Farewell to Curtiss Berry

CURTISS CROSBY BERRY

Mr. Curtiss C. Berry of Ft. Lauderdale passed away Thursday, January 20, 2022, at the age of 90.

Curtiss was born September 16, 1931, the 5th son of Rena Couch and Martin Berry.

Curtiss was a lifelong resident of Ft. Lauderdale.

After graduating from Lutheran High School in Ft. Lauderdale, he worked at the United States Post Office.

Curtiss joined the Army in March 1952 spending 30 months stationed in Germany.

After being honorably discharged he returned to Ft. Lauderdale and went back to work at the United States Post Office.

In December 1955 he began his truck driving career working with American Oil Company (AMOCO).

He later became a Commercial agent for Amoco (self-employed).

In 1956 Curtiss married Patricia Cramer and they had 3 children Michael, Rena, and Jill.

In 1967 he started Berry Brothers Oil Company. After selling the oil company in 1985 he started Curtiss Berry Trucking which consisted of hauling heavy equipment, cranes, bulldozers, etc. with his wife and son, Michael.

His wife, Pat, began a career with the Broward County Sheriff's Office.

Curtiss was a lifetime member of the Federal Little League assisting Floyd Hull with the building of the stadium.

He was also a lifetime member of the Lauderdale Small Boat Club, where he held office as Commodore and was on the board of directors. He was active with the waterway clean-up and enjoyed boating and participating in the boat parades.

Curtiss was very active with the Croissant Park Civic Association, held office as President, and was active on the recycling committee.

In the '60s Curtiss suggested installing an Air Horn on responding fire trucks to alert drivers.

Curtiss served on various City of Ft. Lauderdale boards for many years. After retirement Curtiss enjoyed growing tomatoes, visiting with friends in the neighborhood, and playing lotto.

Curtiss loved animals, feeding any that came around and helping his neighbors with many tasks including digging holes with a backhoe, planting trees for the beautification of Ft. Lauderdale. Many neighbors would stop to talk to Curtiss to get advice or just pass the time.

Curtiss was preceded in death by his parents and his brothers David and Gene.

He is survived by his wife Patricia Berry, children Michael Berry, Rena Greenway (Alfred), Jill (David), his grandson Joshua, his brothers Clifford and Martin, and many nieces and nephews.

A celebration of life will be held on February 4th, from 4:00 to 7:00 pm at:

Barbara Falowski Funeral Home, 900 NW 5th Ave, Ft. Lauderdale FL 33315

Graveside service will be held at the Lauderdale Memorial Gardens immediately following the memorial service.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in his name to:

Wounded Warriors Veterans Association or P&J Animal League, 410 SW 18th Street, Fort Lauderdale FL 33315 - a 501(c)3 or call 954-303-3860

 

#Croissant Park #Pet Photo Contest 2022

We haven't done this in a few years because we had Bark in the Park instead but Covid has put that event on temporary hold for now. It will reappear as soon as possible. It was a lot of fun to see everyone's photo entries a few years ago and we hope to get even more this year. Please use Nextdoor and search for #Croissant Park #Pet Photo Contest 2022 and use THAT POST ONLY to submit your entry. Rules:

1. You must be a member of the Croissant Park Civic Association in 2022 to submit a photo. Anyone can vote if you live in Croissant Park. 2. Any pet is eligible - does not have to be a dog or cat. You can submit more than one in separate replies. 3. If you would like to submit a photo but are not yet a member, you will need to join by retrieving the Membership Application in the 'Documents' section under the green 'Home' label located on the left of your screen if you are on Nextdoor and mail a check right away. You can also join via PayPal - just send $20 to MyCroissantPark@gmail.com. If you can't find the Membership Application, just mail a check to CPCA, P.O. Box 13117, Fort Lauderdale FL 33316. You can submit your photo online via Nextdoor now - but it will not be voted on unless you join either before, or at the February meeting (if we are able to have an in-person meeting as planned). 4. Voting will be entirely online since we aren't sure about a February in-person meeting yet. You can vote with a 'reply' to your favorite pet picture on the thread or a Private Message to me if you want your vote to be confidential and a surprise. 5. Submission deadline is Monday, February 21st (President's Day). But the sooner you post your picture, the more opportunities to have a neighbor vote for you! Hint - gather your Croissant Park neighbors to vote - It's Legal! 6. The winner will be featured on Nextdoor and will receive a great prize!

Rhonda Kramer

Helpme@RhondaKramer.com

Croissant Park Neighborhood Meeting January 2022

 CPCA Neighborhood meeting January 2022

—A ZOOM meeting was attended by the CPCA Board and some members of the Association.

—FLPD Officer Pena is Croissant Park’s new Zone Officer. Ofc. Pena reported that CPCA has the lowest crimes of any civic association in our area. For December 2021 and January 2022 to date, there was only one crime reported, an auto theft.  The definition of auto theft is when a vehicle is actually stolen.  Auto burglary/robbery is when an auto is broken into and items are stolen.  We can look forward to Ofc. Pena supplying us with the crime report at future meetings.  

—Karen Warfel and Shelby Rodrigues from the City’s Systems Planning Office were invited to our Zoom meeting to present their plans for SW/SE 17th Street, from SW 9th Ave. to Federal Hwy.  At issue are the bike lanes: four options are on the table: 1) 11’ vehicle travel lane with 4’ bike lanes,  2) move trees between vehicles and bike lane, 3) raise bike lane to sidewalk level, 4)  two-way bike lane on S side only, 5’ sidewalk, two 11’ vehicle lanes. Traffic calming is the ultimate goal.  The S curve at the railroad tracks and 17th Street is also under discussion. FEC RR may straighten the track.  More signage,  re-striping to warn, and raised markers to alert drivers of the dangerous curve are also being discussed. Pat asked if the curb at the canvas shop could be removed.

In addition to these traffic issues on 17th Street, traffic has become a problem at the new Whole Foods entrance/exit on 17th Street, creating traffic jams in both directions.  Karen Warfel assures us that the Systems Planning Office will look into it and consider various solutions.

—PET PHOTO CONTEST-Hopefully our next Neighborhood meeting will be in person at the Community Center on February 22nd and Rhonda has announced that we will have our ever-popular Pet Photo Contest!  Starting February 1st you can post your adorable pet’s photo by finding the thread for “pet photo contest 2022” on Nextdoor.  Post your photo and vote!  Even if you don’t have a photo to share…Vote! Please do not post/vote elsewhere. Just use the post created for the contest or you will be lost.

—We hope to see you on February 22 at the Community Center. You can pay 2022 dues in person at the door, on PayPal, or by mail at: CPCA, P.O. Box 13117, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33316.  It is $20 and you can find the Association on PayPal at MyCroissantPark@gmail.com.

Minutes by Virginia Russell, Secretary

Croissant Park Civic Association 

Minutes of the General Meeting October 26, 2021 

Hello Croissant Park Neighbors, 

The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Heather at 7:02 pm. —Board members attending were Pat Rathburn, Michelle DiMaria, Virginia Russell, Joe Russell, Rhonda Kramer, Heather Cunniff, Jodi Perraud, and Larry Jackson.

Officers Gowans and Lopez reported a changing of the guard as to the officers who will be patrolling Croissant Park. The restructuring will include more officers and manpower. They will continue to coordinate with the civic associations, keeping us informed of the crime that occurs in our area. We had three residential burglaries and two auto burglaries. The officers continue to remind us to lock our cars, including in our driveways/carports. Both auto burglaries occurred in unlocked cars. They also remind us not to leave desirable items in plain view inside the car because that will lead to a broken window and theft. Also, key fobs in your house are often close enough to the car to cause your car to be unlocked. Test it to see if this condition exists. If it does, move the key fob further away from your car. Be vigilant in your neighborhood: is there a pool service truck at your neighbor’s house and your neighbor doesn’t have a pool? Or a landscaping truck is parked at your neighbor’s property and they take care of their own yard? These are some of the scams to beware of. While someone is “cleaning the pool” where there is no pool, someone could be casing the property. Get to know your neighbors.

The election committee for the slate of the CPCA Board of Directors was Jean Ready, John Mangione, Michelle DiMaria, and Jodi Perraud. There were no nominations from the floor and the existing slate of the Board was approved by the members attending the meeting. 

Our speaker tonight was Evan McCarthy from Happy Bee Honey Club. He is our locally famous bee guy who will humanely remove a beehive from your property. Evan stressed the importance of saving the bees that pollinate our world, rather than exterminating them. Evan and his bee-stung crew carefully remove the hive and relocate it to one of the four bee sanctuaries in Ft. Lauderdale. Happy Bee Honey Club is a non-profit organization. They sell the harvested honey at local farmers’ markets. If you eat locally harvested honey it may help to prevent allergies. 

—A discussion about the Poinciana Crossing apartment building that is nearly finished on SE 1st Avenue, just east of the railroad track and the playing field at Croissant Park Elementary School. We feel that we may have been misled when it was presented to our CPCA meeting. It is not within our physical boundaries but it affects our neighborhood. Our Board member Heather will follow up with the City to answer our queries. 

—Board member Jodi will bring neighbor, Ron B. Wilson to our January meeting to talk about his photography book Resilience. Should be interesting. That will be at our January meeting at the Community Center on January 25th, 2022. Wow, time marches on! 

Minutes by Virginia-Secretary 

Pictures by Rhonda - director

Croissant Park Neighborhood Meeting Tuesday, October 26, 2021

The Croissant Park Civic Association would like to invite you to our October Neighborhood meeting... in person! Join us at the Community Center on Tuesday, Oct 26th at 7pm. The Community Center is located next to the pools at 245 West Park Drive. Officers from FLPD will be there with the Crime Report for our area and to answer any questions or concerns you may have. Our speaker will be Evan McCarthy from the Happy Bee Honey Club to share his vast knowledge of bees. He and his team are locally famous for their humane bee hive relocation. We will also be voting on the slate of nominees for the CPCA 2022 Board of Directors. You may cast a vote if you are a member in good standing (dues paid for 2021 or paid at the door for 2022). Everyone is invited, member or not. Masks are required inside the building by Parks and Recreation. Hope to see you there.

General Meeting September 28, 2021

 General Meeting Croissant Park Civic Association September 2021

September 28, 2021

Hello CPCA Neighbors!

We had our first in-person meeting since January 2020 at the Croissant Park Community Center!  It’s been a year and eight months, wow! So good to see neighbors in person. We all wore face masks and were socially distanced, as required by the Parks and Rec Department.

The meeting was attended by Board members Pat Rathburn, Rhonda Kramer, Joe Russell, Heather Cunniff, Jodi Perraud, and Virginia Russell.

Officer Rodriguez

After the Pledge of Allegiance, our first speaker was FLPD Officer Rodriguez to give us our Croissant Park crime report for August and September 2021.  August had one vehicle theft.  September reported two residential burglaries.  This is an extremely low incidence of crime, compared to the past.  Ofc. Rodriguez reminds us that crimes usually happen to cars and homes that have vulnerabilities, such as an unlocked car door, or in the case of a locked car a valuable left in plain sight causing a broken window theft.  In our homes, we need to stay vigilant about open windows and easily accessed garages and sheds.  He also recommends doorbell cameras such as Ring and others on the market.  Cameras placed around the property will aid the police in the capture of the bad guy. Be vigilant, watch out for your neighbors if you see suspicious activity call the police at 911 before you post on Nextdoor!  

Our next guest speaker was Bob Wolfe from the Broward County Property Appraisers office, Mobile Exemption and Information Team.  He explained the Florida Portability Act, which allows you to take your equity with you when you sell your home and move it to the new home (in Florida) without an enormous tax penalty.  He also told us about a program called OwnerAlert, a free service provided by the Broward County Property Appraiser that notifies you of a deed changing ownership on your property.  You can sign up online for this service at

web.bcpa.net/owneralert or call (954) 357-5579.

Bob Wolfe with Virginia on left

We will be taking nominations for the Croissant Park Board of Directors and the vote will be held at the October General meeting.  The nominating committee is made up of two members in good standing and two members of the CPCA Board.  They are the following: Jean Ready, John Marangio, Heather Cunniff, and Jodi Perraud. If you would like to nominate someone or yourself, that person must be a current member in good standing (dues paid).  Submit nomination to: MyCroissantPark@gmail.com

Pat will look into the Public Notice that has been posted regarding the property located on 14th Court and 9th Avenue.  Stay tuned.

Our next General meeting will be on Tuesday, October 26th.  We are not sure if it will be in-person or on Zoom.  We will email and post on Nextdoor when we get closer to that date.

Minutes by Virginia-Secretary

Pictures by Rhonda

p.s. If you are not getting meeting notices but would like to, just send your request to MyCroissantPark@gmail.com and you will be added to the neighborhood list. We post on Nextdoor but not everybody monitors that site for info and it is easy to miss an announcement.

Neighborhood Meeting - Tuesday, September 28, 2021

AGENDA:

Appointment of the nominating committee for the 2022 Association board of directors.

Police Update.

Speaker- Representative from the Broward County Property Appraisers office who will explain their program for fraud prevention and also be able to answer questions about Homestead, portability, or the like.

Old business

New business

We strongly encourage our members planning to attend our first “in person” Civic Association Meeting in 18 months to be vaccinated, but we are not requiring proof of vaccination. Parks and Recreation is, however, requiring that all attendees wear masks while at the meeting. 

Thank you for your cooperation with these protocols to keep you, and your neighbors, safe.

The meeting is at 7:00 in the Community Center - 245 West Park Drive (next to the pools)

Patricia Rathburn, President

Croissant Park Civic Association