Photos by Lois Spatz
Approximately 360 Wellington Chamber members and friends hopped onto a magical bus tour on May 20th and sampled the fares from 9 different restaurant stops. The starting point was Wellington National Golf Club and the busses (ten of them) brought participants to various restaurants/ venues, spending 15 minutes at each place. Each venue provided an appetizer, an alcoholic drink and a dessert, as well as entertainment. An exceptionally good time was had by all.
The Safety Council of Palm Beach County honored Wellington with two awards during its 25th Annual Safety Awards Luncheon in May. The Village received the Award of Excellence for Worker Safety and the Award of Excellence for Vehicle Safety. These recognitions reaffirm staff’s commitment to ensuring the safety and well-being of all Wellington employees.
Wellington attributes these positive outcomes to its safety-first culture and staff’s ongoing efforts to keep safety at the forefront, with a focus on education and training to prevent accidents. Staff will continue to work together to reduce and eliminate preventable workplace injuries.
The Safety Council of Palm Beach County recognizes water districts, municipalities, counties, construction, agriculture, transportation, hospitality, service, and public safety organizations for demonstrating a commitment to safety.
As another way to stay informed on the latest news and updates from the Village, residents are invited to sign up for Wellington information and updates at www.wellingtonfl.gov/Newsletter.
Palm Beach County, Fl. — Jake Seltzer is bringing a new solution to an old problem. The twenty-six-year-old CEO and co-founder of Finance Blocks recently doubled down on the push for inclusion in the global financial landscape with a 25 million dollar capital commitment from Global Emerging Markets to continue efforts to digitize rural financial institutions (RFIs) in emerging markets and promote accessibility, transparent banking services, and financial inclusion.
Born and raised in Wellington, Florida, the Palm Beach County resident finds himself at the forefront of worldwide impact. The capital investment will propel his blockchain-powered fintech platform into even the most rural corners of the globe, such as India, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Kenya, and Ghana.
“These funds will allow us to continue developing our technology, expand our development team, onboard over three million users, raise awareness about financial products and services, and allow charitable contributions of water and power to the areas in which we operate,” said Seltzer.
Seltzer co-founded the company in 2019 to support the 25% of the world’s total population that does not have access to basic financial services, known as the unbanked. The unbanked face exploitative repayment terms from informal moneylenders and lack identity documents, credit scores, and awareness about financial products. Historically, the sophistication of blockchain-powered digital products has not reached RFIs and the unbanked.
In its simplest form, Seltzer’s company is a platform that helps RFIs switch from paper-based legacy systems to a secure, easy-to-use, and efficient digital system for all their processes. It creates unique digital identities, computes credit scores, manages financial data, loans, savings accounts, and more on a single platform. Users, or the formally unbanked, have an app that helps them stay instantaneously updated about their financial activity like withdrawals, deposits, transactions, loans, and interest. Based on the age of their account and financial activity, users are given Smart Credit Scores computed by blockchain-powered smart contracts.
Blockchain technology is an integral component of the solution Finance Blocks presents.
“Blockchain technology plays a crucial role in lifting people out of poverty and providing better services to the populations of low and middle-income countries. It is a system of recording information that makes it difficult or impossible to change, hack, or cheat the system. Think of blockchain as an incorruptible digital ledger of transactions that is duplicated and distributed across the entire network of computer systems on the blockchain. This process can be transformative for low and middle-income countries as corruption is the single largest issue affecting the unbanked,” says Seltzer.
Seltzer believes this technology will directly impact the global economy by way of the youth. Referring to them as “innovators of tomorrow,” Seltzer believes financial and investing literacy will encourage higher education and break generational debt while creating new generations of middle class.
Global digitization will help the unbanked achieve upward economic mobility by providing the right financial tools in their hands. RFIs are then empowered with the resources and infrastructure to achieve their aims. To learn more about Finance Blocks, visit https://financeblocks.io or email info@financeblocks.io.
(Delray Beach, FL – May 17, 2022) As part of its annual celebration of Juneteenth—the federal holiday in the United States commemorating the emancipation of enslaved African-Americans—Arts Garage is presenting two informative and exciting events next month:
June 16 at 7 pm (Thursday)
Simone Browne
Dark Matters: On the Surveillance of Blackness
The final session of this year’s 3-part Authors Speak Series focused on
The Impact of Race on American Society, this event will feature Simone Browne, Associate Professor in the Department of African and African Diaspora Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. As Research Director of Critical Surveillance Inquiry at a local research collaborative, she works with scholars, organizations and communities to curate conversations, exhibitions and research that examine the social and ethical implications of surveillance technologies, both AI-enabled and not. Her award-winning book Dark Matters: On the Surveillance of Blackness shows how contemporary surveillance technologies and practices are informed by the long history of racial formation and by the methods of policing black life under slavery, such as branding, runaway slave notices, and lantern laws, and continues to be a social and political norm.
The Authors Speak Series 2022 was co-sponsored by Arts Garage, the Spady Cultural Heritage Museum and theCommunity Redevelopment Agency of Delray Beach. To RSVP for this FREE event, please contact
June 18 at 8 pm (Saturday)
Julius Sanna
& The Positively Africa Experience
Positive songs and tales of African culture and art are offered with a joyful fusion of African rhythms, jazz, funk, and pop—an exciting celebration of the African journey of freedom and her contributions to the world. Julius Sanna is a Tanzanian-born, Kenyan-raised, American-influenced musician, minister, and motivational speaker. Along with his wife Julia, they created the Positively Africa band to spread the positive message and highlight the beauty of the African continent. His spiritual acuity guides his musical message of hope and love for all people. He is backed by several talented musicians including Adam Kurland on keys and Rico Geragi on percussion. Julia is the quintessential African female vocalist singing in English and the Swahili languages, while Chris Patsis brings his amazing bass groove and fusion chops into the mix for a scrumptious combination of musical tastes.
Tickets: $30, $35
How to Get Tickets to Julius Sanna & The Positively Africa Experience:
Tickets are available by calling the Arts Garage at 561.450.6357 or by going online to www.ArtsGarage.org.
About Arts Garage:
Arts Garage delivers innovative, diverse, meaningful and accessible visual and performing arts experiences to Delray Beach and South Florida. “Connecting our community to the world through the Arts”—this vision drives all decision-making at Arts Garage, which brings local, emerging artists and established global performers into the local multi-cultural community (students and adults, locals and tourists, people of all ages, income levels, backgrounds) who share a love of the arts.
Diversity is a hallmark of Arts Garage, which provides multicultural programming that promotes inclusion in the arts. #DiscoverDiversity isn’t just a tagline—it is the cornerstone of our outreach programs, staffing, and marketing. Arts Garage is located at 94 NE 2nd Avenue in Delray Beach’s popular Pineapple Grove (33444). For more information, please call 561.450.6357 or visit www.artsgarage.org.
Fantel Music to Produce the Entertainment-Packed Event
(South Florida – May 17, 2022) Jeff Kiltie, board president of the Carbonell Awards, South Florida’s Theatre & Arts Honors, today announced that the 45th annual awards ceremony will be held on Monday, November 14 at 7:30 pm at theLauderhill Performing Arts Center at 3800 NW 11th Place, Lauderhill, FL 33311.
“Although we held a virtual awards ceremony in mid-2020, this will be our first live, in-person event since April 2019,” says Kiltie. “Everybody’s favorite ‘Theatre Prom’ is back—and we’re looking forward to a truly joyous celebration at our new and larger location so that more friends, fans, family members, and theater lovers can join us.”
“Working with the Carbonell Awards is sure to be an exciting, creative, artistic adventure, and the City of Lauderhill is extremely pleased to be a part of the process,” says Desorae Giles-Smith, Lauderhill City Manager. “We are proud that the Lauderhill Performing Arts Center is the venue of choice for an organization that highlights and encourages the performing arts throughout South Florida. We can’t wait to celebrate with everyone at this year’s in-person event.”
Several hundred actors, musicians, performers, writers, directors, techies, producers, reviewers, designers, specialty artists, and diehard theater fans are expected to attend the glittery, entertainment-packed event that is South Florida’s version of Broadway’s Tony Awards®.
Fantel Music, the acclaimed South Florida producer of both live and virtual music and theater presentations, has been hired to produce the Carbonell Awards Ceremony this November, just as they did the virtual event in 2020. The wife-and-husband team of Caryl Fantel (music director, event producer, pianist, teacher, composer) and Roy Fantel (drummer, percussionist, teacher, video-audio producer) have successfully developed, directed or produced numerous concerts, shows, and staged events throughout South Florida.
At this year’s entertainment-packed Carbonell Ceremony, awards will be presented in 20 competitive categories. A variety of Special Awards including The George Abbott Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Arts honoring an individual (or team) who has contributed significantly to the artistic and cultural development of the region, and the newVinnette Carroll Award honoring an individual, theater or organization for significant achievement in advancing the cause of diversity, equality, and inclusion in South Florida theater, will also be presented.
This will be the first Carbonell Awards under a new, more transparent process that replaced the previous two-tier judging system. Judges are now assigned primarily—but not exclusively—to their home counties thus maintaining the regional integrity of the awards. In addition, Judges will be utilizing a scoring rubric in evaluating on-stage and back-stage achievements, adapted from the highly respected ariZoni Theatre Awards of Excellence.
In addition, the Carbonell Awards added more than a dozen new judges from Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties, including a number of BIPOC and multi-cultural judges.
At the awards ceremony on November 14, the Carbonells will present nominated musical theater performances from the recently completed theater season, as well as a preview snippet of live performances from current or upcoming productions.
As a result of this change, the awards ceremony will not only celebrate the excellence of recent productions, but it will also be a valuable opportunity to promote and sell tickets for current or upcoming shows. At the same time, smaller/newer/BIPOC professional theaters can take advantage of this performance opportunity to showcase their talent to the entire South Florida theatrical community.
The 2022 Jack Zink Scholarship winners, event sponsorship information, and how to purchase tickets to the Carbonell Awards Ceremony 2022 will be announced soon. The list of this season’s Carbonell nominations and special award recipients will be announced at the conclusion of this season’s evaluation period at the end of September.
About The Carbonell Awards
The Carbonell Awards fosters the artistic growth of professional theater in South Florida by celebrating the diversity of our theater artists, providing educational scholarships, and building audience appreciation and civic pride by highlighting achievements of our theater community. More than 20 professional theater companies in Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach Counties participate in the awards process every year. The Carbonell Awards also celebrate the accomplishments of local artistic leaders by presenting several Special Awards.
Along with New York’s Drama Desk and Chicago’s Joseph Jefferson Awards, the Carbonell Awards are among the nation’s senior regional arts awards and predate others, including Washington, D.C.’s Helen Hayes Awards. The Carbonell Awards are named after Manuel Carbonell, an internationally renowned sculptor, who designed the original solid bronze and marble award in 1976, the signature trophy that is given annually to Carbonell Award winners. Over the last 45 years, the Carbonell family has donated more than $250,000 in awards. For more information, please visitwww.carbonellawards.org.
Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. (May 16, 2022) – The time of year has come to celebrate the men in your life, and what better way to do that than by helping them coordinate their clothes with a cocktail? Tommy Bahama has you covered with a variety of styles for the beach lover or weekend warrior, to the grill master and golf pro. To have dad feeling his best while looking his best, make him a matching cocktail served at Tommy Bahama Marlin Bar, which opens at The Gardens Mall in late 2022!
Clean and Classic
Tommy Bahama’s polo shirts offer traditional, clean-lined silhouettes with modern features like sun protection and moisture wicking. The striped styles also offer a good dose of color without getting crazy. This look is perfect for the golf course or the backyard, so when dad is done golfing or grilling, the Cucumber Smash is a refreshing, relaxing option.
Fun and Floral
If lively and tropical are more your man’s speed, look to some of Tommy Bahama’s signature camp shirts. They are lightweight, breezy, and never fail to impress. Match the shirt’s boldness with Tommy’s take on the G & T, and pair its flair with fresh fruit garnishes.
Pastels and Pinkies Up
Made from soft premium linen for comfort in warmer weather, the Sea Glass Breezer is pigment printed with solid blues, yellows, or corals for an incredible look that gets better over time. The crisp cut of its collar, cuffs, and hem deserves an equally elite cocktail pairing. The Grapefruit Basil Martini is spot-on, offering a sweet, sophisticated twist on the classic drink.
Mix and Match
If you can’t decide (or want to try them all), browse the store and look for the Riviera Azure Marlin Bar camp shirt, with a half-dozen drinks and recipes printed right on the back. For other fun prints of punches and libations, look to the Iced Slate Bahama Coast Cocktail Hour, Nova Wave Last Call, and Tina Grasdal’s Artist Series ’22 Marlin Bar IslandZone® camp shirts.
Make it a happy and hip Father’s Day this year at Tommy Bahama!
Eddie Stephens and Caryn A. Stevens of Stephens & Stevens PLLC awarded a $1,000 academic scholarship to Shefali Vansadia at the Leadership Palm Beach County GROW Graduation Ceremony on April 28, 2022. Vansadia, currently a junior at Suncoast Community High School, is one of fifty select students participating in the 2022 Leadership Palm Beach County Grow Program. Stephens and Stevens awarded Vansadia the scholarship as a result of her essay, which conveyed the impact the GROW program has made on her and how it fostered an interest in pursuing a career in business law. Both Eddie Stephens (2015) and Caryn Stevens (2019) are graduates of Leadership Palm Beach County with Stephens serving on the Board of Governors. The organization’s GROW program empowers high school juniors to understand the critical issues facing Palm Beach County while encouraging them to expand their leadership roles and build a foundation of involvement in their community. The ceremony was held at Palm Beach Atlantic University where Stephens gave the inspiring keynote address, “10 Tips to Live a Successful Life.” “The program, LeadershipGROW, is transformative. Caryn and I went through the adult program LeadershipENGAGE, where we formed relationships that will last a lifetime, with people we probably would never have met but for Leadership,” said Stephens. “The same is true for these students. Whether it’s GROW or ENGAGE, LPBC curates an incredible experience, which you go through with 49 people who you will always share this bond with, these moments in time that Leadership provides us. It is up to us to make the most of these Moments.” Stephens & Stevens, PLLC offices are located in West Palm Beach; the firm serves clients throughout the Palm Beaches. This duo of award-winning family law attorneys focus their practice in all areas of marital and family law. Their boutique firm brings together associate attorneys, a team of paralegals and support staff, a strategic approach and compassionate perspective to work toward the best possible resolution for the clients they represent in complex, life-changing situations. With 25 years of litigation experience, Eddie Stephens is a Board Certified Family Law Attorney. He has earned the AV Preeminent Peer Review Rating by Martindale Hubbell, a professional rating indicating the highest ethical standards and professional ability. Eddie is an author, lecturer, and community leader. Caryn Stevens brings a unique perspective to the practice of marital and family law. Prior to practicing law, Stevens spent over 12 years working in the mental health and counseling fields.
About Stephens & Stevens, PLLC: Stephens & Stevens, PLLC is a Florida law firm that practices exclusively marital and family law. The firm’s strategic approach is to resolve high-conflict and high-net-worth issues achieving the best possible outcome for each client. They are located at 400 Columbia Drive, STE 111, West Palm Beach, FL 33409. For more information, call (561) 430-4350, email info@ss-familylaw.com or visit www.ss-familylaw.com.
The non-profit Alliance of Women Executives (AWE) made the college dreams of 24 Palm Beach County young women come true. The organization awarded scholarships to deserving high school graduates at their 5th annual scholarship awards ceremony held May 10th at Abacoa Golf Club emceed by WPTV news anchor Shannon Cake.
These young women come from all walks of life, and with unique stories; 5 of the recipients will be attending Palm Beach State College, 12 will become Florida Atlantic University students, 2 will attend Palm Beach Atlantic University and 5 will enter Lynn University – 11 are the first in their family to attend college, and all are accomplished both academically and in their service to the community. Their aspirations are equally ambitious, they plan to pursue a variety of degrees from nursing, law, and medicine to STEM, psychology and the arts. In addition to receiving a scholarship, each student received a laptop courtesy of Florida Power & Light.
AWE is a member based nonprofit founded 6 years ago by Vicki Tate. With the inclusion of the 2022 awards, a total of 79 scholarships have been granted to Palm Beach County young women.
“The passion of the women who’ve become AWE members along with the support of our donors has been fantastic. AWE’s mission is important to Palm Beach County, to these young women and to me. I am deeply grateful to our members and donors, without them none of this would be possible.” says AWE founder Vicki Tate.
Obtaining the extra funding alleviates some of the financial pressure the girls face as they seek their higher education.
ABOUT THE ALLIANCE OF WOMEN EXECUTIVES (AWE)
AWE provides a platform to bring like-minded professional women together, sharing knowledge and experiences while making an impact on future generations of young women in Palm Beach County by promoting higher education and making it accessible through academic scholarships. In 2019 the organization was awarded the prestigious “Advocates for Children Award” by the Florida’s Children First in recognition of the work they have done to provide funding for youth from foster care and other disadvantaged populations to attain a higher education.
The Alliance of Women Executives is the vision of Vicki Tate, brought to life with several of her friends who share a passion for philanthropy and paying it forward. Together, they have built a strong network of women who turn professional acquaintances into personal friendships. The relationships created combined with their philanthropic vision is what draws members to not only join AWE, but to stay.
For more information, contact (561)789-8415 info@aweinc.org or visit www.aweinc.org
By Denise Marsh
Village Music & Café is Wellington’s top hotspot for live music and music instruction. In addition, good food combined with good music seems like the perfect duet. Donna and Steve Willey, co-owners of VM, attribute a lot of their success to Brandee Gerber cooking her amazing cuisine in the café area. Brandee has a lot on her “plate” and yet she still manages to greet the clientele like family. She literally pours “love” into her cooking and ensures that customers will become “regulars”. Some of my favorites are: the chicken quesadilla and Margherita flatbread. I don’t just eat the food – I relish in it. And I think of how Brandee has made that connection with her cooking. She truly cooks with “heart.” Let’s “dig” right in to our interview.
On the Menu
AW: What is your position at Village Music? How long have you been there?
BG: I’m the chef there. I have been working here for a little over two years now.
AW: When did you start showing an interest in cooking? Who taught you?
BG: I’ve always had a passion for cooking. I loved to help my mom and grandmother in the kitchen. In fact, that’s where I learned so much of what I know.
I decided to go to culinary school and that opened up a whole new world of art and creation of food for me.
AW: What is one positive thing about being a chef?
BG: The most gratifying aspect of what I do is cooking for people who truly love my food. That’s the best part of cooking for me.
AW: What are your favorite things to cook?
BG: I love to cook Asian cuisine. There’s so many variations of it. It’s also my favorite food to eat. Also, at Village Music I make a Charcuterie board. It has assorted Italian meats and a variety of cheeses and an array of vegetables and fresh baked Crostini. I love creating that and seeing reactions when Kari (our Bartender and main server) puts it down in front of them. I guess it became my trademark at Village Music. It’s definitely time consuming, but it’s so worth it!
AW: Have you catered any big events?
BG: I’ve catered the Philadelphia Flower Show and the Book and the Cook event with some celebrity chefs, also done in Philadelphia.
AW: What are a few secrets about cooking that you are able to share?
BG: Honestly, the first secret to cooking is a love of what you do. You really have to have a passion for it to be successful.
AW: Do you cook for yourself?
BG: Sometimes I cook for myself though. Most of the time though, I don’t feel like it. I do make a mean bowl of cereal though with a little help from Capt’n Crunch. (laughing)
AW: What are your future plans for cooking/ being a chef?
BG: My future plans are really just remaining where I am now at VM. I love my job. I love the artisan style of cooking, The people who come in to our establishment are some of the best people I’ve ever met. I get to listen to the greatest local musicians around as well. Food and music are my two favorite things except for puppies and kittens. I couldn’t ask for a better job. I work side by side with Kari who bartends and serves; she’s amazing and keeps me sane! Donna and Steve are the best bosses you could ask for. They allow me the opportunity to do what I love and show my talent. I couldn’t ask for a better team.
AW: Which chef or chefs have inspired you?
BG: There is definitely a handful of celebrity chefs that I admire. The chef instructors I had in culinary school taught me so much and I am grateful for that. Not to sound cliché, but my biggest inspiration is my mom and grandmom; they both taught me about family food. To me, the two go hand in hand.
AW: Do you have any other hobbies or interests?
BG: I love to do crafts. I make personalized frames, mainly as gifts, though. I also do a lot of music inspired art.
AW: What is something that people might be surprised to learn about you?
BG: I was a radio DJ in Philly. I had a radio show for a few years that I enjoyed so much. It was a great experience all around!
If you have never been to Village Music & Café in Wellington you are missing out on a wonderful experience in a friendly atmosphere! Be sure to stop by and visit Chef Brandee at the bar where she will be cooking up a storm and making you feel most welcome. Brandee Gerber is a big part of the Village Music “family” and she welcomes more members. After all, when it is all said and done, isn’t life better with music, friends, and family? I think so!
By Denise Marsh
The sea heals
It brings the pain onshore
And lifts it
Molds it into a wave
That is tossed and tussled
And creates something new
More tangible . . .
More tranquil . . .
Turquoise water
And blue spruce
Antidotes
For the weary soul.
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