The phrase “Go to your corners and come out fighting” is no longer applicable, since the impressive Community Center was completed.

Mayor of Key Biscayne Robert Oldakowski gets approval from one of his supporters at the Recreation Center’s opening. Photo: M.Gil 

By Marguerite Gil
Columnist

Key Biscayne Mayor Robert Oldakowski started off the Community Center’s inaugural festivities with the phrase, “We made it, we finally made it! All of the effort was worthwhile.” He was referring to the newest addition to the island’s landscape, a state-of-the-art, monumental Key Biscayne Community Center. Vice Mayor Jorge Mendia echoed, “It was a long planned project, but it’s here! There were proponents and opponents and this is the result of a compromise. Candidates against the building lost and candidates for the building won, by a two to one margin. The majority wanted this building to be built and the democratic process has overcome. Let there be no mistake, democracy is alive and well in Key Biscayne!”

Organizers planned on welcoming some 200 pro-Center Islanders to the recent unofficial opening and were surprised to find themselves catering to a crowd that easily exceeded 750 very enthusiastic guests.

So how does the title of this story Shaking Hands tie in with this article you ask? Well, when Vice Mayor Mendia stood before the crowd and mentioned proponents and opponents, he was being diplomatic. This huge construction has been at the center of an on going tug of war by the pro and con groups of Key Biscayne Islanders for over nine years. In fact, several people confided to me and said that at some points it was out-and-out war and made for very bad blood on the barrier paradise. The opposition to this new and costly edifice fought an uphill battle and lost. But you can’t stop progress and the phrase “Go to your corners and come out fighting” is no longer applicable, since the impressive Community Center was completed. So adversaries are finally shaking hands… albeit somewhat reluctantly. 

A yearly membership will be required of anyone wishing to use the amenities in the Center. But it looks like an overall good investment for the islanders. The place has numerous classes to offer members, as well as an open basketball gym and wellness center with dozens of universal machines, free weights and cardio equipment. There is a large game room/teen room, a heated pool, multi-purpose room, kitchen, adult lounge, computer lab, arts and crafts room and a two-story Jungle Jim/monkey bars setup for the kiddies, which spectators agree is amazing. The whole place sparkles with newness and energy. Visit the website at: www.keybiscayne.fl.gov for more information.

Lunar Shadow

The kick-off season party for f.o.t.o. (friends of the orchestra) took place on Chef Norman Von Aken’s Mundo restaurant terrace, where guests were treated to a sampling of the New World Symphony’s (NWS) classical pieces, while the moon hid behind the shadow of the earth last week. The Merrick Park eatery welcomed some fifty friends to a lunar cocktail reception and a private NWS performance. Friends were encouraged to become members with enticing news of upcoming events such as the Jewelry Trunk Show and Performance, which will be held on December 9 at a private Brickell residence. Members can also learn about the intimate interaction between a teacher and student at a Teaching Master Class at the Lincoln Theatre led by Claudio Bohorquez, cello soloist with the NWS. This class will take place in early November and is followed by a gelato and espresso rendez-vous, but to attend the event an R.S.V.P. required. Pick up the telephone and call 305-673-3330 ext. 230 for time, date and membership fees… bien sur!

Future events include a NWS concert and cocktail party on March 26, 2005 and a season finale on May 7, 2005 with dancing, DJ, and a private performance highlighted with the bubbly beverages at an exclusive Magic City venue. My only question would be, why have a DJ with all of these talented musicians around? 

Send your Upper East Side, Design District, Downtown Miami, Brickell and beyond events information for consideration to megs@gate.net.