Young Professionals Book Club meets Tuesday

The Young Professional Book Club will be discussing Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins. The club is meeting Tuesday, July 14, at 8pm at the Bookstore in the Grove (3399 Virginia Street).

Book Club participants will receive both discounts on that month’s book and items from the café.

Join in, have a glass of wine, discuss a hopefully great book and meet some fellow Grovites!

The Young Professionals Book Club promotes reading for young men and women in a fun and social literary environment with a Coconut Grove flavor. Their aim is to read books that will be appealing for both sexes and that will cover many different interests.

To receive updates join the Facebook Group here.

One last patriotic image

This past 4th of July was the best ever. Many people took part: the Merchants Association, the Chamber, the BID, the City, the NET office, the Parks and Rec. Dept., Comm. Marc Sarnoff's Office, Comm. Carlos Gimenez's office and lots of sponsors and volunteers.

Every time I drive or walk by the Chamber office, I point out the table inside the window and I tell whomever is with me, that it all happened there.

I cropped the top of the photo a bit, but if you would like to purchase this photo, it is by Javier Lopez-Rosende he may be reached here: www.snapphotography.biz

Coconut Grove library receives historic designation

As expected, on Tuesday, the Historic and Environmental Preservation Board designated the 1901 Coconut Grove Library as an historic site which was added to the City's Register of Historic Places.

The gravesite next door, that of Eva Hewitt Munroe, a Grove pioneer, will be considered for historic designation in September.

The library has plans for renovation including adding an elevator, a new entrance will be added to the side and a new foyer would be added. Also, a new restroom and the reading area would be expanded. None of the renovation will affect the current structure's look.

Virginia Street festival updates

The Virginia Street Street Festival, which was to be a big thing on August 2 is not going to happen. Apparently the Grove can only have two events a month and the upcoming Woodstock festival in Peacock Park (details to come) and a ladies 5K run already have claimed August.

Some are scoffing at the Virginia Street closing for a Christmas village for a couple of weeks in December. For a year or more there was scaffolding and a mess on Virginia Street, that didn't seem to affect traffic patterns. Not sure why Santa will.

BID discusses their plan for marketing and advertising

The BID (Business Improvement District) Board discussed marketing at Thursday's meeting.

One great idea that Marshall Steingold (shown above at left with David Collins and Lalo Durazo, board members) spoke about, was doubling the marketing and advertising budget of the BID through co-op money. With the extra money, they can do more than just the main billboard on US1 and 27th Avenue, which they would like to keep forever, if possible. It's almost an entrance sign for the Grove at this point.

The co-op money would come from Grove Merchants and it doesn't have to be cash, they could use "in kind" items like meals from restaurants and hotel rooms, etc. to "pay" for their side of the co-op. Ron Jakubisin, board member (above right, with Mia Stierheim and Frank Couzo), also was very knowledgeable on the subject and spoke of his experiences with other towns and their co-op programs.

I would like to do that myself, with Grapevine ads, you know, an "in kind" trade of advertising for advertising, but I heard from a few reliable sources that the Grapevine is forbidden to be a link from any Coconut Grove official websites, so I assume, we are persona non grata on billboards and magazines, too. I guess I don't always tow the line of the BID or Chamber. They never know what I'll say.

The ironic thing is that I probably bring more out of town visitors to the Grove than any advertising or marketing they could do. People read the Grapevine and see Coconut Grove as a quirky little village and they want to visit and "meet the characters." I can't tell you how many people have come to the Grove, pointed to people and said, "I saw you in the Grapevine!"

Another thing the BID may do regarding the internet is buy search engine placement, in the form of click-thru ads. They would pay up to $1000.00 per month for that, to purchase phrases and get to the top of the search engines.

Photos by AnnaMaria Windisch Hunt

Trunk show happy hour at Ritz-Carlton

Ladies Champagne Fridays is tonight, July 10, at the Ritz-Carlton Coconut Grove (3300 SW 27 Avenue).

From 5 to 7 pm, Miami dress designers Lynda Martin and Emmanuelle Cagol-Landreu present complimentary champagne for ladies, paired with gourmet light bites and live music in the The Lobby Lounge.

Lynda and Emmanuelle are throwing a trunk show tonight. Their "Nibbatti" Summer Collection features "easy, classic silhouettes with a modern edge in bold, jewel tones that carry you from day to night with just a change of heels."

A portion of their proceeds of everything sold go to support Katrina related rebuilding efforts, including this year's charity, Sweet Home New Orleans, according to the two New Orleans natives.

For info: 305-644-4680.

BID agrees to give Bed Race Committee matching funds

The BID (Business Improvement District) Board met yesterday afternoon, not all board members were there, but there was a quorum.

One subject that came up was the Great Grove Bed Race. Members of that committee were present to ask for money -- $15,000 to help put on the September 6 event.

The BID Board agreed to give matching funds up to the $15,000. The Bed Race committee needs to come up with that figure to receive that figure. Daisy Lewis, the Bed Race event planner expects to bring in $30,000 through sponsors, so that should not be a problem.

A few sponsors are already signed up, the largest so far is Heineken beer.