An extremely successful and poignant panel discussion took place on Friday, January 13^th at the Wolfsonian-FIU in South Beach.  The panel discussion was part of a lecture series organized by the Miami Design Preservation League (MDPL) as one of the activities for the 35^th Anniversary Art Deco Weekend.  Charles J. Kropke, moderator for the event, assembled the panel of noteworthy nightclub owners, event promoters and nightlife professionals who created the entertainment scene for which South Beach became internationally renowned.  Represented were Lee Schrager, founder of  the South Beach Wine and Food Festival, David Wallack owner of Mango’s Tropical Café,  Jane Wooldridge, business editor for The Miami Herald (formerly nightlife editor for South Beach during its heyday), Michael Capponi, club promoter extraordinaire, and Louis Canales, one of the first successful nightclub owners in the resurgent South Beach.

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By the time the sixth full-time Dragonfly Expeditions employee (with an occasional seventh or eighth in residence) came to our light-filled office with its full-sized windows facing the large Mexican-tiled patio and the looming Biltmore tower as a backdrop, the writing was on the wall.  It was time to expand into a new office.  As much as I had admired the spacious corner office that we had passed in our seven years at the Biltmore Hotel, I hardly expected that things would conspire to make it available to us when moving became inevitable.  But it did happen and we were ecstatic.  We moved in with paint and carpet samples, broke down desks and shelves; bought more bookcases for our expanding library and began the long shuffle down the hallway.

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Each year, Dragonfly Expeditions is asked to convey its knowledge of the local arts scene into customized tours for groups visiting Miami for Art Basel.  Below you will see the foreword to one section of a customized program for a group interested in French art and design.

Starting on November 25, 2011, the Wolfsonian/FIU at 1001 Washington Avenue on Miami Beach will offer an ‘opportunité magnifique’ to visit this venerable, local institution.  This date kicks off ‘Liberty, Equality and Fraternity,’ an exhibition exploring French cultural identity through design produced from the mid-twentieth century to the present. Before continuing on to the subject of the exhibition, I would like to suggest that just about any time of the year is a great time to visit the collection created by Mitchell “Micky” Wolfson, Jr. and the institution that houses it.

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For the second straight year, Dragonfly Expeditions partnered with the University of Miami Family Weekend program to provide new students and their families the opportunity to explore Miami and its surroundings on our tours.

The five tours that were offered throughout the weekend featured Miami’s Cuban Heritage, the historic Miami City Cemetery, Kayaking on Biscayne Bay, and two Miccosukee Indian Heritage airboat tours.

The goal of the partnership between the University of Miami and Dragonfly Expeditions is to showcase Miami as a metropolis with historical, ecological and cultural treasures beyond its usual party reputation. Here are some quotes from participants:

“Very interesting information. Loved it!” – Xavier, Cuban Heritage Tour

“Very informative and a beautiful way to see the bay” – Ann, Great Discoveries on the Bay – A Kayak Tour

“Fabulous trip, tour guide was superb. Airboat was so relaxing. Great way to see nature at it’s best!” – Sheila, Miccosukee Indian Heritage Tour

Dragonfly Expeditions would like to send a special thank you to the University of Miami Family Weekend staff (Brian Orefice, Danielle Howard, and Carrie Whiteside) for their amazing work and dedication in ensuring that our partnership was again a success. We are looking forward to Family Weekend 2012.

The Miami Design Preservation League kicked off the new community-reading program MDPL Reads at the Art Deco Welcome Center on October 12^th, 2011. This first event featured South Beach: Stories of a Renaissance by Charles Kropke and Eleanor Goldstein. The approximately 200 guests enjoyed a catered cocktail party with paintings from the book on display followed by a discussion, and book signing.

The book has also been chosen to be the official book for Art Deco Weekend 2012, and will be featured during many events in the coming months leading up to the festivities in January. Information about these events can be found on the South Beach: Stories of a Renaissance Facebook and Twitter pages.

Below is a heartfelt speech about Miami that Charles Kropke gave to one of our corporate groups.  You can really sense the passion he has for this beautiful city.  Please enjoy and pass along:

The sight of modern Miami rising from a moonlit shoreline on the Biscayne Bay can steal your breath away.  Colorful, confident, the city nearly sparkles with vitality and the possibilities.  Bordered by the brilliant multi-hued waters of the Atlantic Ocean and a legendary inland bay on one side and the vast, world-treasured Florida Everglades on another, Miami is long and narrow.  The city’s latitude introduces a sub-tropical languor that coupled with plentiful rainfall encourages palms, flowering plants, trees, and fruits of every imaginable variety.  These favorable conditions also make wildlife and abundance in the seas a fact of life.

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God’s vast array of winged creatures has lost a great friend and advocate this month and in so losing her, we who love South Florida and its beautiful birds have equal cause to mourn.  Wendy Fox, longtime Executive Director of the Pelican Harbor Seabird Station died of cancer on Saturday, August 6, 2011.  She was 54.  Dragonfly Expeditions partnered up with Wendy and her inspiring organization years ago to create a new type of tour.  It was designed to bring awareness and money to the brave non-profit tucked away at the end of a marina on the 79^th Street Causeway.  We called it  “Healing Wildlife at the Pelican Harbor Seabird Station”  and dedicated 40 percent of the gross profits  to the seabird station.  This effort has always made me proud.

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Since February 2011, Charles J. Kropke’s book “South Beach – Stories of a Renaissance” has been the bestseller at Books & Books in Coral Gables and South Beach!  We are now delighted that Charles’ book has been chosen by the Miami Design Preservation League (MDPL) for their new program MDPL Reads which encourages everyone to read the same book leading up to the next annual Art Deco Weekend in January of 2012.  In their press release below, MDPL details the events leading up to October 5^th, 2011 with a trivia contest through their facebook page.

MDPL Reads is meant to bring attention to great books about South Beach and the Art Deco Historic District. The first event will take place on October 5^th, 2011 at 7pm at the Art Deco Welcome Center, 1001 Ocean Drive. The book chosen for the October event is South Beach – Stories of a Renaissance, by Charles J. Kropke and Eleanor Goldstein, who will be signing and discussing the book at the October 5^th event. Leading up to the MDPL Reads event in October, MDPL will be launching a 10 weeklong trivia series related to stories taken from the book via the MDPL Facebook page. Prizes will relate to each question and include museum passes, freebies at local restaurants, posters, and more!  All the prizes were donated from people and places mentioned in the book. You can purchase the book at the Official Art Deco Gift Shop or online.

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Many months back, Erica French from Educate Tomorrow approached me at a BNI South Beach meeting to see if I could arrange some outlines for a summer camp program that they conduct yearly for constituents who they are serving.  Educate Tomorrow is a noble, non-profit organization that seeks to help young men and women who have aged out of the foster care system attain educational and career goals through mentorship.  Two summer dates were chosen for the camp events, one for the young men and the other for the young women.

 Initially, due to his proximity to Miami, my plan was to have my friend Johnny Tigertail of the Miccosukee Tribe offer the camp participants an airboat tour to his family’s tree islands on tribal lands.  Unfortunately, a very severe dry season made this option impossible because there was no water in the Everglades for the airboats to travel on.

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Developing tour routes and gathering the stories that bring an experience to life is one of my favorite tasks at Dragonfly Expeditions.  This is particularly true for the Hawks Cay Kayak Adventure, especially since it involved several days of kayaking in the Florida Keys!  I have to admit that I tend to favor our water-based tours anyway, but the waters and story around Duck Key quickly proved to be tour-worthy.

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