Six decades after a 24-year-old Dale Sorensen arrived in Vero to help found an Episcopalian school for the children of citrus families, St. Edward’s School is preparing to put on its 60th anniversary Pirate Ball – and it should come as no surprise to anyone that Sorensens are still taking the lead.
Dale Sorensen Real Estate, the island’s largest brokerage, is presenting sponsor for the big, annual party and fundraiser that is a nexus of the school’s intricate island network, and Elizabeth Sorensen is co-chairing the ball with longtime Sorensen agent Angela Waldrop.
Nothing could be more appropriate. Since 1964, St. Edward’s and the Sorensen family have been deeply intertwined.
“We would not be here without the school,” said Elizabeth Sorensen. “If my dad hadn’t come here to help start St. Ed’s, he wouldn’t have ended up meeting my mother the way he did, and my brother and I wouldn’t exist. There would be no family and no Dale Sorensen Real Estate.”
At the same time, it is very possible the school would not exist without Dale Sorensen, who took the helm as headmaster at a critical point in the school’s first year and guided it to early success.
Launched with fanfare by the Episcopal Bishop of Florida in the fall of 1965, the tiny school with 30-some students nearly went under the following spring.
Even though the founding board included members of many prominent families, starting a school is an arduous task and by March 1966, St. Ed’s was out of money.
“The bank was calling its note and our note with the Semon family was due,” Dale Sorensen Sr. told Vero Beach 32963. “We didn’t have money to keep the lights on or pay the faculty.”
The Semon family, founders of Riomar Country Club, had sold St. Ed’s its Spanish Colonial clubhouse for use as the main school building and payment was due.
As the walls closed in, the headmaster who had opened the school departed without farewell, leaving a resignation note on his desk, and the chairman of the board, who was the school’s largest financial supporter, resigned in his wake.
At that desperate juncture, the remaining board members turned to Sorensen to lead the school. A young man with a BA in History and a master’s degree in Administration, he had come to town as assistant to the priest who organized the school and stayed on as a teacher.
In a whirlwind of activity, Sorensen and the board righted the ship by the end of the academic year, successfully soliciting donations from community members, making arrangements with the bank and the Semon family, and convincing the Episcopal diocese to issue $20,000 in bonds.
By the time he left his position as head of school four years later to pursue a career in land development and real estate, St. Ed’s was well established with a distinguished faculty and more than 100 students.
Sorensen stayed on as a board member for more than 20 years, serving as chairman much of the time. All of his children were educated at St. Edward’s, and he has three grandchildren at school now.
“My mom and dad are at the school all the time. They go to almost all the kids’ games and events,” said Elizabeth Sorensen, who went to St. Ed’s alongside her brother Dale Sorensen Jr. from pre-K until the day she graduated in 1987. Her son recently started at the school, where he attends with his cousins, Dale Sorensen Jr.’s two sons.
Her husband, Rob Greenfield, also went all the way through school at St. Ed’s, K through 12, and continues to frequent the school as a volunteer lacrosse coach.
The symbiosis doesn’t end there. Dale Sorensen Real Estate expanded from a one-man operation in a tiny office on Beachland Boulevard to the billion-dollar brokerage it is today hand-in hand with St. Edward’s growth into a school with 635 students, 95 faculty members and a $20-million annual budget.
Both institutions contributed to and benefited from the growth of Vero Beach and its emergence as a dynamic real estate and resort environment often called the Hamptons of Florida.
Waldrop’s family has been equally intertwined with the school. Her grandfather John Morrison was one of the three founders of St. Ed’s, a citrus grower motivated by his Episcopal faith and belief in the importance of high-quality, independent school education.
“He was the first person I met in Vero,” said Dale Sorensen Sr. “He was the one who showed me the town and introduced me to everyone.”
Angela Waldrop attended St. Ed’s from kindergarten through her senior year, one of many in her family.
“I had two uncles who went there,” Waldrop said. “My stepmother went there and taught there, and her children attended. Two or three of my cousins went to St. Ed’s and my son [John Morrison’s great-grandson] is in his senior year there.”
“There is no other place in Vero where children can grow up on one campus, contribute to a vibrant Pirate community as they grow into teenagers, and then give back to the town and people who supported them into adulthood,” said Kathy Savage, St. Edward’s director of development.
“Many of our graduates leave Vero Beach to find success in a multitude of professions but then return to raise their own children here.
“More and more alumni are enrolling their children at Saint Edward’s each year and alumni are playing a bigger role in school life, which we love. Twenty-one percent of our Pirates are legacy students, and we have a number of third generation families who are a part of the school.”
St. Edward’s opened its campus adjacent to The Moorings Yacht & Country Club in the early 1970s, expanding into a pre-K through 12 college preparatory school. The old country club schoolhouse was eventually closed, with all classes consolidated at the riverside campus.
Elizabeth and Angela both credit the school with instilling a sense of community connection and belonging, and shaping them into successful people.
They have long lists of favorite and influential teachers, including Barbara Mohler, Joanie Wachter, Rosemary Hinton and longtime P.E teacher and athletic director Jeff Lamscha.
“Our teachers were so loving,” said Elizabeth. “It was wonderful being at the same school from the day I started until the end of my senior year. You felt a lot of security there – and we got a great education.
“When I went away to college, my first roommate was a girl who was valedictorian of her class at a large high school in Georgia, which I was in awe of. But she ended up struggling academically while the work seemed easy to me.”
“One the best things about St. Ed’s is that you can’t fall through the cracks,” said Waldrop. “If you aren’t putting out the effort they know you are capable of, that will be addressed. If you are getting B’s and they know you are capable of A’s, you are pushed. If you ignore being pushed, your parents are involved.”
“The faculty, administrators and other adults on this campus want every child to be seen and understood,” said Savage. “Small class sizes allow our teachers to get to know every student, and our college counselors start working with our students one-on-one in 8th grade, talking about dreams and goals, and how to shape their education to achieve those goals.”
There are a bunch of special things about this year’s Pirate Ball, which takes place from 6 p.m. till 10 p.m. on April 26.
Besides marking the school’s 60th anniversary, it is the 50th year for the school yearbook and the first time in five years the event will be back at The Moorings clubhouse, where it was held for many years prior to Covid-19.
It has special significance as a transitional moment for lifelong friends and longtime colleagues Angela and Elizabeth, too.
Angela’s son Beckley will graduate at the end of the semester, heading off to Denison University, where he hopes to continue his lacrosse career as well as his education.
Just as he finishes his St. Ed’s experience, Elizabeth’s son Hunter, will start his formal education there, graduating from pre-K and entering kindergarten next fall.
Both women are determined to make this year’s Pirate Ball memorable – and profitable. “We are both very competitive and we won’t rest until we raise more money than any past Pirate Ball,” said Elizabeth.
The number to beat is $335,000, according to Savage, and the money is important.
Even though high school tuition at St. Ed’s is a head-spinning $36,900 per student per year, that amount does not cover the cost of a student’s education, according to Savage and Waldrop.
The school relies on the Pirate Ball and an annual giving campaign to fill the gap and meet more than $19 million in annual expenses.
To raise the funds needed, the co-chairs have netted $35,000 worth of sponsorships and gathered hundreds of donated items for an auction that will begin online on April 18 and be concluded at event, with Vero Beach attorney John Moore serving as auctioneer.
The co-chairs, the Pirate Ball committee they have assembled, St. Edward’s board members and others are also selling raffle tickets at $100 per ticket with a $5,000 first prize for the raffle winner. Tickets to the ball, which are $275, are expected to bring in another $75,000 or so.
Besides fundraising, the cochairs are responsible for everything from decorations to dining and entertainment, including gathering donated spa certificates, champagne and other items for swag bags that will be given to the first 60 people who buy tickets.
“This event will be cocktails and hors d’oeuvres with gourmet food stations,” said Sorensen.
“There will be some tables for people to sit and talk, a DJ playing music from each decade of the school’s life, dancing, a photo booth and the big auction.”
And that’s just the beginning. Both women say they will shift their focus from fundraising to the event itself as it gets closer, adding additional features to the party. “It’s cocktail attire with 1960s flare welcome, but no denim,” Elizabeth added.
Savage recruited Waldrop to chair the event on the first day of school last fall when she was feeling emotional about her son starting his last year of high school, and Waldrop convinced Sorensen to join her as cochair. “It is a kind of last hurrah for me,” said Waldrop.
The two women have co-chaired numerous charity events in the past, including the Festival of Trees, Children’s Home Society affairs and a tennis fundraiser for St. Ed’s to fund a scholarship in the name of their beloved teacher Barbara Mohler.
Asked how many hours they will have to put in by the time the event concludes, both women said simultaneously, “A million!”
But they are both obviously glad to do it, despite busy professional schedules, because of how much St. Edward’s has meant and means to them and their families.
“We plan to make this the best Pirate Ball ever,” said Sorensen.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun!” Waldrop added.
Photos by Joshua Kodis
