December 2013
Serving Hypoluxo Island, South Palm Beach, Manalapan, Ocean Ridge, Briny Breezes, Gulf Stream and Coastal Delray Beach
Volume 6 Issue 12
Bridging the gap
Revelers gathered along the new Lantana Bridge to celebrate its Nov. 16 opening. The event included a ‘First ______ Over the Bridge’ parade, followed by a party in Bicentennial Park and capped off with fireworks. • More photos and details about the parade, Page 18 • How Ocean Avenue merchants fared during the bridge’s closing, Pages AT1-2 Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
Along the Coast
Delray Beach
Love in a bottle In on the tide, a timely message of hope
Tim Paller stands with the wine bottle that carried a message sent by Russian newlyweds in Cuba. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
E
By Ron Hayes
arly on the morning of his mother’s death, Tim Paller went for a walk on the beach. “I was just watching the sunrise, seeing what had washed up overnight,” he remembers. “I was almost exactly in front of the Gulf Stream Golf Club, just about to leave, when I looked down and there it was in the weeds.” A green wine bottle. “I could see the message immediately, so the first thing I did was take a picture on my smartphone.” This was Thursday, Oct. 31. Halloween. The label was all but washed away, the message neatly folded, the neck plugged with a cork. The time-stamp on the picture says 7:10 a.m. Paller was not unfamiliar with messages in bottles. A year before, on Aug. 12, 2012, while walking that same stretch of beach, he’d happened on another message in a bottle, set adrift by The bottle before it made a Danish family on a passing sailboat. Paller tossed the new bottle unopened its journey by sea from in his Ford van and drove off, intending Cuba. Courtesy photo to read the message later. And then, shortly after 8:30 a.m., the smartphone rang. His twin sister, Joan Lorne, was calling, and Paller forgot all about See BOTTLE on page 9
Appeals force Crossing vote by City Commission By Tim Pallesen City commissioners will review Atlantic Crossing, the $200 million proposed centerpiece for East Atlantic Avenue, one last time on Jan. 7 after residents filed appeals. The developer thought the controversial project had cleared the final hurdle Nov. 20 when the city’s Site Plan Review and Appearance Board approved the project site plan by a 5-1 vote. But because the project is designed without the need for any waivers from city guidelines, a vote by city commissioners to approve the site plan and design hadn’t been necessary until the appeals. Those who had filed appeal letters by Dec. 3 are Kelly and Jack Barrette, Arlen Dominek, Benita and Jordan Goldstein, Mary Whittemore and Carolyn Patton, who also represented Marina Historic District residents Charles Dortch, Alexander Zeller, Noel Smith and Claudia Willis. The filing deadline is Dec. 6. Several of those residents have paid for a private traffic study See CROSSING on page 14
Inside Holid Gift Guaidye 2013
Elena Ustinova and her husband, Kirill, stand on a boat near Varadero, Cuba, where he dropped the bottle in the Gulf of Mexico. Courtesy photo
Holiday Gift Guide
Sea stars shine in this year’s fifth anniversary guide to fun finds along the shore. Special Section