19 minute read
The Local
by JES Media
Don’t-Miss Events
BOCA RATON REGIONAL HOSPITAL DIAMOND JUBILEE 60TH ANNIVERSARY BALL, JANUARY 21, 6 TO 11 P.M. AT THE BOCA
RATON: If you don’t have tickets by the time you read this, you may be out of luck, as this party benefiting the Hospital is always the hottest ticket in town, partly due to the celebrity headline entertainment. Last year it was Sting, and this year it’s Lionel Richie, presented by Michelle and Michael Hagerty. No individual tickets are sold, and tables are $12,250 for 10 and $15,000 for 12. Honorary chairs this year are Christine E. Lynn and Elaine J. Wold, and the Ball Chairs are Amy and Mike Kazma. For more information, contact Terrie Mooney at 561/955-6634 or Terrie.Mooney@baptisthealth.net.
BOCA MUSEUM OF ART THROUGH JANUARY 22: You still have time to drop in on these two extremely well-received exhibitions at the Boca Raton Museum of Art. “The Art of the Hollywood Backdrop” is an exhibition of scenic backdrops, made for the movies between 1938 and 1968, and is “a celebration of a popular art form that had almost been forgotten,” and a “dramatic and exhilarating” exhibit.
On the second-floor Focus Gallery, you’ll find “Black Pearls,” an exhibition by Washington, D.C.-based photographer and activist Reginald Cunningham of residents (and stories) of Boca Raton’s historic Pearl City neighborhood. Pearl City is the oldest existing neighborhood in Boca, and the oral histories alone are riveting. The Boca Raton Historical Society contributed historical information to this exhibit through its online exhibition “Pearl City: A Community Remembers.”
The Winter Equestrian Festival
AARON GILBERT/ICON SMI VIA ZUMA PRESS
HORSING AROUND: WORLD-CLASS EQUESTRIAN COMPETITION JANUARY 4 TO APRIL 2, WELLINGTON INTERNATIONAL: The Winter Equestrian Festival, celebrating hunters and jumpers and all manner of equestrian competitions, is one of the largest annual sporting events in the Palm Beaches, and the longest-running equestrian event in the world. Wellington International has 18 arenas, including the main International Arena, which is surrounded by stadium and box seating and hospitality venues. And coinciding with the Winter Equestrian Festival is Palm Beach International Polo Season, held nearby at the National Polo Center. Indulge in Sunday brunch, don’t forget your hat, stomp the divots and enjoy the sport of kings.
Locals sound off on issues affecting our community.
It’s a whole new year—full of promise. What’s the best thing that happened to you last year (2022)?
“The best thing to happen to me last year was the birth of our son Miller, who is my everyday reminder that life is so good!”
—Megan Knott Mignano, President, Morley, Periwinkle and Coco & Co
“I lost 30+ pounds and launched the Best of Delray Beach mobile app!”
—Stephen Dickstein, Founder, Best of Local “Family is what I value most; so the birth of my sixth grandchild was the best thing that happened to me last year, giving me six under the age of 6.”
—Terry Fedele, Community Volunteer
NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS FROM A FEW OF YOUR FRIENDS
“To SLOW DOWN! To say yes consciously and to say no without guilt.” —Mary Sol González, CEO,
Hispanic Entrepreneur Initiative (HEI)
“My resolution is: The Time Is Now! I’m going to do the things I want to do and not put them off or come up with a reason not to do something.” —Burt Rapoport,
President, Rapoport’s Restaurant Group “My New Year’s resolution is to ruthlessly eliminate ‘hurry’ and to be present in every interaction with others.
No more alleged multitasking.” —Holly Shuttler, Immediate Past
President, Impact 100
“To get married next summer! Happening July 15 in London. With Tom, of course!” —Emily Snyder, Chief Sales Officer, The Boca Raton
“I am applying to a doctorate program. I resolve to be accepted, be confident, and enjoy the program. FUN! I resolve to ski/hike in Utah in 2023!” —Jackie Reeves, Board Certified Fiduciary, AIFA® PPCTM, Bell Rock Capital, LLC “My New Year’s resolutions are always to take more time to relax, do more yoga, and have more ‘me’ time. … It’s the same every year, so either I’m not getting it done or I’m just getting more selfish! Ha!” —Elizabeth Murdoch Titcomb, Principal, Iolite Creative
“My New Year’s resolution for 2023 is to take a much needed social media break, because my Instagram elbow is killing my tennis game.” —Eric Baker, Chef/Owner,
Rebel House, AlleyCat, Uncle
Pinkie’s Deli, Mr. Goode’s Chinese Takeout
-80 F
Coldest day in U.S. ever, 1/23/71 in Alaska
50
Tons of trash left in Times Square after New Year’s Eve
1522
Year Jan. 1 was recognized as start of New Year
THREE THINGS WE COVET FOR 2023
SOLO FIRE PIT
These portable bonfires provide clean and efficient burning that keeps the smoke to a minimum. They are lightweight, made of stainless steel and can happily hang out anywhere you feel like lighting up. They come in different sizes; the Bonfire 2.0 is about $240; visit solostove.com for more details.
GOPRO 11
This latest iteration of the GoPro versatile (and wearable) waterproof camera (made for video but delivers highresolution photos as well) offers an extra-large field of view, as well as “cinematic 5.3K60 + 2.7K240 video with 24.7 megapixel stills for video.” Translated: Great quality images. It also has its Hypersmooth 5.0 video stabilization to minimize that shaky effect. Around $400. Visit gopro.com.
EMBARK BREED & HEALTH DOG DNA KIT
Now you can know for sure what that Heinz 47 pup you love really is! This DNA test determines: breed breakdown, ancestry, relative finder, health screening, genetic health screening and more. Visit shop.embarkvet.com.
WHEN: Jan. 12-29 WHERE: Adrienne Arsht Center, 1300 Biscayne Blvd., Miami COST: $55-$60
CONTACT:
305/949-6722, arshtcenter.org This world-premiere drama from prize-winning South Florida playwright Michael McKeever only runs 90 minutes, but its story spans more than 60 years. Beginning in 1969 and projecting ahead to 2032, “American Rhapsody” charts the American zeitgeist through the prism of one family, the Cabots, who survive the tail end of the Civil Rights Movement through the rise of feminism, the unshackled capitalism of the 1980s, 9/11 and its aftermath, the legalization of same-sex marriage, the COVID-19 pandemic and whatever future cataclysms McKeever imagines for us next. Produced by Zoetic Stage, with Carbonell winner Stuart Meltzer directing, “American Rhapsody” may be the playwright’s most ambitious project to date.
DIMENSIONS DANCE THEATRE OF MIAMI
Dimensions Dance Theatre
WHEN: Jan. 20-21 WHERE: Duncan Theatre at Palm Beach State College, 4200 Congress Ave., Lake Worth Beach
COST: $45 CONTACT: 561/967-7222, duncantheatre.org Miami City Ballet alumni and leads Carlos Guerra and Jennifer Kronenberg formed Dimensions Dance Theatre of Miami in 2016 as a way to hybridize their riogorous classical training with the cutting-edge rhythms and voices of contemporary dance. Six years into its tenure, the diverse corps continues to flourish, earning acclaim well beyond its South Florida breeding ground (the New York Times dubbed the group “strong, sexy, and athletic”) and attracting contributions from world-class choreographers. For this appearance, Dimensions is promising a “dynamic bouquet” of signature works from an artistic repertoire now totaling 17 pieces. Among them are the Greek mythology-inspired duet “Apollo and Daphne,” the dazzling, jazz-hand-y “Light Rain,” and “Under the Olive Tree,” in which eight dancers contort themselves into the shape of the title evergreen.
BLUE MAN GROUP
WHEN: Jan. 28-29 WHERE: Kravis Center, 701 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach COST: $29 and up CONTACT: 561/832-7469, kravis.org Part percussionists, part acrobatic showmen and part mimes, the Blue Man Group has been entertaining audiences with their performance art for the past 35 years. The group, which is now part of the Cirque Du Soleil empire, has performed for 50 million people in 25 countries, and has broken 23 thousand drumsticks. This tour features new music, choreography, and audience interaction but adheres to the BMG’s signature strengths: three guys with shaved heads and cobalt makeup pounding drums, with explosions of paint often accompanying each powerful whack.
Blue Man Group
EVAN ZIMMERMAN The Broadway tour of “Tina”
MANUEL HARLAN
WHEN: Jan. 17-29 WHERE: Broward Center for the Performing Arts, 201 S.W. Fifth Ave., Fort Lauderdale COST: $36-$150 CONTACT: 954/462-0222, browardcenter.org First conquering R&B and then transitioning to rock ‘n’ roll, Tina Turner’s influence on popular music has spanned more than 50 years, during which time she has netted 12 Grammy Awards and earned the distinction as the first Black artist, and first woman, to grace the cover of Rolling Stone. She has enjoyed—and suffered through—a life big enough for two or three Broadway musicals. For now, we have “Tina,” a jukebox musical authorized by the performer, which charts the journey of Tennessee-born Anna Mae Bullock, later christened Tina Turner by Ike Turner, the showman and bandleader who discovered her, married her and abused her. By Act II, Turner has shed her violent first husband and embarks on a new musical vision as a solo artist, despite the pervasive racism and ageism of the era. The songs are an assemblage of 20th century rock and soul, including “Let’s Stay Together,” “Proud Mary,” and, of course, “What’s Love Got to Do With It?”
Camera Ready
With his debut film set to premiere, a cigar maker-turned-director enters his second life
Written by JOHN THOMASON
For many aspiring filmmakers, the road to directing one’s first professional feature is preceded by years of comparative drudgery: earning a degree in cinema, learning the ropes as an assistant director, working on short films or music videos or commercials before plunging into a fulllength movie.
Boca Raton’s Marvin Samel eschewed all of that. When he set out to write his first screenplay, “iMordecai,” in 2015, he was 43 and had never stepped foot on a film set. In late 2019 he had begun directing Judd Hirsch, Carol Kane and Sean Astin in a movie inspired by his life and family.
“The first seven, eight days were horrific. The [actors] didn’t give a shit, nor should they, that I was a first-time director,” Samel recalls, in characteristic candidness.
“They didn’t care that this was about my family. They all came here to do a job, where we all agreed—we’re trying to make a movie that’s going to move you.
“I had the steepest learning curve, a Mount Everest learning curve,” he adds. “So it wasn’t like, ‘this is fun!’ It was never fun. But it was rewarding.”
In the comedic drama, which is scheduled to open in South Florida theaters in February, Astin plays a younger version of Marvin Samel, who is trying to build up a struggling cigar business while raising twins with his wife and dealing with a tumultuous time in his parents’ lives. His Polish-born father Mordecai (Hirsch) escaped the Holocaust as a child but never lost his sense of humor or his eccentric curiosity. “iMordecai” captures, at Marvin’s urging, his begrudging embrace of an iPhone, which leads to encounters and friendships that will change his life—at the same time that his wife, Fela (Kane), will confront challening news about her health.
Like his onscreen avatar, Samel made his living in the cigar industry. The New York native co-founded Drew Estate with a fraternity brother in 1996, producing botanical- and coffee-infused cigars from its 96,000-square-foot headquarters in Nicaragua. The estate would go on to produce 16 million cigars per day, ultimately becoming the second-largest producer of cigars in the country. He sold the company to tobacco giant Swisher International Inc. in 2014 in what should have been “the happiest times of our lives,” he says.
“A month later, my mom was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. And it threw me into a depression. To cope, I started writing down the stories I would tell at cigar stores when I would host dinners and events. I would tell the stories of my father, Mordecai. He’s a character. I started writing these stories in the middle of the night, because we had twins that were not sleeping, and in between 2 a.m. feedings I would start typing. And when I took a step back after a couple of months, I said … all the little vignettes have a cinematic feel to them.”
Realizing that his screenplay was anything but a lark, Samel pored over his favorite scripts—“Good Will Hunting,” “Terms of Endearment,” “Almost Famous”— and worked with professional co-writers
Rudy Gaines and Dahlia Heyman on fine-tuning it. They ultimately convinced Samel, against his initial better judgment, to direct the project as well.
“They said, if you sell your script, you’ll lose control,” he says. “So I spent the entire night thinking, why am I doing this? I’m doing this to honor my parents. I don’t need the paycheck. I’m not looking at this as a monetary career for me. I needed to get this off of my soul.”
After 30 to 50 hours a week, over the course of a year, studying online MasterClasses with Martin Scorsese, Spike Lee, Werner Herzog and others, Samel determined he was ready to take the leap into what he expects will be his second career. “I feel this is my calling,” he says. “I have other stories to tell.”
Shooting in Miami, in the exact locations in which he and his family had bonded (Wynwood Walls and Lincoln Road have memorable cameos), with the real-life Mordecai on set during the shoot, Samel describes the experience as the hardest thing he’s ever had to do, with challenges that continue to this day, as theatrical distribution approaches.
His mother did not live to see the movie her journey inspired, but her legacy keeps Samel going. “I read the script to her when she still had some of her faculties left,” he recalls. “And I’ll never forget the laugh that she had as long as I live.”
They all came here to do a job, where we all agreed—we’re trying to make a movie that’s going to move you. ... I had the steepest learning curve, a Mount Everest learning curve. So it wasn’t like, ‘this is fun!’ It was never fun. But it was rewarding. “
Marvin Samel
—Alex Price
Making a (Depot) Difference
Office Depot’s National Director of Community Investment Alex Price has made a career out of his passion for giving
Written by TYLER CHILDRESS
When it comes to philanthropy, Boca Raton certainly doesn’t fall short on spectacle—or generosity. “The Season” in Boca is a glittering testament to the love that the city’s most affluent have for their community. But generosity isn’t always clad in a sharp tailored suit or flowing evening gown. For Alex Price, a pair of slacks and a red Office Depot T-shirt is the dress code for giving back.
Price joined Office Depot as its national director of community investment five years ago, and since then has taken the Boca-based retail giant’s philanthropic efforts to new levels with the Depot Difference initiative, a national community service operation that has its flagship right here in Boca. “We do the most here, because it’s home,” says Price.
The emphasis on service is a running theme in Price’s CV, beginning during his time living in New York. Price had just moved from his Pensacola home to attend graduate school at Columbia when his father died suddenly from a heart attack. This tragedy left Price devastated but not idle. Soon after, he and some friends hosted a tribute gala to commemorate his father and support the American Heart Association. “That night, which was just a one-time thing, we ended up creating an organization,” says Price, and thus nycTIES was founded, a nonprofit dedicated to engaging young professionals in local causes and promoting volunteerism.
Price operated nycTIES for the next six years as a side project but says it grew into an obsession. He learned all about giving back during this initial foray into the philanthropic world, growing ever more passionate in the process. And after moving to Boca, he found himself at home in the midst of a community known for its philanthropy.
“[Boca] is an area of high resource, but also at the same time, high generosity,” says Price, “and when those things come together, problems are solved and lives are impacted.”
The results of the Depot Difference initiative can be seen in classrooms across the country with the Start Proud back-toschool program. Right here in Palm Beach County, teachers from Barton Elementary School were surprised in early August with a free classroom shopping spree, and students were treated with the largest backpack distribution in the history of Start Proud. Price doesn’t confine philanthropy to working hours, either. His name can be found as a sponsor in the programs of some of Boca’s most illustrious nonprofit events, including the Ballroom Battle. His biggest project now is growing Elevate Together, the latest drive from the Depot Difference initiative that aims to level the barriers standing in the way of minority entrepreneurship.
While some philanthropists may measure the success of their efforts in dollars and cents, for Price, the metric is far less tangible. “For me, it’s going out to a school and hugging a child who’s maybe going through a very difficult time and letting them know that we’re there for them, and they matter,” says Price.
Being actively involved in a dizzying amount of philanthropic endeavors may sound draining. Price attributes his inexhaustible energy to an “absurd amount of iced coffee” and being what his wife would call “a big kid.” But more than that, Price has an inherent desire to bring joy anywhere and everywhere he can.
“These last few years have been hard, and people have gone through a lot of stuff, and I’m no different ... but I feel like fun and laughter is an essential ingredient, and I try to sprinkle it through everything I do.”
Alex Price
Our founding director’s goal was to have a sanctuary for animals and humans alike. ... We sometimes have people who come here three or four times a week to reconnect with nature.”
—Amy Kight
Back to the Farm
A beloved animal sanctuary prepares for a historic relocation
Written by JOHN THOMASON
Every animal at Busch Wildlife Sanctuary has a story. A deer named Nubs was held by a socalled “wildlife rehabilitator” who kept him in a garage for five months without sunlight. Freddy the alligator was discovered, preborn, by a boy, who cracked open an egg, assuming he had found a lizard. The reptile would soon outgrow the shoebox the child had fashioned for it.
Arvy is a pelican from Connecticut who failed to migrate south for the winter and suffered frostbite in the frigid northeastern clime. So a group of enterprising high school students from an engineering magnet program built a functioning airplane, which a local mom, who happened to be a licensed pilot, flew down to Florida, Arvy in tow.
Then there’s the sandhill crane, named Frasier Crane, whose parents were killed by a car. Frasier never learned how to be a crane, endured abuse by members of his own species, and wound up in Busch’s protective care, where she now “has more frequent flier miles on Delta than anybody else,” according to Busch Executive Director Amy J. Kight. “She has done Letterman, Leno, “The Today Show,” “Good Morning America,” a movie with Tina Fey. She’s our local celebrity. She is, as far as I know, the only working sandhill crane in the United States. She has her special box that fits on the Delta plane. They give her her own seatbelt.”
These are a few of the approximately 200 permanent residents at the Jupiter sanctuary, which has been adopting, rehabilitating and, in most cases, releasing animals back into the wild since its inception in 1983. Busch tends to about 6,000 patients a year—a heavy load for its staff of 26.
Freddy, Arvy and the others have borne injuries too debilitating to risk their re-integration into the animal kingdom, so they’ve become popular spokes-animals of sorts for Busch, providing both viewing pleasure and sobering knowledge to its many visitors. Nearly every adoptee, from the black bears and bobcats to the barred owls and toucans, serves as a reminder of the dangerous impact human activity can have on animal life.
“About 90 percent of the patients we take in are affected by humans,” Kight says. “Fishing line entanglement, electrocution, gunshot wounds, attacked by pets, kept illegally as a pet … all these sorts of ways they come to us really made us realize that education has to be the key. The humanitarian effort, the rehab portion, is really a Band-Aid for a much bigger problem.”
The sanctuary will soon have a larger platform to express its mission of environmental education. By March, it is expected to move into a new location, five miles down the road in Jupiter Farms, to a space that will nearly double its current, densely populated 11 acres.
Fundraising has been the central challenge of the move, the cost of which has surged from $10 million to $18 million. The pandemic, supply chain shortages, fuel prices and inflation have contributed to the increase. At the time of this writing, the sanctuary still needed to generate some $12 million, which it is raising through a capital campaign.
Despite the need for cash, Kight is firm in her belief that one of Busch’s core tenets—that it remains free (with donations accepted) for all visitors—will continue into the future. “Our founding director’s goal was to have a sanctuary for animals and humans alike,” she says. “So we didn’t want to deny anybody that. What’s becoming more apparent to me is the education aspect, and making sure everybody gets the same opportunity to access it. So we sometimes have people who come here three or four times a week, to reconnect with nature. We don’t ever want to outprice ourselves. … There might come a time when we won’t be able to afford it anymore. I sure hope not.”
To donate to Busch Wildlife Sanctuary’s capital campaign, visit buschwildlife.org/ capital-campaign, or call 561/575-3399.
Amy Kight with one of her charges—and a fox and a bear who make Busch their home
