Today’s thoughts are directed to vocational ministers, lay-leaders and members of local churches across all denominations. One of my long-time pet peeves is those who think of and call any ministry “theirs.” Have you ever heard a preacher or lay-person use the phrase “my church?” The verbiage may seem harmless, but that statement is the first step down a very slippery slope!

Jesus clearly claimed the church as HIS when He said, “I will build MY church” (Matthew 16:18). The church is referred to as “Christ’s body, of which He is the Head” (Ephesians 1:22-23). In the same passage, the Apostle Paul declared Christ to be the bridegroom, Who lovingly and sacrificially chose the church to be HIS “Bride” (Ephesians 5:25-27). Jesus gave Himself up for the church, “to make her holy, cleansing her with the washing of water by the Word.” In addition, we see that one day there will be a wedding feast held in Heaven called the “Marriage Supper of the Lamb” followed by Christ’s eternal union with His bride (Revelation 19:7-9; 21:1-2).

These passages are very clear and vitally important because if we ever mistakenly believe the church is “ours,” that skewed view will result in sinful behavior. During my 35 years of ministry, I have been a witness to pastors, deacons, and lay-people who have been willing to divide or harm a congregation in order to make a point or to get their way. I have seen church members manipulate people and/or circumstances for personal gain. I have seen people attack churches and church leaders through gossip, letter writing, texting and/or phone calling campaigns. I have seen cowards attack ministries using the weapon of a keyboard to post negativity on social media. Such actions clearly reveal those who believe the church belongs to them.

One such illustration is seen in a lady who left a church over five years ago, but still regularly and “religiously” tries to convince members to leave “her” former church and start attending “her” new church. Did you catch that … she wants them to attend “her” church. Such proselytizing only happens when a person has the mindset that the church belongs to them. Attempting to poach for or solicit members from the former church is evidence of a skewed view of church ownership. You might expect such action from a layperson; but, sadly, I have witnessed pastors, staff members, Christian School employees, Deacons and other lay-leaders who have intentionally tried to inflict harm as they left a ministry. No one who understands scripture and believes the church belongs to Christ would ever try to harm, divide, damage or destroy God’s church – ever!

The Apostle Paul states in Ephesians 5:25-27 that Christ “gave up His life for her (the church) ²⁶ to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word.²⁷ He did this to present her to Himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish.” You see, when a person truly understands that Christ died for His Church, we realized how much He really loves her! Realizing that, who would dare throw mud on the wedding dress of Christ’s Bride? Who would speak ill or maliciously against Christ’s Bride? Who would try to cause division within or gossip about Christ’s Bride? Answer – only those who do not know or respect the Bridegroom.

The greatest indicator of your belief about church ownership is not seen while attending a specific church, but rather when you leave that church. Serving while attending is easy, but a person’s true character is seen by the manner in which they leave. Some feel the church owes them something because of their tenure, how much money they have given or how influential they have been. Some take credit for past successes, while hoping for future failure. Some wreak havoc, while others aide in a smooth transition. Some encourage those who remain, while others attempt to proselytize. The bottom-line is that how you treat the Bride (the church) reveals the level of respect you have for the Bridegroom. This is a great reminder that the church belongs to Jesus Christ, so let us behave with integrity and treat her accordingly.

Dr. Gary A. Colboch is Senior Pastor at Grace Church located at 501 NE 48 St. in Pompano Beach. For more information, call 954-421-0190 or pastor@gbcfl.org.

By Gary Curreri

Three of the Pompano Eagles teams have winning records in the American Youth Football League after three weeks.

The 10-Under squad has a perfect, 3-0, record, while both the 9-Under and 12-Under teams are both 2-1. The 7-Under, 8-Under and 11-Under teams are all 1-2 and the 13-Under team is still chasing its first win at 0-3.

Khambrel Simpkins has been with the city for nine years and been with the Pompano Eagles for the past six years. He said they have just over 200 players and 75 cheerleaders.

“We had about a 10 percent increase over last year,” Simpkins said. “We are building on the consistency with the coaches and the staff. We are just staying humble and just staying at it.

“We have a good solid foundation throughout the park with the coaches we put in place,” he added. “We just want to build on that each year.”

The Pompano Eagles have a storied history in the city of Pompano Beach having produced All Pro NFL stars like Corey Simon, Jabari Price of the Minnesota Vikings, Patrick Peterson of the Arizona Cardinals and Lamar Jackson, who got his start at the program.

Jackson, who won the Heisman Trophy, Maxwell Award, and Walter Camp Award and was a unanimous All-American as a sophomore in 2016 while at the University of Louisville. The 22-year-old was the 32^ndoverall draft pick by the Baltimore Ravens in the 2018 draft.

“We have noticed that a lot of kids have been excelling and going on to play in D-1 schools,” Simpkins said. “They are also going to the NFL. We have a hotbed for talent here in Pompano. It is our job to build on the talent that those kids got, so they can get where they want to get.”

The Pompano Eagles produced the Super Bowl Champions Junior Mighty Mite and Senior Mighty Mite Teams in 2017 in the Pop Warner League and hope to send teams to the AYFL Super Bowl in 2019.

In 2018, the Pompano Eagles program entered its first year in the highly competitive 12-team AYFL. Although it was the program’s first year in the league, their teams battled in the trenches all season and sent five of seven teams to the 2018 playoffs.

The 9-Under team coached by Billy Clancy II and the 8-Under team led by Coach Josh Wilson came within overtime periods to taking each of their teams to the Super Bowl. Simpkins believes those two teams are not only Super Bowl contenders, but could reach the national tournament.”

“I think football is humongous to these kids,” Simpkins said. “It is a good extracurricular activity for them. For the kids to come out here and enjoy it…they have fun and they are doing something that they love.”

“This is our second year in the AYFL,” Simpkins added. “We have a family philosophy. As long as they have that attitude and they have fun, they will give it their all. That is the best feeling they can have.” 

Pompano will play at Plantation this weekend, weather permitting.

Pompano Beach Men’s Golf Association results

The Pompano Beach Men’s Golf Association held a one best ball of a threesome, and two best balls on the corners (holes #1, 9, 10 and 18), on the Pines course on Aug. 21.

The team of Jim DeCicco, Kevin Narus and Dennis Sejda shot a 72 and won on a match of cards over the runner-up team of Al Holcomb, Neil Lang and Roy Wilhoite. Finishing in third place and also winning on a match of cards was the team of Jim Blake, Jorge Duarte and Mark Intregila, They shot a 74.

The winner of the closest to the pin contest on hole No. 15 was Tom Breur.

By “Cinema” Dave

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

Starting All Saints Day – Nov. 1, and continuing through the Sunday before Thanksgiving weekend – Nov. 24, the 34th Annual Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival (FLIFF) will make this November one to remember. This year promises to spotlight the best of our local community and bring back some class act honorees from legendary motion pictures, while retaining a watchful eye on potential trends in the film industry.

FLIFF will kick things off at The Ft. Lauderdale Museum of Discovery and Science AutoNation IMAX with the documentary Cuba.  Besides viewing the sun, surf and shores of Cuba on the six-storey screen, this opening night gala will feature Latin music from Tito Puente Jr.  Cinema Dave plans to bend a knee and bust a move that night.

Created by Marc Ferman and Igor Shteyrenberg, “Popcorn Frights” will handle the opening night at Savor Cinema in Ft. Lauderdale with a screening of A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge featuring an appearance from leading man, Mark Patton. For many years considered the runt of the Freddy Krueger series, this nightmare series has developed a cult following for the gay community.  Along with dual directors Roman Chimienti and Tyler Jensen, Patton will screen his documentary Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street. Popcorn Frights will also host Sam Raimi’s film Drag Me to Hell, featuring Justin Long. Justin Long will be in attendance and will screen his bittersweet comedy, Safe Spaces.

No stranger to the monster movie industry, William Grefe will be honored this season for his contributions to the Florida Motion Picture World. During the 1970s, Grefe’s films could be seen on the Deerfield Beach Wometco Ultravision screen with such titles as Mako: The Jaws of Death, The Godmothers (film debut of Danny Aiello) and Impulse, starring James Bond villain Harold “Odd Job” Sakata and the leisure-suited William Shatner.

As a bit of historical irony, John Wayne’s last movie —The Shootist — screened on the year that Rocky won the Best Picture Oscar in 1976. Alongside Rocky Balboa, Indiana Jones has become the motion picture hero this columnist has most identified with. While Harrison Ford and Sylvester Stallone won’t be in attendance, the actresses who portrayed their girlfriends will take part in the FLIFF festivities — Karen Allen and Talia Shire. Both of them will be screening new projects.

For the closing weekend, From the Vine features Marco (Cinema Paradiso) Leonardi and Joe Pantoliano in a comedy set in the Italian wine country. Like William Grefe, Karen Allen and Talia Shire, Joe Pantoliano has been honored in the past and is returning to our annual FLIFF party.

As film fads fade away, FLIFF survives and thrives through the chemistry of respecting tradition with an eye on the infinite future. Yet FLIFF has never lost sight of the humanity of the ticket buyer. In my two decades of covering FLIFF, this festival is at its best when it provides a vacation from the ordinary film. For more info, visit www.fliff.com.

In a small town in India, a person decided to open up a bar, which was right opposite of a Temple. The Temple and its congregation started a campaign to block the bar from opening with petitions and prayed daily.

Work progressed. However, when it was almost complete and was about to open a few days later, a strong lightning bolt struck the bar and it was burnt to the ground. The bar owner sued the Temple on the grounds that the Temple through its prayers was ultimately responsible for the ill fate of his dream project, either through direct or indirect actions or means.

In its reply to the court, the Temple vehemently denied all responsibility or any connection between their prayers and the bar’s burning down. As the case made its way into court, the judge looked over the paperwork at the hearing and commented: “I don’t know how I’m going to decide this case, but it appears from the paperwork, we have a bar owner who believes in the power of prayer and we have an entire Temple that doesn’t.”

The Sidur

Let me share a story:

Simon Wiesenthal (1908 – 2005) was an Austrian Holocaust survivor who spent four and a half years in the German concentration camps such as Janowska, Plaszow, and Mauthausen.

After the war, he became famous for his work as a Nazi hunter. Wiesenthal dedicated most of his life to tracking down and gathering information on fugitive Nazis so that they could be brought to justice.

At a conference of European Rabbis in Bratislava, Slovakia the Rabbis presented the 91 year old Simon Wiesenthal with an award, and Mr.Wiesenthal, visibly moved, told the Rabbis the following encounter that he had with Rabbi Eliezer Silver.

Rabbi Eliezer Silver (1882 – 1968) was among American Jewry’s foremost religious leaders, and he is most noted for spearheading efforts in rescuing as many Jews as possible from Europe. He raised funds, requested exemptions on immigration quotas, offered to ransom concentration camp prisoners for cash and tractors – talks that freed hundreds from Bergen-Belsen and other death camps — and organized rallies in Washington. After the war, he traveled to Europe and worked tirelessly on the ground to assist his brethren.

It was in Mauthausen after liberation that Simon Wiesenthal was visited by Rabbi Silver when he had come to help and comfort the survivors.  Rabbi Silver had organized a special prayer service and he invited Wiesenthal to join the other survivors in praying. Mr. Wiesenthal declined and explained his position.

“When I was in camp, I saw many different types of people do things. There was one religious man of whom I was in awe. This man had managed to smuggle a Siddur (Jewish prayer book) into the camp. I was amazed that he took the risk of his life in order to bring the Siddur in.

“The next day, to my horror, I realized that this was no religious man. He was renting the Siddur in exchange for people giving him their last piece of bread. I was so angry with this Jew, how could he take a Siddur and use it to take a person’s last piece of bread away? So I am not going to pray, if this is how religious Jews behave.”

As Wiesenthal turned to walk away, Rabbi Silver tapped him on the shoulder and gently said in Yiddish, “Oy naar, naar.” Wiesenthal was intrigued why had the Rabbi called him childish. The answer wasn’t long in coming.

Rabbi Silver continued, “Why do you look at the manipulative Jew who rented out his Siddur to take away people’s last meals? Why do you look at that less-than-noble person? Why don’t you focus on the dozens of Jews who gave up their last piece of bread in order to be able to use a Siddur? To be able to talk to G-d? Why don’t you look at those awesome people who in spite of all their suffering still felt they can connect to their Creator?”

Wiesenthal joined the service and shared the story some 60 years later.

It is with immense gratitude to G-d that we are grateful for the miracles we just witnessed here in South Florida.

Pour out your heart like water before the presence of the Lord!

Equally important: There is a lot of pain in the world and especially in the Bahamas right now. But so many of us have so much to be thankful for. We have so many blessings. Don’t forget the giver of these blessings. Express your gratitude to G-d.   

Try it out. Reopen a conversation with G-d, daily, weekly or bi weekly. Learn to say thank you for your blessings, and learn to share your concerns and pains.

Please Join us for High Holidays Services — Rosh Hashanah (Sept. 30 – Oct. 1) and Yom Kippur (Oct. 9).

Rabbi Tzvi Dechter is the director of Chabad of North Broward Beaches, located in the Venetian Isle Shopping Center at 2025 E. Sample Rd. in Lighthouse Point. For all upcoming events, please visit www.JewishLHP.com.

By Emily Rosen

ERosen424@aol.com

www.emilyrosen424.com

“Hello, Emily. This is Billie (as if I didn’t know). Are you sitting down?  I just did something monumental, and you’re the only person I can talk to about it.”

“Yes, I’m sitting down,”  my curiosity piqued and I was hesitant to tell her that I had just been studying all the artifacts in my living room, wondering how and when they would be “disposed of.”

In 1985, Billie, my good friend next door neighbor, and I took our first “adventure” trip together to Nepal. I was 58, with a spouse not at all interested in Nepal, and she, 52, a very recent widow with a daughter in the Peace Corps in Nepal.

Each year thereafter, for about 20 years, we did other (at the time) off the beaten track trips, collecting information, pictures and personal stories from our journals, all of which currently repose in a set of individual albums for each of us. The albums are in my garage in Boca and in her garage in Madison, CT.

She continued, “I just threw my albums away.”

Shock and silence … And then finally, “You what?”

“Yes, yes, yes,” she, always the minimalist, said defiantly. “Who is going to look at them? All of the stuff in there is in my head. These places and pictures are meaningless to anyone except us. It just isn’t fair to my family to make them responsible for getting rid of them.”

“You really did that? All of them?”

Horrified, I visualized the careful hours post- trips — the sharing of pictures and endless reminiscing that lasted until the next trip, the intermingling of memories each time she and I connected, by phone or visits. And, yes, the precious value to me of these possessions.

“Not yet, but almost all. I’m still working on it.”

Her voice hung in the air as if she were expecting my unequivocal approval.

“Hmmm,” I said thoughtfully.

And then … the back and forth acknowledgement of my obsession with hoarding and her insistence that this was an important way to show love for our progeny.  

“Please don’t go sentimental on me,” I thought, and then my eyes wandered back to my living room artifacts and recognition of the massive and unpleasant job entailed in the final disposal of life possessions. Thus, our conversation escalated to conclusion.

“I want you to go directly into your garage as soon as you hang up and take one album and get rid of it. Do one a day — randomly, whichever is on the top, slowly — no rush. You can look at them one last time, if you must,” she said, her voice intonation was firm as it always is.  

Eventually, we ended our conversation and, with my marching orders clear in my head, I strode into my totally disorganized garage and plucked the first album I saw titled: Amazon Adventure 1988.

She was right! How many pictures of jungles and indigenous people, and fish and slimy snakes, would anyone else want to view, and who, indeed, were Karen and Claire, and Tom and … and … but wait … Rebecca! Rebecca Schaeffer, 22 year old TV starlet with her parents … Rebecca, who just months after our return was shot to death in her Los Angeles apartment by a celebrity stalker whose trial and story made hot headlines for months thereafter.

Could I throw away all those pictures of her and newspaper stories and correspondence with her parents? Could I?

Tomorrow, I will tackle the Galapagos Islands, where only one has-been celebrity was among our group as we tripped our way lightly in full nudity following the blue boobies and newly hatched turtles into the clear waters off Ecuador.

Yes, Billie, I promised. I will, I will, I will.

By Gary Curreri

The Deerfield Beach High School football team dug itself an early hole and was unable to get out of it as the Bucks dropped the ESPNU nationally televised game against Miami Carol City at Traz Powell Stadium last Saturday.

“We’re just not playing really good football,” said Deerfield coach Jevon Glenn following his team’s 24-12 loss. “Not coaching really good football, the players aren’t playing really good football.” 

“I don’t know if we’re reading press clippings,” he continued. “We’re not a really good football team. We’re not a state-championship contender, we’re not a district-championship contender at this moment. The thing is: It’s a long season ahead of us. We can be a championship team once we get on the same page.”

The Chiefs defense held Deerfield Beach’s offense in check in jumping out to an 18-0 halftime cushion and 24-0 lead before the Bucks scored twice in the final quarter to draw close.

Deerfield Beach’s top offensive weapon, running back Jaylan Knighton rushed for only 19 yds. in the first half and finished the game with 48 yds. on 14 carries. He ran for 2,099 yds. last season as the Bucks reached the state semifinals. Quarterback Derohn King went 3 for 12 in the first half and ended the contest completing 15 of 32 passes for 259 passing yards.

The Bucks’ Phillip O’Brien recovered a bad snap in the end zone with 4:22 left to get the Bucks on the board and King added a 7-yd. scoring run on the next possession.

The Bucks had their chances with the ball inside the Chiefs’ 20-yd. line five times and only scored once. Two of the drives stalled, one resulted in a missed field goal and one ended with a turnover on a fumble.

“We were shooting ourselves in the foot,” Glenn said. “It was just a lack of execution.”

Knighton believes the team can rebound and contend for a championship.

“Me and the leaders, Bryce (Gowdy) and Deajaun (McDougle), are focusing on getting the team ready,” he said. “We don’t want to settle for making mistakes.

We work every day to minimize the mistakes. We try and motivate the team to not think about it and just go on to the next phase, and they are doing great with it.

“We don’t focus on the past,” he added. “We don’t dwell on it. We are ready and we aren’t too worried about the past. We are ready to crank. You have to be humble and work every day because it is a grind. At then, at the end of the day, if you put your mind to it, you can get it done. One thing about this team is we work hard every day, and we don’t take no days off.”

Deerfield travels to Washington, D.C., to play the nation’s fourth-ranked team in St. John’s this Saturday. St. John’s opened their season with a 48-0 win over Miami Southridge.

Pompano Beach Men’s Golf Association results

Frank Cutrone carded a 78 to take first place in the Low Gross competition for Class A in the Individual Play (Low Gross and Low Net in classes) in the Palm Beach Men’s Golf Association at the Pines Course. Bill Hadersbeck shot 63 to win Low Net honors in Class A, while Dennis Sejda was one shot back with a 64.

In the Class B competition, Tom Breur shot 81 to win the Low Gross honor. Jim Foster shot a 64 to win the Low Net, while Jim Greeley was second with a 66.

Jim DeCicco carded an 89 to take first place in the Low Gross competition for Class C. Lee Hammer shot 61 to take first place in Low Net. Robert Raser was second in the Low Net with a 64.

Bill O’Brien won the closest to the pin competition on hole No. 7.

By “Cinema” Dave

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

The 2019 box office blockbuster season closes this Labor Day weekend. Unless you were a Disney or Universal Studio with a multi-million dollar box office franchise, this summer appears to close with a wimper. As I officially complete my second decade of writing “Flicks,” the world of movie theater geography has changed drastically; yet, much of this was predicted in my undergraduate classroom at Florida State University College of Communication 37 years ago.

In 1982, box office champions were either created by George Lucas, Steven Spielberg or both, as the following films testify: Star Wars, Episode 5:  The Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Smaller movie star performance movies were being supplanted by special effects driven story lines.  As television expanded from broadcast television to multiple cable channels, there was no need to pay to see a movie star on the big screen any more. However, a big budgeted special effects extravaganza still had to be seen on the big screen.

Given the record breaking box office of Avengers: Endgame, that formula holds true. It also helps that Avengers: Endgame was a story-driven motion picture with character growth and development.   

When Captain America finally gets the upper hand on the bully Thanos, the collected audience across the world cheered this hopeful moment. As divided as this world is, the symbolism of Captain America being worthy to weld Thor’s Hammer was a moment of world unification — for good guys still like to defeat the evil of bullies. This was an historical scene that will be as remembered like John Wayne’s entrance in Stagecoach 80 years ago.

Whether the wide open spaces of a western or a computer-generated special effects extravaganza of the newest space opera, the big screen will always endure. Although, headline news for the motion picture industry is now transmitted onto a cell phone or the Internet.

From the major studios, Disney announced a new trailer for the last Star Wars movie featuring the Skywalker family. Along with a new television series about intergalactic bounty hunters entitled The Mandalorian, there is a  new series featuring Ewan McGregor’s portrayal of Obi-Wan Ben Kenobi, a role first essayed by Sir Alec Guinness in the original Star Wars, circa 1977. 

Locally, details for the 34th Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival will be put into action. Next week this column will feature important dates for screenings, volunteer opportunities and parties.  Until then, have a safe and happy Labor Day!

We Anglicans are a liturgical church and, I mean by that, we have a liturgy – a schedule of Bible readings that provide us with a spiritual focus each week. Recently, our focus was the Parable of the Prodigal Son. Charles Dickens was fond of this parable and lovingly retold it in his “biography” of Pip in Great Expectations. I must admit to not being nearly as erudite as Charles Dickens – I’m a child of the ‘70s and the parable reminds me of Tony Orlando and Dawn’s hit song “Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree.”

The parable is found in the 15^th chapter of Luke’s Gospel and is one of three parables of the lost that Jesus told – a lost sheep … a lost coin … and a lost son. Our understanding of any good story is enriched by knowledge of the story’s setting. I have often found that imagining our Lord in a contemporary setting helps me to understand his message. I once lived in Savannah, Georgia and often found myself with friends at a great little place on River Street called The Other End.It was owned by an Englishman and he served good food, good drinks and hung the requisite dart board on the wall at the end of the bar. Let’s suppose Jesus was at The Other Endone evening and was enjoying the company of some local people. About that time some very pious people walked by and, seeing Jesus inside, walked right in and confronted him: “What are you doing in a place like this, and spending time with this kind of people?”

Our Lord knew what was in their hearts and said to them, “Sit down here with me and let me tell you a story.” He proceeded to tell them three stories of the lost and ended each telling with a statement about the outward joy of recovering what was lost, as opposed to the inward joy over what was already found. He concluded his conversation with the pious people with a question, “Now do you understand what I have told you?” They didn’t.

It doesn’t help our understanding of our Lord’s message if we look askance at the reaction of those pious people who first heard his parables. Why? Because our understanding may be clouded by the same notions that prevented them from “getting” our Lord’s message. They, and sometimes we, like the Prodigal Son, fail to understand the power of our Lord’s forgiveness; that there is nothing we can do that is beyond his power to forgive, when we turn to Him and accept Him as our Lord. They, and sometimes we, like the brother of the Prodigal Son, fail to understand that we live in our Lord’s benevolent hands and that He is ever present in our lives.

There is a classic illustration that has been used for years when preachers speak about The Parable of the Prodigal Son. In this illustration, a young man took his inheritance and left his family home for the bright lights of the city. He was soon out of money and friends and options. He hit bottom and wrote to his parents: “Dear Mom and Dad, I have sinned deeply against you and against God. I am not worthy to be called your son. There is no reason for you to welcome me back but I have hit bottom and I need to come home. The train I will be on will pass our family home before it arrives at the station. If it’s OK for me to come home hang a white towel on the clothesline near the tracks and I will know you want me back.”

Spoiler alert! When the train rounded the bend and passed the family home the whole clothesline was festooned with white towels and the trees, fences and roofs were all covered in white. And so it is with our Lord and each one of us. Sometimes, we wander away from Him and get wrapped up in things of the world and live as if He doesn’t exist. When that happens, and it may, the parables of the lost remind us that when we turn back to a loving relationship with our God, He will tie a white ribbon around a tree and welcome us home.

Rev. M. Tracy Smith, SSA, Rector is from the Saint Peter’s Anglican Church, 1416 SE 2 Terr., Deerfield Beach, FL 33441. For more information, call 954-695-0336. Wednesday: Holy Communion at 10 a.m., Sunday: Holy Communion at 10 a.m.

By Gary Curreri

Michael Hutchens defeated Matt Lazarus, 224-223, to win the men’s open championship in the Broward County United States Bowling Congress Association’s Top Eight Tournament at the Strikers Family SportsCenter in Sunrise recently.

The 36-year-old Pompano Beach man was sitting in third place during qualifying until he rolled a 274 to seize the top seed. 

“I loved it,” Hutchens said. “It was awesome! I love the sport because it is competitive and you can beat anybody,” Hutchens said. “It doesn’t matter what generation you are from, what you like or what your personal interests are. Anything about this game, it doesn’t matter. We are all here for one thing and that is to bowl, and that is what I love.

“You can be a rocker, you can be country or you can be rap,” he continued. “You can be anything you want.”

It was his debut in the Top-8 tournament. He moved to Florida from Indiana in 2013. He bowls at Diamond Strike Lanes in Pompano on Wednesdays, Strikes@Boca on Thursdays and Sawgrass Bowl in Tamarac on Fridays.

The top eight bowlers from around Broward County competed in the one-day event in six divisions –Boys and Girls, Men’s and Women’s Open, and Senior Men and Women. 

“I just wanted to show that I belonged, that’s it,” said Hutchens, who said he has bowled more than a dozen perfect 300-games. “I usually average between 225 and 230, but averaged 240 today. To me, bowling is about fun. It is the enjoyment of the game, meeting new people and everybody fits in because we love one thing and that’s bowling. We all want to win.

We all want to enjoy it, but at the same time we want everybody to be good.”

The competitors in the tournament bowled three games of qualifying and the top four bowlers in each division bowled step ladder finals. The fourth-seeded bowler took on the third seed and that winner bowled the second seed, and the that winner bowled the top-seed for the title.

To qualify for the event, bowlers need to bowl in two leagues in two different houses (bowling alleys) or two leagues in the same bowling center. They have to compete in at least 2/3 of the league to qualify for the Top-8. Juniors needed only one league to qualify for the annual tournament.

By “Cinema” Dave

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

Despite what Representative Rashida Tlaib says, things must be getting better between Palestine and Israel … at least in the movies. The winner of the Venice, Haifa and Seattle Film Festivals, Tel Aviv on Fire opens tomorrow in area theatres. It is a satire about relations between the Palestinians and the Israelis, but with good intentions.

Tel Aviv on Fire is a popular soap opera that is about the “Six-Day War,” circa 1967.  With gritty vacuum tube television technology, we are introduced to the fictional Tala, who is a Palestinian spy with plans for terrorism upon Israel. The actress who portrays Tala has charisma and attracts both Palestinian and Israeli fans.

As the producers decide how to wrap up their soap opera, an executive producer hires his bumbling nephew Salem, who has no experience writing screenplays. He does have an ear for dialogue, and Salem becomes a valuable assistant to the soap opera, which makes Salem a local celebrity at the border crossing between Israel and Palestine.

With great celebrity, comes great responsibility. While crossing the border, Salem runs afoul the Israeli checkpoint officer. Fortunately for Salem, the officer’s family is fans of Tel Aviv on Fire. Unfortunately for Salem, the family wants to influence their own story lines into the soap opera.  

A foreign language film with both English language and English subtitles, Tel Aviv on Fire is a gentle motion picture.  Both sides of the border will find some laughs and the conclusion does satisfy.

This weekend, The Peanut Butter Falcon expands its theatrical distribution in South Florida. The national box office has been slow for this movie, but it is one of the highest rated movies of the year on Rotten Tomatoes.Com in which both critics and public reaction match by a mere one percent difference.

As dire as recent big screen entertainment has been, both The Peanut Butter Falcon and Tel Aviv on Fire are two life-affirming movies with genuine laughs and warmth.