THE HAMMOCK
Observer YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
VOLUME 1, NO. 13
NEW HOOPS COACH PAGE 10B
FREE ON NEWSSTANDS | THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2025
Something you’d never expect to wash on shore Palm Coast volunteer finds mini casket with white Navy caps on the beach north of Marineland PAGE 6A
Flagler Sheriff calls for unity at Kirk memorial Hundreds gathered at courthouse 3A
LORI FUND EVENT IS A BIG HIT Founder Frank Petruno said he believes the nonprofit has hit $1.5 million in total donations in the past five years. SIERRA WILLIAMS STAFF WRITER
INSIDE THAT’S THE SPIRIT Flagler Beachfront Winery expands with new Old A1A Distillery PAGE 9A
BOARD DISCORD?
School Board member Chong’s policy revision request ‘fuels discord,’ Ruddy says PAGE 5A
PLANT TO CLOSE
Brunswick Corp. closing Flagler County’s Boston Whaler plant PAGE 8A
The Lori Fund’s sixth annual benefit fundraiser for military families and charities was an “overwhelming success,” founder Frank Petruno said. The benefit concert was held on Sept. 20 at the Daytona State College Amphitheater in Palm Coast. Petruno said he doesn’t have the final numbers yet, but estimates the concert raised north of $125,000 by itself. The concert sold 540 tickets, he said. The Lori Fund will make its distributions in December, when a number of charities will receive donations. As in previous years, those will include some local charities, the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, the Travis Mills Foundation, Gratitude America
INDEX
Business..................... PAGE 8A Calendar..................... PAGE 2B Cops Corner................PAGE 2A Crossword.................. PAGE 2C Letters....................... PAGE 11A Public Notices............ PAGE 5C Sports......................... PAGE 6B Real Estate................. PAGE 4B
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Travis Mills, founder of the Travis Mills Foundation, at the Lori Fund fundraiser concert.
Local singer Ashley Estevez at the Lori Fund fundraiser concert.
and several others, Petruno said. The headliner performance was Cooper Alan, an upcoming country singer on tour, with an opening performance by local singer Ashley Estevez. The Lori Fund was founded to support military families after Petruno’s previous wife, Lori, died in 2019. The September concert was its sixth annual major fundraising event, which is now organized and run by Petruno and his wife, Marilee Petruno. In the past several years, the Lori Fund has raised around $1.3 million. Petruno said his goal this year was to hit the $1.5 million mark for donations made by the Lori Fund to military charities and families in just the five years the nonprofit has been operational. “I feel pretty confident we’ll be doing between $200,000 and $150,000 this year,” Petruno said. Petruno said he could not do the concert without his wife Marilee and the event sponsors, including headline sponsors Integrative Wealth Management and Mark and Terry Bonney, friends and family around the country and the community of Hammock Beach. “Without them, none of this is really possible,” he said. “The support is overwhelming. Words can’t
Cooper Alan, an upcoming country singer on tour, performs at the Lori Fund fundraiser concert. Photos courtesy of Frank Petruno
describe.” The concert also auctioned off a ride-along with Sheriff Rick Staly, which went for several thousand dollars, Petruno said. David Mills was the highest bidder, winning the ride-along with Staly. In an emailed statement sent to the Observer, Mills said he and his wife, Jennifer Mills, were pleased to support the Lori Fund. Mills, a former Air Force officer and fighter pilot, was a friend of Lori Petruno’s as well as Frank Petruno. The Lori Fund, he wrote, embodies the spirit of the uniform, “to never leave our wingman,” by standing by veterans, first responders and their families. “The charities the fund supports continue the fight for those who’ve already sacrificed so much,” Mills said in his statement. “Naturally, that’s a cause that’s easy to get behind.
“The charities the fund supports continue the fight for those who’ve already sacrificed so much. Naturally, that’s a cause that’s easy to get behind.” TRAVIS MILLS, founder of the Travis Mills Foundation