A NEW HOME FOR KING MANGO

King Mango got a new home on Sunday,

(1/30/11)

when he and his friends marched through the streets of South Miami.

Almost a hundred happy souls in twelve units strutted their stuff on Sunset Drive.

The King Mango Strut parade's original group from 1982, the Mango Marching Band, was there, sponsored by Shell Lumber.

They played buckets, kazoos, and didgeridoos.

They serenaded Little Miss Mango and her court.

The Miami Heat's new superstar, LeBron James, could not attend so he sent his cousin, DJ Kool.

South Miami's new red light camera gave out over 400 tickets to people who had run lights on their way to the parade.

Frowns turned to grins when violators discovered their citations were good for half-priced beer at the Sunset Tavern.

BP's Next Oil Slick oozed its way down the road. The kids swimming in it seemed to be having a delightful time.

The Green Man stopped to give advice to one of his young admirers.

Then, he spotted,

The Redwing Blackbird of the Apocalypse!

The big bird should have known better than to tangle with the Green Man.

He told the winged warrior, "Hit the road or I'll bean you with this mango!"

The Messenger of Doom knew better than to argue with a 16-year-old dressed in lime green spandex. He let out one more "Caw!" then took to the sky.

(I thank my sons, Ian and Dylan, for doing this in Sunday's show).

While others watched the altercation

Josh and Michelle Billig reminded us that bananas have feeling too.

At the end of the parade the young Rose Cope confessed,

What a prankster that Rose.

The true Strut lives on as living theater in the streets.

It was a spontaneous combustion of fun.

-Pierre Blanchet, Gainesville

This was a great idea.

Something different! I thought it was grand. I like a freak show. -Mississippi John

-Lucy Boszko, Perrine

I thought it distracted from the VW show. I liked the element of spontinaity, like

-Hershel Burden guerilla theater. - Deborah Starbuck

WEST OF KEY WEST

We were standing where a man named Mudd had been locked up for life, imprisoned for treating the broken leg of John Wilkes Booth. The doctor was Fort Jefferson's most famous resident when it was built and occupied in the mid-1800's. It is a part of a group of islands 70 miles west of Key West,

"The Dry Tortugas".

My wife and I were there last Saturday to help celebrate the 75th anniversary of Dry Tortugas National Park. Our tour was arranged by the director of the South Florida National Park Trust, Don Finefrock. The organization supports South Florida's four national parks.

Don is a neighbor of ours.

Arriving by boat, we were greeted by the park's superintendent, Dan Kimball. He and his wife, artist Kit Kimball, live on Grove Isle.

After he introduced us to the park the rangers led tours where we learned about,

the fort's history,

the islands nearby,

creatures of the sea,

the sky,

and the 50,000 pound cannon that had just been refurbished.

We were told it could place a 400 pound exploding cannonball on a ship three miles away. Despite its amazing firepower, Francesca agreed to pose for this picture.

Fort Jefferson was built to protect us from anyone invading the Gulf of Mexico. It is composed of sixteen million bricks artfully arranged to house soldiers and 400 cannons.

Every day a few tired worn bricks fall into the sea.

On one tour we watched craftsmen mortaring the missing parts back into place.

A dozen or so people call the fort home. Seventy miles separate them from everyone else. Some say they like it that way. This ranger, holding a jar filled with lionfish, says she has the perfect job.

A day earlier we had seen a sign at a Key West Marina that said, "Eat more lionfish! There is no catch limit in this invading species, they are killing all the fish, and they taste great!"

As the last tour ended,

we wound our way down

and headed

home.

DOLPHIN ACTIVIST HONORED

South Miami's 74 Street got a new name Saturday, "Ric O'Barry Drive". The City honored its resident, Ric O'Barry, for his forty years as a dolphin activist. He was Flipper's trainer in his early years and starred in a major motion picture , "The Cove". Ric's movie won an Academy Award for "Best Documentary" in 2010. The film is about the senseless slaughter of dolphins in

Japan. If you haven't seen it, do.

I should point out that Ric also has the dubious honor of being "The Token Celebrity" in the first King Mango Strut, 29 years ago, for his underwater stunt work in "Thunderball".

Ric is a humble, hard-working man whom I've known for years. After living in the Grove for decades he headed to the city two miles south which he says, "is great, like Coconut Grove used to be".

Here he is with his son Lincoln, producer of television's Blood Dolphin series (on Animal Planet).

Like his ever-travelling dad, he is heading to Java next week to film the plight of more captive dolphins. That's Lincoln's mother, the beautiful Martha Kent between them. She is a botanist at Fairchild Gardens.

South Miami City Commissioner Walter Harris ended Saturday's ceremony saying, "Ric has spent the last forty years fighting for dolphins surrounded by people who hate him (the people who capture dolphins).

He could have stayed at home with the people who love him. Today Ric, you are home.

We honor you, and, we love you."

IN THE SPIRIT OF JIMMY

Sure, Elvis turned 76 last week but the big news was Luis Hernandez's 60th birthday.

In a unique twist he invited all of his friends to join him to refurbish a local a day care center.

A party it was. Saturday morning fifty of his friends gathered at Kidco Child Care Center in Miami's Allapatah neighborhood. It's been there since 1977 taking care of young kids while their parents work. The non-profit -funded primarily by county agencies- cares for 430 children, ages zero through five. Most of them come from low-income families.

So there we were, bright and early to honor Lou,

a talented early childhood educator.

Coconut Grove artist George Rodez created a small mural design which he then mapped out with chalk.

The rest of us grabbed paintbrushes and began filling it in.

Others (the "Red Team" and "Blue Team") rolled fresh paint over a fading playground.

Lots of fun for a good cause.

Said one participant, "This was the Jimmy Carter of all birthdays".

EARTH ANGEL

Most of us have seen the pretty, petite woman swinging on the vines over Main Highway. I figured Jungle Woman to be just another Grove character. I'd smile, wave, and keep my distance.

I'd do the same thing when I'd see her dancing in front of Plymouth Congregational Church.

Who does things like that?

I found out a few years ago when I started attending the Grove historic landmark. I'd see the ever-smiling vine swinger, Angela Miller, volunteering at every church function. At the time I did not know that she was an angel.

Later I learned her addiction to alcohol had nearly killed her in 2000. Her near-death experience transformed her life in unique ways. She got healthy, sober, and started swinging from trees. She told folks God had saved her so she could become one of his angels on Earth. Angela was constantly doing good deeds and even wrote a book about her transformative experience.

Last Christmas Eve Angela served as a deacon for all three services. Its a lot of work and our church cheerleader seemed fine to me. A week later (New Years Day) breast cancer took her from us at the age of 59.

Hundreds of people attended her funeral today. Reverend Tom told us about the first time she announced her angelic transformantion. When he asked, "Don't you have to die first?" she enthusiastically replied, "I've already done that!"

Now, dying twice, she has really earned her wings.

DECK THE HALLS

After Christmas we headed to Manisota Key (on Florida's west
coast) to visit friends. It was 40 degrees so surfing was out.




























Dead squid were washing in.















We trekked through the woods to see a sunset,















and look for a flash of green.








A few days later we visited the Ringling Museum in Sarasota,

























and saw this young girl starring at us.













In Lake Wales we visited "Pinewood",
a historic house next to Bok Tower.







The halls were decked with boughs of holly.





T'was the season to be jolly
Fala lala la la la la la

ISLAND MAN

It should have come as no surprise when Herb Hiller left us for an island. Back in the 70's, when he wasn’t biking around Coconut Grove, he was off exploring some Caribbean wonderland.

I recall first seeing him thirty-five years ago, a tall thin man zipping here and there on a 10-speed. I soon found out he was usually ahead of the rest of us (we were in cars), and, ahead of his time. The New York native kept busy back then promoting island tourism. He was executive director of the Caribbean Travel Association and later founded the Caribbean Tourism Organization.

Thirty years ago Herb started the Grand Avenue Farmer’s Market. Wanting to bring an “island feel” to his hometown he and several friends (Roland Wood, Dinizulu Tinnie, and Billy Rolle) founded the Grove’s Goombay Festival in 1977.

He has written a number of books on travel. Mr. Hiller also produced a beautiful family with his wife, artist Mary Lee Adler. Their two daughters are accomplished artists as well. Nancy designs furniture and Magda is a popular musician.

I had not seen Mr. Hiller in years when friends began telling me about his mysterious North Florida island. He had discovered it inside a huge lake, an hour southwest of Jacksonville.

Drayton Island is the kind of feature you see on a map but don’t think about too much. It is far from things us city folk consider important, untouched by I-75, I-95, and the Sunshine State Turnpike. There is no Publix nearby.

A while back I asked Sandy Pukel, “Do you ever see Herb?” and he answered, “Of course, I was on his island last week!” Calls were made, an invitation extended, and Francesca and I –with our pup Pi- were soon heading for our own island adventure.


Drayton Island is a mile long and a half-mile wide. It’s where the Saint Johns River swells into a wide expanse ("Lake George") as it drifts north. It used to be accessible by a small car ferry until the feds shut it down (a threat to our homeland security. Go figure). Now, you can only reach it by private boat.

Herb greeted us at a nearby marina with his usual warm smile. Minutes later we were motoring in his skiff. Captain Hiller zoomed past cattails and the occasional gator towards his mid-lake estate. When I complimented his boating skills he mentioned he had spent the mid-50’s serving in the Coast Guard.

Mary Lee and Herb’s house, built in the 1850s, is older than the Civil War. Yes, there is a fine new addition but we could not stop marveling at the older part, its wide screened porch and the watery expanse beyond. Their twelve acres have just a few neighbors within hollerin’ distance. Our dog Pi was in heaven and so were we.

Islands can do that.

In the kitchen we traded stories while Herb showed us how to grind flour. Mixing it with starter he made a magnificent loaf of sourdough bread. After a long trek through the woods we pitched in to make a simple dinner.

Mary Lee’s modern sculptures were here and there but she was not. She was an hour south, in Deland. The Hillers have a smaller second home there to be near their daughter, Magda, and a charming granddaughter. “My wife thinks we should sell this place and move but I’m not ready” he told us then. Our host added, “The island insects can be pretty awful in the summer so Deland can be a good place to be”.

HAPPY TRAILS TO YOU

Slowing down, being in one place and intensely enjoying what it has to offer is what drives Mr. Hiller these days. He wants us to take to the trails, by bike, skateboard or foot. We have few in South Florida. A good example is our own Grove bike path that stretches from Fairchild Gardens to Key Biscayne.

For the past few years Herb has been a consultant for the East Coast Greenway Alliance.
Their goal is to help create a 3000 mile pathway from Maine to Key West. This year he was named “Florida Trail Advocate of the Year”. Getting us out of the house and out of our cars is not easy work", he told me, “It often feels like pushing boulders uphill”.

When I called him earlier this week he was in Deland. “I came for a visit months ago. On the morning of the third day it hit me, it’s time to move off the island. It is time to be closer to friends and family.”

The Adler-Hiller Island Homestead will be on the market soon. You too can live on an island, apart from the world but not that far from a jetport. Our conversation closed with Herb inviting all of us to take to the trails. He says there are over 100 of them in Florida easily found at www.visitflorida.com/trails.
Ever the advocate he added, “I tell people to go outside, take a walk. You’ll feel better".