Chris Ruden looks like a tough guy, a bodybuilder with a physique that makes you embarrassed that you don’t work out more. When he tells you he’s on target for getting into the Guinness Book of World Records for breaking a weightlifting record—640 pounds at the Arnold Sports Festival in Columbus, Ohio, held in March—it
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Hugh Taylor Birch State Park has been compared by Northerners who visit Fort Lauderdale to a certain large patch of greenery in the middle of Manhattan. Hugh Taylor Birch’s famous former estate in Fort Lauderdale is 180 acres of trees and foliage cutting through an urban landscape. Central Park, however, doesn’t have the Atlantic Ocean
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For all the bootlegging history that awaits those who swing through the wooden saloon doors at Cap’s Place, the story of this Lighthouse Point landmark typically begins on a 27-foot vintage launch boat. That’s the only way to reach the bar/restaurant on Cap’s Island. Once aboard the boat, which leaves the Lighthouse Point Yacht Basin
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Veterans Park hosts a tribute to a fallen infantryman from Coconut Creek Beth Becker-Agami and her son, Daniel, were as close as a mother and son could be. He called her almost every day, or they used Skype. Daniel would email her and send her videos he made. It meant more to her because the
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When Promenade at Coconut Creek opened in 2008, the 23-acre, mixed-use property was already cementing its position in the community as a vital place for residents. The vision was to give the growing community of Coconut Creek an urban village where people could work, play and gather in a downtown setting. Naysayers questioned the timing
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Almost every week, Rebecca Gastineau and her golden retriever, Quaker, would stop at Blast Salon on Lyons Road. When it was time to pay for her services, Quaker, holding a credit card between his teeth, would offer the payment to the salon’s owner, Kathie Tate. The dog wasn’t performing a trick. It was part of
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Banking executive and creek resident vivian porcelli always finds time to get her kicks When Vivian Porcelli has issues at work, or when her 12-year-old son Anthony tells her of a difficulty at school, Porcelli asks herself, “What would Shihan say?” “Shihan” is a Japanese word that roughly means “master instructor.” In this case, Shihan
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Jack Golio and Janet Lopez are two Monarch High School seniors who are making the same choices that millions of their peers across the country are making this month, as they go from being high school’s Class of 2017 to college’s Class of 2021. But they’re also part of an elite group. They join less
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The little playhouse has fulfilled its potential as a big player on Miracle Mile On the east side of one of Coral Gables’ busiest and historic streets, the marquee of the Miracle Theatre dominates the 200 block of Miracle Mile. For the past 22 years, Actors’ Playhouse has presented live theater inside the art deco-styled
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Adrienne Grenier commands the 3030 Ocean kitchen with the same vision that crowned her Food Network’s “Chopped” champion in 2012. Understated, yet bold, is the executive chef’s style, with no order too tall for the diminutive culinary star. That doesn’t mean her job is without its challenges. For starters, she has to placate the palates
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After discovering she could get paid for the parties she hosted as a stay-at-home mom, a caterer creates a thriving business Joy Wallace has catered events for the likes of Queen Elizabeth II and Pope John Paul II, and every president from Jimmy Carter to Barack Obama. She remembers a food taster being sent in
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Atlantic Technical College fills voids in the Florida job market On a busy weekday at Atlantic Technical College, dental assistant students train hands-on in a classroom that isn’t much different from a patient-care room at a dentist’s office. In a nearby repair shop, a group of students huddle over a disassembled air conditioning unit, trying
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