You Grew Up in South Miami if you remember...........

The Holsum Bakery and Restaurant on US 1
Joe's News on Sunset Drive
Connie Banko's swimsuit shop
Feeding the ducks at the Duck Pond
Dante Fascell Park where he served hotdogs and hamburgers on the 4th of July
Robert's Western Wear for saddles, bridles and all sorts of western gear
Sunset Drugs and the lunch counter there..yum!
Sunset Elementary
The old coral rock South Miami Library
Parrot Jungle and the parrots roosting on our trees before heading back there every night
The Depot Restaurant
Zips Sporting Goods
Doc's Feed Store
Kids riding their ponies down Red Road
Orr's Pond when it was a homestead and not a walled community!
The College Inn restaurant for tasty sandwhiches
Bob's Pipe and Tobacco store
Gardener's market on Red Road
Chief Tatum and the tough but lovable South Miami cops on the beat
Pencil Pines where Robert Frost spent his winter months
The Howard Johnson's Restaurant on US 1 with the all you can eat catfish lunch on Teusdays
The Moderne Book Shop on US 1
and Finally, Fox's Serron Inn that IS STILL THERE and serving tasty burgers and roast beef still!

Frankie's Pizza

Having done a piece on Arbetter's Hot Dog stand, I couldn't fail to also do one on Frankie's Pizza shop that has been in the same spot on Bird Road and 91st Street for over 55 years, just a few blocks away from Arbettter's. Now I consider myself a bit of a pizza expert having sampled all types throughout years of my travels in the USA and Italy. I also lived many years in NYC where some of the best pie in the US can be sampled on many different forms. Frankie's is the thin crust square pan type, one that folks in the northeastern part of the US will instantly recognize. If you're a deep dish pizza lover like Chicago style, this may not be your favorite, but if you like thin crispy crust lighter style pizza, Frankie's is one of the best in town and maybe in the top ten for the entire USA. I admit that since I grew up in the Shenandoah area of Miami, we mostly hung out and ate pizza at the old Pizza Palace on SW 8th Street and 31st Avenue, but in high school I did hit Frankie's up anytime we went to the Bird Bowl bowling alley or to a high school game that took us in that direction. Frank and Doreen Pasquarella came from Ohio and opened the original Frankie’s Famous Pizza in South Miami in 1955. Two years later, they moved their pizza shop to a small grocery store located on Bird Road. Back then, that area was like the wild west with practically no other shops around and some folks riding horses in the early morning hours. Frankie's is still run by Frankie’s daughters Renee and Roxanne Pasquarella and it looks identical to what it looked like in the early 60's when I first went there. It's a little hole-in-the-wall place that the minute you step inside you feel like you stepped back in time 40 years! If you decide to take a trip back in time, just remember that it is closed mondays and is a cash only joint.

Arbetters Hot Dog Stand

Arbetter's is a Miami institution that began as a humble hot dog stand on SW 8th Street back in 1960. I don't remember the exact location, but I do remember it was next door to a Dairy Queen, somewhere near Red Road (SW 57th Avenue). In those days, it was run by Bob and Phyllis Arbetter. Bob was a Boston native and rabid fan of all things basketbal but specifically the Boston Celtics. It was a popular place with local high school students and the nearby University of Miami. The chili and corn dogs were the favorite items on the menu along with the chili cheese fries as they still are today. As I remember, Bob lost his lease on the original site back in 1972 and moved to the current location on Bird Road and SW 87th Avenue. Today it is a favorite after school hang out for Columbus High School students and those like myself that can't resist a good CO and Coke! His son Ronnie a Southwest HS graduate ran the place until 2008 when he passed away at the young age of 52 due to pancreatic cancer. Ronnie was a chip off the old block and played basketball in high school while working his every free time at the stand with his dad and mom. He was much loved by all the regulars and will be sorely missed. Ronnie  loved the Dolphins and the Canes as much as his Dad loved the Celtics. Ronnie and his Mom and Dad gave countless high school and college students their first job and their story is a classic american working class success that imbued all that came in contact with them a true sense of honor integrity and love of life. To me, Arbetter's is a constant reminder of what it was like to grow up in Miami surrounded by folks that really cared and always offered a kind word or helping hand. If you'd like to step back in time to those days, do drop by Arbetter's and enjoy a great dog and fries!

Venetian Pool Open Again!

Being so bummed out by the tearing down of St. Stephen's Church, I thought I do a new post on something very positive and uplifting. The Venetian Pool in Coral Gables is once again open to the public after a complete renovation that has left the site still looking like it did so many years before. Thank you Coral Gables, it is one of the few things left in Dade County that has been preserved and maintained in it's original beauty! The pool, so-named for its Venetian-style architecture, began as a rock pit for the stone quarried to build Coral Gables in the 1920s by city founder George Merrick. Today, its waterfalls, coral caves and grottos, architecture, loggias, porticos, sandy beach, cobblestone bridge and a palm-fringed ''island'' earned it a historic landmark designation in 1989.

Believe it or not, in the 1950s and 1960s pools in some one's back yard were a pretty rare sight. Only our neighbor Mr. Geigenshot, the president of Dade Federal Savings and Loan had the wealth and position to have one put in. Growing up in the Shenandoah part of Miami, we kids would jump on our bikes on hot summer days and head to the public pools in the area. Our hangout was the city pool next to the Boy's Club on SW 32nd Avenue. Painted a rather sickly shade of government green, it was a crowded venue with little aesthetics to redeem it. Of course, we loved spending the day there carousing with our friends and being warned for the umpteenth time by the lifeguard to cut out the horseplay! By days end, we headed home with a good sunburn and a strong smell of the over chlorinated water.

However, for a really special treat or some one's birthday or special occasion, we got taken to the Venetian Pool. It was like an island holiday at a ritzy hotel for us kids. Natural cold spring waters without a trace of chlorine and surrounded by what appeared like the backyard of a Venetian Palace. We could hide from the sun's rays in the beautiful grotto away from the prying eyes of the lifeguard and engage in all sorts of horseplay. Of course, this could lead to minor tragedies in our horseplay. My New York City cousin managed to crack his head open on the grotto's craggy roof as we fought a particularly vivid water battle. While much blood was spilled, it was just a minor scalp would that ended the day somewhat abruptly! We had a great time!

St. Stephen's Church-Another one bites the dust!

Once again, the rich and greedy of Miami, ignoring all pleas of preservationists and lovers of our community, have torn down an important historic building and a big part of my Miami memories. On May 5th of this year, in a stealthy and secretive move, the church elders called in the wrecking ball. Going back on their word to preservationist Arva Parks Moore and community leaders, they summarily tore down the 1912 church, the oldest in Miami. Their argument? Not good enough for the students, has a few leaks, blah blah blah...you get the picture. The real story? A deal with Jorge Perez and the Related Companies to build commercial space on the coveted MacFarlane location to line their greedy little pockets. Hardly news in Miami but still shocking that the religious leaders and community church members would do such a dastardly deed.

In 1958, now so many years ago, I attended St. Stephen's Episcopal Day School on it's inauguration. I have wonderful memories of that little school on the edge of Peacock Park where me and my buddies would run around playing our games and trying (unsuccessfully!) to stay out of mischief. I remember our headmaster Father Densmore herding all our classes to make the procession into the chapel every morning. The church was an anomaly in its day, a spacious airy structure that felt warm and filled with light all day long. It was in the Mission style and unique in a city of traditional stuffy churches of classical style. It would mark special events like when we went there to pray for the safety of the new Mercury astronauts. I actually liked to go to church every day! Not many 9 year olds could make that claim today!

When one gets older and begins to lose their immediate family, these pentimentos are what keeps us anchored to this world and feeling we are part of a greater family, a community of people tied by our common past and the physical spots that remind us of them. Preservation, therefore, is not just about keeping beautiful old buildings and monuments in place. Rather, it is about preserving our common memories and experiences and passing on a small piece of them to generations here and yet to come. To me the church was not just a wonderful old building meriting salvation but also a repository of all my memories of those early days of my youth, of Father Densmore and Mrs. Agnes Johnston, my fourth grade teacher. Of my buddies Vose Babcock, Nat Heiner, Brian Bowman, Malcolm McNaughton and Jesse Merritt. Of whatever surrounded that beautiful old church that was the Coconut Grove of my memories. Now it's gone. Shame on you Pastor Wilifred Allen Faiella! You may become a successful entrepreneur with your new venture but you have destroyed a beautiful thing.

Wayne Arnold's Royal Castle Reopens

For all you RC fans out there, please note that the second to last surviving RC has reopened at the corner of Northwest 125th Street and Seventh Avenue. Wayne Arnold has owned the restaurant since 1982, but the business has been at that corner since 1956. The store had been closed since a fire caused by a faulty freezer compressor swept through the inside of the restaurant on Aug. 30, 2005. Fortunately Wayne was able to reopen in part thanks to a $80,000 loan from North Miami's Community Redevelopment Agency. Only one other descendant of the original Royal Castle which started in 1937 remains in Miami-Dade at Northwest 79th Street and 27th Avenue. Arnold's is open 24 hours a day, just as it always was. It also brought back its breakfast menu of pancakes, eggs and grits, which customers can order any time. But the real stars are the tiny little castleburgers and birch beer, which are now served in a plastic cup instead of the frosty mug we all remember from our childhood. The burgers are now $1.00 compared to the 15 cents I remember, but just as tasty and satesfying. It is still true to its slogan ''Fit for a King'' ! I encourage all you old time Miamians like me to take your kids down to Arnolds RC in the near future and sample a really wonderful Miami memory!

The Coppertone Girl looks for a new home

Anyone who grew up in Miami in the 50s and 60s remembers driving by the Coppertone Girl when going through downtown Miami on Biscayne Boulevard. She and her naughty dog graced the Parkleigh Building on N.E. 6th Street and Biscayne strategically placed so that every tourist driving into Miami or going to the old Seaport to catch a cruise ship was greeted by her cute surprised expression as the dog pulled down her pants just enough to show what a beautiful tan you could get on any Miami beach. Unfortunately when the Parkleigh was demolished in 1991 the poor girl was left homeless. But not for long! Schering-Plough, owners of the Coppertone trademark, donated the sign to the citizens of Miami and placed it in the care of the Dade Heritage Trust. The Trust has taken loving care of its adopted daughter ever since. After refurbishment of the sign, the Trust relocated the sign to the east side of the Concord Building at 66 W. Flagler St., where the golden girl sans pooch hangs today. Sadly, now this second locale is no longer able to host the popular image.

The solution to this dilemma is to entrust the sign to the MiMo Biscayne Association. The group was verbally promised the sign last November and has been just as diligent as the Trust in pursuing any option that will save it for a second time. Schering-Plough has offered $2000 for the removal and inspection of the landmark. According to a spokesperson, Schering-Plough expects the sign to come down sometime in April at the latest, and then all parties involved will determine the next steps for the Coppertone tyke. It is expected that Miami's most famous sunbather will be relocated to the MIMO district to carouse among her contemporary motel row surroundings. Stay tuned for her rebirth.

By way of historical background, the Coppertone Girl was the creation of graphic artist Joyce Ballantyne Brand, using her daughter Cheri Irwin as the model. Cheri is presently employed as an aerobics instructor in Ocala, Florida. Later, Jodie Foster made her acting debut as the Coppertone girl in a television commercial, when she was 3 years old. The sign was built buy the well known Miami sign company, Webster Outdoor Advertising, that created many of the famous old signs around Miami of that era.

Villa Serena- Saved from the Wrecking Ball

Villa Serena was added to the Miami Register of Historic Places by the Historic and Environmental Preservation Board in December 2007. Constructed in 1913 Villa Serena is a notable example of Mediterranean Revival style architecture, built of steel-reinforced poured concrete and designed by August Geiger, an influential early Miami architect who had also designed the Miami Woman's Club, and the Dade County Courthouse (with Anthony Ten Eyck Brown). It was about to be sold to a foriegn investor that intended to tear it down to build yet another modern mansion on the bay. Apparently, a new buyer has since appeared that is interested in preserving and renovating it.

This palatial estate is located between Brickell Avenue and Biscayne Bay, at 3115 Brickell Avenue, and takes full advantage of both the street and the bay with facades of equal prominence and architectural beauty. Its Mediterranean characteristics include the prominent courtyard formed by the extension of the wings, the low, tiled hipped roofs and prominent parapet, intricate cast ornament in a basket weave pattern, and decorative details such as wrought iron railings and decorative tile imported from Cuba.

Villa Serena was the winter home of famed orator, lawyer, and three-time Democratic presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan and his wife Mary. Bryan is best known as the prosecutor in the famous Scopes Monkey trial opposing the teaching of evolution. However, he was also a life-long peace advocate and a staunch supporter of women's suffrage and worker's rights. Bryan, a fundamentalist Christian, became a key figure in Miami, as a spokesman for George Merrick's Coral Gables Corporation, and as a lay leader of the Presbyterian church.

In Miami, he hosted "Sunday schools" that served largely as a tourist attraction in the former Royal Palm Park, now Bayfront Park, that drew about 16,000 listeners. Coral Gables founder George Merrick paid Mr. Bryan $100,000 to speak daily at the Venetian Pool on topics such as the value of Florida real estate and he is credited with the idea of creating a local pan-American university: the University of Miami.

News of the Bizarre- The Dumb leading the Crazy

Chavez Grants Interview to Supermodel Naomi Campbell, AFP Says
By Matthew Walter
Jan. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Venezuela's socialist President Hugo Chavez has given an interview to British supermodel Naomi Campbell, which will be published in an issue of the men's lifestyle magazine GQ, Agence France-Presse reported.
Campbell describes Chavez as a ``rebel angel'' in the article, according to AFP, which cites excerpts that were released in advance.
During the interview, Chavez said U.S. President George W. Bush was ``completely crazy,'' and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice worked for a ``genocidal government,'' according to the news service. The Venezuelan leader also said he thinks Bush wants to kill him, AFP said.
Campbell and Chavez also discussed fashion, pop music and the British royal family, the news service said. Chavez said he admires Prince Charles, and that Cuban President Fidel Castro was one of the world's most stylish leaders, according to the news service. Chavez said he was open to posing topless for photos, as his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin has done, and asked Campbell to feel his muscles, AFP reported.

Although this news item doesn't have anything to do with Miami's past, I just couldn't resist publishing it! While I am sure these two have provided plenty of fodder for comedians everywhere, two items stand out. Firstly, Chavez certainly seems well prepared to determine whether Bush or anyone else is completely crazy. Secondly, how did Prince Charles work himself into the conversation? I wonder which muscle Campbell was invited to feel?

Sepy Dobronyi- The Grove's Last Royalty

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Holidays at the Rod and Gun Club!

When I was growing up in Miami, we always used to go at some point during the Christmas holidays to the Rod and Gun Club in Everglades City for a day or two to enjoy the cool weather on the west coast of Florida, eat stone crabs and do a little boating through the Thousand Islands. In later years my best friend in High School and I used to organize an improptu day-long rally down Alligator Alley, with lunch at the Club, usually punctuated by someone's old british roadster breaking down along the way! It's amazing but this bit of Florida history is still around and kicking after all these years. Still as lovely as ever and great fun to visit. Less than a 2 hour trip from Miami, I am surprised so many Miamians either don't know the place or have never been to it. Everglades City was a pretty ramshackle town of the kind you saw many of in the old days. While its been somewhat modernized, it still retains that old Florida Cracker style and look.

Prior to 1923, Everglades City was called Everglade, a name given the settlement along the crooked little Allen's River in 1893 by Bembery Storter after the U.S. Post Office refused the request for the name Chokoloskee, which is now the name of an old outpost just to the south at the western entrance to Everglades National Park. Flamingo, the third of the old original towns, still marking the end of the main park road, is now a park community with a campground, ranger station, marina and lodge. Farming was the primary occupation of people living in the area and included sugarcane, bananas, and vegetables. George T. Storter is considered the true founder of the town. He and his family were prominent in Everglade's growth and activities and owned much of the land around the town until the arrival of Baron Collier in 1923. It was under the Storter stewardship that the Everglade began to draw visitors and sportsmen. The Rod and Gun Club was built around the Storter home.

Barron Collier is primarily responsible for the foundation of Everglades City as you see it today. In 1923 he and his company purchased most of the land in and surrounding the town. Within five years the sleepy trading post and farming community was converted into a bustling industrial-based company town replete with roads, a railroad, a bank, a telephone, sawmills, a boatyard, churches, a school, workers' barracks and mess halls, and even its own streetcar at one time. It served as the county seat of Collier County until 1960, when prosperity waned and county offices were moved to Naples. Neighboring Chokoloskee did not have a road until a causeway was built from the mainland in 1956.

The Grove........Now and Then

Funny, but what got me going on this riff was a Friday afternoon stopover to the Titanic Brewery by the University of Miami fopr a brew or two with my buddies the other day. It just hit me that this was the old Flick coffeehouse that I used to go to in the 60’s to see all the great musicians that lived in Coconut Grove back then. Back in the late 60’s I lived in a duplex apartment complex on Aviation Avenue in the Grove. It was owned by an old doll that had been a bit player in the movies back in the 20’s and 30’s and was a ringer for the Norma Desmond character in “Sunset Boulevard”. As with everyone else in the Grove she was a lovable eccentric. The complex was a big one acre property with four duplexes surrounded by beautiful vegetation that sat just above the bay looking down on Monty Traynor’s old place and the Dinner key marina. I shared the flat with a college buddy from UM that worked selling buttons for his uncle in New Jersey. I had just gotten a job for the county government as a photographer that barely paid me enough money to live but included a car so I was set.

Back then, the Grove was a pretty funky old fishing village and all the old Miamians would warn you not to drive through it lest you got shanghaied by some shady character. In the center of town was the Peacock family ship’s chandlery where Cocowalk now stands and the Florida Pharmacy catty corner to it where we all went to the luncheon counter to have breakfast. Peacock Park and the old Public Library stood just south of the main drag as it does today, running down to the bay. If you had a few extra bucks you went to have a few drinks at the Old Grove Pub, got dinner at the Taurus Steakhouse on Main Highway and went to see “Hair” or “Equus” at the Playhouse just down the street. Scornavacca had his art studio down the alleyway between the Pharmacy and St Stephen’s school which I attended for one year when it opened in 1959. Except for these landmarks, the Grove was a series of heavily vegetated little streets lined with old Florida slash pine bungalows built by the original Bahamian settlers back in the 1920’s. Most of these which ran along Oak Avenue were converted to “head shops” where the high school kids would go to buy psychedelic posters, pot paraphernalia and tied dyed anything. The town was patrolled by “Bob the Cop” on horseback and all official duties, including weddings, were performed by “Joe Bicycle” the local notary public and merchant.

The guy who really “discovered” the Grove in the 60’s and made it a favored haunt for the musical community was Vince Martin. Martin at the time was a folk legend and considered one of the great folk singers of his day by Bob Dylan Joni Mitchell, John Sebastian and many other contemporaries. As Vince tells it, he was here doing a gig in the early 1960’s when he found himself driving down South Bayshore Drive and happened upon this beautiful little village. There was a full moon and he could smell night blooming jasmine in the air. He was struck and eventually moved down here from Greenwich Village. He lived just down the street from me on Aviation Avenue. As his friends visited him and were struck by the natural beauty of the Grove, many moved here or spent a big part of their time here. One of these was the great Fred Neil who died here in 2001. Inspired by the Grove, in 1969 Vince wrote and recorded with Fred Neil “If the Jasmine Don't Get You ... the Bay Breeze Will”. John Sebastian was a close friend of Martin and Neil and spent a lot of time in the Grove at Vince’s house. If you’re old enough to Remember Spanky and the Gang, they got their start here in the Grove when Oz Bach and Nigel Pickering were showing Elaine “Spanky” MacFarlane around the Grove and a hurricane hit. They spent the next eight hours hiding out in a chicken coup jamming and that’s how the group eventually got together!

All these artists and so many more played the circuit here in Miami back in those days, including the Flick and the Gaslight Coffee House in the Grove. Joni Mitchell was discovered at the Gaslight by David Crosby who was passing through on his sailboat the Mayan which was docked at Dinner Key. In fact, Jimmy Buffet was then an unknown young kid who was the opening act for many guys like Martin and Neil at these coffeehouses. Besides Martin’s song, the Grove was immortalized by John Sebastian after he left the Lovin Spoonful and wrote the song “Coconut Grove”. As the song says “its really true how nothing matters, no mad, mad world, no mad hatters. Nobody’s pitching, cause there ain’t no batters in Coconut Grove” When I think back to those days, I can truly say it was a magical place. No resemblance to the crass commercial locale it has become. I know in many ways it is a “better” place today, but I can honestly say that what it was will never be rivaled by what it may become.

Monkeys with Hand Grenades!

By David Evans Nov. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Florida local governments and school districts pulled $8 billion out of a state-run investment pool,or 30 percent of its assets, after learning that the money-market fund contained more than $700 million of defaulted debt. Orange County, home of Disney World, removed its entire$370 million from the pool on Nov. 16, two days after the head of the agency that manages the state's short-term investments disclosed the defaulted debt in a report delivered to Governor Charlie Crist. ``Our primary goal is to protect our funds,'' said Jim Moye, Orange County's chief deputy comptroller, from his office in Orlando. The county's school board withdrew $388 million this week, following other local governments that pulled funds, including Dade County and Pompano Beach. The withdrawals, made since Nov. 14, were disclosed to Bloomberg News in a response to an open-records request. The State Board of Administration manages about $42 billionof short-term investments, including the pool, as well as the state's $137 billion pension fund. Almost 6 percent, or $2.4 billion, of its short-term investments consist of asset-backed commercial paper that has defaulted. Those holdings include $425 million in Axon Financial, a structured investment vehicle, or SIV, according to state records. About $19 billion remained in the pool this week after the unprecedented wave of withdrawals, which came after the State Board of Administration reported its holdings of downgraded debt to Crist at a Nov. 14 public meeting of his cabinet inTallahassee. The disclosures followed a month of inquiries by Bloomberg News to Florida officials.
Word Spreads
``Knowing other people were pulling out, and that word was spreading, we looked at the potential for a run on the pool,'' said Orange County's Moye. Coleman Stipanovich, the State Board of Administration's executive director, declined to comment. Should the withdrawals continue, Florida's pool may have to consider filing for bankruptcy protection, says John Coffee, asecurities law professor at Columbia Law School in New York. ``A bankruptcy could handle these kinds of problems if they feel they'll become insolvent,'' he said. Coffee predicts the pool will likely file lawsuits to recover losses. ``I'd expect the pool is going to sue the people who sold them the commercial paper, saying the risks were hidden,'' he said. Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. sold Florida most of its now-default-rated asset-backed commercial paper. Lehman spokesman Randall Whitestone declined to comment.
Schools, Water Districts
Thousands of school, fire, water and other local districts across the U.S. keep their cash in state- and county-run pools. These public accounts, modeled after private money market funds, are supposed to invest in safe, liquid, short-term debt such as U.S. Treasuries and certificates of deposit from highly rated banks. The Florida pool, which was the largest of its kind in theU.S. at $27 billion before the recent spate of withdrawals, has invested $2 billion in SIVs and other subprime-tainted debt, state records show. Connecticut, Maine, Montana and King County,Washington, are among other governments holding similar investments, in smaller quantities. The Florida pool's $900 million of defaulted asset-backed commercial paper now amounts to almost 5 percent of its holdings. The paper, which carried top ratings from Standard &Poor's, Moody's Investors Service and Fitch Ratings as recentlyas August, was downgraded after declines in the value of collateral affected by the subprime mortgage slump.
SIVs
SIVs are typically offshore companies created by banks and other firms to sell short-term debt to buy mortgage securities and finance company bonds with higher yields. They profit on the spread between the two. Banks such as New York-based Citigroup, which manages $83 billion in SIVs, collect fees for running SIVs while keeping their contents off the bank's books. SIVs finance themselves by selling asset-backed commercial paper, or short-term loans backed by collateral such as mortgages. When the subprime debt market blew up in August, investors stopped buying SIV commercial paper. As a result, in Septemberand October, some SIVs didn't have the cash to pay debt holders. At Crist's Nov. 14 cabinet meeting, Stipanovich said that while there was ``disappointment'' over recent downgraded investments, no local government had ever lost money in the pool since its creation in 1982.
Investor Confidence
Stipanovich also assured Crist and Florida Chief FinancialOfficer Alex Sink at that time that the pool maintained the confidence of its depositors. ``There are a lot of rumors flying around,'' testifiedStipanovich. ``I'm not aware that there have been any material outflows.'' Moye said Orange County pulled out of the pool this month because the State Board of Administration failed to provide adequate or timely disclosure to pool participants about its troubled investments. On Nov. 20, Pinellas County yanked its entire $300 millionfrom the pool. ``My first job is to safeguard principal,'' said Ken Burke,Clerk of the Pinellas Circuit Court. A certified public accountant, Burke controls the county's cash. He said a quarterly newsletter for pool participants, published Nov. 1,which mentioned downgrades but not defaults, wasn't candid aboutthe pool's predicament. ``If some bad news comes out, the first thing I'd do is contact my customers and give them my side. The newsletter didn't tell us the full story,'' said Burke. ``It made it sound like a bump in the road.''
Countrywide Investments
Neither the newsletter nor Stipanovich's testimony disclosed that the pool owns $650 million of certificates of deposit from Countrywide Bank FSB, a unit of CountrywideFinancial Corp., that now amounts to more than 3 percent of the pool's assets. The bank's rating was cut to Baa1, three levels above junk, by Moody's on Aug. 16. When local governments withdraw funds from the pool, the state must sell off holdings to raise the cash. Because Florida's pool has been forced to quickly raise billions of dollars to meet withdrawal demands, it won't get top dollar for its asset sales, says Joseph Mason, professor of finance at Drexel University. ``When funds like this are liquidated, the Street will take advantage of their desperation. They don't care if you're a hedge fund or a school district,'' said Mason, who completed an18-month appointment as a scholar in residence at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in January.
First in Line
Mason, who has studied the history of bank failures, understands the rush by Florida municipalities to pull their money from the pool. ``The first people in the withdrawal line get 100 percentof their money,'' he said. ``The loss is suffered by the people behind them in line. Since nobody wants to be at the end, you get a run on the pool.'' Mason says while the state of Florida has a moral duty to cover any losses suffered by the pool participants, its own shaky finances will make that difficult. The fourth most-populous state, hurt by the housing slump, cut its revenue projections by 3.9 percent for the fiscal year ending June 30,and 5.2 percent for the following year. ``The state appears to have breached the trust of the investors by putting money in new kinds of debt its managers didn't fully understand, in their search for higher yields,''Mason said.

Subprime Mortgage Mess Explained!

For all of you struggling to understand the current subprime mortgage mess, herewith is a perfect explanation provided by our British cousins across the pond. While it may make you laugh it is all perfectly true! Be sure to call your local securities broker and thank him for making this all possible.
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=SJ_qK4g6ntM

Rat Pack Role Playing- Cruise the Old Strip

Remember cruising north of downtown on Biscayne Boulevard in the 50's and 60's? Passing "Motel Row" from the 50s to the 79th Street Causeway? Those brightly lit and gaudy motels made you feel like you were cruisin the strip in Vegas with Frankie and the boys!. Officially designated by the City of Miami as a historic district in 2006, the Miami Modern (MiMo)/ Biscayne Boulevard (BiBo) is Miami's sole commercial historic district. The district's shining stars are the motels along this major thoroughfare: a distinctive group of buildings illustrative of the 1950s hey-day of motor culture and the optimism and sense of prosperity that characterized the era. The MiMo/BiBo district is also home to some notable examples of other styles of historic Miami architecture, such as Art Deco, Streamline Moderne, and Mediterranean Revival. So hop in your cruiser, convertible or bike, tune to the oldies station, and put your best shades on. Enjoy the shopping in the area's distinctive fashion-minded stores, look for a new Eames era coffee table in the antique shops, and grab a bite to eat in the many restaurants. For more information on restaurants and shops in MiMo/BiBo, please visit this website: http://www.mimoboulevard.org/index.php.mimoboulevard.org/index.php

Arch Creek Park- for a nice weekend stroll!~

One of my favorite parks in Dade County is a little and little known park in North Miami called Arch Creek Park. It's a wonderful place to go and take a weekend stroll and feel transported to the Miami of days gone by. Arch Creek has had many narrow misses with the encroachment of civilization over the years but thanks to the efforts of many community folk it has survived and flourished as a natural site and not just one more mass entertainment area like so many other parks in the County. Historically, it is far more important than the Tequesta Circle on the Miami River. Arch Creek, and the area surrounding it, was one of six Tequesta Indian occupation sites built along Dade County estuaries. The Tequestas established other campsites at the Oleta River, Surfside, Little River, the Miami River, and Snapper Creek. Arch Creek, however, was unique. It had a natural limestone bridge spanning 60 feet, from which the Indians could fish and which provided a raised, dry highway to the Everglades. Over the years, the Army Corps of Engineers wanted to blow up the bridge and Chrysler Motors wanted to pave over the entire park to build an auto dealership. Today, Arch Creek is an eight-acre site at the junction of N.E. 135th Street and Biscayne Boulevard, and offers many opportunities for botanical, historical and archaeological study. It has a museum/nature center modeled after an early Florida pioneer home, displaying Indian artifacts dug from the grounds, and live animals from the nearby hammock. Remains of the first settler's original coontie starch mill are still visible across the creek, and the Park exists as the only preserved archaeological site in the County. To me it's like a microcosm of what Florida looked like to the original settlers at the turn of the century. Treat yourself to a weekend visit, you'll be glad you did!

Jimbo's Place- A Genuine, Original Florida Establishment

Jimbo's Place is one of the few old fish shacks left in Miami. It is located on Virginia Key at the entrance to Key Biscayne. James "Jimbo" Luznar opened his bait shop there in 1954 and is still going strong. Jimbo started selling beer and delicious smoked fish shortly thereafter and has been a preferred stop for boaters and beachgoers alike. As a kid, we would go to the beach on the little stretch of beach on the west side of the bridge and then cross over to the Virginia Key side to enjoy Jimbo's smoked fish for lunch. The Virginia Key side was the only beach set aside for the black community in the era of segregation. There were many old fish shacks like Jimbo's in those days, usually located near a popular beach location catering to hungry boaters and beachgoers, but today they are all gone and a distant memory to most old Miamians. Jimbo's is unique in that he offers a great old bocce ball court where visitors can engage in a game while sippin beer and munching on awesome smoked fish fillets! I always worry that sites like Virginia Key will eventually be "gentrified" out of existence. Fortunately, the black community is actively involved in preserving the area's history through the Virginia Key Beach Park Trust to oversee the development of the historic Park property. The Trust has been working diligently to restore and preserve this historical treasure. In August 2002, the site was placed on the National Register of Historic Places and given a Florida Historical Marker. You can visit the Jimbo's PLace website at http://www.jimbosplace.com/JimbosHome.html Better yet, get in your car an take a trip there. There is nothing better on a hot sultry weekend day than a visit to Jimbo's!

The New State Bird- The Miami Crane

Miami Condo Glut Pushes Florida's Economy to Brink of Recession2007-07-20 00:10 (New York)
By Bob Ivry July 20 (Bloomberg) -- In the middle of the biggest glut of condominiums in more than 30 years, Miami developers keep on building. The oversupply will force prices down as much as 30percent, the worst decline since the 1970s, and help push Florida's economy into recession as early as October, said Mark Zandi, chief economist at West Chester, Pennsylvania-based Moody's Economy.com, who owns a home in Vero Beach, Florida. ``Florida is the epicenter for all the problems that exist in the housing industry,'' said Lewis Goodkin, president of Goodkin Consulting Corp. and a property adviser in Miami for the past 30 years, who also foresees a recession. ``The problems we have now are unprecedented and a lot of people will get burnt.'' Thirty-seven new high-rise condos and 20,000 new units are being built in Miami's 1,040-acre downtown, where sales fell almost 50 percent in May, according to the Florida Association of Realtors. The new units will join the 22,924 existing condos in Miami-Dade County that were for sale in April, according to Jack McCabe, chief executive officer of McCabe Research &Consulting LLC in Deerfield Beach, Florida. That's the most unsold units since McCabe began tracking sales in 2002. ``Have you been to Miami lately?'' Florida Governor Charlie Crist said at a home builders' conference last week in Orlando.``It's like we have a new state bird: the building crane.''

Why is this a Miami Memory? Easy, because we lived a much smaller version of this in the 1970's that took a bunch of banks down with it. However, as one pundit noted in this story, the difference is that in the 70's affordable condos were built that no one wanted to buy while in this version Unaffordable condos are being built that no one wants to buy!

Last Minute Notice-Miami Stadium Documentary

WHITE ELEPHANT
What is there to save?
Friday, July 20th, 2007
7:00 – 9:00 PM
City Hall Chambers, 3500 Pan American Drive, Coconut Grove
Admission is free and open to the public.
White Elephant tells the remarkable story of Miami / Bobby Maduro Stadium - one of South
Florida's most unforgettable architectural icons. The film is a testament to the unyielding common ground that exists in this diverse community. The story of Miami Stadium leads from its pristine field to the jungles of Cuba's Sierra Maestra Mountains; from the hallowed halls of the U.S.Congress to the tumultuous streets of Miami. It is a story that links these seemingly disparate places in a fascinating web of social, political and personal intrigue. It is also a story about a building destined for greatness yet doomed to a future of unrealized potential; of a group of visionaries fueled by the magic of a city where fantasies have always been the common currency; and it is about a teenage boy prematurely thrust into the limelight's uncomfortable glow in a town on theverge of history. "The KIE team, along with Llanes' production company, CANTILEVER Productions, has taken a sprawling and complex story about the intersection of the Old Miami Stadium, the Cuban Revolution, Minor League Baseball, Urban Renewal, Civil Rights and one family's personal tragedies and turned them into a fascinating and curious story. Spanning roughly the entire second half of the 20th Century, "White Elephant" manages to tie all these disparate pieces together." --- Neil Hecker WPBT Channel 2 in Miami
Q & A following the film with Producers and Directors of White Elephant. Arrive early…Limited
seating available in Chambers!

Stone Age Antiques- Nautical Bliss

When I was a teenager, one of the most fun things to do was to drop in to this shop. Back then it was on NW 27th Avenue just before the Miami River bridge. Milton Stone, the owner, was quite a character..a total curmudgeon! His son that now runs the store says he looked like Humpty Dumpty which is pretty accurate. He would always be grousing when we walked in to wander through aisles filled with every form of nautical paraphernalia. He had everything from ship's wheels and anchors in every imaginable size to sponge diving suits, nautical bells, lanterns, portholes, cannons and every other part of a boat you can imagine! We would spend hours picking through all the clutter. One thing Mr. Stone was truly an expert on where Japanese swords that hung over the back of his counter. People would come from all over the world to check his swords out and seek his advice. I remember hearing his very knowledgeable comments as he exhibited them to shoppers. I assumed it had closed long ago! But recently I discovered a blog entry that featured Stone Age now located on the Miami river and run by his son Gary. Go take a look at http://miami.metblogs.com/ that has a link to the shop's website. If you can, take a little trip to the shop. You will be impressed!