MiamiMan Magazine V2N1

Arkup Takes Living on the Water to the Next Level

PUBLISHER Ken Dunek

ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Ashley Dunek

EDITOR George Brinkerhoff

CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Chloe Senatore

ART DIRECTOR Steve Iannarelli

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

George Anastasia, Jan L. Apple, George Brinkerhoff, Alan Espino, Vincent Mantuo, Jon Marks, Chloe Senatore, Mike Shute, Kurt Smith

Photographer

Joel Garcia, Natalia Garcia, Miami Lights Studio

Event Coordinator & Administrative Assistant Alexandra Dunek

Website & Digital Coordinator Jamie Dunek

Editorial gbrinkerhoff@jerseymanmagazine.com

Advertising 856-912-4007

Printing Alcom Printing, Harleysville, Pa.

Controller Rose M. Balcavage

Sales Associates

Ashley Dunek, Jamie Dunek, Terri Dunek, Allison Farcus, JP Lutz

FROM THE PUBLISHER

BY KEN DUNEK

A Very Dangerous Game

LIKE MANY FOOTBALL FANS, I watched in horror when Buffalo Bills defensive back Damar Hamlin fell to the ground in cardiac arrest on a nationally televised Monday night football game.

Having played the game for 2 years in college, and parts of 6 seasons professionally, it really hit home.

Football players have a 100% injury rate during the season. That’s right.

EVERY PLAYER THAT SUITS UP IN THE NFL WILL BE INJURED AT SOME POINT IN THE SEASON.

Of course, some injuries are worse than others. And although I wouldn’t necessarily say that a cardiac arrest is an injury, it is a by-product of a very dangerous game.

In my career, I had sprained knee ligaments, a stress fracture in my left foot, a separated shoulder, a torn hamstring, and too many minor bumps and bruises to mention here. Would I do it again? Absolutely! I knew what I was signing up for.

When mothers ask me if they should let their young children play tackle football, my answer is always yes.

What I gained from football is well worth the risk. Discipline, teamwork, hard work, business success, and the relationships I have had over the course of time with great men like Dick Vermeil, Bruce Arians, Jim Mora, and others, have greatly enhanced my life.

Whether Damar Hamlin ever plays football again is yet to be decided. But he is alive, he is regaining his health, and is still a member of the Bills. And for that, we should all be grateful.

MiamiMagazine is a product of a partnership between Peter Cordua, Ken Dunek, Anthony Mongeluzo, and Alcom Printing Group, are published by New Opportunity Publishing, LLC, with offices at 5 Perina Boulevard, Cherry Hill, NJ 08003. Copyright 2022.

JOTTINGS

BY GEORGE BRINKERHOFF

Stiltsville – Over the Waves and Only in Miami

Renegade, rogue and colorful, Stiltsville was the kind of place that operated just outside of civilization, the grasp of the authorities and the law, and conjured up notions of either illicit fun or illegal debaucheries, depending on your viewpoint. Its very existence is remarkable, considering that the structures sit just above the ocean waves anchored in a sandbar on either wooden stilts or concrete pilings. Located one mile off Cape Florida amongst sand banks on the edge of Biscayne Bay, the beginnings of the village are shrouded in mystery. Some authorities believe the first structure was built in the 1930’s while others say there were structures there 10 years before during the roaring 20’s. The first recorded shack was built by “Crawfish” Eddie Walker on stilts towards the end of prohibition sometime around 1933. Two of Eddie’s fishing buddies built another shack and then, others followed and a “shack village” sprang up over the waves. The first social club, the Calvert Club was built in the late 1930’s and was soon followed by others including the Quarterdeck Club whose membership cost $150 by invitation only and became one of the most popular spots in Miami. Described as a “play palace,” the club hosted many celebrities. Rumors of gambling led authorities to conduct a raid in 1949, however nothing was uncovered. More and more structures were added, including a 150-foot yacht named Jeff which was provided free drinks to women in bikinis and became known as The Bikini Club in the 1960s. It was established and run by a local businessman and scam artist named Harry Churchman, also known as

“Pierre.” The staterooms could be rented and there was even a sundeck for nude sunbathing. In 1965, it was closed after a raid by the Florida Beverage Commission found they were selling liquor without a license.

After decades battling both the authorities, hurricanes and fires, by 2003, there were only 7 structures remaining and efforts to save them because of their uniqueness and varying architectural styles were undertaken by the establishment of the Stiltsville Trust through an agreement with the National Park Service (to which the bottom land on which they rest was deeded as part of Biscayne National Park in 1985). For more information, go to stiltsvilletrust.org.

HOW ABOUT A VISIT to the most southern winery in the United States and trying their signature avocado wine? Yes, wine from avocados. Located in Homestead, Florida, the Schnebly-Redland’s winery, the southernmost winery in the United States, produces a line of exotic tropical fruit wines, which seems exceptionally appropriate

given their magical tropical venue. Their wines include vintages made from mango, passionfruit, lychee, coconut and, very uniquely, avocado. And the setting is exquisite and second to none, like a paradise vacation, featuring lush jungle atmosphere and waterfalls while you enjoy a taste of Miami

in tiki huts. You can enjoy live music, farm to table food wine and most importantly tropical wine tastings. You can even rent out their private Oasis for your events, which includes overnight accommodations for up to 18 guests. For more information or to book your event, check them out at Schneblywinery.com

Photo schneblywinery.com

2022 Words of the Year

The English word of the year, at least as promulgated by the Oxford Dictionaries, is actually two words: “goblin mode.” It is defined as “a type of behavior which is unapologetically self-indulgent, lazy, slovenly or greedy, typically in a way that rejects social norms or expectations.” “Goblin mode” first appeared on Twitter more than a decade ago but after coming through the pandemic, 2022 saw its resurgence. The word of the year (or, phrase, in this case), was chosen by public vote for the first

Goblin mode

time. The overseers at Oxford Dictionaries chose three words, “goblin mode”, metaverse and “hashtag IStandWith,” and then allowed voting to commence. Voters emphatically chose goblin mode with over 93% of the 340,000 votes cast.

“The word of the year is intended to reflect ‘the ethos, mood, or preoccupations of the past twelve months.’ “Given the year we’ve just experienced, ‘goblin mode’ resonates with all of us who are feeling a little overwhelmed at this point,” said Oxford Languages President Casper Grathwohl.

Incidentally, Merriam-Webster announced that their word of the year was “gaslighting,” which they defined as psychological manipulation intended to make a person question the validity of their own thoughts.

Feel like going into goblin mode and doing a little gaslighting? That’s so last year ….

What we read.

The Pallbearers Club

by Paul Tremblay

AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR of The Cabin at the End of the World, Paul Tremblay delivers a uniquely structured and stylized novel with his newest book, The Pallbearers Club. The Pallbearers Club is an oddly refreshing blend of genres like coming-of-age and macabre fiction. Tremblay’s newest novel is presented to the reader as a memoir manuscript by Art Barbara, the novel’s main character. Tremblay expertly frames this novel in the form of Art’s manuscript and also gives the reader the ‘red penned’ markups of another character, Mercy Brown, Art’s best friend/enemy/punk goth character foil. The story ends up being about a toxic and unsettling friendship between the two.

As you read through the ‘memoir’ you find words and phrases crossed out in red, corrections made, and sometimes full pages at the end of each chapter of Mercy’s very critical commentary on Art’s recollection of events. While the novel feels very coming of age and normal at first, the middle of the book sees weird punk, army jacket-wearing character Mercy suddenly become a weird, quasivampire. Did not see that coming.

This double-frame narrative meshed with the monstrous seems to be a direct nod to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein which is also a multi-framed story beginning with one character’s written recollection. The plot begins rather slowly, following Art’s rather pathetic high school self as he struggles with regular high school things like awkwardness and college applications. When Art has the idea to start the pallbearers club in an effort to get more extracurriculars under his belt, he and a measly few students start being volunteer pallbearers at the funeral services of people who lack mourners. Enter Mercy Brown, the character who is weirdly interested and unnaturally comfortable with death. At first, she seems to be nothing more than a wannabe goth teenager, but as she and Art become close friends (bonding over alternative rock music, polaroids, and whatnot), he eventually has some odd encounters with her that border on the monstrous and macabre.

The two eventually have an unsatisfying falling out after visiting a graveyard together and Art starts to become suspicious of Mercy. Although the plot feels odd, definitely not linear, and not altogether enthralling, Tremblay’s writing style expertly switches between the voices of characters in a way that keeps the reader entertained enough to keep going. Because the fantasy element of this book is so understated at first, it makes the oddly placed vampire elements almost too realistic; ‘Wait is this for real? Or is Art just seeing things? Is the vampire stuff a metaphor?’

The ‘memoir’ picks up at a certain point when Art is an adult, not too long before the writing of his memoir, where he runs into Mercy again, and he basically has a mental breakdown. The ending might just be the best part of the book, so I’ll save that for you to read. The way Tremblay captures the unfathomable concept of death alongside the uncertain construct of reality is thought-provoking and fairly relatable to the human experience. If you want to read an extremely unique novel that successfully presents a frame narrative and blends genres, give this book a read. – Chloe Senatore

Because the fantasy element of this book is so understated at first, it makes the oddly placed vampire elements almost too realistic; “Wait is this for real?”

Legacy Club event at Mau Miami – Miami, Fla.

Photos by Miami Lights Studio

MOB SCENE

BY GEORGE ANASTASIA

Family values

HOW’S THIS for family values?

Anthony Zottola, the son of reputed Bronx mob associate Sylvester Zottola, is looking at life in prison after being convicted of hiring a hitman to kill his father. He also had his brother, Salvatore, marked for death.

Salvatore was shot in the head, back and chest, but survived.

“Didn’t hurt as bad as I thought it would,” he later told a jury.

Sylvester Zottola, 71, wasn’t as lucky. He was gunned down one day back in October 2018, as he sat in his car in the drive-through lane of a McDonald’s. He had ordered a cup of coffee. Got a serving of hot lead instead. It was, by the prosecution’s count, at least the fourth time hired hitmen tried to take him out.

There was a drive-by shooting on a highway, a sidewalk gun battle in which a hitman’s weapon jammed but the elder Zottola managed to get off a few shots (this encounter was partially picked up on a surveillance video), and a home break-in during which Sylvester Zottola was beaten, stabbed and his throat slit.

Another attempt was called off because the getaway van the hitmen intended to use had engine trouble and the shooters had to call someone to jump-start their vehicle.

This was Goodfellas meets The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight. It was a dark comedy, except someone ended up dead. A son had his father killed. Let that sink in the next time you’re pondering the nobility of the American Mafia.

Sylvester “Sally Daz” Zottola’s reputed mob connections (he was described as an associate of the Bonanno crime family) apparently stemmed from his ownership of a business that provided pool tables, jukeboxes and poker machines to bars and restaurants. Prosecutors would allege that he built a multimillion-dollar real estate empire with the cash he earned from the illegal gambling machines.

The vending machine business has long been a money-maker for the mob and a way to legitimize the activities of some major players. Angelo Bruno, the late Philadelphia mob boss who was a millionaire when he was killed in 1980, described himself as a “salesman” for John’s Wholesale Vending, a major distributor of the same products that Sally Daz sold. And while Anthony Zottola’s lawyer argued that Sally’s demise may have been linked to his underworld dealings, prosecutors pointed to evidence and testimony that indicated the hit came from much closer to home.

stabbed, never knowing who orchestrated the attacks,” said federal prosecutor Breon Peace who heads the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn that prosecuted the case. “It was his own son.”

Michael J. Driscoll, assistant director of the FBI field office that investigated the case, pointed to the numerous botched hit attempts, and said that Anthony Zottola had multiple chances to “rethink his deadly intent…Now, instead of living off his father’s millions, his only payday will be in federal prison.”

Sylvester Zottola’s sense of family was clearly stronger than that of his son’s.

THE ZOTTOLAS lived in upscale neighborhoods in the Bronx that faced Long Island Sound, according to a New York Times article published shortly after the jury delivered its verdict in October. The article pointed out that Sylvester Zottola had built “several large brick houses there with mottos carved into their facades, including ‘Our walls are built thick. Our love for each other is thicker.’”

Nice words but they apparently carried little meaning for Anthony Zottola.

The murder-for-hire he set in motion was a flat-out money grab that put the lie to the sense of family, honor and loyalty that is part of the “value system” of Cosa Nostra. The case is, in many ways, a new low in an underworld where turncoat testimony is commonplace and turning on friends and family members to avoid spending time in jail is the norm.

Prosecutors said Anthony Zottola wanted his father and brother dead so that he could get total control of the Bronx-based real estate empire his father had built. The last straw, investigators said, was when Sylvester Zottola nixed a $27 million deal his son had set up to sell off their real estate holdings, properties that generated about $1.5 million in rental income annually.

“Over the course of more than a year… Sylvester Zottola was stalked, beaten, and

It is more than a little ironic that at a secretly recorded making ceremony in Philadelphia several years ago the feds heard members of the local branch of Cosa Nostra pledging their allegiance to “la Famiglia!”

Like so much else in today’s mob, they were words devoid of meaning. In fact, one of the mobsters taking the blood oath of allegiance that day was wearing a body wire and recording everything for the FBI.

The Philadelphia crime family has

A son had his father killed. Let that sink in the next time you’re pondering the nobility of the American Mafia.

Anthony Zottola

been racked by bloody, internecine battles that pitted family members (real blood family) against one another. There was Joe Ciancaglini, gunned down in an ambush in which his brother Michael allegedly took part. Joe was crippled after surviving multiple guns shots. Michael was later killed in a drive-by shooting set in motion by the rival faction of the mob to which his brother belonged. A third brother John Ciancaglini was left to pick sides in the deadly mob family battle.

City of Brotherly Love indeed.

THIS ALL TOOK PLACE a few years after Philip Leonetti, the one-time underboss to Nicodemo “Little Nicky” Scarfo, became a government informant after he, Scarfo and more than a dozen others were convicted in a sweeping racketeering case.

Leonetti was Scarfo’s nephew. His mother was Scarfo’s sister.

In an interview with ABC several years after he flipped, Leonetti acknowledged that his uncle, then serving what amounted to a life sentence in prison, was still angling to kill him.

“I guess I would never be dead enough for him,” Leonetti told ABC newsman Forrest Sawyer.

In Chicago, we’ve had “Operation Family Secrets” in which Frank Calabrese Jr. and his brother Nick, both members of a mob crew, took the witness stand to help federal authorities convict their mobster father, Frank Calabrese Sr.

In New York, there’s the infamous case of John Franzese Jr. testifying against his father, the legendary mob leader John “Sonny” Franzese, a case that landed the elder Franzese, then in his 90s, in jail for eight years. Sonny Franzese died in 2020.

If a son testifying to help the government convict a father is a staggering development, then how do you describe a son hiring a hitman to kill his father?

Shortly after Anthony Zottola was arrested federal prosecutors argued that he should not be released on bail. The authorities noted that while he had “no prior documented criminal history, his involvement in a depraved plot to kill his father and brother speaks volumes…”

They also pointed to a series of text messages between Anthony Zottola and one of the hitmen, including one in which he suggested both his father and brother be killed.

“Can we get a double header at all?’ the text message read in part. “My business is all messed up by both of them…Every day it gets harder for me.”

How’s that for “la Famiglia?” l

GET FIT

BY VINCENT MANTUO

Training on the Go!

WHEN YOU WANT TO GET A WORKOUT IN, you normally think that you need to sign up for a gym membership, especially in the month of January for your New Year’s resolution. Now this article is not to discourage having a gym membership, but instead, give a perspective on how to integrate having a home and/or on-the-go workout routine. This is so you can be consistent with training and maximize your goals. How, you ask?

We know life is always busy and that it’s hard to fit in everything we want to do in one day, but when you set goals that you want to accomplish, you are making a promise to yourself. Don’t break that promise to yourself. Keep true to yourself and stick with it.

With the New Year, I’m sure some of you have made it a priority to start working out on your own or to hire a personal trainer. I believe this is one of the first steps to achieving your new goals. Another step that would aid you in your goal is to have some home equipment for the days you either cannot go to the gym or see your trainer due to scheduling or travel.

Having some home equipment can help you stay on track towards your targets and not feel as overwhelmed. Remember you are saving time driving to the gym and parking on those busier days, if you already have some equipment at home. You can do a modified workout or even use at

home workout programs online through YouTube, Beachbody, Peloton, etc. Of course, you would pick a program that synergistically matches what you are currently doing at the gym or with the trainer.

Some of the key pieces of equipment I suggest having at home are:

• Resistance bands

• Adjustable Dumbbells

• Adjustable Bench

• Rubber Floor Mat

• Plyometric Box

• Medicine Ball

• Kettlebell

These are just some of the many pieces of equipment you can have at home, but when you travel it’s hard to take all that with you, so the best option is to pack your resistance bands.

You can do so many different workouts with resistance bands because there are a wide variety of resistance band sizes, shapes, and tensions. So, remember, always keep striving to obtain your workout goals by getting in a workout at home on a busier day where you can’t make it to the gym or if you’re on a vacation. l

Mike Adada Black Steel Group

Ernesto Alvarez Gutters by TK

Keith Asplundh Asplundh Tree Expert Company

Amie Balchunas Lamacchia Realty

Mayra Barragan Launch Ventures, LLC

Stephen Bellosi Apex Consulting

Alex Bort MedPro Healthcare Staffing

Louis Bucelli Bucelli & Company LLC

Tim Campbell 1/ST + Gulfstream Park

Ethan Capri Capri Bookkeeping Solutions, LLC*

Daniel Checchia Colliers Engineering & Design

Ann Conlin Philly’s Original Milan

Kristoffer Doura 1847Financial

Natalia Garcia Miami Lights Studio

Jimmy Gibson Alcom Printing

Fernando Gomez TD Bank

Jason Gonzalez DGA Security

Jim Jacobs Focus Insite

Mikayla James Payroll/ HR/ Workers Comp

Matt Lill Corcoran Group Real Estate

Vincent Mantuo Copesetic Therapeutic Bodywork

Robert Marovic Mechanical Piping Solutions

Isabelle Martinez Paramount Residential Mortgage Group

Dean Parsons Epic Cigars

Rob Paul SwagWorld, Inc.

Rich Rogers 6 Degrees Golf

Robin Rosenbaum Albacorps

Frank Sisto The Insurance Doctor

Steve Solomon CBMC South Florida

Brian Spector Elite Leads

Joy Strempack Sol Inspire LLC

Dianna Vasturo Lazy Days Restaurant

Mark Vasturo Ziggie & Mad Dogs

Josh Waxman PHP Agency

Double the joy

joy

DJ

BY KURT SMITH

MiamiMan recently caught up with Fort Lauderdale’s Joy Strempack, aka DJ Joy Joy, who by day is a middle school teacher, while DJing each weekend at McSorley’s and multiple other places.

She doesn’t just excel at educating children and bringing the fun level of a party up, though. Joy also owns a graphic design company, and is an accomplished artist, singer, dancer, wife and mother. All of that within the same 24 hours in a day that we all have.

Aside from the obvious…weather, beaches, party atmosphere…what makes this area the perfect spot for what you do?

I would say maybe the feeling of diversity. There’s all kinds of people, and people are open to new ideas, a lot of creativity and it just feels like anything could happen.

You’re from Taiwan originally, right?

Yes, I was born in Taipei. I went to Taiwan University and I moved here to go to grad school in Ohio State.

So, what motivated you to pursue a master’s degree here and live here?

It’s a crazy story. My dad, he was a famous politician. I grew up in the most restricted household, famous dad, no freedom to do anything. When I was 17, I got a record deal with Sony Records Asia. It was huge. I was singing in a band and it completely got shut down by my family. I had to study and be the perfect daughter. The moment I graduated from college, I just tried to find a way to escape!

Are you on good terms with your father?

After that, yeah. I kind of semi-pleased them. They wanted me to be extremely educated. They actually wanted me to be a college professor, be the educator, which I did. “The daughter is a scholar in America,” they love that.

What’s different about living in America?

It sounds so cliché…but freedom of expressing what you want, do what you want and chase your dream. I think most Asian families, we have this perpetual ideal, you have to please your parents,

to make the family proud. Everything always goes back to that.

I have a lot of family in America. My cousins who grew up in America, fullblown Americans, they’re living by rules of their parents. I would say out of 20 cousins, maybe one rebelled. The other 19, they’re doctors, they’re architects, they do everything the parents want. I don’t even know what they truly want.

I’ve been through that. I hope for a totally different world for my daughter.

Good for you. You’re a pioneer. [Laughs] I’m a pioneer. I love that. You said in an interview that you were recording an album and the producer died in a car accident. Not to diminish the tragedy, but can I ask what happened to the recording?

That was the record deal when I was 17. If that record happened, I would be the first female in Taiwan recording an English rock album. Talk about pioneer, that was unheard of.

In high school, I was in a band, and this producer, he watched the performance. He signed me as a single artist, not my band, just me. We started to record the album, all English. Halfway through, maybe five out of ten songs done, he went on tour with another band. They had a car accident, two people died, the drummer died, and he died, my producer.

After he died, within the record company, no one wanted to continue an English album. Plus, the

resistance from my parents, I was getting no support, so I gave up.

I took the college entrance exam, got into the best university like my dad wanted, Taiwan University. That’s like Harvard in Asia. I got in, studied literature, put this whole thing on the side, doing what I was supposed to do, and planning my escape.

There are no lost sessions or anything like that?

Oh my God, I don’t know! I don’t know how I’m gonna find that.

So how did you get started in the DJ business?

Well, I’ve always been a musician. I play piano, I sing. The night club thing, it’s strictly about DJ and mixing music and working in the lounge. But I play piano, I can write, I sing and all that.

You know how spring break is really big in Fort Lauderdale? I have a friend who owns the bar on the beach [McSorley’s], and he just had me DJ there. I barely knew how to use the mixing board. I kind of self-taught, worked with a few people, and from there it was just crazy. Just gig after gig after gig.

A lot of DJs around this area, they play house music, club music, EDM music, they play that

three, four hours. It’s completely the same genre, no change.

I played this rooftop pool once in Florida downtown. They told me, “Party atmosphere, EDM house music for five hours.” I prepared to do that, and that day when I walked into the job, this pool full of older people, the family, no one would want to hear music like that. So just completely on the spot changed to ‘80s disco.

Do you enjoy being a DJ the most of everything you do?

At this moment, I’m completely devoted and obsessed with the DJ part. It’s my calling. It’s not just about mixing the music, there’s also the performing part of it. I think the reason I keep getting continuous gigs in this area, when I play music, it’s as if I’m performing. I’m a dancer too, I was a hip hop dancer, I was a ballerina. When I DJ, I dance and observe the crowd, see what kind of mood the crowd’s into, and lead the people to dance.

Are you still in graphic design?

Yes. We’re still operating our outdoor advertising company. And everything that I have on social media or any kind of materials that we design, I designed it. So, I’m an in-house graphic designer.

And the graphic design skill helps you with that?

Yeah, because I think it makes me really different from a lot of DJs around the area. I got a lot of comments about that, I’m very organized, I have a marketing strategy. If you follow my Instagram, I have a way of releasing a promotion and then I design it on my own, I don’t rely on anybody. I have a billboard on I-95, I designed that billboard. I guess a lot of DJs have really no knowledge of that, they’re really missing out on a golden opportunity.

Right now, I have two original songs under a record label. The album cover, the single cover, I designed it. So yes, it helps me.

What would you say is your proudest achievement in all of this?

There’s one concept I’m really proud of in myself, and most people know that’s how I am. It’s when I want something, I won’t give up until I have it.

I will tell you maybe five examples. First one, the college entrance exam to Taiwan University. The acceptance rate is so low. I studied for it, I know I have to get in, and I got in. The second time, I was thinking that I want to be a teacher. To get certified to be a Florida teacher, it took a while. I was taking all the exams as an American person, but I’m a foreigner.

My own company, graphic design, learning all the software, Illustrator, all that. I think staying married, having my child, I’m really proud of that. And finally getting [two original songs] verified on Spotify, that’s my final big thing. [Laughs]

At my stage right now, music is my main focus. I really, really feel like music is bringing people together and brings people happiness. So, at least in my environment around here, every time when I play, some friends will come out, support, get together, and people keep commenting it’s giving them a reason to go out and have fun, especially after a pandemic.

And I see that as such a wonderful thing. l

“I really feel like music is bringing people together and brings people happiness.”

WaterWorld

Arkup Takes Living on the Water to the Next Level

BY JAN L. APPLE

WaterWorld

“Go green, live blue.” It’s the concept behind the Miamibased company, Arkup – manufacturer of luxury, livable yachts.

Who would have thought it possible! A vacation getaway, a downsized home, an entertainment venue, a guesthouse, even a floating restaurant. All unique destinations, literally located on the water. Yet, all are options with the company’s product line, particularly the Arkup 40, currently the most popular and versatile design that will soon be delivered to over a dozen new clients this year.

Arkup co-founders Nicolas Derouin, CEO, and Arnaud Luguet, chief product officer, have been hard at work fine-tuning and expanding their product, yet ultimately have a broader vision in mind. They plan to not only manufacture and build these unique vessels, but to create self-sustaining blue communities. For the two engineers and longtime friends turned business partners, it’s all about finding “green” solutions to the ongoing challenges presented by climate change, rising sea levels and overcrowded cities.

Derouin explained that the impact of rising sea levels on coastal cities, including Miami, and a commitment to sustainable living is at the very core and the driving force behind their unique approach to building these vessels.

Luguet and Derouin launched Arkup in 2016. The company is named for the biblical Noah’s Ark and “up,” which refers to the retractable legs called spuds that reach to the ocean floor and are built into each of the vessels. These legs represent an innovative engineering design –one of the features that sets these vessels apart from a more traditional houseboat. Derouin explained that the yachts are anchored in shallow water and raised above the sea line. Because of the anchoring system, they maintain stability during tropical storms. “The wave action and the surge during a storm goes under the boat without touching the hull,” he said. “It’s the same type of technology used in the oil and gas industry for offshore platforms and oil rigs.”

Another unique aspect of the vessels is that they are solar-powered and eco-friendly. Derouin noted that other types of houseboats typically depend upon water, septic systems and power from a land grid or have

Co-founders Arnaud Luguet (L) and Nicolas Derouin

Photos courtesy Arkup

generators onboard. But Arkup yachts are completely self-sustaining. The vessels are also motorized, which means an owner can pick up and move their yacht from one destination to another. Clearly, a perk for any potential buyer. Some clients may choose to dock the vessel in a marina near their home to be used as a guesthouse. But then it can easily be transported to another location.

Longtime Friends Turned Business Partners

The co-founders have known each other since they were teenagers in France. The 46-year-old Derouin was born and raised in France. He lived in Paris and in the south of France near Marseilles, along the Mediterranean Sea. His parents sent him to an international school, he explained, which created a global mindset. He obtained his engineering degree at France’s Ecole Centrale De Lille. “I always wanted to have some experience living and working abroad,” reflected Derouin.

In 1999, after graduation, Derouin moved to Mexico where he worked for a French company. He later relocated to Brazil for about 15 years. His engineering concentration, in both countries, was in logistics and transportation services. Along the way, Derouin learned Spanish and Portuguese. He already spoke English, so he is conversational in four languages.

The Evolution of Arkup

Derouin shared how Arkup came about: “In 2015, I decided to take a gap year, to stop working and travel around the world with my girlfriend, Joanna, who is now my wife.” They spent much of their journey in Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand. Although they returned to Brazil (where Joanna is from) after their travels, they were seeking new professional challenges. At about the same time, Derouin crossed paths with longtime friend and fellow engineer, Arnaud Luguet. “Arnaud had been living in Miami and was working on wind farms and renewable energy projects,” recalled Derouin. Luguet described to Derouin the venture he had in mind for Miami: to build self-sustaining, solar-powered luxury yachts. He asked if Derouin might be interested in

joining him. The engineering and manufacturing of these livable vessels would be based on models that already existed in parts of Europe.

This fresh approach to developing alternative homes really caught Derouin’s attention.

“It’s what motivated me to move to Miami,” he said. The city also seemed like a place where he and Joanna could readily acclimate. “It’s an easy place to move and adapt because of the Latin culture here and the proximity and ease to travel to both France and Brazil,” said Derouin.

Luguet was also born and raised in France, but his mother is from the Netherlands. As a child, Luguet often traveled there to visit family. In the Netherlands, Derouin explained, there’s a culture where living on and with the water is commonplace. “A large part of the country is under sea level, and there are entire districts in Amsterdam that are floating communities,” he said. After Luguet had been living in Miami, he saw firsthand the impact of climate change and rising sea levels, explained Derouin. There was flooding, shore erosion and other issues that needed attention. In fact, he added, that the city of Miami has been addressing many of these concerns. “The city has been investing money in infrastructure to make it more resilient to climate change and natural disasters,” he said. Such measures include raising the streets so when hurricanes and storms occur, they are less subject to flooding. Miami has also changed building codes for new construction and installed pumps in neighborhoods so that rainwater discharges into the bay.

Creating Innovative, Solar-Powered Vessels

Luguet’s idea to create livable, solar-powered vessels and incorporate innovations such as the development of an anchoring system seemed a perfect match and challenge for the engineering skills of both men. Shortly after Derouin and his wife moved to Miami, Arkup took flight.

In 2017, much of the company’s focus was on the design and engineering of the product. “It was about all the research and development for core technologies,” said Derouin.

In 2018, the business channeled its efforts toward manufacturing the first livable yacht. Much of the design and engineering was and still is done in-house at Arkup. Derouin and Luguet also partner with various contractors, such as Waterstudio, an architectural firm based in the Netherlands, which works exclusively with floating communities. In the United States, they work with marine engineers and naval architects to ensure that the design and construction of their products meet the safety standards set by the U.S. Coast Guard and boat builder associations.

In February 2019, the Arkup 75, their flagship product, was introduced at the Miami Yacht Show. The 75 references the length of the vessel. It was sold to a private owner in 2020.

In those early days of the product launch, the company received a lot of media attention. The co-founders also did some rentals through Airbnb. Arkup was the subject of a Discovery channel documentary segment about living off the grid. It was featured in a Netflix series and named one of the world’s most amazing rentals. Local newspapers and magazines also took notice. Clearly, the concept was eye-opening throughout the Miami community.

“The Arkup 75 was for a very niche market,” explained Derouin, adding that the model sells for $3 to 8 million. “The Arkup 40 is a much more affordable product, priced from about $800,000 to $1.3 million.”

The Arkup 40 can be customized depending upon the intended purpose and needs of a buyer. Some are two bedroom, two baths; others are one bedroom, one bath or one large room for perhaps a yoga studio or restaurant. The interior is about 660 square feet, but with the space on the outer decks, there’s a total of about 2000 square feet.

Derouin pointed out that since these vessels are registered as boats, they are not subject to Florida property tax. It’s another positive feature.

The response to Arkup continues to receive rave reviews, yet Derouin and Luguet are looking to the future with a grander vision. “Our longrange master plan is to develop blue communities and resorts,” said Derouin. “With these larger scale projects, our goal is to have an even greater impact.”

Learn more at arkup.com. l

One of the features that sets these vessels apart from a more traditional houseboat is the retractable legs. The yachts are anchored in shallow water and raised above the sea line, maintaining stability during storms. The wave action and the surge during a storm goes under the boat without touching the hull.

Photos courtesy Arkup

BY KURT SMITH

The Undefeated

Half a century since the Perfect Season of 1972, no team has put all of the pieces together to match the feat. MiamiMan caught up with Larry Csonka and Manny Fernandez from that destined team, along with coach Don Shula’s son David, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the achievement.

WITH THE AFC CHAMPIONSHIP ON THE LINE,

Larry Seiple defied the winningest coach in NFL history.

The punter for the 1972 Dolphins didn’t receive the signal to run a fake from his coach. He simply saw the hole the Pittsburgh Steelers left open…a hole his grandmother could have run through, he told reporters. Reacting in the moment, Seiple held the ball and ran 37 yards.

Seconds later, a touchdown pass from Earl Morrall to Larry Csonka tied the game. That touchdown turned out to be the difference. The Dolphins won by four points.

There might have been a very good reason Seiple’s coach didn’t signal for a fake. Seiple might not have seen a charging defender. He might have tripped on the play. A Steelers defender might have stripped the ball.

Had it not worked, Seiple is fond of saying, he probably would have walked home from Pittsburgh … because Don Shula wouldn’t have let him on the plane.

But because it worked, because Seiple followed his instinct, the Dolphins became AFC Champions. Because a special teams player thought independently in the heat of the moment, the Dolphins went to the Super Bowl to complete an undefeated season.

Because Larry Seiple stepped up in a clutch moment, the Miami Dolphins of 1972-73 have stood alone to this day as the only team in NFL history to have won every single game of a season.

One clutch play.

As Csonka says, that’s how finite it gets.

THE POINT OF HIGHLIGHTING Seiple’s moment of defiant intuition isn’t to suggest that a Perfect Season is a result of luck or even Divine Intervention (although a case could be made for a benevolent God smiling on a devout coach who attended Mass on a daily basis).

The point is to underscore the reality that to go an entire season undefeated, a team needs contributions from everyone, and a coach that relentlessly drills the importance of commitment and unity into them.

The 1972 Miami Dolphins weren’t lucky. They were a very, very good

team…as any member of the team will be happy to tell you.

“Some people made a small contribution because he only got on the field at a certain time on one play,” Csonka remembers, “and other people made a larger contribution, but the fact of the matter is without all the contributions, you don’t have the Perfect Season.”

David Shula, son of the legendary coach, spent a great deal of time working in the team’s summer training camps as a young lad. He remembers what made their bond special.

“So many great people, not just great football players. You talk about guys like Bob Griese, and Nick Buoniconti, Larry Little, Larry Csonka, you know, Paul Warfield, Howard Twilley, Jake Scott, just tremendous human beings and great members of the community.

“They truly enjoyed being around each other,” he continues. “They wanted to win for each other more than they wanted to win for themselves, and really cared about each other and played for each other as a result.”

Manny Fernandez, one of the many stars of the absurdly nicknamed “No Name Defense”, also doesn’t see the Perfect Season as being luck or destiny.

“It was more everybody, every play, trying to do what they could. Those big plays that turned close games into victories, it was a different player every week coming through, whether it was a Dick Anderson interception or a Charlie Babb blocked punt or me stealing a handoff.

“And then, of course, we did have those games where we just beat them handily.”

There was one key motivation that every Dolphin shared going into the 1972 season: a humiliating 24-3 loss to the Cowboys in the Super Bowl the year before.

Fernandez remembers it all too well.

“Losing the Super Bowl,” he still reflects with a sigh, “is the worst feeling in the world. You work so hard to get there. It’s hard to explain the disappointment.

“I bought 100 tickets for that game for family and friends. A lot of them were at the hotel we were staying at, waiting for us to come back.

I had to take a break in the parking lot, just literally sat on the bumper of a car and let the emotions run. I was in tears, I had to compose myself before I could go in and face everybody. I just felt like I’d let my whole family and all my friends down, not to mention the fans in Miami.

“I think to a man we vowed we weren’t gonna feel that way again next year. No matter how hard Shula pushed us or how hard he worked us, we knew why, we knew where we needed to be, and what we needed to do to get back and redeem ourselves.

“That whole season was redemption.”

Csonka remembers that Coach Shula was emphatic that every game in 1972 was going to be treated like the Super Bowl.

“Had he anticipated that we were going undefeated? No, I don’t think he had any design on that. Just how serious we were going to approach every game, so that by the time we got the Super Bowl, if in fact we did, we would be ready and know how to prepare. And that part was a prediction, and that part did come true.”

The coach, Zonk and Manny both remember, used every edge on the field—including Miami weather.

“He decided that we would practice twice to sometimes four times a day in 90-degree heat,” Csonka recalls, “and we would become camellike so that we were acclimated to that tropical situation. Any kind of little idiosyncrasies like that, he used those as added gunfire in the battle.”

Fernandez wasn’t always a fan of playing in the intense Miami heat, though.

“You get on that poly turf, and the temperature of the surface would be 120 degrees, and the air you’re breathing is 110. There’s no doubt it gave us an edge, but it also cut into us a little bit as well. There were more times than one I was getting intravenous fluids at halftime to keep from collapsing. It wasn’t always fun with that hot weather.”

Coach Shula demanded a lot, Fernandez says, but “the guys on the team, we respected him and what he was doing, and what it was doing for us.”

PERFECTION, BY DEFINITION, is impossible to attain for humans. To claim that any achievement is perfect, we have to redefine the meaning of it.

Running back Larry Csonka

Photo courtesy Miami Dolphins

Defensive lineman Manny Fernandez (75)

The Miami Dolphins of the 1972-73 season didn’t shut out all of their opponents. Larry Csonka and Mercury Morris didn’t make it to the end zone every time they carried the football. Bob Griese and Earl Morrall didn’t complete every pass they threw. Garo Yepremian’s inexplicable Super Bowl gaffe nearly negated the unprecedented achievements of an entire season.

But within the parameters of a Perfect Season, the Miami Dolphins have set the standard. Seventeen football games, every single one of them ending with a Dolphins victory. The team was as perfect as it needed to be to be called the greatest team in NFL history. Half a century later, no team has been able to meet even that scaled down definition of Perfect.

Two teams have come very close: the 1985 Bears and the 2007 Patriots.

Dan Marino and the Dolphins did their part in turning the 1985 Bears’ campaign into an Almost Perfect Season. Dave Shula was coaching under his father that Monday night at the Orange Bowl. He remembers how electric the atmosphere was, and the strategy they devised to beat a seemingly unbeatable team.

“We had a revolutionary plan that nobody else had tried, and we said, what the hell? Nothing else has worked. Because they were just overpowering people.

“The simple plan was just to put him in the game, Nat Moore, instead of a tight end on first down, and throw the ball. They didn’t substitute and they tried to cover him with Wilbur Marshall, who couldn’t cover Nat Moore. And we put up a big number on them by halftime.

“That was one of the all-time great teams,” Shula remembers with pride, “but they will never be able to say they had the perfect team.”

Of the 2007 Patriots’ campaign that ended with the season’s only loss, Larry Csonka says that he is still the “biggest fan” of Giants’ head coach Tom Coughlin and quarterback Eli Manning. Even as the unbeaten Patriots were 12-point favorites over the 10-6 Giants in Super Bowl XLII, Mercury Morris could still be seen on TV reminding everyone that “to be undefeated, you got to win every game!”

Manny Fernandez knows better than anyone how the Patriots’ season revived the memories of the Dolphins’ perfect campaign.

“I was actually watching the game with the reporter from the Palm Beach Post. He had come to the house with a cameraman and a sound person, and he was talking to me all through the game and literally putting it on air. Then when the game was over, the local channel that did the Don Shula Show, they sent a crew over to the house at 11 o’clock at night to interview me!”

Dave Shula remembers that his 78-year-old, ultra-competitive to the end father was at the game, and “I remember him saying that he

The Interchangeable Backfield

There are many stories of members of this team being willing to sacrifice their own personal achievements for the team, but the best example is easily Jim Kiick and Mercury Morris, who split running back duties throughout the season…Kiick as more of a blocking back for Csonka, and Morris as more of a runner who could get to the outside fast.

The younger Shula cites his father’s handling of the Kiick and Morris situation as an example of how the coach set the tone of playing for the team first.

“The story goes that either Jim or Mercury would be in my Dad’s office on Monday, and it was the one that didn’t get to play much the day before. He knew that they needed to vent their frustration because of their competitiveness.”

Dave Shula speaks not just as Don Shula’s son, but as a former NFL coach himself. “It’s hard to do that, to keep your star players that aren’t getting the ball as much as they think they should, to keep them content and keep them working toward the goal of helping the team win.”

Csonka remembers the camaraderie between Kiick and Morris, even as they shared the spotlight in the Miami backfield.

“You’d see Jim run off the field, Merc would be running on, and they’d smack hands as they passed each other. Jim only ever bitched one time. We were close to our own end zone, and it was a 40-yard sprint with the bench, and he didn’t like that part. He didn’t want to run 40 yards to the bench and 40 yards back!”

Csonka remembers the moment with a laugh, but as a Hall of Famer who played for winning and losing teams in his career, he knows how it could have turned out had Kiick or Morris not been on board.

“If you don’t have that,” Zonk says of the two players’ mutual respect, “if you have animosity that builds, it’s like a cancer on the team. It’ll start between two players, and it’ll carve up the team before it’s over.

“But Shula made such a strong case of everyone being disciplined to the fact that winning became more important than personalities or number of carries or any of those other things.”

Head Coach Don Shula

Photos courtesy Miami Dolphins

Running back Larry Csonka

“Weak Schedule” vs. “Backup Quarterback”

It’s been noted by sportswriters and non-Dolphins fans that the 1972 Dolphins benefited from a weak schedule, and the claim isn’t entirely without merit: only two of the teams the Dolphins defeated during the season had winning records.

But if someone brings that argument up with you, remind them that the Dolphins also lost their Hall of Fame quarterback in the fifth game of the season, and proceeded to win nine games and a playoff game with a backup quarterback. It’s doubtful the 2007 Patriots could have pulled that one off.

Backup QB Earl Morrall is one of the 1972 Dolphins’ biggest heroes. Following Bob Griese’s ankle injury, Morrall took over and kept the train rolling. He threw for 1,360 yards and 11 touchdowns in nine games, and then led the team to a victory in the Divisional Round playoff game against the Browns.

But most importantly, after bringing the Dolphins to the dance, in the AFC Championship game Morrall went back to the bench and let Griese finish the job without complaining. Like everyone else on the team, he had made his vital contribution to the Perfect Season.

In his book, “The Winning Edge,” Don Shula tells the story of convincing Dolphins owner Joe Robbie to pick up Morrall to back up Griese. Morrall had been the backup for Johnny Unitas and had performed a similar feat in Baltimore, leading the Colts—coached by Shula—to a Super Bowl as a backup before their infamous loss to the Jets in Super Bowl III.

The Dolphins, being the AFC champions at the time, had the second to last chance to claim Morrall when the Colts placed him on waivers, but the rest of the NFL passed on a backup QB who would make history starting and winning nine games of a Perfect Season.

jumped up and had the smallest measurable vertical jump in the history of vertical jumps.”

Dave worked at Shula’s restaurants for 22 years, and following the improbable Giants victory, “we sent Eli Manning a bunch of gift certificates for he and his offensive linemen to share with their teammates to Shula’s.”

“We’re proud of being the only undefeated team in history,” Fernandez reflects.

“We worked hard to do it.”

IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO MEASURE what the success of a sports team does for a city, but the 1972 Dolphins gave the Miami community a new point of pride…and it still does today.

Dave Shula remembers his family leaving for Miami from Baltimore when his father was hired away from the Colts. “My classmates had put little paper signs and they hung them in the windows all the way across the classroom that said, basically, ‘Dolphins suck.’”

But the winning coach was most welcome in an area where the only major sports team in the city had only won three games the season before.

“Miami even then being such a melting pot,” his son remembers, “there was nothing that really pulled the people together from the sports scene until the Dolphins in ’70. They started to win, and then continued that in ’71 going to the Super Bowl, and then of course the undefeated season. It really galvanized the community. I remember going to those games as a little guy, how exciting it was going to the Orange Bowl. They were constantly sold out and the fans were just terrific.

“I like to joke that I had a lot of new best friends on Monday morning. I remember a picture that was in the Miami Herald after they won the Super Bowl. There was a whole bunch of people from my school in the background. I think I only recognized one of them, and they were all hugging me like I was their brother. It was funny.”

Csonka remembers a diverse number of age groups in Miami as well as nationalities, who suddenly had a common bond.

“The older ones were enthusiastic fans,” he recalls, “whether they moved down from Buffalo or New England or wherever they moved down from to retire. The young ones, of course, are fired up to be first time champions.

“Those two sections of fans came together as a very, very enthusiastic crowd. If you go back and look in the early 70s when Shula first came, sales and season tickets went up terrifically, and we had sold out situations in the early part of the season in 1970.”

Is Miami represented in all four major sports today without the early 1970s Dolphins proving that the city will very enthusiastically support a winning team?

That’s impossible to answer, but the Rays’ attendance numbers don’t exactly make a strong case to add an NBA team in Tampa Bay. And they were in the World Series not long ago.

MANNY FERNANDEZ reminded this scribe that it isn’t just the 50 years since that hasn’t produced an unbeaten and untied team. It hasn’t been done by any other team in the 103-year history of the NFL, even when seasons were only eight games long.

Yes, the Dolphins caught some breaks and won games that turned on a single play. And Dan Marino and Eli Manning both played a vital role in keeping the most astounding team achievement in NFL history unmatched in 50 years and counting. Every team that climbs the highest of mountains benefits from some luck.

But in the grand scheme of things, what made the Perfect Season possible was a team full of outstanding players, a brilliant and uncompromising coach, and a truly unified dedication to victory on the part of everyone involved…right down to a punter who was willing to go against his coach and be willing to walk 1,181 miles if it went bad.

A Perfect Season doesn’t turn on one big play. It’s the sum of all of its parts, every player, every play.

As the Miami Dolphins of 1972-73 all know, it’s better to be good than lucky. l

Shula confers with QB Earl Morrall on the sidelines

Photo courtesy Miami Dolphins

THE BACK-UP PLAN

Former football player Kristoffer Doura thrives after career ending injury

ADAY AFTER the new year arrived, football fans across America were excited to see what was billed as a playoff preview featuring the Buffalo Bills visiting the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday Night Football. The January 2 game was so anticipated throughout the preceding week, there was a countdown clock on ESPN letting anxious fans know how many days, hours and minutes until kickoff.

But shortly after viewers settled in to watch this huge nationally televised game, 24-yearold Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field seconds after making a tackle of Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins.

The play, one that occurs on almost every football field in every game at every level, seemed to be routine. But suddenly, it became evident that Hamlin’s life was on the line. Fortunately, after being hospitalized in both Cincinnati and Buffalo, Hamlin was released nine days later.

Watching that night at his home in Coral Gables, FL, former pro football player Kristoffer Doura couldn’t help but immediately put himself in Hamlin’s place. Now a financial advisor at 1847Financial, he has become a Wall Street Journal best-selling author of the book, Let’s Get It! 10 Keys to Building Your Nonprofit to Maximum Impact, which released in November.

Doura, a former Miami Southridge Senior High football standout, experienced a similar near-death incident. While in training camp

BY MIKE SHUTE

with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2011, he initially passed out and collapsed on the field from dehydration but when he got to the hospital, a blood clot was discovered in his left leg. At 24 years old and alone with no family on hand, he had to decide between a dangerous surgery to remove the clot or amputation of his leg. He chose surgery but during the operation, he flatlined on the operating table. A defibrillator was used to revive him.

The scene from Cincinnati’s Paycor Stadium on Monday Night Football carried him back in time.

“You almost check out for a split second,” Doura said of his reaction to Hamlin’s situation. “It brought back memories, feelings and emotions and to know I went through something similar. It was like a tingle went down my spine to kind of have to relive that moment for a quick second and realize, that kid just went through something I went through and I hope he overcomes it and makes it out, because not many people do.

“I remember collapsing and being on the field and being rushed into the ambulance. Just seeing that, it’s a scary feeling. Your gut squeezes tighter and you get stiff and the tingle of a cold feeling… It happened 12 years ago but it’s still so fresh.

“The feelings are still fresh in your mind. It really impacts your whole body. You’ve got a cold feeling of death. It’s so weird to explain, but having that second chance at life and going through that experience, knowing that my heart got resuscitated, just talking about it, I get cold, it makes my body feel cold. But I’m

Photo courtesy Kristoffer Doura

touching my hands right now and I’m warm and I’m here, but imagining back 12 years ago, that’s what that kid went through. It’s a scary feeling, man.”

After rehabilitating and recovering from his incident – a process that took eight months and caused him to lose nearly 70 pounds, going from 350 to about 280 – Doura had a second chance. He pivoted to focus on his exit plan, one that was already in place long before he ever actually stepped on a football field.

“I didn’t envision getting hurt of course, but I definitely envisioned that I’d be somebody else outside of football. Any professional athlete has to have an end game and this is what I impress upon people. It’s a back-up plan. If this game

“I ALWAYS WANTED TO BE MY OWN CEO AND I ALWAYS WANTED TO BE THE BOSS. AND THAT WAS THE APPROACH FROM DAY ONE, HOW DO I BECOME A BOSS?

Photo courtesy

Kristoffer Doura

of football doesn’t work out, what are the other things we can do as athletes?”

DOURA WAS NOT your typical fivestar recruit who had been spoon-fed and groomed for the game of football from a young age to become a pro, though he did eventually get a taste of life in training camps in both the NFL and CFL as an offensive lineman. In fact, as the third child of Haitian immigrants, he was actually more dialed into playing soccer.

“In my culture, we didn’t play American football. You kicked the soccer ball. It’s the global sport. Everything was so new and something I had to learn to adapt to. Being that I was athletic, I was able to do it to the best of my abilities but it fell short after that transition and I don’t regret it because I realized that along that process, the work ethic, the tenacity, the focus and that push through challenges really allowed me to become who I am today.”

IN THE FALL OF 2005, he was approached by the high school football coach, Stu Rogers, who told him with his size and athleticism, he had the chance to have some fun, make some friends and it might even help him go to college. Doura was looking for an opportunity to belong to something and with the inspiration from Rogers, played his one and only season of high school football at Southridge. From there, his impressive size –he was about 6-foot-5 at the time – and freak athleticism earned him some recognition and a chance to play at the next level.

Doura recognized this opportunity and saw football as a way for him to gain knowledge and capitalize on education, and he took full advantage. After graduating high school, he attended the University of Charleston (WV), where he received a scholarship to play football for the NCAA Division II Golden Eagles as a four-year letterwinner (2006-09). He wound up improving and gaining a better understanding and appreciation of the game. At the same time, he plowed through his coursework, getting his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Management and Operations in three years. A year later at Charleston, he added his MBA in Business Administration and Leadership. And now he’s in the midst of gaining another MBA from Charleston, this time in Management. He is also a licensed investment adviser, acquiring his credentials from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

“I’m so blessed that God gave me the opportunity to go to college at a very small

university,” Doura said about his time at Charleston. “Going to Charleston, that was a blessing for me because I knew I had nothing else to do but 22 credit hours per semester. I played football and then on top of that, I had a job. I had no room to party every weekend, get super drunk, lose my face then try and figure things out and flunk out.”

AT AN EARLY AGE, he was acutely aware of the value of education, had a desire to succeed and was focused on where he wanted to be later in life.

“In my younger days, I loved the movie Trading Places with Dan Akroyd and Eddie Murphy. It made me realize you have a choice in life. They switched places and come to find out when they did, Eddie Murphy’s character (Billy Ray Valentine) was more successful when he was around success. That always inspired me to want to get into the financial industry in some capacity and that was the reason I took business in college and got my masters.”

“I always said that if football didn’t work out for me, I wanted to be a businessman. So that was always kind of my roots of knowing I had an exit plan and believe it or not, when I got out of the hospital, that transition after rehab – it took about eight months to learn how to walk again because I was in a wheelchair, on crutches, you name it – I had to rebuild myself from scratch. And as I got stronger, I said, ‘I’m going to get into the financial services industry,’ and fast forward,

seven years down into the journey, I became an investment advisor. I really love what I do.”

As he grew up watching the Duke brothers’ experiment and their $1 wager in Trading Places, he always had that desire for success, and he found that desire at an early age. He also was inspired by reading about the journeys of highly successful people like Warren Buffett and Oprah Winfrey.

“I always wanted to be my own CEO and I always wanted to be the boss. And that was the approach from Day One, how do I become a boss?

“I knew for a fact that I was on a time clock since the very beginning of my journey and I didn’t have room to mess that up. I guess because I was always a lone wolf, I didn’t want to be in my late 30s and 40s still trying to figure it out. I was around a lot of older people who I surrounded myself with and they didn’t figure it out. And I was like how come certain people I look up to, they’re not anywhere near where I need to be so I realized at an early age that I had to separate myself from them. That’s where I decided I’m going to be focused. I’m going to put the time in now because I know in my early 40s and the rest of my journey, I want to be free.”

By free, this massive, 6-foot, 7-inch man who is a “Big” for Big Brothers and Big Sisters of America and volunteers as a board member and chairman of Legacy Gifts for Families First Palm Beach County, means financial freedom.

He also credits his faith and his mother, Ninon, for keeping him on the right path. Plus, the close bonds within his family – his father Eddy and sisters Caroline and Christina – were an important part of his maturity at an early age that allowed him to have the laser focus to find the success he craved.

“Being able to know that I can support my family, support my community, make an impact in philanthropy. You have to have financial security to have that type of freedom. The only way for me to drive that financial security is that I have to put the time in now to build my wealth,” Doura says. “It takes such a concentration to say, what does that really mean? I want to be able to leave a legacy for my children and grandchildren. And to do that, I have to have wealth and how do I have wealth? I have to work, I have to build but to do it strategically so it can last, I have to be educated.”

And he hopes to not only continue to educate himself but also his clients, to inspire those he meets in his volunteer work or who may read his book, and continue to be a role model for his family as well as the South Florida community – a BIG role model. l

Doura’s book Let’s get it! contains business and financial expertise for professionals who want to build and grow their nonprofit organizations.

BY JON MARKS

WILL THEY EVER get around to restoring Miami Marine Stadium to a semblance of its former self? Or will it remain in limbo, a relic of the past which has been shut down for over 30 years, despite its colorful history?

It’s coming up on a year since a $61.2 million bond issue was tabled, which would’ve approved the restoration of a place where the list of celebrities who appeared there ranged from Elvis Presley to Richard Nixon, to the Beach Boys, to Queen, to Mitch Miller. But nothing has changed.

Not only that, but no one involved in the movement seems to be willing to talk about it. No one from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which named it among its 11 most endangered sites in 2009, has been available to discuss that effort.

And the stadium website, marinestadium. org, does not appear to have been updated since—get this—2014, while its Facebook page hasn’t made an entry since 2015.

While the rest of the country and the world has moved on—for better or worse—the fate of the stadium remains as up in the air now as

Miami Marine Stadium Restoration Remains on Hold

when the restoration movement got underway nearly 15 years ago.

Before trying to unravel that mystery, time for a history lesson.

The Commodore Ralph Munroe Marine Stadium was built on Virginia Key in 1963, its primary purpose expected to be powerboat racing. Designed by 28-year-old Cuban immigrant Hilario Candela, the 6,656 seat stadium had a unique design with a 326-foot

cantilevered fold-plate roof.

Dedicated on December 28, 1963, the stadium got off to a tragic start when speed boat racer James Tapp was killed on opening day. But it wasn’t too long after that before the charm of the site, which had a spectacular view of Miami Beach and the downtown Miami skyline, began to take hold.

Over the ensuing years the stadium expanded its horizons to became an all-

Miami Marine Stadium circa 1967

purpose facility. There were political rallies— like when Sammy Davis introduced, then hugged Richard Nixon in 1972. There were concerts on its floating stage—everyone from Ray Charles to the Beach Boys, to The Who, to Steppenwolf, to Queen, to Jimmy Buffett, not to mention the Boston Pops and Miami Philharmonic. There was boxing. There was even a movie: 1967’s “Clambake,” featuring the one and only Elvis!

BUT GRADUALLY the novelty of the place began to diminish. Less money went into the stadium’s upkeep. And after Hurricane Andrew ravaged the area in 1992, the City of Miami declared the stadium unsafe and shuttered it on September 18, 1992.

Despite a subsequent engineering study contradicting that declaration, pronouncing the stadium sound and unharmed by Andrew, Miami Marine Stadium has been closed ever since.

Over the ensuing decade and a half while the country went through the Bill Clinton years, the horror of September 11 and all that followed, the stadium became a haven for graffiti and vandalism. That triggered the 2008 formation of the Friends of Miami Marine Stadium (FMMS), whose mission became bringing it back to life.

The Friends, coupled with the National Trust, immediately began to raise money towards that effort. By July 2009, they put $50,000 into an engineering study to evaluate the structural condition of the all-concrete stadium. Two months later, Jimmy Buffett recorded a video which generated tons of publicity.

By April, 2010 Miami-Dade County Commissioners had passed a resolution allocating $3 million to start the restoration process. But the wheels of change grind slowly. While more money kept coming in and public sympathy grew as a partnership was reached between the FMMS, the Miami Sports and Exhibition Authority (a quasipublic organization) and the Miami City Commission to restore the Marine Stadium, for whatever reason the actual groundwork kept getting put off.

While the Miami Herald repeatedly supported the restoration in its editorials and politicians seemed inclined to go along… while a business plan was developed and approved… while celebrities like singer Gloria Estefan got involved, the job kept getting pushed off.

“It was wrongly closed down after Hurricane Andrew,” Estefan said in 2014, having become a member of the National Trust board and a

stadium spokeswoman. “There is no reason why we can’t keep it.”

Estefan also voiced a powerful video, “Miami Marine Stadium Needs You,” showing scenes of the past and how the stadium had since become a decayed eyesore, which she said should come alive again, “So we can enjoy it once more. So we can appreciate its beauty once more. So this can be more than just imagination.”

THAT WAS 2014. This is 2023. Since then, more money has been raised through various grants and donations and more

studies have been done. Consequently, by 2016 the city had authorized up to $45 million in a bond financing the stadium restoration, but that bond was never approved.

The years dragged on while costs rose. By last February that bond had soared to $61.2 million. A vote was originally scheduled for approval in March but was then pushed back until May.

But nothing happened in May. Nor in June, July, or August on through the rest of 2022 into 2023. And there seems to be nothing scheduled, which baffles stadium proponents.

“They don’t celebrate Miami’s history,” former Miami mayor Tomás Regalado, told the Washington Post last February “They’d rather talk about the future.

“I understand that, but you cannot build a future if you don’t have a history and you don’t celebrate your history.”

Meanwhile, Hilary Candela, whose late father Hilario designed the place nearly 60 years ago, isn’t at all pleased. “We could talk about the city becoming the crypto capital of the world, and yet we can’t find the way to raise the necessary funds to bring the stadium back to life,” she told the Post. “I hope it happens.

“It should happen. It needs to happen.”

But will it? Now—or ever? l

“You cannot build a future if you don’t have a history and you don’t celebrate your history.”

– Former Miami Mayor Tomás Regalado

Today, graffiti covers the stadium

WHAT WE WEAR

The Best Men’s Haircut in 2023 for any hair type

THERE HAVE BEEN so many trending men’s haircuts throughout the years. Whether you’re bringing it back to the 80s with a high and tight look, or going for a more modern, fun and textured haircut, selecting the perfect haircut for your facial shape can be a real challenge. But it’s always about how you express yourself through your style.

At Jaxson Maximus, our experienced team of salon experts have compiled a list of the top men’s haircuts of 2023 that will look good on any hair type or texture.

FADED CREW CUT

Keep the sides & back of your head short and skin faded to create a smooth transition fade. Keep it short for a clean-cut look or add some length for that relaxed messier appearance. The faded crew cut is a great haircut if you like to fade your beard. Our Jaxson Maximus Styling Wax will help control any flyaways or tame those long looks with separation and texture.

Maintenance on this cut is every 7-10 days to keep the clean lines and faded effort. For those who like to see their barber over a longer period, this is a great cut to let grow

out without your hair looking like a mess in between haircuts.

UNDERCUT FADE WITH A SIDE PART

Bring us back to the days of men in suits and cigars with the undercut fade and a side part. For those who like to keep it classy, fade the sides but keep the top long while adding in that side part. This gives the effort of a clean, well-kept, polished look.

Maintenance on this haircut varies on how fast your hair grows and how tight you like your fade. Skin and bald fades require a cut every 7-10 days. Mid fades to tapes approximately two weeks, or whenever that part grows in. Sometimes, we want to cut the sides and leave the top long, and push it over like a pompadour.

Style with our Jaxson Maximus Pompadour Pomade. With a great hold and flexibility, this will keep the hair from falling into your side part and give an effortless look.

CLASSIC GENTLEMEN’S CUT

For those who want a clean, classic look, stick to the basics. No fades, no tapes, just a clean cut on the sides and back with a long-length

top. This haircut will allow you to run your fingers through your hair while keeping it classic and clean.

This cut will work with almost all hair textures without requiring too much maintenance. On average, this cut might require you to visit the barber every two weeks to clean up the sides and back while leaving the top more free flowing. But again, it’s about you and your style. To keep up appearances, the Gentlemen’s Cut does require a little more effort at home than the other cuts. We recommend our Jaxson Maximus Texture Spray to create that effortless volume. Finish with our Flexible Hold Hairspray to give you the ability to hold and shine with a playful style.

CLASSIC LONG HAIRCUT

This cut is best suited for a stylist to cut rather than a barber. Your stylist can tape the side and edges while giving you a clean look when you neatly pull your hair back. They will also be able to provide you with that textured, beachlike “I’m here to have a good time” look.

Our team recommends our Jaxson Maximus Texture Spray for your weekend look and our gel for those more professional-looking days. l

Photo courtesy Jaxson Maximus

THE BREW BEAT

BY ALAN ESPINO

Anatomy of a Collaboration: How Working Together Makes Better Beer

JUST

LIKE ANYTHING ELSE

, the best beers come out of collaboration: Two people or brands or organizations come together with their own interests and tastes and make something more exciting than anything either one of them could’ve made on their own. Beat Culture, the brewery I started with my brother in our hometown of Miami, was born of that principle, and it thrives in the new and exciting beers forged from our treasured relationships.

This month, after several years of anticipation, we’re finally unveiling “Sunblazer Golden Ale” in collaboration with Florida International University (FIU). It’s one of my favorite partnerships in the history of our brand, but it took stamina, determination, and hurdling several obstacles to get here. In the process, I’ve learned that

1) By staying nimble, a small, scrappy brewery can succeed where the big guys can’t, and

2) While it always pays to be a local insider, the right brands see “local insider” as someone who contributes to the community and culture we’re trying to build here in Miami, not just someone with political connections. The beer recipe and quality are important but it’s about sharing our talents with the city we love and elevating everyone while working together.

In my last column, I mentioned that my love for beer started in a microbiology class at FIU. Over the years, FIU has established itself as a formidable force for uplifting our community. With an impressive and enthusiastic alumni network, world-class hospitality and marketing programs, and a commitment to creative excellence, the home of the “humble hustle” seemed a natural partner for Beat Culture. With that in mind, I’ve been trying to collaborate with my alma mater from the moment we opened our doors four years ago.

When I approached the school about partnering, we were confident in our beer and vision and particularly the huge support we had within the university (i.e., Carl, Eddie, Vanessa) that believed in the idea. While I was intimidated by the potential competition

with the likes Big Beer, the University decided to go with the likes of an alumni local, owner-operator brewery instead of a huge conglomerate without any local connection. The David instead of the Goliath. Small craft beer versus commoditized light fizzy water. We got the partnership we’d been looking for and then some. FIU has engaged the exceptional talent in its marketing school to help us brand and market our collaboration. The school of hospitality students to learn

how we made the beer and help us pour it at events. The natural next step is to call on the FIU-owned restaurants and bars around south Florida to offer it at their businesses.

We’ll first showcase the beer on February 18th for a select few at the FIU Brew Miami Beerfest. It begins pouring for all SoBe Food and Wine guests starting February 24. And hopefully you’ll tell us, either at Beat Culture, FIU, or a participating restaurant: Does beer taste better when we made it together? l

Photo courtesy Beat CultureBrewery

Beat Culture

co-founder Alan Espino (L) with Carl-Frederick Francois, Strategic Communications, Government & External Affairs for FIU.