Page 8 - Palm City Spotlight - July '21

Page 8, Palm City Spotlight DOUBLE SPACE

in Your CommunitY

New Old Friends: WWII Alyn says, as he jokes about why he didn’t continue a career

Veterans Sharing Lives And as a pilot. Instead, Alyn bought his first piece of investment
real estate in Los Angeles in 1946 and went on to build a
Swapping Tales successful career as an executive with multimillion-dollar
textile companies. His entrepreneurial spirit led him out of
A chance encounter the “box” of corporate America and into new enterprises as
at the 2021 Memorial far flung as China. Eventually he developed his real estate
Day commemoration investment business and still manages a portfolio with more
ceremonies in Stuart than 250 investors.
has brought two World Steve pursued a degree in chemical engineering and went
War II veterans together to work for Chevron Oil, where he was a sales manager and
and started a lively had responsibility for quality control for their East Coast
conversation. The more operations. He too saw the advantages of investing in and
they talked, the more the managing real estate, which he did along with his son in
two vets discovered that they have even more in common several parts of the country.
than their military service. Steve Blauvelt and Alyn Bell enjoyed an afternoon of combing Both found joy in the game of golf. Steve says he started
Alyn Bell, 97, is a resident of Piper’s Landing in Palm through Alyn’s photos and clippings and sharing their playing at 13 in New Jersey and took his golf bag with him
City. After meeting Stuart resident Stephen Blauvelt, 103, memories of combat in WWII. even into the war in the Pacific. At 102, he was still playing
on Memorial Day, Alyn and his wife Diane invited Steve every day and had a handicap of 9. “You’re my hero,” Alyn
and his son to lunch at Piper’s to swap stories about their to rescue downed pilots as needed. It’s easy for the two says in hearing this. He too played golf until recently and
shared experiences. They couldn’t have predicted how veterans to imagine that Steve could have been flying low had the privilege of meeting some of the greats of the game.
many similar threads run through both their lives. in the area and available for rescue at the same time and During lunch, the vets traded stories of names and places
During WWII, Alyn flew B25s in the Pacific Theater. place where Alyn was bringing his B25 in for a landing. that strike an emotional chord in anyone who served in or
A commissioned officer in the Army Air Force, he flew Unlike Alyn, who graduated from the Air Force cadet has studied WWII. Alyn has an extensive folder of photos
24 combat bombing missions over Japanese strongholds. academy and then became an officer, Steve proclaims and news clips that he and Steve pored over as they swapped
The combat was fierce and risky. “I graduated from flight himself “the only cook who flew planes in the war.” He was war stories. Both immediately recognized the clipping about
school when I was just 19,” Alyn says. “At that age you a cook on a Coast Guard vehicle when the freighter he was the USS Rocky Mount, the admiral’s flagship in the Pacific,
think everything is an adventure. You don’t understand the escorting blew up, and the depth charges almost took out that they would have both seen on their flight patterns, and
danger of what you’re doing.” him and the escort crew. “We had no training, really,” he the tales about Doolittle’s daring raid over Tokyo just after
He recalls that when he first flew a plane with rockets said. “Someone should have told us about depth charges in Pearl Harbor.
strapped under the wings, there was no one who even shallow water.” So he chose to make a change and went to Flying planes in wartime, risking their lives in service
knew how to target them. “We did what we needed to flight school for the Coast Guard at Pensacola. “I still had to their country, enjoying golf and building similar careers.
do,” he says. my cook’s badge on my sleeve, though,” he says, “right These two strangers, serendipitously meeting in a park
As a member of the Coast Guard, Steve preferred small under my flying patch.” in Stuart, Fla., have now become fast friends, feeling the
planes. His mission in the Pacific was critical: to maintain At war’s end, each man left military service and started satisfaction of swapping tales with someone who truly
the navigation lights on the atolls of the Pacific islands and civilian careers. “Flying without a machine gun is no fun,” understands their lives well lived.
Treasure Coast Outdoors

By Jim Weix Ok, I admit that Stuart can provide some good fishing, during the winter months. That is in comparison to their other
Stuart was named one but geographically I think it might be more accurate to say top winter fishing spots of Lakes Mitchell and Cadillac, in
of the “Best Winter Fishing that the Treasure Coast is one of the best winter fishing Michigan, and Big Green Lake, in Wisconsin. I’ll take a
Destinations,” but… destinations. I guess that FishingBooker just felt that they winter day on the ocean here, over ice fishing, anytime.
Stuart was named to the actually needed to name a city. Back to reality, anglers are having good catches of golden
2021 “Best Winter Fishing They claim that if fishing out of Stuart, sailfish are almost tilefish and snowy grouper in deeper waters. Other grouper,
Destinations” nationwide, a sure thing, as are blackfin tuna, wahoo, and kingfish. I think mutton snapper, and seabass are providing good catches on
according to the blog the same claim could be made if fishing out of Fort Pierce the local reefs.
FishingBooker. It was the or Jupiter. I actually find the best wahoo fishing is closer to If you anchor, be sure to drop a chum bag down with a
only Florida city to make the Jupiter. Hobe Sound and Fort Pierce provide some of the weight. I simply attach one to a downrigger weight at the
list. FishingBooker (https:// best fishing for kingfish. bow of the boat. Then I fish on the bottom off the stern with
fishingbooker.com/blog/ FishingBooker says what makes Stuart different is that the weighted lines using live bait or chunks of fish. That chum
winter-fishing-destinations/) is an online marketplace for booking Gulf Stream comes very close to shore. If that is the reason, bag will make a world of difference, so take several with
yacht charters for recreational fishing. then fishing out of Jupiter or West Palm Beach should even you.
If you put out a couple of flat lines with live bait, you are
be better, as the Gulf Stream comes even closer to shore.
L
L AVARGNA AW PLLC They also mention great inshore fishing for speckled trout almost certain to boat some kingfish and even dolphin.
Editor’s note: Jim Weix is an avid hunter, angler,
and redfish. My guess is that the author hasn’t seen the sand
deserts in the Stuart area of the Indian River Lagoon, where
Jim is included in the Wisconsin Waterfowl Association’s
we used to have seagrass, before we became a dumping conservationist, as well as an outdoor writer.
. ground for Lake Okeechobee water. If you want speckled Hall of Fame, for his work in helping restore thousands of
acres of wetlands. Jim is a broker associate with The Keyes
trout and redfish you might want to head north to Fort Pierce.
. Wills and Trusts The one conclusion that FishingBooker got right was that Company. He can be reached at (772) 341-2941 or by email:
. Probate Stuart is great for winter fishing due to warm temperatures jimweix@jimweix.com.
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ANTHONY LAVARGNA
ANTHONY LAVARGNA
Member of the Florida Bar
Licensed in the United States
District Court, Southern and
Middle Districts of Florida

CARRIE LAVARGNA
CARRIE LAVARGNA
Accredited Estate Planner (AEP)
Board Certified
Real Estate Attorney
REAL ESTATE
We provide quality, personal legal services to individuals and
businesses in Martin and St. Lucie Counties and
throughout the Treasure Coast.
1805 S. Kanner Highway, Stuart Financial Center, Stuart, FL 34994
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772 286 7521
- REAL ESTATE PRACTICE TIP -

If you rent commercial o ce, retail, or warehouse space, Florida sales tax rate to use
commercial real property decreases to 5.7% on January 1, 2019. The local discretionary

sale surtax still applies. This decrease does not apply to parking or storage of motor
vehicles, docking or storage of boats or tie-down or storage of aircraft.