IRC COMMUNITY LEADERS SUMMIT

Did y'all hear about, read about it, know about it? No?, well Miss Vero (as usual) is not surprised.

But don't worry kids, y'all didn't miss a thing because the county is still paying Mr. Bill Fruth of Policom a lot of money to tell y'all the exact same thing that we heard ten years ago about economic development in Indian River County. If fact, somebody stood up and told the entire room "Hey, I remember hearing the same thing ten years ago!"

http://www.policom.com/

There was a lovely package given out with a lot of dated, incomplete, but very impressive graphs and information (like the one that showed an increase in construction business, never mind that the latest figures were from 2006). The impressive folder had a picture of two men playing golf on the cover, because when y'all think of community leaders and job creation the first thing that comes to mind is, well, playing golf!

And such an important gathering of movers and shakers in the community and the entire Indian River County Commission would be covered by the local press right? Ok, let me check TCPalm again - Nope, nothin there.

And talk about Dodgertown? No, no, no, not allowed according to Joe Baird, who said that he preferred not to entertain any ideas regarding the use of the facility because he is still in the process of negotiating with baseball principles. What? Huh? Did we hear that right? Maybe we were still laughing from him telling everyone that he doesn't know why Russ Lemmon keeps writing about him because he's NEVER talked to Russ Lemmon.

Oh, the hilarity and high jinx of those community leaders! Hunnies if we didn't laugh we'd just cry. But Miss Vero is not all naysayin, because we have a little suggestion. How about revitalizing downtown? Shops, restaurants and a cute little historic citrus town that could easily be accessed by train. Yep, that's what we said...train.

http://forcechange.com/2008/11/29/florida-high-speed-rail-proposal-may-get-back-on-tracks/

Florida was built by trains and a new system over the existing rails makes sense, it's "green" and many new technologies will be used to update and expand the system. Why couldn't Vero Beach be the Florida home of new rail tech? Because of Mr. Obama's plan to stimulate the economy with the rebuilding of infrastructure, this could happen. Oh wait... maybe our Republican leaders didn't get that memo. Oh well...we'll get back to y'all in ten years and talk about what were going to do for jobs.

MWAH!

missvero@live.com

FLORIDAZE

Yesterday children, Miss Vero was a little, well let's just say frustrated. We sure do like to spend time on the internet playing connect the news stories and find the cool graphics and especially look at how stoopid something/someone is, to share with y'all, but honestly we just couldn't find anything worth our time and that has been happening more and more lately. Especially when it comes to Vero Beach. More often than not we are t'd off and steamed about big time politics like this: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=5344932

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=2&vote=00168

Thanks a lot Senator Mel Martinez and Senator Bill Nelson (a Democrat!) and even you, Mr. Barack Obama for bringin that frog to a boil! And y'all know what that means, right?: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_frog

Anyhoo, we get all riled and then we forget to have fun or we find ourself having to self medicate with the appropriate alkeeholic libations. So we've decided that we should digress and regress a little today and remember happier Florida times, all of which have nothing to do with Vero Beach.

MY-AM-AH

(Miami)

When Miss Vero was a little thing, our Granmamie would take us to My-am-ah to go shoppin at Burdines, which was the biggest and best damn department store in the world, as far as we were concerned. It was pretty big in those days and since Burdines was founded by Confederate war veteran, Mr. William Burdine in 1898, we thought it had been there forever, when actually it was opened only two years after the city of Miami itself was established. And of course when we traveled down there from the remote and bucolic Broward County we passed the Coppertone sign that was animated by moving lights, the little dog tuggin at the little girl's britches. For us and many other folks, seeing that sign meant that you had arrived in Miami.

This is what it looks like now.

And that's pretty much how we've been feeling. It's why we're frustrated with Florida, why we know that growth is going to happen, why we're so mad at Carl Hiaasen for playin golf at Quail Valley and why it doesn't feel like Florida anymore.

Imagine living here without air conditioning like Miss Vero's Grandmamie. It weren't no bother, the uncovered terrazzo floors were always cool on our bare feet. The ceiling fans were forever thumpin and we slept with the jalousie windows opened to let in the scent of night blooming jasmine breezes. We really did pick oranges off the trees to juice them and coconuts hung from the palms before the blight took the them. It was the paradise that the postcards promised.

Too many places are gone now, Florida doesn't have a sense of history for those that don't remember it. The Trains and routes that brought everything here have been forgotten like the little towns passed over for interstates and worship of our car culture. Our downtowns are still there, most built around the discarded train stations, but we can't or won't see the value.

There is some good news after all, the sign might be saved by some concerned preservationists. Maybe by some one like Barbara Capitman, who lobbied Washington to get Art Deco buildings in Miami Beach on the National Register of Historic Places. No small feat considering her opponents to her preservation plan were The Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce, City Hall, The Board of Realtors and the Miami Beach Resort Association. She has been credited with saving the treasures of Miami Beach's art deco district one of which is the Cardoza, purchased in 1992 by none other than Gloria and Emilio Estefan.

http://www.miamiherald.com/548/story/171093.html

http://www.cardozohotel.com/

Our little Coppertone girl just needs a little nip and tuck and hunnies, we sure do know what that feels like: http://www.miaminights.com/coppertone-sign-safe-for-now-5211.phtml

Thanks so much for all the luvin! Y'all have cheered us up and reminded us why we're bloggin. Have a groovy weekend kids we'll be back again on Monday!

MWAH!

missvero@live.com

TRAIN -ING OURSELVES

Did ya ever ride a train? All of y'all that has their head in the gutter can pull it out right now, because Miss Vero is posing a serious question about a serious subject. We're talking about a real train, with a dining car, a lounge stocked with alkeeholic beverages and a sleeping compartment. The kind of train that one would see in an old movie like "Some Like it Hot". Miss Vero has much experience with the trains of old and continues to be a patron of the train system today. Miss Vero enjoys loadin her ride onto that auto train in Sanford and snuggling into her compartment, waking up in DC the next morning. Unlike the the rail system in Europe and other such civilized places, train travel is undervalued in this country. A few years back Florida voters said yes to high speed rail, only to change their fool minds four years later.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_High_Speed_Rail

Just think kids, wouldn't it be fun to hop on and get the heck outa town? You can bet your high priced petrol sucking hummer that Miss Vero would be the first to ride and make a party out of it to boot! Yes, we are all for a train to somewhere, anywhere, fast or slow, that is why we were astonished to see this subject favored in a recent PJ op-ed .

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/may/07/put-study-on-fast-track/

What is disheartening to Miss Vero (although not surprising) are some of the dimwitted comments that follow the article. Oh well, we'll just have to go on imagining a monorail down the center of I-95 or a train station in the thriving metropolis of downtown Vero Beach. Ever been to Winter Park, Florida? How cool would Vero be if we replicated that neighborhood?
As Miss Vero's Granmamie used to say "Expect nuthin child and ya never be disappointed".
In this way, our town has never disappointed.

If comedy and serial killers are something that naturally go together in your thinking (as it does in ours), check out Tim Dorsey's train tale "Stingray Shuffle".

http://www.timdorsey.com/stingray.html

As mentioned in our May 7th blog, Miss Vero shifted her allegiance from Mr. Hiaasen to Mr. Dorsey, which has been validated by the fact that Mr. Dorsey is accessible and politely corresponded with Miss Vero (MWAH! to you Mr. Dorsey). Mr. Hiaasen is only reached via his agent or an unnamed Miami Herald editor, which only further proves our point that he has become a Vero Beach elitist.

Miss Vero sincerely hopes that this idea of train travel will pick up steam, so to speak, and discussed this idea while visiting with an uber fabulous friend this weekend- who by the way will be leaving soon to attend the Cannes Film Festival! (Difficult to imagine the ultra liberal chic residing in Indian River county, isn't it kids?) Anyhoo, this fabu -friend tell us the story of a "green train" powered by bio-fuel that will spread love and joy with a series of concerts along the way. It will start out on the west coast - natch - and continue to whistle stop its way all over the country, right up to New England. Guess what state it isn't scheduled for? that's right children, Floriduh.

THE DECISION IS IN ON HORSE RACING

Wow, after an eye opening editorial by Miss Bonnie Erbe in Saturday's PJ,

http://www.montereyherald.com/opinion/ci_9191525

(Notice how we have to link to The Monterey Herald, since the article is no where to be found on the sassen, frassen, confound it, TCpalm website. Deep breath, enjoy the Pacific Coastline logo, imagine you are there, ahhhhh.) and an equally eye opening article in this week's TIME,

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1738503,00.html

Miss Vero has decided -
Mmm, horse racing is bad m'kay?

Miss Vero will continue to relate to earlier blogs, so pay attention kids.
Now it's time to rev up the blender, Miss Vero believes a batch of Margarita's are in order!
And, yes Mr.Lemmon, it is nice to be a Monday through Friday blogger without a time deadline.

MWAH!

missvero@live.com