Newsletter #4

Time Line

November birthdays: Nov 1 – Jim Proud; Nov 8 – Tom Huggins; Nov 13 – Rhona Berube Chabot

November anniversaries: Nov 3 – Sue Hays and Dean Campbell (1957 – Happy 50^th!); Nov 20 – Stewart and Sharon Harnell (1971); Nov 25 – Tom and JoAn Huggins (1982).

December birthdays: 13^th - Bill Sutton; 31st – Gordon Ettie.

December anniversaries: 7^th – Jim and Norma Proud (1970); 17^th – John and Chris DeMas (1966); 23^rd Bob and Ruth Skacil Valois

November and December birthdays of celebrities our age:

Lucky Marilyn

Music, Music, Music

Here are two new CD’s that you may want to check out.

*Back in the 50’s a 40-ish mother of three, named Roberta Sherwood began singing at Murray Franklin’s lounge on Miami Beach. One night Walter Winchell came in and was overwhelmed by what he saw and heard. With his influential support she was soon performing in New York, Hollywood and Las Vegas and appearing on the Ed Sullivan, Jackie Gleason and Steve Allen TV shows. She appeared as Glenn Ford’s housekeeper in the movie “The Courtship Of Eddie’s Father” and as Lucille Ball’s boisterous musical tenant on “The Lucy Show”. She signed a contract with Decca Records and released a dozen albums, none of which have ever been available on CD…until now. Collector’s Choice Music has just released an import CD from England’s Sepia Records, “Introducing Roberta Sherwood”. It’s a “best of” collection of 27 tracks, including her show-stopping version of “Lazy River”. You can order the CD (for $16.99) at www.collectorschoicemusic.com. Collector’s Choice is a great place to find all kinds of music from the past. FYI, Ms. Sherwood resided in Miami until her passing in 1999.

*Surviving Righteous Brother Bill Medley has just released a new album called “Damn Near Righteous” on Westlake Records. As one reviewer puts it, “At age 67, when Medley might normally be expected to be sitting at home polishing his Rock & Roll Hall of Fame trophy and working out a retirement plan, this gritty singer has instead delivered his finest solo album and the best thing he’s done since the 60’s, period.” Included are old and new songs, like The Beach Boys’ “In My Room”, which he transforms into a moving midlife meditation with vocal assistance from Brian Wilson and Phil Everly. The last time we checked, this CD was on sale at www.Amazon.com for $9.99!

Reading Room

*FICTION: If you’re a fan of mystery thrillers and you’re not familiar the works of James W. Hall, you might want to pick up a copy of one of his 15 novels. A good friend sent me his latest, “Magic City”, (autographed!) which, like most of his works, takes place in South Florida. You’ll recognize a lot of the locations described in the story.  His hero, Thorn, is a nonconformist who has opted for a bohemian life in the Keys, but reluctantly gets involved in all kinds of skullduggery and intrigue. Things get a little gruesome, but it’s not easy to put any of his books down once you start reading them.  Like many of our classmates, Mr. Hall divides his time between homes in North Carolina and good old Coral Gables.

*NON FICTION: If you haven’t done so already, you might want to get yourself a copy of “Younger Next Year” (subtitled “Turn Back Your Biological Clock”) by Chris Crowley and Henry S. Lodge, M.D. This New York Times bestseller, originally published in 2004, is aimed primarily at Baby Boomers in their early 50’s, but it offers an easy-to-read program for seniors of any age, designed to put off the majority of normal problems associated with aging. There are two versions: The original “coed” edition, and a second specifically “For Women” book.  www.amazon.com carries both at $10.36 each.

South Florida History in Pictures

Got some free time?  Click on this website for an extensive pictorial journey (over 240 pix) back in time!

http://www.pbase.com/donboyd/memories

Cash Tolls Rise on Venetian, Rickenbacker

(Miami Herald staff report)

Cash tolls increased on the Rickenbacker and Venetian causeways starting Oct. 15. A two-axle vehicle that previously paid $1.25 to use the Rickenbacker now faces an increase to $1.50. The toll for a three-axle vehicle, such as a car or truck pulling a boat trailer over to Virginia Key or Key Biscayne, has gone from $7.50 to $9. Four and five-axle vehicles now pay $11.25 and $13.50, respectively, under the new Rickenbacker rates county commissioners ratified with the 2007-2008 budget they adopted in September. On the Venetian, the cash toll has risen from $1 to $1.50 for two-axle vehicles and from $1.50 to $2.25 for three-axle vehicles. Four- and five-axle vehicles now pay $3 and $3.75, respectively, under the new Venetian rates. The rates will remain the same for residential customers, said Miami-Dade Public Works spokesman Delfin Molins. For more information on other fee schedules such as C-Pass and other account passes, please contact the Miami-Dade Causeways Division at 305-854-2468.

Remember thinking we were paying too much for the causeway with our 25 cent toll back when it was first built?

Reality Check Joke

History Lesson Part 2 (by Bill Sutton)

The first part of the presentation made by Bill Sutton and Judy Kotys Summers at the reunion last year covered the worldwide events from 1937 through 1956. You can revisit it in Newsletter #3. This second part of their presentation dealt specifically with Bill’s memories associated with our class, from first grade through Gables High graduation.

School Patrol at Coral Gables Elementary – sashes & badges; hobby shop across the street

Coach Nowakowski; Mrs. Adele Feaster, Mrs. Tonkins, Mrs. Leola Backus, Mrs. Harrell.

I played the bugle each morning at 8:30 through the PA system.

Merrick Demonstration School –co-op between UM and Dade County; bilingual UM students teach Spanish to grades 4 thru 6 – open ½ day Sat. for other Dade teachers to visit and see in action

Gables Theater, Coral Theater (“Uncle Gordon” Sat a.m. talent shows featuring Terry Ward, Donald Alley, Stew Harnell, Rosemary Laney, Rosalie Tipton, myself and others) Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Hopalong Cassidy, Batman and Zorro serial chapters, 3 Stooges comedies, color cartoons; the South Miami Theatre on Dixie Highway (later became the Sunset)

Then came the Miracle Theater and the Trail Theater at Douglas & 8^th Street next to Ed Hassen’s Seafood Restaurant

When you went “downtown” to Miami & shopped at Burdines; Johnny & Mack at the Railroad Track

Rare Bird Farm, Monkey Jungle, Parrot Jungle

Coral Castle, Tropicaire Drive-in Theater

Camp Mahachee Girl Scout Camp deep in Matheson Hammock where girls were terrified by boys with cherry bombs after dark; taking baby oil to the beach for tar removal (later learned oil from tankers sunk off. Coast)

Sand flies, land crabs, tomato fights, Tahiti Beach

Bill Haas’s Miami Serpentarium, Dade County spray trucks – DDT fog for mosquitoes – also low flying WW II planes at dawn

Jimmy’s Hurricane, Shelly Tractor on Bird Road (later a Volkswagen dealer), Mike’s Friendly Bar, Hamlet bar in Coconut Grove; Don Arden’s Casa LeJeune, Holley’s 5 and 10 cent store

Dorn Martin Drug Store, Breedings Drug Store, Riviera Pharmacy, OK Feed Store, Holsum Bakery & Restaurant

Royal Palm Ice Plant – Douglas Rd & Dixie Hwy, Huskamp, later Deel Ford down the street; Bill Ussery Motors (Studebaker) and Stacey Rowell (the Suwannee River Boy) Ford; Packer Pontiac; LP Evans Used Cars on 8^th Street; Thiel Chevrolet, Ed “Mark ‘em down” Lane

When people on South Beach were older than the buildings

Coast Guard and Pan Am hangars – seaplanes at Dinner Key

When couples watched submarine races along Coral Gables canal

The new Coral Gables Bus Station and Gazley’s Coral Gables Riding Academy where Ruth’s Chris Steak House now sits, Anthony Alu’s barber shop

Banyan trees lining Dixie Hwy, train tracks running parallel to Hwy

Venetian Pool – Rosascos

Royal Castle, 24/7, burgers 25 cents, frosted mug birch beer 5 cents, William Singer founded

Airport on 36th Street, Art Brun’s Miami Springs Villas & King Arthur’s Court

Crandon Park Zoo and train rides, Rickenbacker drawbridge, 25 cents to cross

Eastern Air Lines, National Airlines, Capital Airways

Water skiing in the rock pits & what is now Gables Estates & Gables by the Sea

U of Miami skeleton building on University Drive

Thrill Hill – Coconut Grove, drag races on Krome Ave – Bobby Brack

Courthouse tallest building in Miami, Jewel Thief Murph the Surf, Lum’s hot dogs, Spec’s Records,

The Bookworm, Milkmen (home delivery) of McArthur & Dressel Dairies, Schultz’s for shakes & burgers across the street from CGHS

Orange Bowl Parade on New Year’s Eve; Anthony Abraham’s home at Christmas time; annual Holsum Bakery Christmas exhibit; Bobby Dykes’s Tigertail Lounge in Coconut Grove

Tyler’s Restaurants (Key lime pie!); Cooper Oldsmobile, Checker Norman’s Gulf; Les Violins, hot restaurant on Biscayne Blvd.; Dixie Belle Inn on Dixie Hwy.

Fire at Ponce de Leon Jr High School when we were students

Building of the SAC base in Homestead; Richmond Heights Blimp Base

Flamingo statutes on front lawns, red lanterns, horn honks of clubs & fraternities (adding a beep beep at the end started many a fight)

Tropical Park Race Track; WQAM. WIOD, WINZ (Jerry Wichener); Larry King

Pickin’ Chicken and Summer Pop Concerts at Miami Beach

Salvadore Park; Skipper Chuck show; Gables Coliseum & ice skating, Black Caesar’s Forge in South Dade; Oscar’s Hasta Manana; Loffler Brothers Seafood, Big Wheel Drive In on 32 Avenue

Rod & Reed Club at Jewfish Creek; Key Largo

Red Diamond Inn on LeJeune – 65 cent pizza, Duke Mansene’s, Santa Croce’s, Sorrento’s, Red Coach Grill, El Bolero

Lindsey Lumber; Renuarts; Rankin’s Coral Way Cafeteria and later Biscayne Cafeteria; 35,000 people in the Orange Bowl for high school football games

Denslow’s Gas Station; when Coral Gables High was a pine forest

Grapette, RC Cola & Moon Pies, Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Laurel & Hardy, Abbott & Costello, Our Miss Brooks, Great Gildersleeve, Sky King, Uncle Gordon reading Sunday comics, Howdy Doody,

The Shadow, 3 Stooges, Alec Gibson, Mouseketeers, Uncle Martin Dixie Lily show, Ralph Rennick

Daniels’ & Curlee’s Department Stores, Coppertone, Gardnar Mulloy and Doris Hart on the Coral Gables Country Club tennis courts along with Ike and Marybelle Macy, also accomplished ball room dancers

Cotillion Club at the Coral Gables library hosted by the Nowakawki’s, Music Club at the Cartee’s home

Finally (and when a Baptist minister says finally it doesn’t mean right now), we’ve lived through wars, hurricanes, good times, bad times, hills and valleys.  We’ve all experienced success and failure.  (Behind every successful man is a surprised mother-in-law.)  We’ve experienced happiness and sorrow.  We’ve lost family and friends.

We were blessed to grow up and get our foundation in Coral Gables.  Our school was the new kid on the block.  Miami High, Edison and Jackson never expected much from us.  They were surprised when we delivered in the classroom and on the athletic field.  Thank you to the coaches for teaching us how to achieve things way beyond what we thought we could and that success has its price.

Our school motto, “Dirigo” means, “I lead.” We’ve got some great leaders in this class of 1956.  Judy Kotys and I are honored and privileged to have been part of it.

Gables Homeowners: Want to Show off your estate?

This Old Gables House

If you live in a historically designated home in Coral Gables and are proud to tell the world, consider being part of Coral Gables Television's new program that will showcase the historic homes of the City. Producers of CGTV are looking for historic homes in Coral Gables with willing homeowners that will allow the filming of the home to showcase the architectural style and beauty of the property. Homeowners will also be interviewed for the program. 

David Willis Update

David had Kyphoplasty surgery on his back and is continuing to recuperate and rehab at his home. As someone who has also had this done (although not under such serious circumstances), I can say it is a remarkable procedure involving the insertion of balloons, which are inflated to relieve the pressure caused by fractures, then deflated and removed. A special kind of cement is then injected into the problem areas, providing the support needed. This is yet another example of a treatment that didn’t exist until a few years ago. As much as we often yearn for “the good old days”, we’re fortunate to be living in an era when major breakthroughs like this are being made in health and medicine every day. Many of us wouldn’t still be around without these advances. Anyway, Dave is up and around and has shed his brace.

Football Update

We continue with the tracking of our three Florida football programs. In addition to these three teams, little South Florida (The Bulls) have emerged as a contender this season, and are especially popular with fans in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area. Good for them!

Photo Gallery