The Boca Bowl was a family affair for many in attendance: David Mauschler and Benji Burns joined the Garcia brothers Remy, Rayden and Reese, all from Boca Raton. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star
By Thom Smith
‘Twas two nights before Christmas and all across town,
Many were wondering how the Boca Bowl would go down.
Officials had placed their stock with ESPN
In hopes that the outcome would be a big win . . .
It was for Marshall, 52-23, over Northern Illinois, but fans from both teams considered the inaugural matchup at FAU a plus. Since its announcement a year ago, a big tout had been the location: “You can see the ocean from the stadium.
“I just want to see what it looks like when it’s full,” FAU President John Kelly said. Unfortunately, for him that objective was missed by 40 to 50 percent. But Kelly got an idea of its potential as did other city and county decision makers. Many who live only 15 to 25 miles north, had never seen the stadium and were impressed.
The Calder clan has strong ties to Marshall (l-r) D.D. Butcher, Harrison, Kristin,
Stirling , Glen and Caroline.
Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star
So were Kristin Calder and Lark Lewis. Calder is CEO of the Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County. Her mother, D.D., is a Marshall graduate as were her siblings — and an uncle played football. So it was only natural that she follow suit. She went one step farther and ran for office — student body president. “I was running against two men and after I won, they tried to have me impeached,” she recalled. “It was a tough fight. But at Marshall, we’re used to working for everything we get.”
Calder added that friends who came down to the game from the chilly hills of West Virginia were impressed by a symbol of warm-weather holidays that we take for granted: “They’d never seen lights on palm trees!”
Lewis, a broadcast journalism major from Stevens Point, Wisc., is a member of the NIU band’s dance team, the Silverettes. “It was 38 when we left,” Lewis giggled during halftime. “We didn’t get to the beach but we did get to lay out in the sun.”
So what if Lark didn’t perform before a packed house. ESPN owns the game, and its local brain trust was assessing pluses and minuses, hits and misses, even before the kickoff. For example, the virtually empty northeast end was supposed to be filled with veterans as part of a salute to the military, as the opening ceremonies featured a flag the size of the football field and parachuting Navy Seals.
“We gave them 5,000 tickets but they didn’t get out,” event boss Doug Mosley said. “That’s one of the things we have to check out.”
Similarly, another large block went to Spirit of Giving Network and local non-profits with no guarantee of attendance.
Marshall University sold most of its 7,500-ticket allotment and NIU wasn’t far behind. Naturally, they provided the noise.
Coaching legend Howard Schnellenberger, a former Ocean Ridge resident who launched FAU’s football program and participated in the coin toss, later strolled through the press box with wife Beverly. “Make it look like you’re working,” he teased.
A couple of cubicles away, game announcers Dave Lamont and Desmond Howard had a few oopses — “here in Miami” and “Northern Arizona.” but for most of the evening they were on point.
Being the first year and having to deal with issues that weren’t anticipated, organizers were thrilled and promised a better 2015. Even the limited crowds from West Virginia and Illinois meant more beds filled in hotels and more meals served in restaurants. ESPN’s cameras gave TV viewers not only a wide-open game but could pan to the east and show the Atlantic Ocean less than two miles away. That converts into cash.
“I’m really thrilled with all the sponsors who stepped up,” Boca Mayor Susan Haynie said. “I’m also thrilled that a lot of others who didn’t step up are now kicking themselves because they didn’t.”
***
No cameras or news trucks outside Rubin Funeral Home in Boynton Beach. A few dozen friends inside to say good-bye to Ralph Morse, who died Dec. 8 at age 97. The news business, like any other jobs, has its cast of characters — the old-timers, the rookies, the good ones, the bad ones, those with promise, aspiring novelists, budding Picassos, hopeless hangers-on, hopeful hangers-on, devils and gods. Devilish as he might have been, Ralph Morse, was a god … and gods don’t need big send-offs.
Morse, who was born in New York, quietly retired to Delray Beach two decades ago, but not before helping make Life magazine the grand photo archive of the 20th century. He made it look easy, from Jackie Robinson stealing home to French resistance fighters dodging sniper fire to the Mercury 7 astronauts (John Glenn dubbed him the eighth astronaut).
Arguably the best photojournalist ever, Morse may have been lucky, but he was lucky because he was prepared. “You find out something, at least one key thing, about the topic you’re going to cover,” he once said.
“And, as importantly, you make friends — you make friends with everybody, wherever you go. Because you never know when you’ll need to go back there, for one more picture, or to follow up on a story.”
Though his health was failing, Morse talked about some of his classic photos Oct. 26, for the Star Spangled Heroes exhibit at the Mandel Public Library in West palm Beach (through Jan. 31). It was his last public appearance.
“He didn’t have a lot of strength, but he presented 12 or 14 of his photos,” Library Foundation Executive Director Jim Sugarman said. “He was very sharp, with a wonderful sense of humor. He spoke from a very personal and professional place.”
After Life folded in 1972, Morse worked for Time until he retired in 1988, and surprisingly, as he said in a book about Life photographers in 1998, “Then I sold every camera. I don’t own a camera. I don’t take a picture.
“If I had a camera, everybody and his brother would say, ‘Gee would you shoot my wedding? Would you take my kid getting married?’ I don’t own a camera, so I can’t do it.”
***
The work of several other great shooters will be on display at Palm Beach Photographic Centre from Jan. 21 to March 22. This exhibit, however, will be different in that all the photographers are women. Women of Vision: On Assignment with National Geographic Photographers highlights the influential photography of 11 award-winning female journalists at National Geographic. The West Palm Beach center is the final stop on the six-venue tour.
***
“Listen to this guy. He’s gonna be great. You’re gonna hear a lot more from him,” Jon Stoll proclaimed one hot summer Sunday back in 1988 as he stood at the back of the Carefree Theatre. The performer was virtually unknown — the opening act to comedian Stephen Wright — but that would soon change, and Stoll, one of the nation’s top independent concert promoters would play a big role in launching him.
Eighteen months later, Harry Connick Jr. played SunFest and returned several more times, always grateful to Stoll for believing in him. Dan Whitney was a bellhop at a downtown hotel and stealing other comics’ material at Stoll’s Comedy Corner. Eventually jokes coalesced into a new person and now Whitney, er “Larry the Cable Guy,” is one of the biggest acts in show biz. Dozens of other performers enjoyed similar success, some at SunFest, some on regional tours.
In January 2008 at age 54, Stoll died from complications of cancer and a stroke. On Feb. 6 at the Mar-a-Lago Club, the American Cancer Society will pay a musical tribute to him with “Let’s Rock Palm Beach,” a gala that will appeal to traditional supporters of the society and the younger crowd crowd as well. The evening will begin with a VIP champagne reception, dinner and reserved seating for the musical tribute that will include a typical Palm Beach big band and an all-star band of performers who worked with Stoll. A special “junior ticket” will provide admission to the tribute and a late-night dance party. A “headliner” will be announced soon. For info, call 561-655-3449.
***
Stroll. Strut. Prance. Pirouette. Get ready Delray Beach, Fashion Week is back for a second year — greatly expanded with nearly 100 models, 70 businesses, an Atlantic Avenue runway and, yes, the third annual Stiletto Race. Proceeds benefit such local organizations as Achievement Centers for Children and Families and Delray Center for the Arts.
More than 40 events are planned, beginning Jan. 17 with “Party with the Primates” — a Fashion Evolution” from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at United State of Fitness, 233 NE Second Ave.; a Sasha Lickle jewelry trunk show, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at C. Orrico Lily Pulitzer Signature Store at 1045 E. Atlantic Ave.; and Delray Swim, featuring men’s and women’s swimwear from more than 25 local fashion retailers at Worthing Park at the corner of Atlantic and Southeast Second Avenue from 7 to 9 p.m.
Action continues from 1 to 10 p.m. Thursday with Fabulous Fashion Night and Day Out with open house at numerous boutiques, salons and art galleries. Stiletto Racers will compete from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday in the following divisions: men’s, women’s, college, runaway bride, 65-plus, most creative shoe, relay and the tantalizing “Sexy Strut.”
The finale, Gypsies to Jetsetters fashion show will be held 6-9 p.m. Jan. 24 on the avenue in front of the Colony Hotel and feature nine Delray designers. For details: www.downtowndelraybeach.com/Fashion-Week.
***
Uh, oh! Boynton’s second boutique brewery may be on hold. When plans were announced in October, the folks behind Coppertop hoped to be brewing by year’s end. But before the beer could begin fermenting, lawyers began fulminating. Over in Tampa, Coppertail Brewing Co. has taken exception to the Coppertop name, alleging trademark infringement, and has filed a complaint in federal court. Beside the copper similarities, the “Cs” in the respective companies’ logos are even similar.
Coppertop’s brewer is Matt Cox, an award-winning head of brewing operations at Big Bear Brewing Company in Broward County since 2001. Al Lettera, an initial investor in Sweetwater Brewing in Atlanta, will handle the business side. Stay tuned.
***
With a bar described as a cross of sophisticated lounge and vintage speakeasy, Hudson at Waterway East opened in early December to positive reviews. In addition to the libations at the replacement for Old Calypso on the southeast side of the Atlantic Avenue, guests tout the atmosphere, ambience and food. However, after years of plentiful parking when Old Calypso was dark, businesses in the retail complex to the east and the patrons who frequent them are complaining that Hudson guests fill their spaces rather than use valet parking. Stay tuned.
***
“My heart is exploding, can’t process it. this means the most. so honored,” tweeted hometown girl — sort of — Ariana Grande after learning of her first Grammy nominations for best pop vocal album for My Everything and best pop duo/group performance for Bang Bang! with Nicki Minaj and Jessie J.
***
Speaking of Grammys, Shaggy, nominee for best reggae album for Out of Many, One Music, plays at Food for the Poor’s Building Hope Gala on Feb. 6 at Boca West, and Jazziz has Sergio Mendes, best world music nominee for Magic, booked for April 19. Two-time Grammy winner Diane Schuur plays Jazziz Jan. 20 and multiple Grammy winner Melissa Manchester plays March 3-4.
***
For a little bit of everything, musically, Sunshine Music & Blues Festival at Mizner Park on Jan. 18 will be hard to beat — and not just for the headlining Tedeschi Trucks Band. Now that the Allman Brothers have officially shut down, Derek Trucks and wife Susan Tedeschi, who won a Grammy for blues album in 2010, can concentrate on making their own music. Mix her powerful vocals and musicianship, Derek’s killer guitar work and the artistry of the other band members to stir up a nasty brew.
Add to the pot Los Lobos, The Chris Robinson Brotherhood, The Both (Aimee Mann and Ted Leo), The Rebirth Brass Band, Grace Potter, English blues guitarist Matt Schofield and Sean Chambers for a hot January night, no matter the temperature. But the habañera in this sauce is Dickey Betts and Great Southern.
Known for his great guitar work with the Allman Brothers and for writing several of their biggest hits — In Memory of Elizabeth Reed, Blue Sky, Ramblin’ Man and Jessica, Betts also is legendary for his problems with alcohol and for being fired by the band. Coming along after the breakup, Derek is less emotionally involved than was his uncle and band co-founder Butch Trucks, so he’s more inclined to just let the notes fall where they may.
No word whether Betts will join Trucks-Tedeschi for any Allman numbers, but he’ll surely sit in for a number or two. As for an appearance by Butch, he says: “Doubt I’ll be in Boca.”
***
Tonight’s the night, but will you love me tomorrow?
Rock and Roll Hall of Famers The Shirelles headline the 53rd annual Boca Raton Regional Hospital Ball, Jan. 17 at the Boca Raton Resort & Club. Dinner, show and live auction — black tie, of course — for only $400. (955-4142).
***
Funny men: Mike Marino will appear at the Delray Center for the Arts, 8 p.m. Jan. 8 (243-7922), and Emmy-Peabody winner Paul Mercurio will headline a benefit for the Delray Beach Public Library, Jan. 30 at the Delray Beach Marriott (266-0799).
Olympic and world figure skating champ, actor, producer, author and brain cancer survivor Scott Hamilton speaks at Delray Center for the Arts, 2 p.m. Jan. 15 (243-7922).
Thom Smith is a freelance writer. Reach him at thomsmith@ymail.com.
Comments