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City of Port St. Lucie implements COVID-19 Emergency Housing Assistance Programs
In response to the substantial financial hardships of COVID-19, the City of Port St. Lucie is administering two Emergency Housing Assistance Grant Programs through the Neighborhood Services Department.
Emergency COVID-19Mortgage Assistance
Assistance is limited to a one-time payment equal to three months
of mortgage payments, not to exceed $10,000, and until grant funds are exhausted. The program is available for households earning up to 80% of the area median income (households with 0-60% of the area median income will be prioritized based on the the funding rules and regulations).
Get in your application early; it is recommended you do not wait until the last day to submit.
The application will be open from noon March 3, 2022, to noon March 10, 2022. Review the Program Guide & Document Checklist to prepare for the application opening.
City residents have a new opportunity to apply for an allocation from about $1.5 million in rental assistance provided through a federal program.
All grant applicants must be pre-qualified to be considered for temporary rental and mortgage assistance. Proof of hardship is required. Programs will remain open until funding is exhausted.
Financial assistance can be used for past due, current month or up to three months of future rent, not exceeding a total of 18 months of total assistance.
The City’s Emergency Rental and Mortgage Assistance Programs were established to assist the most vulnerable, low-moderate, income-eligible residents of the City who are experiencing a COVID-19 hardship.
If you do not qualify for one of these City programs, the state also has mortgage and rental assistance available for a wider range of Florida residents.
You can apply for Florida’ Mortgage Assistance – Homeowner Assistance Fund (HAF) via the Department of Economic Opportunity at floridajobs.org/HAF
You can also apply for Florida’ Rental Assistance via the Department of Children and Families at www.ourflorida.com
Date:Tuesday February 22, 2022 through Saturday February 26, 2022.
Time: 10:00 am – 12:30 pm
Location: FAU Harbor Branch
Address: 5600 N US Highway 1, Fort Pierce FL 34946
Price: $20/ person
Category: Educational
FAU Harbor Branch welcomes you to go behind the scenes with one of our outreach scientists to learn more about the research being conducted by the Institute. During this 1.5-hour golf-cart tour, participants will explore our 144-acre waterfront campus, learn about our history, hear highlights of the cutting-edge research being conducted by our marine scientists and engineers, and discover the impact that our work has on their everyday lives. Spaces fill fast, so book your tour today over the phone (772-242-2293) or in person at the Ocean Discovery Visitors Center.
Address: 9221 SE Event Center Pl, Port St. Lucie , FL, 34952
Category: Concert / Live Music
Come out and enjoy some of the greatest songs ever performed!Miles savage and the last original stars
Led by Myles Savage, Myles delivers smooth renditions, crooning a middle of the road style that puts a soulful coat of uptown polish on pop-harmony rich material. He’s a part of a legacy that includes a lengthy string of hits like “Only You,” “Twilight Time,” “Harbor Lights,” “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes,” “My Prayer,” “The Great Pretender,” and many more. THE PLATTERS were inducted into the 1990 Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame. Mr. Savage is proud to be a part of the legacy of The Platters, known as “The International Ambassador of Romance.”
Joining Myles is Ramon Noble, lead singer from the Drifters. Early Clover lead singer saluting the Coasters. Maurice Jones, lead singer from Richard Street’s Temptations.
1 Day Only! Friday, Feb 25 | 3 p.m. & 7 p.m.
Starting now until December 25, tickets are buy 1 get 1 free. After December 25, tickets will be $80 each. Call 1-904-826-5020 to purchase your tickets.
This amazing event will benefit The Veterans of Foreign Wars.
Address: 117 S. 2nd Street, Fort Pierce, FL, 34950
Price: Starting at $52
Category: Concert / Live Music
This incredible live show creates a new era in Irish entertainment, containing a wealth of Irish talent, featuring World and Irish champion dancers, some of the finest Traditional musicians and singers who are a big hit everywhere.
Combining traditional dance and music with the most up to date stage technology, this two-hour dance and music extravaganza takes the audiences on an exhilarating and exciting, energy-packed time trip through the ages. Its internationally rated as one of the most popular and busiest Irish step dance shows in the world making it such a success with critics and audiences worldwide. It really is out of this world as seen by 7 million people in 50 countries.
Come for a nice stroll through the Tradition Green Market every Saturday from 9am to 1pm. Completely outdoors and perfect for social distancing.
Over 30 different vendors on one long strip with organic fruits, vegetables, mushrooms, fresh produce, raw local honey, free-range organic eggs, kombucha, fresh juices, baked goods, gluten-free bread, pastries, desserts, spices, marinades, jams, marmalades, plants, herbs, flowers, orchids, fresh local beef.
We also offer home decor, custom jewelry, fabric masks, clothes, shoes, custom and handmade products, arts and crafts, unique gifts, goods, services and so much more.
Our vendors and farmers rotate so we don’t always have the same products but we’ll always have something good every Saturday.
Brunch food trucks too!!
Come spend the morning with us, and support your local vendors and small business, we’ll have a nice gourmet coffee and warm breakfast waiting for you every Saturday from 9am to 1pm “Rain or Shine”
“Tradition Neighborhood Market “ is located in the parking lot across from Target and Michael’s in Tradition – Port St Lucie.
Free Parking-Free Parking lot and Pets are always welcome !!!
Indoor Event 10AM-5PM. Enjoy LIVE MUSIC from NOON-3PM. Shop with local vendors for great gift ideas…or treat yourself! Try your luck at great raffle prizes to support the Humane Society of Vero Beach. Vendor spaces available! Something for everyone!!
The Martin County Jaguars Youth Football League invites all Martin County families to join us for our 2022 Family Fun Day! There will be music, food, a 50/50 raffle, bounce houses, silent auctions, games for kids, and so much more. Year over year, this event is loads of community fun and helps to increase awareness and local support to our league. Donations from this event help us to provide equipment, uniforms, and future scholarships to our players. The event is FREE and open to the public. It is $5 per child to bounce in one of our bounce houses, and food prices vary depending on what is ordered. Bring cash to participate in the 50/50 raffle or one of our raffles. We hope to see you there!
Join the Treasure Coast Symphony for a delightful afternoon of orchestral POPS music in Memorial Park. The program will include favorites from radio, TV and film.
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to inspire changes within the home. Here’s a toast to one of the latest: the return (and update) of the at-home bar.
In addition to spurring designated work-from-home spaces, larger kitchen islands, and more relaxing outdoor living areas, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought back the at-home bar trend in a renaissance of home entertaining.
What started with Zoom cocktail gatherings and mixology events has stirred more homeowners to create an at-home bar.
In its 2021 Houzz Emerging Home Design Trends Report, Houzz, an online design source, found that searches for home bars and wine cellars both were up nearly four times from the prior year.
“People have been relying on their homes to provide new avenues of activity and entertainment since the beginning of the pandemic,” says Julie Noble, senior communications manager.
The concept isn’t new, however. At-home bars were a centerpiece for entertaining guests in the 1950s and 1960s. A certain cohort may recall the scene in the 1967 movie “The Graduate,” when Mrs. Robinson sat down at her home bar and asked college grad Benjamin what he wanted to drink.
Today, homeowners have adjusted their room designs and decors themselves to bring together the furnishing needed for a bar. Some are as simple as bottles of liquor and wine, along with an ice bucket, glasses, napkins, stirrers, and coasters on a counter or big tray. Others are professionally designed with added features such as shelves, cabinetry, a sink, and a refrigerator or wine cooler.
The interest in home bars also led to the return of stylish bar carts, which can roll into different rooms and outdoors.
Dallas-based architect Eddie Maestri of Studio Maestri is among the professionals who have found the at-home bar to be an increasingly popular client request.
“Every single project we have currently involves a bar of some sort,” he says. “We are doing a lot of floating shelving on brass, incorporating mirrors into the back wall, for sure. Whether it has a sink just depends on the space and if the client wants one.”
Maestri, himself, has an at-home bar with a sink and ice maker. He also just completed a project for a client converting a dining room into a bar.
“They used to be a formula: base cabinets, upper cabinets with glass doors, granite top, sink, and refrigerator,” she says. “Now, they are often more artfully designed with floating shelves, LED lighting in a channel on the underside of the shelf, and beautiful hardware.”
Professionals like Chicago kitchen designer Mick De Giulio of de Giulio Kitchen Design agree that the at-home bar is being requested more often. He prefers to call it a beverage center. In addition to the pandemic trend of entertaining at home, De Giulio believes homeowners are also seeking an organized arrangement of living areas in an open plan.
“Beverage centers can include not only traditional barware, ice makers, sinks, and liquor storage but also refrigerated drawers for beverages and wine storage,” he says. “Companies like Sub-Zero have manufactured modular wine and refrigeration units in many more sizes and configurations, and now have the ability to mask the fronts with cabinet and furniture-like facades, allowing for bars that don’t look like bars but blend seamlessly into the surroundings.”
And Los Angeles–based designer Lori Gilder of Interior Makeovers Inc., who has seen an increased interest in home bars over the last few years, thinks the trend simply is another way homeowners reassessed their living spaces.
“We repurposed and redesigned unused living rooms by transforming them into new areas to entertain family and friends, indoors and outside,” she says. For some clients, Gilder has nestled dry bars into existing nooks, and for others, she set up more elaborate wet bars that included a sink, refrigeration, and display shelving for barware.
People’s “entertaining aesthetic tells a personal story,” Gilder says. To make the areas attractive, she carefully chooses finishes, woods, metals, stones, glass, wall coverings, integrated lighting, and hardware.
Where to put a bar varies according to how homeowners use their homes. Designer Jodi Swartz of KitchenVisions in Natick, Mass., has one large installation going into a basement. Typically, she places bars in a kitchen as a beverage center, or outside that room in a butler’s pantry, in an alcove, along the buffet wall of a dining room, or even behind a door in a closet. She tends to include a sink and refrigerator and often a dishwasher. For decoration, she might line a backsplash with tiles, a full splash of quartz, or a mirror, possibly an antique. She rarely uses wallpaper since it can easily get splattered.
Designer Krista Watterworth Alterman of Krista + Home in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., considers a custom bar to be a terrific way to use a fun nook or an unused area in a living room. “I like to add a bar to break up a very large space—it adds zones that are perfect for entertaining and connecting,” she says. Other additions include a lot of storage, open shelving, and an ice machine or wine fridge.
The popularity of the at-home bar has also helped designers boost business. Case in point: Renee and Marc Simon, owners of foo-BARS Designs in Ocala, Fla., experienced a 100% year-over-year sales increase for their furniture business, which started out making reception desks, then shifted to handcrafted bars. The bars vary in shape and size up to 14 feet. Most use pressure-treated lumber when designed for the outside and pine for bars inside a home; some are stained and others are painted. Others incorporate corrugated metal. And while many clients live in Florida, the couple has worked with homeowners in New York and California.
For now, nobody seems to know whether the home bar will remain an important part of more homeowners’ wish lists or fizzle when the pandemic ends.
How to stock a home bar? The site The Spruce Eats, offers suggestions. Cheers!
The National Association of REALTORS® is building on the success of its award-winning “That’s Who We R” ad campaign with new TV commercials, radio spots, social ads, and branded content partnerships that have begun rolling out for 2022. In this fourth wave of the campaign, NAR will further emphasize the difference between REALTORS® and non-member agents and listing apps through emotional and real-life storytelling.
The new campaign officially launches on Feb. 8. NAR is also releasing campaign advertising and social assets for members and REALTOR® associations to use in their marketing outreach that are available at ThatsWhoWeR.realtor and on NAR’s Photofy app.
“In 2022, the ‘That’s Who We R’ campaign shows compelling reasons to trust a REALTOR®, by demonstrating how they go above and beyond to make property ownership a reality,” says Karen Bebart, NAR’s director of consumer strategy and brand advertising. “The work focuses on the deep expertise of REALTORS®, human stories about their extraordinary caring, and their commitment to ethics, which validate an elevated experience compared to working with a non-member agent or using a ‘do-it-yourself’ tech platform.”
The NAR consumer ads have expanded their outreach since the 2019 start of the “That’s Who We R” campaign. The 2022 campaign ads stress professionalism and doing the right thing on behalf of clients. They feature different storylines around real estate transactions to capture the authentic, emotional, and unexpected moments that can occur in the buying process and how REALTORS® rise to help navigate those challenges.
“I can see my past clients and fellow members in these spots, so while these may be acted out commercials, they are as true to life as they can be,” says Justin Knoll, 2022 chair of NAR’s consumer communications committee. “The combined vision of the committee, staff, Havas, and industry professionals for consumer-facing media in 2022 is inspiring and speaks directly to REALTOR® expertise, commitment to ethics, and the relationships they foster throughout a home sale or purchase. The new spots breathe life into the connections we have and demonstrate how crucial it is to be the best advocate we can for our clients’ housing dreams.”
Beginning Feb. 8, new TV commercials will air across a variety of cable and syndication networks, such as on HGTV, Food Network, TBS, Bravo, and the newly launched Magnolia Network as well as on streaming services like HBO Max, Peacock, and more. The new ads also will stream during NCAA’s basketball March Madness and will air on the radio.
The “That’s Who We R” TV spots feature four storylines. View the videos here:
The new 2022 campaign assets are available for REALTORS® to download and use locally. Select from digital banners, print ads, and social images, along with suggested post copy to include.
Also, REALTORS® can find social assets and images on NAR’s Photofy app. Photofy allows you to personalize the campaign assets you use along with your photo or logo and contact information. Access the app: Photofy.com/nar
A local sheriff’s office has contacted the Broward, Palm Beaches and St. Lucie Realtors® about email scams that are targeting business owners, real estate agents, title agents and attorneys. As there has been a significant increase in these scams locally, they will be sharing this information with your agents in the near future.
ATTN: Business Owners, Real Estate Agents, Title Agents & Attorneys
The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office Financial Crimes Unit has seen a recent increase in cases involving email compromises specifically involving the interception of wire transfer instructions. In this scheme, the business owner/attorney/title agent, is involved in a transaction of either sending money to a vendor or to another title company for a real estate transaction.
The suspects hack into the victim’s email account and create rules within the email account that causes the wire instructions to go into another mailbox besides the inbox. Once they receive the wire instructions, the suspects then create a new email address that looks very similar to the real email address and then sends a new email with wire instructions directing the money to a different account.
For example, if the real email address was “abc123@gmail.com”, they would create a new email of “abc123@gmail.co” or if the real email address was scammer@gmail.com, they would create a new email of scamrner@gmail.com (replacing the “m” with “r” and “n” to make it look like an “m”). Once the funds are transferred to the suspect’s account, the funds are almost immediately withdrawn or transferred out.
In order to avoid becoming a victim to this scam, the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office recommends the following:
1. Make sure you’re using a secure password and change it every 30 days.
2. Check the rules on your email accounts frequently to make sure that nothing has been changed directing your emails to your trash or spam folders.
3. If you know you are going to be receiving wire instructions, please contact the person who will be sending the instructions via phone and verify what email address the instructions should be coming from.
4. Once you receive the wire instructions, contact the person you are sending the funds to via phone and verify the account number and bank.
5. Once the wire transfer is sent, contact the receiver via phone and make sure the funds were received.
6. Do not rely solely on the banks to recall the wire transfer and return the funds to your account regardless of what you are told by the local bank employee. Please make a report to your bank and the bank that the wire transfer was sent to. Insist that a fraud case be opened and request a bank case number.
7. And remember, the longer you wait to report the fraudulent wire transfer, the less likely it will be that law enforcement can recover any of the funds.
If, by chance, you become victim to this scam, make an immediate report to www.ic3.gov and contact your local law enforcement agency.
The year 2022 marks the 5th anniversary of the Broward, Palm Beaches, and St. Lucie Realtors® ‘mega merger’, when the Realtors® Association of the Palm Beaches and Greater Fort Lauderdale Realtors® merged in 2017. Upon announcement as the largest merger in the history of the National Association of Realtors® (NAR), all industry eyes were on the newly unified group, especially during the consolidation of their massive MLSs.
The unification created a rare opportunity for Realtors® in Broward, Palm Beach, and St. Lucie counties to tout their affiliation with one of the largest MLSs in the nation. The evolution of what is known as BeachesMLS today created both a single source for homebuyers and greater exposure for sellers throughout southeast Florida.
“It was no small feat merging 40,000 on-market listings, totaling over $21 billion in inventory, but we knew that MLS consolidation was essential to delivering seamless technology to our brokers and agents,” said Dionna Hall, CEO of Broward, Palm Beaches & St. Lucie Realtors® and BeachesMLS.
In 2019, the merged association went on to further consolidate the southeast Florida market by merging with the South Broward Board of Realtors®. The additional merger resulted in the association having complete NAR jurisdiction in Broward County, as well as the majority of listings in Broward, Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie counties.
Today their membership represents 40,000 Realtors® and over 41,000 BeachesMLS subscribers. As advocates of MLS consolidation, the mergers have created a new, much larger territory for expansion and growth without the need to join multiple MLSs.
With MLS consolidation in place, what’s on the horizon?
“The MLS landscape is changing at a record pace. New influences, both inside and outside of the industry, are increasingly moving into the MLS space, and unparalleled venture capital is entering the market. BeachesMLS will need to establish strategic relationships with a variety of groups and individuals to secure the future of our organization,” said Carlos A. Melendez, President of Broward, Palm Beaches & St. Lucie Realtors® and BeachesMLS.
BeachesMLS has already partnered with some big names in the industry, including FBS, Corelogic, Supra, IMAPP, Lone Wolf, Remine Pro, Realtor.com, and most recently, MLS Aligned.
BeachesMLS became an equity owner of MLS Aligned which consists of six forward-thinking multiple listing service organizations across seven states. MLS Aligned represents approximately 150,000 Realtors® and is constantly developing innovative partnerships and products to better serve their subscribers and consumers. Their API driven data distribution tool distributes large amounts of accurate and cutting-edge data to BeachesMLS subscribers.
The merger has also blazed a trail for improved collaboration and record-breaking participation with the Realtors® Political Action Committee (RPAC). Advocating efforts expanded across the local, state and national levels. In 2021, Broward, Palm Beaches & St. Lucie Realtors® raised $950,000, an amount that would not have been achievable without the mergers. Going into 2022, they are hoping to reach a new high for RPAC fundraising, as the yearly fundraising goal is set for $1 million.
In hindsight, does consolidation work?
MLS consolidation has been a hot topic in the industry for many years, and the consensus is still split. MLSs that are reluctant to change maintain that independence is key. In this story, however, MLS consolidation has proven to benefit subscribers at large in Broward, Palm Beach, and St. Lucie counties. Five years after consolidation, Broward, Palm Beaches, and St. Lucie Realtors® have grown 64 percent in membership to become the Association of Attraction in southeast Florida. They attribute their growth largely in part to the efficiency and data accuracy of BeachesMLS along with the association’s ability to maintain unsurpassed customer service during and after the mergers.
The Broward, Palm Beaches & St. Lucie Realtors® redefined their experience for members and subscribers. As the real estate industry constantly evolves, they have undoubtedly created a path for more Associations and MLSs to follow suit in the future.
Address: 9221 SE Event Center Pl, Port St. Lucie , FL, 34952
Price: $35/$45/$55
Category: Concert / Live Music
Jumpstarting her career, Jo Dee Messina’s breakout song, Heads Carolina, Tails California, made her a household name. Following the success of her debut, Jo Dee posted nine No. 1 hits, 16 Top 40 songs, sold over five million albums worldwide and was honored by the Academy of Country Music Awards, Country Music Association Awards, and Grammy Awards. As Jo Dees résumé grew, she proved to be a trendsetter and history-maker, becoming the first female in country music history to celebrate three consecutive multi-week, chart-topping songs.
Country hitmaker Tracy Byrd first reached No. 1 in 1993 with Holdin Heaven, and he followed up with a string of hits that include Watermelon Crawl, Big Love, Im From the Country, Ten Rounds With Jose Cuervo, Drinkin Bone and The Keeper of the Stars, which won ACM Song of the Year honors in 1996. He’s released 34 singles and 10 studio albums, four of which have been certified gold, one platinum and one double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.
Gates open at 5:30 p.m. | Show starts at 7 p.m.
Please note: This performance was rescheduled from its original date in April 2021. Any tickets that were previously purchased will automatically be transferred to the new show date. This event will be hosted outdoors. Rain or Shine.
Date: Saturday February 12, 2022 & Sunday February 13, 2022
Time: 9:00 am – 4:00 pm
Location: Port St. Lucie Botanical Gardens Event Lawn
Address: 2410 SE Westmoreland Blvd., Port St. Lucie , FL, 34952
Price: Free
Category: Sale / Food / Live Music
Check out all the Special Events that will be featured at next weekends 2022 Botanica Garden Festival Plant Sale, February 12th & 13th at the Port St. Lucie Botanical Gardens, sponsored by GL Homes.
We’ll have music from the Fort Pierce Jazz & Blues Society and our Children’s Story Hour in the Faerie Forrest. The Port St. Lucie Orchid Society will be presenting their Annual Orchid Show & Sale, as well as presenting Orchid Demonstrations in the Orchid Room.
To top that off, we’ll have lots of Vendors featuring everything for your garden and outdoor spaces, plant specials and sales in our Garden Center and Gardens Gate Gift Shop, tasty treats and much, much more.
We invite you to join us for 2-days of outdoor fun at the Port St. Lucie Botanical Gardens. See you there!
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Martin County Fair
Date: Friday February 11, 2022 through Saturday February 19, 2022.
Time: 5:00 pm – 12:00 am
Location: Martin County Fairgrounds
Address: 2616 se Dixie Hwy
Price: $10
Category: Arts / Exhibits
63rd Annual Martin County Fair. Come Celebrate MY TOWN. Carnival Rides, Fair Food, Exhibits, entertainment, fun for ALL ages.
Date:Event occurs the second Sunday of every month.
Time: All Day Event
Location: St. Lucie Mets Convention Center
Address: 8555 Commerce Centre Dr. Port Saint Lucie, FL 34986
Price: Free Admission
Category: Expo
The Port Saint Lucie Baseball Card Show is held on the 2nd Sunday every month at the St. Lucie Mets Convention Center at Barons Real Estate. 8555 Commerce Centre Dr. Port Saint Lucie, Florida 34986.
Show Hours: 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM
Collectible Trading Cards & Memorabilia!
Baseball, Football, Other Sports, Comics & Non-Sports!
