Condo Commanders

As I sit here in the comfort of my home I am still reeling from the effects of last night's Town Hall-style meeting at the Environ Cultural Center. A group of condo commandos, not even board members, decided to call this meeting to let the people of Inverrary know that they didn't want any more development in Inverrary.

Well, that sounds like a good topic doesn't it? Who would want more development in their neighborhood? We already have 19.000 people living in Inverrary which was built in 1971 as a retirement golf community. We already have problems with too much traffic on Inverrary Boulevard, difficulty getting in and out of the neighborhood when we want to get to work on time. If there were any more development it would have to be on the open space -- which used to be the most pristine, lauded golf courses in Broward County.

However, there is a document that was created in 1971 called a Covenant or a Deed Restriction. This piece of paper clearly states that the golf courses must always be used for recreational purposes. There is a long laundry list of the types of recreational purposes on that document. And the best part is that it was put in place for 25 years, which of course have come and gone, but the language clearly states that it automatically renews for an additional 10 years at the end of the 25 year and perpetually for 10 year periods. Of course, like any legal document, it can be amended, but it needs a 2/3 vote from ALL of the residents of Inverrary. Do the math! That would be about 12,600 people. Now when there is a presidential election barely 2,500 people get out and vote. So what makes anyone think that 12,000 would vote for additional congestion in their neighborhood??

Anyway, the real purpose of last night's meeting came to a head as this person, Bill Eisenberg, angrily and very sarcastically, tried to read the minutes of all of the Inverrary Association meetings and draw conclusions that Joel Leshinsky ran all the meetings illegally because he never had quorums and that maybe he had something to gain by allowing the developers to purchase the land and try to encourage the residents with enticements to allow the development of new housing in Inverrary.

The man, Bill Eisenberg, came armed with an overhead projector, slides of the minutes and letters that were written to lawyers. He brought two men from the Hills of Inverrary -- the development where we live. They each had the opportunity to speak and draw additional conclusions about how Joel Leshinsky might be conducting business for his personal gain. Of course they really never said that because Joel could sue them for defamation of character, but they kept saying things like, "draw your own conclusions folks, why else would Joel Leshinsky hold these meetings in the middle of the day when people are working? He didn't really want to have a quorum."

It was all so surreal. There were probably 200 people, maybe more in the room. Of course, they started to shout things out to Bill Eisenberg like, "What is your point?" "Who is Joel Leshinsky and is he here tonight?"

Well that is when Joel stood up. I stood up too and made Rachel and Adina stand up so that they could see who we were. I am very proud of my husband and for all of the time he has volunteered for the betterment of our community. It takes a lot of patience and dedication to do what he has done over the past eight years as president of the inverrary Association. Really, and truly, no one else wanted this position and hardly anyone attends the meetings. However, over the years Joel has held many Town Hall Meetings. he has invited City and County officials to come out and speak to the residents to let them know what is going on in their community and the larger community of the County. He also has invited state legislators to come to these meetings to let residents know what is going on at the state level that affects us.

The best part was when Mayor Richard Kaplan got up to speak. He had been taking notes on what Bill and all of the speakers were accusing Joel of. He spoke to each and every point speaking slowly and very clearly in layman's terminology. He spoke very highly of Joel. He didn't have to do that either.

Then Joel was allowed to stand up and speak. They only gave him three minutes to defend himself, but then again this wasn't a trial. He said that most of these facts were incorrect ant that there will be an Inverrary Association Town Hall Meeting in a couple of weeks and everyone is invited back to hear the facts. At that meeting will be Steve Weinberg, the Inverrary Association's lawyer who was denied access to last night's meeting by Bill Eisenberg because he told Steve it was HIS meeting and Steve was not welcome. Steve also brought with him a Land Use Attorney who was also denied access. Once Joel mentioned this fact, the meeting immediately broke up and everyone got up and left the building.

The meeting was three hours long. The folks streaming out were saying that it was a ridiculous meeting and there was no point made. A Sun-Sentinel reporter was there and taking notes and interviewing people as they exited the building. So I am sure there will be a follow up article in the paper.

We were totally exhausted and didn't get home until 10 pm. I felt bad that the kids saw how cruel adults can be to each other. Rachel was crying but Adina took it well. But they saw what their father does. And he does it completely on a voluntary basis so that the community will be a better place for them to live in. He also does it so that they understand the importance of volunteering and giving back to your community. And, obviously, we don't give in order to receive. We give because we believe in the cause.

And that is the point that Condo Commanders miss. They seem to have small lives and this condo business fills some void in their small lives and this is probably the most important thing that will ever happen. And that is so sad. Life is for living and volunteering should be a done for the cause not for personal gain.

My Head is Full of Nothing

Sometimes I feel like there is a whole lot of nothing going on in my head.

Yeah, I know that sounds cliche, but I have just come through a year of stress, a year where every moment was programmed with deadlines that had to be met. And then, the deadlines overlapped. There was no down time. Every moment had to count.

I learned, very quickly, how to get things done as efficiently as possible and to delegate what I couldn't possibly do myself.

Since January 25, I have had this feeling of unwinding -- different of course from unraveling which is a negative. But instead, I am learning to relax and let go. It is okay to read a book instead of reading email. It is okay to sit a glass of wine and put my feet up on the couch without feeling guilty that the laundry isn't getting done. I have been moving at a slower pace.

Then I realize that I am sitting in my car, on the trolley or standing in line somewhere and there is a whole lot of nothing going on in my head. No particular thought pattern. Just observing the world without judgement or though processes.

It is a good feeling. I have been able to let go a bit. The world will exist without me making lists and checking off what needs to get done.

Of course, I still make sure that the bills are paid, the laundry is washed and folded, the house gets cleaned, the girls get to wherever they need to be, I get myself to and from work and get the work done. That hasn't changed.

What has changed is the urgency inside me to make it all happen faster. There is no sense of urgency now.

I feel that I have more time, although in reality, no one has more time. It is just how well you manage your time in order to allow yourself the time to relax, or go to the gym, or to the beach.

So, for now, a whole lot of nothing in my head is a good place to be. Just in time for my vacation next week with the girls.

Another Successful Public Art Installation

Okay, so this time I didn't have the heartache, the worries, the involvement, the creativity or the responsibilities like I did with the Broward Light Project event, but as of two weeks ago, I was plunged into the heart of the dedication ceremony for the ArtsPark at Young Circle . . . along with two other staff members of the Broward Cultural Division. And, last night, we sat back and watched the event unfold in perfect harmony.

Two weeks ago Steve Glassman, Claire Garrett and I realized that the City of Hollywood was leaving the County out of the information loop. We weren't included in their press release proofing, we didn't know if our public artist -- who was commissioned with two-percent of the construction budget for the ArtsPark -- to work in tandam with the architect for this project, wouldn't be properly recognized. So we contacted the city staff, met with them and were thrust into the heart of the planning process.

The past two weeks were spent on countless calls and emails back and forth to assist in the coordination of communication. No complaints here, just facts.

The excitement was building, the informational emails were flying from the City and we forwarded them on to our lists. We sent out emails about Ritsuko Taho, the public artist from Japan who was commissioned to create a spectacular water sculpture called Millennium Springs that shoots plumes of water 20 feet into the air and moves in a pattern that was measured from the biorhythm of the Baobab tree in the park. She also created a Dreamwave-- also known as the "Tree of Life," and is considered to be a sacred tree and an inspiration for mythology and legend in West Africa and other regions of the world where it grows -- is a ceremonial rope that will be changed annually. And finally, an e-sculpture which consists of various webcams sprinkled throughout the park so that if you can't visit the park as often as you like, you can click onto your computer and take a peek everyone now and then, or perhaps make it your home page so that you can always visit.

The entire concept is unique and exciting. Something completely different than the Broward Cultural Division's Public Art and Design Program has done yet.

The evening began with a private reception at a restaurant adajant to the park. The glasses were clinking, the spirits were lifted, smiles were flashed. At around 6 p.m. we left the reception, were handed a complimentary blanket and we walked across the street into the circle. There were crowds of people entering the park. There was "Britto Central" set up in a tent selling original Romero Britto merchandise. Oh, did I mention that Romero Britto was at the event too??

There were musicians sprinkled here and there throughout the park playing various types of music. There were "living sculptures" standing frozen in the white toga-like costumes with their pasty-white makeup and moving just a fraction so that you realized that they weren't sculptures!

After checking in at a tent and receiving a huge ArtsPark button and a bottle of water and we were pointed over to the VIP area that had been "roped" off with red ribbons. There in the third row sat Joel and Adina, my sweet family had saved me a chair! Rachel was home not feeling too well.

Steve and Rande sat behind me. Claire sat on the other side of the audience so that she was closer to the Baobab tree because at the appropriate time she was going over to the tree to stand in front of the webcam to wave at Ritsuko, who couldn't be here because she was in Japan! But thanks to her e-sculpture she was able to be part of the ceremony.

The evening began with an acappella group singing and making sounds like guitars and drums. They were very good, but too long. Spero Canton, was the MC (I remember him from years ago when Joel worked at ON TV and he was at BellSouth). Commissioner Sue Gunzburger was next. Since Mayor Eggelletion couldn't attend, she spoke for both of them. Samantha wrote both speeches. The commissioner used both and added a bit of her own flair. She even had the Broward Cultural Council and Division members stand and she recognized each and every one of us. Okay, so she called Steve -- Steve Greenburger when she should have said Steve Glassman, but she corrected herself before she sat down. That was very personable of her.

The evening went on and on, each and every city commissioner came up to the podium and spoke, including the city manager, Cameron Benson -- who I remember as a kid fresh out of college coming into our office to visit Cathy Zaden back in the 1980s! Finally Margi Nothard, the lead architect, spoke and gave a "walking tour" of the park and artwork and a two-minute video was shown which featured the mayor of Hollywood and our public artist Ritsuko Taho.

The fountain was lit with lots of pomp and circumstance -- music and lasers, oohs and aaahs were heard from the crowd. The crowd was allowed to experience the movements of the water sculpture and watch the changing lights and were even sprinkled with droplets thanks to the very heavy gusts of wind that blew them in various directions.

Then we were asked to walk toward the Romero Britto sculpture which was wrapped in a very colorful parachute material. A firefighter was lowered from a lift truck -- way up in the air -- to hook onto the parachute material and then lifted back up very slowly to reveal the butterfly-shaped sculpture that Romero Britto donated to the City of Hollywood.

It was a dramatic moment.

A deep sigh. It was over. It was a beautiful evening. And -- this is only phase one!! There will be two more phases as this was only the dedication of the opening of the park itself and the artwork. Next will be the actual building of the facilities within the park which includes a cultural center where hands-on arts activities will take place, art exhibits, performances and more!

So, there is more to come . . . stand by!

Muscle Memory

I have read that muscles have a memory. Not really like a brain having a memory, but more like a rechargable battery. If you work out regularly, as a part of your life but then get sidelined by whatever . . . your muscles will "remember" where you left off. True, it takes a couple of weeks to get back into the shape that you once were when you stopped working out, but then the muscle remembers and suddenly it gets easier to work out.

Well, I was at the gym today. I was thinking about that, but then I got to thinking about why I do the exercises that I do. And, I tend to do those exercises in a particular order as well.

When I start to work out, I start by stretching -- trying to reach my hands to the floor -- hard at the beginning but then as I warm up it is easier. As I did that today, I heard Debbie Rodenski's voice telling me how to reach to the floor and to round my back as I rolled up slowly.

Wow, I hadn't thought of Debbie in a long time. She was my jazz dance teacher for about 15 years.

Then that got me thinking about the next exercise. I heard Pablo Malco's voice telling me to walk my hands away from my feet so that you are in an upside down "V" and then keeping my hands flat, walk my feet in place one and then the other. Then he would tell us to bend our elbows so that we were doing a sort of upside down push up. Pablo was my hip-hop dance teacher.

Okay, now this was getting fun.

Then I was sitting on the floor, feet flat against each other and knees flat on the mat. Now I heard Nancy Clouse telling the girls in the American Gymnastics gym in Margate to flap the knees up and down like a butterfly and then touch your nose to your toes! Nancy and I taught gymnastics together when I first moved to Florida.

Then lying on my back, knees bent, feet flat on the floor -- I heard Mrs. Schneider (Danny's Mom) -- telling me to raise my hips to the ceiling (she was my Yoga teacher in at the Y when I was in high school!

Then I had one foot flat on the floor, knee bent, the other leg bent with my foot on my knee and that knee facing the side wall (confusing I know). Reaching inside and around the leg and pushing with my elbow -- never mind too hard to explain -- I heard Kenny, another jazz dance teacher from the University Center telling us how to stretch out our hamstrings.

Well, you get the idea. But what really amazed me is that my routine is a compilation of all of the various activities I have done over the years. I have gathered the best of the best and repeated them to create my own workout. I suppose that is what most people do. But I remember and thank all of my teachers who have inspired me to keep going.

I am still a 60s Child

Something that will remain deep in my core is the fact that I am a product of the 60s. I can't help it so I just accept it. The values and beliefs that I have were formed at a time when the world was rapidly changing.

There was a war going on in a remote jungle overseas. A war that was invisible to me until my parents would turn on the evening news. Suddenly I was thrust into a world of daily body counts, blurry images of tropical forests with young boys squatting in the underbrush and firing their weapons at the "enemy." It was our first encounter with real time news.

Then the next set of images were right here in my own country. More blurry black and white images of dark skinned men and women calmly marching down main streets in the deep south getting pushed back by white skinned men in police uniforms welding fire hoses and aiming them at the wall of people peacefully demonstrating that they are not afraid to ask for equality.

The one image that will NEVER leave me is the day that my grandmother and I sat in her kitchen, surrounded by the familiar smells of her eastern European recipes bubbling on the stove and the fruit-patterned wallpaper of the walls. The man on the TV slowly removed his horn-rimmed eyeglasses with one hand and immediately swiped away tears from his eyes -- something that newscasters are never supposed to do (show emotion) -- and drew in a deep breath and announced, "President Kennedy has been shot and pronounced dead." Walter Cronkite was dazed and reflected the same confused look on his face that now appeared on my grandmother's face. I am sure that the entire nation felt exactly the same at that moment in time. Time stood still for me. At six years old my world caved at that moment. I realized right there that NOTHING was forever.

All of these events left an indelible mark on me. All of the follk singers of that era affected me even more. Pete Seegar, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, Arlo Guthrie. Their songs spoke to my heart. I felt the world's pain. As I grew up I became angry about antisemitism, about predjudism, about war.

I couldn't understand why people had so much hate in them when we live in such a beautiful country. There are so many reasons to live and to love. Why waste so much energy on hate?

So when Arlo Guthrie came to town a few weeks ago, I took Rachel to see him. I was overwhelmed in how little he has changed. He still looks exactly the same. Same long, way hair parted down the middle -- okay so it is now white. Same pristine voice. Same long-winded stories that tell a lot about our history but also make you smile.

Then when the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival showed the Concert for Bangladesh I was once again in my glory. Watching George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Leon Russell and Eric Clapton on the large screen performing songs from my youth was wonderful. And, I was actually at that concert at Madison Square Garden! I remember it well.

An era gone by, but not forgotten. It will be with me forever. And for that . . . I am glad to be a child of the 60s.