US Sailing's Rolex Miami OCR is back in Coconut Grove this week. Ground Zero is the US Sailing Center in Coconut Grove where 716 sailors will pass through this time around. Sailing starts today.
The six-day event hosts the world's top sailing athletes for competition in 13 classes selected for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The Rolex Miami OCR is the second stop on the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Sailing World Cup 2010-2011 circuit.
“There are 53 countries represented here,” said US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics Coach Luther Carpenter as he made his rounds yesterday, “and the fleets are extremely deep with talent. If someone feels like they have a good chance to finish top-four in every race, then that usually means not all of the top players are here; I don’t think there is any sailor thinking that way.”
The US has the largest group of sailors with 197, Canada, Great Britain and Italy have 97, 39 and 36 respectively. You'll probably see the sailors and their families all around the Grove this week as they enjoy what the Grove has to offer. Sail the Grove is heavily involved with promoting the Grove through specials at restaurants, bars and stores in the Center Grove. They also offer fun things for the sailors and their families to do between sailing.
US Sailing has partnered with the City of Miami to provide world-class venues for competition. Additional hosts for the event include Coral Reef Yacht Club, Key Biscayne Yacht Club, Coconut Grove Sailing Club, Miami Rowing Club and Shake-a-Leg Miami. These sailing organizations host classes onshore, as well as help run the on-the-water racing. The Coral Reef Yacht Club also hosts the Opening and Closing Ceremonies.
There is a Police Liaison meeting on Thursday, January 27 at 10:30 am at the NET office (2820 McFarlane Road). New Police Commander Richard Gentry will be introduced to the merchants.
The Coconut Grove Elementary School PTA is looking for new members. There is a general membership meeting on Tuesday, January 25 from 6:15 to 7:30 pm at the school cafeteria (3351 Matilda Street).
New members will be entered into a drawing for a gift certificate to George's in the Grove.
New Corporate and Community PTA memberships and sponsorships are welcome where you are invited to serve on Beautification, Events, Fundraising, and Membership committees.
Accepted donations to Coconut Grove Elementary School PTA at Coconut Grove Bank now include stock donations for your tax-planning convenience and new landscaping donations for the grounds for the 100 year celebration of the school which is this year.
Contact Yudith Monsalve at coconutgrovepta@gmail.com for more info.
Arts and Minds tenth grader Daniel Domingo Gonzalez, shown at left with Master Guitarist Professor Dr. Federico Bonacossa, adds his star as a semi-finalist in the first Miami-Dade Talent Search held at the Miracle Theater. Strumming his magical guitar, Daniel demonstrated clear mastery of the instrument. His superb musicianship is witnessed everyday in his advanced guitar class under the tutelage of Dr. Bonacossa.
In addition, Daniel previously played “Beat It” with A&M’s string group and said, “It was different with the strings. I had to follow along with the vocals of the violins…it worked out though.” He looks forward to February’s continued competition and hopes to win a prize and maybe a scholarship. Another group of Arts & Minds students in the outstanding photography program, under the direction of its highly talented instructor Rickee Hanks Mahoney, had their dynamic photography works displayed in the recent Beaux Arts Student Showcase at the UM’s Lowe Art Gallery. Academy Director William Machado who attended the fine exhibition said, “I am very proud of our great students and teachers. This is the first time our students have been accepted into the Beaux Arts impressive Showcase. Congratulations to A&M senior Woodrow Lusson, and tenth graders Demmier Vargas and Michele Huarte for jobs well done!”
In further news, seniors Michael Rodiles, Brooke Baumgartner and Woody Lusson were awarded the Gold Key Scholastics Award for their portfolios. They now move on to the national competitions soon-to-be held in New York. Underclassmen Camille Sauberer and Rachel Schueg had their entries accepted at the regional level.
Shakespeare Miami has been performing Romeo & Juliet all weekend at Shell Lumber. It's Shakespeare in the Park, but with a twist -- it's done in "the woods," the lumber yard woods.
Nick LaMedica plays Romeo and Bree-Anna Obst is Juliette. They and the fine cast have been filling the "theater" each night with lots of color, excitement, laughter and action -- there are some great sword fights in the production.
At the back of the lumber yard, there is a stage set up, chairs are set up, but people cozy up on their blankets and lawn chairs that they bring from home and it's one really nice venue for the production. Performances are Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays at 8:00 pm and at 2:00 pm on Sundays. So today, there is the 2:00 pm show and an 8:00 pm show and then the production is back again next Friday throughout the weekend.
All shows are free, no tickets necessary, bring a snack (no potato chips bags, please) and low lawn or beach chairs. Chairs will be available for rent for $1.00, but they are very limited so, bring your own if possible, or you will end up standing in the back, which isn't really that bad, actually. Parking is free on site.
Shell Lumber is at 2733 SW 27 Avenue.
For more info, please visit: www.shakespearemiami.com.
This sign is up across from Calamari on Main Highway, we noticed it during lunch the other day. It's sort of a how-to for the Commdore Trail, which is sort of bike paths through the area, which nobody really understands, since it is not a trail, hence the sign with rules.
I love the one that says "Announce Yourself." It reminds me of the old Honemooners episode where Ralph Cramden is learning to golf and Ed Norton grabs the clubs and Ralph tells him he has to "address the ball." So Ed says, "Hellooo Ball . . . "
The part that says, "If you stop, get off the trail" is funny, too, since the trail is a sidewalk in this area. So it's almost as if you cannot stop on the sidewalk for any reason, and if you do, you have to move into the street to avoid blocking others on the sidewalk/trail.
And protect yourself and others almost sounds like a condom ad. Who came up with this stuff?
I was talking about the gourmet food trucks that have taken over the country. Miami has a very large fleet of them. Los Angeles has over 100, they are gourmet restaurants on wheels, each serving a specialty food.
We visited The Fish Box for lunch the other day, they had set up at Grove Harbour Marina, right back along the water's edge and people found them.
The way these trucks work is that they mostly Tweet out their locations to their followers. While in the past, we have had problems with the dingy type roach coach lunch trucks, these gourmet trucks don't take business from areas, they actually bring business. The Latin Burger is almost a fixture at the Shell Lumber parking lot at least once a week.
From left: Eberto Cruz, Aimee Pedierne and Hosana Gonzalez served up all sorts of fish sandwiches from The Fish Box. They have their famous "Minuta Sandwich," which was yellowtail that day, for $5.00. There's fried calamari, shrimp salad and lobster salad to name just a few of their items.
I have spoken with people about getting the trucks into the village, I've mentioned it here before and total strangers have come up to me to offer the idea for the Grove. The best time seems to be at night, I had thought of lunchtime, but dinner seems to be best because people will come out, eat at the trucks and usually stick around to shop, stroll and maybe check an art gallery or two out and go to the movies. So they will make a night of it once they are here.
Owner of The Fish Box David Garcia is sold on Coconut Grove. He would love to be here on a regular basis.
The plan is to set up a "food court" which is very common with the gourmet trucks. They have done this all over the county, this is when a bunch set up for a few hours. Picture a place like the Mayfair Promenade, on a Friday or Saturday night, maybe once a month, with maybe seven trucks. They will bring their followers from outside the Grove -- these are people who would not be in the Grove ordinarily, so we are not taking business from existing restaurants, they are literally bringing bodies into the area. And then, like I said, in turn, hopefully the bodies will stick around to see what else is in the area -- the movies, the galleries, the antique market, and so on.
We need to work this out with the restaurants so that they don't feel threatened, because honestly, they shouldn't. It's not about taking their business, it's about bringing outsiders to the Grove, people who follow the gourmet trucks like a cult, people who would not be here otherwise.
Reuters has an article on How to Start a Food Truck Business here.
This is The Fish Box's Yellow Tail sandwich.
