Volunteers help plant more than 300 shrubs and 100 plants at G.W. Carver Elementary.
A great example of community pride was demonstrated on Dec. 10, when students, parents and teachers all worked together to help beautify G.W. Carver Elementary in Coral Gables.
The school’s Parent Teacher Association (PTA) was awarded a $2,000 beautification grant by the University Baptist Church resulting in more than 300 shrubs and 100 plants being planted at the main entrance of the school along Grand Avenue.
The happy volunteers were grouped to help paint the historic school sign and decorate special mosaic tile plant vases. At the end of the day, the participants enjoyed an outdoor barbecue and celebrated the successful completion of this school beautification project.
Sitting in the studio at 880 AM The Biz radio station with headsets on and microphone at the ready, Pete De La Torre announces his Renatus Group Business Hour program. “Welcome to today’s show folks. We have some wonderful guests and lots of good news to share about what is happening in South Florida’s business community.” Renatus Group President/CEO De La Torre has reinvented himself as the dynamic leader of a business networking firm and as a professional coach helping industries get back on their feet.
“For over 30 years I have worked in South Florida and Latin America for various businesses and all of that diverse experience has helped me become who I am today. I recently did a “720” degree turn and reinvented myself. I am now in a position where I can take all those years of critical professional experience and use them to help other up and coming businesses meet quotas and goals in today’s ever-changing market.”
Prior to launching his new business, De La Torre served for seven years as Executive Director for the Doral Business Council (DBC). As the first staff person hired it was De La Torre’s mission to develop the membership base by presenting the DBC to the business community. By providing ample professional opportunity to members, the nascent group grew to over 500 professionals representing 70 different industries under De La Torre’s watch.
“From my years at the DBC, to the time I spent traveling the Americas in the flower importing business and then volunteering with various boards and managing teams and committees, I have developed hundreds of contacts with business leaders in the community. I am parlaying those connections and experience along with my extensive research library of resources to help businesses reinvent themselves.”
De La Torre contends that he has never seen such a challenging economic environment. “So many people are out in the cold and displaced. The concept of reinventing myself was behind developing Renatus Group. Renatus is Latin for ‘born again’ and the driving force behind this work is to help businesses reinvent themselves as is necessary in this market.”
Through a combination of consulting services, business development training to include future classes in partnership with Miami Dade College, and business facilitation training or matchmaking, De La Torre believes he has all the tools to warm up introductions and be a professional center of influence to hundreds of
business professionals.
“We need to be like a speed boat in today’s economy; move very fast and be able to change courses rapidly. Adaptability and flexibility are the order of the day. Having the courage to act ‘out of the box’ and implement new ideas is the way to maneuver and be successful now.”
“Ultimately I hope to make an impact on the economic development in South Florida and work not only with businesses but also with non-profit organizations. We want to take this vision and voice internationally, I am not doing this alone, I surround myself with winners. The radio show is just another effective way to reach out and be the voice for business in South Florida.”
To find out more about Renatus Group visit www.renatusgroupfl.com, contact CEO Pete De La Torre at 305-490-2348 or email Pete@RenatusGroupF.com.
Artist Huong has created a new mural the “IMMIGRATION Wall of Borders.” The over eight foot tall and 200 foot long immigration-themed exhibit will be unveiled to the public on January 14, 2011 at the Artist’s Studio at 7900 SW 77 Avenue from 2pm to 6pm. The mural is sponsored by the Peace Mural Foundation whose mission it is to promote civic education and action for peace and justice through the arts. This interactive project is aimed at continuing dialogue on immigration-related issues so near to Huong’s heart. Huong arrived in the United States in 1975 when fleeing the fall of Saigon with her young son. “Art can do what talking heads cannot. It inspires, disturbs, and evokes personal responsibility,” said Huong. After the unveiling on January 14, the foundation will be seeking a public space to house the exhibit. Call 305-915-1018 to find out more about “IMMIGRATION Wall of Borders” or email immigrationmural@gmail.com. Website is: peacemural.org.
Dancer, Choreographer and Zumba creator Alberto “Beto” Perez of Colombia with energized fans on the rooftop parking garage above Metropolis Fitness Gym. Metropolis sponsored Beto’s Zumba Master Class to benefit the JT Children Foundation Inc. charity helping disadvantaged children in Guatemala.
Councilmember Howard Tendrich (back row, left) welcomes Palmetto Bay residents Hal Feldman (back center), Feldman’s wife Judy (back right), daughter Emma (front center), and son Andrew (front right) to 2011’s free tree giveaway.
In Palmetto Bay this January Arbor Day won’t just be a date on the calendar, it will be an opportunity for students to participate in a poster contest and for residents to get a free tree for their yard.
Mary Shie Fernandez, village program and events coordinator, explained how they have made an effort to get everyone involved in this two-day event set for Jan. 20 and 21.
“There are two components,” Fernandez said. “One is the poster contest. We reached out to all the Palmetto Bay Elementary schools, both private and public. We’re asking the fifth graders. I think fifth grade is a good age because they’re really starting to understand the impact of Arbor Day on their community and trees, and it gives them an opportunity to be a part of something special. The theme for this year is ‘Trees Are Terrific.’”
Fernandez said that the poster entries will be turned in by Jan. 13, will be judged by the village’s Tree Board, and the winner will be announced on the village website on Tuesday, Jan. 17.
“Then on the 20th the winning school will get a visit from the council,” Fernandez said. “They’ll do the tree planting there, to award the winning school. We are so committed to always try to be greener, to be a ‘tree city.’ Getting them to do posters, we saw so many talented kids last year. It also gives the teachers a little more opportunity to talk about Arbor Day.”
The next day, Jan. 21, is “Shade Palmetto Bay,” when the village is giving away free trees to residents from 10 a.m. to noon.
“That’s going to be at Ludovici Park again,” Fernandez said. “It worked out really well last year. People drive in through the parking lot where we have it set up. We verify that they are residents of Palmetto Bay, and then they get to pick what tree they want.
“Public Works contacted different nurseries on donations for these trees. We asked for saplings — smaller trees so people don’t have to come out in big trucks. It will be something that will fit into a normal car.”
Fernandez explained that the Tree Board will be working with them on this as well, providing care instructions and background information on the trees residents will be getting. Although Arbor Day is a nationally celebrated observance that encourages tree planting and care with the official day being the last Friday in April, most states designate their day of observance based on climate. In Florida, due to its wonderful year-round weather, Arbor Day is celebrated on the third Friday of every January.
Councilmember Howard J. Tendrich said he is looking forward to the event because he has a long-standing commitment to the environment.
“As a proud participant in the Tree City USA program, Palmetto Bay is excited to host this two-day Arbor Day celebration,” Tendrich said. “Our celebration not only offers a fun, educational component for village youth, but the event also involves parents and other adults by motivating them to plant free trees throughout our community.”
For updated information on the event residents are asked to check the village website at www.palmettobay-fl.gov or call 305-259-1234.
“So please be sure to join us at ‘Shade Palmetto Bay’ for a free tree,” Tendrich said. “It’s a great way to spend a Saturday with the family and neighbors, helps to raise awareness of the importance of trees, and further beautifies our village.”
Visitors enjoy the great outdoor weather at the Farmers Market every Saturday morning and their choice of fresh fruits and vegetables.
The Coral Gables Farmers Market, now in its 21st season, will be back every Saturday beginning on Jan. 21 and continuing through Mar. 31. The Farmers Market takes place from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. in front of City Hall, at the intersection of LeJeune Road and Biltmore Way.
Just-picked produce, along with baked goods, gourmet specialty foods and plants, will be available for sale. Other activities include live music, a free Tai Chi class at 8 a.m., a free gardening workshop conducted by local experts at 9 a.m., a master chef demonstration from one of Coral Gables’ finest restaurants at 10 a.m., followed by children’s activities for the younger market shoppers at 11 a.m.
Enjoy the great outdoor weather by visiting the Farmers Market every Saturday morning for your choice of fresh fruits and vegetables and then walk to Miracle Mile to spend the rest of the day at any of Downtown’s various shops and restaurants.
For a schedule of the Farmers Market activities, visit www.coralgables.com or contact the Parks and Recreation Division at 305-460-5600.
WDNA’s Howard Duperly presents Steve Kirkland (left) for live broadcast.
The Blue Martini has put Kendall on the map for jazz fans on Tuesday nights. “For adults and young professionals, it’s the place for high-end, night club styled entertainment featuring live jazz,” said Steve Kirkland, operator of the Miami-Dade College Jazz Institute’s summer camp for young jazz musicians.
Kirkland has sent many students on their way to jazz careers, including Marcus and E. J. Strickland, as well as the Libidio Band with Danny and Christina Morris, former Kirkland students at Hammocks Middle School where he has been band director for 25 years.
When not involved teaching music, he leads the “Mr. K Band” now drawing packed crowds Tuesday nights to Kendall’s Blue Martini to hear live jazz, the kind of performances usually associated with South Beach or Coconut Grove night spots.
Opening doors only a year ago in the “The Palms,” the Blue Martini brought an upscale nightclub setting to The Palms amidst fashionable retail stores and restaurants that replaced an outdated mall at Town & Country Center on Mills Drive.
During the fall, increasing numbers of jazz fans from WDNA/88.9 FM, Miami’s popular jazz-oriented station, turned out to hear Steve Kirkland’s live jazz shows on Tuesday nights at the Blue Martini. The combination proved so successful that the station began live hour-long remote broadcasts from 7 to 8 p.m. on Nov. 29, featuring the “Mr. K Band” and vocalists.
“Since we began hourly spots, we’ve seen crowds double at Blue Martini,” said Howard Duperly, sales and marketing manager for WDNA.
Duperly, a former Kendall resident, agrees the Blue Martini is “setting a high entertainment standard in this area.
“Tuesday nights are normally considered a downer for nightclub business. Now, hundreds of fans regularly show up for our broadcasts.
“I know,” he laughed. “We only give out 100 blanks each night to win a T-shirt or free concert tickets and they’re all gone in minutes.”
“We’ve done occasional live broadcasts at events like the Miami Book Fair, but this has turned out to be the perfect place for a weekly remote, expanding our audience for jazz.”
Longtime station jazz programming hosts like Michael Valentine and Frank Consola share emcee duties with Duperly.
Vocal stylist Rachel Perry, who has been featured with stars like Gloria Estefan, Celia Cruz and Jon Secada, traveled from Davie on Dec. 27 as guest artist, opening with her set with Duke Ellington’s Don’t Get Around Much Anymore.
“It’s really a great place to perform and hear jazz,” said the recording artist who began her career with Emilio Estefan Productions and has both co-written songs and appeared on several Grammy-award winning albums.
The Mr. K Band includes Steve on tenor sax; Nomar Negroni, drummer; Robert Gonzalez, keyboards; Hal Roland, keyboards and vocals; Chegui Calderon, bass; Cayo Iturraide, bass, and Rhea Olivia, regular vocalist.
Kirkland said his interest revolves around “a love of the music” rather than as a sideline to make extra dollars.
“People really enjoy the energy and passion we put into our performances,” he added after a near-standing room crowd cheered the band’s latest Blue Martini performance.
“I play for people, and I try to pull them into our performance. I love to see people happy.”
As the Town of Cutler Bay enters the new year, the issue of a high school for the community remains unresolved as delicate negotiations continue with the Miami-Dade County School Board.
“There’s no doubt that we will have a high school,” said Mayor Ed MacDougall on Dec. 28. “But we just don’t have a final agreement with the school board administration. We’re not certain where the high school will be, whether it will be at Centennial or at Cutler Ridge Middle School, or if it will be shared between the two.
“We’re trying to work out some details in negotiations with them now, but because of the holidays the school board administration won’t be up and running until the first week of January.”
The Cutler Bay Town Council, during a special meeting on Sept. 20, reached a decision regarding a muchdesired high school, dropping the proposal of a charter school in favor of one that is part of the Miami-Dade County Public Schools system, which will be partially funded by town revenues.
“I can tell you this, though,” MacDougall said. “We have come a long way in our quest for a high school for the people of Cutler Bay and we will continue down that path until we exercise our full resolve in securing that high school. It will be done.”
Part of the mayor’s reported concern has been the need to keep the options fluid during talks and avoid getting locked into one set of announced plans before everything has been satisfactorily resolved.
“As far as the people of Cutler Bay, we just want a safe environment that has the capacity to hold enough students that will take care of our residents and of course any other residents outside of Cutler Bay, if there’s room,” he said.
“That falls in the school administration’s court because they have to figure out, of these facilities that they have, which is the best suited for the academic programs that we want to put in the schools, and we’ll do the same thing.”
MacDougall said that it’s not an easy problem to solve because each of the two schools has issues as far as its facilities that need to be addressed, and it is a matter of which is the more economically feasible and safest for all students.
“For me, as mayor, not only do I want this high school for Cutler Bay, but I also want us to be able to have an ongoing seat at the table as far as our schools and what we can bring as a partnership,” MacDougall said.
As of deadline time, the Concerned Citizens of Cutler Bay was scheduled to conduct an open round-table discussion on “A High School in Cutler Bay,” at the Cutler Ridge United Methodist Church on Tuesday, Jan. 3. Steve Zarzecki invited everyone to attend.
“Our Town Council continues to work for the benefit of our community by striving to ensure a quality education system here in Cutler Bay,” Zarzecki said. “There are negotiations underway with the Dade County School Board to bring a high school to our town. As of today, there are no agreements or decisions, and there are many questions and concerns.”
Pictured with Jobie on the Royal Court float during the Junior Orange Bowl parade on Jan. 2 are (l-r) Queen Mikayla Panariello, Princess Tiffany Rivera and Princess Monet McFarlane.
March 3, 2012 – Palmetto Bay throws a party each year to celebrate their incorporation as a Village. The result is a great time filled with free food and goodies for its residents. It feels just like the good old days.
Meet the new team at Elite Cycling & Fitness, (l-r) mechanic Logan Wright, new co-owners Marcelo Penengo and Jerry Mendez; and original owner KC Boutiette.
From construction work to speed skating to running his own bike shop, KC Boutiette has always been a Jack of all trades. Now the four-time U.S. Olympian and cross trainer has added a new occupation to his resume — shoemaker.
For the last five years, Boutiette, 41, has owned and operated a cycling business in Pinecrest — Elite Cycling & Fitness, 13108 S Dixie Hwy. The shop caters to everyone, from the casual cyclist to the triathlon athlete, offering repairs and tune-ups, and selling bicycles, parts, energy supplements and clothing gear. The shop also hosts monthly group rides, spin classes and fitness training sessions.
An Olympic speed skater who first rose to fame in the 1994 U.S. Olympic Trials, Boutiette had a successful career for more than a decade, winning numerous national championship titles and setting world records. Along the way, he met and married fellow speed skater Jennifer Rodriguez. The two moved from Utah to Miami in 2006 to run Elite Cycling & Fitness.
“We wanted to start our own business and a cycling shop was a perfect match for us,” said Boutiette, who lives in Brickell. “As speed skaters, we came across a lot of athletes who used cycling as a cross-training tool. It just made sense.”
Boutiette and Rodriguez divorced in 2008. It wasn’t until early in 2011 that Boutiette decided to take the business in a new direction. In March, he partnered with Rocket7 owner and creator Brian King to learn how to make custom lightweight carbon fiber shoes for cycling, running and
triathlons.
Rocket7 — founded in 1999 by King, also a former professional speed skater — is a brand of shoes that are molded to the individual’s feet, customizing length, width, instep, arch support and heel cup shape to maximize the cyclist’s comfort and performance in long races.
The Seattle-based company gained notoriety when prominent professional cyclists were photographed wearing them. Then, in 2008, King dismantled the operation to pursue a career in software. When Boutiette called King in March to purchase the embroidery machine that he used to make the shoes, the idea to relaunch Rocket7 was born.
“I was considering starting another business, maybe doing tee shirts and other clothing,” Boutiette said. “I knew Brian wasn’t using his embroidery machine, so I figured I’d take it off his hands. Then he asked me to think about getting Rocket7 off the ground again and I thought it was a good idea. I own a bike shop; they go well together.”
Boutiette shipped all the tools and materials from Seattle to a warehouse three blocks away from his bike shop in Pinecrest and started taking custom orders for clients. When the re-launch of Rocket7 began to interfere with his bicycle shop business, he sought help from Marcelo Penengo, 40, and Jerry Mendez, 31, who signed on as business partners. Both have backgrounds in cycling and store management.
“I couldn’t do both,” Boutiette said. “I needed more time to make shoes. Jerry and Marcelo wanted to own a bike shop. It was a great opportunity for everyone.”
Penengo and Mendez, now co-owners of Elite Cycling & Fitness, worked together for five years at Bike Tech off Coral Way and Southwest 22nd Avenue as manager and assistant manager. In 2010, Mendez moved on to manage his own store, Top Dog Cycle in Coconut Grove, and later brought on Penengo to potentially take part ownership of the shop. When the deal fell through, Boutiette offered the two a chance to be co-owners of Elite Cycling & Fitness. “We’ve talked about this for a long time, so it’s great to finally see the dream become a reality,” said Mendez, a South Miami resident.
Penengo said he and Mendez bring enough cycling knowledge and experience to elevate Boutiette’s business to a new level.
“We have the networking contacts in the community and we know most of the cycling groups, teams and trainers in the industry,” said Penengo, who lives in South Beach. “We know what it takes to cater to the entry-level cyclist just as much as the high-end cyclist. And we’re familiar with how the store should flow, be organized and the selection of merchandising. This is going to be a beneficial partnership for us all.”
