NEWS in brief

DeLand-built WWII tugboat anchors in Astor! DeLand's homegrown U.S. Army tugboat ST 479 Tiger has crossed Lake George successfully, due to the high water levels after several storm events. As of Monday, Nov. 28, the nearly 80-year-old tugboat, originally built on Lake Beresford in 1944, and believed to have been used in the Normandy invasion in World War II, is docked north of Astor in anticipation of a post-New Year's Eve arrival at Ed Stone Park. As of now, according to tugboat mastermind Dan Friend, the tugboat is still searching for a permanent home. The arrival caps a yearslong effort to return the tugboat to its ancestral home from where it was docked in Stockholm, Sweden. Insurance agent joins DeLand Planning Board

Harper Hill, an insurance agent and a former president of both the DeLand Area Chamber of Commerce and the Downtown DeLand Rotary, was unanimously appointed to serve on the city's Planning Board Nov. 21. Hill will fill the spot on the board left vacant by Dan Reed, who was elected to the DeLand City Commission in August. DeLand City

Commission OKs apartments An apartment complex on Spring Garden Avenue in DeLand was approved on first reading by the DeLand City Commission Nov. 21, after being rejected earlier. If approved on a second reading, the 204-unit project will be built next to the Cascades neighborhood, just north of Plymouth Avenue. Since it was rejected by the City Commission in August, the developer has proposed offering bonuses for local health care employees who move to the complex within two years after its construction is finished. Common Ground Farm needs your help Many of us are fortunate

enough to have moved on from the effects of hurricanes Ian and Nicole. That's not so for Common Ground Farm at 1330 E. Taylor Road in DeLand. The damage is ongoing, and the recovery costs have risen to triple digits for this tiny family-run farm. Common Ground has scheduled a donations-based Pancake Breakfast at the farm on Saturday, Dec. 3, to help mitigate the rising costs. For more information, or to RSVP for the event,

visit Common Ground's website at www.cgofarm. com/2022-pancake-breakfast. Community Day at the Museum of Art - DeLand Both Museum of Art locations in DeLand wi l l host a free "Community Day" 1-4 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 11, with assistance from the Volusia Remembers Coalition and the African American Museum of the Arts. See The Beacon's calendar inside for more information! Deltona ratifies contract with interim city manager On election eve Nov. 7, the Deltona City Commission

entered into an agreement with James Chisholm, former city manager of Daytona Beach, to run the city government for at least six months. In a 4-3 vote, the lameduck City Commission ratified a six-month contract with Chisholm that includes: $87, 400 for the six months of duty in Deltona; benefits of a full-time City of Deltona employee, plus the city will pay "the full premium for full health, dental and vision coverage for INTERIM CITY MANAGER and his wife";

Deltona will "contribute to a private pension plan an amount equal to the amount that the contribution to the Florida Retirement System"; 80 hours - the equivalent of 10 working days - of personal time off, in addition to other paid holidays; a personal vehicle; and lia- Legacy of Bert Fish lingers in West Volusia bility insurance. For more on this story, and others, visit www.beacononlinenews. com. DeLand's Christmas events

underway DeLand is kicking off its Winter Wonder DeLand events with the city's annual tree lighting Friday, Dec. 2, the DeLand Christmas Parade Saturday, Dec. 3, and the DeLand Indie Market Sunday, Dec. 4. Following that, on Friday, Dec. 16, DeLand's Park and Recreation will hold its second annual "A Walk Through Christmas at Earl Brown Park" through an Earl Brown Park transformed into a holiday spectacle. It's not all fun and games,

though. The annual DeLand Christmas Boat Parade on the St. Johns River has been canceled due to flooding and damage from hurricanes Ian and Nicole. Santa will also make his way around DeLand; check out our website for a full list of Jolly St. Nick's routes.