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The (Emily) Jewel in Parkland’s crown

“There is a castle on a cloud, I like to go there in my sleep,” sings 9-year-old Parkland resident, Emily Jewel Hoder, in her solo as Little Cosette in the national Broadway touring company of “Les Misérables (Les Miz).”

Standing 49.5-inches tall (the half inch is very important, as she must recite this for casting directors) and weighing in at 51 lbs., Hoder is already a triple threat. And like Shirley Temple before her – can sing, dance, act and charm an audience right out of their seats.

With a career that began at the age of 7 at the Wick Theatre in Boca Raton playing Molly in “Annie,” alongside Sally Struthers as Miss Hannigan and George Dvorsky as Daddy Warbucks, Hoder was on the Les Miz tour when the pandemic struck.

“I didn’t let it (the pandemic) stop me from doing what I love,” says Hoder. “Les Miz is the most amazing experience of my whole life.”

With the tour, Hoder traveled to six different cities in two-and-a-half months, including Springfield, MO,  Kalamazoo, MI, CIncinnati, OH, Sarasota, FL, Greenfield, SC and Durham, NC where the tour abruptly ended in mid-March.

Her dad, Eric Hoder, a chiropractor, flew out to attend each show.

Performing “Castle on a Cloud” alone on stage was the highlight for Hoder.

“I could see Patrick Dunn (Jean Valjean) and Preston Truman Boyd  (Inspector Javert) fighting through the curtain,” she says.  “That was the coolest part.”

As a performer, Hoder admires Dunn and says, “He’s a great singer and so cool and funny.”

Performing her solo on stage, Hoder denies feeling nervous and says, “I feel happy and in the moment.  I love to perform.  My favorite part is making eye contact and connecting with the audience.”

In 2018 Hoder took third-place and $100 at the Coral Springs Got Talent competition for her dance solo and won her first national title as the Believe National overall winner for her solo jazz-acro dance at the Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center.

Back in Parkland, Hoder has been using her free time during quarantine to network, dance, take classes at Performance Edge Two studio in Boca Raton and perform in three shows at the Wick Theatre.

Through social media, she connected with Tiler Peck, principal dancer of the New York CityBallet, and performed live on Peck’s  Instagram feed.

Hoder also has a role in director Brian Schmidt’s feature film, “Payton’s Caper,” and appeared in a music video for Israeli singer Gad Elbaz.

“We’re very proud of Emily,” says her mom, Caroline Hoder, a stay-at-home mom who became Emily’s production crew, IT person and helps her run her lines.

Despite having so much disappointment this year (the tour ended and Broadway closed) Emily continues to connect with people virtually,” says Caroline Hoder.

“I’m happy to support her dreams,” says Caroline Hoder, who was on a similar track as a child, performing at the Swap Shop Circus and with the Miami City Ballet.

“She keeps going and brings joy to others,” she says.  “We’re blessed to be able to be home with her and we make a good team.”

A former student at Riverglades Elementary, Hoder is now enrolled in Florida Virtual School and when she’s not rehearsing or taking classes loves to play with her 5-yr. old sister, Sunny, and her two cats, Buttercup and Oreo.

Her advice for other children pursuing similar dreams is “You have to be yourself because you are your biggest cheerleader.”

What are her post-pandemic plans?

Hoder plans to return to New York, says her mom.  She has her eye on the “Music Man” (for which she auditioned twice and danced for five consecutive hours, surviving all the cuts).

“Emily wants to inspire other kids to do what they love,” says Caroline Hoder.  “Even if they can’t act, dance or sing, they should follow their dreams.”

“I advise other parents to be aware of what your kids are interested in and nurture that,” she says.

Marilyn Wick, CEO of the Wick Theatre says, “Emily has performed many times at The Wick throughout the years, most recently in our Christmas show this past December.”

“Every time she is on stage, she delights the audience with her talent and innate charisma,” says Wick. “She is quite the performer and has been trained very well.”

“We are all expecting big things from this young lady,” Wick says.

 

To see Emily Jewel Hoder perform, visit Dancekidemily on YouTube and on Instagram: emilyjewel7.

Revised Feb 2nd, 2021 based on updates from the contributor

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Broward’s ‘Hidden Heroes’ honored

Women from Parkland and Coral Springs were among a dozen Broward County residents recently honored as “Hidden Heroes,” by the Community Foundation of Broward.

These “Broward Nonprofit Hidden Heroes” were selected for helping their organizations to continue to provide valuable services to their clients and the community during the pandemic.

Tina Cortez, of Coral Springs, was honored for her work as Director of the Wildlife Hospital at the Sawgrass Nature Center & Wildlife Hospital, which also is in Coral Springs.

“Tina’s dedication to the animals is evident by the exceptional wildlife care and rehabilitation she provides,” said Robin Reccasina, CEO of the wildlife hospital.

“Tina designed a contactless drop off for the public to drop off injured animals at our gate and responded to every drop off herself. Having no volunteers, she quickly cross-trained other staff to assist in animal care. She transferred many of the animals that were most critical to her home so she could give them 24-hour care.”

Samantha “Sam” Kelly, of Parkland, was honored for her work as Vice President of Rehabilitation Programs at Lighthouse of Broward for the Blind & Visually Impaired in Fort Lauderdale.

“Sam provided vision and leadership,” said Ellyn Drotzer, CEO of Lighthouse. “We knew we had to pivot to an online platform, but our clients’ fundamental lack of sight made this seem almost impossible. Sam led the creative plan to provide uninterrupted rehabilitative services. We closed the building on Friday and by Monday, all of our programming was transformed into an electronic format and services were constructed using a web-based platform.”

Cortez and Kelly and their organizations are featured in a virtual awards presentation video via YouTube here:

 

Other Broward Nonprofit Hidden Heroes are:
–Timothy Curtin, Executive Director of
Community Services, Memorial Healthcare System, Hollywood

–Rebecca “Becky” Gould, STEM Center for Education and Career Development Manager, Museum of Discovery & Science, Fort Lauderdale

–Tammy Holder, Teaching Artist-in-Residence, Broward Performing Arts Foundation, Fort Lauderdale

–Xenia McFarling, Vice President of Rehabilitation Programs, LifeNet4Families, Fort Lauderdale

–Natasha McFarquhar, Emergency Basic Needs Navigator, Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition of Broward County, Lauderhill

–Alex Nesar, Director of Construction, Habitat for Humanity of Broward, Fort Lauderdale

–Belinda Paulicin, Director of Program Services, Gilda’s Club of South Florida, Fort Lauderdale

–Sandra Powell, Regional Laboratory Manager, Broward Health, Fort Lauderdale

–Patricia “Pejay” Ryan, Director of Marketing, Broward Education Foundation, Fort Lauderdale

–Elise Samet, Volunteer Program Manager, Canine Assisted Therapy, Oakland Park

Each of the winners received a $500 award and a prize package that included a 2-night staycation at the Bahia Mar Fort Lauderdale Beach Hotel and gift certificates from multiple restaurants. In addition, each of their nonprofit organizations received a monetary award of up to $25,000. For more information, visit www.cfbroward.link/HiddenHeroes.

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Ultrasound new path to great facials

Electric toothbrushes use motors to move the bristles rapidly usually between a few thousand times a minute to approximately 10,000 to 12,000 times per minute ( 1 Hertz (Hz) is 1 movement or cycle per second). This high frequency works well for dentists as it is anti-bacterial and helps remove plaque. For cleaning your face, however, that’s too high. You’re looking for a gentle pressure cleaning that still has anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. Machines, like Aesthetic Science’s Epiwave® UltraSonic Machine, that use lower ultrasonic frequencies (20kHz and up) attain the cleansing and exfoliation that also prepares the skin for the facial treatment ahead.

Our skin is our largest organ. It has three general layers: the epidermis, the dermis, and the subcutaneous fat (or lipid) layer. Each of these layers breaks down into sublayers. Skincare is mostly focused on the epidermis which breaks down into five different sublayers. The top layer, the stratum corneum, is where the dead skin cells collect and need to be cleaned and exfoliated (removed).

Unfortunately for us in the Sunshine State, the sun is the biggest cause of skin damage. Premature aging, wrinkles, hyperpigmentation (dark spots and uneven skin tone), and skin cancer are all aggravated by prolonged sun exposure. What’s worse is that many skin treatments, when done too frequently to the skin, especially sensitive or sun-damaged skin, can add to the damage instead of merely leaving a clean slate. Microdermabrasion, peels, dermaplaning, and others all remove layers of the epidermis, which can be good when done in moderation.

Many facials are done by hand, however, some steps can be performed by machines. In the case of the Epiwave®, it is a three-step process that starts by gently deep pore cleaning and exfoliating without irritation using low-frequency ultrasound. The modality, or function, of the machine can then be switched to the infusion (or sonophoresis) step using the treatment and/ or serum so that any molecules that are too large and require a pathway through the lipid portions of the stratum corneum, can be transferred using ultrasonic frequencies. It is this low- frequency ultrasound (again just above 20 kHz) that enables dissolved gases in the lipid regions between skin cells to bubble up and start to move, creating pathways. This is how to get the antioxidants, nutrients, and hydrating products that do the most help to the cells where they are needed while doing the least, or no damage, to the upper layers. I call that a win- win. The third step heals the cells by using a low-level current in the Hz range to restore the natural electrical potential of the cell membrane. You finish off the facial the same as before, “sealing the deal” with moisturizer and sunscreen.

Everyone ages, and without proper protection, the more sun your face is exposed to, the more your skin ages. There are many machines and products available in salons and spas, and for home use, that can help protect against and slow down the aging process. Ultrasonic machines are just one, but they are effective and do not cause any additional damage. Ask your esthetician/skincare specialist about this technology and see how it works for yourself!

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Saving songbirds of prey

The incidence of illegal trapping and subsequent selling of migratory birds in South Florida is rampant. The two main targeted species are Indigo Buntings (Passerina cyanea) and Painted Buntings (Passerina ciris).

More common migratory birds also have been trapped, including cardinals, orioles and others.

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act prohibits, among other things, possessing or killing any migratory bird. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), together with the US Fish and Wildlife Service  (USFWS)regularly finds and appropriately cites those who choose to engage in this trade.

A few years ago, the FWC and USFWS broke up a large ring of trappers and dealers, leading to multiple arrests and thousands of dollars in penalties. Current data suggests the trappers are back.

The goal of this enforcement effort is to break up these rings and release the captive birds into their natural habitats to proliferate and continue the species.

The motive is obvious: Cash.

A good specimen of either bunting species can fetch up to $200, with the highest money paid for a nicely-feathered male Painted Bunting. Typically, a female of either species will earn $20.00-$45.00, including a cage.

The birds are openly sold in flea markets, gas stations and other high pedestrian traffic areas. A bird in a cage is a bird removed from the breeding pool in an already declining population. It is extremely difficult for the lay- person to successfully breed buntings and if viable eggs are hatched, the offspring are born into captivity to be sold or kept in the breeder’s “collection.”

Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers, notoriously understaffed, faced an enormous problem. Possessing a protected bird is only a misdemeanor and a sworn law enforcement officer must witness the possession to make an arrest. Officers cannot arrest a subject-based solely upon what a citizen reports.

Trappers can earn large amounts of cash for only a few hours work and if they find an area frequented by their prey, they likely will return.

If while enjoying your passion for bird watching you find a large congregation of buntings or other colorful birds, contact the FWC (888- 404-3922) so they can search the area and include the location on their “Areas to Watch” list.

If you happen to find a trap in the woods or brush, please call immediately and an officer will respond to begin surveillance.

A word of caution: Trappers know that what they are doing is wrong, so they are very suspicious. Hanging around the trap or making it obvious that you know the trap is present may scare the individual away and law enforcement may “lose” this area for a while. If you are able to see an individual with a trap in hand and you see his or her vehicle, attempt to get a license plate number and description of the individual.

Most birders carry binoculars and/or cameras. But remember, your safety is more important than any bird so absolutely do not confront the subject.

Enforcement agencies have found some common traits they use to find the traps.

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Preserving the once nearly extinct Florida panther

Bang! There’s a thud on the front of your car. You’ve hit something. You pull over, stop, and see that you’ve hit and killed a panther crossing the road.

It’s been happening about twice a month lately, enough to worry wildlife biologists because the Florida panther is an endangered animal.

Because we built roads and housing developments in panther habitat, humans and automobiles have become a serious threat to a panther’s life and safety. By mid-August, at least 15 panthers were killed by cars this year. One was hit by a train. In 2019, automobiles took the lives of 24 panthers.

It’s unlikely you’ll encounter a panther on suburban roads in Broward or Palm Beach counties. But drive west on Alligator Alley (Interstate 75) and you’re in panther territory, primarily in Southwest Florida, east of Naples, around Big Cypress National Preserve and Everglades National Park. Occasionally, Florida panthers have been spotted further north.

Despite the threat from automobiles, the panther population is growing. Back in the 1980s, state wildlife officials estimated there were fewer than 30 Florida panthers alive. Today, from 120 to 230 grown panthers are roaming Southwest Florida.

There were so few panthers many years ago because no one really cared much about protecting them.

Ashlee O’Connor, who speaks at schools and to community groups for the state wildlife conservation commission, says people hunted them without any limit. Then, in 1958, the state began protecting panthers, designating them endangered animals. The federal government followed in 1967.

Still, O’Connor says, we didn’t know much about the Florida panther in the 1980s. Since then, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) have been partners in various ways to protect and preserve the Florida panther, which is a subspecies of puma.

A number of extensive steps have been taken to protect panthers.

To prevent the cats from getting hit by cars on I-75, 60 wildlife
crossings and bridges were built under and over the highway where there’s fast-moving traffic. Fences along I-75 help prevent the panthers from crossing elsewhere. A panther wouldn’t have much of a chance if hit by a car traveling 70 mph.

Speed limits were reduced on rural roads in panther habitat. Road shoulders were widened in some places to give drivers a better view, and a chance to see a panther that’s about to cross the road. Rumble strips were installed where panthers often cross and slow the speed of cars considerably. Roadside “panther warning” signs were installed.

These days, wildlife experts are still learning more about panthers’ habits and range by tracking them from the air. Normally, they fly over panther habitat three times a week in airplanes equipped to pick up signals from a radio collar previously put on the cat after it had been captured.

A male panther will typically roam an area about 200 square miles. Female panthers, on the other hand, typically stay within an 80-square-mile area.

To study the health of the panthers, veterinarians need to examine a number of them each year and must capture them to do it. They use a trained dog to track the panther. Eventually, the cat climbs a tree. The team sets up a net and an inflated air cushion under the tree to catch the animal after it’s shot with a tranquilizer dart.

A veterinarian anesthetizes the animal and begins a complete examination. The vet inoculates the panther against diseases, takes a blood sample, de worms the panther if necessary, tattoos an I.D. number in its ear, inserts a microchip under the skin (just as it’s done with your dog or cat), and fits the panther with a radio collar for tracking.

One of the vaccinations is against feline leukemia that can be fatal to panthers and picked up from domestic cats.

In the wild, panthers survive by preying on a  variety of animals, including deer, calves, goats, and smaller animals like raccoons and rabbits.

Adult panthers are at the top of the food chain and have no natural predators. It’s a different story for the kittens, though.

They are prey for other animals and die for a number of reasons.

People sometimes ask if such an extensive effort to preserve a species of animal is worth it.  Ashlee O’Connor points to the panther’s place in the check and balance of the natural environment and considers the preservation of Florida panthers a kind of reparation for taking some of their habitat in the first place.

Whether what’s being done is enough cannot be certain. “Many factors play into the recovery of a species,” O’Connor says. “There’s a breeding population now. I think we’re on our way to a recovered population. We’re making progress, but we’re not there yet.”

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Breast cancer statistics on the rise — among men

It was a normal day for Mike Weatherly– that was until he noticed that an abnormally long hair on his chest needed trimming. It was on the areola that surrounds the nipple, and when he began to trim, he noticed a dark spot the size of a pencil eraser.

But, like most men, the Parkland resident procrastinated, thinking it was a pimple that would go away in time. But after a few weeks, it remained and that’s when he sought the counsel of a neighbor who happened to be an emergency room doctor.

“He didn’t like what he saw and told me I should get it biopsied,” said Weatherly.

“In October, the results came back as a positive grade 3 tumor and I was told I had breast cancer.”

If 100 breast cancers are diagnosed, only one will be found in a man. This year, however, it’s estimated that approximately 2,600 new cases will be diagnosed.

The 71-year-old former pilot for American Airlines, who has always been physically fit, had suddenly become a statistic. Yet, he never asked why me? “As humans, there’s a certain amount of vulnerability and things are going to happen,” he said.

“I also have rheumatoid arthritis, which is rare among men, so I’ve learned how to cope and never allowed myself to become depressed.”

When a tumor is sent to a lab for analysis, its grade is based on aggressiveness and invasiveness. Weatherly’s came back as grade 3, but luckily his cancer was localized and did not spread to surrounding lymph nodes.

If cancer cells had spread to the lymph node, they could have already traveled to the lymph system and spread to other parts of the body.

Weatherly’s cancerous tissue—and his nipple—were removed by a general surgeon on an outpatient basis, and now his ongoing care is in the hands of an oncologist.

“My treatment plan began in December and for the foreseeable future I’ll be seeing the specialist every six months,” he said. “I’ve been told it was a hormone- responsive tumor so in all likelihood I won’t require chemotherapy.”

Weatherly, a self-described “health nut” has been retired for 12 years. He was a track athlete at Southwest Missouri State College, and even into his late 30s participated in triathlons.

He continues to eat nutritional foods, works out on a stationary bike, and lifts weights at home. “Running track pushes a person to the limits, both physically and mentally,” he said. “I guess that’s where I learned the discipline about keeping the going into surgery, the better shape you’ll be in coming out and the quicker you’ll recover.”

Most male breast cancers are discovered in men over 50, where there is a history of breast cancer in the family, and the BRAC1 and BRAC2 (breast cancer susceptibility genes) are present.

Plus, if a man has had previous chest radiation therapy, he could be prone. Estrogen, which is used to treat prostate cancer, also increases the chances of male breast cancer. Injured testicles, liver disease, and obesity are also contributing to underlying factors.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one of the most common types of breast cancer in men is invasive ductal carcinoma. This is where cells grow outside the ducts into other parts of the breast tissue with the possibility of spreading to other parts of the body.

Men who inherit abnormal mutated genes are in a high-risk category, as the mutation may lead to either breast cancer or prostate cancer.

In Weatherly’s case, there was no family history of breast cancer or cancer in general. “I have to admit it was a shock and I never thought something like this would happen to me,” he said. “Thank goodness it was caught early enough.”

Since his cancerous tissue was removed, he’s undergone precautionary follow-ups, including a CT scan and PET scan.

“Most men are not diagnosed until it’s too late, so I was very lucky,” he said. “Just think, if that long hair hadn’t needed trimming, I may be telling you a much different story.”

As a fighter pilot on aircraft carriers in the Navy during the Vietnam era,
Weatherly learned how to deal with all kinds of situations, and his advice to men is to always be aware of any changes in their bodies.

“We tend to focus on heart attacks, strokes or whatever, and male breast cancer is an afterthought,” he said. “It’s only an afterthought until it happens to you.”

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Florida preserves college-level civics literacy requirements

Who’s second in the line of presidential succession? Speaker of the House, you say? Good job. You know your civics.

When President Reagan was shot in 1981, Secretary of State Alexander Haig said, “Constitutionally, gentlemen, you have the president, the vice president, and the secretary of state in that order…I am in control here.”

Haig later insisted he was talking about the executive branch, not the presidential line of succession. Speaker of the House, Tip O’Neill, was not amused.

Either way, Florida wants to make sure its citizens are civics literate. So if you didn’t know your civics in high school, you’re in luck, because civics literacy is a graduation requirement at all state colleges and universities. It has been since 2017.

Civics literacy means an understanding of history and how government works.

Earlier this year, Gov. Ron DeSantis wanted to amend the 2017 law, introducing “The Florida Civic Literacy Test,” which basically was just a version of the U.S. Immigration Services Naturalization Test.

It was a 100 multiple-choice test and you only had to get 60 right to pass, the equivalent of a “D” letter grade.

To be clear, there are 100 questions would-be citizens have to study, but the examiner randomly selects ten from the 100 and the test taker isn’t given multiple choices. They have to know the answers to six questions, in addition to passing reading, writing, and speaking tests.

The Florida Department of Education (FDE) withdrew the amendment it had proposed after parties petitioned against it at the end of May. The amendment would have added the test as one of several options by which Florida College System students could demonstrate civic literacy competency.

But a representative from the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA), one of the petitioners against the proposed rule change, said that the citizenship test is problematic. “The problem with the proposed rule was that it created a test that could be passed by scoring 60 percent on a memorization test instead of completing a university-level course or an existing assessment specifically designed to measure collegiate level learning,” said Jonathan Pidluzny, ACTA’s vice president of academic affairs.

An ACTA press release states that the proposed rule would have “seriously weakened” the 2017 law, which says educators must “establish course competencies and identify outcomes that include, at minimum, an understanding of the basic principles of American democracy and how they are applied in our republican form of government, an understanding of the United States Constitution, knowledge of the founding documents, and how they have shaped the nature and functions of our institutions of self-governance, and an understanding of landmark Supreme Court cases and their impact on law and society.”

The Parklander requested a copy of the multiple-choice test from the Florida Department of Education, but officials did not supply one.

Civics test

A recent survey of 41,000 Americans, conducted by the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, indicates less than four in ten Americans could pass a civics test. Some other notable facts from the survey: Those in Vermont had the highest passing rate (53 percent); the next four highest scoring states were Wyoming, South Dakota, Montana, and Virginia. Meanwhile, Louisiana had the lowest passing rate (27 percent), followed by Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, and Kentucky. Florida’s score was 29 percent. The questions below come from 100 used in the citizenship test.

Scroll below for correct answers

  1.  What is the supreme law of the land?
  2. When was the Constitution written?
  3. How many voting members are in the House of Representatives?
  4. What position is third in line of Presidential succession? (Hint, it’s still not Secretary of State.)
  5. Who is the current Chief Justice of the United States?
  6.  How many justices are on the Supreme Court?
  7. What territory did the United States buy from France in 1803?
  8. The Federalist Papers supported the passage of the U.S. Constitution. Name one of the writers.
  9. Name one right or freedom under the First Amendment.
  10.  Who was the president during World War I?

ANSWERS:

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FAU scholarships open for first-generation students

For Lake Worth resident and FAU junior, Jaireen Ruiz, 20, college at one time felt like a distant dream rather than an attainable goal.

A native of Puerto Rico, and a first-generation college student, Ruiz applied to FAU “without hesitation” and received the Kelly/Strul Emerging Scholars Program designed for first-generation students.

“I applied for this scholarship because I did not want to be defined by missed opportunities,” says Ruiz, who is majoring in elementary education. “I am proud of taking the initiative and being courageous in my pursuit of higher education and success.”

The Kelly/Strul Emerging Scholars Program offers academically talented, first-generation, low-income high school seniors the opportunity to attend and graduate from FAU, debt-free.

Selected students receive four-year financial aid packages for tuition, on- campus housing, books, a meal plan, and additional resources needed to complete their college degree.

Each scholar follows “The Path,” a 17-step program which includes wraparound services supporting successful collegiate careers and post graduate lives, including career planning, mentoring, financial literacy resume writing, and life planning skills.

The program was developed by Boca Raton philanthropists Aubrey and Sally Strul in conjunction with FAU President John Kelly and first lady Carolyn Kelly.

“FAU prides itself on making higher education accessible to underserved and underrepresented communities,” says Kelly. “The Kelly/Strul Emerging Scholars program is helping to eliminate inequity and provide students with the tools to turn their dreams into reality — and ensure that everyone succeeds.”

Since 2017, the program has graduated two scholars and grown to
currently include nearly 50 scholars.

As a former first-generation student, Aubrey Strul, a 72-yr. old industrialist, now living in Boca Raton, felt compelled to lessen the financial burden of school debt for students by providing an initial investment of $1 million to launch the program.

The son of immigrants from Lithuania whose parents met and married in South Africa, Strul was born in Johannesburg and was the first in his family to attend college where he studied accounting, finance, and mathematics.

He came to the United States in 1977 and says, “I was a quick learner and studied a lot,” but admits he valued his social life as well and says it made him a more well-rounded student.

“I am a firm believer that developing social skills is an important aspect of an education,” Struhl says, and it was this philosophy he carried over to running his businesses.

“My most valuable asset was our people,” he says. “I fostered an incredible, inclusive work culture. My philosophy was ‘always inclusion, never exclusion.’ If you build a team that cares, your organization will be successful. People are the most important asset of any company.”

Strul was motivated to create the scholarship program to level the playing the field for first-generation students and to help them address potential barriers, including financial barriers, to their academic success.

“To flourish as a country, we must provide equal and fair access to all students in the U.S.,” he says. “I understand the uphill battle these students face to earn their education.”

“The first step was to ensure our students could graduate debt-free,” Strul says. “The mountain of debt many students must incur to attend college unfairly impacts their success for many years.”

In addition, the scholarship package includes on-campus housing for all four years, as a way of offering students the full college experience, which Strul believes is instrumental to students’ social development.

Strul has created a five-point plan for success for his scholarship recipients:

Always do the right thing, no matter how difficult; character is everything; always try and help others; set realistic goals, then focus and achieve them; and NEVER give up.

For Ruiz, once she graduates in 2022, she hopes to make a difference in the lives of her future elementary school students, as her mentors have made a difference in her life.

What would she tell other first-generation students?

“It’s simple,” she says: “Don’t allow your setbacks and circumstances to define you. See yourself for the unbridled potential you possess. It can be intimidating, but surround yourself with people who support you in your path – you do not have to navigate this experience alone.”

“Enjoy the journey of attending college: it is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” she adds.

The application process for the Kelly/Strul Emerging Scholars Class of 2025 is now open.

For questions regarding the application, contact Keven Allen, Scholarship Director, at kallenjr@fau.edu. To learn more about the Kelly/Strul Emerging Scholars Program, visit kellystrulscholars.fau.edu.

For best consideration, applications should be submitted by Monday, February 1 but will be accepted through Monday, March 1.

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From dirt supply line to six lanes of bustle and business

Drivers regularly travel roadways like “telegraph road” or “post road” without giving the names a second thought. Yet, road names often have historical roots with interesting stories behind them. South Florida’s Military Trail is one with a history older than Florida’s statehood.

Today’s Military Trail is a 46-mile, north and south, commuter route running from Jupiter to Pompano Beach, teeming with modern development and prone to congestion. It’s a far cry from its origins as a trail blazed by Tennessee and Missouri military volunteers during the Second Seminole War (1835- 1842).

Well before Florida became a U.S. territory in 1821, the Seminole people were being driven out by settlers moving into their homeland. Conflicts naturally ensued, eventually leading to the three Seminole Wars between 1817 and 1858.

The second war erupted after the U.S. government tried to forcefully remove all Seminoles from Florida.

Seminoles were adept at guerrilla warfare and used their knowledge of the Everglades to their advantage. Outnumbered and outgunned, however, by 1842, according to britannica.com, “some 3,000 to 4,000 Seminoles had been resettled, and only a few hundred remained. The Armed Occupation Act of 1842 promoted white settlement in Florida and the Second Seminole War was declared over on August 14, 1842.”

Toward the beginning of the second conflict, President Andrew Jackson dispatched General Thomas Jesup to assume control of the Florida troops. The military began building a string of posts in South Florida, starting with Fort Dallas (today’s Miami) in 1836, then Fort Jupiter in 1838.

Jesup ordered 233 Tennessee volunteers to cut a supply trail from Fort Jupiter to the New River in what is now Broward County.

The group was led by Major William Lauderdale, a longtime colleague of Andrew Jackson and fellow Tennessean. Volunteers followed the dryer ground of a coastal pine ridge, cutting a 63-mile path through the hammocks to the river in just four days. There, they established the garrison eventually named Fort Lauderdale. That path, originally known as “Lauderdale’s Route,” was used for military transport during the next two decades of the Seminole conflict and eventually dubbed “Military Trail.”

After the Seminole wars ended, the trail continued to see foot traffic and passenger and freight movement via covered wagons. Eventually, the trail slipped into relative disuse, until Henry Flagler put his mark on Florida in the late 19th century.

Flagler’s East Coast Railway and the resort hotels he built along the coast put South Florida on the map. Soon, rampant land speculation took hold across South Florida, which included the area along Military Trail. By the early 20th century, moneyed Northerners were lured by sales-literature rife with praise for what was otherwise wilderness and swampland. They arrived first by train and eventually by automobile, all wanting their piece of Florida.

By the 1920s, coastal towns like Palm Beach and Lake Worth were blossoming. To handle the influx of people and their automobiles, better roads were needed. Along with new roads, improvements were made to existing routes like Military Trail. Some sections along Military Trail were paved as early as 1923. Other stretches were improved, often by hand, under Franklin Roosevelt’s WPA in the 1930s.

Yet, up to WWII, much of South Florida remained undeveloped and lengths of Military Trail still unimproved, mainly serving area farms and ranches. Rather than residents and vacationers, herds of roaming cattle filled the landscape.

Post-WWII, another real estate boom brought an even greater influx of arrivals than in the 1920s. Palm Beach became one of the fastest-growing metro areas in the country, with its population doubling in the 1950s. Military Trail grew into a transportation artery as Palm Beach and other coastal cities spread westward.

Amazingly, even into the 1960s, there were sections of Military Trail that were still two-lanes and even dirt roadway. Delray Beach, not much more than a sleepy retirement village in the 1960s, contained a dirt length of the road flanked by farmland.

In Boca Raton, Lynn University began life in 1962, astride a dirt stretch. As late as 1979, Military Trail in Boynton Beach remained a single-lane dirt path mainly used by area farms and ranches. Most everything west was still agricultural. In 1980, a shopping center with a Kmart being built west of Military Trail was hailed as a big deal. A small stretch of single-lane pavement designated as “Old Military Trail” still exists in Boynton Beach.

Military Trail experienced its own growing pains alongside South Florida’s exponential growth in the 1980s. Now often at six lanes, it’s hard to even envision the wilderness trail troops carved by hand nearly two centuries earlier. And, while shorter, today’s 46 miles still follow the path soldiers marched from Fort Jupiter to Fort Dallas and serves as a reminder of a somber chapter in Florida’s history.

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‘It takes a village’

“It takes a village” is an African proverb that means that an entire community of people must interact with children for them to experience and grow in a safe and healthy environment.

Many of us have commented in jest to our friends, “it takes a village” when trying to corral an unruly child at a birthday party or playdate. As we are having a difficult time, we lean on our friends to ease the burden.

This phrase is commonly spoken in the context of the parent’s point of view.

What about the child’s point of view?

Shouldn’t all children have the benefit of a village to experience life and grow in a safe and healthy environment?

What if the child does not grow up with parents, let alone an entire village? What if, instead of birthday parties and playdates, a child is forced to sleep on distant relatives’ couches, or worse, in a homeless shelter?

This is the life of many foster children, right in our back yard.

It is unfair and sad that so many children grow up bouncing around between group homes or private homes of “foster parents” because of their parental neglect, abuse, or drug use.

Not many people are willing to help even one foster child, let alone hundreds of foster children that need not only the essentials (shelter and food), but positivity, support, and guidance to become successful members of society.

In part, because of one woman’s time and dedication, foster children in Broward County have a village to call their own.

Jillian Smath is the CEO of SOS Children’s Villages, a residential foster care community in Coconut Creek. SOS has 15 buildings around a cul-de-sac – 13 foster homes, a community center, and an administrative office. The 13 homes foster approximately 60 children at any given time.

Jillian lives in Parkland with her husband, Lee, and daughters, Emily, 16 and Marlee, 14.

Before being promoted to CEO in 2015, Jillian started at SOS in 1997 as a case manager. Jillian learned about SOS while working for the Department of Children and Families (“DCF”).

While at DCF, Jillian remembers having a little girl on her caseload who was bouncing from foster home to foster home as nobody wanted to keep her for any extended period. She was a very outspoken and spirited little girl, which presented a challenge for many foster parents.

One of Jillian’s coworkers told her about SOS and she made the referral. Jillian brought her out to SOS for an interview and immediately fell in love with what she saw. She placed this little girl in March of 1997 and then read the classifieds every day in hopes that a job opportunity would open. A few months later a position became available.

“The little girl is now 34,” Jillian says proudly, “a mom and a part of my life – she calls me her godmother.”

Over the past 23 years Jillian’s efforts securing donations and grants and overseeing the foster parents have transformed SOS into one of the largest foster care villages in the state.

Jillian has met every child that ever lived at SOS, approximately 800 children. She has seen the impact SOS has made on these children as many of them go on to college or a trade school and stay in Broward County. Without SOS, these children would not have been given the opportunity to succeed. Their success makes our entire community stronger.

Jillian remains in touch with most of “her children” – many of whom now have families of their own. Her children continuously remind her that they owe their success to SOS.

The holidays are special times for families. Jillian is helping create a village for those who would be alone.

To learn more about SOS Broward or how you can donate, please visit www.sosflorida.com.

Philip Snyder, Esq. is a partner at Lyons and Snyder, a Plantation law firm specializing in personal injury.

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Colder temperatures, blustery winds bring sailfish

The cold fronts that sweep through South Florida in January have offshore anglers looking forward to celebrating the New Year by catching sailfish.

Cooler temperatures and blustery winds send the acrobatic billfish swimming south along the Atlantic coast this time of year. On a good day, it’s not unusual for boats to catch and release 10 or more of the state of Florida’s official saltwater fish. Tournament teams have released as many as 50 sailfish on a January day.

Although the fish can be caught by drifting with live sardines or trolling dead ballyhoo, serious sailfish anglers usually fly two fishing kites, each with a variety of baits.

As they head offshore, local captains consider a number of factors to determine where to start fishing: Everything from watercolor and clarity to the presence of baitfish and birds.

Capt. Mark Lamb of West Palm Beach likes to kite-fish along with a color change, which is where the water goes from green to deep blue.

“I’m going to run out to 100, 120 feet of water and start looking for an edge,” Lamb said. “I’m going to look for a temperature change and bait, like flying fish. I’m going to set up on that edge where the bait is. Put the boat out in the blue water and put your baits out on that edge.”

Top sailfish live baits include goggle-eyes, threadfin herring, pilchards, and sardines. The fishing kites are flown behind the boat and two or three fishing lines are clipped to each kite line to get the baits away from the boat. On those January days when sailfish are plentiful and biting, it’s not unusual to be fighting three or four fish at a time.

Lamb’s crew constantly adjusts the fishing lines as the kites move up and down with the wind to keep the baits splashing on the surface. That splashing attracts sailfish as well as kingfish, dolphin, wahoo, and tuna.

If the sailfish don’t bite at first, Lamb said to stay put and keep fishing, because the sailfish will eventually show up to eat.

“When you have a nice edge and there’s some bait around, don’t move,” Lamb said. “Sometimes you’ve got to be patient and fish rather than run around. In a sailfish tournament, two or three or four fish can change everything in minutes. You’re never out of it in a sailfish tournament.”

Lamb added that it can be hard to find an edge on cold-front days when the wind is blowing hard out of the northwest. Under those conditions, Lamb will slow-troll live baits “until we find something” and will often fish around wrecks, which, like edges, attract bait.

The standard tackle for sailfish is a 20-pound conventional outfit with a 15-foot 30-pound fluorocarbon leader tied to a size 5/0 to 7/0 circle hook. Successful tournament captains such as Casey Hunt of Key West and John Dudas of Miami prepare their sailfish leaders and hooks well before they leave the dock to go fishing, and they make sure all of their tackle is in tip-top condition.

“Every single time a line goes in the water, it’s perfect,” said Hunt, who has won billfish tournaments from Florida to the Bahamas to North Carolina. “The hooks, the knots. You’ve got to spend that extra time because that extra time is going to catch you more fish.”

Consider what often happens when you don’t take that time, whether you’re fishing in a tournament or you’re out on the weekend with friends:

A sailfish grabs one of your baits, jumps and snaps the leader because it’s chafed or your knots weren’t snugged up correctly. More hungry sailfish are behind your boat, but you don’t have a hook and leader ready to go. So you have to scramble to tie a new hook to some leader material, fasten it to a line and cast out another bait, but by then the fish are gone.

Dudas, who has won countless sailfish tournaments from Palm Beach to the Florida Keys, constantly evaluates the 20 fishing kites, which are rated for different wind strengths, that he carries on his boat.

“Make sure your kite flies the same, even if you used it yesterday,” said Dudas, who labels those kites based on whether they fly better to the left or to the right. “Fly a kite while you’re catching bait to test it out.”

Dudas, whose favorite sailfish bait is a herring, bridles all his kite baits with a rubber band to a 5/0 or 6/0 circle hook. Like Hunt and Lamb, when one of his anglers gets a bite, he has his crew keep the other baits in the water in case more sailfish are around.

“Sit tight, back off the drag and let him go,” said Hunt of the first sailfish you hook. “The longer you sit, the better chance you have of getting another bite.”

“If you can get one on and leave the rest of the baits working, the odds of catching a double or triple are probably 80 percent,” said Lamb, who has the angler with the first fish move to the bow while he positions the boat so the baits remain in the strike zone.

And what better way to get 2021 off to a good start than by catching and releasing a bunch of sailfish?

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2021-The year of the vaccine

We’ve closed the book on an unexpected 2020, where so much of our lives were dominated by the pandemic. COVID-19 will still be with us this year, but we hope our lives will slowly recover in 2021 as vaccines are made available for everyone.

Creating a new vaccine is time-consuming. Unlike the flu vaccine for the H1N1 pandemic in 2009, there is no existing vaccine for coronaviruses to build upon. According to the CDC, COVID-19 vaccines must be developed and tested to ensure they work and are safe. Michal Linial, a professor of biological chemistry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem said “Classical vaccines were designed to take 10 years to develop.” So a new vaccine process is now being used for the early COVID-19 vaccines.

As of December 15th, three vaccines have been submitted for FDA approval. There are two mRNA (messenger RNA) vaccines by Pfi zer and Moderna, and one DNA vaccine by Oxford-AstraZeneca. Both of these methods are relatively new, and until COVID-19, no DNA or mRNA vaccines had been approved in the US for human use.

The basic concept these vaccines use is to trick your body into producing proteins that appear to be similar to COVID-19 fragments, which will elicit an immune response from your body’s defense system. This response will protect you from infection from the live virus. This is a new process, compared to vaccines based on live or dead pathogen proteins. The new DNA and mRNA vaccines are non-infectious and can be produced faster and economically.

Both mRNA and DNA vaccines use your body to produce the proteins, using the instructions stored in either mRNA or DNA format. DNA instructions are processed inside your body’s cells to produce the proteins designed to emulate fragments from the virus; whereas mRNA is translated into the protein outside of the cell in your body’s intracellular fluid.

Since mRNA does not enter your cell, the chance of your genome being affected is averted. But mRNA is fragile, thus the cold storage requirements for these vaccines: -70 degrees Celsius for Pfi zer, and -20 degrees Celsius for Moderna. The advantage of the DNA vaccine like the Oxford-AstraZeneca version is to reach areas where cold storage is not common.

The minor and moderate side effects reported of these early vaccines are sore arm at the injection site, fever, fatigue, headache, joint pains, and muscle aches. These effects are due to your body ramping up for a virus infection, but because the vaccine is non-infectious, you will not get a case of COVID-19, just the symptoms from your body’s response.

According to Moderna, no one receiving the vaccine in their trials developed a severe case of COVID-19. The reported efficacy rate for these vaccines are in the 90-95% range, which is much higher than your typical flu vaccine.

While the creation and approval of these first sets of vaccines have been completed, the logistics of getting them delivered across the country has just begun. Operation Warp Speed (OWS), is a partnership between the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), and the Department of Defense (DoD).

OWS aims to accelerate the development, manufacture, and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. Their stated distribution objective “is for everyone to be able to easily get a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as large quantities are available. Several thousand vaccination providers will be available, including doctors’ offices, retail pharmacies, hospitals, and federally qualified health centers.”

OWS has provided a playbook to state and local jurisdictions on the distribution of the vaccines. In Florida, the Division of Emergency Management (FDEM), an agency headed by Director Jared Moskowitz, a Parkland local, is responsible for the distribution of vaccines across the state. “We went out and bought dry ice machines,” said Director Moskowitz. “We got the ultra-cold freezers that we need. We feel that we’re in a good position.

Gov. Ron DeSantis said the state has been planning since early summer on how best to distribute the vaccines, with initial distribution planned at five Florida hospitals (including Memorial Healthcare System in Broward), and eventually expanding to look like state testing sites. “It may even be the same sites we have now,” Moskowitz said. “Giving out the vaccine in a mass distribution — call it spring, late spring, early summer.”

So we say good riddance to 2020. There is much hope life will start returning to normal as more folks are vaccinated in 2021. As of Dec 15th, 2020, a new hope is slowly arriving in the form of vaccines, and state officials work through the prioritization process. The logistics of successfully implementing a smooth mass vaccination is immense, and we all need to follow the recommendations so we can get back to the OLD normal as quickly as possible.

Welcome to 2021, the year of the vaccine.

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