To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven. Ecclesiastes 3:1

King Solomon’s observation of life and human behavior resulted in numerous conclusions which are undeniably true. This particular truth relates to the fluid nature of the human experience. Nothing remains the same, everything changes and there is an appointed time or season when change will occur. In nature, we identify the progression of time through the changing of the seasons from Spring to Summer, from Summer to Fall and from Fall to Winter. Each comes with its own unique personality and characteristics (colorful flowers, hot sun, falling leaves, frigid temperatures).

Depending upon where one lives in this country, or on this planet, some seasons are more readily seen and experienced than others. South Florida tends to be a perpetual summer experience with a brief autumn respite (in my opinion).

An awareness of the coming change in a season enables us to prepare for it and adjust to its uniqueness. As we age, we also go through seasons of life with characteristics, expectations and responsibilities that are unique to each phase. The one constant, however, is that there will be change. Nothing lasts for too long, and each season fulfills some purpose.

The varying experiences that we face (challenge, struggle, satisfaction, success etc. …) also tend to be seasonal. We would love to park at the particularly pleasant and rewarding experiences of life and live the remainder of our days there, in peace and tranquility. The inevitability of change, though, indicates that we’d do well to be prepared when our situation undergoes a transition to something else. Though we may not appreciate change, especially when it involves moving from something good to something bad, Solomon’s wisdom indicates that each season serves a purpose.

If you are favored with good circumstances (a good season), celebrate your accomplishments and enjoy your life. Be mindful, however, that things may soon change. If you are in a bad situation (season), seek to understand what lessons it may offer for your future benefit, or for others who are around you. Know that it will not last forever, and that you may well come out the better for it. Sometimes the challenges and difficulties of life are necessary to release the hidden greatness, brilliance and potential that lies in all of us. Consider that the caterpillar must go through a period (season) of isolation, darkness and struggle before it emerges as a beautiful butterfly. And oysters must endure a season of agitation and discomfort in order to produce the costly pearl.

Whatever season you may find yourself in, make the most of it by adjusting to its demands and facing it with confidence. Thank God for bringing you to it, or trust Him knowing that He will see you through it. You have not arrived at it by accident. Though you may be incapable of controlling what happens to you, the power to manage your response is all yours. Be grateful to God for His blessing or His mercy in each circumstance. He has brought you to this for a season and for a purpose.

Bishop Patrick L. Kelly is the pastor of Cathedral Church of God, 365 S. Dixie Hwy., Deerfield Beach, FL 33441. 954-427-0302. The church celebrated its 90th anniversary over Labor Day weekend. 1924-2014.

By Gary Curreri

For the third time this season, host Blanche Ely had a bad taste of déjà vu.

It was the first home game for the Tigers after spending the first five weeks on the road. It also marked the debut of a new, state-of-the-art scoreboard that was donated by 2008 Ely grad Patrick Peterson, now with the Arizona Cardinals, former head coach William Facteau and other community leaders.

The product on the field was competitive, but, for the third time this season, Blanche Ely let a late lead slip away and lost in the closing minute of the contest.

Maurquice Flowers rushed for 114 yards and two touchdowns, including a 2-yard run, with 57 seconds remaining, to propel Plantation to a 31-23 victory over Blanche Ely in a non-district game last Friday night that also marked the return of former Tigers coach Steve Davis.

Davis, who spent 10 years at Blanche Ely and won the Class 5A state title at the school in 2002, won for the second consecutive season at his former school. He is 2-2 in regular season games, not including a kickoff classic win during that span. Plantation won 32-26 last season.

Flowers’ second score capped an 8-play, 93-yard drive to hand the Tigers its third loss in the closing minute this season. It also dropped games to Deerfield Beach and Miami Northwestern in the waning seconds earlier this year. Flowers and Antwuan Haynes each broke the century mark on the ground for the Colonels (4-2). Haynes finished with 101 yards on 14 carries.

“That’s really cool,” Davis said of the scoreboard. “I am a big time Ely guy. I spent a lot of years here. I really think the new scoreboard and all of the other stuff is well deserved. Hopefully, it was a little distraction for them. This was a real important game. It is not a district game, but ,when you look at the power rankings for Broward County, it lets you know where you stand.”

Blanche Ely (2-4) christened its new $100,000 scoreboard on a 38-yard field goal by Carmeley Charite with 3 minutes left in the first quarter to take a 3-0 lead.

Plantation took the ensuing kickoff and marched 80 yards in nine plays to take a 7-3 lead on a 4-yard scoring toss from Archie Banton to Yvon St. Louis with 22 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

Blanche Ely, which also debuted new uniforms, capitalized on an interception by Terrance Henley to grab a 10-7 lead on a 5-yard scoring run by Demeterice Bellamy with 2:54 remaining in the first half. The Colonels took the lead shortly before halftime when Banton broke three tackles and bulled in from 10-yards out on a quarterback keeper.

The Tigers capitalized on another turnover deep in Plantation territory and converted it into another score. Zackery Purdue found Therrell Gosier for a 13-yard scoring play with 2:30 left in the third quarter for a 17-14 lead.

Plantation took the ensuing kickoff and moved 80 yards in 11 plays capped by a 7-yard scoring run by Flowers for a 21-17 lead. The Tigers answered on a 33-yard scoring toss from Perdue to Thomas Geddis to seize a 23-21 lead before the visiting Colonels battled back.

“I think we had to eliminate the big play because Ely is a big play team,” Davis added. “We were able to control the ground game and the corner backs played well. I think a win over a good team like Ely will really catapult our season tonight. We have to keep moving forward.”

Blanche Ely coach Nakia Jenkins admitted his team is young, but needs to play four quarters of football.

“We need to learn to finish,” said Jenkins, who is in his first year at the school as head coach. “We should be easily 5-1 right now. We have to put teams away early. It is definitely motivation. I tell these guys all of the time they don’t know how good they can be. We are going to be really good once we put it all together.”

If he were doling out mid-season grades, Jenkins said he would give his team a C-plus.

“We are very young,” Jenkins said. “We are about 80 percent of our JV team from last year. We are get- ting better. Hopefully, at the back end of the season, we can put a lot of things together … We have to keep building and stay healthy. We have to get them together, rally, work on technique and we are at the back end of the season … and get district champs. We just have to take it one game at a time.”

Blanche Ely Athletic Director Andrea Johnson was thrilled with the new scoreboard.

“It is really cool,” Johnson said. “It really goes with the state-of-the-art field that we have here. The community fought really hard to get it. They just beat the ground getting the donations so we could have this for our school, for our kids and for our community.

“Patrick Peterson and Bill Facteau were the major donors,” Johnson added. “The installation took a week. It’s amazing. The capabilities it has, the clarity of the screen … it is a wonderful addition to the stadium. We are still working out the kinks and figuring out all of the wonderful technology, but we will be able to show replays, advertisements and a lot of other cool stuff. We have cameras and all of that.”

By Dave Montalbano

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

As advertised, Rudderless looks like a film along the lines of Coal Miner’s Daughter, Walk the Line and Almost Famous. With Billy Crudup’s participation, this film feels like a spiritual sequel to Almost Famous, as if we are meeting Crudup’s character 14 years later.

Crudup portrays Sam, an advertising rep who closes a big deal. He calls his college- aged son in an effort to celebrate his success, but the phone only takes messages. While watching television at a bar, Sam sees that his son’s college has become the location of work-place violence.

A few years later, Sam has become a recluse, living alone on a sailboat and estranged from his wife, Emily (Felicity Huffman), who openly grieves for the loss of their son. Negligent from domestic responsibilities, Sam will have nothing to do with cleaning out their son’s room. One day, Emily brings their son’s stuff to Sam’s garbage bin. Ignoring it at first, Sam finds his son’s guitar and music tracks for songs that he has written.

While attending an open mic contest, Sam meets Quentin (Anton Yelchin). The two form a band and start playing the dead son’s music. Things seem redemptive until the son’s girlfriend (Selena Gomez) shows up, disgusted by Sam’s playlist. Thus Rudderless becomes a film with much more depth than advertised.

Making his directorial debut, character actor William H. Macy directs with a confident ebb and flow. The drama is real, but not over the top. The comedy is laugh out loud funny with echoes from previous movies.

Despite the sunny cinematography, there is a darkness beyond the theme of grief; Sam and Emily’s son was the shooter who killed the university students. Thus, the beautiful music takes on sinister attributes.

Rudderless is a film that makes one look beyond the obvious.

DEERFIELD BEACH

Sept. 30 A man was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct at 201 E. Sample Rd.

Sept. 30 A man reported his vehicle stolen from 240 S. Military Trail.

Sept. 30 A woman reported that her car parked at 212 E. Hillsboro Blvd. was broken into and her purse was stolen, containing $120.

Sept. 30 A woman reported her cell phone missing at 837 E. Hillsboro Blvd.

LIGHTHOUSE POINT

Sept. 15 Someone stole the tag off a license plate from a vehicle that was parked in front of a residence at 2912 NE 27 St.

Sept. 16 A female was observed walking back and forth and was stopped by police at 4700 N. Federal Hwy. She was found in possession of heroin.

Commissioners’ health insurance

Dear Editor:

At the outset of discussion at the Oct. 7 Deerfield city commission meeting about the ordinance regarding health insurance, the city attorney, at the request of the District 1 commissioner, gave a brief but clear summary of the proposed alteration of the 2002 ordinance. For clarity, here it is.

City Attorney: “This is an ordinance to amend the existing ordinance to limit insurance benefits to future commissioners (those who are not vested, having served in consecutive years.). They will still have the right to that health insurance benefit, but they will have to pay for it on the same basis as other retired employees.”

Characteristically, the mayor interjected. “I’m not happy with that!”

Following this, the public spoke.

Despite the city attorney’s clear and careful review, virtually all of the speakers addressed the original ordinance of a dozen years ago with no mention of the proposed changes by an entirely different commission.

There was some discussion by the commissioners, all of whom seemed to agree with making the changes, but they also took issue with trivializing the quality of their service and the amount of time they spent serving the city that they had heard from some of the public. Their speaking out about that has been grossly misinterpreted.

The mayor declared, “Now it’s my turn,” and went on to disparage the quantity and quality of service performed by the commissioners by relating it to her comparatively superficial ceremonial duties. Then she told of her experience with a health insurance issue.

“I retired in 1993. At that time, the very persons who voted for this thing were on the commission at that time. When I asked if I could stay on the city’s health insurance — my husband had died and I was no longer covered on his policy — I offered to pay the premiums myself. They said ‘no.’ They refused, and pushed me over to COBRA.”

The District 4 commissioner responded by pointing out that there was no such insurance plan available for ANY ELECTEE in 1993 and for clarification, asked the mayor if she meant that she applied to be included in the city’s health insurance plan nine years after having left office in 2002.

“No. no,” she said, I said that when I was out of office in 1993.”

You can see and hear the entire dialogue on the city’s website/commission/video. In any case, the mindset of the commission who passed ordinance.

2002/004 was very different from the current one — men who enjoy serving. They serve long hours without complaint — until their integrity is impugned.

David Cohen

Deerfield Beach

Garden Club of LHP

Thursday, Oct. 16, 11 a.m.

St. Paul’s Education Hall 2700 NE 36 St. Lighthouse Point, FL 33064

Program: “Protecting Our Coastal Strand.” Presented by Education & Ecological Consultant Kristen Hoss. Refreshments served. www.lhpgc.org.

South Florida Legends Dinner & Concert

Friday, Oct. 17, 6 p.m.

Tropical Acres Steakhouse 2500 Griffin Rd. Fort Lauderdale, FL 33312

Tribute to Michael Jackson, Elvis, Frank Sinatra and more. $49.95 for dinner & show (includes taxes/gratuities.) Limited seating, reservations required. Call 954-596-0058 or visit www.sflreservations.com.

Beach Sounds: “The Boss Project – Bruce Springsteen Tribute”

Friday, Oct. 17, 7 to 8:30 p.m.

Main Beach Parking Lot 149 SE 21 Ave. Deerfield Beach, FL 33441

FREE. Bring blankets, chairs, sit on the beach or wade in the surf. Open to the public. Sponsored by City of Deerfield Beach Parks and Recreation. 954-480-4429. Note: Ocean Way from SE 1 St. to SE 2 St. and the east wing of the Main Beach Parking Lot will close Friday, Oct. 17, 6 p.m. and reopen 9:30 p.m.

Boca Raton Green Market

Saturday, Oct. 18, 2014, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Royal Palm Place (SW parking lot) Intersection of S.Federal Hwy. and SE Mizner Blvd. Boca Raton, FL 33432

Farm-to-table, freshly picked produce, organics, plants and flowers, bakery items and more. Runs continuously on Saturdays through May 2015. The band It Takes Two will perform. 561-299-8684.

Health & Wellness Expo

Saturday, Oct. 18, 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

NE Focal Point Senior Center 227 NW 2 St. Deerfield Beach, FL 33441

Health screenings for all ages include: balance, blood pressure, body mass index, carotid artery, cholesterol, glucose, pulse oximetry, skin cancer. Other organizations on-site: Walgreens, to give out flu shots; Broward Health Man Van, offering 10 different health screenings within 30 minutes. BSO Operation Medicine Cabinet, prescription drug “take back” program. For flu shot, man van registration or other information, call 954-480-4449.

In the Spirit of Obon

Saturday, Oct. 18. 3 to 8 p.m.

Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens 4000 Morikami Park Rd. Delray Beach, FL 33446

Taiko drumming, Japanese folk-dancing, street fair, children’s activities and games, food vendors, Kirin Beer Garden and Sake Station. Place paper candlelit lanterns with messages in lake to honor loved ones. Museum members — discounted tickets and members-only hour from 2 to 3 p.m. with exclusive sake selections, a kick-off taiko drum performance and early bird lantern sales. Tickets NOT on sale at gate. Please visit www.morikami.org/lanternfest. The festival is free for children 3 and under.

ZUMBA Fitness Class

Tuesday, Oct. 21& Thursday, Oct. 23 9 a.m. to 9:50 a.m.

Westside Park 445 SW 2 St. Deerfield Beach, FL 33441

This class is low impact for beginners and takes place on Tuesdays and Thursdays weekly. Registration is $7 per class for walk-ins or you may purchase a package of 10 classes for $60. Bring a friend and get a free class! For more information, call 954-480-4481.

N. Broward Democratic Club meets

Wednesday, Oct. 22, 7 to 9 p.m.

Charlie Crist Campaign Office 1301 E. Atlantic Blvd. Pompano Beach, FL 33060

The Club has been invited to visit Charlie Crist’s campaign office. Speaker: Broward Democratic Party Chair Mitch Ceasar. Pizza and refreshments served. Bring friends and neighbors. 954-783-8232.

Save the date: Daytime Radness

Friday, Oct. 24, 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.

1985 NE 2 St. Deerfield Beach, FL 33441

Huge event brings in kids from all over to enjoy in the outdoor skate park. Biggest sale all year. Giveaways. Benefits Calvary Chapel Benevolence Care & The Phil Pechonis Family. For more info., call 954-427-4929 or visit www.daytimeradness.com.

By Rabbi Craig H. Ezring

I don’t know about you, but I love to people watch. In between the holidays, I had to take a trip to Whole Foods. Whole foods is all about things that are healthy for you and I love shopping there, but, I know people who will not keep kosher because they say it’s too expensive, and yet, I see them shopping at Whole Foods regularly, and in case you don’t know it, the foods there are not exactly cheap.

While there, three different people, not employees, just fellow shoppers, approached me to tell me why I shouldn’t buy this or that product that I had in my cart. One of the three was massively obese, another was so thin that I expect she was anorexic and the third ran through a litany of medical conditions that they suffer from. Yet, there they all were, telling me what I should and should not be eating in order to stay healthy.

I’ve been dealing with a bad back, but, even bent over, I looked more robust than all three of them combined.

It is so easy for us to look at someone else and decide what’s good for them. We are so sure of ourselves when deciding what’s right for someone else.

We are in the midst of the Festival of Sukkot where we build a Sukkah. Our sages teach us that Chupah rhymes with Sukkah. A Chupah is a wedding canopy. On Friday evenings, we chant prayer that tells us to greet the Sabbath bride. With this being Sukkot, I want to teach you something about this particular prayer.

You see, I run into a lot of people contemplating marriage. As I meet with them, especially during individual counsel, one partner may go over a series of reasons why they are concerned that the person they are thinking of getting married to may not be good enough for them. They are concerned that they might just be settling.

I worry about such fears. But imagine this — imagine if, instead of focusing on whether the person you’re with is good enough for you, what if you spend some time reversing the question. Maybe what you should be concerned about is … are you good enough for them?

After all, if you really love them, you don’t want them to just settle? You wouldn’t want that for yourself; so why on earth would you want that for them? There is an old saying among our people; when love is strong, a couple can sleep on the edge of the sword, but when love is soured even a bit of 60 miles does not give enough room.

I am a big fan of small Sukkot. If the family can eat together in peace, in a small flimsy hut in the backyard, if the family can invite guests to join them and break bread together in peace in that very same hut, there must be an awful lot of love there.

Each one there has to take the time to make sure that they are not infringing on another person’s space. Each person there must be careful with the words they speak. Each person there must think of what they can do to add to everyone else’s joy.

And that is my wish for each and every one of you dear readers; in the midst of Sukkot, may we all be blessed to live together in peace with ourselves, with our family and with each other; and, with that, we will indeed be filled with much joy in the year ahead.

Shalom my friends,

Rabbi Craig H. Ezring

Rabbi Ezring is the Spiritual Leader of Temple Beth Israel of Deerfield Beach, which is inviting Community Leaders and Residents to join on Oct. 22 at 1 p.m. to help them “Think Out of The Box” as they plan for the next 5 years of programs and projects that will enable them to continue to be part of the very heart and soul of our beloved Deerfield Beach. All Are Welcome! They need your creativity, wisdom and originality. They need the gift of your presence.

By Jacob Shendell

Deerfield Beach comes out on top defeating Taravella High School, winning their first District 11-8A game to the score of 14-7 last Thursday night.

Both teams needed a district win — Deerfield (3-3) coming off of a 24-21 loss to Coral Springs High School and Taravella (1-4) with a 45-7 win over Coral Glades High School the week before.

Deerfield came out guns blazing. Quarterback Jefftey Joseph, combined with offensive weapons Antonio Cartagena and Giavante Evans, marched down the field to the Taravella 20-yard line before running into trouble. Deerfield Beach fumbled the ball with the Trojans recovering it on the 3rd down, having no gain, stopped after the fumble.

Deerfield stopped the Trojans on their drive, forcing them to punt the ball on 4th down, starting their drive at their own 36 yard-line. Kobe Farrish led the drive, carrying the ball on five of the six plays. He ended the drive with a 1-yard gain; he punched into the end zone to give the Bucks the lead 7-0 with 2:15 left in the 1st quarter.

Taravella responded right back with a touchdown in the second quarter with an 80-yard drive by Tyler Hunter tying the game up 7-7. The tie was short lived as the Bucks’ WR Antonio Cartagena caught a huge pass from Joseph running it down the field for an 80-yard touchdown play to put the Bucks’ up 14-7 to close out the third quarter.

In the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Trojans were making a huge effort toward the Deerfield Beach end zone only to be stopped by a lightning delay on the Deerfield Beach 21-yard line. Play resumed 40 minutes after the delay. Deerfield stopped the Trojans on 3rd down at the end of the drive.

The score remained the same throughout the rest of the game. Deerfield won 14-7.

Tomorrow night, Deerfield is in Sunrise playing Piper High School (2-3). The last time these two teams met was on the Deerfield Beach Homecoming night, where Piper lost (53-8).

By Dave Montalbano

http://cinemadave.livejournal.

“Literary Cinema” began 10 years ago in the Broward County Main Library with a screening of Masque of the Red Death starring Jane Asher and Vincent Price.

From the written word to the moving image, “Literary Cinema” lasted for five years and presented 49 movies with an emphasis on stories from Edgar Allen Poe, Harper Lee, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Glendon Swarthout.

In the past five years, best-selling titles like Twilight, The Hunger Games and Percy Jackson have met audience expectations with mixed results. Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl has been on the best-seller’s list less than two years and has already become a box office success. Gone Girl opens with an ambiguous Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) roaming around small town, Missouri. It is his 5th wedding anniversary, but Nick seems more interested in playing board games with his twin sister, Margo (Carrie Coon). When a nosy neighbor interrupts Nick to tell him that his cat is outside the house, Nick returns home to find that his wife, Amy (Rosamund Pike) is gone.

If you have read the book jacket or have seen the television commercials, you know that Amy’s disappearance causes a media sensation. Yet, there is more to the story than just a routine thriller and there is a reason why reliable character actors such as Missi Pyle, Sela Ward and Tyler Perry have major supporting roles in this film.

Best known for his noir work in films like Se7en, The Game, Zodiac and The Social Network, David Fincher is the perfect director for this flick. His camera work is not showy or flashy, but he draws the audience into this uneven world of Nick and Amy. Pay attention to many visual cues that involve closing doors and the symbolic critique of privacy.

At 2 ½ hours, Gone Girl drags a bit before reaching its conclusion. While I was told that the movie is true to the book, I felt that if I read the book , I would not really need to pay and go see the movie.

Of note, Annabelle almost matched Gone Girl for last weekend’s box office crown. A spin off from last year’s sleeper hit, The Conjuring, Annabelle was produced for less than $10 million and has already turned a profit. It will be fascinating to see how this new horror movie franchise progresses with their Chrisitian/Horror themes.

DEERFIELD BEACH

Sept. 22 A man reported his gun stolen from his car on 7 Ave.

Sept. 22 A woman was seen on a surveillance camera stealing two watches and a headset.

Sept. 24 Someone broke into a home at 4231 NW 9 Ave. and stole jewelry, money and a computer.

Sept. 24 A man reported that an unknown person punched him in the face at 641 NW 37 St.

DEERFIELD – District 4

August 27 Theft was reported in Deer Isle at 832 NE 41 Ct. Suspect(s) took four vehicle batteries from two tow trucks that were parked in an open lot.

August 27 Theft took place in Deerfield Town Square, 3833 W. Hillsboro Blvd. Unknown persons stole the back flow valve worth $250 from the rear of the business.

August 27 Conveyance burglary occurred at Enterprise Commerce Center, 4550 NW 18 Ave. Victim stated that unknown suspect(s) burglarized his vehicle overnight.

LIGHTHOUSE POINT

Sept. 9 Victim said she went shopping at a store at 3700 N. Federal Hwy. and when she arrived home, she realized she had left her purse in the shopping cart. She went back to the store and found that no one had turned the purse in. There was $200 cash in it, along with a key ring that holds keys to homes that she cleans and an address book. Loss was $355.

Sept. 10 A victim who lives at 2833 NE 35 St. purchased furniture off Craigslist.com. A subject contacted her and said she needed to deposit $500 in a paypal account and needed another $300 for moving expenses. She was sent an email and was told she needed to purchase moneygrams from Walmart and to call and give the subject the information. She became suspicious of the transactions and contacted the police.

Sept. 15 An A/C unit was damaged when someone cut the wires to the unit in the rear of the residence at 2100 NE 39 St. Damage was estimated at $5,000.