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Golden Coconut Awards
Golden Coconut Awards for 2009 This past January 22nd, 2010, the Coconut Grove Chamber of Commerce celebrated its 44th Annual Golden Coconut Awards. The Banquet, held at the Mayfair Grill (at the Mayfair Hotel & Spa), honored outstanding members of our community for 2009. Chamber President Anthony Noboa was host to over 60 guests who turned out in support of the honorees. The Master of Ceremonies was Joseph Adler, Producing Artistic Director, GableStage and Coconut Grove Playhouse. Community Service Award
The Noble Laureate for Literature (1913) Rabindranath Tagore said "I slept, and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted, and behold. Service was Joy." Yvonne McDonald's brief life was pure Joy. She dedicated her life to helping others ever through her own adversities, being legally blind at an early age. Yvonne was a dedicated public servant, a courageous and eloquent woman and an unshakable force of leadership in her beloved community of Coconut Grove. Community involvement was her way of life. Despite her near blindness, never requiring the least bit of assistance in her pursuits. She believed in hope when all was in despair, and motivated many to recovery from addiction, and further employed and trained individuals to become constructive citizens of society. As an outstanding community leader, Yvonne was appointed and then elected to serve on the Coconut Grove Village Council. When Marc Sarnoff was elected to serve as Commissioner of District 2, he tapped Yvonne to be among his senior staff. As aide and community liaison to Commissioner Sarnoff, Yvonne used her resources and "Yes, we can," attitude to be an instrument, first hand for the betterment of her community. She received many honors, as is befitting, in her lifetime. Coconut Grove misses Yvonne, but take some comfort that she will always be a part of Coconut Grove-- literally, for this fall, a stretch of 32nd Avenue coincidentally also known as McDonald Avenue, was officially named in her memory. Community Service Award A 22-year veteran of the Miami Police Department, Jorge Martin rose through the ranks and is presently a Major of Police in command of the Criminal Investigations Section. He holds an MS Degree in Criminal Justice from Florida International University and is a graduate of the FBI National Academy, DEA Drug Unit Commander Academy, and the Police Executive's Research Forum Senior Management Institute of Police. Major Martin is a recipient of the department's prestigious Fraternal Order Of Police, Walter E. Headley Officer of the Year Award for 1998 along with other awards including over 100 letters of commendation. Striving always to keep open lines of communication between police and the citizenry, he walked the BEAT regularly in the Village, partnered with merchants and homeowner groups while reinstituting the police liaison meetings and regularly attending the All Grove Crime watch and Village Council meetings. Major Martin's immediate goals are to serve the citizens of the City of Miami in my investigative role and aspire to be a Division Chief should the opportunity present itself. Coconut Grove is grateful to have had Jorge Martin to make a difference in our community. Tom Falco grew up in Coconut Grove. In the 1980s while in school he worked part-time for a now defunct paper called the Grapevine. It was the inspiration for the popular blog, named among the "bloggiest neighborhood blogs," in the country which he edits about the daily events, hot topics and issues affecting our community. Indeed, there are few people who live or work in Coconut Grove not familiar with the Coconut Grove Grapevine. Tom started the Grapevine in 2005 because he saw a need for daily news in the Grove, and for give-and-take discussion of Grove politics, issues and events. The rest is history. The blog started slowly, but then took off. Suddenly it was read by thousands of people a day. While at times controversial, it is always a champion of Coconut Grove, its residents and businesses. It provides a colorful outlet for perspectives and input from those who live and work in Coconut Grove. It also provides an invaluable service to the community. Every day, Tom is out there taking pictures, getting information and posting constant, fresh info on the blog-- everything from community service information, things of interest, calendar of events, restaurant listings and even showcasing all the businesses of Coconut Grove. It is hard to imagine a day without reading the Grapevine, at least 5 times. Tom is also a volunteer - he generously gives of his time and provides his time and publicity through the blog for all Grove events, most notably the Great Grove Bed Races and the July 4th event. His promotion of Coconut Grove is constant. We are grateful to count on Tom Falco for gossip, public forum and constant information, and most of all for his love of Coconut Grove and his enthusiastic support to our businesses and residents.
Guillermo "Willie" Vega is the Executive Director and Branch Manager at Oppenheimer and Co., Inc. The 38-person office he has headed for the past eight years is based in Coconut Grove. Previously, Willie was Assistant Vice president at Lehman Brothers. He grew up in Miami and graduated from Barry University. He is married and has 2 children. The oldest attends the Arts & Minds Academy in Coconut Grove. A frequent volunteer of its signature events, in 2008 Willie was elected to the Board of Directors of the Coconut Grove Chamber of Commerce, where he currently serves in the Executive Committee as Treasurer. As serious as he is about the role he plays in the world of finance, Willie is also serious about the importance of celebrating the joy of life. Willie is passionate. He is passionate, for instance, about the Mayfair Hotel and Spa, his home away from home. He is passionate about holidays (which he often spends at the Mayfair, in fact). He warned the Board, early on that he would attend every meeting except those falling on holidays, because his family celebrates every holiday. Not just Thanksgiving or Easter. But every holiday, including St. Patrick's Day and Cinco de Mayo. It is with this enthusiasm that he approaches volunteering. For the past 2 years, he has helped to shape a new and successful signature event as Co-Chair in 2008 and Chair of Casino Night. Raising enthusiasm for a fund raiser in the middle of this recession is not an easy task, but Willie was undaunted. When others question things, or yield to pessimism, Willie's main question always seems to be, "So how can we make this better?" It is for this approach to finding solutions that the Chamber is lucky to have him at the helm of the 4th of July Celebration, as Event Co-chair this year. --Contributed by his admiring fellow board member, Liliana Dones on behalf of the Board of Directors of the Coconut Grove Chamber of Commerce. Golden Coconut Awards, 2009 Golden Coconut, 2009 Pierre Sands is the president of the Village West homeowners and Tenants Association (HOATA). Pierre grew up in Coconut Grove, and attended Coral Gables High School. Pierre is a tree surgeon of renown. His landscaping business, A Little Tree Service, has maintained many a tree throughout the Grove. But Pierre is best know for his unfailing involvement and love of this community. If there is a human in need of help, Pierre is there as a volunteer. If there is a tree in need of help, Pierre is also there. In 2005, he became founding member of TreeWatch, together with fellow arborist Bob Brennan, Marc Sarnoff, Santiago Villegas and Liliana Dones, based on an idea by former Village Council member and Grovite, Bob Ferreira, in response to the alarming rate in which the Grove's famous canopy with rapidly being depleted through the illegal cutting of trees. Since then TreeWach has counted on Pierre's professional opinion for everything from determining the health of a tree whose existence hangs in the balance, to showing up at Historic Preservation Board, Code Enforcement Board, Village Council and City Commission meetings to testify in favor of our tree canopy, and work towards educating people to the importance of the canopy to our environment and well being. The Grove is a little greener, and a lot shadier, because of Pierre, and for that give him our sincere thanks and gratitude. Golden Coconut, 2009 As a dolphin trainer for Miami Seaquarium back in the 1970s, Robert Parente had no clue he was building skills that would help prepare him for a future role as Miami's liaison to the international filmmaking community. "I learned how to interpret body language and communicate in non-verbal ways that have helped me immeasurably," notes the director of the Mayor's Office of Film & Cultural Affairs for the City of Miami. "I realized it is not always what you say that matters, but how you come across." His extensive experience in audio-visual production, photography and marketing - as well as an innate inclination toward public service - are also called upon as he keeps tabs on filming projects throughout the city, reaches out to potential new business, and interacts with producers and film crews. Among his various responsibilities is making sure film and photo shoots are accomplished with minimal disruption. It is not as easy as it may sound. "For the ‘Miami Vice' movie, we shut down I-95 five times - and most people were never even aware of it," he says. "We convinced the production company to shoot their scenes as night, and notified every business within 15 miles that might be using the highway between midnight and 5 a.m." "I am extremely fortunate in that I love what I do," he enthuses. "I especially enjoy the service side of the job - dealing with constituents, being a catalyst, making things happen, fixing problems. It gives me great joy at the end of each day to know that I made a difference." -- Excerpted from and article by Desiree del Campo from MIAMI MONTHLY MAGAZINE. Coconut Grove is particularly grateful to Robert Parente for his part in helping create the Madhatter Arts Festival and bringing and maintaining a home for the sensationally popular cable television series, Burn Notice here in Coconut Grove. The series is a full hour commercial for Miami, and shows Coconut Grove in the dynamic light that beckons people to visit or live here. ~~~ |
Coconut Grove Chamber of Commerce
