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Fall events are quickly filling the calendar.
The eighth annual Miami World Music Festival, produced by the South Florida Friends of Classical Music and its artistic director Adolfo Vidal, began on Sept. 10 with a lecture and a series of great concerts. The series wraps up this week at FIU’s Herbert and Nicole Wertheim Performing Arts Center nightly at 8 p.m. with three great concerts: an organ recital by Elena Baquerizo, on Sept. 17; a crowd favorite show, “The Sounds of Movies,” on Sept. 18, and, finally, “Conquest & Rebellion” featuring Asael Cuesta (counter tenor), Shanna Gundry (mezzo soprano) and Gordon Roberts (pianist) on Sept. 19.
Adolfo Vidal, the creative talent behind this festival, is an accomplished pianist whose passion for music inspired him to found South Florida Friends of Classical Music. This organization is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that has multiple programs during the year to introduce great talent with support for this concert series coming from FIU, Miami-Dade County, Culture Builds Florida, Florida Concert Flyers.com and Arts Ticketing.
The Wertheim Performing Arts Center is located at 10910 SW 17 St. and provides a beautiful venue for these musical events. For information on tickets, visit www.miamiworldmusicfestival.com.
In other festival news, as the Junior Orange Bowl season kicks into gear, JOBC past president Don Slesnick III has agreed to step in as interim executive director. As Don has served in many roles as parade chair and president, the festival is in good hands with him, president Samantha Jones, and the board and staff.
Both Sam and Don were on hand as the Junior Orange Bowl held its first in-person social gathering at Bay 13 on Aug. 25. The next one is scheduled for Sept. 22 with the location to be announced. These socials serve to recruit new volunteers and act as a reunion of sorts for many including past president Dr. Richard Souviron (whose son Grant is president-elect), past president and basketball chair Chuck Little, past president Frandley DeFilie, and past president Steven Gonzalez.
Another face on the scene was longtime member Hank Langston who founded the JOBC Gymnastics Tournament years ago, held many offices over the years and founded the JOBC’s Scholar Athlete Program, an ongoing program that celebrates academic excellence in sports.
As things gear up for 2021-22 season, president Samantha Jones was a guest on the Sept. 7 Gloria’s Gab LIVE show giving viewers an update to the myriad events coming soon.
Next up is a huge competition, the JOBC’s cross country event on Oct. 22 at Larry and Penny Thompson Park. Registration for that event opens Oct. 1. For meet information contact Larry Wooten at Ljhawks13@aol.co or call 786-409-1869.
The JOBC has announced the date, Dec. 12, for the annual Junior Orange Bowl Parade. The parade took a hiatus in 2020, but promises to make a strong come back this year.
It also will be a big year for the JOBC Tennis Committee with the tournament celebrating its 60th anniversary. Some preliminary fun is set for Nov. 20 with Glow in the Dark Tennis at
The Biltmore William Kerdyk Tennis Center. More on all those events ito come.
Finally, Coral Gables Rotarians are meeting weekly via Zoom with two hybrid meetings on the second and fourth week of the month when they also meet in person at the Hyatt Regency Coral Gables. During a recent meeting at the Hyatt, members enjoyed hearing from guest speaker Gary Powers Jr. Gary is son of the U2 pilot who was shot down in 1960 and imprisoned in Russia. This talented writer who has authored several books, shared his dad’s story on being captured, vilified and finally, when classified documents were opened, honored as a national hero. By the way, there is a Steven Spielberg movie about the U2 missions called Bridge of Spies (2015) that is available on Amazon Prime Video in case you have not seen it.
At that same meeting, Kirk Menendez followed the path of fellow Coral Gables Commissioner Rhonda Anderson and was installed as a new member of the Rotary Club of Coral Gables.
Next time, look for news on the Coral Gables Woman’s Club Gringo Bingo that is directing a portion of the proceeds to Rotary relief efforts in Haiti through Ecoworks and Shelter Box USA. Kudos to so many who support this monthly event hosted by Clutch Burger with music donated by DJ Germain and sponsored by EZ Title Services and 1st Premier Elite Financial.
Until next time, keep making each day count, share an act of kindness every day and stay safe.
