99-YEAR-OLD PLAYS TRIANGLE (15) ER OPENS FOR SENIORS ONLY (17) FUSION ACADEMY EXPANDS TO BOCA (28) YAMATO VILLAS BACK BEFORE COUNCIL (40)
BOCANEWSPAPER.COM
JANUARY | 2018
Mickey Gomez retires after 33 years, New Rec. Director assumes the post By: Diane Emeott Korzen Contributing Writer “This is the greatest job. And the most fantastic place to work. I do feel like the luckiest person in the world, having had this job!” said beloved, City Of Boca Raton Recreation Services Director Mickey Gomez, who retired after 33 years with the city on Nov. 30. On Dec. 8, the City of Boca Raton officially announced the new Recreation Services Director as Michael J. Kalvort. Kalvort and Gomez both attended the Nov. 27 Greater Boca Raton Beach & Park District meeting in which Gomez bid the Board ‘farewell.’ Kalvort declined to have his picture taken at the meeting. “At the next meeting,” he said. “This is Mickey’s day.”
Pianists Estibaliz Gastesi and Márcio Bezerra perform at the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach. Photo by Dale King.
Local doctor, pianists combine for climate talk, concert at Norton By: Dale King Contributing Writer If the level of carbon dioxide in the air were to increase, humans could still survive without serious harm, said scientist Dr. John Strasswimmer, a Palm Beach resident, dermatologist and a Mohs surgeon with offices in Delray Beach. But for Planet Earth, such a condition, he declared, would be “catastrophic.” The doctor, who is also a professor of dermatology at the Schmidt College of
Medicine at Florida Atlantic University at Boca Raton, offered his thoughts on global climate change as part of a recent talk and four-hand piano concert at the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach. Pianists Estibaliz Gastesi and Márcio Bezerra – husband and wife – opened and closed the event by performing climate- and weather-related musical pieces. Márcio is an instructor at Bak Middle School for the Arts in West Palm Beach; Estibaliz is a teacher at Don Estridge Middle School in Boca
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“This is very emotional. This morning at 8:30 a.m., I told all the managers ‘goodbye,’ the City Manager, the Assistant City Manager, etc. Last night it was the Beach & Park District. I’m tearing up right now,” said Gomez on Nov. 28. Asked what he will miss most, and what he won’t miss too much, Gomez an-
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Raton. The program at the Norton was held in recognition of United Nations Climate Month. The U.N. has been encouraging these combination piano concerts and lectures -- a series called “ClimateKeys” – to offer a venue for non-confrontational discussion of global weather changes. Part 1 of the concert featured such melodies as “Ripple Marks” by Michael Lysight, “Sub Vesperum” by Fabio [CONT. PG 2]
Retiring Recreation Service Director Mickey Gomez visits with Ron Carr, Maintenance, in front of Sugar Sand Park Carousel. Photo by Diane Emeott Korzen.
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