Welcome

March 2008

WE'RE ONE YEAR OLD!

There's lots to see and read in this 7th edition of Highlights Revisited. It marks our first anniversary of doing this bi-monthly newsletter. We appreciate all your feedback and input and ask that you please keep it up and tell your fellow classmates to check us out if they haven't already done so. All of the previous six editions are still available at the end of this newsletter.

Time Line

Birthdays

May: May 13th – Bob Valois; May 14th – Deni Kilcoyne; May 29th – Brooks Henderson

June: June 8th – David Willis, Betsy Radebaugh Knight; June 19^th – Bob Macy

Anniversaries

May: May 11, 1958 – Bob and Irene Adams; May 31 – David and Donna Willis

June: June 30 – Bill and Cindy Holland; June 30 – Gene and Bert Vaughn

Celebrity Birthdays Our Age
May:
1st	singer Judy Collins 1939
8th	the late Ricky Nelson and “Jaws” writer Peter Benchley both 1940
13th	actor Harvey Kietel 1939
15th	actress/singer Lainie Kazan 1940
22nd	actor Richard Benjamin and actress Susan Strasberg, both 1938
24th	Tommy (of Cheech and) Chong 1938 and Gary (Radar) Burhoff of "Mash" 1940
25th	actor Ian McKellan and actress Dixie Carter, both 1939
26th	sportcaster Brent Musberger 1939
27th	country singer Don Williams 1939
28th	basketball star Jerry West 1938
29th	auto racing's Al Unser 1939
30th	actor Michael J. Pollard
31st	folk singer Peter Yarrow 1938
June:
7th	singer Tom Jones 1940
9th	sportscaster Dick Vitale 1939
12th	singer/actor Jim Nabors 1938
20th	actor John Mahoney ("Frazier’s dad) 1940
21st	TV "Tarzan" Ron Ely 1938 and actress Mariette Hartley 1940

GREAT CRUISE? YAH MON!

ship_01a Our "Cruise into the 70's" is now history. It's an understatement to say a good time was had by all!

The fun began on Friday evening with a "Bon Voyage" party, arranged by Bill Gautier and Cary Findlay, at Miami's Biscayne Bay Yacht Club. Several classmates who were not able to make the cruise were on hand: Charlotte Stoker and Karl Smiley, Council Kelly, Norman (Wasserman) Gelvin and his wife, Lucy Arce Melendez, Jim Hourihan, Louan Jones Zagarino (Class of 57), Dick and Nancy Lomax Leslie and Gordon Ettie.

On Saturday the Celebrity Century embarked from the Port Of Miami on schedule at 5 PM. Cary and Koni Findlay hosted a welcome aboard gathering in their suite, and then we all met for dinner at the tables reserved for our group in the Grand Restaurant at 8:30 each night. We sat at these same tables all five nights, and alternated sitting at different tables so we could spend time with different classmates each night.

Sunday we were at sea all day, meeting by the pool, in the bars, the casino and the dining areas.It was fun getting re-acquainted, reminiscing and finding out things about each other that we never knew before. The twins, Marion Schmidt and Marilyn McGinnis (nee Barrie) kept us all guessing who was who by wearing identical outfits day and night. Admiral Travel, who made all the cruise arrangements, hosted a cocktail party for us that evening. The "Captain's Night" dinner was the big dress-up affair, as you can scroll down and see in the picture of us in all our finery on the staircase of the Grand Restaurant. (Additional photos of the cruise and a list of all the attendees are available by clicking on the Reunion menu.)

Monday we docked in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, where most of us took one of the many available excursions to see things like the working plantation, the wood factory and spice garden, Bob Marley's birthplace, the beaches and Dunn's River Falls. Bill Holland and Kathy Bell Thagard were among those brave enough to scale the falls. Lots of reggae music and Red Stripe beer!

Tuesday's stop was Georgetown on Grand Cayman Island, where we embarked on various excursions to enjoy things like the Stingray City Sandbar, the turtle farm, the semi-submersible Nautilus which provided views of shipwrecks and the marine life in the harbor, and the town of Hell.

Wednesday was another day at sea and more time visiting together as we headed for home. The parting after our final dinner together was bittersweet.

Thursday we docked bright and early back in Miami and headed for our respective homes.

The ship was beautiful and spacious with plenty of food, drink, gambling and other activities all hours of the day. There was entertainment each night in the Celebrity Theatre. Seasoned cruiser Deni Kilcoyne gave it a good rating. The weather was clear and comfortably warm. The seas were smooth.

To those who had signed up but had to cancel, we missed you. To those who did not sign up for any number of reasons, we missed you too. And yes, we talked about all of you!

Special thanks to Cary Findlay for overseeing all of the arrangements from start to finish!

To sum it all up in one word: Like the commercial says, PRICELESS!

Bennie Realizes His Lifetime Dream

HORSE RACING | THE KENTUCKY DERBY

Calder trainer gets long-awaited Kentucky Derby chance

It has taken most of his 70 years, but Calder-based trainer Bennie Stutts Jr. has finally made it to a spot
he has always dreamed of -- the Kentucky Derby.

The Miami Herald / May 2, 2008

By MIKE PHILLIPS

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Bennie Stutts, Jr. is sitting in the morning sunshine, just outside Smooth Air's barn on the backside of Churchill Downs. He's in a place he never thought he would be -- on racing's most hallowed ground, with a horse in the sport's centerpiece race.

He is laughing, telling stories, every bit as colorful as his green cap and blue and red jacket.

Suddenly his voice cracks and his eyes go wet.

"My father is looking down on me and he's smiling," said Stutts, his voice stopping and starting, "He knows I'm here -- here at the Kentucky Derby."

It has been a lifelong journey for Stutts, 70, who toiled for four decades training horses at Calder Race Course before finally getting a chance to run for the roses. He has been living on the backside even longer.

"I was 8 years old, and my father put me up on a bucket and told me to hose down a horse," Stutts said. "That's when I got started. I spent my whole life around horses. I look back and ask myself what would my dad think if he were here now."

Stutts plans on framing the entry form to the Derby and ''putting it right next to the picture of my dad'' that hangs over his bed, he said.

He last shared the Kentucky Derby with his father, back in 1959. Stutts stood on top of a car and watched Tomy Lee beat Storm Dancer by a nose. Everyone dreams of getting their horse to the Kentucky Derby. Except Stutts. ''I gave up that dream 30 years ago,'' he said. ``I'm a good trainer. I have built a reputation for working hard and I'm honest, but I never dreamt I would have a horse in the Kentucky Derby.''

FAMILY FIRST

Stutts helped open Calder in 1971, and he has labored there ever since, handling lesser horses in the shadows of the sport of kings -- a lunch-bucket guy who loved his work and his family even more.

''I never left Calder because of the way I grew up,'' he said. ``My dad was a trainer, and we lived in a trailer home. I spent the first 15 years of my life moving from one place to the next, and just about every time we moved I would cry. I never forgot that, and I didn't want my family to go through that. It was only fair to my children.''

So Stutts spent 40 years in South Florida, first in a tiny house in North Miami he bought ''for $1,000 with the GI bill loan,'' Stutts said, and later in a house in Pembroke Pines, where he and Dianne, his wife of more than 40 years, still live. They brought up daughters Kimberly, 42, and Julia, 37.

''When Julia graduated from college that was one of the happiest days in my life,'' he said. ``There had never been a Stutts go to college.''

UNCLE HARRY

They were horsemen, thanks to Stutts' Uncle Harry, who was a 10-year-old selling newspapers at the Oaklawn track in Hot Springs, Ark., when a trainer asked, ''Kid, can you give my horse some exercise?'' Harry was a natural jockey and rode for years, opening the first meet at Hialeah in 1925. His younger brother Bennie became a trainer and passed on his skills and knowledge to Bennie Jr.

''I still use some of those old remedies,'' Stutts said. ``They still work.''

That's one of the things Brian Burns, who owns Smooth Air, appreciates about Stutts.

''I have always said in any sport, a baseball manager, a football coach, a trainer or whatever. They are only as good as the talent they are given,'' Burns said. ``Bennie just never had the talent. Now that he has a talented horse he's here in the Derby, but he's a good trainer and if he had talented horses earlier he would have been here earlier.

''This is a great story,'' he said. ``This is what trainers dream about their whole lives. He deserves to be here. He's a special trainer.''

`THE BIG ONE'

Stutts said he doesn't know how he would react if Smooth Air, who finished second to Derby favorite Big Brown in the Florida Derby, wins Saturday.

`POLICE ESCORT'

He was doing a TV promo earlier this week in which he walked into the winner's circle.

''I was talking into the mike, and when I got to the winner's circle, I broke down and started bawling like a baby,'' Stutts said. He will need help Saturday should he have to make the trip to the winner's circle.
''I can't walk more than 50 feet,'' he said. ``We have already set it up for Saturday. The Jefferson County Sheriff will take me out [for the parade walk] and to the paddock, and if I get to the winner's circle, I'll have a police escort.'

Smooth Air is listed at 20-1 to win, but the bay colt is not nearly the long shot that Stutts was to make it to Churchill Downs.

''That little horse got me here,'' he said. ``I don't know if he'll win, but I do know this He'll dig in and he won't quit.''

Neither will Stutts.

We now know that Smooth Air finished a respectable 11th, in the middle of that All-star pack of thoroughbreds. Bennie is now a national celebrity, thanks to the coverage he and his wife Diane were given by both ESPN and NBC in their pre-race coverage. We're proud of you, Bennie! May you have more success with Smooth Air and other contenders like him!

OLD MAGAZINE ADS

From Bill Sutton comes these very amusing 40-60 year old ads. No further explanation is needed as they speak for themselves.

ad001 ad002 ad003 ad004 ad006 ad005 ad007 ad004

More Accolades For The Biltmore

This article is from the broadcasting publication, Radio Ink. They are hosting a radio convention at the Biltmore Hotel May 19-20. The publisher who once worked as a disc jockey at three Miami stations in the 70’s, obviously did his homework about the Biltmore and wrote this in an effort to entice more people to register and participate in the convention. You may even learn some things you didn’t know before.

A Grand Old Dame That Emerged from a Grand Vision

A Message from Radio Ink Publisher Eric Rhoads

I used to peek in the windows of the old Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables. What a contrast: This had once been one of the greatest hotels in the world, with its grand tower looming over Coral Gables for all to see. Like The Breakers in Palm Beach, it was one of the classic hotels. Yet in the 1970s when I was a jock at Y100, 96X, and WQAM in Miami, the Biltmore was boarded up. As I peered into the windows, I imagined the grand ballroom full of revelers. But the once grand hotel was now crumbling. I dreamt of reviving this old masterpiece, but the thought quickly vanished with the realization of the work involved in revitalizing a classic old building.

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One Man's Vision

bilt_02 It all started in the 1920s, when land developer George E. Merrick, a founder of the University of Miami, had the vision to create a town with strict building codes to ensure an aesthetic standard. Coral Gables is a largely residential, affluent area graced with broad, planted boulevards, golf courses, and country clubs. Stately homes, Banyan trees, and tropical foliage line quiet streets designed in classic Mediterranean architecture. In 1925, Merrick joined forces with hotel magnate John McEntee Bowman at the height of the Florida land boom "to build a great hotel...which would not only serve as a hostelry to the crowds which were thronging to Coral Gables, but also would serve as a center of sports and fashion".

Construction began February 13, 1925, and was completed a year later; the cost was $10 million. Trains marked Miami Biltmore Specials transported people from northern cities to the magnificent inaugural of the Miami-Biltmore Hotel & Country Club. The hotel's Giralda Tower was lit for the first time, and champagne corks popped as guests foxtrotted to live music, all in celebration of the birth of Miami's luxury hotel resort.

Home to Royalty
bilt_03

In its heyday, the luxury resort played host to royalty the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Ginger Rogers, Judy Garland, Bing Crosby, Al Capone, and assorted Roosevelts and Vanderbilts. Fashion shows, gala balls, aquatic shows by the grand pool, weddings, and world-class golf tournaments all made use of the historic venue. A product of the Jazz Age, big bands entertained wealthy, well-traveled visitors to this American Riviera resort.

The Great Pool

The Biltmore survived the nation's economic lulls in the late 1920s and early 1930s by hosting aquatic galas that drew crowds to the hotel. As many as 3,000 spectators would gather at the Biltmore's magnificent pool on a Sunday afternoon to watch synchronized swimmers, bathing beauties, alligator wrestling, and the young Jackie Ott, the boy wonder dove from an 85-foot platform. Johnny Weissmuller broke the world record at the Biltmore pool and was also a swimming instructor. Families attended the shows and later danced on the hotel's grand terrace to the sounds of swinging orchestras.

The End Of An Era

But with the onset of World War II, the United States War Department converted the grand hotel into the Army Air Forces Regional Hospital. Many windows were sealed with concrete, and the marble floors were covered with government-issue linoleum. Also the early site of the University of Miami's School of Medicine<, the Biltmore remained a VA hospital until 1968. In 1973, through the Historic Monuments Act and Legacy of Parks program, the City of Coral Gables was granted ownership control of the Biltmore, which sat untouched for 10 years.

Almost four years and $55 million later, the Biltmore re-opened on December 31, 1987, as a first-class luxury hotel. Over 600 guests turned out to honor the historic Biltmore at a black-tie affair. In June 1992, a multi-national consortium led by Seaway Hotels Corporation, a Florida hotel management company, officially became the new operators of the Biltmore under a long-term management lease with the City of Coral Gables, and made further significant refurbishments to the property.

A National Landmark

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In 1996 the hotel celebrated yet another milestone in its illustrious history: official designation as a National Historic Landmark, an elite title awarded to only 3 percent of all historic structures on the National Register of Historic Places. Today, the Biltmore boasts both four-star and four-diamond rankings

My Insistence: Hold It At The Biltmore

At the close of last year's radio conference I asked for a vote on next year's location. Miami was the clear winner, and I chose the Biltmore because of my own memories of this once-entombed landmark. There are only a handful of classic hotels in America, and this is one of the most special.

I don't expect you to come to our conference just to stay at the great Biltmore Hotel. But if you're considering attending, it's a wonderful experience to stay in the Biltmore (and at a great rate), and a lovely time to visit Miami. We're trying hard to secure the Al Capone suite for a private event; perhaps the most spectacular single hotel room in the world, it is a replica of the Giralda Tower in the Cathedral of Seville, Spain. Celebrities such as President Calvin Coolidge, Eddie Rickenbacker, Douglas Fairbanks, Cornelius Vanderbilt Jr., the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, and, of course, Al Capone have all stayed in this magnificent room, as have modern-day visitors like former President Clinton, Robert Redford, Lauren Bacall, Gloria Vanderbilt, and former First Lady Barbara Bush.

You don't want to miss an opportunity to stay in this grand hotel at these very reasonable rates. I recommend you make your reservations immediately. See you in Miami.

Driving In The Old Home Town

Bad driving: It's Not Just For Old People

The Miami Herald / April 28, 2008

By DAVE BARRY

The other day, The Miami Herald ran a story concerning a 73-year-old motorist who was stopped by police. This in itself is not remarkable. The streets of Miami-Dade County are teeming with motorists who should be stopped by police.

But this man was not driving on the streets. He was driving on a runway at Miami International Airport. Really. According to the story, the man "burst through the southeast gate" in his Chevrolet Cobalt and "drove down runway 9."

You will be relieved to learn that the police don't think he was a terrorist. Apparently he was just a driver who, like so many older drivers down here, got confused. Chances are that, even if the police hadn't stopped him, once he saw a 757 taxiing toward him, it would have dawned on him that he wasn't on Le Jeune Road.

Although not necessarily. You have to wonder about the security at Miami International. I, personally, have had my shampoo and my toothpaste confiscated at MIA because they were in containers larger than three ounces. If I can't get near an airplane with personal hygiene products, how did this guy get through with a CAR?

But this incident raises a larger question in my mind, one that has been nagging at me lately: Are the drivers down here getting worse? You're thinking, "They can't get any worse!" I used to think that, but lately I'm not so sure. For example, the other night I was driving on the Palmetto Expressway. (I know, I know.) Normally on the Palmetto, traffic moves at an average speed of 53 miles per hour, calculated as follows:
* 49 percent of the drivers are going 80 miles per hour.
** 49 percent of the drivers are going 30 miles per hour.
** 2 percent of the drivers are, for a variety of reasons, backing up.

But the other night, there was a fourth group of drivers out there: Young male idiots racing each other in cars traveling at -- this is a very conservative estimate -- the speed of light. It was terrifying. You're flowing along with the traffic, going either 80 or 30 miles an hour, and suddenly you see lights in your rearview mirror and, ZIPPPPPP, this weaving blur hurtles past and cuts you off, and while the swear word is still forming in your brain, ZIPPPPPP, another one cuts you off, and then ZIPPPPPP ZIPPPPPP ZIPPPPPP, more of them, using the Palmetto Expressway as their own personal video game, with you playing the role of Annoying Obstacle.

It's no use honking your horn at the idiots because the sound waves can't catch them.

If you're wondering how I could tell, at night, that these particular blurs were young males, the answer is: Because that's who drives that way. That's how I would have driven when I was a young male idiot, except that I was driving my mom's 1961 Plymouth Valiant, which had basically the same top speed as the Lincoln Memorial.

But today's young male idiots are equipped with much better automotive technology, and they're out there on the same streets as the confused older drivers (of which I am rapidly becoming one). To make matters worse, a new driving hazard is popping up all around Miami-Dade: the traffic circle.

Traffic circles are a good thing, if drivers understand the rules. But this is Miami, where drivers find the concept of "yield" to be more baffling than quantum physics. Some drivers barge into the circle regardless of whether there are cars already in it. Other drivers come to a full stop, even when the circle is empty, eyeing it warily, as if it were a space/time warp that might suck them into another dimension. Still others barge into the circle and THEN stop. (It goes without saying that these same drivers would never dream of stopping at, for example, a stop sign.)

Anyway, my opinion, as a person who has been driving down here for more than 20 years, is that the roads are getting worse. What can we do about this? Several solutions come to mind:
** Young males should be issued restricted licenses that allow them to drive only during certain time..., namely, the distant future. If that's illegal, we should require them to drive 1961 Valiants.
** Likewise, older motorists unable to pass a simple test ("Where are you?") would be restricted to driving in the past.
** Miami International Airport should take some security people off Shampoo Patrol and have them guard the gates.
** Just in case, they should also put signs at the ends of the runways saying "NOT LE JEUNE ROAD.

I don't have a solution for the traffic circles. Your best bet is to avoid them. If you find yourself in one, close your eyes. That's what everybody else is doing.

I realize this rant has been pretty negative, so I want to end with this thought: I truly believe that we, the drivers of Miami, can do better. I believe that our streets could be safe -- even pleasant -- if we were willing to take our responsibilities as drivers seriously, and to show each other a little basic courtesy.

In other words, we're doomed.

Legends In Concert

Ever wonder what it would be like to see Ray Charles, Jerry Lee Lewis and Fats Domino together in concert? Paul Schaffer put together just such a show for cable TV in 1987. Here's a clip!

Ray, Jerry Lee and Fats

Gables country club now in city's hands

Members of the Country Club of Coral Gables said they want to try to keep
the club open until a new operator can be found.

The Miami Herald / Mon, May 5, 2008

By ELAINE DE VALLE

The Country Club of Coral Gables -- whose operators closed the doors abruptly Wednesday in the midst of a legal battle with the city over missed lease payments and cost overruns -- is once again in public hands.

Miami-Dade County Judge Nuria Sanz signed an order at 4 p.m. Friday that gives the city possession, again, of the facility, which was restored in 2001. The city had sued to evict the country club board after it became embroiled in dueling lawsuits that center on an agreement signed by the board, the city and Granada LLC, the operator.

Granada LLC and the country club board each relinquished their rights under the agreement, said Deputy City Attorney Lourdes Alfonsin Ruiz. ''The action was dismissed in its entirety as moot,'' Alfonsin said Friday, quoting the judge.

''This means we can now move forward,'' said Mayor Don Slesnick. Earlier in the week, Slesnick said that any action taken by members to form a new club would be complicated by the city's pending eviction of the board.

Granada -- which is still fighting the city in court over the payments and cost overruns -- sent an e-mail to members Wednesday announcing that member services would cease at 5 p.m. and that catering and banquet services would stop Saturday.

The general manager scrambled this week to find alternate venues for dozens of events that had booked at the historic landmark, 997 North Greenway Dr.

But members want to keep the club open until the city finds a new firm to run it. It would be under a different board and with a different name, said Richard Dewitt, a lifetime member involved in the reorganization effort.

The Alhambra Club is one possibility, Dewitt said.

And there will likely be an additional $375 ''transfer fee'' for all 683 members -- even the nearly 200 who paid $10,000 lifetime membership dues years ago. ''It would give us some working capital to move forward,'' said Dewitt, speaking before more than 100 members who met at the club Wednesday evening to discuss a recovery plan. The fees would provide about $250,000 for the club to stay open through the summer, Dewitt said.

He said the city may absorb the costs of fixing the roof and the air-conditioning system, but that the club may have to open some areas -- the fitness center, the restaurant and a bar, perhaps -- to the public to turn a profit. ''But it would then be a club you can really control, a true club of our membership,'' Dewitt said.

''The Biltmore Hotel might come in and help,'' he added, referring to operators of the historic hotel who offered to provide support until the city finds a new operator.

''We are forming a new club,'' Dewitt said in a later interview. ``The old country club is involved in all this litigation with the management firm and the city and there are all kinds of issues. The members, who didn't have any control -- it was controlled by 20 percent -- would form a new club with a new board of directors.''

Slesnick told The Miami Herald the city's development department had already started to work on a request for proposals to find a new operator.

The dispute between Granada LLC and the city began about a year ago when commissioners discovered the operators had missed 10 monthly lease payments of $25,500, which the city needed to pay back the $4 million loan for renovation.

The firm -- headed by Stuart Bornstein of the Hotel Place St. Michel -- is in arrears for nearly two years' worth of rent, totaling about $612,000, according to city records.

While some members at the impromptu meeting Wednesday seemed willing to take whatever steps necessary to keep the club afloat, many were angry and suspicious, particularly after they asked for monthly expenses and were given no answers. General Manager Rudy Seurattan would only say that there was $120,000 in outstanding dues.

''I'm a lifetime member. I paid my dues up front,'' said Sergio Alvarez-Mena. ``Little did I know that it would be for the life of the club, not my life.'' Dewitt told members they could get food or bar credits and discounts to compensate for their investment, which would also be the case if the club opens to the public.

Some members said Seurattan should also go. ''It's obvious we are not satisfied with the current management,'' said Gloria Sanchez, who joined the club in 2003 and pays $294 in monthly dues. ''I really don't want to give anyone associated with Granada any more leeway,'' Sanchez said. Said Don Moore: ``I cannot see why we leave a manager here who has run this club into the ground.''

But Dewitt and Dennis Daley, another member in the reorganization effort, said Seurattan had his hands tied by Granada and that his experience was needed during the transition for continuity. ''But for him, we would have closed a long time ago,'' Dewitt told the group Wednesday. ``The city is confident enough in him to help fund this thing with him on an interim basis. The most important thing is support from you.

''If we have no support from members, then there's no sense in doing this,'' he said.

Photo Gallery

The Captain's Night dinner was held in the Grand Ballroom. In attendance are: Gene Vaughn, Bert Vaughn, Kathy Bell Thagard, Cary Findlay, Annette Crofton Cowart, Laura Kavalir Wright, Andrea Alu Martin, Susan Knight Kelly, John Martin. Row two: Chris DeMas, Harriet McManus, Lawrence McManus, Irene Adams, Deni Kilcoyne, Marilyn Barrie McGinnis, Marion Barrie Schmidt, Bob Wright. Row three: John DeMas, Bill Gautier, Koni Findlay, Nan Gautier, Bob Adams, Melvin Sharpe, Bill Holland, Cindy Holland, Ruth Skacil Valois, Chuck Thagard, Jack Kelly and Bob Valois.
For more cruise photos, click on the reunions menu.


Stew Harnell visits Paris in April. He was able to give pointers to this street musician. He regrets not being able to make the Reunion cruise but his trip was planned prior to our cruise arrangements.		Stew Harnell family group in Paris.

Stew Harnell family pose with the second model for the Statue of Liberty.

The Class of 1954 is planning their 55th reunion. All classes will be invited. We will have the information posted on our reunions page as soon as final plans are made. They will be having it in Orlando.