Christmas is in the air here in South Florida. It is true that we do not have snow covered roofs, freezing temperatures, or a toboggan on every child’s head. [FYI: A toboggan is both a hat and a sled!]In South Florida, we know it is Christmas time in other ways. The traffic increases as the snowbirds arrive, parking spaces are difficult to find at the malls, the temperatures have fallen into the 70s, the humidity has decreased, and people are busy wrapping Christmas lights around their palm trees. The chaos will continue to increase as we draw closer to Dec. 25 and people search for those last minute gifts. Every year, in the midst of the chaos, I stop to wonder how many take the time to reflect on a quiet night in Bethlehem… you know… that first Christmas night.
My wife and I just returned from our third trip to Israel. Each time, we have had the privilege of standing in the Shepherd’s Field, which is small and very quiet. Standing in that field at night, you see nothing but the dark, star-filled sky… oh, and the lights of Bethlehem in the distance. I cannot even imagine what it would have been like to see and hear the angels announcing the birth of Jesus! I always laugh when I read Luke 2:10, and think of the angel saying, “Do not be afraid…” Yeah, right! Who would not be afraid when an angel appears in the darkness! The good news the angel pronounced was the birth of our Savior!
On that first Christmas night in Bethlehem, we see the greatest Giver was God… the greatest Gift was His Son… and the greatest example was God’s act of forgiveness. Jesus did not come to pay the penalty for His sins, but rather to pay for ours. God gave His Son so that our sin could be forgiven and so that we could be reconciled to Him. Jesus did not do anything wrong, but He willingly laid down His life to pay our sin debt and purchase a place in heaven for us. That is an amazing act of love and forgiveness, which sets an example for us to follow.
Sadly, churchgoers are often the most unforgiving of people. I have worked in secular environments where people cuss at each other, lose their temper and say some rotten things; but those same people let it roll off their backs and the next day they have reconciled and moved forward. I do not often see that same reconciliation among those who claim to be “Christians.” Let me clarify … I do see the cussing, gossip, backbiting and hateful comments; but, rarely have I seen the ability among Christians to forgive, overlook, move forward, reconcile and restore relationships.
Christmas is a reminder that God forgives our faults and failures. Those who claim to be Christ-followers should have that same heart. “Peace on Earth and goodwill toward men” should start in the church. John 3:16 reminds us of God’s position, “For God so loved the world (those who had turned their backs on Him) that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Eternal life through Jesus Christ is God’s gift to all humanity and it reveals His heart of love … His example of forgiveness!
We, too, have the opportunity to claim or share the gift of forgiveness this Christmas. If you have never confessed your sinful condition before God and personally received His gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ, this Christmas season is a great time to do so. If you are holding a grudge against someone, this is a great time to extend forgiveness and initiate the steps toward reconciliation. Being right with God and right with others could make this the greatest Christmas that you have ever experienced! I close by encouraging all Christ-followers to promote peace on Earth and goodwill toward all men by following God’s example of forgiveness.
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 David Volz

U Can Ride hosted its annual Halloween Horse Show and Fair at Sand and Spurs Equestrian Park in Pompano Beach on Oct. 12.

Those who came could enjoy a wide range of fun and interesting activities. There was a Halloween costume contest on horseback, contests in barrel racing and walk, trot and cantor. Children could also ride a pony. There were arts & crafts, a bounce house, games and other fun activities. Members of the Pompano Beach Firefighters Benevolent barbecued hotdogs, hamburgers and other food that was sold to visitors. The money they raised went to the U Can Ride Therapeutic Riding program.

“This is a fun, family day. Members of the horse community competed in various activities,” said Jennifer Gross, of U Can Ride. “We had plenty of good food, and people from the community had a good time.”

Emma Loesel participated in the horseback riding competition on her horse named Stryker. She competed in barrel racing and walk, trot and cantor. She lives in Deerfield Beach.

“I love horses and I like being a part of this competition,” said Loesel.

Madeline Devendorf, who lives in Pompano Beach, competed on her horse named Corona.

“I like this show. I get to be with my friends. I really love barrel racing,” said Devendorf.

Rick Cupo, of Pompano Beach Firefighters Benevolent, was helping to prepare and serve food.

“The money we raise goes back to U Can Ride. We want to give back to the community,” said Cupo.

For more information on U Can Ride, visit www.ucanride.org.

By Rachel Galvin

When grunge came on the scene in the 1990s, the soul-searching rough-around-the-edges musicians were such a departure from the glossed-up, big-haired entertainers that hit the charts in the Me decade that preceded it. One of the biggest names in the flood of newcomers in the ‘90s was Nirvana and the band’s angst-filled frontman Kurt Cobain.

Sub Pop Records owner Bruce Pavitt got to know the tortured artist and gave his insights into him, the band and the evolution of the music industry in a special event held Sept. 21 at the Pompano Beach Cultural Center. The packed audience of about 200 people watched as he showed many of the photos that were taken during a European tour in 1989, pictures that are in his new book called Experiencing Nirvana.

After Sub Pop Records popped on the scene in the late ‘80s, their name and logo became ubiquitous. But few knew the struggles going on behind the scene as Pavitt and his partner Jonathan Poneman spent their time on the phone promoting their artists and sending out materials, working to keep the phone line from being disconnected. They managed heavy hitters in the indie world like Soundgarden and Mudhoney but it seemed that Nirvana might be their golden ticket. They continue to “represent the spirit of independent creativity” to this day.

Cobain, according to Pavitt, was a humble, quiet, sensitive soul. He was an animal lover. He owned gerbils and rabbits. He also had a sense of humor. His simple dreams included having a single played on the local radio station and “maybe opening up a petting zoo.”

He never had an inkling of the fame he would attain. His ripped up jeans, thrown-on vintage thrift store T-shirts and plaid flannel would become part of the look of an age, and people would be devastated when he was gone, a life lost too soon.

There was a glimpse of what lied beneath the artist during that European tour. On one stage in particular, Pavitt mentioned that Cobain “had a nervous breakdown,” jumping up on the PA system and smashing a guitar (which he was known to do). He was distraught. When Pavitt spent time with him trying to understand, Cobain said that when he looked into the audience, all he saw were the kids who bullied him in high school.

Pavitt talked about how the ‘90s really became very “inclusive.” Instead of people feeling like they were watching an exhibition, they could look at the ‘90s artists and what they were wearing and say, “I have a flannel shirt” (for example), put it on and feel a part of the group. In the ‘80s, everything “felt very excessive,” he said. The clothes, hair and style all were too expensive for the average person.

The feeling of being part of the group that the ‘90s brought was also captured in energetic photos by photographer Charles Peterson, photos used by Sub Pop.

Sub Pop has always been about capitalizing on the independent spirit, the regional market, knowing there is something intrinsic about a sense of tribal identity. Before grunge hit, people couldn’t find Seattle on a map, he said. But, after, a lot of people moved there and the area got international attention as people strove to understand the “Seattle sound.” BBC writer John Peel wrote a great article mentioning Sub Pop in 1989 that helped to get them on the map as well.

Asked where the next regional movement in music is, Pavitt responded, “Los Angeles” and mentioned Billie Eilish, who recently made an appearance on SNL and elsewhere, and graces the current cover of Elle and can be seen elsewhere. She has been around for awhile, but her star certainly seems to have grown brighter lately. Perhaps her rise to fame is because she stands out from the crowd and rebels much in the way Cobain did, although his seemed less purposeful. One noteworthy example is that Cobain refused to be on the cover of Rolling Stone Magazine unless he could wear a T-shirt that said “Corporate magazines still suck.” (Magazine cover in picture above, top left).

Whatever he did, Cobain went from obscurity to one of the biggest stars around in a short period of time. By 1992, he had sold four million copies of his record.

Pavitt added, “Every once in a while, things come together and an artist breaks through. I live for those moments.”

Nirvana would be spirited away by Geffen Records and left Sub Pop behind, but Cobain’s talent and memory made a huge impression on the record label and on Pavitt.

He said, “People would come up to me and tell me where they were when they heard ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit,’” which was on the next album Nirvana did after leaving Sub Pop, telling stories of the impression the music made on people.

Pavitt commented on the evolution of music.

“People don’t buy music. They rent music. It is amazing record stores even exist [mentioning he stopped by Sweat Records in Miami]. Streaming is here to stay,” he said. “[This generation is] not going to read an article. They will read a headline. When I was younger, I read the article, drove to the city, got the record, read the liner notes and thought about it.”

His “manic relationship with music” started at a young age. When he was 9 years old, he worked hard to make money to buy a record player. He never thought he would make money doing this, but said if you are working with people you want to spend time with and doing what you love, then it is not work; it is play.

“There is always going to be art in society, always creative stuff. The trick is getting exposure to creative people,” he said.

There is a movie in the works about his own creative journey and that of Sub Pop, which just celebrated its 30^th anniversary on Aug. 11, 2018. For more information on what Sub Pop is up to now, visit www.subpop.com.

The following quote was found in the 1996 Sept./Oct. issue of the Saturday Evening Post, “In 1992, layperson Jerry Frear, Jr., was brainstorming with church colleagues about how they might be of help to their minister when he glanced at a calendar and noticed that it was almost Groundhog Day. ‘I thought, if they have a day for groundhogs, there ought to be a day for the 375,000 clergy people in America,’ Frear says. So…for the last seven years the second Sunday in October has been set aside to show appreciation for our clergy.”

Focus on the Family is credited with building on, expanding, and popularizing pastor appreciation week, by calling October “Clergy Appreciation Month.” Hallmark saw a market and wanted in on the action and the first “Pastor Appreciation” greeting cards were sold in 2002.

Those who only observe a minister from a distance may feel his job is an easy one. Too often, people misconstrue that a pastor works one day per week, studies only one Book and mooches off generous people who host him occasionally for supper. That may be true for a few “so-called” ministers, but that is far from the truth for those pastors who are serving the Lord with their whole heart.

Pastors who truly love people will invest themselves into the lives of their congregation. They will weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice. They sympathize and empathize with those God has entrusted to them. In doing this, many pastors struggle to separate work from personal life. They cannot just leave the office and forget the events of the day. They take the needs of others with them, agonize over them in prayer and wrestle with them through many sleepless nights.

Pastors and their families live in fish bowls and get observed and scrutinized from every angle. Pastors attempt to lead those who are frequently resistant to change. They listen to those who have strong opinions, and love those who announce how they would have done things differently. Serving others can at times be overwhelming.

The data reveals that 95 percent of those who enter vocational ministry will NOT retire from it. Hundreds of pastors are leaving the ministry every month; many pastors say that the ministry has negatively affected their marriage and family; and many pastors admit they would quit, if they had some other career option. The majority of pastors admit to walking a very lonely road that lacks deep friendships and the suicide rate among pastors is rising rapidly.

Whether you think your pastor needs it or not, let me encourage you to do something special to encourage them during the month of October. A simple note, a word of encouragement, an affirmation of support goes a long way toward inspiring your pastor. Show your appreciation by praying, encouraging, attending, supporting, participating, and protecting him when others speak evil. Throughout the year, give him a gift card to take his wife to dinner. Offer free childcare, wash his car, give him a gas card, bake his favorite cookies/pie, etc. The little things say a lot and are even more appreciated, when they are unexpected.

So, during October, be a blessing to your pastor, as well as, in January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, November and December. Your simple prayer or word of encouragement may be the thing that keeps him from being part of 95 percent that leave the ministry. I close with a special shout out to all of my pastor friends… thank you for your faithfulness and keep your eye on the Prize (Phil. 3:14).

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

In the beginning, Julia Vulpio wasn’t a big fan of tennis.

“At first, I didn’t like it,” said Vulpio, 18, of Pompano Beach. “I wanted to play with dolls and do normal kid’s stuff.”

She got her start when her father saw a poster of Argentinian tennis pro Guillermo Vilas on the floor for his academy and they went.

“It was closed for the year and my dad said since we are here, let’s play,” said Vulpio, who was age 4 at the time. She continued to play recreationally until age 9 when she had a breakthrough.

“I saw Rafa Nadal play at the French Open, and I said, ‘wow, I really want to play now,’” Vulpio recalled. “I love the competition. I like everything. I like the fighting. It is definitely mental, a lot of it.”

She cited her strengths as a backhand crosscourt, her slice serve and a topspin forehand.

Vulpio recently scored a 6-4, 7-5 win over Boca Raton’s Nina Gulbransen in the finals of the Women’s Open Division in the Delray Cup – Prize Money Open, Age Category and NTRP Championships at ProWorld Tennis Academy in Delray Beach. Not bad considering she hadn’t played in a tournament in a couple of months and had just been training.

“I just decided to go back and play a few tournaments,” said Vulpio, a Quinnipiac University commit. She is currently homeschooling to prepare. She has also been training at ProWorld for almost two years. She was a former No. 1 in France for girls 16s and was ranked No. 900 at WTA at age 17.

“It was a good match to start back,” she said. “Winning the tournament gives you confidence for sure, especially since it is my first tournament in a while.”

The tournament also featured Men’s Open singles, Men’s Open doubles, Women’s 3.5 NTRP singles and Men’s 4.0 and 4.5 singles play. There were 81 players in the event and in addition to players from Florida, there were also competitors from CA, TX, NJ , NY, MI, and PR.

“The tournament had about 80 players – 70 in the Open and 11 in the NTRP,” Tournament Director Lew Wolfe said.

Bucks win third straight game

After opening the season with two straight losses on the road, the Deerfield Beach High School football team have regained their winning ways with a third consecutive shutout following a 42-0 win over Oak Ridge (Orlando) at home on Friday night.

Senior quarterback Michael Pratt tossed three touchdown passes, while senior running back Jaylan Knighton topped the century mark rushing and added two touchdowns for the Bucks, who have defeated Blanche Ely (42-0), Zachary (La.) 52-0 and Oakridge in the team’s home opener.

Pratt, a Tulane University commit who transferred to Deerfield Beach from nearby Boca Raton in early August, will face his former team on Friday when the Bucks take on the Bobcats at home.

Pratt connected with Aydin Henningham, Xavier Restrepo and Jaziun Patterson for TD passes and Knighton, a Florida State commit, totaled 101 yards on the ground and scored twice.

One of my all-time favorite TV shows was Country Fried Home Videos, hosted by Bill Engvall. In each episode, people would do things that are unthinkable to a normal person. The most bizarre behavior gets rewarded with the “Here’s Your Sign” award. Past winners include a man who got bit as he stuck his hand into the mouth of an alligator, another man who rolled a large piece of slate down a mountainside and right into his vehicle, and another man hanging a large pincher crab on his nipple – ouch! In my opinion, the winners of these awards are idiots!

According to dictionary.com, an idiot is “an utterly foolish or senseless person.” Well, I’ve come across a few idiots in my day, and so have you. Consider the person who sees a “wet paint” sign and touches it to see if it is really wet. Think about the person who blames a ladder as defective after falling from the top section that states, “Danger: Not a Step.” The worst I ever heard was the man who ignored the warning labels and tried to trim his hedge by picking up his lawnmower; he lost fingers on both hands!

Idiots are not only revealed by their bizarre behavior, but also by their bizarre thought processes. Consider the man who gets angry when the woman he had a one-night stand with asks for child support. Consider the person dying with lung cancer or Emphysema who continues to smoke. What about the 90-year-old man who refuses to believe that his 20-year-old girlfriend is only after his money and not his wrinkly old body. These are only a few examples of foolish or idiotic thinking; but there are many, many more.

Foolish behavior is nothing new. Consider Adam & Eve, who lost everything because they believed a talking snake and ate the fruit. Consider the people who mocked Noah as he built the ark and ultimately drowned. Uzzah touched the Ark of the Covenant after God told him not to and fell dead. King David had many wives and concubines, but just had to have Bathsheba. Judas saw Jesus’ perform miracles, but chose to betray Him. The crowds chose to crucify Jesus, even though Pilate proclaimed Him to be innocent. People have been making utterly foolish or senseless decisions since the beginning.

Foolish behavior and beliefs continue today. People deny Jesus’ existence, even though His life is documented by historians. People now argue that America was never founded as a Christian nation, although the proof is stamped all over Washington D.C. People refuse to believe the Bible. People know what God expects, but they choose to live otherwise. Proverb 14:12 NIV states, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.”

It is easy to prove that people make utterly foolish and senseless decisions every day; but the point is that we do not have to. John 3:16 states, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Realizing this, don’t be foolish; instead choose wisely. It is appointed unto men once to die and after that is the judgment. So, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved. That is the wisest choice you can ever make!

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

Grace Parnas had a stellar effort at the recent United States Lifeguard Association Southern Regional event at Lake Worth.

The 14-year-old Pompano Beach resident won six of the nine events she was in and placed second in another for the Pompano Beach Junior Lifeguards in the Girls A Division. Parnas, who will be a sophomore at Calvary Christian Academy in the fall, took first in the run-swim-run, paddleboard race, beach flags, rescue race, iron guard and the swim relay. She got silver in the run relay.

“I’ve been competing for four years and been doing the camp for six years,” Parnas said. “It’s so fun. Most of the people say it is so hard, but I get to see my friends and then compete with them.”

She gets lost in the adrenaline rush. 

“You honestly don’t remember a lot of the race,” Parnas said. “You have the adrenaline rush and you are going as fast as you can because you just want to win.”

“I never expected to be at nationals or regionals,” said Parnas, who has also fared well at the national event.

She won beach flags two years ago and placed third last year in the event and is the two-time defending paddleboard national champion. 

“It is incredible,” she continued. “I never thought I would win nationals. I don’t feel any (outside) pressure. It is more self-put pressure because I want to win a national championship again.”

Teammate Julia Freshour, 13, also of Pompano, turned in a solid performance as well. She won the Girls B Division surf rescue, paddleboard, run-swim-run, rescue relay, and moved up in both the Girls A swim relay and the U19 swim relay. She was second in the iron guard.

“I really love ocean swimming so it is probably that,” said Freshour, who is a Pompano Middle School eighth-grader and has competed since she was 7. “I like to race. The competitions are really important. I would skip anything that day to come to this.”

She also loves the adrenaline rush when she competes.

“I kind of tune everything out, and I get into this zone where I kind of go into autopilot and just go,” she said. “I don’t think about anything. I don’t feel anything. I can just go all out.

It is very important to win.”

Pompano Beach’s Victoria Scarpinito took second in the U19 Girls beach flags event. She’s competed for the past five years.

“I love the team spirit and team enthusiasm. I like the challenge and how you can push yourself,” said Scarpinito, 17, who will be a senior at Cardinal Gibbons in the fall. She is also a member of the school’s dance team and on the Pro-Am competition dance team.

“It is an amazing feeling once you are out there,” she said. “It is not the most important thing to win, but it is a good feeling when you do.”

Summer Schulte took first in the U19 girls Surf race (distance swim), paddleboard and iron guard, while Oliver Nagy was the top boys finisher for the Pompano program as he won three events in the Boys A Division. He won the surf swim, paddleboard and iron guard.

Rich Tammany, who heads up the host Lake Worth Junior Lifeguard program, said the event attracted about 200 junior lifeguards from as far south as Hollywood all the way north to Flagler Beach.

Among the other cities represented were Ft. Lauderdale, Pompano Beach, Deerfield Beach, Delray Beach and host Lake Worth.

“We were very excited,” Tammany said. “I have been doing Junior Lifeguards for 23 years and this is only the second time we have had it here. The other time we had it here was 2006. The kids are excited. The weather was good…water was good. It was a great day.”

By Rachel Galvin

On Feb. 7, a new restaurant opened on Pompano Beach called And Fish Kitchen + Bar. It can be found within the Ft. Lauderdale Marriott Pompano Beach Resort & Spa (at 1200 N. Ocean Blvd) just steps from their large outdoor pool (where they have another more casual dining restaurant). The interior design of this new locale was created by Bigtime Design Studios of Miami and it gives a nod to the nautical. Guests can try their modern cuisine with an emphasis on seafood or grab one of their specialty crafted cocktails from the open bar. They have a happy hour from 3 to 7 p.m.

For the grand opening party that night, they removed most of the 115 seats to make room for guests, who mingled and enjoyed some free cocktails, as well as passed hors d’ oeuvres. Other guests did a little dancing at the end of the evening, after posing for photos with an ice sculpture, which had seafood like octopus embedded within it. It was a real community event filled with media personalities, business people and food lovers. They also did a ribbon cutting and gave $3000 to the Shipwreck Park Foundation.

And Fish Kitchen + Bar accepts reservations. Call 954-944-9515 or visit www.opentable.com.

By Gary Curreri

To the theme song from the movie, Rocky, former Pompano Beach High School running back Rocky Gillis appeared on stage at the Broward County Greater Convention Center and accepted his induction into the Broward County Hall of the Fame.

Gillis was one of seven sports legends inducted into the Class of 2018 including another Pompano Beach sports legend in Blanche Ely basketball coach Melvin Randall, along with Dave Hyde (Sports Media), James Reilly (Basketball), Twan Russell (Football), Claire Sua-Amundson (Softball) and Seilala Sua-Zumbado (Track and Field).

The Broward County Sports Hall of Fame 2018 Annual Sports Banquet and Induction Dinner took place at the Broward County Convention Center. More than 500 people attended the annual event to recognize athletes, coaches and pioneers of sports who are, or have been, Broward County residents. This year’s seven sports greats were nominated by Broward County residents and chosen by 14 members of the Broward County Sports Hall of Fame Committee, co-chaired by Joe Hess and Pat Lawlor.

“It was quite a great event,” Gillis said. “First of all, the other inductees that I was going in with were pretty good people and that made it exciting. They were people that I really knew and worked with over the years. It just brought up a lot of memories.”

“I actually chose the theme song from Rocky to come up and that brought back a lot of memories from high school as well because it was about that time,” said Gillis, who graduated from Pompano High in 1978. “Basically, it felt great because I felt like Rocky at the top of the steps. It was a good event. My family, friends and colleagues were all there. It was quite enjoyable.”

The Pompano Beach High School graduate is currently the Broward County Athletic Association Director. He is recognized for his dedication to his public education career where he has been a teacher, a coach and an athletic administrator at both Pompano Beach High School and Blanche Ely High School, as well as at the district level.

“It’s always been my goal to provide experiences and information to all students and athletes, and, hopefully, I’ve helped them grow as people and opened their eyes to help them be a productive member of society.”

After a standout career at Pompano Beach High, Gillis graduated from Iowa State and where he was a 4-year football letterman. Gillis is married 32 years to wife Kimberly, and they have three children, Ashley, Roderick II and Rodney.

With Blanche Ely’s boys basketball team off to a 7-3 start, the Tigers are hopeful of defending their Class 7A championship from a year ago.

One honor has already occurred as Tigers coach Melvin Randall was inducted into the Broward County Sports Hall of Fame. Randall won two state titles (1997, 1999) in his eight seasons at Deerfield Beach before moving on to Ely in 2002 and winning six more championships in 2007, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2018.

“This is indeed a pivotal occasion and I am humbled as I stand before you,” Randall said. “First and foremost, I want to thank the Hall of Fame committee for judging me worthy of this honor. To my fellow class of 2018 inductees, congratulations to you. It is a privilege to stand here and share this milestone with you.”

Randall went on to thank many of the coaches he has drawn inspiration from during his career. He thanked his coaching staff, former players, fellow teachers and family. Randall has won more than 550 games in his stellar career.

Registration begins for Women in Distress tourney

Early registration for previous teams and players for the 7 thAnnual Women in Distress Golf Tournament will be from Jan. 1 through Jan. 19.

Open registration then begins on Jan. 20 for other women players and teams until a maximum of 32 teams are complete.

Once again, the Colony West Women’s Golf Group will be producing the tournament which will be on March 21, 2019. However, the tournament will be held at Pompano Beach Municipal Golf Course this year because of construction at the Colony West Golf Club.

“Because the (clubhouse) building is demolished so we could not have a luncheon after golf,” said Jan Parke, tournament chair. “We will play the tournament at Pompano Beach and eat at Galuppi’s Restaurant which is at the golf course.

For more information, details or the registration form, email janparke@bellsouth.net or the registration chair, Geri Thomas at gthomas6116@gmail.com.

By Gary Curreri

Nearly 300 people participated in the inaugural Family Fitness Day at Highlands Christian Academy in Pompano Beach.

Concessions were provided by Subway and Smoothie King and those proceeds benefited the boys’ varsity basketball team as they plan their Spring Break Missions Trip to Spain in March of 2019.

There were also a total of 15 vendors in attendance, among them were Family Chiropractic, Grace Church, New Era Barber, Juice Plus, Broward Health, IHP Fitness and Propel Fitness Water.

This was a free event to highlight “Fitness” and the benefits and enjoyment it can provide. Several fitness challenges were performed throughout the morning in which Smoothie King donated gift cards to the winners.

“I was extremely grateful for an incredible day; it was an amazing experience that exceeded my expectations and I am already looking forward to next year’s,” said Highlands Christian Academy Athletic Director Jim Good.

“God has been teaching me so many valuable lessons these past few months,” he added, “and having the opportunity to host this event and share the importance of our physical health and spiritual health was just an incredible experience.”

The challenges included pull-ups, push-ups, shuttle-run, standing long jump, vertical jump, medicine ball toss, obstacle course and a mini circuit workout.

Rio Santana, general manager at IHP Fitness in Boca, led a 20-minute Fitness Class in which several participants earned a year membership at the Boca gym.

A 20-minute walk was performed in the HCA gym, while several participants did a 20-minute run outside on the campus.

Pompano golfers rule the links

The Pompano Beach Men’s and Women’s Golf Associations conducted their weekly tournaments and their golfers didn’t disappoint.

In the Pompano Beach Women’s Golf Association’s 9-hole tournament on Oct. 23, Sandra Gore won the A Division with a 40.50 in the Even Holes, ½ Handicap event. Deb Ladig carded a 38.00 to win the B Division, while the C Division was won by Lori Tarmey with a 40.50. Alberta Bove shot a 43.50 to take the D Division.

The following week featured a tournament and a fall luncheon. The first place team of Roseanna Nixon, Alberta Bove, Sue Barhdi and Patti Van Zandt shot a 123, while the second place team of Kim Heath, Jan Ruck, Kathy Stewart and Georgie Wright were two shots back at 125.

In the Pompano Beach Men’s Golf Association’s One Best Ball of a Foursome tournament on Oct. 24, the team of Jim Blake, Jerry Goodman, Bill O’Brien, and Gene Stoller shot a 49. George Disch, Mike Katawczik, Paul Murphy, and their blind draw partner Bob Van Zandt shot a 52 to take second, while Henry Lesburt, Pete Strychowskyj, Bob Van Zandt and Max Walker shot a 54 and won a match of cards to take third place in the event, which featured 37 competitors.

Don Worrell won the closest to the pin award when he put his tee shot just 8 ft. from the hole on the 7th hole on the Pines course.

Terry Denoma, Jim DiCamillo, Jerry Goodman, and Brian Nixon won the Four-Man scramble event for the Pompano Beach Men’s Golf Association on Oct. 31 with a 65.

The team of Oscar Aleman, John Arrigo, Jim Greeley and Lee Hammer shot a 66 to finish in second place, while Chuck Brown, George Disch, Joel Englander and Bill McCormick combined for a 67 to wind up third in the 42-player field.

The closest to the pin winner was Tom Breur whose shot on the 15th hole at the Pines came to rest 12 ft. away.