🌴 A Very L-Dub Holiday Gift Guide 🎁
From gourmet pickles to mosaic mailboxes, our Santa delivers the goods that keep Lake Worth Beach wonderful and weird
Ho-ho-holy dwindling December! You still haven’t finished your holiday shopping??
Don’t get your tinsel in a tangle. We’ve got you covered.
In a mistletoe-worthy gesture of public service, the Lake Worth Beach Independent consulted with some mischievous elves, a grumpy reindeer and a jolly bearded guy to curate our first L-Dub Holiday Gift Guide.
Spoiler alert: You won’t find socks, ties or even a Red Ryder Carbine-Action 200-Shot Range Model Air Rifle on this short list.
You will find a whimsical sampling of Lake Worth Beach treasures for all tastes and budgets, special gifts guaranteed to say “I didn’t buy this at the gas station five minutes ago.”
Down the chimney we go…
Pickled Perfection
If you’re in a real pickle trying to find that truly unique holiday gift, look no further than Lake Worth Beach musician and pickler Rockin’ Jake Jacobs.
When he’s not blowing his harmonica at Rudy’s Pub and The Funky Biscuit, Jake is busy in the “brinery” of his Memorial Park kitchen making and jarring two brands of gourmet pickles — spicy “Killer Dillers” and “Mom’s New York Deli” half sours.
He said he uses Florida-grown cucumbers, usually from Don Victorio’s Market and Rorabecks Plant and Produce. He jars them in a secret-sauce brine of spring water, dill, garlic and spices, where they stay crisp and crunchy.
That’s Rockin’ Jake’s face on the Killer Diller labels and his late mother’s on the half sours, images created by musician “Bonefish Johnny” Stacey.
He brings 32-ounce jars to gigs and he hawks them between sets for $12 each. He usually sells out, as he did on Dec. 4, 2025, at a Rudys Pub gig with the Westside Blues band (video above).
His culinary side gig started two years ago as a salute to his mother, who introduced him to pickles when he was a kid in Connecticut. It has grown into an in-demand enterprise attracting a loyal following of music fans and pickle lovers. (One local lawyer bought a case so he could hand out jars at a holiday office party.)
“They’re all natural, homemade with love,’’ he says.
To order yours, email rockinjake@rockinjake.com or call 504-237-7625.
These mailboxes deliver the decor
After fixing toilets, faucets and drains for 45 years, retired plumber Randy Wilson is enjoying a second career as a glass artist.
Among his most sought-after works, available at The Cozy Cottage in Lake Worth Beach: colorful mosaic mailboxes, guaranteed to make neighbors and postmen look twice.
“Crawling under so many houses, I often found old bottles,’’ Wilson said. “And I’ve always liked glass, especially in South Florida because it doesn’t rust or tarnish.’’
He started creating glass art about 15 years ago, shortly before retiring from plumbing. He credits the talented techs at McMow Art Glass, across Dixie Highway from The Cozy Cottage, with helping him refine his glass cutting skills and supplying him with scrap glass.
He soon mastered the delicate art of fashioning tiny glass pieces and dropping them into a glass tumbler to smooth and soften the sharp edges. His first artworks were trays, tables and windows.
Then he started making mailboxes that deliver as beautiful yard decorations. He gifted his first few mosaic letter holders to friends and family, who encouraged him to make more. He said he has made and sold 20 to 30.
Wilson said he’s busier these days applying glass to tables. One of his favorite creations is a table decorated with pieces of tile salvaged from two interesting places: The Biltmore in Palm Beach and the swimming pool at the late Dale Earnhardt’s home in Admiral’s Cove in Jupiter.
Four of Wilson’s mosaic mailboxes, from $65 for a wall mounted to $130 for post mounded, are available (along with the $85 Earnhardt table) at The Cozy Cottage, 824 N. Dixie Highway in Lake Worth Beach.
Gulfstream dreams
All eyes in L-Dub are on the renovation progress of the historic Gulfstream Hotel, an historic 1925 landmark aiming for a 2026 re-opening in downtown Lake Worth Beach.
Many guest rooms will be decorated with two watercolor prints by local artist Ellen Negley showcasing the hotel and the city’s beachfront.
Those signature pieces — “Gulfstream Hotel” and “Wish You Were Here” — are available for holiday shoppers, too, starting at $24 each. (Click the titles to purchase.)
“Lake Worth Beach allows me the artistic freedom to think outside the box and I find great joy in painting watercolors of my local surroundings,” Negley said.
“I look forward to the day the Gulfstream Hotel opens its doors and others come to recognize what a special place Lake Worth Beach is.”
Explore dozens of colorful Negley prints by clicking here.
Fashion Anarchy in the L-Dub
Heidi Ferguson’s distinct fashion passion, on full display at Trashe Vintage, the punk rock shop she opened three years ago in Lake Worth Beach, can be traced to her childhood in 1980s Portland, Oregon.
“I made my own clothes as a kid,’’ she said, explaining how her father taught her to sew. “I couldn’t find things I wanted, so I figured I’d make my own stuff.’’
Her latest creation makes a perfect holiday gift for that certain punk on your list: A military jacket inspired by Vivienne Westwood, the British fashion designer and unofficial outfitter of the pioneering 1970s punk band The Sex Pistols.
Made of lightweight wool, the back of the jacket features an image of Sid Vicious, the Pistols’ sneering bass player, over a Union Jack, attached by close pins and a tasteful chain.
“You can wear it over a skirt. Or a guy can wear it,’’ said Ferguson, who finished it two weeks ago after a month of work. “It’s just a cool one-of-a-kind handmade jacket that is very reminiscent of ‘70s punk. You’ll never see another one.’’
The jacket costs $150. Try it on at Trashe Vintage, 521 N. Dixie Highway, where you’ll find racks of clothing and records ranging from $5 to $250 — and an adorable cat named Rusty (not for sale).
French Lavenderpalooza
From the fields of Provence, France, to downtown Lake Worth Beach, it’s a lavender lovefest at 519 Lake Ave., home to the aptly-named At Home With France.
On the avenue since 1993, proprietor Dennis Ceaser’s slice of French heaven offers more than 200 natural personal care products, gifts and home accessories — from berets, fabric and scarves to soaps, kitchen towels and culinary tools — direct from France.
We’re highlighting the dried lavender, produced from a soothing, aromatic evergreen plant that relieves stress, promotes relaxation and smells wonderful.
Ceaser said he visited the fields, near the medieval village of Saint-Auban sur l’Ouvèze, that produced the dried lavender in his shop.
It’s available in decorative bundles ($14.50), aromatic sachets ($8.99), fragrant flower buds ($4 per scoop) and culinary buds ($5 per ounce), shown in the short video above.
He also offers lavender linen water ($19.50) and lavender oil ($12.50), part of his Lake Worth Beach shop’s mission to capture “the art of French living” and make South Florida customers feel At Home With France.
Monthly eye candy
With all due respect to digital calendars on smartphones, nothing beats the pleasure of looking at the monthly images on a wall calendar. That’s what inspires veteran photographer Rand Hettler to create his annual collection of 12 Lake Worth Beach scenes, one for each month, shot from his Nikon.
His 2026 calendar, his fourth consecutive edition, features City Hall (January), the annual Street Painting Festival (February), the World Mission Society Church of God (April), seagulls in flight (May), a surfer (August), Bryant Park at sunset (September) and more.
Hettler has had an eye for photography for more than 50 years. Long before he retired to South Florida, he enjoyed a successful career working on advertising campaigns for beer, cars, cigarettes and other products seen by millions on billboards and in magazines.
Living in New Jersey in the 1990s, he started making wall calendars featuring monthly images of landmarks and scenes around Monmouth County. When he moved to Lake Worth Beach, the waterfront city’s abundance of scenery inspired him to make a South Florida edition.
He said his L-Dub calendars, featuring new images each year, have attracted a steady following of fans. The 2026 calendars are going fast. To buy one ($20), email Hettler at randpics@yahoo.com or call him at 732-319-1082.
Turn on the Rude Television
Rude Television offers a musical gift that keeps on giving.
“You can’t help but love these guys!’’ one social media reviewer raved after seeing the local garage rockers perform in a downtown West Palm Beach alley. “Every song is fast & fun. First time I saw them I was instantly a fan.’’
That pretty much sums up how Rude Television, influenced by 1970s punk bands like The Buzzcocks, Devo and The Ramones, has attracted a loyal following from Jacksonville to Miami.
Click the video above to see them perform “Operate” at Propaganda in downtown Lake Worth Beach last year.
Formed in 2021 by drummer/singer Andrew Sears of West Palm Beach, the band features Julian Cassanetti of Lake Worth Beach on synthesizer and guitar, Jake Ratiner of West Palm on bass and Jesse Galan of West Palm on lead guitar.
They work day jobs (Sears is a diagnostics engineer for Florida Power & Light, Galan a legal aid for a real estate company). At night, they deliver a blitzkrieg of tight energetic songs like “Nuclear Dome,” “Vortex Shredding,” and “Rat Bastard,” all under three minutes each.
Click here to buy some Rude Television for that ageless rocker on your list.
And stay tuned: Rude Television plans to release new music in 2026.
Retired fashion model’s classic car
Long before he opened Ragtops Motorcars, Ty Houck took over the old Tedder’s Gas Station at Lakeview Drive and Olive Avenue (now the Esperante building) in West Palm Beach in 1980.
Among his regular customers back then was Maggy Scherer, a former runway model who, with her husband Allan, developed the first private polo farm in what would become the Village of Wellington.
She drove a black 1966 Pontiac GTO convertible, her initials “M.S.S.” painted in white on the driver’s side door.
“She used to come in every Saturday and get high octane premium fuel when everybody else was using the regular stuff,’’ Houck recalled.
When Maggy died in 2018, her husband sold the convertible to Houck, who added it to his vast exhibit of vintage cars, located since 2020 at 701 N. Dixie Highway in Lake Worth Beach.
The late fashion model’s classic muscle car would make a great holiday gift, Houck says — if you have $65,000 and catch him on the right day.
“I’ve known that car since 1980,’’ he said, explaining his emotional attachment to the convertible, one of fewer than 13,000 produced in 1966.
“It’s for sale. I’ve never advertised it,’’ he said. “Just tell (readers) to call Ty and see if he’s in the mood to sell it.’’
If a classic car isn’t in your budget, Ragtops Motorcars caps ($20) and t-shirts ($25 short sleeves, $30 long) make great stocking stuffers.
Have a gift idea for next year’s holiday guide? Email suggestions — the more offbeat the better — to joecapoz@bellsouth.net.
A local gift guide that has an AI produced image is so wildly unpleasant