West Boca Leaders is the best networking group in the area. One of a kind networking group. First and Third Thursdays. Next meeting is July 7, 2016, 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. Tulipe Café, Boca Grove Shopping Center on Powerline Road between Glades and Palmetto Park Roads. $60 per quarter. Fill out form on site if you qualify and bring $60 for fourth quarter. For more information or questions, call 561.702.0000.
New athletic fields promised to the public four years ago are once again on hold. The Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District will use $6.5 million reserved for fields at Countess de Hoernle Park to instead renovate Patch Reef Park.
Players on select athletic fields in Boca Raton will soon see new scoreboards. In a 4-0 decision, the Greater Boca Raton Beach & Park District set aside up to $35,000 to install two new scoreboards at Sugar Sand Park.
Pickleball and basketball players can look forward to more court space as plans for a second field house at Sugar Sand Park move forward. Commissioners approved a $284,000 contract for the design firm Barretta & Brewer Associates. They also unanimously passed the final step in lighting improvements and repairs in Sugar Sand, a $27,000 contract for Imperial Electric and Lighting to hang new, brighter light heads.
Miami-based homebuilder Lennar Corp. has a contract to acquire a public golf course in Boca Raton from Wells Fargo Bank for an undisclosed amount on July 1. Lennar plans to build homes on the entire grounds of the 27-hole Ocean Breeze Golf Club at 5801 Northwest 2 Avenue in Boca Raton.
Proposed level-by-level parking space information for Mizner Park’s four free garages got traction with Boca Raton City Council. Mizner Park owners are working with Parkifi, a company that uses sensors, wireless and Bluetooth technology to let drivers know when a parking space becomes available.
Two local philanthropists — Arlene Herson and Julie Peyton Stein — traveled to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. in early May with a delegation of South Floridians to witness the unveiling of their names on the museum’s Donor Wall during a special ceremony. The ceremony took place during the Days of Remembrance — America’s annual commemoration of the Holocaust.
New Art Gallery Exhibit is at the Spanish River Library through June 25. Well-known local artist, Jim Campbell, will be showing his oil paintings and acrylic paintings in the Friends Art Gallery. This collection will include favorites from his travels abroad and some still-life compositions done in his studio. The Library is located at 1501 NW Spanish River Blvd.
Boca Raton-based tool manufacturer Q.E.P. has acquired a U.K.-based company for an undisclosed price. The purchase of XPS Foam Limited, a manufacturer of recyclable underlay solutions for flooring, will allow Q.E.P. to offer flooring customers a wider range of products. The company currently serves the flooring and tile industries.
Viner Community Scholars Foundation awards $750k: 28 four-year scholarships have been provided to local students by The Eda and Cliff Viner Community Scholars Foundation. With an average of $7000 being provided per student, the program looks to allow students to make it through their four years of schooling without having to worry about financial hardships. Each spring these scholarships are provided to schools in the surrounding Boca and Delray schools and are awarded to students based on their high success and further potential to succeed in school.
Palm Beach County could become one of the first communities in Florida to ban conversion therapy for children — a practice in which therapists attempt to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
Here are some good inexpensive ways to spend the lazy days of summer for the entire family. Take the Diva Duck Tour out of City Place in West Palm Beach, 561-844-4188 and spend the day on the Water Taxi out of Ft. Lauderdale stopping at many landmarks where you can get on and off. Call 954-467-6677.
Independence Day: Resurgence, The Shallows, The Free State of Jones and the Neon Demon opens at the Boca and Boynton Cinemarks. Our Last Tango opens at the FAU Living Room Theatres. The Free State of Jones and The Angry Birds Movie opens at the Movies of Delray and at the Movies of Lake Worth. State of Jones and Music of Strangers opens at the Classic Gateway. Captain America, Ninja Turtles and Maggie’s Plan opens at the Last Picture show.
Zoso: Ultimate Led Zeppelin Experience and Mizner Park wants you to rock and roll with this free concert. Bring your chairs, blankets, and rocking attitude out to dance the night away, 7:30 p.m. Friday, and with plenty of food delivery options and a wide range of drinks offered at the beer garden.
“South Pacific” in concert, 3 p.m. June 26, Florida Atlantic University Carole and Barry Kaye Performing Arts Auditorium, 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton. Tickets $20 to $42; group prices available at fauevents.com or 800-564-9539. Free for current FAU students; $5 for ages 18 and younger at FAU Box Office..
The Soul of Motor City will run to July 19 at Stage Door Theatre, 8036 Sample Road, Margate. Tickets are $38 – $42; $16 student tickets are also available. Tickets may be purchased at the Broward Stage Door Theatre box office at 954-344-7765 or on line at http://www.stagedoortheatre.com
Summer in the City: Music and Movies Under the Stars will run through Aug. 19 at the Mizner Park Amphitheater in downtown Boca Raton. On nights with free concerts, the event will start at 7:30 p.m., Movies are set to begin at 8 p.m. Here’s a list of the free performances and movie showings: June 19: FAU Old Time Concert in the Park; June 24: Led Zeppelin tribute by Zoso; July 8: “Minions” showing; July 22: David Bowie tribute by Stardust Memories; July 29: Bob Marley tribute by Ruffhouse; Aug. 5: “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” showing; Aug. 12: Eagles tribute by The Long Run; Aug. 19: The Symphonia.
FAU theatre performance: Florida Atlantic University’s Department of Theatre and Dance in the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters has announced its summer lineup for Festival Repertory Theatre 2016. “Hay Fever” a comedy by Noel Coward, will run through Sunday, June 26. Tickets are $20 and all shows are in the University Theatre and Studio One Theatre. There will be an opening night reception on Friday at 5:30 p.m. in the Schmidt Gallery on the Boca Raton campus. Tickets for the reception are $100 and include preferred seating for that night’s performance and a $50 tax-deductible gift for theatre student scholarships.
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) [revised] runs to June 26 at Sol Theatre, 3333 North Federal Highway, Boca Raton. Tickets are $15 and $10 for students. Group rates are also available. Call 561-447-8829 or on line at www.eveningstarproductions.org. Warning! This show is a high-speed roller-coaster type condensation of all of Shakespeare’s plays, and is not recommended for people with heart ailments, bladder problems, inner-ear disorders, outer-ear disorders, Shakespearean scholars, degrees in Elizabethan history and/or people inclined to motion sickness. Evening Star Productions cannot be held responsible for expectant mothers!
Fresh off great notices for her Bessie Smith at the Arts Garage, Avery Sommers will morph into Bloody Mary. Julliard schooled baritone Graham Fandrei becomes Emile de Becque, the French planter. Throw in soprano Rebekah Diaz-Fandrei as Nellie Forbush, members of the Gay Men’s Chorus of South Florida as the sailors and Marines and mix with Aaron Kula’s 40-musician orchestra. “South Pacific” the concert version comes to life at 3 p.m. June 26 in the Carole and Barry Kaye Performing Arts Auditorium on the Boca Raton campus of Florida Atlantic University. Rodgers and Hammerstein would have loved it. “South Pacific” in concert, 3 p.m. June 26, Florida Atlantic University Carole and Barry Kaye Performing Arts Auditorium, 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton. Tickets $20 to $42; group prices available at fauevents.com or 800-564-9539. Free for current FAU students; $5 for ages 18 and younger only at FAU Box Office.
“Forever Plaid” performances are 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, June 30 through July 24, at The Wick Theatre & Costume Museum, 7901 N. Federal Highway, in Boca Raton. Tickets are $55 at thewick.org or by calling 561-995-2333.
Office Depot will hold a shareholder’s meeting 9 a.m. July 13 at the Boca Marriott Hotel, the first after the breakup of the proposed merger with Staples.
The Business & Professional Division has a networking happy hour 6 pm July 26 at New York Prime, 2350 Executive Center Drive. $25 per person. Register at jewishboca.org/bphappyhour or call 852.3128 or visit sonnis@bocafed.org.
Christina Applegate will be the keynote speaker at the 13th annual Go Pink luncheon to benefit the Boca Raton Regional Hospital Foundation in the fight against breast cancer. Save the date: October 21, 2016.
The 2016/2017 Broadway series at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts include Cinderella, Cabaret, The Little Mermaid, Something Rotten!, Matilda and Finding Neverland. More info at browardcenter.org.
The Marmot Boca Raton Bowl game will take place at 7 p.m. on Dec. 20 at the Florida Atlantic University Stadium. The game will be broadcast on ESPN. It will be the third annual bowl game for FAU.
Sun-Sentinel, South Florida Business Journal, Boca Life Magazine and Palm Beach Post contributed to this column.
Barry Epstein, APR, is a noted public relations, marketing and political consultant based in Boca Raton, president of the goldcoasttigerbayclub.com, the luxurychamber.com, the westbocaleaders.com and the founder and former president of the West Boca Chamber of Commerce; His motto is: Public Relations is the enemy of anonymity. Email: pr@publicrelations.nu, or fax column items to 561.451.0000. facebook.com/BarryEpstein and on his website: publicrelations.nu.