CALLING ALL TACKY tourists: Your presence is required downtown Saturday afternoon to welcome home a beloved Lake Worth Beach fixture.
Andy Amoroso, the former city commissioner who suffered a stroke last month, will be guest of honor at a homecoming party at Dave’s Last Resort & Raw Bar at 632 Lake Ave.
Dave’s is next door to The Tacky Tourist, which has been mostly closed for the past five weeks while its proprietor, Amoroso, has focused on his recovery.
Amoroso, 61, who has spent the last two weeks at his sister Dawn’s house in Jupiter Farms, said he is finally feeling well enough to come home. Dawn will drive him back to Lake Worth Beach on Saturday.
Amoroso’s close friend, Lori Rice, suggested they meet for breakfast and ask other friends and neighbors to join them. Dave’s Last Resort owner Dave Palumbo and his wife Sue offered to take it a step further: Let’s throw him a welcome back party.
It starts at 12:30 p.m. There will be a tribute drink called “The Tacky Tourist,’’ bites from Una Bakery and raffles to raise money for Amoroso’s medical expenses. Bali Importers has donated gift cards for the raffle.
And as a festive show of solidarity, attendees are encouraged to dress up as tacky tourists.
“Andy is feeling so good, he even requested I bring my ‘key lime bites,’’’ Rice said, referring to her famous miniature pies with coconut crust.
“Everybody loves Andy,’’ she said. “He’s just an all-around good guy. He has helped so many people out, so now it’s our turn to help him.’’
Dave Palumbo said he is honored to host the homecoming party for his next-door business neighbor.
“I’ve known Andy for years, even before his commissioner days. We share a wall,’’ he said. “Our downtown merchants like to take care of each other. We like to pitch in and do what needs to be done.’’
The party will continue next door, where revelers can show their love by making a purchase or two at The Tacky Tourist.
After that, Amoroso will head to his Golfview Road apartment to sleep in his own bed for the first time since July 16.
“I am feeling a little better every day,’’ said Amoroso, a city commissioner from 2011 to 2020. “I feel like Humpty Dumpty trying to put my pieces back together.’’
Late at night on July 16, he collapsed on the bathroom floor. He lay there for 12 hours, paralyzed on his left side, before he could muster the strength to call for help.
After about two weeks at JFK Medical Center in Atlantis and nearly two more at a West Palm Beach rehab facility, he moved in with Dawn, who has shuttled him to doctor and physical therapist appointments.
He said he has limited use of his left arm and hand and he feels numbness from his shoulder to his hand, which prevents him from driving a car.
He said he also has numbness on the left side of his face and has lost “a little sight and hearing on the left side. Sometimes I bite myself because I can’t feel it,’’ he said.
But he said he has been making steady progress, even if it’s slower than he’d prefer.
“It’s like you are on the freeway and the exit is closed and you have to find a new exit,’’ he said. “I constantly trying to find a new exit with what i’ve got to work with but every day is a little better.’’
A GoFundMe account, created two days after the stroke, has raised more than $32,000.
“I’m very thankful for all the love and donations,’’ he said. “We have already started paying bills.’’
He said he’s also grateful to a friend who bought him an Apple Watch. If he had worn one the night he collapsed, he said, he would have been able to call for help quicker.
He said he has been invited to share his story with the public at Compass Community Center on Sept. 8.
“My cardiologist will come and talk about the early signs, what did I see, what did I miss, what can help save somebody else from going through the same thing I did,’’ he said.
“Every doctor was surprised I was alive,’’ he said. “They all said because I was walking four nights a week and eating right, that is why I am so much further ahead than they think I should be.’’
Now, he is looking forward to Saturday and to getting back into his pre-stroke routine.
He said he hopes the costumed tacky tourists join him at The Tacky Tourist later Saturday afternoon. Until now, the shop has been mostly closed, opened sporadically when friends are able to help.
“The quicker I get it open, the quicker I can make some money. We are getting to go into season and I have to get prepared’’ he said.
“I don’t know what normal will look like after this. I’m looking for any way to get back to my new normal.’’