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Fashion Editor | Juliana LaBonte juliana@southflorida.in
Travel Editor | Christina Ricci
Business Editor | Cindy Ragan
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Joe Freer, Frank LoRe Jr, Roger Craft
PHOTOGRAPHER Ilmar Saar
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About Boca Woods Country Club
Boca Woods Country Club is an established residential country club community located in Boca Raton, Florida. Membership at Boca Woods offers extraordinary value in a golf community that features two championship golf courses and all the amenities that private country club living has to offer. Boca Woods Country Club is dedicated to providing a residential country club lifestyle featuring a community and club culture characterized by friendliness, civility and respect for its members and staff in an overall setting of refinement and casual elegance.
FIU unveils renderings for Benjamín León Jr. Building, the future home of CasaCuba
Florida International University today is unveiling the architectural renderings of the Benjamín León Jr. Building, which will house CasaCuba, an academic and cultural center to preserve and celebrate Cuban and Cuban American heritage.
The project also marked a significant point in the journey toward breaking ground with $30 million raised toward the $40 million goal.
CasaCuba will make its home in a 43,000-square-foot facility. The Benjamín León Jr. Building will be a beacon for Cuban culture, featuring galleries and exhibition spaces, classrooms, and state-of-the-art event venues for its dynamic cultural programming. Designed by architectural firm HKS, the complex will be built by Thornton Construction and promises to be a hub for research, education, and connection, bringing together scholars, students, visitors, and the broader South Florida community
"CasaCuba will serve as a multidisciplinary hub showcasing FIU's unmatched expertise and commitment to fostering a deeper understanding of Cuban and Cuban American heritage," said FIU Provost, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Elizabeth M. Béjar.
"As Miami's only public research university, FIU is uniquely positioned to host CasaCuba," said FIU President Kenneth A. Jessell. "Located in the heart of this global city with deep Cuban roots and closely connected to its cultural fabric, FIU brings to the project the intellectual capital of its faculty and its status as a Carnegiedesignated R1 public research institution and one of the nation's Top 50 public universities."
FIU houses the most comprehensive collection of Cuban music outside the island, the Diaz-Ayala Cuban and Latin American Popular Music Collection, and the unparalleled Henrique Hurtado de Mendoza Collection of Cuban Genealogy. FIU also is home to the Darlene M. And Jorge M. Perez Art Collection.
The Benjamín León Jr. Building will be prominently located near one of the entrances to the Modesto A. Maidique Campus in west Miami-Dade and will leverage the latest technology, bringing the Cuban American experience to life
"After years of planning and hard work, it's incredibly exciting to see CasaCuba getting closer to reality," said CasaCuba Executive Director Lydia Betancourt Space. "This beautiful new building will uphold the Cuban American experience and have its place among Miami's rich cultural landmarks, alongside the Perez Art Museum, the Adrienne Arsht Center, and FIU's three museums. Thanks to the vision of so many, including Agustín Arellano Sr., who has been part of the project since the very beginning, CasaCuba will provide the context and space to elevate our community's past, present and future."
The construction of CasaCuba will be fully supported by donations. In addition to a landmark $10 million gift from Benjamín León Jr., the Knight Foundation has contributed more than $4 million to the project, including $2 million to support the design of the facility. Other key supporters, such as CasaCuba Board Chair Mario Murgado, and Jorge Mas have been instrumental in advancing the project.
"CasaCuba represents the heart and soul of our community, a place where the rich heritage of the Cuban diaspora will be celebrated, studied, and preserved," Murgado said "It is a privilege to be part of bringing this vision to life, made possible by the collective generosity and dedication of those committed to honoring and elevating Cuban culture Together, we have the opportunity to ensure CasaCuba becomes a lasting legacy for generations to come."
Benjamín León Jr. and Mavilebys Campa Felice
Interior Rendering
Wow, the hairs are standing on my arms! A little over a year ago a diplomat who was married to an Ambassador of a European country attended one of my events for a third or fourth time At the event she encountered her grandson whom she had not seen since he was a child We were all in shock!
FAST FORWARD January 2025.
She invited me to a gathering at her house in the Aventura-North Miami-Ojus area. I attended the event with a friend of mine from France and it turned out that she and others at the party also spoke French At the event I remember walking down to the table by the lake and noticing that it was scary because the steps were not lit up I held on to the rail and made my way down to the lake, sat at the table, sipped some champagne and realized that it was wrong to not have light on the steps Even though it was only five or six steps I went back up to the house and spoke with Jacob (her husband) and asked, Jacob do you happen to have a portable light I can use to light up those steps as somebody will fall. He said: Yes, let me find it. I went back down to the lake and sipped on some more champagne and shot the shit with the French girls. 10 minutes later Jacob come walking excitedly towards us with a light with the intention of saving the day so that nobody falls. It ended up being him who fell!! Jacob is an older man in his late 70's The miracle is that he fell to the RIGHT instead of falling forward onto the concrete below He literally fell onto the soft rose bushes and those rose bushes saved his life!!! He had a large cut on his neck and a few on both arms and was bleeding but he was fine and within 30 minutes he was up crooning music and singing karaoke!!!
1.) He fell to the side of righteousness 2.) Every rose has its thorn 3.) No good deed goes unpunished I was only trying to help and I should have brought the light down there myself I apoligized about 20 times
FAST FORWARD JANUARY 29, 2025
I received a press release from FIU and was very impressed with the press release and the project and the main man behind it. So much so that I decided to publish the MAN, Benjamin Leon Jr. on the cover of SOUTH FLORIDA magazine. Its a billion dollar project and an amazing person behind it. After doing so I clicked on the link from the press release and looked at the board of directors for FIU and recognized a surname I googled it and it ended up being the Ambassador
The odds of these occurences all colliding in syncronicity are like winning the lottery It happens often with me but this connection seems more
Grand Opening of the Rees Jones "Woods" golf course announced at Boca Woods Country Club
Boca Woods Country Club is thrilled to announce the grand opening of its newly redesigned Woods golf course This momentous occasion took place on Sunday, December 8th at 12:00 PM, with a celebration and ribbon cutting ceremony marking the culmination of a remarkable $9M transformation that has captivated the attention of golf enthusiasts far and wide.
More than 450 Members and distinguished guests from industry and government joined the Club for the ribbon cutting ceremony, cocktails and hors d' oeuvres. Attendees included PGA Junior Club Members standing aside past Club Presidents, sharing a commitment to excellence demonstrated by the investment to fully renovate the Woods Course. The ceremony concluded with the presentation of a lifetime Boca Woods Country Club Membership accepted by Rees Jones.
The outcome of this extensive renovation: a formidable championship golf course, meticulously designed by the renowned Rees Jones and delivered through the craftsmanship of LaBar Golf Stretching to a maximum yardage of 7,043 yards, the course boasts key risk/reward decisions for the experienced golfer while offering better playable options for those less experienced
Some key highlights of the renovation include:
Redesigned Greens: Completely rebuilt to provide smoother, truer, and more consistent putting surfaces.
Enhanced bunkering: Strategically repositioned and reshaped to create visual appeal and challenge.
Improved drainage: a state-of-the-art drainage system has been implemented to ensure optimal playing conditions yearround, even after heavy rainfall
New Tee Boxes: multiple tee boxes have been added and repositioned on each hole, providing players of all skill levels with a fair and enjoyable challenge
Ribbon Cutting, from left to right: Doug Roberts, Rees Jones, Howard Mittleman, Robert Roman, Robert Schachter, Howard Friedberg, Dustin Whisenhunt, Joanne Deutsch, and Robert Weinroth
LILLY PULITZER CELEBRATES
FIRST RUNWAY SHOW IN 20 YEARS, DEBUTING SPRING '25 WOMEN'S & THEIR REVIVAL OF MENSWEAR
In collaboration with the Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens, Lilly Pulitzer unveiled its Spring '25 collection with an exclusive fashion show, return to Menswear, and exhibit sponsorship honoring the legendary Slim Aarons and the brand's founder
Lilly Pulitzer, the originator of American Resort Wear, made a momentous return to the runway, a first for the brand in nearly two decades. The 65th Anniversary Fashion Show took place at the Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens, where Lilly Pulitzer and the museum debuted a photography exhibit Slim Aarons: Gold Coast, in partnership with Getty Images, honoring Slim Aaron's work and their brand founder, where he captured the Palm Beach icon herself. Most notably, the fashion show showcased the brand's upcoming Spring 2025 collection and a fresh new addition: menswear
Photo by John Parra/Getty Images
The Spring '25 Runway Show opened with a one-of-a-kind maxi shift, which is the style that started it all, and was followed by 37 showstopping Spring 2025 looks, rooted in the brand's resort aesthetic and styled by Palm Beach stylist Katherine Lande. Also featured on the runway was a new Reserve Capsule of elevated special occasion fashion pieces, building upon the success of the brand's soldout Anniversary Collection from Spring 2024. Additionally, the show included two special pieces from legendary designers and Palm Beach locals Mark Badgley and James Mischka, who have previously partnered with Lilly Pulitzer for a sell-out collection last Spring In the show, Lilly x Badgley Mischka returned with two exclusive embellished looks designed especially for this show
The Lilly Pulitzer menswear collection, dropping in Spring 2025, is an ode to the brand's first-ever men's collection originating from the 1960s. This inaugural collection will be donning the original name coined by Lilly herself, titled Men's Stuff. This time, the collection is taking inspiration from their heritage coloring and prints reimagined for the modern man. Men's Stuff will pay homage to true menswear resort collections, linen shirts, printed bottoms, polos and swim trunks, printed blazers, ties, and matching pocket squares The male models on the runway walked along notable Palm Beach locals, including some of the Pulitzer family
