By iCoconutGrove – Thrill List Miami

It’s Time to Vote on the Best Day of Your Life Where would you eat breakfast on the most perfect day ever? iCoconutGrove sure hopes it will be GreenStreet Cafe in Coconut Grove! In case you hadn’t heard, the Best Day of Your Life is just over a month away. So, congrats on that. But for you and the rest of Miami to squeeze the most out of the longest day of the year come June 21st, we need your help in figuring some things out first. Namely, what to eat for breakfast. Will it be: Deli Lane, GreenStreet Cafe, News Cafe, or Oliver’s Bistro? You’re taking the day off work on June 21st and doing this, so you’d better vote on what you’re eating through here ………….especially you lovers of Coconut Grove!

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Long time Coconut Grove Merchant Maida Bignon from GreenStreet Cafe and Lulu restaurants is hosting her First Annual Golf Tournament “18 Holes 1 Cause” to benefit the charity she co-founded 5 years ago, thankful for the blessings Life gave her so far and driven by an intense desire to give back to the Miami community that never ceased to stand behind her family for years. The Foundation named Act4Me (A Chance for Therapy) helps families of children with neurological disorders and disabilities in Miami, get the necessary funds to pay for the therapies their children need and otherwise do not have access to, due to lack of, or insufficient insurance. Through many yearly events such as this one, Act4Me has been able to raise funds for over fifty families in Miami Dade County, giving them hope, helping these children show their abilities rather than be limited by their disabilities, assisting them to deal with their lifetime journey…

With this Friday’s Golf Tourney, and a 1pm Shotgun, Fantastic Sponsors such as Grove at Grand Bay, Terra Group, Mercedes Benz, Aeromexico, Nereo, Bacardi, a $50,000.00 Hole in one, 3 other par 3 holes in one great gifts , raffles, auctions, entertainment, on course complimentary liquor, full dinner and awards ceremony following tournament, All this Coconut Grove Grove merchant dreams of and needs now is YOUR GROVE SUPPORT to stand by her side and help Act4Me raise funds for an additional 5 families awaiting therapy for their child.

Be part of the dream and register for the tournament at www.act4megolftournament.eventbrite.com/

For more info about Act4Me, go to www.act4me.org

Any questions, or desire to help in some way by donating gifts that can be raffled or auctioned, please contact maida@act4me.org or 786.390.1172

Thank You to each and every Coconut Grove Merchant willing to join or help!

The post Coconut Grove Merchant Organizes Charity Golf Tournament This Friday May 17 appeared first on icoconutgrove.

A Coconut Grove Health Center Opens in Coconut Grove to Help Poor, Uninsured and Others

Community Health of South Florida Inc. (CHI) will hold the grand opening celebration and ribbon cutting ceremony for its new Coconut Grove Health Center on May 6th at 10:30am.
The new state of the art, soothing, spa-like facility will be an upscale medical center that caters to everyone. Those without health insurance and without money for medical attention will now be able to receive quality, comprehensive medical care from CHI Primary care, OB/Gyn and Pediatric doctors.
For the uninsured, services are provided on an income based sliding fee scale. CHI also offers complimentary transportation for those needing a ride to and from the center.
“In these tough economic times we see lot of patients who simply don’t have the money to seek medical attention and that shouldn’t be the case.” said Brodes Hartley Jr., CHI President and CEO. “There are times when some people can’t even pay the $25 co-pay and we still provide them with top quality care.”
The Helen B. Bentley Family Health Center had been serving some of Coconut Grove’s neediest patients for the past 40 years but closed recently. That left hundreds of thousands of patients without a place to go for medical care. Now the federal government has awarded CHI a grant to open two medical centers in that region. One at 3831 Grand Avenue in Coconut Grove and a second at 6350 Sunset Drive in South Miami is scheduled to open in June.
“This is an exciting time in healthcare, especially with the Affordable Care Act opening the door to medical insurance for so many who previously went without it,” said Hartley.
But CHI’s new centers will be open to everyone. Those with insurance also enjoy the convenience and quality of care at many of CHI’s 8 health centers. Some of the centers offer a one stop shopping model with a variety of services under one roof: primary care, pediatrics, women’s health, radiology, dental, behavioral health and more.
Community Health of South Florida Inc. is a federally qualified health care center. By mid summer it expects to have a total of 10 centers and 42 school based health centers throughout South Florida.
Local and National legislators, business and community leaders are expected to attend the ribbon cutting ceremony on May 6th at 10:30am at 3831 Grand Avenue, Miami FL 33133.

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By IcoconutGrove | Repost from Elizabeth de Armas for the Miami Herald

Miami Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra gets his workout at a Pilates studio By Elizabeth de Armas   When he’s not running up and down courtside, Miami Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra gets his workout at a Pilates studio. Miami Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra gets a Pilates workout from Ghrista Gurka of Pilates in the Grove on Wednesday, April 17, 2013. Spoelstra says the workouts help his back. Chuck Fadely / Miami HeraldFullsize Buy Photoprevious | nextImage 1 of 7Miami Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra gets a Pilates workout from Ghrista Gurka of Pilates in the Grove on Wednesday, April 17, 2013. Spoelstra says the workouts help his back. Chuck Fadely / Miami HeraldFullsize Buy Photoprevious | nextImage 2 of 7Miami Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra gets a Pilates workout from Ghrista Gurka of Pilates in the Grove on Wednesday, April 17, 2013. Spoelstra says the workouts help his back.

What:Pilates in the Grove Where: 3316 Virginia St., Coconut Grove Cost: Varies, depending on type of session. Information: 305-446-6899, www.pilatesinthegrove.net or e-mail info@pilatesinthegrove.net What: Pilates on the Beach Where: 437 Arthur Godfrey Rd., Miami Beach Cost: Varies, depending on type of session. Information: 305-538-5300, www.pilatesonthebeach.net or e-mail info@pilatesonthebeach.net

For Erik Spoelstra, Pilates has been the answer to his back ailments and to the stress that comes from a tough day at the office, which happens to be the basketball court. The Miami Heat head coach has done it all: running, biking, spinning, circuit training, CrossFit and yoga. A couple of years ago, however, he started reading about Pilates and hearing that more players were incorporating it into their workouts. Now, Pilates is a part of Spoelstra’s life. “As I started getting older — with my workouts — I started developing some back issues,” said Spoelstra, 42. “I’ve done other things, but Pilates was the best thing to help relieve and strengthen my back. I’ve had incredible results from it.” Pilates focuses on strengthening the body’s core abdomen muscles and improving flexibility. Joseph Pilates, who as a child contended with asthma, rickets and rheumatic fever, spent much of his life improving his physical strength. During World War I, Pilates, a German citizen, was interned by the British in several camps, where he taught fellow internees how to stay in shape during their imprisonment. He emigrated to the United States in 1925 and began teaching Pilates in a New York City studio. Prominent members of the New York dance world, including choreographer George Balanchine, began training with him. Today, more than 11 million people in the United States practice Pilates, including athletes. The Heat gym has a reformer — a spring-loaded machine used in Pilates — where more than 500 exercises can be done. There is also a certified Pilates trainer on staff. Recently, some of the players have started doing Pilates as they’ve started gaining more knowledge of how to take care of their bodies, Spoelstra said. “During offseason, Pilates is a way they can extend their careers and take care of their bodies in a less explosive way,” Spoelstra said. “We do it for rehab, but a lot of it is for preventative measures for injuries. Our players have found great results with it. It is not the only thing they do. It is one of the modalities our players use.” For Spoelstra, who began doing Pilates in 2011, the workout helps both his body and soul. “First of all, it is a great workout,” he said. “For me, mentally, it’s a great way to clear my mind. I get my mind off the stresses from work and I am able to get in shape. I’m also able to correct body movements that keep me feeling young.” On game days, Spoelstra tries to get some Pilates in with his instructor Christa Gurka, co-owner of Pilates in the Grove and Pilates on the Beach. Gurka studied health science and physical therapy at the University of Miami before becoming certified in Pilates. She was introduced to the exercise while working at a physical therapy center that used Pilates equipment to rehab patients. “I just really started to see the changes I was able to make in my patients,” she said. “Then I decided I didn’t just want to do this for patients. I thought if people do this in their life, they won’t have to be patients.’’ Although Gurka likes to start people at an early age, she finds it equally beneficial for adults, including senior citizens. Her youngest client is 13; her oldest is 85. “I work with a lot of high school kids and when I get them in here at that age I love it because I can help them understand the stuff they’re doing with their bodies,” she said. “I also like getting people that are more middle-aged and teaching them that it’s never too late to change some of the bad habits they’ve created in their bodies. You may not become Cirque de Soleil flexible, but you can always get better.” Laura Stuzin, an attorney and mother, has been taking Pilates classes for nearly four years at Pilates on the Beach. Like Spoelstra, she says it is the best relief she has found for her back problems. “You can go into a gym and you can lose weight and you can look absolutely great, but you may not feel great because you may be tired and in pain,” Stuzin said. “With Pilates, you’re not in pain. You’re not exhausted. You’re not tired. You feel strong, elongated and it just feels great.” Stuzin attends the Pilates group classes two to three times a week, and has private sessions with Gurka twice a month. She says she loves the instructors and the atmosphere. “You can’t get what you get from Pilates in any other exercise,” she said. “It is a full body experience, within the hour, where you work every part of your body. Pilates is a very high priority for me, it really is. I will make sure, no matter what, that I fit that in.” When people ask Gurka how often they should attend Pilates, she uses Joseph Pilates’ words of wisdom: “You will feel better in 10 sessions, look better in 20 sessions, and have a completely new body in 30 sessions.”

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iCoconutGrove | Repost Miami Herald | BY :Barbara Byrne, Miami

I’ll never forget the first time I drove in the pre-dawn darkness to meet the group of women runners at Kennedy Park in Coconut Grove. I was stunned to learn that a secret society convened every Saturday morning with hundreds of runners meeting to run the route that provided the reward of a spectacular sunrise as we crested the bridge on Key Biscayne. While the average Miami resident sleeps, throngs of runners and walkers take off, organized by charity, fitness level and general camaraderie. They are outfitted with the latest digital watches, specially engineered shoes, energy snacks and hydration belts. All are focused on accomplishing their mileage and their training for the next race. Health is a common motivator. Some want to begin a healthy routine or to maintain one. Many of groups train to run events and raise funds to fight cancers or other life-threatening illnesses. It all is extraordinary. Yet it is so simple. Just one foot in front of the other, over and over and over. And spectacular, with a picture-postcard backdrop with canopied trees, waterfront mansions and, eventually, the route sandwiched between the ocean and the bay, with downtown’s skyscrapers and cruise ships serving as the horizon line. It is simple, it is special — and it was safe. Running etiquette protects runners from traffic. The familiar warning, “runners back” will shift everyone to their right, slipping into single file to allow the faster to pass. And like boating, runners always stop to assist anyone with an injury or who has fallen. Most running events are well organized, with trained volunteers and staff, clearly marked routes and well-placed hydration stations along the course. Police are also a staple along the routes, leaning against cruisers they have wedged into intersections to prevent rogue cars from “entering” the race. The officers are often some of the loudest cheerleaders as runner streak by. Medical personnel are always available for the overheated, and the inevitable injuries. Everyone is safe and sound. But that sense of safety was shattered by the bomb blasts at the Boston Marathon recently. Now running is associated with images of carnage, the finish line no longer a symbol of joyful accomplishment, but a place of blood-soaked horror. We will need to pause to absorb the reality of the irreplaceable losses and the deep pain. We will turn toward one another with compassion and a compulsion to help one another go on. These incidents only succeed in breaking our hearts — open. Injury and inhumanity may sideline us, and we will walk if we have to. But we will continue on — together. Violence does not solve anything, nor does it stop us from going forward. Every single runner will be there again running that bridge every Saturday morning. No one will stay away because of the bombings. Everyone will still run, and the women in my group will be waiting for me there. We rebuild buildings, we send our children back to school. We hurt, we mourn, but we keep going.

Kennedy Park is located @ 2400 S Bayshore Dr  Miami, FL 33133

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By iCoconutGrove | Repost from Susan Cocking for the Miami Herald

Tyler Tambor may have weighed-in the heaviest fish in the inaugural Capt. Bob Lewis Kids Fishing Classic on Saturday in Coconut Grove, but the 10-year-old from Miami Beach was only one of many winners. While Tyler picked up a trophy for a 44.4-pound kingfish, every one of the 150 contestants received a medal for competing, and almost that many took home some kind of prize. “Greatest thing in the world,” said captain Jimmy Lewis, son of the tournament’s namesake who died in 1997. “My dad is smiling all the way down the line.” The inaugural “Bob Lewis” — the tournament’s short-hand name — was a catch-and-release billfish contest launched in 1994 to honor the pioneering sport fisherman who developed the fishing kite, now a staple at all South Florida sailfish tournaments. The tournament awarded substantial cash prizes, but also raised money to conduct free kids’ fishing clinics, which were a big hit, drawing as many as 300 youngsters. Participation in the billfish challenge waned in recent years, so this year organizers decided to convert it to a youth-only event at Shake-A-Leg headquarters on Biscayne Bay. “Our motto is to keep kids into fishing and make them stewards of the environment,” tournament director Jose Fonseca said. “We decided to keep all the money and efforts to the kids.” The young anglers seemed to be very much into fishing. Chris Dones, 10, of Miami weighed a 28.4-pound kingfish while brother Nick, 11, got a 23.3-pounder. They fished with their dad Angel on Priceless, skippered by captain Jorge Sanchez. “They love to fish,” Angel Dones said of his two sons. “A great cause and time to spend with the boys out there.” Nine-year-old Antonio Rangel of Miami was very proud of his 9.2-pound triggerfish, which he caught on the party boat Reward with captain Wayne Conn. “I don’t get to fish that much because I’m really busy,” he explained, citing Cub Scouts, football and hanging out with his friends as pastimes that cause time conflicts. For Tyler Tambor, whose dad Matt is captain of the sportfishing yacht Owl’s Nest, his big king is not the largest of his fishing career. He also released two sailfish Saturday and said he once caught a huge Cubera snapper. But Tyler conceded the king gave him a tussle. “It felt like the rod was gonna break,” he said. He gallantly stepped aside and let his fishing partner, 5-year-old Emma Lindner catch a 15-pound kingfish and some bonitos. “I kept switching rods with her so we could take turns,” Tyler explained. At least one REALLY young angler entered the contest. Christopher David, aged 20 months, caught a triggerfish and a snapper on the charterboat L & H, owned and skippered by his dad, captain Jimmy David. Christopher’s sister Laurel, 10, and brother James, 14, released two sailfish and five kings, along with numerous other fish. Christopher happily posed for photos at the scales, bestowing a kiss on one of the kings while being held in Laurel’s arms. Besides medals and trophies, anglers and their parents enjoyed a post-fishing barbecue before the awards ceremony.

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By iCoconutGrove | Repost

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – In its continuing effort to reduce gun violence, the City of Miami Police Department will hold another gun buyback operation on Saturday but you won’t walk away empty-handed.

Anyone can drop off any firearm at the Coconut Grove NET office, at St. Stephens Episcopal Church, located at 2750 McFarland Road from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Those who drop off a gun will receive a gift certificate with no questions asked.

The gift cards are for Target, Publix and Wal-Mart and the bigger the gun, like rifles and semi-automatic weapons, the bigger the value of the gift card.

This is the second gun buyback operation in the City of Miami this year.

One held on April 6th in Allapattah brought in 22 guns.

Three operations held in 2012 yielded more than 200 guns including 2 AK-47s and an M-14.

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By iCoconutGrove | Repost from Carolyn Guniss for the South Florida Times

COCONUT GROVE – Dazelle Dean and George Simpson have a big night out on Friday.

The post The Simpsons Are Being Honored appeared first on icoconutgrove.

By iCoconutGrove

Want some detailed info about Coconut Grove’s best walking routes? here you go:

	1.91mi walk on 1/20/13	1.91 mi	29.53 ft
	2.72mi walk on 1/19/13	2.72 mi	36.09 ft
	6.00mi walk on 1/17/13	6.0 mi	65.62 ft
	6.00mi walk on 1/17/13	6.0 mi	65.62 ft
	3.33mi walk on 1/17/13	3.33 mi	39.37 ft
	2.16mi walk on 1/17/13	2.16 mi	29.53 ft
	2.98mi walk on 1/16/13	2.98 mi	29.53 ft
	4.44mi walk on 1/16/13	4.44 mi	49.21 ft
	2.74mi walk on 1/15/13	2.74 mi	26.25 ft
	1.94mi walk on 1/14/13	1.94 mi	29.53 ft
	2.05mi walk on 1/14/13	2.05 mi	32.81 ft
	3.43mi walk on 1/14/13	3.43 mi	26.25 ft
	2.64mi walk on 1/13/13	2.64 mi	45.93 ft
	9.01mi power walk on 1/13/13	9.01 mi	72.18 ft
	2.52mi walk on 1/13/13	2.52 mi	26.25 ft
	2.21mi walk on 1/13/13	2.21 mi	26.25 ft
	1.01mi walk on 1/13/13	1.01 mi	16.4 ft
	2.03mi walk on 1/12/13	2.03 mi	22.97 ft
	2.06mi power walk on 1/12/13	2.06 mi	49.21 ft
	14.18mi walk on 1/12/13	14.18 mi	144.36 ft
	1.22mi walk on 1/12/13	1.22 mi	16.4 ft
	2.01mi walk on 1/10/13	2.01 mi	29.53 ft
	2.08mi walk on 1/8/13	2.08 mi	65.62 ft
	2.03mi walk on 1/8/13	2.03 mi	59.06 ft
	2.06mi walk on 1/7/13	2.06 mi	32.81 ft

The post Coconut Grove’s Best Walking Routes appeared first on icoconutgrove.

By iCoconutGrove | repost from WSVN

The all-girl Carrollton choir, from Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart in Coconut  Grove, had the opportunity to sing for Pope Francis at the Vatican during Easter  Sunday mass.

The 41 Carrollton choir students performed for an audience of over 250,000 including His  Holiness. “I was glad to get home, but at the same time I have so many stories  to tell my family because really, it was a once in a lifetime opportunity to be  so close to the Pope,” said choir member Isabel Mendia.

A piece of home video shows the girls in the foreground, as Pope Francis  passed right by them, the pontiff just feet away during their trip to Vatican  City. “He looked right at us and gave us another clap, and gave us the Pope’s  version of a thumbs up,” said music director Walter Busse. “And it was just  great that he personally acknowledged us, not just once, but several times while  we were singing, and it was just an incredible experience.”

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