Changes on Fuller Street

The Design Box on Fuller Street is now the Design Bar. Our friend Herbie Parets sold the place to his neighbor, Leslie Ames, who owns the Goldie Boutique right next door, how convenient! So Leslie will keep the place running basically the same, with the same one-of-a-kind items from all over the world and Daniel Silverman will continue to run the store for her. That's Leslie and Daniel above.

Herbie wants to travel the world for awhile. I envy Herbie, for one, traveling the world and two, getting out of this one horse town for a bit!

Meet State Rep. Candidate Jose Javier Rodriguez

State Rep. and Grovite Carlos Lopez Cantera is termed out and now looking to claim his seat is Jose Javier Rodriguez, who is candidate for the District 113 seat. It's been a Republican seat for so long and now Jose, a Democrat would like a shot at it.

There's a Happy Hour fundraiser tomorrow at Greenstreets for Jose, who is a Harvard trained attorney who has devoted his life and career to improving our community and helping others get ahead in life. After the lousy turnout recently for elections, Jose can use all the help he can get, so it would be nice if you can stop by and meet the candidate.

He served in the Peace Corps and has been a legal services attorney and law professor. The suggested donation is $25. The Happy Hour meet and greet is from 6 to 10 pm, tomorrow, December 6 at Greenstreets (3468 Main Highway).

For more info, please call 305-444-0244.
Please RSVP to events@josejavier2012.com.

For more on Jose, his website is here: https://josejavierrodriguez.com/

The tree that would not die

I was at the World Trade Center Memorial site on Thanksgiving weekend and I saw the "Survivor Tree" (shown above). This is the pear tree that survived the attack on 9/11. It was removed, while the site was restored and then replanted at the site. It just goes to show that trees are very resilient. Case in point are all the banyan trees on Main Highway and Old Cutler Road that came back even stronger after Hurricane Andrew.

The point of this is to remind you that the Coconut Grove TreeWatch appeal to save the trees on Florida Avenue will be heard by Historic Preservation Board on Tuesday, December 6 at City Hall (3500 Pan American Drive) at 3 pm. TreeWatch feels that the mature trees all around Coconut Grove do not need to be taken down and replaced in order to "save" the sidewalks.

Talk has been that many of the trees are in danger of dying anyway, or possibly falling down in a hurricane. The glass in all the windows around the Grove is also in danger of falling out during a hurricane, should we remove all glass panes and put in wooden planks instead?

Bob Graham book signing at Bookstore this week

Senator Bob Graham will be signing his book, "Keys to the Kingdom" at The Bookstore in the Grove (3399 Virginia Street) on Friday, December 9 at 7 pm.

The book, is a 314 page political thriller ripped from today's headlines.

Senator Bob Graham is a former two-term Governor of Florida who served 18 years in the U.S. Senate. Respected and trusted by leaders on both sides of the political aisle, he was appointed by President Obama to co-chair the Bipartisan National Commission on the BP oil spill and to chair the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission. He is recognized for his leadership on issues ranging from healthcare to environmental preservation, and for his ten years service on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, including 18 months as Chairman of the Committee. Senator Graham is also a member of the CIA External Advisory Board, serving as an informal advisor to the Director and other senior leaders of the Agency.

Carbonell sculptures impressed the Basel crowd

The Manuel Carbonell sculptures were a big hit at last night's Art Starts in the Grove Art Basel event. Lilia Garcia was telling me how she signed the contract just a week before Mr. Carbonell passed away and the project almost didn't happen. They wanted to put the sculptures in Miami Beach as part of the main Art Basel event, but through Lilia's determination, and a signed contract, Coconut Grove was lucky to get the pieces.


The bronze sculptures are in the Mayfair Atrium, they're scheduled to be here through January 10, so if you're out and about during this holiday season, it would behoove you to stop by and check the sculpture garden out. It's very impressive.


There were performances last night among the pieces and the galleries supplied food and drink and it was a nice satellite extension of Art Basel.


I ran into Curtis Crider, GM of the Sonesta Hotel with his sons earlier in the day at Snow Days and there they were again at night, enjoying the Gallery Walk.


The colorful glass pieces by Florida glass blower Duncan McClellan also made quite an impression. They are at the Coconut Grove Arts Festival Gallery through the end of the month. People would walk in and out of the gallery all night enjoying this display and all the Carbonell sculptures right outside in the Atrium.

MPD beats FHP 17-3 in softball tournament

There were so many police cars and officers at Peacock Park yesterday, that one had to wonder who was keeping an eye on the City. But they assured me that there were lots of patrols out on the streets doing their jobs.


There has been bad blood lately between the City of Miami Police Department and the Florida Highway Patrol, so they decided to settle their differences like men -- on the ball field. So yesterday afternoon, the MPD took on the FHP in a softball tournament.


Unfortunately, for the FHP, Miami routed them badly with a final score of 17 to 3! Above are a few of Miami's Finest, from left, Officer Artice Peoples, Sgt. Javier Ortiz, Officer Susy (Izzy Izaguirre and Sgt. Victor Palacios.


It was a nice afternoon, not too hot and they played at the shady end of the park. The departments are like family amongst themselves and you get that feeling when you hang out with them. It's a nice atmosphere.


MPD was in bright blue.


And FHP was in brown.


Lots of families were out cheering them on from the sidelines. In fact, one fly ball hit one of the Miami officers in the head, but he shook it off. He was on the sidelines, not playing in the game!


A nice BBQ buffet was provided for everyone -- those playing and those watching.


But again, as I said, in the end end, MPD got the bragging rights by winning big.


I suggested to them they should do this weekly, it would be a nice moral booster for everyone, including the community. There are kickball tournaments by college kids in Peacock Park on Friday nights, why not police softball on Saturdays?

Bright, shiny Snow Day in Coconut Grove today

Snow Days came back for another year today at the Mayfair Promenade. The kids lined up and all was right with the world.


The Coconut Grove BID and Snow Days Committee had 10 tons of snow dropped about 11:00 am and at noon, the gates were open for all the kids.


Santa came out to visit as is the case with Snow Days every year.


And Santa was joined by Frosty the Snowman. But the kids seemed to be more into the snow and snowballs.


Theresa Calluori and Natalie Salas-Restrepo served snow cones, which were free for everyone. It's pretting fitting that Theresa had that job because her grandfather was an actual Iceman back in the day. He delivered the ice with horse and wagon to all those homes with ice boxes.

Snow Days is back again next Saturday, December 10, at the same spot, the Mayfair Promenade. Come out from noon to 3:00 pm and let's do it all over again!


Come early, as lots of people show up to play in the snow.


Oh yea, and I have to thank the pigs for showing up, no, not them, that's Ed Ferenczi and Lee Kessler who shoveled snow all day; but I mean the little pig I call Arnold Ziffel, who was part of the petting zoo, which was also a big part of Snow Day.

See you next week, same time, same location!