By Gary Curreri

Blaise Leone is looking forward to the city’s first ever Extreme Aquathon on Saturday, April 20.

Leone, a Parks and Recreation Manager II for the city of Deerfield Beach, has slated a run/swim/run event for boys and girls ages 7-12 at the Deerfield Beach Middle School Athletic Complex at 501 SE 6 Ave.

“We wanted to do something new and different,” said Leone. “We wanted to make it fun for the kids. I see a lot of those kinds of extreme races for adults, the mud races and those types of things, so I wanted to do something different than just a running race. To increase the fun factor, we added obstacles to the first run portion of this race.”

“They will go through a series of tires and a series of foam obstacles before maneuvering through a low crawl like a cargo net,” Leone said. “They will go about 100 yards and go through a transition area, which is a 50-yard swim in the pool and, when they come back out, there will be about a ½-mile run through one of our baseball fields and then a lap around the track.”

The 7-9 age group will start at 8 a.m., while the 10- 12 age group will start at 9 a.m. The course will be the same for both age groups.

Leone said he would consider adding a cycling component once they get the race management down and doing a more extreme event for kids and also putting together an event for adults.

There will be Olympic-style medals for The top 3 places for both male and female participants in each age group. All participants also get a T-shirt, backpack and lunch provided by Muscle Maker Grill.

“They don’t have to be elite athletes,” Leone said. “It is a relatively short course that anyone can come and have fun.”

The registration fee is $23 and the registration is limited to the first 100 participants. Registration can be done in advance at the Middle School Athletic Complex office or online at www.deerfieldbeach.com. They will also accept registration on the day of the event.

For more information, contact the athletic office at 954- 480-4426.

Randall named coach of the year

Blanche Ely’s Melvin Randall was recently named the state’s overall boys basketball Dairy Farmers Coach of the Year.

Randall guided the Tigers to a 27-2 record and their second consecutive state championship. It was also Blanche Ely’s third state title during his tenure at the school as it also won the 6A title in 2007. Blanche Ely finished the season ranked No. 8 in the final MaxPreps XCellent 25.

Randall finished ahead of runner-up Neal Goldman of Tampa Jesuit, the Class 5A Coach of the Year who led his Tigers to a 31-1 record and the program’s first state title since 1984.

The Tigers concluded its campaign this season with a heartbreaking 66-65 overtime loss to Dallas Texas’ Prime Prep in the quarterfinals of the National High School Invitational, a postseason tournament that featured some of the best high school basketball teams in the nation.

Ely, which was making its second appearance in as many years at the tournament, was led by Kahlil Thomas’ team high 20 points and nine rebounds, Lance Tejada (12 points) and Therrell Gossier (11 points, 10 rebounds). Prime Prep’s Jordan Mickey had a game-high 28 points for the Spartans (37-1).

By Dave Montalbano

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

While he has not directed a movie in five years, Guillermo Del Toro has been a major cultural influence on the international motion picture industry. His Pan’s Labyrinth has changed the way adults look at fairy tales. The successful ABC Broadcast Television show “Once Upon A Time” would be an unthinkable Disney product five years ago, given popular culture challenges of Cinderella and Snow White.

Blancanieves is director/ writer Pablo Berger’s answer to the folklore of Snow White. A black and white silent movie set in early 20th Century Spain, it has all the influences of Salvador Dali and Luis Bunuel with a touch of Tod Browning and Lon Chaney Sr. Stark noir composition aided by musical score featuring a flamenco guitar, maracas and a full orchestra, this film is a visual feast for art students, but not necessarily children.

The film opens with the majesty of a bullfight. When Spain’s greatest bullfighter, Antonio Villalta (Daniel Giménez Cacho) is mangled in front of his pregnant wife, a girl named Carmencita is born. The mother dies in childbirth and the evil Nurse Encarna (Maribel Verdu) takes advantage of the situation.

Encarna becomes Antonio Villalta’s caretaker and mistreats little Carmencita. After forbidding the daughter from seeing her father, Encarna is distracted by kinky pleasure. Carmencita sneaks into her father’s bedroom and finds ways to entertain her daddy. These sequences are broad and over-the-top.

As The Artist was a tribute to the comedy of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton,

Blancanieves is closer to freak shows of Lon Chaney and Tod Browning. Young Carmencita faces sadism and witnesses the death of her father and her pet. As Carmencita becomes a young bullfighter herself, the young lady befriends seven little people who work for a traveling carnival, as Encarna gloats upon her over-the-top villainy.

Though a silent movie, Blancanieves is a very contemporary movie with satire. The mirror, mirror on the wall (that inspires Encarna’s jealousy) is transformed into the society page of a fashion magazine.

The dark melodrama of Blancanieves will not appeal to everybody. Yet, for a unique motion picture experience about Spanish Culture, this film is fascinating.

If you look at the movies that are playing in the theatre, you will find one called “Hava Nagila.” I haven’t seen it yet, but I have heard that it lifts your spirits and that is not too surprising as Hava Nagila basically means “let us celebrate” or “let us rejoice.”

And, if we are wise enough to count our blessings, then we have much to celebrate. In fact, we just celebrated Yom Ha’atzmaut, Israel Independence Day, and, in case you didn’t know it, this year, we marked Israel’s 65th year as a modern nation.

There have been several movies made over the years that have an extremely moving scene where, after all the struggles of the Jewish People, after all the yearnings to return to our historic homeland, David Ben Gurion announced the formation of the modern state.

It was on Nov. 29 in the year 1947 that the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted a resolution for establishment of Israel as an independent Jewish state. The U.N. urged the inhabitants to take the needed steps on their part to put this plan into effect.

And that is exactly what the Jewish people did. Sadly, even in Israel’s Declaration of Independence, the new country had to include the words, “In the midst of wanton aggression, we yet call upon the Arab inhabitants of the state of Israel to return to the ways of peace, and play their part in the development of the state, with full and equal citizenship and due representation in its bodies and institutions–provisional or permanent.”

The Declaration went on to say, “We offer peace and unity to all the neighboring states and their peoples, and invite them to cooperate with the independent Jewish nation for the common good of all.”

This was to be the fulfillment of a dream that Jews had been dreaming for generations. After all, as the Declaration states, “the land of Israel was the birthplace of the Jewish people.” It was here that our “spiritual, religious and national identity was formed.”

Even after being exiled from the land, our people “remained faithful to it in all the countries of dispersion, never ceasing to pray and hope for a return and a restoration of our national freedom.”

I know many of our Christian brothers and sisters have been very supportive of Israel and the Jewish people, so I thought you might like to see the last paragraph of the Declaration, which states, “With trust in Almighty G-d, we set our hand to this Declaration, at this Session of the Provisional State Council, in the city of Tel Aviv, on this Sabbath eve, the fifth of Iyar, 5708, the fourteenth day of May, 1948.”

That’s right, “With trust in the Almighty G-d!”

I thought about that a lot recently, especially as I focused on the word “Independence.” I broke that single word into two words and got “IN DEPENDENCE.”

The state of Israel lives … The United States lives … and each of us as individuals lives … IN DEPENDENCE. We live IN DEPENDENCE of G-d and we live IN DEPENDENCE on each other. If there is to be peace between all peoples and all countries of the world, we would do well to remember that. No one country, no one people and no one person is so great, so powerful, that they can do it on their own. We need each other and we need G-d Almighty.

“Mi Chamocha … Who is like unto You, O Lord among the Mighty?”

Shalom my friends,

Rabbi Craig H. Ezring

Rabbi Ezring is a member of the National Association of Jewish Chaplains and of the Association of Professional Chaplains, He works professionally in this capacity with a number of healthcare facilities in the area, and with hospice. He is the Spiritual Leader of Temple Beth Israel of Deerfield Beach.

By Dave Montalbano

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

The 18th Annual (PBIFF) wraps up this evening with a screening of Chez Upshaw, a comedy about a bed & breakfast that becomes the home for assisted suicides.

Director Bruce Mason and character actress Ileana Douglas are expected to attend with a wrap party at the Frank CineBowl and Grille in Delray.

Unlike the previous nine festivals, which provided postcard-perfect weather, PBIFF 18 was fraught with traffic jams and tornado warnings.

Yet one must acknowledge the tenacity of Executive Director Randi Emerman and her loyal sidekick Laurie Wein. When the opening night rooftop party was cancelled due to tornado warnings, the party moved indoors. Ticket buyers were entertained by the movie Decoding Annie Parker and music by the Sheffield Brothers Band.

There is no doubt the PBIFF team found inspiration from the Comedy Warriors. This 90-minute documentary lived up to the hype. Director John Wager confidently manages the emotional minefield between tragedy and comedy.

This film also provides a fine tutorial on how to construct a joke for comedy at the Improv. Expect to hear more about this documentary.

Still Mine held a screening during PBIFF. Starring James Cromwell and Genevieve Bujold, this drama about self-determination is scheduled for wide release in May.

In other movie news, On the Road opened last weekend. Based on Jack Kerouac’s cult novel, this film explores the end of the beatnik generation and the beginning of the hippie era. While much of the hype has centered around Kristen Stewart’s nudity, this is an ensemble piece featuring quirky performances from Steve Buscemi, Garrett Hedlund, Kirsten Dunst, Viggo Mortensen and Amy Adams. On the Road will not please every ticket buyer, but neither did Kerouac’s novel of the same name. When PBIFF ends, the summer blockbuster season begins to heat up. The Ft. Lauderdale Museum of Discovery IMAX Theater is presenting a reminder about how much fun a Summer blockbuster can be with a limited engagement of Jurassic Park 3-D. The last screening will be next Thursday. Visit the website – www.mods.org/IMAX/ index.html

Do you ever get tired, weary, or just worn out? I think we all go through times in life where we are just beat up and beat down. I guess then the question would be, what in the world do we do in order to get through those tough times without having a nervous breakdown?

If you ask anyone from our church, they should all know that I say often, “NEVER GIVE UP – NEVER GIVE IN – NEVER QUIT.” This is one of those things in life that we have to remind ourselves of every day and even sometimes more than one time in the same day.

GALATIANS 6:9, NLT

9 So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.

I believe we need to simply trust God even more with our lives and that includes the things that wear us down. We need to talk to Him about everything. We also need to learn how to rest and have fun.

Sometimes, life is tough and hard, so if we are going to work hard, then we need to play hard. We need to find things that help us to have fun and relax. Enjoying a hobby or sports activity is not a sin; it will actually help you deal with issues when you are fully relaxed and rested. Lastly, we need to let things go that we have no control over. I shared a story with you a couple years back, and it is very fitting with this story, so I wanted to share it again.

The Donkey

One day, a farmer’s donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours, as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the animal was old and the well needed to be covered up anyway; it just wasn’t worth it to retrieve the donkey. So, he invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly.

Then, to everyone’s amazement, he quieted down. A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well and was astonished at what he saw. With every shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up. As the farmer’s neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and trotted off!

Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a stepping-stone. We can get out of the deepest well, just by not stopping and by never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up! Always remember, you WIN! When you are resting and trusting God, then He is working.

By Dave Montalbano

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

It has been 10 years since the Boca Raton Resort & Club hosted the 8th Annual (PBIFF).

It was a historical night for the motion picture industry, which featured silent screen legend Fay Wray, recent Oscar winner Adrien Brody, Supermodel Carol Alt, venerable actor/producer Robert Evans, Director Brett Ratner and the King of Pop Michael Jackson-all in the same room. Each year, PBIFF adds to this legacy.

This Thursday, PBIFF 18 begins its future history. Decoding Annie Parker is the opening film this festival. Based on the true story of breast cancer survivor Annie Parker, this film stars Helen Hunt, Marley Shelton and Samantha Morton in the title role. The “real” Annie Parker is scheduled to attend opening night festivities.

Comedy Warriors: Healing through Humor is a documentary that makes its debut tomorrow at 2 p.m. at Frank Theaters CineBowl and Grille at Delray Marketplace, 9025 W. Atlantic Ave., Delray Beach (at the corner of Lyons Road and W. Atlantic Ave.

Comedy Warriors features five severely injured military veterans who undergo therapy of the soul and mind. Under the tutelage of comedians Lewis Black, Zach Galifianakis, B.J. Novak and Bob Saget, the comedy warriors perform in Los Angeles comedy clubs. Can these handicapped individuals succeed? Given that these are veterans with a sense of humor, nothing is impossible.

The most hyped documentary of PBIFF 18 has been Meditation, Creativity and Peace. Director David Lynch conducts a 16-country tour to college students to talk about his favorite subjects-films, meditation and world peace. It is produced by Palm Beach local Joanna Plafsky, who also has another film in the festival, My Reincarnation.

The best thing about a local festival is the international opportunity it provides. Lost for Words is an indie that features Will Yun Lee from Hawaii Five-0/The Wolverine fame.

The Shift presents a generational divide between two healthcare workers. Danny Glover has a role in this film.

These are just a few of the gems! For more information, visit www.pbifilmfest.org.

Happy festival!

By Gary Curreri

Every Sunday afternoon, Deerfield Beach’s Andy Pollack and other coaches and fathers involved with the Parkland RedHawks youth lacrosse program get together and run around like they were young again.

Pollack, 46, who owns and manages a real estate firm,started playing the sport in junior high in Long Island. He said the men enjoy playing in the pickup games.

“We just like getting together and playing and having a good time,” said Pollack, who also played for the Buzzards men’s lacrosse team is based out of Parkland. Earlier this year, the Buzzards joined 35 other teams who played in the 12th annual Men’s Florida Lacrosse Classic at Tequesta Trace Park in Weston, which helped raise money for youth lacrosse players around the state.

“We like playing in it,” Pollack said. “It’s not the big picture. We could care less if we win or lose the tournament. We are competitive and like to win, but we want to have a good time and no one gets hurt.”

All of the money raised from the tournament goes to the Florida Youth Lacrosse Foundation. The tournament serves as a major fundraising initiative for supporting youth lacrosse programs throughout Florida. It is the largest non-profit post collegiate lacrosse tournament in the country.

Pollack was one of the founders of the RedHawks, which has grown to more than 400 players.

“Anytime a kid has a stick in his hand rather than a joystick, it’s a good thing,” Pollack said. “You get them off that computer.”

Pollack, like most of his teammates, enjoyed the camaraderie playing against teams from around the country in the tournament instead of locking sticks with each other.

“For me it is a mini vacation,” Pollack said. “I own my own business, so when I get on the field, you put everything on the sidelines, all of the stress in life, and you are just thinking about picking up the ball and making that pass. You are not distracted by everyday life, so, for me, that’s what attracts me to the sport.”

By Emily Rosen

ERosen424@aol.com

www.emilyrosen424.com

April seems to be the most competitive month of the year —racing as it does around the seasons only to reappear with increased frequency, thus presenting me with yet another birthday. Again? So soon?

With that in mind, I’ve had another year of learning what many people of fewer birthdays are yet to figure out, which makes me Lucky Emily. I am happy to share this good stuff with you people of fewer birthdays, although, trust me, it sticks better when you figure it out for yourself. But here are some basics that may save you some time.

PEOPLE IN OUR LIVES (relatives, friends, colleagues, customers. authority figures) There are no perfect people, although rumor has it that Jesus was such, and I am willing to bow to that one exception. Regarding the people most important in our lives it’s kind of fun to 1) calculate their areas of “good” and “bad” and then to 2) determine the balance and then to 3) decide if the balance is favorable to maintaining the relationship (and if it is not, figure out how to chuck it), and then 4) train ourselves to be accepting of the “bad” while still exuding good cheer and inner peace—“good cheer” and “inner peace” being the operative words here. And BTW—if you’re thinking you can “change” the bad part, you need lots more b i r t h d a y s .

PEOPLE ON OUTER PERIMETER OF OUR LIVES: Was there ever a time in all of the history of recorded mankind when some people somewhere were NOT trying to kill each other? Never, never, never. Somewhere in human DNA there is a gene for the kind of competitive megalomania that results in a need for control and ultimate power, often leading to violence. Short of identifying that gene routinely at birth and subsequently enucleated it in much the same way we inoculate babies against diseases, it’s been a raging fact of life forever that has yet to be subdued. So, after many years, it is possible to accept that we are saddled forever with an imperfect world. And we note with resignation the ying and yang, of rain and shine, of war and compassion, of good and evil, of plenty and famine, of wealth and poverty. And we pick a tiny segment of our own tiny world to work toward making some part of it better. It took many birthdays to recognize and accept that I cannot save the world, that I cannot fix everything.

What I have learned most is gratitude and good cheer, to keep my pains and aches to myself and to ignore them in deference to all the distractions I can muster…distractions that include in equal weight… concentration on the needs of others and concentration on my own needs.

So Happy April to me and, before I know it, I’ll have another litany of stuff I’ve learned for 2014.

I was reading a story during Pesach about a Seder plate and a man who had to go through the horrors of Holocaust. This man knew that he was about to be taken to the camps. He knew that Hitler wanted to destroy any remnants of Judaism. So he took that Seder plate and buried it.

If he somehow survived, his plan was to come back and get that holy item. And, somehow, this man miraculously survived the horrors of the camps. He went and dug up that Seder plate and used it for many years to come each and every Passover.

But when he died, his children took that Seder plate to a shop to get rid of it, as Pesach and Judaism were of little import to them.

How often I go to meet a family after a death has occurred. I go to counsel and console … and, I go to get information for the eulogy. Of course, tears are not unusual at such times. In fact, the tears often fall like rain as the family tells me how much they loved their father or their mother, or whoever it is that has passed.

And yet, in the midst of telling me how important their loved one was to them, all too often, I am sadly asked another question before the funeral takes place. The surviving family members will hand me their father’s prayer shawl, or his tefillin, or his yarmulke. They will hand me their mother’s candle holders or the covering she used for her head or for the challah. They will hand me Holy Books of Torah, perhaps even a Bible with several generations of the past Hebrew names written inside. And they will ask, “Rabbi, can you get rid of this for me?”

But, my dear friends, these are not items to get rid of. These are precious holy family heirlooms that should be passed down Dor L’Dor, from generation to generation and they should not just be passed down, they should be used, and each time they are used, I hope and pray that you feel your dearly departed loved ones looking down upon you shepping nachus, filled with pride, that you will continue to use these heirlooms that meant so much to them.

May these and other holy family heirlooms hold great meaning in your lives as well. May you be filled with beautiful memories each time you use them, and may you pass them down to your children and your children’s children who, G-d willing, will not only keep them as heirlooms, but will continue to use them and find deep meaning in them.

I’m not telling you to become a hoarder of everything from the past, but I am telling you to choose wisely. Some things you can surely get rid of, but some things are meant to be held, to be used, and to be cherished.

Shalom, my friends,

Rabbi Craig H. Ezring

Rabbi Ezring is a member of the National Association of Jewish Chaplains and of the Association of Professional Chaplains, He works professionally in this capacity with a number of healthcare facilities in the area, and with hospice. He is the Spiritual Leader of Temple Beth Israel of Deerfield Beach.

By Gary Curreri

Lorraine Beaubien has only been playing golf for three years; however, she already has accomplished something people wait a lifetime for.

The 54-year-old Pompano Beach woman earned her first hole-in-one when she used a driver on the 149- yard, Par-3, 17th hole on the first round on the new Greg Norman Signature Course at Pompano Municipal Golf Course.

“I believe in numbers,” Beaubien said. “It happened the first day of the year, the first day The Pines Course opened. It was the first holein- one on the new Pines Course. It was my first hole in- one in my life and my score was 100.”

When the Norman Signature Course held its grand opening ceremony two weeks later, Beaubien had Greg Norman sign her ball. She said she used the driver because that was the distance it would cover given her relative inexperience in the sport.

“For me, it’s a new sport. I think I have an addiction,” Beaubien said. “I can play seven days a week. I play normally four to five times a week, and, the days I don’t play, I read golf books or I watch the golf channel to learn new tips.”

Beaubien enjoys being outside on the links. She likes nature and being out with positive and generous people.

“It is also a technical sport with rules,” said Beaubien, a mother of two. “You need concentration and silence. Who can ask for more? I am playing very well and my husband has been playing 40 years. To do this, I’m sure they are very proud of me and it gave me so much confidence.” “(Getting a hole-in-one) is comparable to something that unfortunately hasn’t happened yet,” Beaubien said. “It is unbelievable, like winning something in a casino.”

Beaubien said she returned the day after her hole in- one and hit a similar shot on the same hole.

“The day after, I returned to play another game on the same course and I hit my ball exactly at the same place,” Beaubien said, “but they moved the flag.”