Dear Editor,

Please explain to me the reason for the mandatory right hand turn lane off of east bound Hillsboro onto Dixie? By the time drivers realize they are in a mandatory turn lane they try to jump left into the center lane causing drivers to brake and swerve. Then, if you are trying to turn right onto 2nd street, just over the tracks, there’s drivers who didn’t abide by the rules and they almost side swipe you.

They didn’t put in a mandatory right hand turn lane west bound off Hillsboro onto Dixie? Right hand turn lanes move themselves. The right hand turn lane onto US1 south bound, makes sense because Hillsboro turns into two lanes.

— John Kaufman

Deerfield Beach

The Extreme Kayak Fishing Tournament Summer SLAM

• Galuppi’s

Thursday, Aug. 10, 6 to 9 p.m.

1103 N. Federal Hwy,

Pompano Beach, FL 33062

Join them for the kickoff party. There will be thousands of

dollars worth of merchandise given away at their huge raffle

to benefit the Broward Children’s Center.

• Pompano Beach Pier

Saturday, Aug. 12, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

222 N. Pompano Beach Blvd.

Pompano Beach, FL 33062.

Anglers shoot off at 7 a.m. and Weigh in is at 2:30 p.m. Mango will be performing live on stage from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., The Sunshine Sup Series will be at it again with their amazing paddle board races, Free Sup, Kayak Demos on the beach, and also D-Fit will be on the beach with their insane obstacle course competition. Also, a lot of free goodies from all the different vendors. All registered anglers receive an awesome goody bag, free food provided by Zona Fresca, Jersey Mike’s and Dandee Donuts. Chance to win over $40,000 in cash and prizes! For more information, visit www.extremekayakfishing.com.

Dive In Movie Night — Secret Life of Pets

Friday Aug. 11, 8 p.m.

Houston Sworn Pool

901 NW 10 St.

Pompano Beach, FL 33060

Swim while enjoying a family movie free! Snacks and refreshments will be available for purchase.

Household Hazardous Waste Collection

Saturday, Aug. 12, 9 a.m. to noon.

Central City Campus

401 SW 4 St.

Deerfield Beach, FL 33441

For safe disposal of hazardous household items, Deerfield Beach residents may bring materials to the city’s House-hold Hazardous Waste Collection Day. Free to Deerfield Beach residents ONLY. For more information, visit www.deerfield-beach.com/hhw.

Back to School Fair

Saturday, Aug. 12, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Oveta McKeithen Recreational Complex

445 SW 2 St.

Deerfield Beach, 33441

Students will receive backpacks full of school supplies for free. Haircuts for children for free by NEW ERA Barbers. Blood pressure and other health screenings for free by North Broward Health. Get there early.

Stress Reduction Techniques to Manage Anxiety

Monday, Aug. 14, 10 a.m.

NE Focal Point Senior Center

227 NW 2 St.

Deerfield Beach, FL 33441

Learn techniques to improve your mental and physical well-being. Healthy Mind – Healthy Body! Licensed Mental Health Counselor, Kelly Gallo, welcomes seniors to join her on-going discussion groups. Join anytime. Individual counseling sessions are also available. Please call 954-480-4449 for further information or to schedule an appointment.

Save The Date

Lighthouse Tour

Saturday, Aug. 19, 8:30 a.m.

Alsdorf Park

2974 NE 14 St.

Pompano Beach, FL 33062

A shuttle boat will transport guests from Alsdorf Park at 8:30, 9:15, 10 and 10:45 a.m. HLPS volunteers will register/ check you in and assist you with boarding for the boat ride to and from the lighthouse. Visit www.hillsborolighthouse.org/tours for footwear rules for those climbing the lighthouse tower. Guests may pay in advance by becoming a HLPS member at www.hillsborolighthouse.org/join-us.

Elvis 40th Anniversary Show

Saturday, Aug. 19, 7:30 p.m.

American Rock Bar & Grill

1600 E. Hillsboro Blvd.

Deerfield Beach, FL 33441

Dancing, drawings and giveaways. $10 a ticket. Order from the menu. Cash Bar — 2 for 1 drinks. For more information, call Kim at 954-257-8215.

It’s by no accident you’re reading this article. I pray that what I’m about to reveal to you expands your awareness of what’s happening in the youth culture, and also provides practical ways for you to cultivate a healthier relationship with your youth pastor. What follows is the secret confession of a youth pastor.

To start, know that accessibility to technology and the prevalence of information — real or fake — has significantly altered this thing we call student ministry. 

Young teens are sexting or filming themselves performing sexual acts, which they post to social media. They take polls asking their followers to vote on what “stupid s***,” they should do on Snapchat, like destroying property or pretending to have a mental illness. They play beer pong — at least the 12-year-olds substitute alcohol for Monster energy drinks, and, of course, they light things on fire. 

The older students self-inflate their status, hoping to feel more important as they strive to live up to society’s unrealistic athletic or academic expectations. 

In short, it’s the f-word, rebellion, confusion and rejection manifesting itself in the form of social media attention-grabbing. They are painfully attention-starved and insecure, and their new drug is follower engagement, “likes” and such.

It’s a new frontier. The days of “playing games with the youth” have ended. As a matter of fact, if I’m being honest, some days I’m with students from morning until evening, living in their new world, trying to help them navigate their wounds and baggage. It’s those days you might find me lying on the floor of my office, gathering the energy needed to drive home.

But that’s okay. Because it’s there, on the carpet where Domino’s icing dipping sauce has been thoroughly trampled into, that I’m reminded to be wholly dependent on God myself and that I’m not alone; I’m co-laboring with others to show these students Jesus. 

I say “co-labor,” because student ministry is a partnership. While the position of youth pastor may have once been to “babysit” the youth while the adults do the “real” ministry, I can assure you, student ministry is real ministry and needs to be connected to the adult congregation.

Studies show that students who experience intergenerational worship are significantly less likely to “graduate” from their faith and walk away from God after high school, as they feel connected to a local church body that continues to love and support them even while away from home.

The reality is that this is a generation crying out for help, but has no idea how to receive and accept the help when it arrives: imagine a drowning victim trying to swim away from the responding lifeguard. 

Paul writes in his letter to the Romans to not “copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think” (Romans 12:2). And that’s where the battleground exists for our youth: their minds. Author Dr. Jean M. Twenge, in her book iGen: Why Today’s Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy—and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood—and What That Means for the Rest of Us, asserts that this rising generation is “on the brink of the worst mental health crisis in decades.” 

God has placed us in their lives to love and “direct [our] children onto the right path, [so that] when they are older, they will not leave it” (Proverbs 22:6).

Next month, I will share practical ways you can co-labor alongside your youth pastor to help the students run their race well — to run the narrow path and not leave it. In the meantime, this is the back-to-school season. Make a commitment, as a family, that no matter the academic, athletic or arts schedule, that you will not forsake time with “[those who are] continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer” (Acts 2:42).

The youth pastor is not your child’s primary disciple-maker. You are.

C.J. Wetzler is the NextGen pastor at The Church at Deerfield Beach. Before transitioning into full-time ministry, CJ was a commercial airline captain and high school leadership and science teacher. For questions or comments he can be reached at cj@dfb.church.

Please click here if you can’t see the document below.

By Gary Curreri

Highlands Christian Academy (HCA) has added two coaches – Dwayne Marcum (Girls Varsity Basketball) and Taylor Townsend (Girls Varsity Soccer) to their coaching staff for the upcoming high school year.

HCA Athletic Director Jim Good was raving over his team recent hires saying they were exactly what he was looking for to lead his students both on and off the field.

“I am so excited to welcome Taylor as our new girls soccer coach,” Good said. “Taylor has learned to use her talents to spread the love of Christ. I know our girls will enjoy her passionate style of coaching and look up to her as a role model. HCA is grateful and excited to welcome Taylor to the HCA coaching family.”

“I am very grateful for this opportunity to be the head girls soccer coach at Highlands Christian Academy,” Townsend said. “Highlands is an amazing school and I am looking forward to a great season with the girls.”

Townsend is a Florida Atlantic University graduate with a degree in communications. She played two years at the University of Central Florida before transferring to Florida Atlantic University (FAU). While at the University of Central Florida, she made the Top 100 Freshman list. 

She then helped lead FAU to the Conference USA Tournament and has been a member of the Women’s Premier Soccer League Team Boca Blast semi-professional squad from 2012-16 and is that team’s leading goal scorer.

Most recently, she played with Club Universitario de Deportes, a Peruvian professional team. 

Townsend was an assistant coach for West Boca High School, as well as American Heritage-Delray and is currently working as an individual trainer.

Marcum has experience coaching both male and female basketball teams.

Marcum began his coaching career in 2000 at Pompano Lighthouse Christian Academy, where he coached until 2004. He then took over as the Boys Varsity Coach at Green Acres Christian Academy and coached there from 2005-2008.

Coach Marcum then began coaching at Hope Bible College in 2009 and stayed until 2012. He then coached one season of Boys Varsity Basketball at Hollywood Christian in 2014-2015 and then one year of Girls Varsity at Berean Christian from 2015-2016.

“We are very excited to welcome Coach Marcum to the HCA Coaching family,” Good added. “He brings experience, knowledge and passion, and I am confident he will do a great job with our girls. He loves the Lord and will be a great role model to our young ladies as we represent HCA and, ultimately, Christ.”

Marcum is married to Denise and has three grown children — Joshua, Jordann and Christian.  

On to college

Two local football players have verbally committed to play college football.

Deerfield Beach High School tight end Daniel Barker committed to Illinois and Blanche Ely High linebacker Carlton Cleophat committed to Central Michigan.

Barker is the second Buck to pledge with the Fighting Illini this summer, following in the footsteps of senior running back Jakari Norwood, who committed to Champaign-Urbana. 

By “Cinema” Dave

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

Don’t rush to go see Dunkirk. Make plans to go see Christopher Nolan’s latest action movie. Sure Dunkirk fulfills the requisites for a typical summer blockbuster, but this film contains much depth of detail. This film is about loss and retreat, yet is filled with triumph.

The running time is less than two hours, but Dunkirk feels longer in a good, epic way. Given his previous work with Memento, Inception and Interstellar, it helps to understand Christopher Nolan’s conception of time. Dunkirk tells three stories that take place in one week, (The Mole), one day (The Sea) and one hour (The Air). 

Dunkirk opens on The Mole, in which British soldiers walk abandoned streets in Dunkirk, France. Paper propaganda from the Nazis tells the residents that Germany is in control of the city.  As Tommy (Fionn Whitehead) reads the propaganda, his mates are gun downed by an unseen enemy. Tommy escapes to the pier where a Red Cross ship awaits departure.

Volunteer civilian boaters are the focus of The Sea, which features Mr. Dawson (Mark Rylance) and his son. Rather than waiting for the British bureaucracy to figure out the proper procedure to rescue stranded soldiers, Mr. Dawson, his son and his special needs deckhand George impulsively join the rescue operation. Their first rescue involves a shell-shocked soldier (Cillian Murphy), whose behavior could create disastrous repercussions.

The Air ties up the entire narrative of Dunkirk. Three Spitfire airplanes (with Mercedes engines) are sent out to provide air support to the rescue operation. With limited fuel supply, the Spitfires are outnumbered by the Nazi airforce. When the team leader is downed, it is up to Farrier (Tom Hardy) to protect the British ships at sea.

Understanding the concepts of time and location in advance will enhance one’s viewing pleasure of this movie. As the timelines converge, we witness multiple perspectives of the same situation (i.e. the bombing of a minesweeper) and we see how it affects all the protagonists.

With limited dialogue, Dunkirk is a visual treat. With the exception of Mark Rylance, Kenneth Branagh, Cillian Murphy and Tom Hardy, Dunkirk features a cast of young faces with potentially strong careers in the future, most notably Fionn Whitehead as Tommy. Dunkirk will be an Oscar-worthy contender that is best seen on the big screen this summer. Go see it!

Deerfield Beach

July 18: A man was issued at Notice To Appear in court after being caught stealing multiple items from Walmart at 1101 S. Military Tr.

July 18: A man reported his home at 1300 SE 12 Terr. broken into. He reported a 55 in. TV, valued at $1,600, a laptop valued at $2,000, two credit cards and $1,500 in Norwegian currency stolen.

July 20: It was reported that two people broke into Expert Auto Group at 4301 N. Dixie Hwy. and stole $2,500 worth of auto parts.

July 20: A man reported his car stolen from 905 SE 13 Ct.

July 20: A woman reported her car parked at 1000 E. Hillsboro Blvd. was broken into and $100 in cash, a purse and credit cards were stolen.

Lighthouse Point

July 5: A public works employee discovered a wallet at 3000 NE 52 St. and brought it to the police department.

July 6: Police were responding to an alarm call to motion in a master bedroom at 2421 NE 32 Ct. The alarm company reported that the resident called in a proper code.

July 8: The victim said he lost his wallet at a gas station at 5200 N. Federal Hwy.

(This is a partial list. For Deerfield Beach Crime Watch in full, visit www.DFB.City and click on “Sign Me Up” to receive the city wide report.)

Superhero Splash Bash

Friday, Aug. 4, 6 to 10 p.m.

Quiet Waters Park (Splash Adventure)

401 S. Powerline Rd.

Deerfield Beach, FL 33442

Splash to your heart’s content and wear your superhero swimsuit. There may just be superhero photo ops, games, a movie, an obstacle course, a bounce house, prizes and more. No matter what, it will be plenty of fun and a great way to beat the summer heat. $6 a person. Ages 12 months and under admitted free. Pre-registration is required and prepayment are required. For more information, call 954-357-5100 or go to www.Broward.org/Parks.

Old Town Untapped

Friday, Aug. 4, 6 to 9 p.m.

Bailey Contemporary Arts

41 NE 1 St.

Pompano Beach, FL 33060

Held the first Friday of every month, this event brings out craft beer lovers as samples are handed out from local breweries. There also will be live music, food trucks, art and more.

Butler House Tour

Saturday, Aug. 5, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

380 E. Hillsboro Blvd.

Deerfield Beach, FL 33441

Tour this historic home and explore finds at the Alice B Gift Shop. Donation accepted.

Family Fun Day & Summer Splash Down

Saturday, Aug. 5, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

McNair Community Park

951 NW 27 Ave.

Pompano Beach, FL 33069

Enjoy a waterfall of fun in Pompano Beach! Eat delicious food and hometown favorites from local vendors. Enjoy live performances, kids’ water activities, motivational speakers, empowerment workshops and more! Visit disease prevention and family wellness vendors for free health screenings & educational information.

Save The Date: The Extreme Kayak Fishing Tournament Summer SLAM

• Galuppi’s

Thursday, Aug. 10, 6 to 9 p.m.

1103 N. Federal Hwy.

Pompano Beach, FL 33062

Join them for the kickoff party at Galuppi’s in Pompano Beach. There will be thousands of dollars worth of mer-chandise given away at their huge raffle to benefit the Broward Children’s Center.

• Pompano Beach Pier

Saturday, Aug. 12, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

222 N. Pompano Beach Blvd.

Pompano Beach, FL 33062.

The Extreme Kayak Fishing Tournament Summer SLAM part two is scheduled for Aug. 12, located just south of the Pompano Beach Pier. Anglers shoot off at 7 a.m. and weigh in is at 2:30 p.m. Bring your family and friends for a fun day in the sun! Mango will be performing live on stage from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Sunshine Sup Series will be at it again with their amazing paddle board races, free Sup, Kayak demos on the beach, and also D-Fit will be on the beach with their insane obstacle course competition. Also, there will be a lot of free goodies from all the different vendors! Everyone is welcome. All Registered anglers receive an awesome goody bag, free food provided by Zona Fresca, Jersey Mike’s and Dandee Donuts. Chance to win over $40,000 in cash and prizes! For more information, visit www.extremekayakfishing.com.

I Love the ‘90s Tour

Including Salt N Pepa, Vanilla Ice, Coolio & more

Saturday, Aug. 19, 7 p.m.

Pompano Beach Amphitheatre

1801 NE 6 St.

Pompano Beach, FL 33060

After a massive 2016 with over 110 shows across North America, the I LOVE THE ‘90s TOUR will continue its momentum in 2017, making its way to the Pompano Beach Amphitheatre on Aug. 19. The show promises fans an unbelievable live experience, with a lineup of the ‘90s most iconic acts. Limited number of Tour VIP packages are available, including exclusive Vanilla Ice and Salt N Pepa VIP meet & greet packages. For details, please visit www.future-beat.com. Tickets: $25-$128. To purchase, visit www.ticketmaster.com or call 954-519-5500. For updates on upcoming tour dates, visit http://ilovethe90stour.com.

Pat Anderson’s Plein Air Painters

Students/Instructor August art show

Herb Skolnick Civic Center

800 SW 36 Ave.

Pompano Beach, FL 33069

Go and see the show and find out more about this refreshing new art technique. Join them to learn to paint impressions in Pompano Beach parks. 

Instructor Pat Anderson is a professional artist, experienced in teaching watercolors on the celebrity cruise ship through the Panama Canal and under the Solar Canopy in the Keys, with 20 years owning the store “Islandwear & Gifts” and art gallery in Lighthouse Point. 

Paint with Pat, become a better artist or find art to be a new hobby. Classes use prototypes of the PATENTED LEAF BAR™ easel/social table, art supplies and instruction. See Observer ad on Pg. 9.  Call 954-786-4111 to register.

Psychology Today published some time ago an experiment conducted by a Harvard psychologist named Dr. Robert Rosenthal on a group of students and teachers living in Jerusalem. The experiment went as follows: a group of physical education teachers and students were randomly chosen and randomly divided into three groups. 

In the first group, the teachers were told that previous testing indicated that all the students had an average ability in athletics and an average potential. The teachers were told, “Go and train them!” 

The second group of teachers was told that students in their group, based on previous testing, exhibited an unusually high potential for excellence in athletic…“Go and train them!” 

And the third group of teachers was told that their group of students had exhibited, based on previous testing, an extremely low potential for athletic training…“Now, go and train them!” 

The teachers were given several weeks to work with and interact with their student athletes. At the end of the training period the results were the same for male and female students, and for male and female teachers. All of those students who had been randomly identified as being rather average in ability performed about average on the tests. All of those students who were randomly identified as being above average, performed above average. All those students who were randomly identified as below the average, performed below the average by a considerable margin. The results of the test indicated that what the teachers thought their students’ ability was, and what the students themselves thought their ability was, went a long way toward deciding just how well they performed as athletes. 

Psychology Today took special note of this experiment because it confirmed in the physical arena what psychologists had long claimed to be true in the educational and emotional arena: The concept of the self-fulfilling prophecy. Students in classrooms, workers in shops, patients in therapy all do better when the person in charge expects them to do well, when they themselves expect to do well.

One’s own self esteem, one’s own self-image, what someone thinks of themselves and thinks himself capable of are extremely crucial factors in deciding what one can be, of what one is to make of himself or herself, and that the way we see ourselves plays an important role in the way others see us as well. 

The circus

Did you ever go to the circus? Remember those huge elephants that weighed several tons who were held in place by a small chain wrapped around one of their huge legs, and held to the ground by a small wooden stake? If those huge elephants wanted to, they could walk right through those small chains and that small wooden stake like a hot knife going through butter. But they don’t. Why is that? 

When they were little baby elephants, they were chained down by those same small chains and the small wooden stakes. But to them, as babies, they couldn’t move. They tried and tried and tried again and could not release themselves from those chains and stakes. And then, an interesting thing happened. They stop trying. They gave up. They developed a belief system.

Now, as adult elephants, they don’t try because they are programmed to believe that their efforts would be useless – in vain. As huge, adult elephants, they don’t even try. They’re held in prison by their beliefs. 

The same is true with so many of us. The spies in Moses times declared: “We were like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and so were we in their eyes.” As a result, the nation wept in vain. The spies caused the Jews to perceive themselves as hopeless, small and futile “grasshoppers.” Thus, they also came to believe that everyone looks at them as mere grasshoppers. When you think you are weak, you indeed become weak, and you believe that everyone considers you the same. 

Part of leaving exile and being worthy of redemption is that we must stand firm, united, filled with resolve. We must never capitulate. As individuals and as a community, we must dismiss the sense of powerlessness.

We ought to remember that in every situation we are empowered by G-d to create light out of darkness and to continue our march to bring healing and redemption to our world, with the coming of Messiah, so that this Tisha B’av (anniversary of the destruction of both Temples) is transformed into a grand festival. Amen.

Rabbi Tzvi Dechter is the director of Chabad of North Broward Beaches, located in the Venetian Isle Shopping Center at 2025 E. Sample Rd. in Lighthouse Point. For all upcoming events, please visit www.JewishLHP.com.

By Emily Rosen

ERosen424@aol.com

www.emilyrosen424.com

I have stuff on my mind and gotta say it – respectfully. I’ve been writing for this paper for, I guess, more than 10 years. I am a politics freak and have been asked not to write about politics. I have complied, even as I have often had to tie my hands behind my back before sitting down at my computer to write a piece of fluff.

I write this, not as a democrat or a republican, but as an American who cares above all, about character, morality, integrity, civility, compassion and respect for belief systems that differ from mine. I believe strongly that I can learn from people who don’t agree with me and I am, therefore, open to listening, with respect, to other points of view. I see this as an admirable quality passed on from parent to child and from the people we choose as leaders expressed by them, not with words, but with behaviors.

I have witnessed in my long life leaders on both sides of the political spectrum whose position as national role models have fallen way short of ideal, whose influence on national consciousness and character have given a subliminal pass to those who give credence to the mantra “I believe it is okay to do whatever I can get away with, regardless of consequences to others, or its inherent immorality, as long as it enhances my quality of life.”

And I have witnessed enough people who wanted a better quality of life for themselves, who wanted all the fantastical life improvements that were promised to them. They voted for the whole package.

The person who now has claim to the White House has indeed expressed with words and behaviors – very openly, and unapologetically, that very mantra. I will give him the benefit of what I do not know about him, that perhaps he has extended many kindnesses to people with whom “quid pro quo” was not the ruling motive. But what is open to the public is a cesspool of actions and relationships based on his philosophy of life…“what’s in it for me.”

Have I missed it? Is he on record showing some quality of inherent goodness or kindness that hasn’t been predicated on this principle?

Granted, goodness and kindness may be wimpy characteristics, and not ones we consciously seek in a leader. But the blatant and complete absence of them trumps whatever strengths are demonstrated when we evaluate what has come to be known as our national character. And folks, I really worry about our national character.

Our country was built by people of strong character and principles that extended beyond the me-me-me image reflected every time our president opens his mouth or thumbs a tweet. Do we want the persona he presents to be a role model for our kids and future generations?