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Funny Business

Gregory Hahn recalls the moment he realized that stand-up comedy was a craft worth pursuing. He had just seen a comedian perform at Rollins College, in Winter Park, where Hahn was going to school. “I remember watching him and thinking, ‘This guy is the worst,’” Hahn says. “He bombed.” After the show, however, he saw

Lisa Corrao
A Grandmaster Returns

He is the grandmaster of his destiny, and Jean Phoenix Le Grand believes anyone can be the master of their own fate, too. “It’s about respect, values, consistency, integrity, obedience, and learning what your life’s purpose is,” he says. That’s what Le Grand teaches in his program, Lost Legacy Systems, in addition to martial arts

Jean Phoenix Le Grand
Artist Josh Lawson’s pet project

When online pet supply retailer Chewy had its opening day on the stock market in June, CNBC host Jim Cramer held up paintings of his two dogs, Nvidia and Marley, on his investment/finance show, “Mad Money.” It just so happens those two paintings were the work of Coconut Creek artist Josh Lawson, whose custom pet

Josh Lawson
Wine and wander with Wandering Wines

Mathias Kiwanuka was chosen in the first round of the 2006 National Football League draft; the defensive end out of Boston College played nine seasons with the New York Giants. But since hanging up his cleats in 2015 and moving full time to Fort Lauderdale along with his wife and their two children, the two-time

Pro motorcycle rider Ramyller Alves has a need for speed

Photos by John Hartzell   In the Alves’ garage in Coconut Creek sits a 19-year-old YamahaPW50 dirt bike. To Ramyller Alves, the 50cc motorcycle has special significance. You could say, it was the start of his career as a professional supercross and motocross racer. “When I was 2 years old, I got that dirt bike

It’s a smorgasbord at Sawgrass Mills

If your notion of mall bites is a food court with requisite stands for pizza, subs, burgers and bourbon chicken, then Sawgrass Mills wants you to think again. Thanks to the surge in sit-down restaurants at the Sunrise outlet mall, the sprawling retail behemoth off Panther Parkway has emerged as one-stop shopping in more ways

Comfort Food

Photos by Eduardo Schneider Rick Vashina always answers the telephone by saying, “What’s cooking?” Sure, it’s a phrase that many say, but for this corporate executive chef, it’s who he is. For him, creating a dish comes from the soul. It is an artistic expression. The Coconut Creek resident says what first drew him to

Rachel Silverstein watches over Miami’s waterways at Miami Waterkeeper

Photos by Eduardo Schneider   As far back as she can remember, Rachel Silverstein has had a passion for the environment. What floats her boat, so to speak, are “all of the creatures and critters that live in the wild, and the unique and intricate ways that they all survive and interact with one another,”

Saul Drier brings the beat to the Holocaust Survivor Band

Photos by Eduardo Schneider   Saul Drier’s mobile phone rings a lot. At 94, he’s sitting in an office in his apartment in Wynmoor. He’s a busy man, fielding calls from a summer camp in Wisconsin that wants to plan an upcoming performance for his band, and other calls about bookings everywhere, from Pennsylvania to

Come Together

Forty-six years ago, Daniel Hartwell was an aspiring drummer, standing backstage after an Edgar Winter concert in Massachusetts. Only 11 at the time, Hartwell managed to spend a few minutes with the rock star, an episode he remembers as if it were yesterday. Twenty-six years later, Hartwell, who lives in Ocean Ridge, near Delray Beach,

South Florida local has a heart for animals

Photo by Eileen Saavedra   Chickens. It was thousands of chickens that started Coconut Creek resident Brook Katz on his crusade of rescuing animals. Before moving to South Florida in 2006 to care for his aging parents, Katz lived for 10 years in Maui, Hawaii. There, he noticed huge metal sheds on a site where

Fusing Flavors at Casa Sensei

Food images by Gyorgy Papp Photography In Japanese, the word sensei expresses reverence to someone who has achieved a mastery in their art. The sensei at Casa Sensei is executive chef Richard Huang, who was born in Thailand. Huang and co-owners Victor and Patricia Diaz are putting their stamp on the Las Olas restaurant scene,