One of Miami’ Community Newspapers –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Connecting local businesses since 1958
FEBRUARY 7 - 20, 2012 ––––––––––––
GABLES GREAT Renate Van Kempema cares about her world
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Art enthusiasts gather for Beaux Arts Festival
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VAN KEMPEMA, page 6
BY MARK TROWBRIDGE President & CEO Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce
I had the good fortune to attend a briefing this past month at Coral Gablesbased law firm Becker & Poliakoff on the outlook for our country’s economy in the coming year. This presentation was given by economist Tom Cunningham of the Federal Reserve Bank in Atlanta. After dispensing with the usual disclaimers by anyone who holds the title of economist, Tom gave us a generally lukewarm assessment of the current state of our fragile economy. I was not surprised to hear this news given the challenges we experienced as a business community in 2011 and the rather smaller-than expected bump our econonomy
BY GLORIA BURNS
ables Great Renate Van Kempema was among the World Wingers dressed in their period Pan American Airlines uniforms atop the Pan American Float in the Junior Orange Bowl Parade earlier this year. Still in great shape at 69 years of age, thanks to a strict diet and exercise regimen, this longtime Gables resident had no problem fitting into her 1966 Pan Am uniform and certainly does not show her age. In fact, her physical activity would challenge people half her age. During her career, first with Pan Am and now as a Delta flight attendant, Renate has seen the world with all its wonders as well as those pockets throughout the world where hunger and poverty are the norm. Having experienced great need in post war Germany when young, she remembered how much CARE packages meant. So it was, when Renate was in a position to give back to CARE she did just that. Over the years Renate has taken full advantage of her ability to travel to support CARE, an organization that had helped her years before and gave her hope. RENATE VAN KEMPEMA With other
Extremely Slow and Incredibly Optimistic
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Michelle Mardis receives praise for her work from an admirer during the 61st Annual Beaux Arts Festival, Jan. 7 and 8, at the University of Miami Lowe Art Museum. (Photo by Raquel Garcia)
Driver’s license ser vices return to Coral Gables Branch Librar y BY ROSIE TOBALINA
C
oral Gables residents no longer have to travel outside the city to get to a driver’s license office and then wait hours to be helped. The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV) has opened a mobile office at the Coral Gables Branch Library, 3443 Segovia St. DHSMV staff will set up mobile computer stations inside the library on the second Monday of the month, from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Walk-
ins are welcome. Gables Mayor Jim Cason asked city manager Pat Salerno to find a way to make driver’s license services more convenient and accessible for residents. City staff located a site within the city and coordinated the implementation of this program with DHSMV, Miami-Dade Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), and the MiamiDade Public Library System. The mobile units provide residents with a convenient method to renew a driver’s license, obtain a replacement driver’s license, change a name or address on a dri-
ver’s license, get an identification card, and order specialty license plates. Driving or written tests will not be available at this location. Customers also can renew vehicle tags and get a vehicle plate when a replacement is needed, services that are not offered at any main office. In May of 2010, DHSMV closed its local office. The nearest main office is currently located at the Mall of Americas. DHSMV requires specific documentation depending on the service. For a checklist of accepted documents pick up a checklist at City Hall’s Help Desk.