buses, which cost Vertical gardens hang from the roofline, and enormous $2.25, are just a few blocks away at the Government floor-to-ceiling windows take advantage of gorgeous Center. bay views. The art is predominantly of the 20th and 21st Here are just a few major places of interest easily centuries, with an emphasis on artists of the Americas. accessible from the new station, but there are many To visit Pérez Art Museum Miami, take the others: Metromover at the Wilkie D. Ferguson station, which HistoryMiami Museum: 101 W. Flagler Street is one block south of the Brightline station, to the (305-375-1492). This Smithsonian-affiliated museum Museum Park station. Admission is $16 for adults, and is one of the largest and best history museums in $12 for seniors 62 and older, students with IDs and South Florida, and is just a short walk away from the station. It encompasses 10,000 years of Florida history Miami Bound: Continued on page 32 starting from the early Native Americans to the Spanish July/August 2018 RiverWalk Talk Page 31

Brightline train station. [Photo by Dianne Golder.] July/August 2018 RiverWalk Talk Page 32

Miami Bound: Continued from page 30 Centanni Meet and Greet OR Come and Get It! By Fran Shay youth (ages 7-18). Active U.S. military personnel with IDs and children 6 and under are free. The museum How do we RiverWalk residents respond when we’re also offers free admission on the first Thursday and told that Centanni Café, our new restaurant, is inviting second Saturday of each month. Museum hours are us to sample its food and beverage offerings? We show 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Friday through Tuesday, closed up in droves, of course! And so did I. on Wednesday, and from 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. on On Monday, June 4th, we answered the dinner bell, Thursday. It is closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas and between the hours of 4:00 pm and 8:00 pm we Day. stood in line as we chatted with our neighbors and admired the refreshed, new look of our café. Although I Bayside Marketplace: 401 Biscayne Boulevard (305- could have seen the newly-renovated restaurant during 577-3344). Bayside, as its name implies, is on Biscayne the soft opening, this was my first time in Centanni Bay, and is one of the most popular tourist attractions Café at RiverWalk. I was impressed with the crisp, clean in Miami. It offers a mix of restaurants, mall-type look of the opened-up space, the “wood-plank” tile stores, and specialty shops filled with knickknacks and floor, the refreshed walls and ceiling, and the pendant souvenirs, entertainment, and sightseeing cruises. lights hanging over the tables that flanked the walls. The room looks so different now that the glass-doored To visit Bayside Marketplace, take the Metromover, refrigerated unit is gone—there’s now an aquarium. The one block south of the Brightline station, to Bayfront. front-door counter is now a gelato and wine bar, where Mall hours are 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Monday through waiters were handing out samples of wines, as well as Thursday, 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Friday and Saturday, vanilla, chocolate and strawberry gelato (Centanni is and 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. on Sunday. well-known for its gelato). One of my favorite things to do is to take the Back to the food line—when I reached the buffet 90-minute Island Queen “Millionaire’s Row” Cruise that table, there were trays of baked ziti, chicken marsala, passes by the homes of stars such as Gloria Estefan, a pasta with sausage dish, and fresh Italian bread. Ricky Martin, and Jennifer Lopez, as well as others less Unfortunately, I was unlucky with my timing, and the famous but very rich. Cost is $30 at the dock for adults trays were fairly empty by the time I got there, but ($27 if purchased online), and $22 at the dock for I managed to fill my sample plate. However, I saw children ($19 if purchased online). The tours run daily at that the trays were continually replenished with all 10:30 a.m., and then hourly from 11:00 a.m. through 7:00 different types of Centanni’s offerings. The line was also p.m., but call them at 305-374-3344 for information and continually replenished as more neighbors flowed in to confirm the operations status of the listed hours. throughout the open house event. Fortunately, there Note: If the admission costs seem a little steep, check was always a space at the dining tables for everyone to out Groupon for special offers. I used the Island Queen find a seat, and there were outside tables as well. The Groupon and paid $16—not $27, and there are museum waiters were busy all around the dining room taking discounts as well. orders for wine (for a price) and delivering requested glasses of water. Oh—I almost forgot to mention that Now that Brightline makes it easy, we no longer have the food was delicious! the excuse that traveling to Miami is too difficult—it’s now a destination we can all enjoy. The atmosphere was quite festive—free food, flowing wine, and a place to hang with our neighbors. What could be better than that? July/August 2018 RiverWalk Talk Page 33

Centanni Café at RiverWalk pre-opening photos. [Photos taken by Nancy O'Keefe.] July/August 2018 RiverWalk Talk Page 34 July/August 2018 RiverWalk Talk Page 35 So Long, Annette—We Hate to Say Goodbye! By Fran Shay

untouched! We have aqua aerobics attendees of all ages Since the community’s and fitness levels, and Annette ensures that we each inception, a great many work out at the intensity of our individual level. Thanks residents have enjoyed to Annette, we have some very fit women in their 90s RiverWalk’s aqua aerobics here in RiverWalk who have been coming to class fairly program and the various consistently! instructors we had in the earliest years. But we are now Annette Lanzi Annette is also unique in that, when necessary, bidding a sad farewell to our she focused on those of us who needed to strengthen longest-running instructor, specific body parts to prepare for, or to recover from, Annette Lanzi, who has taught the classes for the past all kinds of surgery, including knee, hip, and shoulder. almost-dozen years. I am grateful that I have been able She would make the whole class work on those to enjoy Annette’s classes for the last four and a half specific muscle groups as well, so we all shared in our years, and I am now going to let you all in on why her classmates’ preparation and recovery from surgery. She classes have been so popular. would keep an eye on students with special needs, let them know how to modify the exercises, and remind But first, who is Annette Lanzi? As I understand it, them during class that they need to perform their Annette, a resident in RiverWalk, was participating in modifications. Thanks to Annette, typically, the recovery the aqua aerobics program offered to us over a dozen time after her students’ surgeries would be quick, and years ago. She eventually became certified to become she would get the recovering students back on track in an aqua aerobics instructor through WaterART Fitness no time. International, a Canadian-based program, which concentrates on strength-training, as opposed to most I wrote this tribute to Annette because I cannot let aqua aerobics programs, which concentrate in cardio this era of her aqua aerobics classes here at RiverWalk fitness only. She became RiverWalk’s aqua aerobics conclude without a loud, harmonious chorus of “badda instructor, leading daily weekday morning classes, bing, badda boom” from her students (who all know and then, beginning last year, also teaching the twice- what I’m talking about!). I know they join me when I say weekly evening classes during Daylight Savings Time. that we all love her, we thank her for all her hard work for us these past dozen years, and we wish her and her I am sure all her students agree with me that beloved husband well in their retirement years. Annette’s leaving us marks an end of an era when we assumed that good things will last forever, and it forces us to realize how grateful we should be when we have a gold mine in our midst, and are benefitting from the golden glow. Let me explain. Through her classes that are filled with fun and music, Annette has helped all her students gain cardio fitness, balance, and strength in all our muscle groups. She taught us how to use flotation belts, water buoys, pool noodles, balls, exercise ropes, and even Frisbees, to keep us moving and working out hard, and insisted that we use proper form to avoid injuries. Annette made sure we knew the names of all our muscle groups and which ones we were working on for each exercise. In fact, she also had us work our brains through coordination and memory exercises. No part of the body was left July/August 2018 RiverWalk Talk Page 36

Where, Oh Where, Has Our Poor Piano Gone? By Patricia Bird

I’m sad, for I believe I know the answer to that question. The piano has gone to Goodwill.

Let me give you some background on the RiverWalk piano. For several years, RiverWalk had a drama group called the RiverWalk Players. A large group of residents performed plays under the direction of Betty Handel. I know; I wrote the plays. We had a wonderful time doing it, and we generally played to packed houses. We charged a minimal fee for tickets so that we could buy whatever props we needed for the productions. We even did a performance at Baywinds. Replacement for RiverWalk Yamaha Piano and three straight backed chairs. [Photo Elaine Confino.] After several years, the group dispersed. We just were tired. According to an article in the September Dr. Sharon wrote that he had approached 2008 RiverWalk Talk, the group ended with $3,488.55 Management to inquire if Management would like in its bank account. The money was donated to to schedule some concert programs. He explained RiverWalk for the purchase of a piano. What the Players he could bring in some exceptional opera singers, donated wasn’t enough for a quality instrument, so cabaret singers, outstanding instrumentalists, and even resident concert pianist, Dr. Robert Sharon, donated choral organizations, but he never heard back. Surely, an additional $1,400 and his knowledge for choosing we have residents who are interested in more varied a piano of good quality. Perhaps some others of our entertainment. residents also contributed. I was told that people who came into the Office were The piano fit perfectly in a little corner of the asked whether they wanted to buy the piano. I’m in the RiverWalk office. Maybe you noticed it sitting there, office often, and I was never asked. Had I been asked, ready to provide entertainment for the residents. I would have told the history of the piano, that it was a gift to RiverWalk and important to some residents. When I went to the Town Center on May 22nd, Betty Maybe it would not have been donated. Handel told me that the piano had been donated to charity. I thought she was joking, and that it was a bad If Management wanted to dispose of the piano and joke. I wasn’t even completely sure that she was not the cover that Dr. Sharon had made for it, I would have joking until I went into the office and saw for myself that liked to have seen this RiverWalk asset either sold or the piano indeed was gone. auctioned off to a RiverWalk resident, perhaps through advertising in the RiverWalk Talk, or bulletin boards Why was the piano donated? The best answers I in the Town Center and in the Post Office, or Allen got to that question were that the piano never was Hunter’s weekly emails. The RiverWalk buyer, or highest used and no one wanted it. I heard that the piano bidder, would have been thrilled with his find. However, was obsolete, not tuned, and that entertainers would without fanfare, the piano was removed and replaced rather use an electronic keyboard. That brings up more by the two chairs in the photo on this page. questions. Why wasn’t the piano used? In earlier times at RiverWalk, we used to have fashion shows, talent shows, and other entertainment. We could have had sing- alongs. There are many ways in which the piano could Piano: Continued on the next page have been used for the benefit of our homeowners. July/August 2018 RiverWalk Talk Page 37

Piano: Continued from the previous page Trivia for July and August

I asked some residents most involved with the piano 1. From what part of the clove tree do we get cloves? for their comments on this issue: 2. What is the name of the theme song from M.A.S.H.? Dr. Robert Sharon, the largest single contributor: “I 3. Because of the requirement of pumping blood had brought my touring chorus from Wellington High to the brain, which animal has the highest blood School into the community for some concerts in the pressure? Town Center several times and had to use an electronic 4. What is the most powerful Chess piece in terms of piano, as there was no piano available. When we finally movement? purchased the upright, I brought in the chorus and some professional opera singers for concert programs, 5. How many people signed the Declaration of and even gave some solo performances of my own. Independence? We had a wonderful response from the RiverWalk 6. Which country and its territories cover the most community. People still stop me in the mail room time zones? Which countries are tied for second? and other areas of RiverWalk and fondly talk of those concerts.” 7. When adjusted for inflation, which is the highest grossing film of all time? Marcia De Fren, former editor of the RiverWalk Talk: 8. What is a group of owls called? “I think every community that is as large as ours should have a piano at the ready. One never knows when there 9. Are dolphins fish or mammals? will be a need. A piano is a cultural asset.” 10. What is the only food that doesn’t spoil? 11. In Antiquity and Middle Ages, how many liberal arts Betty Handel, director of the RiverWalk Players: “The were there? Office and the Board of Directors should have known who donated the piano to the community and, sadly, none of us were approached before discarding it.” Answers

Some in the community think that discarding the

piano is no big deal. To those of us who were proud to Astronomy. and Music

Grammar; Rhetoric; Logic; Arithmetic; Geometry; Geometry; Arithmetic; Logic; Rhetoric; Grammar; contribute their work and money to the purchase of the 11.

piano, it is a very big deal. Honey. 10.

Mammals.

Perhaps RiverWalk should have a policy on how to 9.

A parliament. A dispose of perfectly usable property that the HOA no 8.

longer wants. If anyone wishes to make a donation to

Gone with the Wind. the with Gone

the HOA, they may wish to have some strings attached 7.

about its disposal when the HOA no longer wants it. 11. with

France with 12 time zones. United States and Russia Russia and States United zones. time 12 with France Now I’m off to play my piano. After forty-some years, it is 6.

still valued. 56. 5.

The Queen. The 4.

Giraffe. 3.

“Suicide is Painless.” is “Suicide 2.

Flower buds. Flower 1. July/August 2018 RiverWalk Talk Page 38 RiverWalk Clubs ‘n Classes [Ed. Note: Each month we will summarize the learning and participation opportunities here in RiverWalk . All clubs & classes meet in Town Center except as noted. Club contact people may notify the Activities Editor, Fran Shay, [email protected], by the 15th of the month prior to publication with new information.]

Aqua Aerobics (Morning and Evening Classes): 6668 or Barry Beeber at 561-712-0141. Volunteers At the time of publication deadline, we are arranging are ALWAYS needed. CERT officers meet the fourth for the continuation of aqua aerobics classes. Please Monday of odd months at 7:30 pm (downstairs check with Comcast Channel 63, the Post Office at the Town Center), and general membership and Town Center bulletin boards, and Remind for meetings are the fourth Monday of even months updated information. See Remind information below. (upstairs at the Town Center), except for December. A waiver must be signed before joining the class. COP (Citizens Observer Patrol): Meets Bocce (Men’s): Contact Al Formichella at 561- the third Monday of each month at 7:00 pm 697-9807 to play bocce or join Team RiverWalk. downstairs at the Town Center (except July and Bocce (Women’s): Women’s Bocce is on suspension September). New volunteers ALWAYS needed during the hot summer months, and will resume and welcomed. Contact Buz Wyman at 401- sometime in October. When it resumes, we welcome 316-9924 or Peter Lundquist at 561-603-8459. all women to play. Experience or knowledge of Crafters and Knitters: Are you feeling creative? game rules is not required. It’s a fun and easy Join them Tuesdays at 10:00 am downstairs at the Town “learn as you play” game. If you are interested, just Center. Contact Dolores Castilonia at 561-478-8293. show up at the bocce court on Saturday mornings at 9:00 am. The games last about an hour and a Duplicate Bridge: Meets at 7:00 pm promptly half, and are a great way to start your weekend. each Thursday evening downstairs at the Town Center. All players, intermediate to advanced, are welcome. Book and Film Club: Book and film discussion Cost: $1. If you need more information or if you need meetings are held the second Thursday of each month a partner, contact Marilyn Glasser at 561-681-9228. downstairs at the Town Center. During the summer months we show and discuss films, beginning at 12:30 Golf (Ladies): Ladies who are interested in pm. The film for the July 12th meeting is Our Souls at social golf Thursday mornings, please call Annette Night (2017), and the film for the August 9th meeting Caccamise at 561-683-0829 for more information. is For the Love of Amy (2009). Bring your own snacks Golf (Men’s League): Golfers play every Wednesday and beverages. Contact: Fran Shay at 561-685-2354. at 7:45 am at Okeeheelee Golf Course. Teams and Bowling League: The Summer League is in handicaps are assigned. After golf, most members stay progress. Meets every Tuesday at 9:30 am, all for lunch and enjoy the Nineteenth Hole. If you are year round, at Verdes Tropicana Lanes on Florida interested or would like more information, contact Andy Mango Road off Belvedere Road (near PBI Airport). Braica at 561-478-9480 or Bob Adams at 561-712-1458. The Summer cost: $10/per week. Contact Walter Grief and Loss: If someone is in need, please contact Carney at 561-644-1005. Everyone is welcome! LeAnna Collier at 561-684-6563 for a private discussion. Bunco: A dice game that is easy to learn and Italian/Americans and Friends Club (IAFC): lots of fun! Both games are held downstairs at the The Club is on summer hiatus, and the first Town Center the 3rd Wednesday of each month meeting of the season will be on September 11th. from 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm, and the 4th Friday of each Karate: Meets Wednesdays from 6:00 month from 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm. Contact: LeAnna pm - 8:30 pm, upstairs at the Town Center. Collier at 561-684-6563 to join either game. A waiver must be signed before joining the CERT (Community Emergency Response Team): class. Contact: Joel Cohen at 561-712-0554. For information, contact Len Fintzy at 561-686-

Clubs 'n Classes: Continued on the next page July/August 2018 RiverWalk Talk Page 39

Clubs 'n Classes: Continued from previous page

Line Dancing: Are you looking for something fun Tennis: Tennis Mixed Doubles are at the Village to do? Are you tired of the treadmill? Then this is the Tennis Center every Tuesday and Thursday at 7:00 class for you. Have fun while exercising your body and pm and every Sunday at 8:30 am-10:00 am. It is free brain. We dance to country, oldies, and contemporary and all levels can register today. Also, there is a Hitting music. No partner is needed. The dances are taught Frenzy at the Village Tennis Center every Saturday before the music is played and steps are called out at 10:00 am. All levels are welcome. The cost for during the dance. Classes are held on Wednesdays at the Hitting Frenzy is $15/$12 with a series. If you are 10:00 am upstairs at the Town Center. Sunday line dance interested in the Tennis Mixed Doubles and Hitting classes have been postponed until further notice. A Frenzy call 561-689-6465 or email O, what a tangled waiver must be signed before joining the class. $5/class. web we weave when first we practise to deceive! [email protected], or visit usptaplayer.com. Pilates: Pilates classes are held every Tuesday and Thursday at 9:30 am and every Saturday at 10:15 am upstairs at the Town Center. This class uses Walking Group: Join other RiverWalk residents Remind for last-minute cancellations and other for a walk around RiverWalk. The group meets updates, and sometimes to determine if a sufficient 7 days a week at 6:20 pm near the stop sign by number of students plan to attend an upcoming the Tennis Courts. Everyone is welcome. If you class. See Remind information below. A waiver need more information, contact the HOA Office. must be signed before joining the class. $5/class. Yoga: Multi-level yoga classes are held upstairs Ping Pong: Meets upstairs in the Town Center at the Town Center Tuesday evenings at 6:30 pm for Monday evenings from 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm (Monday a gentle/candlelight class, and Saturday mornings evening ping pong will not meet on the fourth Monday at 9:00 am for a more active class. Chair yoga is of even months, except for December), and Thursday held on Thursdays at 10:45 am. These classes use evenings from 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm (upstairs). Bring Remind for last-minute cancellations and other your own paddle. If you are interested in attending, updates, and sometimes to determine if a sufficient please contact Richard Zuccaro at 561-683-2516. number of students plan to attend an upcoming class. See Remind information below. A waiver must Singles Mingle: Please look for monthly be signed before attending any yoga class. $5/class. events on the bulletin boards, your email, and Channel 63. For more information, Remind App/Website Information contact LeAnna Collier at 561-684-6563. Prospective and current students of the listed Social/Activities Committee: The Social/Activities classes below: Please download the “Remind: School Committee meets on the first Wednesday of every Communication” (white cloud in a blue sky background month at 3:30 pm in the Conference Room to plan social icon) app on a smartphone and/or tablet, or visit www. functions, excursions and fun events. Please contact remind.com on a computer to join the following classes the HOA Office at 561-697-7712 if you are interested in using the respective class codes below. You will be helping decorate, set up and/or clean-up for events. notified of class cancellations and, for some classes, Stone Sculpting: Stone Sculpting classes are full, but you may receive requests for intentions to attend if interested or would like to see what is being done, you class to ensure an adequate number of students. Call are more than welcome to visit the LakeView Room at Fran Shay at 685-2354 if you need help using Remind. the Town Center every Wednesday at 9:30 am. Contact Joan Porter at 561-616-9020 for more information.

Clubs 'N Classes: Continued on page 46 July/August 2018 RiverWalk Talk Page 40 July/August 2018 RiverWalk Talk Page 41 July/August 2018 RiverWalk Talk Page 42

RiverWalk Crafters and Knitters (And So Much More!) By Fran Shay

I visited one of the sessions of our RiverWalk Crafters Emily Berrios-Cruz, a quilter, and Knitters Club and was amazed by what I walked is so interested in many varieties into that Tuesday morning. During this off-season of crafts, that she scours YouTube visit, I met with four warm, welcoming women who videos to learn how to create were each working on their individual projects. It was all types of folk art, particularly apparent that along with moving forward on their craft those that are Japanese-inspired. projects and learning new techniques, they also found She then teaches other group friendship and support at this weekly gathering of like- members how to make them. Most Emily Berrios-Cruz minded crafters. I was impressed by the colorful, labeled impressive of all were the paper display of a collection of previously-created items. This Kokeshi dolls, the Temari thread attractive exhibit was prepared for my visit to help me balls, the Sashiko embroidery, the rolled paper bowls, understand the scope and variety of their creations, and the quilted fabric Christmas ornaments, among her to share photos of them with you, our RiverWalk Talk jewelry and embroidery, all exhibited on the display readers. table. Now let’s meet some of these Odile is a Canadian snowbird creative women. At the time who knits, crochets, spins wool, and of my visit, Dolores Castilonia weaves yarn into fabric. She also was quilting a table runner in makes apple puff pastry desserts. a cathedral pattern. Although She is a member of crafting guild she also knits, embroiders and in Canada. She teaches and does demonstrations at fairs up there. crochets, Dolores’s favorites Odile Cukier Dolores Castilonia are quilting and paper crafts, including creative greeting cards, The members of the Crafters and Knitters will warmly some which were exhibited on the display table. welcome anyone who enjoys creating and working on folk art projects to join them downstairs at the Town Judi Rosenberg was crocheting, Center every Tuesday from 10:00 a.m. to noon. There’s and typically makes hats and afghans no commitment to attend each and every week—just for family members out west. She bring your materials and your project. You’ll be sharing functions as the informal Club tips and techniques, you’ll learn how to create beautiful Photographer, and showed me many crafts of kinds that you may never have heard of, and cell phone photos of completed you’ll enjoy meeting and chatting with like-minded pieces. people as your nimble fingers create beautiful items for Judi Rosenberg you, your family, and your friends to enjoy! Interested? Call Dolores Castilonia at (561) 478-8293. Carolyn Lowe was embroidering during my visit, and she had also made a beautiful quilt and pillow that were displayed on the table. Any Club 'n Class spokesperson One of their snowbird members, who wishes to have his or her group Odile Cukier, whom I did not have featured in the RiverWalk Talk, an opportunity to meet, often brings please contact our Activities Editor, a spinning wheel with her to their Fran Shay: Carolyn Lowe sessions, and spins her own alpaca yarn for her knitted creations! [email protected] July/August 2018 RiverWalk Talk Page 43

Crafts Bring Color to Our Lives!

Clockwise from top left: Paper bowls, Kokeshi paper doll bookmarks, Dolls by Odile Cukier, Three tables of assorted crafts, English paper piecing for quilt by Emily Berrios-Cruz. [Photos by Judi Rosenberg and Fran Shay.] July/August 2018 RiverWalk Talk Page 44 July/August 2018 RiverWalk Talk Page 45

TENNIS – Rain, Rain Go Away! The semi-annual resurfacing of the courts has been completed, and hence my semi-annual request that Can you believe all the rain we’ve had lately? The all players please use proper shoes. It goes a long way morning play is largely unaffected, yet the afternoon toward making the surface even and smooth if you rains are coming at 1:00 - 2:00 pm instead of the don’t use thickly treaded running shoes … or what we traditional 4:00 pm +. Many tennis players are finding used to call “waffle shoes.” I saw some people playing in a gap in the deluge by checking their weather apps ... their bare feet and, while this won’t damage the court, the timing of a dry court now requires the intensity of there’s a real danger of slicing your foot open on a nail timing a great shot up the line! head used to hold down the line tapes. Other players will appreciate your effort to keep the courts up to the As the deluge continues, and I write this on June 15th highest standards by doing the “little things” like closing for the July/August newsletter, I find myself straining to the court doors and turning off the court lights to save stay positive. The best way to do this is to create a pro energy. Feel free to contact me with any questions and con list. Pros: The plants are tall and green, the lakes about our program, to buy/rent a racquet, buy/rent are beautiful, I have more time to do cross-training in shoes or use the ball machine. It belongs to you so, start the gym … the rain cools me down during an ill-timed using it! See you on the courts. bike ride, and I have more time to read. Cons: I CAN’T PLAY TENNIS! Steve Bucar Director of Tennis If you’re in my email/Google group, you may have 561 689 6465 received notice of the mudslide competitions we’ve had [email protected] in lieu of tennis: Sonny Sabinsky has won best form for his “Superman” technique inspired by what I can only Tennis Tip: Rinse off Your Shoes assume is his participation in Hot Yoga classes … while Ivan Horowitz hydroplaned for the distance award. Just This is a strange tip because it is “post play.” Rinsing kidding! … but on rainy days, you have time to dream! your feet off is a big deal since our clay courts are designed to protect your body by allowing your foot to Because of all the rain, I’ve shifted my summer slide. This is why people prefer them over hard courts. juniors to 9:00 - 11:00 am for advanced (ages 8+), The problem with clay is that as you play, it becomes and 10:00 - 11:00 am for Peewees (ages 4-7), Monday embedded in your shoe tread and, once you leave the through Friday, until schools starts. To register, see my court, it becomes a “time release formula.” It gradually contact information listed below. crumbles out of the tread as it dries, and it WILL get in your car, your home, the gym, Centanni Café, the By the time this article goes to press we should have pro shop, the restrooms … everywhere! Even a good a NEW website for the Tennis Center. The site address rinsing is no guarantee, and most seasoned players will is: RiverWalk.tenniscores.com. It should be functional take off their shoes and leave them in the garage or by July 1st. It’s amazing how hard it was to get everyone patio before they enter the house. We have four devices to try our first website years ago … and now we can’t to get the clay out: the HOSE with spray handle, the seem to live without it! Of course, we‘ve tried many “DUCK BATH” tray of water, the SCRUB BRUSH mounted sites: usptaplayer.com, getcourtside.com, setteo.com, on the ground and, finally the “TREADBLASTER,” a tennisclub.com. Aaah ... progress! Tenniscores.com is an machine that shoots multiple water jets as you roll improved version of one of our former host sites, which your foot over it. Take the time to use one of these (I actually remains to be seen when it becomes active recommend the hand-held hose … I’m old fashioned). on or about July 1st. If you are new to the community Imagine Mom, Grandma … someone you love … or would just like to receive some news about clinics, pushing a vacuum to clean up after you. Imagine your events, and weather reports, etc., email me at the loved one showing you some tough love and making address below to be placed on my Google Group for the YOU push a vacuum! Cleaning your shoes will keep the Village Tennis Center. peace in the family and therefore, this is the best Tennis Tip I’ve ever written! See you on the courts and at the foot bath! July/August 2018 RiverWalk Talk Page 46

A Short Trip: Continued from page 7 chose not to visit as we preferred to stop at the Beringer tiny villages where it is possible to eat huge portions of Winery with its Loire-style chateau. There we had a fresh oysters for very little money. really fantastic experience with a gentleman who was Goodbye Sonoma, arrivederci! It was great presenting us wines for tasting. When he realized that discovering you and your people. We will certainly want we were not totally new to wines, he offered one of to come again. their best reds, but we found in it a little defect that he probably knew was there. We discussed the possibilities, and we suggested that it was likely due to the fact that Clubs 'N Classes: Continued from page 39 wine was aged in barrels that were much too young. He was honest and, looking through its papers, he Aqua Aerobics (name: R/W Aqua Aerobics) Class discovered that 83% of the barrels were new, which Code: aquaa. explains the taste of the tannin in that excellent wine. Pilates (name: RW Pilates) Class Code: rwpilat. For this reason, he opened for us a bottle of special Yoga/Tues. Evening (name: RiverWalk Candlelight reserve, the price of which, just for tasting, was $45 Yoga) Class Code: rvwcan. each. We paid $27 for all! Yoga/Thurs. Morning Chair Yoga (name: RiverWalk Chair Yoga) Class Code: rvwcha. We skipped a visit to the Robert Mondavi and Mumm Yoga/Sat. Morning (name: RiverWalk Yoga) Class Napa wineries, which were too crowded with tourists, Code: RiverWalky. and we went back, stopping at the Trinchero Winery. The location and the building is something you must While classes are in session, please refrain from using see—wines a little less! However, as the owners are also the rooms until the classes are finished. Thank you. Italians, once they discovered where we were coming from, they absolutely wanted us to taste their Vin Santo (Holy Vine). After the discussion over types of grapes used to make Vin Santo in Tuscany (they are using a different grape from France that makes sweet wines), and how long we keep drying grapes before crushing, we arrived at the conclusion that their Vin Santo was excellent as a sweet wine to say Mass. But it has almost nothing to do with our real Vin Santo that requires years of aging in the attic, in small barrels under the roof, sensing cold in winter and hot in summer to allow the wine to become more and more dry. Finally, for that day, we stopped at Stonestreet Winery in Alexander Valley. This valley is terrific, and we strongly suggest you visit it, and they were so kind to us in the winery. It was a real surprise finding hundreds of lilies growing there like near Florence, and huge terracotta bowls made in Petroio, near Siena in Tuscany. The last day, we wanted to see the ocean that bathes the Sonoma shores. It was exciting and fantastic: rocks and beaches for miles, a narrow winding road that runs along the coast bordered by huge eucalyptus, which eventually reaches San Francisco after crossing several

AT RIVERWALK NOW OPEN HOUR S: Tuesday Thru Sunday 11am -9pm (561) 815-5060

WANT TO STAY HOME? The Family Meals are a Great Choice