Palm Beach Perspective

Talked with Trent Stephens and Elizabeth Dashiell from PB Shakespeare by the Sea. This is their 32nd annual event at the Seabreeze Amphitheater in Carlin Park in Jupiter, Florida. They've also added a second venue in Royal Palm Beach, Florida at their Commons Park.
This year they are performing, Richard II. It's considered one of Shakespeare's historical plays and covers a failed attempt on Elizabeth the first. Shows run Thursday - Sunday, gates open at 6:30pm and the performance starts at 8p. Listeners can bring their own chairs, blankets, coolers or purchase refreshments there. Admission is free but there is a suggested donation of $5/person to help. Elizabeth posts weather updates on the day of the show via facebook. If anyone would like more information, to audition to be an actor, volunteer, be a sponsor or make a donation, they can go to www.pbshakespeare.org. To reach Trent, they can email [email protected]. To reach Elizabeth, it's [email protected]

Talked with Bert Moreschi, President, Jupiter Tequesta Repeater Group (JTRG). "JTRG is an ARRL affiliated, Special Service Club and incorporated as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that’s committed to the promotion of Amateur Radio and providing community assistance and goodwill." They are sometimes referred to as "Ham" radio operators. They are doing a field day Sat/Sun June 25/26 at Carlin park and listeners are invited to come out, check out the different techniques they are going to try and use to power the radios and make contacts. Listeners can try to make a contact using a special station supervised by a trained operator. JTRG has weekly chats, helps with weather alerts, offers instruction for new ham operators to get licensed. The next class is coming up October 1s/2nd. For more information listeners can go to www.jtrg.org

Talked with Patrice Schroeder, M.A. Human Behavior, Community Relations Specialist, 211.
"211 Palm Beach/Treasure Coast’s mission is to save lives through crisis intervention and by connecting people to health, mental health, and wellness services 24 hours a day every day." They connect folks with the services that can help them. 211 recently created a service for age 18+ who are caregivers for adults to help deal with stress and isolation from Covid. They are working on creating a service geared for first responders which would be peer to peer counseling. Some of their services include: helpline, suicide prevention, senior services, veterans, youth, hurricane/disaster, physical health, and seasonal info. They are getting a lot of calls regarding lack of affordable housing and mental health issues.
Listeners can reach out to 211 by calling 211 or 561-383-1112, texting zip code to 898211 or going to the website www.211PalmBeach.org or www.211TreasureCoast.org

Talked with Kaley Grau, Marketing Manager, Cox Science Center and Aquarium. They recently changed their name from South Florida Science to Cox and are in the middle of an expansion project. As part of the change, mini golf is now included in the admission price. They have a new exhibition run now through September 4th called Mindbender Mansion and Max Planck's Images of Science. Several events are coming up: Celebracion del Mar June 8th, Hometown Heroes June 18th and Nights at the Museum June 24th. They also offer 1/2 price admission for heroes the last Saturday of the month. This summer Cox Science center is participating in a Summer Saving Pass along with Lion Country Safari and Zoo Miami (admission to all 3 for 1 price). They have summer camps, long distance learning, planetarium shows, gems clubs, etc. Listeners can find out about events, volunteer, opportunities and make donations at www.coxsciencecenter.org

Talked with Amy Kight, Executive Director, Busch Wildlife Sanctuary. Busch Wildlife Sanctuary has a dual mission of wildlife rehabilitation and environmental education. They rescue sick, injured, or orphaned native Florida wildlife. They rely on the public to bring injured wildlife to our wildlife hospital. Over the years, we have treated deer, foxes, screech owls, hawks, bald eagles, squirrels, birds, and many others. There's a volunteer rescue team that is sent out to rescue animals that the public can't, such as raccoons, great blue herons, bobcats, foxes, etc... They release animals after they've been rehabilitated. Busch Wildlife offers a wide variety of programs to help educate the public about animals. Some of them are Wildlife encounters, hunters of the sky, mini and junior naturalists programs. They are in the process of moving/expanding to their new home, a 20 acre area, on Rocky Pines Road and Indiantown Road. They are open Monday through Saturday with free admission, donations are welcome. If listeners want to volunteer, donate, book a tour, report an injured animal, get more info, they can go to www.buschwildlife.org or call 561-575-3399 or email Amy at [email protected]

Talked with Evelyn Linares, Public Affairs Specialist, Social Security Administration. They are seeing an increase in the number of scam telephone calls to social security recipients. She said social security will not call you. If you call them to set up an appointment, they may call to confirm but that's it. Listeners should not give out their social security number, personal info, financial info to someone calling on the phone claiming to be from the government. They can go to www.ssa.gov and create a my social security account. She said everyone who's working should do it no matter what age. It will show their benefits amount (good way to catch any mistakes in income reporting). Social Security has multiple reports that listeners can run to help them determine the best age for retirement. They can request a replacement card for free if they need one. Listeners can also go to their local field office in person. They are offering more hours to serve the community. If they have questions they can call 1-800-772-1213 or go to www.ssa.gov.

Talked with Bill Millard, Colonel, United States Army (Retired) and Milena Millard, VWF Post #9610. They in conjunction with American Legion are sponsoring Songfest for Vets III - Ukraine Relief. It's a free classic rock tribute band concert at the Mizner Ampitheater in Boca Raton on Saturday May 21st from 2-10pm. They have Ukrainian artists/crafts dancers and singers. The motorcycle clubs coming for a Trident Thunder around the arena at 5pm and then the bands will start. They include: KISS Alive, Erasmith, Shoot to Thrill and Shovelhead. West Boca High School Performing Arts Academy will perform as well. Listeners can donate for Ukraine Relief via PayPal/Zelle. For info on donations they can reach out to Jack McDermot
[email protected] or Bill Millard 561-289-8505 or email Bill [email protected]. There will also be a second fundraising concert on 5/22 at Terra Fermata in Stuart featuring the same bands and Ukrainian artists from Noon to 10pm. Listeners can donate and get more info on their Facebook Page: Songfest for Vets.

Talked with Ellyn Okrent from The Fuller Center in Boca Raton, FL. They were formerly known as the Florence Fuller Child Development Center. Their mission is to embrace, educate, and empower hardworking, under-resourced families and children to achieve their full potential. They offer a wide variety of services/programs. For children 6weeks to 5years old they have holistic early education programs. For school-age, they have opened a private CHOICE elementary school serving kindergarten to 3rd grade. They have a teen program, school-age-out-of-school-time, summer camp, and family support. The fuller center also has apprenticeship, mentorship and volunteer opportunities. To find out more, listeners can go to www.fullercenterfl.org or call 954-298-8534.

Talked with Stephanie Surrena, Outreach and Public Information Coordinator, Office of Public Engagement Palm Beach County Parks and Recreation Department and Emilie Travis, Nature Center Manager II, Palm Beach County Parks and Recreation Department. PBC Parks are celebrating 50 year anniversary. Okeeheelee Park nature center that Emilie manages is celebrating their 30th anniversary so they are doing their Earth Day celebration on 4/30 sponsored by Navy League of the United States. It's from 10a-3p at the nature center and is free to the public. It includes an Okee Teen presentation on the history of the park, all things manatee, Live Reptile and Live Bird of Prey presentations. There will be food vendors. No pets allowed at the nature center due to the wild animals. For info on classes as Okeeheelee or the other parks, to sign up to be a volunteer, or reserve space for events, listeners can go to pbcparks.com or call 561-233-1400.

Talked with Dr. Tom Pearson, CEO, Armory Art Center. The Armory Art Center is a comprehensive visual art school that offers a wide range of visual arts from sculpture, welding, stone carving, textiles, drawing, painting, jewelry, photography, digital media, and printmaking. The Armory Art Center is currently running Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel: The Exhibition through April 24th. Up next will be the Art of the Phoenix Exhibition from May 21-June 9. Coming up they have a number of art classes, summer camps May 31-July 29. They have community outreach programs including one for Veterans, BraveHeARTS and another for Teens who've suffered trauma called Art of the Phoenix. Listeners can go to the website to get tickets for the Sistine Chapel exhibit, sign up for classes, for camp, to become volunteers, get high school community service hours and make donations. www.armoryart.org or call 561-832-1776.