Category: Art & Entertainment

Posted on

A Book About Differences and Similarities

When Erica Bayes’ golden parrot, Noodle, escaped from her Wellington home last year, little did Bayes know that Noodle’s adventure would help spark the idea for Noodle Makes New Friends, an innovative children’s book about accepting each other’s differences.

That memorable incident occurred in May of 2017, when Bayes was at home playing with the golden parrot she had adopted as a very young bird. When Bayes’ Rhodesian Ridgeback jumped on a sliding glass door that was slightly ajar, the door opened. The dog trotted out, and Noodle flew out after him. Even though Bayes put up 500 posters with a picture of Noodle, posted on a neighborhood app, alerted The Palm Beach Post, and organized search parties to look for her beloved parrot, Noodle was missing for four days before she was rescued. When found, she was very ill. Fortunately, Noodle made a complete recovery.

The second inspiration behind the book derives from the author’s work doing yoga with children who have disabilities, including cerebral palsy, autism, and physical handicaps. A certified yoga instructor since 2009, Bayes found that making children comfortable with their bodies and providing them with the one-on-one acceptance and intimacy they don’t often get was a very moving experience. “With the muse being Noodle coming off her escape and her healing, and being so touched when I worked with these children, writing the book merged all sorts of passions for me,” recalled Bayes.

Noodle Makes New Friends is a colorful, happy-hearted book with the message that kids can learn from and celebrate each other’s individual distinctions instead of being afraid and shying away from them. “I have seen parents usher their children past a child or an adult in a wheelchair and say, ‘Don’t ask, don’t look,’” Bayes said. “I want the conversation to be open. Children are naturally curious. I think when you deny them answers; you’re actually invoking fear. They learn to be trepid of someone who’s different. Instead of, ‘Hey this person might look different from me, but we may actually have things in common and get along just fine.’”

In Noodle Makes New Friends, it’s the first week of school and Noodle feels shy about meeting new people until the teacher has students present a little bit about themselves. Olive Owl has a glittery eyepatch and loves to sing and dance. Lemon Leopard has a crumpled paw but enjoys painting. Mango the Macaw has a fake wing yet plays basketball. Sam the Frog has autism and likes to cook. Noodle learns that although her classmates have had accidents or were born with a disability and look a little different, they’re not scary at all. On the inside, they all have a lot in common and can have a wonderful time together. Available on Amazon, Noodle Makes New Friends is the first in the series of Noodle books. For more information, visit www.EricaBayes.com or email enbayes@gmail.com.

Posted on

Parkland Poets Take the Stage

Poetry is loosely defined as ‘a beautiful expression of feelings and ideas.’ Whether written or spoken, it is a thought-provoking and meaningful way for your voice to be heard. Poetry can be personal or public, and the definition of the word could not be more fitting than for a group of young students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School known as the Parkland Poets.

The Poets consist of a diverse group of teens and their teacher, all with a similar interest – to address the pressing issues of our day using a positive and artful approach. By sharing their stories, they seek to empower their fellow youth. The Parkland Poets were profiled this year during the annual Louder Than a Bomb: Florida poetry festival comprised of teens from the Florida Keys to Jacksonville. This forum provides a safe space for individual and collective expression. To better explain the events’ title, co-founder Kevin Coval said, “We feel that what young people have to say about the world they inhabit and hope to construct is more useful than any armament, more complex than prison industrial systems, and louder than any bomb.” The Poets’ graceful approach in describing the tragic events of February 14 will draw you in from the students’ very first breath. With a recurring theme of, “I don’t know if I’m doing this right,” they speak openly about that devastating day and how it has changed them forever. These special young people choose to cope with their grief by turning to the spoken word and deliver a gripping performance through the eyes of those who were there.

While some adolescents shy away from public speaking, the Parkland Poets thrive at it. This platform allows them to express their raw emotion, their fears, their angst… themselves. Their tremendous stage presence is especially evident in a scene where individual Poets stand on stage as one and share, “I’m adrift in a sea of complacency. I couldn’t even bring myself to bring myself to the funerals, to look at the pictures of the victims… I’m heartless and cold; at least, that’s what I’m told. But I don’t know how to feel. I don’t know if I’m doing this right!” Presented by NBC 6 and the Jason Taylor Foundation, you can view this compelling 30-minute performance now on YouTube.

Legendary Miami Dolphin defensive end, Jason Taylor, has a success story of his own. While homeschooled from grades 10 to 12, he remained on his high school’s football team. In college, he was a four-year letterman and also starred on the school’s basketball team. As a junior, he earned National Defensive Player of the Week honors and was drafted the following year by the Miami Dolphins. He established the Jason Taylor Foundation in 2004 with the hopes of giving back to our local community. Admittedly from humble beginnings, Taylor had great ambition to provide South Florida’s less fortunate youth with better opportunities than he had growing up. This objective has led him to a mission of understanding, compassion, and support. He’s created programs that empower children by focusing on improved health care, education, and simple quality of life. With clear goals in mind, the NFL Hall of Famer set out to build on the impact that the Omari Hardwick bluapple Poetry Network created and became involved with Louder Than a Bomb: Florida. Now in its fourth year, the event is stronger and the poetry is more influential than ever. Taylor told NBC 6, “It’s spoken word poetry in a very raw, organic, real way that’s leaving a big impact on kids. Words can be cutting and uplifting, they can be inspiring, and that’s what we have here.”

It’s extremely powerful to watch these amazing youngsters perform, but when you think about why this group came about, and the dreadful reason for where their poetry was spawned, it really hits home. So how do we end the violence? We may not have all the answers quite yet, but coming together and taking a stance, as the Parkland Poets do, is unquestionably a great beginning.

To learn more about the Jason Taylor Foundation and Louder Than a Bomb: Florida, visit the website at https://jasontaylorfoundation.com/programs/louder-than-a-bomb-florida/.

“Teach your child poetry; it opens the mind, lends grace to wisdom and makes the heroic virtues hereditary.” — Walter Scott

Posted on

The Dark Side of Historical Figures

“Never meet your heroes,” warns the colloquial adage, it’s message laden in hindsight. The only people who give such advice are the ones who wish they had taken it. Unfortunately for Americans, many of our most cherished heroes harbor inconspicuous characteristics that may leave some people second guessing their idols.

Among some of those famous controversial figures was Henry Ford, the automobile tycoon of the early 1900s. Today, we credit him with his success as the founder of Ford Motor Company and as the installer of the first moving assembly line. However, fewer know of his devout anti-Semitic views, ones that he propagated using his platform as a successful businessman.

In 1919, just two years after the U.S. entered the war against Germany, Ford bought a local Michigan newspaper that began publishing a series of articles entitled: “The International Jew: The World’s Foremost Problem.” The same newspaper referred to jazz as “Yiddish moron music.” His close friend Thomas Edison, credited today with the invention of the modern lightbulb, also at times expressed bigoted comments aimed at immigrants and Jews.

Fords racist ambitions caught the eye of Adolf Hitler himself, Hitler even including Ford as the only American by name in his notorious autobiography, Mein Kampf. The German dictator once referenced Ford saying: “You can tell Herr Ford that I am a great admirer of his. I shall do my best to put his theories into practice in Germany. I regard Henry Ford as my inspiration.”

Ford and Edison weren’t the first nor the last prominent American figures to publicly display their bias.

John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie are acclaimed today for their considerable success in business, however, at the time of their success, they were amongst some of the most hated men in the country. Both families dealt with intense labor conflicts. The Homestead Strike of 1892 against Carnegie Steel involved thousands of workers in Pennsylvania fighting for their rights as laborers. On the other side of the country, Rockefeller Jr. was accused of orchestrating the Ludlow Massacre in 1914. Despite these negative altercations, today these men’s families are better remembered for their business attributes, with renowned testaments to their achievements reflected in Rockefeller Center or Carnegie Hall.

From the political realm, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, are remembered today for their incredible battle for women’s suffrage yet forgotten for their blatant racism in that same fight. They were possibly the two most prominent forces fighting for women’s rights in the 1850s, yet both were recorded on several occasions pushing white supremacist viewpoints to support their platform. Anthony publicly opposed the Fifteenth Amendment, giving black men the right to vote in 1870. She once said in a meeting with abolitionist Frederick Douglass, “I will cut off this right arm of mine before I will ever work or demand the ballot for a Negro and not the woman.”

Even Albert Einstein, who is often reverently remembered for being a benevolent genius, was recently discovered to have severely racist stereotypes littered among his private travel diaries. Written between October 1922 and March 1923, he makes several offensive generalizations, including one that called the Chinese “industrious, filthy, obtuse people.”

It can be disheartening to hear about some of the ways these widely admired figures conformed to the cultural milieu of their times. We want to believe that they would hold some of the same ideals we do today, but instead, we find that many of them succumbed to the negative influence of blatant racism and bigotry. People are complex; history is perhaps even more so. Things that are complex deserve to be investigated; they must be met with a reasonable amount of skepticism, so that we can appreciate the good and criticize the bad.

We must treat the past with the same standard of judgment that we hope the future will someday pass on us, for better or for worse.

Posted on

MSD Benefit Concerts

Students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland are still recovering from the horrific act of an irrational gunman who shot and killed 17 students and staff – and wounded an equal number of innocents – in a vile and violent attack Feb. 14 that shattered the joy of a Valentine’s Day and the solemnity of Ash Wednesday.

 

But those impacted by the shooting haven’t respond in kind. The spirited and courageous student body, staff and parents turned to their strong suit — visual and performing arts — to stem the drumbeat of anger and steady the will to seek vengeance for a senseless act.

 

In the short span from mid-February to the end of the school year, a barrage of volunteers worked feverishly to organize two concerts to memorialize those who died and underscore the determination of the young men and women, teachers, administrators, mothers and fathers who are leading MSD High into the future. They built their campaign around a quote from conductor and musical luminary Leonard Bernstein, who believed that music was one of the most effective means of creating understanding and peace in the world.

 

By nurturing music and arts, he said, we can actualize a world “in which the mind will have triumphed over violence.”

 

On the night of May 22, the first of two response events took place. Called “What We Play is Life,” a Jazz Night concert, took place at the Coral Springs Performing Arts Center. Joining three MSD jazz bands were three world-renowned musicians: Jazz pianist Herbie Hancock, trombonist Wycliffe Gordon, and Cuban clarinet and sax player Paquito D’Rivera.

 

On June 1, the Church by the Glades on Lakeview Drive, Coral Springs, was filled nearly to capacity for the more classical version of Jazz Night called “Our Reply.”

 

“This featured the MDS Wind Symphony, which just performed in New York at Carnegie Hall; the MSD Clarinet Choir, Brass Choir, Trombone Choir, and Color Guard,” said Luis Piccinelli, director of instrumental music at Coral Springs Middle School and one of those who helped organize the performance.

 

The show drew thunderous applause and a multitude of standing ovations as student musicians and guest performers provided what Piccinelli called “an amazing musical experience.”

 

“We hope this performance will help with healing, as well as raise money for the Alex Schachter and Gina Montalto funds, two band students we tragically lost in the shooting.” Memorial foundations have been set up for each.

 

To honor Alex, one of the opening numbers featured trombonists lined up across the entire stage. Alex’s dad, Max, was seated in the front row with other Schachter family members.

 

Later, they took to the stage and Max talked about “my little boy.” He told how his 14-year-old son loved music. “He wanted to play trombone in one class and euphonium in another.”

 

Max also recounted how he joined the band parents, and “I got to see Alex mature and grow. All his band work paid off.” Dad cried as he thought back to the terrible Valentine’s Day when “17 families descended into hell. That monster shot my son through a window.” He swore he would not halt his campaign for improved security “until all schools are safe.”

 

Before leaving the stage, he announced he was giving a $25,000 gift to his son’s scholarship fund.

 

To honor their fallen colleague, Gina Montalto, 14, the MSD Color Guard presented a feature performance of “Hallelujah” in her memory. The touching tribute ended with the girls surrounding and saluting an empty chair with a flower placed on the seat.

 

Her father, Tony, and brother, Anthony, spoke to the crowd. “As this community moves forward and heals, our families will never be the same.” He thanked the musicians and color guard members “who gave to the memorial foundation for Gina Rose Montalto.”

 

He concluded his talk by reading one of Gina’s poems, and told how happy she was to have become a member of the Eagle Regiment in 2017.

 

Taking part in the performance on the expansive stage of the church abutting the Everglades were Joseph Alessi, principal trombonist, and Anthony McGill, principal clarinetist, both from the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.

 

The June 1 show featured a world premiere of a piece composed and dedicated to the MSD students. Called “Until Morning Come,” the composition was written by Andrew Boss, who was present in the audience. The arrangement was said to “convey a peaceful message, a homage to those who passed away and for those who live on.”

 

Other guests who came to be part of the concert were Gary Green, director of bands emeritus at the University of Miami, and Frank Ticheli and Johan de Meij, both composer/conductors.

 

Alexander Kaminsky, director of bands at Marjory Stoneman Douglas, conducted many of the musical numbers at the “Our Reply” show as well as during the “What We Play is Life” concert. “Bad things happen in this world,” he told the audience on May 22. “We have to make the world a better place, and this is going to do that.”

 

The earlier show included a prologue, with the Coral Springs Middle School jazz band performing in the courtyard while food was served to the audience from the Cheesecake Factory. Volunteer staff members provided goodly portions of sliders, salads, pot stickers, and cheesecake options. Money raised at the event benefited the MSD and Coral Springs Middle School music programs and the Alex Schachter Scholarship Fund.

Posted on

And the winner is . . .

Melody Herzfeld has known countless dramatic moments. Director of the drama department at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland since 2003, she has transformed a multitude of theatrical wannabes into stage-worthy actors brimming with confidence in their craft.

But Herzfeld faced an unspeakable, heart-pounding moment of personal drama barely four months ago when a former student armed with a rifle and bearing a thirst to kill ran into the school building. The instructor kept 65 of her charges safe in her small office for two hours while Nikolas Cruz murdered 14 young learners and three teachers, and wounded 17 more, in a senseless massacre on Valentine’s Day.

Douglas students quickly rose from the depths of their despair. Revived and revved by the rallying cry, #MSD Strong, they fought back with music and art, raised their voices against gun violence across the nation and demanded assurances of student safety – and nothing less.

MSD’s recovery reached a new plateau the night of June 10 when Herzfeld stepped onto the stage of Radio City Music Hall in New York City, just steps from Broadway, to accept a prestigious Tony Award for Excellence in Theatre Education. The honor, given by the Tony Awards and Carnegie Mellon University, recognizes a K-12 theater educator who has made a monumental impact on the lives of students and who embodies the highest standards of the profession.

Still, that wasn’t the evening’s main New York moment. MSD drama students surprised the crowd by singing an emotional rendition of “Seasons of Love,” from the musical Rent. Their center stage performance received a standing ovation and moved many in the audience to tears.

A first-rate break-out solo by Kali Cloughery grabbed the attention of a gallery filled mainly with Broadway, music and film performers.

Applause echoed through the storied chamber as Herzfeld stepped into the spotlight with the Tony in her hand.

“Next to the passing of my dear parents and in-laws, marrying the love of my life, and the birth of my amazing sons and reuniting with my theater students, there has never been a more defining moment of my life,” said the MSD drama instructor.

 

“As theater teachers, we teach kids by giving them space to be critiqued, yet not judged; giving them a spot in the light, yet not full stage; creating a circle of trust in which to fail; telling them long drawn-out stories so they can be better listeners and giving students simple responsibilities that are beneath them to encourage character,” she said.

 

Perhaps those comments brought special memories to Elijah Word, a young singer, dancer, and actor who was one of Herzfeld’s students at MSD. He stressed that he drew his theatrical inspiration and drive from her.

 

While at Douglas, Word said he attended a get-together for potential drama students. “We were in there one day, playing a game and getting to know each other. We all had to sing, and, after I did, the teacher came over to me and said, ‘You have to audition for the drama club.’ ”

 

Herzfeld “put me in the play, Pippin,” a show he dearly loves. “From there, I got the acting bug. Ms. Herzfeld saw that I had talent and she nurtured it. She really helped me. And she made sure I kept my grades up.”

 

Coincidentally, in early April, Word won a Carbonell – the South Florida theater community’s equivalent of a Tony – for Best Supporting Actor/Music for portraying James “Thunder” Early in the musical, Dreamgirls at the Broward Stage Door Theater. “It was so funny.” Word said, “Ms. Herzfeld was there on Carbonell Night because some MSD students were performing.”

 

Overall, Word said with a special pride, Melody Herzfeld “really deserved the Tony award.”

 

In her acceptance speech, the drama teacher shared some lessons she gave her students before the tragic event. “I remember, on Feb. 7, sharing a circle with my beloved students and encouraging them to be good to each other when times were trying, to keep the family together, accept everyone, and make a difference.”

“And I remember only a week later, on Feb. 14, a perfect day, where all these lessons in my life and in their short lives would be called upon to set into action.”

She recalled other meaningful words: “[I] stressed to them to be selective as they formulate relationships while welcoming every single side that exists in the world. And also, how to begin again.”

MSD students followed her advice. Just a week after the shooting, Herzfeld’s students performed “Shine,” an original song, at a CNN town hall meeting on gun violence.

 

In fact, since February, Stoneman Douglas students have organized a national school walkout and a march on Washington and continue to call for changes to ensure safety and security of students

As she concluded her address, the drama director said: “Thank you, Stoneman Douglas High School and my fellow Eagles. We have all known the future of the world is about collaborative creativity and here we are, the future, changed for good. MSD Strong…thank you.”

Herzfeld is the fourth person to receive the Excellence in Theatre Education Award which comes with a $10,000 prize, which goes to the Stoneman Douglas theater program.

Posted on

“Roll Tide” for Local Student

With so many students participating in extracurricular activities, it is easy to overlook the fact that being on any type of team is more than just fun; it is a commitment. Time, money, and hard work are among the sacrifices made by both the students and their families, but the drive to excel is worth it for many. Former Marjory Stoneman Douglas student, Rachel Edrich, is one of those students. The now 22-year-old University of Alabama senior shares the journey that led her down what was previously an unexpected path.

Rachel had danced and played soccer but things took a turn when a neighbor saw her out spinning a flag and suggested that she try out for the color guard. Swapping a flag for a rifle, Rachel made the team. She admitted that she did not like it at first but decided to continue. When asked now what advice she would give to younger girls she responds, “Do not give up.” The career of many student-athletes ends in high school but the commitment to her practices, training, and competitions has taken her far beyond that point. Rachel Edrich

Upon acceptance to the University of Alabama, Rachel decided that she would try out for its color guard. Rachel was given a prior opportunity to prove herself when Alabama scouts attended one of her high school competitions being held in Ohio. Once she made it to Alabama and was given the opportunity, she became part of the Alabama Million Dollar Marching Band Color Guard.

With 37 young women on the team, Rachel describes it as being “one big sisterhood” where “everyone has your back.” Veteran members are teamed up with the incoming freshmen for what is called “Big Sister, Little Sister.” With daily practices, strength training, and a full academic schedule, the young women are there to help each other through any hurdles they might encounter. There are high expectations of this team as they are expected to maintain an image of being strong and fit as they represent the University of Alabama.

While maintaining the level of athleticism that is required to control their equipment and perform for a five-minute routine, there is still a lot of glitz and glamour that goes along with being part of the color guard. Every year the women receive a new uniform, custom made and studded with rhinestones. Rachel said that since she has been there, the big script A has remained a signature feature of the uniforms and that it always looks stunning and photographs beautifully when they are on the field.

Rachel expresses her excitement for game day. “The best thing I can ask for is to get out on the field every Saturday and be a part of such an existing tradition.” She said that one of the things she enjoys most is looking out from the field and seeing how the fan base is generational, spanning all ages.

Describing what it is like to be part of this team, Rachel explains that it is more than performing; it is about bonding with other people. Being part of the team has also taught Rachel valuable life skills that will help her continue on her journey. While she must try out for the team every season, for now Rachel will continue to greet everyone with a “Roll Tide” as is the tradition with ‘Bama fans.

Posted on

Storytellers: The American Cuban Diaspora

Over a 58-year period, they left their homes, probably for good, with their clothes on their backs. Some brought their families as they fled their oppressive homeland, while some might not have had any choice but to leave their family members behind – perhaps never to see them again. They could no longer stand the oppressive regime that tormented them and even killed their loved ones.

They sought freedom; freedom from the totalitarian state in which they lived, and the freedom that comes with living in a democracy, one in which they could pursue the American Dream. it’s a true story, one likely familiar to almost everyone living in south Florida. And it’s a story that a miami museum with one of the city’s newest buildings, the American museum of the Cuban Diaspora, seeks to relate to visitors in detail. Founding director Ileana Fuentes wants to be clear: Miami’s “new kid on the block,” as she calls it, is more than an art museum. She won’t refer to it merely as a “cultural institution” either. “it’s a much larger historical storytelling type of institution,” said Fuentes, who left her home country of Cuba at age 4 as part of Operation Peter Pan – a “mass exodus of more than 14,000 unaccompanied Cuban minors to the United states between 1960 and 1962,” according to Wikipedia. A Catholic priest created the program to fly Cuban children to the United states. Fuentes, 68, left her home country without her family at age 13 and spent her first year in the United states in an orphanage in Denver, Colo. Within a year, Fuentes’ parents arrived in the U.s. “Other people weren’t so lucky,” the author and historian said. A mix of trustees of the museum, sponsors, and supporters of the museum, along with members and staff of the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau attended the May 4 event.

Fuentes and her family settled in New York, where relatives lived. She grew up in New York, attended school there, taught there, and worked as an administrator at Rutgers University. She’s lived in Miami for the past 21 years. After the museum was founded in 1996 as a “museum without walls” to spread awareness about Cuban Culture, Fuentes joined the organization as a cultural consultant in 2009. The museum seeks to enlighten people about the Cuban Diaspora. Its mission is to “tell the story of the Cuban Diaspora through the eyes of its greatest artists, thinkers, and creators,” according to the museum’s website. Culture, history, and gender are Fuentes’ main areas of expertise. “It’s been my career for 40 years,” she said. Fuentes said the museum has expanded its mission to not just promote Cuban culture, but to tell the story of the Cuban Diaspora in a way that incorporates humanities, sociology, and history, among other disciplines.

The building may look small from the outside, but when people enter the facility, they’ll notice white marble floors, white walls, the “huge” lobby and the “gorgeous” roof and terrace, Fuentes said. The exterior includes a garden featuring a fountain and foliage. The building encompasses a total of 15,000-squarefeet, 7,000 of which is devoted to gallery space. There are four galleries and three floors (two plus the roof). The museum is in Miami at 1200 Coral Way, where that road turns into Third Avenue. It’s near the Vizcaya Metrorail station. The Miami Trolley includes a Coral Way route, so people can take advantage of that free mode of transportation to and from the museum. Miami Museum Month falls each May, allowing visitors and local residents to take advantage of offers such as “Buy One, Get One Free admission” and “Join One Museum, See Them All.”

The city chose The American Museum of the Cuban Diaspora to launch this year’s event as the featured museum. In early May, the public was invited to tour the museum, which included an exhibition titled “Orlando 2016,” in memory of the victims of the multiple murders inside Pulse, a gay Orlando nightclub where 49 people were killed and 53 wounded in a terrorist attack/hate crime on June 12. According to www.cnn.com, the shooter, Omar Mateen, a 29-year-old security guard, pledged allegiance to the terrorist group ISIS. He was killed in a shootout with Orlando police. The exhibit is the work of Luis Cruz Azaceta, who “fled Cuba from the threat of compulsory military conscription under Fidel Castro’s newly formed regime,” according to the museum’s website at thecuban.org. “He moved to the U.S. and used his previous experience with the dictatorial regime to create his work.” Azaceta “explores the themes of terrorism, war, and exiles in his 29-piece exhibition that spans from 1980 to the present. Oppression and the human spirit weave together to bring this affecting exhibition to life.” Fuentes estimated about 300 people attended the event in early May.

The museum also offered a preview to the public last November. “Everybody was flabbergasted,” Fuentes said, adding anticipation was riding high among people who’d been following the new building’s development. Money for the museum came from Miami-Dade County under a bond issued in 2004. The county’s voters approved the raising of funds to build and improve recreation facilities, cultural facilities, and parks, Fuentes said. She said she and museum board members are “very excited. “It’s not just a museum for Cubans or Cuban-Americans,” she said. “It’s a museum for everybody.” The grand opening is scheduled for November 16. The museum is currently open from 10am to 4pm on Saturdays and Sundays. That will change after the grand opening; hours will remain the same, but the museum will be open every day except Wednesday. Museum officials plan on hosting school groups, starting with middle school. Staff also plan on taking programs into schools. “It will be a two-way street,” Fuentes said. Luis Cruz Azaceta, ORLANDO, 2016. Acrylic on canvas.

Posted on

Florida’s Crazy Laws

by Glenn Swift Jr.

strapless

We all remember the embarrassment, and humiliation, we proud Floridians endured during the 2000 presidential election: butterfly ballots, and hanging chads. Those images are firmly planted in our memory banks. So, let’s be honest. We didn’t look all that great before the nation. Of course, we assured ourselves that all the insanity wasn’t indicative of our robust, cutting-edge state. Well, on closer look, maybe we do need to rethink a few things after all. You see, we have some, let’s say, rather bizarre laws still in effect in our glorious Sunshine State. Here are some examples of what I’m talking about. Just don’t tell your friends up North.

 

They’ll be convinced that we really are nuts!

 

In Florida…

It is illegal to block any well-traveled wagon road.

It is illegal to fart in a public place after 6pm on a Thursday.

It is illegal to skateboard without a license.

Failure to tell your neighbor his house is on fire is illegal.

It is illegal to fish while driving across a bridge.

Sexual relations with a porcupine are strictly prohibited.

It is illegal for an unmarried woman to skydive on Sunday.

When having sex only the missionary position is legal.

Women can be fined for falling asleep under a hair dryer. (the salon owner can also be fined for this horrible crime.)

It is illegal to break more than three dishes per day, or chip the edges of more than four cups and/or saucers.

Lap dances must be given at least six feet away from a patron.

You may not kiss your wife’s breasts.

Rats are forbidden to leave a ship docked in Tampa Bay.

Topless walking or running within a 150-foot zone between the beach and the street is prohibited.

In Key West…

It is illegal to spit on a church floor.

Chickens are considered a “protected species.”
In Miami…

It is illegal for a man to wear any kind of strapless gown.

It is illegal to imitate an animal.

The penalty for horse theft is death by hanging.

No person shall operate a bicycle unless it is equipped with a bell or device capable of giving a signal audible for a distance of at least 100 feet; however, No bicycle shall be equipped with, nor shall any person use upon a bicycle, any siren or whistle.

Oral sex is illegal.

In Miami Shores…

Any product manufactured in a Communist country that is sold within its city limits must be clearly marked so as not “to hide its Communist origins.”

In Pensacola…

Citizens may not be caught downtown without at least 10 dollars on their person.

It is illegal to roll a barrel on a street. (Fines go up according to the contents of the barrel.)

A woman can be fined (only after death) for being electrocuted in a bathtub while using self-beautification utensils.

In Sarasota…

It is illegal to sing in a public place while attired in a swimsuit.

If you hit a pedestrian, you are fined $78.

Catching crabs is illegal.

In Tampa…

It is illegal to eat cottage cheese on Sunday after 6pm.

Are these crazy enough for you? For more crazy laws, visit
stupidlaws.com/laws/united-states/florida.

Posted on

Bonnet House is Home to Rich History

Main House of the Bonnet House Museum & Gardens, 900 North Birch Road, Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Photograph taken March 30, 2011.
Main House of the Bonnet House Museum & Gardens, 900 North Birch Road, Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Bonnet house is home to rich history

Near Ft. Lauderdale’s beach, with its hustle and bustle of traffic and tall buildings, it’s easy to overlook the tranquil, forest-like setting of trees, pebble-filled walking paths and fresh water lakes.

But if you turn onto a side street, you’ll soon enter a setting of nature rich with history, serenity, and whimsical sights. Once you’re within this paradise’s confines, you’re apt to think you’re on an exotic island away from the big city.

Still, tall buildings loom from the distance. The beach and Atlantic Ocean are visible through a fence. A stretch of that beach, the Bonnet House beach, spans 700-feet long.

Welcome to the historic Bonnet House Museum and Gardens, 35-acres of nature, and a house that has retained the character it boasted in the late 1800s into the early 20th century.

The attraction gets its name from the bonnet lilies found in its lakes.

Linda Schaller, director of education and volunteer programs, said that Bonnet House Museum and Gardens attracts a little more than 70,000 visitors a year, and about 7,000 school children a year.

“It’s a great educational place for art, history, and the ecology of a barrier island,” Schaller said.

Many who enter Bonnet’s grounds comment “I can’t believe I’ve never been here before,” she said.

The mostly volunteer-run attraction opened as a full-time museum in 1996, but its history stretches back about a century.

Even when Hugh Taylor Birch bought the Bonnet House site in 1895, the land dates back many centuries, to when the Tequesta tribe of Native Americans fished and farmed on the grounds.

8-hugh-taylor-birch

Volunteers know this because several shells indicate human activity on the grounds during that time.

“Further archaeological evidence suggests that the grounds saw one of the first sites of Spanish contact with the New World,” according to bonnethouse.org.

Birch gifted the property as a wedding present to his daughter, Helen and her husband, Chicago artist Frederic Clay Bartlett, in 1919. Weddings take place on the grounds to this day.

Bartlett was an American artist and collector. Images of work from famous artists as Pablo Picasso, Vincent van Gogh, and Georges Seurat grace a studio within the home. In that room, Bartlett not only amassed a collection of art, but painted his own works.

The visual appeal of the museum and grounds includes not only painted works of art, but a menagerie of animal statues, ranging from ostriches to lions. The grounds also contain a variety of orchids.

Stroll outside, and gentle swishing sounds from a waterfall soothes the senses.

“It’s so whimsical and there are so many fun things in the house,” Schaller said. She added one could tour the home and outside grounds three times and learn something new each time. That’s because the many tour guides each possess a specific area of interest; some are antique dealers, while others are musicians and gardeners. Each guide is likely to emphasize one aspect of the museum over another.

There’s one constant: the home’s decorations haven’t changed since Helen Bartlett’s days, Schaller said, who added Bartlett lived to be 109.

Schaller said the attraction’s busy months span from January through April, when 200 or more people visit. During the summer months, that number drops to about 60 people a day, she added.

They come from as far away as China, Russia and Germany, she said.

Visitors also include students. Fourth graders learn about Florida’s history, which aligns with the state’s educational fourth grade guidelines. Third graders, meanwhile, learn about ecology, which meets state learning guidelines for that grade.bonnetlily

Educational and recreational opportunities exist for all ages at Bonnet – “a historic estate sharing the past and building today’s community,” reads its website.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Bonnet House Museum & Gardens

WHEN: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Closed Mondays and holidays.

WHERE: 900 N. Birch Road, Ft. Lauderdale.

For more information about events, classes, exhibitions and workshops, visit bonnethouse.org or call 954-563-5393.

 

Posted on

Closets Aren’t Just for Clothes

by Philip Fishman

Who you are, the person who you want to be, and maybe the kind of day you will experience, may very well be determined by what you reach for – inside your closet.

Clothes, shoes, and assorted accessories of every size, shape, and color are somewhere, either neatly put aside in a drawer or perhaps hanging from a long bar stretching across the closet’s width.

closet-designYour spacious walk in closet, in addition to a home for clothing and outerwear, may house boxes, tennis rackets, brooms, or some item you just want to hide—it could be anything that doesn’t fit or look good inside a room.

Many of us don’t seek experts who design closets or home stagers that tell you how to organize your space. But today, closet making is a big business as more of us view our closets as integral parts of our home, as well as a major influence in creating a certain lifestyle.

Ron Annechiarico, owner of Accent Closets, has witnessed a significant change in consumer tastes regarding closet construction and design.

“The ventilated wire closet has given way to a more modern design and a fancier appearance,” Annechiarico said.

Most closets are either the reach-in or walk-in variety. What has become important is what customers want inside, and how to utilize existing space. The choices can be endless- there’s metal pulls and knobs, sliding or revolving tie and belt racks, rods and valets, angle supports, and even pullout ironing boards.

Annechiarico said that additional storage for personal items has become an essential perquisite, especially where square footage is at a premium. South Florida homes are not built with basements, which necessitates the need for extra closet space.

“We see our clients wanting more drawers and shelves for shoes and hampers to store clothes and items that cannot fit in the main rooms,” he said.

Also, extravagance has no boundaries when it comes to closet construction.

“We’ve had orders for closet chandeliers, glass shelving, granite tops, and floor to ceiling lighting. Some now consider their closets as real extra rooms and not just extensions of their bedrooms,” he said. “Closet door construction is also important. Acrylic and aluminum frames may be desired or raised or reset panels or the owner may want a simple wood or sliding glass door.”

b120141229085526Women’s closet needs differ from mens, but not by much. A women needs to store shoes, purses, dresses, pants, blouses, sweaters, lingerie, and even jewelry. Men lean more to suits, shoes, jeans, shirts, ties, and belts. “Knowing what your client wants, and what they are storing is very important to design the perfect closet space,” Annechiarico said.

Traditional, modern, walk-in or reach-in, or simply an appendage to existing room furniture, the closets of today play a significant role in residential home design.

Posted on

OFF TO THE RACES

dog-sled

by Victoria Landis

Humans are competitive about everything, especially sports. We are also quite inventive. So when some of us are no longer willing or capable of exerting ourselves, we find surrogates to compete for us. Who, or what, are those surrogates? Well, in the ‘good’ old days, slaves and prisoners were fodder for such amusements. In modern times, forcing others to run, fight, or die for our entertainment pleasure is, apparently, frowned upon. Sigh. So what’s a rabidly competitive society full of obese couch potatoes supposed to do?

Entrance−stage right−our animal friends. Seems as though they’re game to do anything for us. Some actually know we’re using them to amuse ourselves. Dolphins and elephants come to mind. How about the penguins from Madagascar. But others are thrust into situations that have to be bewildering to them. It’s beyond bewildering to me.

LOUISVILLE, KY - MAY 04: The field races down the front stretch during the 139th running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 4, 2013 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
LOUISVILLE, KY – MAY 04: The field races down the front stretch during the 139th running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 4, 2013 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

Take, for example, the Crisfield Crab Races in Maryland. Officially called the Crisfield National Hard Crab Derby, it happens annually over Labor Day Weekend. So, sorry to say, if you’re just reading about it now in October, you’ve missed your chance. It’s a crab-themed festival with cooking, rides, crafts, fireworks, beauty queens, a parade, arm wrestling, and racing crabs. A much-needed aside here−somebody please clarify for me just what sort of young woman wants to wear the label Crab Queen? Or Queen of the Crabs? I think even the pushy mothers from Toddlers and Tiaras would have enough sense not to allow their daughters anywhere near such a moniker. That is a title that will follow you for the rest of your life. What if she decided to become an X-rated film star? Her chances would be torpedoed from the get-go.

Back to Crisfield’s celebration of the crustacean. As much as I studied the web page, I did not see colored racing stripes or painted flames of glory on their backs, only boring chalky white numbers. Not very exciting. Although it paints a picture in your head of crabs doing their darnedest to inch along a track, carefully staying in their designated lane, that isn’t at all what happens. The pictures I saw show a multi-lane board all right−but one end was hiked up to an almost 45 degree angle with little ‘starting gates’ at the top. Once the gates open, the crusty critters kind of slide, more than race, down. I for one, am outraged. The good folks in Crisfield could learn a thing or two by paying attention to the other absurd animal races.

There’s hamster racing−in little cars no less−in the UK. It started in 2001, when a hoof and mouth disease put the kibosh on some of England’s horse races. They keep world records and everything. (See? I told you we were inventive . . .) There’s even Professional Hamster Racing now, covered by BBC London, The Sun, and The Daily Mail. Bookmakers take bets on it.snails

There’s races for cows, cockroaches, rabbits, lizards, buffalo, ostriches, snails, sheep, cane toads, camels, and pigs. Yikes!

As much as I would like to enlighten you about all of these wonders, my space is limited. So I will wrap up with what seems to be the biggest misnomer here: Snail Races. The world championships are hosted by our buddies, the Brits. Placed in the center of a 14-inch circle, the first snail to touch the outer circle line wins. In what has to be the most sleep-inducing event in the sports universe, it takes the average snails almost four minutes. Ah, but a snail named Archie in 1995 won it in just two minutes. Those spectators, assuming they had plenty of time for a bathroom break, must have been majorly bummed at missing that finish.

THE PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR

 

Posted on

Making Strides in the Literary World

Teen Poet Wins National Award

by Candice Russell

karinabenitezKarina Benitez, 13, of Coral Springs, is a gold medal winner of a National Scholastic Art and Writing Award. Competing with others in the 7th to 12th grade category, she didn’t feel she was experienced enough as a poet to even enter the contest. But her teacher at Mary Help of Christians Catholic School and her mother, Yvette Benitez, strongly encouraged her to enter the contest.

The title of her wining poem is “What a Tragedy,” about how people can perceive problems. “The inspiration was from my own experience,” Karina said. “There are some truly serious problems in the world, like the real struggles of other people which would be hunger literally, or people who are oppressed and not given opportunities, or were backstabbed.”

Only two other seventh graders won in the same category, a high honor for Karina. She travelled to New York City for the awards ceremony at Carnegie Hall. “It was a huge event,” she said. “Alec Baldwin and Tim Gunn were singing my praises with 2,000 winners on hand. I felt the comments were very personal and said with such sincerity. It was amazing.”

At an adjunct event at the Pratt Institute, Karina got to exchange ideas with other winners and even met Billy Collins, one of her favorite poets. She also enjoys the poetry of Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost.

Karina is the only writer in the family. “My parents are very academic, and emphasize good grades,” she said.

Though her career ambitions are taking her in another direction to become a medical lawyer, she said she would always pursue poetry as a hobby. “I never plan to give it up because it is a comfortable place for me,” she said. “It was always be there and it’s reliable because I like doing it.”

Karina’s circle of friends has been supportive. She also enjoys painting and drawing as another hobby.

Karina Benitez is an example of the hope of a new generation, whose thoughts and ideas about the world have universal application.

Proudly powered by WordPress