Wellington Expands Senior Ride Program New Freebee Program Offers A Convenient Alternative Transportation Service For Senior Citizens From Wellington

Wellington’s new agreement with Freebee offers a more convenient transportation service for senior citizens in Wellington. Wellington’s seniors now have access to this free program, Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Since 2010, the Village of Wellington has provided a limited transportation program for senior residents 62 years of age and older. In an effort to expand this program and its services, the village recently received proposals from interested firms to provide alternative transportation services using a ride-share-type system.

The ride-share transportation service includes the following: Monday through Saturday service from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. using two fully electric vehicles with unlimited rides. There is a mobile app with an option to request service via dispatch/call-in. The program offers door-to-door, on-demand service; a custom dashboard with the ability to display performance metrics in real time; and single or shared-use service.

Freebee replaced Wellington’s previous senior transportation program, which often carried around 10 people per day. Now, two Freebee cars serve between 20 and 30 people per day. The initial term of the contract began on May 1, 2024, for a three-year initial term, and provides for five one-year renewal options.

Freebee is a free electric-car service funded by the village’s Parks & Recreation Department. All rides must generally be within the village limits, but the cars will travel as far north as Southern Blvd. and as far south as Lake Worth Road. Riders must be at least 55 years old and Wellington residents.

Freebee, which was created by two University of Miami graduates, serves many municipalities in South Florida. The company calls their drivers “ambassadors” because they’re expected to be friendly, welcoming and talkative with the riders.

Riders can order a car through the Freebee app, or by calling a centralized dispatch. Unlike the popular ride-share apps Uber and Lyft, there isn’t a way to see reviews for local drivers. The app has a feature where riders can post photos and reviews, however, they aren’t specific to any driver or service area.

Wellington’s Freebee cars are Tesla Model X electric vehicles. A phone app makes calling a car similar to the procedure for Uber and Lyft, but rides are free.

“It’s convenient, it’s free, you’re having fun and smiling,” said Jason Spiegel, co-founder of the company. “We are short-distance, inter-municipality transportation that provides high ridership at a lower cost for cities because our clean-energy vehicles require less maintenance and no gas, compared to trolleys and buses or traditional car services.”

This new village transportation ride service, in partnership with Freebee, provides an increased level of service. It is a free shuttle service for Wellington residents age 55 and older offering unlimited door-to-door pick-ups and drop-offs in these new Tesla Model X vehicles.

Residents who use the program no longer need to provide the previously required 24-hour notice. Rides can be scheduled for same-day service with an average wait time of 15 minutes. Commuters also have the added flexibility of scheduling their rides up to five days in advance, ensuring that they can plan their travel with ease and reliability.

The service area includes anywhere within the Wellington municipal boundaries, as well as HCA Florida Palms West Hospital and its surrounding medical offices, as well as along State Road 7 from Southern Blvd. to Lake Worth Road. Service hours are Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., closed on Sunday.

Residents can sign up by visiting the Wellington Community Center for a one-time registration. Be sure to bring your ID and water or utility bill. Information can also be provided via e-mail to rides@wellingtonfl.gov.

To request a ride, residents should:

1. Call the Freebee dispatch number at (855) 918-3733 or download the Freebee App.
2. Request a pick-up.
3. Enjoy the free ride.

Village staff is working on targeted outreach to seniors, including current senior transportation commuters. The outreach plan includes senior workshops, pre-registration of current riders via the Freebee portal and direct mailers. Additional marketing and promotion of the service throughout Wellington will be scheduled in conjunction with Freebee’s economic development team.

To learn more about the Freebee service, visit www.wellingtonfl.gov/rides.

 

A Minister, Politician, Columnist And More Father John Mangrum Was An Instrumental Leader In The Early Years Of The Wellington Community

Father John Mangrum — also known as “Johnny The Stroller” — was a spiritual leader, early elected official, devoted community builder and beloved newspaper columnist. This month, our Wellington History series continues by featuring this instrumental leader from the early years of the Wellington community.

The early years of Wellington were filled with fascinating characters, but perhaps none of such well-rounded interests as Father John Mangrum.

Mangrum’s influence cut across many layers of the fledgling Wellington community. He was an Episcopal priest instrumental in growing one of Wellington’s earliest churches. Mangrum was also an ecumenical leader who helped several other religious congregations gain their foothold in Wellington. He was also an avid horse lover known as the “priest of polo,” who gave the opening prayers at the old Palm Beach Polo stadium.

Mangrum was also a political leader, joining the Acme Improvement District Board of Supervisors — Wellington’s pre-incorporation government — in 1981 as the first non-developer representative of the community. First by appointment, then by election, he served as an Acme supervisor for more than a decade as the community wrestled with the thorny issue of incorporation.

Beyond the religious and political spheres, Mangrum was also engaged in the crucial work of community building. His alter ego was “Johnny The Stroller,” the name of his long-running column in the Town-Crier newspaper. He went to events around the young community and wrote about them, always with a focus on weaving together a gathering of transplants from elsewhere into the backbone of a new Wellington community destined for greatness.

In 1976, St. David’s in the Pines Episcopal Church became the first church established in the new community of Wellington. It had a handful of member families when the Rev. John F. Mangrum became its second rector in 1979.

Originally from Grand Rapids, Michigan, Mangrum grew up with a deep love of baseball and music. He served in the Pacific during World War II after doing his basic training here in Palm Beach County. After the war, he studied at the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale University before returning to Michigan to serve as an Episcopal priest.

After several postings in Michigan, he moved to Florida with his wife Shirley in the mid-1950s, serving at congregations in Mount Dora, Avon Park, Tampa, Jacksonville and then Clewiston. He was serving in the Glades when he first heard of the huge new development known as Wellington, and when the position at St. David’s became available, Mangrum jumped at the chance to be involved.

Through the boom years of the 1980s, Mangrum grew his congregation from a few dozen families to more than 400. The church, under his leadership, built a new 300-seat building dedicated on Thanksgiving Day in 1987, and even hosted Prince Charles (now King Charles III) on Easter Sunday in 1980 during one of his polo-playing trips to Wellington.

“He was a very solid priest who brought people into the congregation when Wellington was growing,” recalled Father Steven Thomas, who followed Mangrum as rector at St. David’s. “He was actively involved in the life of the community.”

He first met Mangrum while Thomas was working at St. Andrew’s School in Boca Raton.

“All of the priests in the southern part of Palm Beach County met once a month. I invited him to come to St. Andrew’s for chapel. He would come maybe once a year and give a talk during the children’s service. He was popular. They loved hearing him,” Thomas recalled.

When Mangrum eventually decided to retire in the early 1990s, he brought Thomas to Wellington and urged him to apply for the position.

“He was instrumental in my coming to Wellington and put in a good word for me with the church council. That led to me being involved in the church community for three decades,” said Thomas, who retired as rector at St. David’s in 2023.

Mangrum’s role in the religious life of Wellington wasn’t contained to St. David’s and his Episcopal flock. He was an active member of the community’s clergy association and used the resources at his disposal to support other congregations. As the leader of Wellington’s first established congregation, Mangrum believed it was his sacred duty to help others get started.

St. David’s housed the fledgling congregations of Wellington Presbyterian Church, St. Peter’s United Methodist Church and Temple Beth Torah while they waited for their own properties to be developed. While the parish that became St. Rita Catholic Church never met at St. David’s, a major fundraiser supporting St. Rita was held at St. David’s.

By the early 1980s, there were several thousand residents living in Wellington, which was still largely controlled by developers. In 1981, the developers chose Mangrum for appointment to a seat on the Acme Improvement Board of Supervisors as a representative of the growing residential population. When several Acme seats were opened to the residents through election in 1989, he stayed on the board, this time as an elected representative.

Acme, Wellington’s pre-incorporation government, had limited control, largely over drainage, roads and parks. But it was also one of the only outlets residents had to express their concerns.

“Father Mangrum was a team player. He was always willing to listen to other people’s points of view,” said Kathy Foster, who served alongside Mangrum in the late 1980s and early 1990s. “When I was president of Acme, I could always count on him to help build consensus.”

Foster, who went on to become Wellington’s first mayor after incorporation, said that Mangrum was “definitely committed to the community and to what the people wanted.”

He was particularly useful at representing Wellington before the Palm Beach County Commission and other areas of county government. “A lot of negotiating went on with the county to make sure they didn’t implement something the people of Wellington did not want,” Foster said.

She added that Mangrum’s importance to early Wellington could not be overstated.

“Father Mangrum was an integral leader in the early Wellington community,” Foster said. “He and Father [Walter] Dockerill [of St. Rita] started the ecumenical association to bring all of the different faiths together.”

She particularly recalled his jubilant personality and his love of polo.

“The thing I remember most was that he always had a smile and witty remark for everyone he met,” Foster said. “He reigned every Sunday at his box at polo. He would call out to everyone passing by. He knew everyone’s names, and always had a kind comment to say.”

In his multi-faceted roles as a spiritual leader, elected official and community builder, one of the tools at Mangrum’s fingertips was his weekly “Johnny The Stroller” column in the Town-Crier. He put that famous wit of his to work, pen to paper, to continue building the Wellington community.

Sometimes he mused about community events, such as the Fourth of July fireworks show (“A Big Bang in Wellington”); sometimes he called for needed amenities (“Wellington Needs Its Own Community Center”); or espoused his favorite pastimes (“Polo Is The Place To Be On Sunday Afternoons”). The goal was the same — further the creation of the community called Wellington.

Reflecting years later, he expressed thanks to his good friend, Town-Crier founder Bob Markey Sr., for giving him a platform to continue his mission of preaching the gospel of Wellington.

Aside from all these other roles, Mangrum was also a charter member and president of the Wellington Rotary Club, a founding member of the Palms West Chamber of Commerce, a founding member and board member of the Wellington Boys & Girls Club, and a board member with the Vinceremos Therapeutic Riding Center.

In 1997, seven years after retiring from St. David’s, Mangrum and his wife left Wellington for a retirement community in Boca Raton. He did return on occasion, including to receive a community service award from the Town-Crier in 2000 and to have his name placed on Wellington’s Founders Plaque in 2003.

Shirley Mangrum passed away in 2001, while Father John Mangrum died March 18, 2010, at the age of 87.

“It was the great Henry Pitt Van Dusen who said that the minister is the duly accredited friend of the whole community,” Mangrum said when interviewed for his Town-Crier community service award in 2000. “That idea has governed my whole life. In Wellington, that is what I was, and that is why you were here talking to me today.”

A Expert Eye For Equine Art
International Fine Art Photographer Irina Kazaridi Is A Master With The Camera

By Mike May

Every year during the winter season, Wellington is home of many specialists in the equestrian world — riders, owners, trainers, grooms, breeders, coaches, journalists and more. Among the visitors are world-renowned equestrian photographers, and this year, that group included Irina Kazaridi, a fine art photographer who specializes in equestrian and polo photography.

Kazaridi hails from Beaulieu-sur-Mer, a scenic town in the south of France located between Nice and Monaco.

Recently, Kazaridi spent two months in Wellington, and she was not alone.

“My family joined me on this trip, so we combined it with a holiday,” she explained.

During the trip, she was able to mix business with pleasure.

“The main reason for coming to Wellington was the Winter Equestrian Festival, a unique and beautiful event that reunites the most elegant equestrian society and their most amazing horses,” Kazaridi said. “I had two small exhibitions of my work planned. One was at the beautiful private equestrian property in Wellington, Double A Stables, and another at the Longines Global Champions Tour in Miami. It was a great opportunity to showcase my work.”

Kazaridi has been taking photographs and showcasing her unique work for more than 10 years.

“I’ve been in the equestrian photography business since 2013, starting with polo in Saint-Tropez, which is near my home,” Kazaridi said. “Over the past 11 years, I’ve traveled the world to the most beautiful equestrian events.”

She excels in taking pictures of a wide variety of equine subjects.

“I photograph all types of horses, including jumpers, dressage, polo and racing horses,” Kazaridi explained.

She specializes in taking pictures of horses because of the appeal of the unexpected.

“I am drawn to taking pictures of horses because of the unpredictability of shooting, and the excitement of chasing the perfect shot,” Kazaridi said. “It’s also satisfying to see my works adorn the most sophisticated interiors.”

While Kazaridi knows how to take great pictures, her ability to bring that photo to life, so to speak, is what makes her artwork uniquely special.

“My specialty is creating fine art portraits for interior décor, and I collaborate with designers worldwide,” Kazaridi said.

One of Kazaridi’s biggest fans is equestrian Ariane Stiegler, president of Double A Stables in Wellington.

“What caught my eye was how she reached into horses’ souls and photographed them in a very unusual way — portraying only parts of their anatomy,” Stiegler said. “Her prints are large, extremely powerful and decorative. I knew when I called her that her uniqueness would set her apart from all traditional photographers in the United States and worldwide. I truly believe she is one of a kind.”

Kazaridi’s latest project is a new and different kind of equine pictorial.

“Now, I’m working on my new book of fine art photographs of the white wild horses of Camargue,” Kazaridi said. “It’s in the Provence region, in the south of France.”

Stiegler knows that Kazaridi’s new project will be well received by the general public, especially by horse lovers.

“She is extremely creative and her new endeavor of shooting horses in Camargue and putting together a book will propel her to new heights,” Stiegler said.

To learn more about the equine fine art photography of Irina Kazaridi, visit www.horseprintcollection.com.

Managing The Mall
Asad Sadiq, General Manager Of The Mall At Wellington Green, Enjoys His Job Helping Retailers And Residents

Asad Sadiq has always had a knack for numbers, a thirst for technology and a fervor for marketing. So, it should not be too surprising that he ended up as general manager of Wellington’s largest shopping venue.

“Looking back,” Sadiq said, “it’s almost as if I was destined for this career path.”

Sadiq is the general manager of the Mall at Wellington Green, a 1.2 million-square-foot, two-level, regional shopping destination featuring more than 160 retail stores, dining destinations and entertainment outlets, anchored by Macy’s, Dillard’s, JCPenney, City Furniture/Ashley Furniture and CMX Cinemas. He has served in his current role since July 2021.

Growing up in Chicago, Sadiq was the oldest of three children. His father was a professional electrician and drove a limousine as a side hustle for 15 years. That side hustle would also help Sadiq pay for college at DePaul University, where he received his bachelor’s degree in finance and commerce.

“I would drive for my dad for a semester, save my money, then be able to pay tuition the following semester,” Sadiq recalled. “It was really a great gig.”

He also learned the value of customer service in that role, which is an integral part of his current position.

“Working in a retail environment and interacting with our tenants and guests can be challenging at times,” Sadiq explained. “But I often find it to be the most rewarding part of what I do. Helping our merchants — particularly our small, independent retailers — achieve their dream of opening a store is easily the part of my job I love the most.”

Sadiq has more than 15 years of C-Suite-level accounting experience in both the public and private sectors. He previously served as property accountant for Starwood Retail Partners, a division of Starwood Capital Group, then transitioned into property management, first as the assistant general manager of Southlake Mall in Merrillville, Indiana, then at Fairlane Town Center in Dearborn, Michigan, both Starwood properties.

The Mall at Wellington Green is managed by the New York-based Spinoso Real Estate Group (www.spinosoreg.com), which oversees operations of more than 74.9 million square feet of enclosed malls throughout the United States. Spinoso brings a creative, entrepreneurial approach to real estate development and management, delivering and sustaining successful projects across a wide range of property types across the country. This portfolio includes work on hundreds of enclosed shopping malls, lifestyle centers and large-scale retail projects.

When he’s not leading his management teams to achieve sales and NOI (net operating income) goals with the latest innovation and technology, Sadiq is likely to be found cooking; enjoying a polo match with his wife Sadfeen and two daughters, Summer and Ellie; or volunteering his time as the leader of Switch, a weekly mentoring program for high school boys at Life.Church in Wellington.

“I’m extremely blessed to have an opportunity to mentor these incredible middle school and high school kids,” Sadiq said. “Programs like these are essential to help these kids find and build strength in their mind and soul, especially in today’s world where there are so many negative distractions.”

Sadiq also recently returned from a humanitarian aid trip to Cuba with Gateway of Hope, a nonprofit organization that funds care centers that distribute medicine and vitamins to children and pregnant women, organizes athletic programs for youth and other services.

Sadiq and his family love living in Wellington and, aside from their go-to dining spots at the Mall at Wellington Green, they do have a couple of local favorites in the community — both not far from his day job at the mall.

“Kaluz has a great kid’s menu, and our girls just love it there,” he said. “Sicilian Oven also never disappoints.”

The Mall at Wellington Green is home to more than 160 stores. The regional shopping destination is located at 10300 W. Forest Hill Blvd. in Wellington. Mall hours are Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

For more information about the Mall at Wellington Green, call (561) 227-6900 or visit www.shopwellingtongreen.com.

Vision Zero Action Plan
The Village Of Wellington Has An Ambitious Goal Aimed At Eliminating Traffic Fatalities

The Village of Wellington is currently developing a Vision Zero Action Plan. This plan will guide policies and programs with the goal of eliminating traffic crashes that result in fatalities and severe injuries. Let’s learn more about what this means for residents.

I remember when automobile drivers and passengers could legally choose not to wear seat belts. Similarly, and almost unfathomably by today’s standards, automobile drivers were once able to consume alcohol while driving. Thankfully, legislators took away these choices. Additionally, in 2009, the law which makes it illegal to be unrestrained while riding in a car became a primary law. This means that you can be pulled over and issued a citation simply if you are not wearing your seatbelt. But the result — thousands of lives saved, and serious injuries prevented — has undoubtedly been worth giving up the dubious freedom to go beltless.

Better Vision
Today, as we see roadway fatalities rising and a disturbing 50-percent increase in pedestrian deaths during roughly the last decade nationwide, many transportation professionals are re-doubling their efforts using “Vision Zero,” an approach that has been successfully embraced in several states during the last two decades. This fundamentally new mindset envisions a transportation system in which most serious crashes are prevented. To achieve this, some of our cherished freedoms — especially the freedom to drive at maximum speeds — must be constrained.

First implemented in Sweden in the 1990s, Vision Zero has been adopted by the European Union with an intermediary target of a 50-percent reduction in deaths and serious injuries by 2030. Europe already has seen a 36-percent reduction in road deaths from 2010 to 2020.

Wellington’s Vision
The Village of Wellington is currently developing a Vision Zero Action Plan. This plan will guide policies and programs with the goal of eliminating traffic crashes that result in fatalities and severe injuries along Wellington’s roadways. The village’s Vision Zero initiative strives to improve safety for everyone traveling around the community, whether walking, cycling, driving, horseback riding or riding transit, and to improve the identified high-crash injury locations, all in an effort to prevent fatal and severe injury crashes. The Vision Zero Action Plan sets an ambitious long-term goal to eliminate traffic fatalities and serious injuries from occurring along Wellington’s roadways. Vision Zero programs prioritize safety over other transportation goals, acknowledge that traffic fatalities and serious injuries are preventable, and incorporate a multidisciplinary Safe System approach.

The core belief of Vision Zero is that fatal and severe injury crashes are unacceptable and preventable. This approach to safety brings together education, data-driven decision-making and community engagement with context-sensitive, people-centric street designs that account for human error, promote slower speeds and improve mobility for all users. With this Vision Zero approach, Wellington’s departments and residents work together to make village streets safer and meet the goal of zero deaths and serious injuries attributable to traffic crashes in Wellington by 2030.

The Wellington Village Council formally adopted Vision Zero, an ambitious commitment to eliminate traffic fatalities by 2030, through Resolution R2022-15 passed in July 2022 mandating a safe systems approach and equitable action plan aimed at saving lives on local roads.

What Is Vision Zero?
Vision Zero is an international effort to eliminate all fatal and serious injury traffic crashes. Adopted by dozens of communities across the United States, it is a heartfelt belief that these crashes are preventable, and that changed attitudes and approaches will enable success.

Vision Zero is based on five key principles: Traffic deaths and severe injuries are preventable; human life and health are prioritized within all aspects of transportation systems; human error is inevitable and transportation systems should be forgiving; safety work should focus on systems-level change above influencing individual behavior; and speed is recognized as the fundamental factor in crash severity. The program encourages communities to adopt policies and implement programs and procedures that can eliminate the potential for serious injury and fatal traffic-related crashes to occur. Wellington’s goal is to eliminate all of these crashes by 2030.

How Does This Relate To You?
As you think about your family, friends and acquaintances, is there anyone you would be accepting of being killed or seriously injured in a traffic crash? Would you miss them and mourn them? You would not tolerate a baby product to remain on the market if it injured children. You would demand tainted foods that made people sick be removed from grocery stores. You expect that the water you drink is free from contaminants. You have zero tolerance for these and similar things. Yet, in the United States, nearly 40,000 people are killed each year on our roadways. Florida has one of the highest rates of fatal traffic crashes of any state. So, why is this considered acceptable? Frankly, it is not, and we individually and collectively should make changes in our attitudes, expectations and approaches to achieve the goal of no one being killed or severely injured when traveling along, around and across our roadways.

The village’s Vision Zero Action Plan will guide policies and programs with the goal of eliminating fatalities on local roadways. The plan focuses on providing near-term recommendations to rapidly implement safety improvements and begin the systemic changes needed to fully realize Vision Zero. Many recommended engineering treatments, enforcement directives and educational programs can and will be rolled out quickly over the first year. But we also understand that fundamentally improving traffic safety and ending senseless tragedies will require a generational commitment to changing culture, infrastructure and mobility planning.

Input From The Public
The Vision Zero Action Plan requires public outreach as it aims to improve road safety and reduce traffic fatalities, and gathering feedback from the community can help ensure that the plan addresses their concerns and needs. Your input is essential for the success of Wellington’s Vision Zero Action Plan. You can provide us with your concerns regarding traffic and safety on the village’s roads at www.wellingtonvisionzero.com.

With sustained vision and dedication to protecting human life as the top priority, the village believes this ambitious goal of zero severe injuries and death due to preventable crashes can become a reality over the next decade. This action plan provides a comprehensive roadmap to get Wellington to zero. It will require a massive community education effort and also necessitate a paradigm shift in how local government and drivers think about safety — like what we’ve seen with seat belts.

Early Restaurants In Wellington
Recollections From Longtime Wellington Restaurant Owners Gabriel Finocchietti And Dennis Witkowski

By Joshua Manning

This month, Wellington History features two longtime restaurateurs who have served up great comfort food to generations of Wellington residents — Gabriel Finocchietti of Gabriel’s Café & Grille and Dennis Witkowski of the former Cobblestones restaurant.

Today, Wellington is home to a wide array of restaurants, representing all types of cuisines. However, that was not always the case. In its early years, Wellington had precious little to offer those looking for a decent meal outside the home.

Gabriel Finocchietti owns the oldest continually operating restaurant in Wellington. His café in the Wellington Plaza was initially run by the mother-in-law of builder Alan Black, who developed what was then called Wellington Country Plaza, the young community’s first shopping center.

Known as Annamarie’s Café, she ran it for several years in the late 1970s and early 1980s before the Black family moved to Australia. The restaurant changed hands and was known for a time as Angelo’s Café. That was until 1990, when Finocchietti bought the place, and it became Gabriel’s Café & Grille.

“When I moved to Sugar Pond, my neighbor owned Mom’s Kitchen on Lake Worth Road. I worked at the Breakers. We knew each other for a while. He came to my house and said there was a restaurant for sale down the street,” Finocchietti recalled. “That’s what did it. The deal was good, and I bought it. That was 1990, and we are still here today.”

While the community has grown exponentially during that time, so has the competition.

“When I bought Gabriel’s, there were only three breakfast restaurants, and now there are at least eight,” he explained.

Nevertheless, the café has garnered many regular clients through the years, all of whom become part of Finocchietti’s extended family.

“People-wise, there is still a lot of connection because we have known them for 30-plus years,” he said. “We share the good and the bad. That is the main reason why I am still here to today — the people and the connections.”

And that includes the staff, such as server Laurie Purvis, who has been working there for 33 years. She was working at nearby Squire’s Deli, came for lunch one day and never left.

“Some of the old generation people are still here,” Finocchietti said. “Now there’s the second generation with the third generation coming in.”

The growth on State Road 7, particularly around the Mall at Wellington Green, has made business more competitive but also brought in more people.

“Now we are looking at Southern Blvd. also getting competitive with traffic and businesses. But the heart of Wellington, where Gabriel’s is located, has not changed that much,” Finocchietti said. “In season, we definitely see more traffic due to the horse industry from January until the end of April. At the same time, that gives 100 percent of the businesses in the community more business this time of the year. Every restaurant or shop or supermarket is increasing its volume.”

He is proud to have spent the last 30 years producing homemade, good quality food that people enjoy almost like it was cooked at home.

“Everything is made fresh, from soup to salads. On our menu, everything is cooked to order,” Finocchietti said. “The menu includes standard breakfast and lunch items, but also some Italian dishes and Hispanic influence to give people a little more variety.”

He particularly likes it when people compliment the food. Popular breakfast items are waffles, omelets and Mama’s Stuffed Egg Crepes. For lunch, people love the burgers, Cuban sub, turkey club, Reuben sandwich and the wide array of salads.

Like the owners of most small businesses, you’ll usually find Finocchietti at the restaurant when it is open.

“The key is dealing with every single consequence. If it was not for me dealing with it, I don’t think it would survive,” explained Finocchietti, who personally manages the restaurant with help from veteran staff members. “A manager, a cashier and a host would take most of the profit away. You have to be able to take care of problems. If the chef is sick, I can go back and cook if necessary. I know all the jobs in this place.”

Meanwhile, life goes on. His two children, Lisa and Gabriel, grew up in the restaurant. They still live locally, along with Finocchietti’s four grandchildren.

“People ask if I get a day off. No, I love to come here. The people who come here are my friends. We talk all about our town,” Finocchietti said. “My wife Darlene and I have redecorated the restaurant through the years. Currently, with a Carolina country décor. It makes the restaurant cozy and homey.”

Fellow restaurateur Dennis Witkowski was a fixture in Wellington during the community’s early years.

“I came to Wellington in 1979. I had just moved down from New York’s Long Island, where I had a saloon in Hampton Bays,” Witkowski recalled. “I got tired of the Long Island winters and moved to my dream destination of West Palm Beach.”

His first trip to Wellington had been the year before, in the winter of 1978. “A couple of buddies of mine invited me out to play a round of golf at the newly opened Palm Beach Polo golf course,” Witkowski said. “It was the middle of nowhere and seemed like an eternity driving out on Forest Hill Blvd.”

Yet, Wellington is where he ended up working, taking a job as a bartender at the soon-to-be-open Wellington Country Club, now known as the Wanderers Club.

“We opened that club at the end of 1979, I think on New Year’s Eve,” Witkowski said. “It was a remarkable bar. It was the centerpiece of the community of Wellington, which had about 3,000 people at the time.”

Witkowski, who is quite tall, remembers his time as a bartender there fondly.

“It was a sunken bar. It was three feet below the area. My head could barely clear the glass rack,” he said. “People got a look of amazement when they realized how tall I was. Everyone from the community of Wellington gathered there. I particularly remember the newly formed Exchange Club. Everyone who was anyone was a member.”

The club had its weekly meetings and always started with cocktails at the bar, he said. “I got to know all of the who’s who of Wellington very quickly,” Witkowski said, specifically noting early Wellington leaders Frank Gladney, Frank Glass and Bink Glisson. “I held that job a couple of years until I got the opportunity to open Cobblestones.”

Witkowski’s new restaurant was one of the first businesses at the new Town Square shopping plaza when Cobblestones opened on Dec. 3, 1982.

“Up to that point, all we had was one shopping plaza in Wellington,” he said. “At the end of 1982, we had the opening of the original Wellington Mall and Town Square, nearly simultaneously. I was caught with the decision of where to open my restaurant. I chose to go where Publix was opening, which turned out to be a terrific location. We had an instant hit on our hands.”

Witkowski operated the restaurant until 1994, when he sold it to the Murphy family and, for a while, switched careers to become a financial consultant.

“I’ve had half a dozen restaurants in my life, but that was the star of all of them,” he said of Cobblestones. “I remember it fondly, and so does the community. It was Wellington’s finest restaurant in terms of the community. Everyone in Wellington embraced it and used it.”

Before the place even opened, Witkowski recalls going out to the site and drawing out its layout in the dirt.

“I enjoyed the whole building process — creating something from the ground up,” he said. “It was such a wonderful gathering place for the community. It was a place where we had the owners of the polo teams, polo players and the grooms. It encompassed everyone in the community, and the equestrian aspect was definitely significant.”

Through Cobblestones, he became friendly with polo royalty, such as Memo Gracida and the entire Gracida family. The place also had its fair share of celebrity sightings.

“We certainly had a huge number of celebrities that came to Wellington back then, particularly due to polo,” Witkowski said. “One of my favorite customers was Zsa Zsa Gabor. She became a great customer and friend. She returned and brought Fifi, her chihuahua. We made an exception and let her bring the dog in. Later, she brought her good friend Merv Griffin, back then the No. 1 TV producer in the world. He became a friend, and we got to play tennis together. Perhaps even more famous was the day Paul Newman came in with his wife Joanne Woodward. He was probably the top movie actor at the time. I was totally awestruck to have him in the restaurant.”

During his time in Wellington, he saw the community grow quickly from 3,000 to 20,000 residents.

“It had such a wonderful, small-town feeling. Everyone just knew everybody. We were all coming off the ark onto this new land together,” Witkowski recalled. “Everybody was in the same boat coming into this brand-new community. It had little to offer, but it gave us a chance to create a sense of community.”

After Cobblestones closed, the site later became a Mexican restaurant called La Fogata. “I went to the Mexican place a few times, but there were too many ghosts for me,” Witkowski said.

After a major health scare, Witkowski returned to the restaurant business in the early 2000s with support from his longtime friend, developer Bruce Rendina.

“In 2001, I suffered a brain tumor, and as I was lying in JFK Hospital in recovery, Bruce came to my bedside and told me that we would open a new restaurant in Abacoa,” Witkowski said. “Soon thereafter, we did just that. In 2001, I opened Stadium Grill with Bruce as my partner, and I have remained in that restaurant until today.”

Nowadays, he operates Stadium Grill with his son, Ryan Witkowski, who grew up at Cobblestones in Wellington.