JUNE 14 - 27, 2011
GABLES GREAT
Mitzvah project becomes a miracle for 7-year-old
Bolton: Worked to gain equal rights for women BY GLORIA BURNS
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ost recently honored as “Citizen of the Year” by the Rotary Club of Coral Gables, Roxcy Bolton’s achievements and impact are legend. While she is most often known for her work gaining equal rights for women and NOW, that is just the tip of the iceberg for this force of nature. Born in 1926 to a Mississippi pioneer family, Roxcy O’Neal married Commander David Bolton, a U.S. Navy lawyer, and lived for a time in Japan and Charleston, SC, before Mr. Bolton’s retirement from the Navy in 1964. They then moved to Coral Gables and raised their three children — David B., Bonnie D., and Buddy Bolton. While Roxcy Bolton never worked outside the home, she was a voice for women in the workforce like few others. She gained access for women to the previously allmale lunchrooms at Burdines and Jordan Marsh department stores years ago and opened the influential Tiger Bay political club to women. She even helped end the practice of naming hurricanes only for women.
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BOLTON, page 4
Good Luck and Good Night! BY MARK TROWBRIDGE
Lauren Pelletier (left) and Katharine Koonce are pictured with Roly Cruz-Taura, the Biltmore Hotel’s executive chef, at Interactive Luncheon fundraiser.
BY LEE STEPHENS
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hen 12-year-old Lauren Pelletier and her family met Katharine Koonce at a mutual chef friend’s dinner in Walt Disney World, it was magic. Blond hair, blue eyed Katharine had just overcome a long journey in her recovery process at Shriner’s Hospital in California after suffering burns over 70 percent of her body in a horrific fire that tore through the building in which her family sought shelter during Hurricane Ike in September 2008. Lauren, whose heart was captured immediately by the sparkle in Katharine’s
eyes and her spirit, vowed then and there that when the time came for her mitzvah project that it would be a fundraiser for Katharine to help her with the surgeries and with the care she would require for the rest of her life. In March, when Lauren met with Rabbi Edwin Goldberg of Temple Judea to discuss her upcoming bat mitzvah, she knew exactly the mitzvah (or good deed) she would do prior to her big day. Sharing Katharine’s story with the rabbi, she also spoke of her own love of cooking and her plan for an interactive
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MITZVAH, page 4
I was a freshman in college in 1986 when Oprah Winfrey made her national televisiondebut. Like most of us in Hume Hall at the University of Florida, the central fl oor lounge was our gathering place for seminal moments, including watching Oprah each day at 4 p.m. (immediately following General Hospital). Now, I realize that for most of us, Oprah may not have been a daily fi gure in our lives, but she has certainly been a signifi cant force in shaping television, including the recent launch of her own network. For any person who follows business personalities and has a voracious appetite for them, she is a modern day mogul. She clearly understands the power of a brand
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