Nicky Mill with dad Andy and a permit fish he
caught on a fly rig in Cuba last year. Photo courtesy Andy Mill
By Thom Smith
It was a high school tennis tournament, more than 40 years ago, in Pompano Beach. The final score was 6-0, 6-0. The winner was upset because her opponent managed to score one point in the match.
Four decades and millions of points later, Chris Evert watched her son play in the state high school tournament. He lost in the No. 2 singles quarterfinal, 6-1, 6-1; but in the No. 2 doubles final, his overhead closed out the match and an undefeated season and clinched the team title for Saint Andrew’s School.
It felt like the greatest victory of her life “because my son won,” Evert said after Nicky Mill’s match.
But unlike Mom, who had one of the greatest careers in sports history, Nicky is finished with tournament tennis.
“I’m sad,” Evert said, “because, of all the boys, he took his tennis the farthest. He was a nice player, but he is his father’s son.”
Evert and former husband Andy Mill raised three sons, all athletic but more inclined to dirt bikes, skateboards, surfing and, in Nicky’s case, fishing.
“He’s a natural with a fly rod,” said Mill, who is featured in an article on the “sexiest grownup guys” in the current issue of AARP, The Magazine. “He’s caught a pile of fish (tarpon) this year between 120 and 140 pounds.
“It was great watching him play tennis, but he’s only 5 feet 8 inches [tall] and in today’s game he’s under gunned. He’s gonna be one hell of a fisherman. But whatever the boys want to do is fine with me.” Mill said, “ I just want to teach them what passion and living large are. If they can do that, they’ll always be successful.”
Nicky will enter Lynn University in the fall. Older brother Alex attends FAU. No. 3 Colton is still in high school.
***
Also on the court, the child of another sports legend did very well at the state high school tennis finals. Undefeated in 14 matches for American Heritage in Delray, junior Rasheeda McAdoo won the state Class 2A singles and over-all singles titles and teamed with Mia Horvitt to do the same in doubles. More recently her dad celebrated an NBA title. Pro basketball Hall-of-Famer Bob McAdoo is a Miami Heat assistant coach.
***
The event is called S.O.S. but the only people needing help might have been the few who couldn’t stop wolfing down the cobia morsels, or were a bit skittish at trying octopus. S.O.S. is Share Our Strength — Taste of the Nation, an annual orgy of dining delights from several dozen top restaurants at the Kravis Center’s Cohen Pavilion. The money it raises through ticket sales and auctions support Feeding South Florida food bank, No Kid Hungry Florida after-school meals, the Boys and Girls Club and the United Way, plus community garden and programs that teach families how to eat healthy.
Despite making a big jump from Café Boulud in Palm Beach to the country club scene at Addison Reserve in Delray Beach, Zach Bell once again teamed with Clay Conley of Palm Beach’s Buccan and Imoto to chair the event. For added oomph, they brought in Mango Gang’s original Allen Susser.
“I wish we had more,” Bell said as he surveyed the packed hall. “I’ll be happy when there’s only enough room for them to sign their names on the bid cards. With more than half the kids in the public schools qualified for lunch help, we need to do a lot more.”
Bobby Campbell
Boca philanthropist Bobby Campbell is a popular fellow around Lynn University. He just gave the school $1.2 million to build a new soccer stadium worthy of the Fighting Knights’ many national championships.
This stadium allows Lynn to expand the athletic offerings to include lacrosse. Fundraising will continue for the project, which has a $2.6 million pricetag.
Campbell’s company, BBC International, based in Boca Raton, is one of the leading children’s and athletic footwear design and sourcing companies in the world.
***
Delray’s Falcon House, known more recently as Triple Eight Lounge, has closed. Owner Karl Altermann, a longtime veteran of South County restaurant wars, left for greener pastures near Orlando.
***
Tough luck for Miera Melba. The Delray interior designer was the fifth competitor dismissed from HGTV’s latest Design Star series. Judges cited “poor time management and an unfinished project.”
Summing up her experience, Melba said, “I wanted to prove to the world that my designs were timeless and ageless and I could represent the Baby Boomer generation. And I wanted to prove that I could keep up with all the youngsters in the show... They’re all my childrens’ ages... I’m disappointed, that’s all. I thought I’d get a lot farther.”
***
For more than two decades, Michael Capponi has been the go-to guy in South Beach. First it was the nightlife, the club scene and the parties, and while he continues to be a major presence, boys grow up and expand their horizons. For Capponi, construction seemed like a good idea. He teamed with Ken Gross, former VP at WCI and Todd Pennington, former Exec VP of Bovis Lend Lease, to create Capponi Construction Group.
With a résumé that includes The Bass Museum of Art, The Forge Restaurant l Wine Bar and Loren and J.R. Ridinger’s Casa de Sueños estate, he is now ready to expand his influence. On July 26, he’ll cut the ribbon at his second office at 444 East Palmetto Park Road in Boca Raton.
Capponi will hit the social circuit a couple of weeks earlier — as a bartender at Ta-boo in Palm Beach on July 11. It’s a special fund-raiser for WPB Friends of Fisher House, a program that provides homes away from home for families of veterans receiving care at military and VA medical centers. He’ll be joined by Andres Fanjul, Carlos and Tommy Morrison, Jane Holzer, race driver Jay Cochran, CBS Tech correspondent Herb Tabin, Food Network personality Josh Lyons and NFL Hall of Famer Tucker Frederickson. Also on the bill: a Chinese auction, Black River Caviar Station, designer showcases. $20 donation. Call 317-1101.
***
The grand opening of the iPic Theater complex in Boca’s Mizner Park took on a little extra flash with an appearance by Paula Abdul. She and boyfriend Jon Caprio were guests of Boca plastic surgeon Dr. Daniel Man. Turnout at the ultra-plush cinema has exceeded expectations and should improve, says its visionary creator and CEO Hamid Hashemi, now that Tanzy restaurant is open on the ground floor.
Tanzy’s roots reach deep into the soil of Italy. Everything is fresh. Herbs are plucked from a small garden in the patio and from a five-acre tract in West Boca. Instead of a sushi bar, guests can whet appetites at the Parma Bar — cured meats, cheeses and breads handpicked by Executive Chef Angelo Morinelli, formerly of Cucina d’Angelo in Boca Center.
In recognition of National Ice Cream Day, July 15, Corporate Chef Andre Lane will offer an unusual gelato: rosemary and olive oil gelato. You have to taste it to believe it.
***
The wait is almost over for Publix shoppers. The Sunshine Square Publix in Boynton Beach that has been undergoing a remodel for the past year is set to reopen on August 2 at 7 a.m.
Shoppers can expect a larger more updated store when the doors reopen. The new store will be about 14,000 square feet larger and have better access from both Woolbright Road and U.S. 1.
***
A lot of water has gone over the falls since Deliverance was released 40 years ago. Amazingly, all four stars of that iconic movie are still alive, so it made perfect sense for Ronny Cox, Ned Beatty, Jon Voight and Burt Reynolds to get together. The reunion, including the canoes used in the film, was recorded at Burt’s institute in Jupiter for a special Blu-ray reissue of the movie.
Cox was back in those mountains the weekend of June 24 performing at the inaugural Chatooga River Festival in Rabun County, Ga., He signed copies of his book, Dueling Banjos: The Deliverance of Drew, a collection of stories about the movie, and performed with Billy Redden, the movie’s iconic banjo picker, whose distinctive look was provided not by genetics but by a makeup artist. Redden, 56, didn’t pick then but does now.
Voight’s ties to Palm Beach County go back to the ’60s. His parents Elmer, better known as “Whitey,” and Barbara were among the first residents at PGA National, now BallenIsles, which opened in 1962. Whitey, a popular New York-based pro golfer, died in a car crash in 1973; Barbara lived out her life at BallenIsles, dying of cancer in 1995.
***
The Caldwell Theatre Company may be closed as it struggles to beat bankruptcy, but the building, the Count de Hoernle Theatre, is open and about to host another show. Jesus Christ Superstar, a joint production of Entr’Acte Theatrix and Palm Beach Principal Players opens July 5 for 10 performances.
As a special treat after the Sunday, July 8, matinee, the producers will host a special piano bar/pizza party tribute to Jan McArt, who founded the Royal Palm Dinner Theatre and now serves as director of Theatre Arts Program Development at Lynn University. Reserved seat tickets are $25 in advance, $35 with the party. Call (877) 710-7779.
Mayor Dave Stewart
Lantana may be a small town, but it has a big voice. The Palm Beach County League of Cities said so recently by presenting Mayor Dave Stewart with its first William “Bill” Moss Memorial Member of the Year Award.
Stewart was honored, Lantana Town Manager Deborah Manzo said at the June 24 Town Council meeting, because he has “given his heart and soul to the League.”
Manzo related the comments of League Executive Director Richard Radcliffe: “His (Stewart’s) handprints are left on the League like no other. Probably his greatest achievement was the spearheading of the Let Us Vote referendum. He is the man who from the back of the room would say something that pushed the limits of what is politically correct and make everyone smile and cringe a little at the same time. Yet he was also the one who from the back of the room would say something and everyone would think, ‘Thank God that he said that because it needed to be said and I’m not doing it.’”
Revelers at Boston’s on the Beach enjoyed the music of The New Orleans
Suspects and dozens of other bands during the annual July 4th Red, White
and Blues Fest. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star
Thom Smith is a freelance writer. Find him at thomsmith@ymail.com.
Comments